360-DAY YEAR NOT BIBLICALLY PROVABLE

[Scripture Verses are from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise stated.]

Some teach that the cycle of the earth moving around the sun was originally 360 days, and believed that as a result of the Noachian Flood, God changed the length of the year to the present 365.242-day year. First, there is nothing biblically that can be pointed to support this belief. The 365-day year was in effect from the beginning of time. This is a provable fact. See the video “PROVING THE BIBLICAL CALENDAR GENERATOR.” [https://www.biblicalcalendarproof.net/about/view-true-holy-day-biblical-calendar-online]

God did not add to or take away part of the earth as it existed before the flood. All the changes that He made were internal to the earth and its atmosphere. In Genesis 2 God shows that the earth was watered by a canopy He placed about the earth, and not by rain. The fountains of the deep were broken as shown in Genesis 7, releasing that mass of water, which would affect the rotation of the earth. However, He countered this mass by bringing down the canopy of water that balanced the weight; thus, there was no change in the speed of the rotation of the earth.

As is well known, space beyond the earth’s atmosphere offers no resistance to the movement of the planets or stars. Thus, the orbit of the earth about the sun was 365.242 days before the flood as well as after. God did not change time! James 1:17—Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

CREATION OF TIME

Genesis 1:3—Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God brought the light (sun) to shine upon the earth. He then started the earth rotating; hence day one of creation. It should be clear that at this point in time the sun, the moon, and the stars were already in existence, which will be shown.

On day two God prepared the earth so that plant life can be sustained. Then on the third day he created plant life. For plant life to grow, the distance to the sun is critical. So the distance would have been set on day one in anticipation of plant life creation on day three. In Genesis 1:14-19— ¹⁴Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. ¹⁷God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. [Underlined emphasis mine.]

SETTING GOD’S CLOCK

Our first thought might be that it was on the fourth day when God made these orbs; but remember, this is the fourth day. How was it determined? The earth had already rotated three times, with their periods of darkness and light. The day had already been created, which required the existence of the sun. So how should we understand what is happening on this fourth day? The key is to know what is meant by the term in verse 17 that He “set them.” What God did was to realign the entire solar system to act as a great clock. What these verses are telling us is that God placed the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars in a rotational pattern that put them in a calendrical position of the fourth day of creation. He set His “clock” to the correct time.

Another point to consider is that the words “then” or “and” at the beginning of verses 16 and 17 were added by the translator; not being part of the original Hebrew. These words incorrectly infer that the sun and the moon were made on the fourth day.

UNIVERSE EXISTED BEFORE DAY ONE

Beginning in Genesis 1:1-2 the original creating act is separated from the narrative of the first day of creation, which started in Genesis 1:3. Why? The “Theological Word Book of the Old Testament” states on page 214 that the earth was in existence, but formless and void, being an accepted historical narration; an accepted historical fact. Therefore, Genesis 1:1-2 shows us the past historical condition of the earth and universe before day one of the seven days of creation.

NOAH USED THE SACRED CALENDAR

Also, the account of the great flood reveals that Noah had a good working knowledge of the time elements which make up the movement of the moon about the earth, and the earth about the sun. Consider that the sun and the moon were not visible for most of the time Noah spent on the ark. Yet, he recorded the day count and placed the months correctly within the passage of days. Looking at the description of the ark it can be better understood that the numbering of the months by Noah was done through understanding how the calculation of the days established the month; not by sighting the moon. This also means that the method of tracking time was not new to him, but was what he always used. Note that before the flood began he correctly numbered the days of the month of that year. The flood and its violence had not yet started. For more detailed information read the article “Noah and Moses Revealed God’s Calendar.” [https://www.biblicalcalendarproof.net/articles/noah-and-moses-revealed-gods-calendar]

Those who believe there was a 360-day year think the change to a 365.242-day year occurred during the year of the flood. Consider the great change that would be needed to go from a 360-day year to a 365.242-day year. The earth would need to have slowed down by 5.242 days on its trip around the sun. And the moon would have to decrease in the cycling of the earth by one half day; yet no evidence is found in all the pages of the Bible that God had changed time. Noah was meticulous in his recording of time, and no mention is made of such a change.

In Exodus 16:1-23 God tells us that the fifteenth day, and the twenty second day of the second month of the Exodus year were Sabbaths. The months are fixed to the existing Sabbaths as shown in Exodus 16:1. Using the Calendar Generator the Sabbaths can be backtracked by the seven day increments to the year of the flood, proving that the first Sabbath of the flood year would be on the fifth day of the first month. Counting by sevens will show that the Sabbaths of the second month are on the tenth and seventeenth as shown in Genesis 7:4, 11. This is verified by the using the Calendar Generator for the flood year of 2386 BC / 1661 AM as shown below.

Note: To see any calendar year from creation to the present and beyond visit: https://www.biblicalcalendarproof.net/calendar

The calendar below shows on which day of the month the Sabbath falls for the Gregorian calendar in black, and the Sacred calendar in red. The blue line numbers the Sabbaths as they occur consecutively in the solar calendar. As is seen, all three calendars are in agreement in showing when the seventh day occurs.

Year 2386 BC or 1661 AM

Note: The Sabbaths are outlined in yellow as they are mentioned in Genesis chapters 7 and 8. The first Sabbath of the solar year, 1661, is on the second day of the solar year as shown on the blue line.

In contrast, the 360-day solar year has Sabbaths beginning only on one of seven days. They occur in the following order: the seventh, fourth, first, fifth, second, sixth and third day of the solar year. This is the only rotation of Sabbaths that result when using a 360 day year, as shown in the chart below, and can only occur in this order. They will always fall on the same numbered day of the year in a rotational pattern of seven years.

The First Sabbaths of the 360-Day Year Compared to the 365-Day Year

As the calendar shows, and the biblical account confirms, the first Sabbath of the Sacred year is on the 5^th, which is the same as the solar year Sabbath on the 361^st day of year 1660. The first solar Sabbath of 1661 is on the second day, and is the day that must be compared to the solar year of 360 days for the same year.

This is accomplished by multiplying 1660 years by 360 days in each year, which equals 597,600 days from creation to the start of solar year 1661. Dividing the days, 597,600 by seven (the week) equals 85,371.42857 weeks. The partial week of .42857 equals 3 days of carryover from 1660, which places the first Sabbath of the solar year 1661 on the 4th for the 360-day year. As the calendar shows, the first Sabbath of the solar year on the blue line is on the second, and as the Sabbath days do not match. Therefore the 360-day year cannot be used.

In addition, unlike the false 360-day calendar, God’s Sacred Calendar changes the numbered day of the month relative to the continual seven-day rotation of the earth from creation. It does not repeat itself in total until 896 years, making it impossible to align the two calendars for any year other than the year of creation.

CANNOT CHANGE DAY COUNT

Remember, the day is counted by the earth revolving one time. It is impossible to lose a day count even by stopping the rotation of the earth. The count stops, or is suspended, until the rotation begins again. Therefore, a day cannot be lost or added to, as God has counted a day by each rotation of the earth for as long as man has recorded time.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE ARK

Returning to the account of the Noachian flood: Genesis 6:16—You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; … Consider that the window was given a single dimension of about 25 inches—one cubit—in height. As all of the passengers of the ark were air breathing, the window was necessary for light, and more importantly as a source of fresh air. Because of the absolute necessity for fresh air, and as the window was only given in one dimension by God, we can conclude that the window extended the entire length of the ark. Note that in Genesis 8:6 Noah opens the window. Unlike today’s windows of glass these openings would have a lattice work to prevent the birds from leaving the ark. The window opening needed a large overhang to protect it from rain entering. Thus, Noah’s view was restricted to that of the horizon, which is proven by the following scripture. Genesis 8:13—And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.

Noah needed to remove the covering so that he could see the condition of the land below the ark, showing that the windows were not in the side, but set back from the edge, supporting the need for the large overhang to prevent rain from entering the ark. Noah made the calculations for the passage of time, not by sight, but by using calculations of the Sacred calendar. His record of the passage of time resulted in a year length of 385 days for the flood year, which was an inter-calculated thirteen month year. Refer to the video and article “Noah’s Flood and Gods Calendar” https://www.biblicalcalendarproof.net/articles/noahs-flood-and-gods-calendar

NOAH’S LOG OF TIME

Genesis 7:11—In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

The following is in Genesis 8:4—Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

Noah recorded that the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day, which was a Sabbath. If he used 30-day months, that seventeenth day would have been on the fifth day of the week, a Thursday. As pointed out in the article “NOAH’S FLOOD AND GOD’S CALENDAR,” the Hebrew word for “rested” is the same word used in Exodus 20:11—For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” [Underlined emphasis mine.] Noah preserved this account regarding the passage of time as a normal logbook record, confirming the Sacred calendar of God, which required an alternating 30- and 29-day monthly pattern.

This makes it abundantly clear that the seventeenth day was a Sabbath, meaning the only calendar Noah could have used was the Sacred Calculated Calendar as revealed by God to mankind. In addition, the seventh month occurred during the first 150 day period, and was before God caused the water to begin to recede. The article previously referred to explains this phenomenon of how the ark came to the resting place without touching the mountain.

360-DAY YEAR NOT POSSIBLE

The fact that a 360-day year never has thirteen months, demonstrating that the change during the flood year would have had to occur in the second month.

Using 30-day months, a thirteenth-month year would have 390 days, which does not correlate with the account of the flood. The passage of time that God recorded for the year of the flood is 385 days. The last day of the second 150 days ended on the first day of the next year, leaving a 385 day year. This is the longest of the God’s calculated calendar years for this number of days to represent a thirteen month year, which can only happen when the 29 day month is employed. Thus, this puts God’s stamp of approval on His Calculated Calendar, tracking time from creation to the present, more than 6,000 years.

Moses recorded this under the direct inspiration of God. The undeniable truth is that Noah knew and used the 29.5-day average for the cycle of the moon, which is demonstrated in his record of the flood. This also means that Moses knew and understood the same information, as he was the one who preserved this for the benefit of all future generations. It also explains why God only needed to inform Moses of which month was to be counted as the first. Exodus 12:2—"This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Paul sums this up in Ephesians 4:14-15—¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto Him who is the head—Christ—

Don Roth

07-05-17

Revised: 07-29-19

PDF Created: 2020 11 12