Our Decision on Aviv 2024

March 11, 2024, 2:00 PM
Shalom everyone!

We are grateful again for your standing in the gap with us and lifting the biblical calendar before our good and gracious Heavenly Father and looking for His decision on when we should start the new year. I want to acknowledge your faithfulness in praying and lifting this process up before Him and that He hears our prayers and gives guidance.

Many have gone out with considerable cost and concerns for safety in the land of Israel to share with us their findings on the aviv in accordance with Yehovah’s calendar. We are very blessed to have them and the ability to see their findings firsthand at this time in history while on the other side of the world.

The Criteria We Used to Make a Decision about the Aviv

Through looking at Scripture and developing an understanding of what Yehovah would want His people to look for, we can see the following criteria given in searching for the aviv:

1. There is to be one omer of barley from the land of Israel. It does not have to come from a currently cultivated field but should be from domesticated barley. This can include “volunteer” barley which is domesticated barley that is not necessarily cultivated. Instead, it is domesticated barley that has been cultivated in fields for centuries but now grows on its own. This “volunteer” barley is essential in the aviv search as barley is barely grown as a crop in Israel (cultivated). Often these barley fields are used as grazing pastures where sheep and goats eat the barley and, in their manure, fertilize the soil and drop the seeds back onto the ground preparing the field for the next year’s harvest. It is to be brought to the High Priest in order to be waved on the first day of the week during Hag HaMatzot (Moed of Unleavened Bread) to be waved before Yehovah. In doing so, the fields of the land would be dedicated to Yehovah and could then be harvested. – Lev. 23:10-11
2. The grain at the time of First Fruits during Hag HaMatzot would be able to be roasted in the fire (parched) and ground to make flour, mixed with oil and frankincense, and offered to Yehovah. This means that there must be enough substance to the grain that when roasted, the seeds don’t just evaporate into nothing. There must be enough starch built up on the seed so that it has substance that can be dried out (roasted/parched) and then ground into flour. In the modern agricultural vernacular this would mean it was in at least the soft dough stage. The grain offered to Yehovah did not have to be fully ripe but could still be in the “aviv” stage when brought for the First Fruits offering. – Lev. 2:14
3. There must be enough by the first of the year, so that the moon of the Aviv can be declared for the entire land. This means that within 2-3 weeks there will be harvestable grain in the north while in the south the grain will not be too far along so as to “shatter” when harvested. This means it can be still green (soft or hard dough stage). – Ex. 9:31-32, 13:4; Lev.23:10, 14; Deut. 16:1, 9
4. The aviv MUST be taken from barley that would have been like Scriptural barley 2000-3000 years ago. This means that it cannot come from some other land (like Egypt or America) and it cannot be hybridized in a way to change its timing nor given extensive manmade irrigation but is reliant upon the rain. (Yah is in control of His land and He sends the rain, etc.) – Deut. 11:10-15
5. As in all matters that are commands of Yehovah, there must be two or three witnesses at least to establish a judgment. – Deut. 17:6, 19:15-21; Matt. 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Cor. 13:1; Heb. 10:28
6. No one is to put a sickle to the standing grain until the omer has been waved on the day after the Sabbath (First Fruits) during the week of Hag HaMatzot. – Deut. 16:9
7. The stalks would be brittle enough to be destroyed by hail and have begun to lighten in color (it is not “dark”). In this same time frame the flax would be blossoming and therefore would be destroyed like the barley if hit by hail. – Ex. 9:31-32

As I stated last year, I do not want dissension among the body as a whole nor to be a factor in creating dissension. I do seek to do our Father’s will in meeting with Him on His calendar. Unfortunately, it already seems there is going to be variation between the many groups out searching for the aviv due to differences of the criteria needed to declare the beginning of the biblical new year. Please do not allow this to cause doubt and frustration among us. Yehovah Elohim is still in control, loves His people, wants unity, and wants to meet with them on His times.

I do not believe His Torah is too difficult to understand, nor do I believe those searching in Israel on our behalf are trying of themselves to be divisive. Of the five different groups who went searching for aviv this year, I pray and hope they are only seeking Yah’s will for His calendar and appointed times (moedim). Please do not allow this weighty decision to splinter us as a congregation and cause division among us. I pray that we will come together with sincere and glad hearts in support of the decision on when to call the aviv.

Anne and I have spent 40+ hours watching and reading reports on the aviv from the five groups who went out searching for the aviv as well as refreshing our minds on the historical and biblical writings on the aviv. We have learned so much over the years about farming and especially farming in the land of Israel in order to comprehend what the Scriptures are saying about the aviv. This learning is such a blessing in growing our understanding of Yehovah’s calendar, and we are grateful for the opportunity.

With this in mind, each of the five groups of searchers found aviv in the land in a variety of fields. One particular field, which was aviv, was in the exact area where Joshua and the people would have come into the land to eat their first Passover and begin harvesting the grain of the land to eat! That fulfills the 2 or 3 witnesses. Three of the five groups have declared the time to be aviv with a fourth stating this morning that he also found enough aviv to make an omer to fulfill that requirement for First Fruits in a few weeks.

With the statements of these witnesses, Solel will be celebrating the Passover and Unleavened Bread this month and not be waiting for another month.

Thank you all again for your prayers as we look forward to celebrating the feasts of Yehovah together. Shalom and may we be blessed as we prepare ourselves to honor the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread.

~Kraig