" February 2014" 11th Month 5773
"Our" calendar.... YHWH's calendar?
Which one??
"Shedding a little light on the subject" ~ Most people are aware of some of the history behind our modern day calendars, and there is SO much information available on-line or at libraries about the subject-- that I won't even try to explain it here... However, I *would* like to talk a little bit about something I have come to view as the intended way to keep track of time, determine time, and calculate time. It has been "since the beginning of time"-- yet *I* had never even heard of it until a couple of years ago. USING THE MOON'S MONTHLY CYCLE...
We can see that YHWH set the "lights" (sun, moon, and stars) in the "firmament"/heavens/atmosphere for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years (as well as to divide the day from the night and to provide light upon the earth, and to divide the light from the darkness-- Genesis 1:14-19). Yet, I had never heard of actually using them ! Maybe using an almanac now and then to plant your crops (or find out the best time to "cut your hair"!! lol!) But that's about it. But after much thought and reasoning, I have to say I can't see it any other way. It is SO natural and logical. It makes absolute PERFECT sense to me. And it WORKS.
The only way to keep an accurate account of time (for days, months, and years) is to have something that is constant and consistent to count by... the moon! It has a constant and consistent cycle that we can see and follow. The "changing of seasons" is also something we can see... BUT the weather changes aren't as distinct all over the earth, nor is it "on the same clock" from year to year... if you know what I mean-- it may get colder a lot earlier one year than it did the previous year. The Moon, however, follows the same cycle every month continuously. Its pattern is reliable and easily followed. It is YHWH's "clock" for us to live by... and if you've never studied about it, I HIGHLY recommend that you do. It's AMAZING!! :)
[the sun is also reliable, of coarse... "rising" every morning in the east, taking the same trek "across the sky" daily, and then "setting" every evening in the west. But there are NO visible changes in the sun's appearance from day to day. It gives an accurate hourly time-- but not "daily, weekly, or monthly" time. The moon, on the other hand, changes -slightly-night to night. The stars look the same, and we can follow the same constellations taking the same path across the sky every night--looking the same each night. BUT THE MOON changes its appearance nightly :) It's awesome!!]
SO, it becomes pretty obvious that the easiest and most accurate way to mark days, months, and years is by following the moon and its cycles... a "LUNAR" calendar. The calendar 'we' use is a "SOLAR" (sun) calendar. It marks 'time' by how long it takes the earth to make a complete circle around the sun. The lunar calendar marks 'time' by how long it takes the moon to make a complete circle around the earth.
*Below is a video explaining the different cycles of the moon:
"He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down." Psalm 104:19
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Calendar Names:
*The names given to the days of the week and the months of the year (that we use) are NOT given by YHWH. Once again, it's very easy to find the history/background on these names, and I would reccommend that you do. In the book of Genesis, we see the days are only numbered-- not named. And as you read the Scriptures, the days are always referred to by their number-- not a name... which makes sense, because a number remains the same but a "name" can be changed many times over until there is no understanding of "which day" is being referred to. Below is a list of the days of the week with their Hebrew "name"/number...
Hebrew Weekdays
The middle column in the table below gives the actual transliterated pronunciation of the names.
{Yom is pronounced "Yome" }
Secular Weekday Name Hebrew "Name" Hebrew Meaning
Sunday Yom Reeshone First day
Monday Yom Shaynee Second day
Tuesday Yom Shlee' shee Third day
Wednesday Yom Revee' ee Fourth day
Thursday Yom Khah'mee'shee Fifth day
Friday Yom Ha'shee'shee Sixth day
Saturday Shabbat Rest
*The seventh day is the only day that was "given a name", or actually was just referred to using a description of "what it is" rather than the number of day that it was.
I don't see the need to go into detail of the history of the pagan names given to the days, but if anyone is truly interested and is unable to find the information on their own-- contact me and I will try to help :)
The middle column in the table below gives the actual transliterated pronunciation of the names.
{Yom is pronounced "Yome" }
Secular Weekday Name Hebrew "Name" Hebrew Meaning
Sunday Yom Reeshone First day
Monday Yom Shaynee Second day
Tuesday Yom Shlee' shee Third day
Wednesday Yom Revee' ee Fourth day
Thursday Yom Khah'mee'shee Fifth day
Friday Yom Ha'shee'shee Sixth day
Saturday Shabbat Rest
*The seventh day is the only day that was "given a name", or actually was just referred to using a description of "what it is" rather than the number of day that it was.
I don't see the need to go into detail of the history of the pagan names given to the days, but if anyone is truly interested and is unable to find the information on their own-- contact me and I will try to help :)
Babylonian vs. Biblical Calendars
This table is divided into two sections because of the changes made in the calendar as a result of the Babylonian
exile. After the Jews were exiled from Judah to Babylonia in 586 B.C.E., they adopted Babylonian names for the months of the year.
Mo. Babylonian Calendar Biblical Calendar Biblical Feasts
# Babylonian Months Biblical Months
1 Nisan Abib Passover
Unleavened Bread
Firstfruits
2 Iyyar Ziv
3 Sivan 3rd Feast of Weeks
(Pentecost)
4 Tammuz 4th
5 Av 5th
6 Elul 6th
7 Tishri Ethanim Feast of Shofars (Trumpets)
Day of Atonement
Feast of Tabernacles (Succot)
8 Kheshvan Bul
9 Kislev 9th
10 Tevet 10th
11 Shevat 11th
12 Adar 12th
13 *Adar II
* Additional month added during Leap Years. About every 3rd year. There are 7 leap years in a 19 year cycle.
The Biblical Months -
The Month of Abib
EXO 13:4 - This day came you out in the month Abib.
EXO 23:15 - You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed in the month Abib; for in it you came out from Egypt; and none shall appear before me empty;
EXO 34:18 - The Feast of Unleavened Bread shall you keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as commanded
you, in the time of the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt.
DEU 16:1 - Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God; for in the month of b the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
The Month of Ziv
1KI 6:1 - And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
1KI 6:37 - In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Ziv;
The Month of Ethanim
1KI 8:2 - And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is
the seventh month.
The Month of Bul
1KI 6:38 - And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished in
all its parts, and according to all its specifications. And he was seven years in building it.
Biblical References to the Babylonian Months:
NEH 2:1 - And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him; and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad before in his presence.
EST 3:7 - In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
EST 8:9 - Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on its twenty third day; And it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors and the princes of the provinces which are from Hodu* to Kush**, one hundred twenty and seven provinces, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their own language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.
*India
** That is the upper Nile region
NEH 6:15 - So the wall was finished in the twenty fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty two days.
ZEC 7:1 - And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev;
NEH 1:1 - The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Kislev, in the twentieth year, when I was in Shushan the capital,
EST 2:16 - So Esther was taken to king Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.
ZEC 1:7 - On the twenty fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying:
EST 3:7 - In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
EST 3:13 - And the letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate
all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their goods.
EST 8:12 - On one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
EST 9:1 - And in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the
king’s command and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over those who hated them;
EST 9:15-21 - For the Jews who were in Shushan gathered themselves together also on the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the plunder they did not lay their hand.
16. But the other Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the plunder,
17. On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
18. But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day of the month, and on the fourteenth day; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
19. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who lived in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a holiday, and of sending portions one to another.
20. And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,
21. To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
EZRA 6:15 - And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.