Celebrating Feasts on the Subsaharan Hebrew Calendar (Bantu Israelite calendar)
This year, we'll be celebrating the feast days in Subsaharan Africa, which means using a different timeline opposite the feast timing in the north. Learn more.
10/7/20242 min read
As we have begun a new year in the southern part of the world, we are called to begin acknowledging the holy days in our own timeline. The biblical holy days are based on nature's calendar, which is how Yah designed the heavens and the earth. When we look to the sky as our calendar to measure the times, we realize that we are no longer in sync with the north. Since all holy day calendars online are based on the northern hemisphere, we've had to study to build our own calendar based on our interpretation of scripture.
In southern Africa we have just passed the spring equinox, after which the days become longer. It's also the time of Barley harvest, which is a biblical indicator that it's the time of passover. We believe this begins on the 14th day of the first month of the year after the equinox. We look for the first new moon after the equinox and count 14 days.
Our dates for the upcoming feasts are below for those looking to others to get an indication of when to honor these days in the South.
Passover - October 16, 2024 at evening
Feast of Unleavened Bread - October 17-24, 2024
Feast of Trumpets - March 30, 2025
Day of Atonement - April 8, 2025
Feast of Tabernacles - April 27, 2025
Why does this matter? We believe the father gave us a time clock in the sky. We believe our ancestors used Yah's creation to know what season and time they were in. We also believe our ancestors lived in the southern hemisphere, so we do not need to sync ourselves with another land.
If phones and calendars were taken from us today and we had no clue what was happening up north, we would only have the sky to tell us what to do. We would know the months easily by using the new moon to track the months and count our sabbaths, knowing that every sabbath is either a half or full moon. Then, we would estimate the equinox by the constellations, which we still have to learn. In Namibia, we can see the night sky so clearly, so we will work on using new moon nights when it's pretty dark out to learn to identify the relevant constellations so we can be competent sky clock watchers.
If you're still in the north, we believe it's perfectly fine to use the normal feast days presented to you on the traditional feast day calendars. But, if you want to align yourself with the land of our ancestors in Subsaharan Africa to celebrate in agreement with us, we welcome you to do so.
As those who believe the Bantu people are the original Hebrews begin to grow into a larger movement, there are many out there celebrating their feasts on the proper calendar for our location and holy lands. We've received several emails from groups sharing their own calendars based on their understanding of how they interpret the scriptures. As we all come together and bring more of our energy, attention, and prayers to this land, Yah will assist us in aligning with one another to become one family. We are very excited to have his hand guiding us to new understandings of his ancient ways.