Page 341 - Bible History

The Day
S ces
314 CHRIST PREPARES TO REDEEM THE WORLD
upon them and loosened the grain from the stock. Usually there was a breeze in the evening. Then the farmer used the threshing fan, which looked like a wide wooden shovel and had a short handle. With this he tossed the wheat into the air. The grain, being heav­ ier, fell to the ground, while the cha was blown away.
A day with the Jews lasted from sunrise to sunset. The rst hour was six A.M.; the third hour, nine A.M.; the sixth hour, noon; the ninth hour, three P.M.; and the twelfth hour, six P.M.
Every morning and evening a lamb was sacri ced to acknowledge God's ownership of all things. Spe­ cial sacri ces were o ered on the great feasts. The Feast of the Pasch and the Feast of Weeks were ob­ served in spring. The Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles were observed in September. Two feasts had been added to the Jewish calendar after the time of Moses. These were the Feast of Purim, celebrated in February in memory of the occa­ sion when Queen Esther saved her people in Persia, and the Feast of the Dedication, observed in November in honor of the dedicating of the Altar and the Temple by Judas Machabeus. On the rst day of every month special religious ceremonies were conducted for the people.
Though the Jews were under the power of e Ro­ man emperor, they were allowed to govern themselves in many things. For this purpose, they had the San­ hedrin, which was a body made up of seventy-one members, to which belonged the chief priests, as the
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