Why is the Memorial Being Observed On Purim instead of the Passover, Nisan 14?
- Thread starter Ms_ladyblue
- Start date
Thanks for the additional info. I was confused about questioning the date for the memorial but the following information also confirms that March 24th would be the correct date this year.
Using the astronomical dates for 2024, the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on Tuesday, March 19. The first full Moon to occur after that equinox date is March's Full Worm Moon, which reaches peak illumination on Monday, March 25, at 3:00 A.M.
Seadog
Well-known member
This looks logical and can we hope its the final answer?
(confused!)
Cherry
Well-known member
You are right sister. The organization itself has in the past said that to calculate the date of the Commemoration, you must observe the NEW MOON after the spring equinox. From the first sign of the observation of the NEW MOON, 14 days are counted to find out the date of the 14th of Nisan or Jewish Passover. This year it falls on April 22, not March 24. Greetings!Today I saw on an ex jw witness video that the witnesses are celebrating the Memorial this year on March 24, which doesn’t fall on Nisan 14. To verify this I looked this up on the internet ( Googled it) and find that March 24 is a celebration of Purim, a Jewish holiday which has nothing to do with Jesus sacrificial death.
On the other hand, Nisan 14, according to the Gregorian calendar falls on April 22. Could someone help me to understand this please? Why are Jehovah’s Witnesses are celebrating the Memorial on March 24?
Here’s what the celebration of Purim is about:
“Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther. Haman was the royal vizier to the Persian king Ahasuerus. Wikipedia
Date: Sat, Mar 23, 2024 – Sun, Mar 24, 2024”
What is Purim, and how is the holiday celebrated in the city?
Purim, a Jewish holiday, will be celebrated this weekend.www.ny1.com
Nisan 14 is actually on April 22 this year.
April 2024 Calendar – Israel
Israel April 2024 – Calendar with holidays. Monthly calendar for the month April in year 2024. Calendars – online and print friendly – for any year and monthwww.timeanddate.com
KingdomLeast
Well-known member
I posted about this earlier, and why the different groups have different dates for the memorial, but no one commented on it.
Which means Memorial should be observed on the 21st.
Cherry
Well-known member
It is not the 21st of April, but the 22nd at sunset.
KingdomLeast
Well-known member
Keep in mind that the Jewish day runs from 6:00 p.m. in the evening to 6:00 p.m. the following evening.
Because the Jewish day commences at six o’clock in the evening, Nisan 14 actually begins on the day marked Nisan 13 on the Jewish calendar. After six p.m. on the day shown as Nisan 13 is the appropriate time for the Memorial celebration. Jesus observed the Passover/Memorial on the first evening, he was put to death on the second evening.
Cherry
Well-known member
There is no need to debate this. Exodus chapter 12 makes it clear that it is about the 14th, not the 13th. Greetings brother!
KingdomLeast
Well-known member
Apparently you don't understand the Jewish calendar. Let me ask you Cherry, When was Jesus put to death?
Nomex
Well-known member
So first of all. The demons and Satan are obsessed with numerology. That should tell us something. There is something to it. But like all esoteric information, Jehovah has not revealed the details to us, and we can assume he's done this for a very good reason. So not everything is a point of contention, some of it, we just don't understand! End of story!
You may think they are obsessed by it but they don't follow time like humans follow time. The alignment of the planets in the solar system is the time they go by which is a different time than 24 hours a day on earth.
Cherry
Well-known member
I don't know why to mess with this issue. On April 22 after sunset, Nisan 14 begins, according to the Jewish calendar. So Jesus is sacrificed before the end of Nisan 14, which for our current calendar would be April 23. For this reason the Commemoration must be celebrated at dusk, that is, when the 14th of Nisan begins. Do you understand now?... I hope so...
Cherry
Well-known member
I'm using the google translator. Maybe that's why I'm not being understood well. My regards, brother!
BARNABY THE DOG.
Well-known member
I don’t know about you Seadog, but what with people here arguing about whom should be taking the emblems, who is or is not anointed, what constitutes the mark of the beast, and now lunar leap years, I am beginning to see the depths that Jehovah plumbs in His patience. I’m as confused as you are. Do you know if there is a time and date we can rely on? I do not have anyone to observe the memorial with but I would like to acknowledge the event at the correct day if not the actual minute.
Why not both dates, then it's always right, simple
BARNABY THE DOG.
Well-known member
I wonder how the memorial was ever celebrated over the last 1900 years before the watchtower recognised its significance with the anointed. I can find no trace of it prior to watchtower in that its true significance was noted. There is evidence for the anointed during this period if the events leading up to this time are noted, but little about the significance of “do this as often as you do it…” .
David Peter
Well-known member
There is an interesting article in the Watchtower- March 15 , 1994 about a dispute that arose over when to observe the- Lord's Evening Meal , about the year 155 C.E. , Polycarp of Smyrna who had years earlier observed the Lord's Evening meal with John the disciple of our Lord.
Polycarp visited Rome to discuss this and other problems with Anicetus an overseer of The Roman Congregations.
Anicetus believed that the Lord's evening meal should be observed on Sundays, while Polycarp, a representative of the Asian Congregations, believed it should be observed on Nisan 14 , based on the authority of the apostles before him.
Neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to observe it on Sundays, nor did Polycarp persuade him ( and the Roman Congregations ) to observe it on Nisan 14.
Anicetus appealed to the custom of previous elders in Rome. Polycarp based his stand on the authority of the Apostles.
So this had gone on for some time, and the dispute remained unsettled.
The question that could be asked is - where was a Governing Body - to make these decisions for the Congregations ?
Polycarp visited Rome to discuss this and other problems with Anicetus an overseer of The Roman Congregations.
Anicetus believed that the Lord's evening meal should be observed on Sundays, while Polycarp, a representative of the Asian Congregations, believed it should be observed on Nisan 14 , based on the authority of the apostles before him.
Neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to observe it on Sundays, nor did Polycarp persuade him ( and the Roman Congregations ) to observe it on Nisan 14.
Anicetus appealed to the custom of previous elders in Rome. Polycarp based his stand on the authority of the Apostles.
So this had gone on for some time, and the dispute remained unsettled.
The question that could be asked is - where was a Governing Body - to make these decisions for the Congregations ?
StopTheInsanity
Well-known member
Just start March 24 and end on April 23rd and you're covered.I don’t know about you Seadog, but what with people here arguing about whom should be taking the emblems, who is or is not anointed, what constitutes the mark of the beast, and now lunar leap years, I am beginning to see the depths that Jehovah plumbs in His patience. I’m as confused as you are. Do you know if there is a time and date we can rely on? I do not have anyone to observe the memorial with but I would like to acknowledge the event at the correct day if not the actual minute.
StopTheInsanity
Well-known member
The Catholic Church's "mass" would be how it apostatized and came down to us today is my guess.