GOD’S CALENDAR AND TIME

 

The Jewish calendar is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other, so there is no direct correlation between them. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12.4 lunar months. The civil calendar used by most of the world has abandoned any correlation between the moon cycles and the month, arbitrarily setting the length of months to 28, 30 or 31 days. The Jewish calendar, however, coordinates all three of these astronomical phenomena. Months are either 29 or 30 days, corresponding to the 29½-day lunar cycle. Years are either 12 or 13 months, corresponding to the 12.4 month solar cycle.

 

The lunar month on the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon. In ancient times, the new months used to be determined by observation. When people observed the new moon, they would notify the Sanhedrin. When the Sanhedrin heard testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses that the new moon occurred on a certain date, they would declare the rosh chodesh (first of the month) and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.

 

The problem with strictly lunar calendars is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than a solar year and a 13-month lunar is about 19 days longer than a solar year. The months drift around the seasons on such a calendar: on a 12-month lunar calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the spring, would occur 11 days earlier in the season each year, eventually occurring in the Winter, the Fall, the Summer, and then the Spring again. On a 13-month lunar calendar, the same thing would happen in the other direction, but faster.

 

To compensate for this drift, the Jewish calendar uses a 12-month lunar calendar with an extra month occasionally added. The month of Nissan occurs 11 days earlier each year for two or three years, and then jumps forward 30 days, balancing out the drift. To coordinate these three phenomena, and to accommodate certain ritual requirements, the Jewish calendar consists of 12 or 13 months of 29 or 30 days, and can be 353, 354, 355, 383, 384 or 385 days long.

 

A year with 13 months is referred to in Hebrew as literally: a pregnant year. In English, we commonly call it a leap year. The additional month is known as Adar I. The extra month is inserted before the regular month of Adar (known in such years as Adar II). Note that Adar II is the "real" Adar, the one in which Purim is celebrated, the one in which yahrzeits for Adar are observed, the one in which a 13-year-old born in Adar becomes a Bar Mitzvah. Adar I is the "extra" Adar.

 

Then 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….” Genesis 1.14

 

“You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” Matt 16.3b

 

From the very beginning God set his time and calendar. God’s day begins at evening 6 PM (or at sunset) and ends the following evening at sunset. The Greco-Roman day begins at twelve midnight. How can we discern the times if we don’t know God’s time? The earth began in darkness and out of darkness God created light. At sunset God’s day begins. If the Lord is coming as a thief in the night we need to understand how He keeps time!

 

GOD’S DAY AND MONTH

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Gen 1.1-5

 

God’s day begins at sunset, a 24 hour period from sunset to sunset. The day is broken down into “watches” of three hours each. The third hour of the day then would be 9 AM as the day is divided into twelve hour segments of day and evening, each watch being a three hour period. The sixth hour of the night would be the end of the second watch or 12 midnight. Each watch is three hours long. The first evening watch would be from sunset (6 PM for consistency) until 9 PM. The second watch would be 9 PM until midnight and so on.

 

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

God has times and seasons. It is through these times and seasons that he speaks to man. If we are tuned into God’s times and seasons we can hear His voice more clearly. If we understand the Hebraic roots of our faith, we can begin to hear God more clearly. Therefore, if we understand God’s appointed times in His calendar, we should be able to develop a deeper relationship with Him and learn to yield to His wisdom in our daily walk. Will the Lord still talk to those who do not understand these things? Of course He will, but if we desire to know and hear Him in a higher prophetic way it is important to understand the time in which He abides. This brings us to the next important area through which the Lord desires to speak to us. His feasts.

 

THE FEASTS OF THE LORD

We think of these as Jewish Holidays, but the Lord actually refers to them in Scripture as “the Lord’s feasts” or “My appointed times” (Lev. 23:1-2). It is true that they were originally given to Israel, but if they are truly the Lord’s feasts, then all of the Lord’s children would greatly benefit to know what was in God’s heart when He defined these times and seasons.

 

In Hebrew the word mo’ed means a season or appointed time. Just as God made the sun, moon, and stars for times and seasons (Gen 1:4), He also pinpointed times on the calendar when His people must set time apart with Him, away from the normal business/work times of life. It is noteworthy that Daniel prophesied the antichrist will “speak against the Most High and oppress His saints, and try to change the set times and laws.” (Dan 7:25) Paul calls this man the “lawless one”, a man without God’s law in his arrogant heart. (2 Thess 2:8). In reality the times have already been changed--we no longer are on God’s calendar, but rather, the Gregorian.

 

The word mikrah in Hebrew means holy convocation, a sacred assembly, or even a rehearsal of God’s past, present, and future acts. We see in each festival a remembering or foreshadowing of an aspect of Messiah’s ministry. They represent His sacrifice, resurrection, gift of the Holy Spirit, the Bride’s preparedness, and Messiah’s return to earth to establish His Kingdom and to “tabernacle” with us forever. (Ezek 43:7-9) Finally a third word chag simply means a festive celebration.

 

I believe it is important for the Lord’s people to understand His festivals and set times in this day. It opens up a clear understanding of the Lord’s desire to share His intimacy with us. Perhaps a stirring and a desire will arise in your heart as you study the feasts. It is surely something to pray about and seek the Lord if this is something He is directing you into. If you feel that He is not directing you at this time there is no obligation, failing, or guilt to be laid upon you by Him. All these biblical feasts contain deep treasures of understanding. They paint a prophetic picture of the Lord and His eternal redemptive purposes on the earth. It is good to at least have a basic understanding of them.

 

The early church was led by Jewish believers who kept the feasts of Israel. There is much documentation that the early Gentile Church also followed the Jewish calendar as observed by the apostles. Several historical factors combined to create a version of Christianity that began to be cut off from the roots of the faith delivered by the apostles.

 

One of these factors was the intense Roman hatred and persecution of the Jews, due to the fierce resistance they displayed against the Roman occupation of Israel, (called Palestine by the Romans) during the first and second centuries. It became dangerous for Gentile Christians to associate with synagogues or Judaic practices. To protect themselves from Roman retaliation they began to distance themselves.

 

As Jews began to believe in Messiah, unbelieving Jews would have nothing to do with believing Jews. Often times there was violence associated with this. Paul was often thrown out of synagogues by the unbelieving Jews as they lost members to the new faith.

 

The Greek mindset of reason and philosophy also invaded the thinking of the early church. A Greek would read the Scriptures as a spiritual allegory, as wisdom literature with a deeper meaning. A Hebrew would read the Scriptures as a communication from the unique and holy Creator God, he would read it as a literal and historic document, rather than mystical wisdom.

 

Slowly the church moved away from the biblical foundations, calendar, and teachings of its Hebrew roots. The decisive factor was the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 312 A.D., although he also continued to worship Mithras, the sun god, for the remainder of his life. From this moment on a person merely had to be born to become a Christian, not born again. It was the official religion of the empire.

 

Constantine merged Christianity with Roman culture and religion, and under his rule, a growing bias against Jewish practices and people evolved. During a period of many years the biblical feasts and calendar were deliberately and systematically cancelled and replaced. These changes took place through a series of councils and edicts issued by the empire to the churches. The empire, not the Holy Spirit, now dictated the form and ritual of the church. 

 

The Lord is restoring the knowledge and meaning of His feasts in this day. It is important to have an understanding of them as it illuminates our understanding of the Old Testament and the prophets. As our knowledge grows in this area we will understand God’s heart for His people and the unveiling of His eternal plan for man as written in the Old Testament. We have an amazing God and the Bible is an amazing inspired book!