Yahweh’s Calendar
Yahweh in His wisdom has given us a calendar in the sky for all to see. He uses the sun and the moon to establish days, weeks, months, years, and His appointed times. Therefore a saint of Yahweh must use both the sun and the moon as prescribed by Elohim in His Word to establish Our Creator’s calendar. If we don’t follow Yahweh’s calendar as prescribed in His Word, than we will not be able to meet him at His Holy appointed times including the weekly Sabbath, all His Feast days, and His New Moon day. It makes logical sense that if you had a meeting with the most powerful person of the whole world you think that you would want to meet that person at the time they set. Selah (i.e. think about it).
Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs (#226), and for seasons (better translated appointed times-#4150), and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And Elohim made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And Elohim set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Elohim saw that it was good.
0226 owth {oth} • probably from 0225 (in the sense of appearing); TWOT – 41a; n f • AV – sign(s) 60, token(s) 14, ensign(s) 2, miracles 2, mark 1; 79 • 1) sign, signal 1a) a distinguishing mark 1b) banner 1c) remembrance 1d) miraculous sign 1e) omen 1f) warning 2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof
4150 mow`ed {mo-ade’} or mo`ed {mo-ade’} or (fem.) mow`adah (2 Chr 8:13) {mo-aw-daw’} • from 03259; TWOT – 878b; n m • AV – congregation 150, feast 23, season 13, appointed 12, time 12, assembly 4, solemnity 4, solemn 2, days 1, sign 1, synagogues 1; 223 • 1) appointed place, appointed time, meeting 1a) appointed time 1a1) appointed time (general) 1a2) sacred season, set feast, appointed season 1b) appointed meeting 1c) appointed place 1d) appointed sign or signal 1e) tent of meeting
Leviticus 23:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts (better translated appointed times – #4150) of Yahweh, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
4 These are the feasts (better translated appointed times – #4150) of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Let us begin understanding Yahweh’s calendar by looking at (1) Yahweh’s Day, (2) Yahweh’s Week, (3) Yahweh’s Month, and (4) Yahweh’s year.
(1) Yahweh’s Day
First of all, days are determined by the sun as we just read in Genesis 1:14. We know the sun gives us light to divide the part of the day that has light from the part of the day that has darkness or night. Days begin and end at evening. Most believers use sunset to start the day, but the Scriptures are clear that the day starts at evening. The English word “evening” comes from the Hebrew word “ereb”. “Ereb” can encompass the time just before and after sunset.
We find the day starting at evening in Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31, where the Scriptures read, “the evening and the morning were the first day”, the second day, etc. And as we see in Daniel, the term morning can mean the entire daylight part of the day. And evening can mean the entire darkness of the day.
Daniel 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
And we know that we are supposed to give thanks to Yahweh throughout the whole day and we see in the following Psalm morning is again meant to mean the whole daylight time.
Psalm 92:1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto Yahweh, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
Let us continue to review the definition of a “day”. What is mentioned first in the Genesis creation record—darkness or light?
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Darkness was there even before the light was introduced. Logically speaking, the light that came later cannot be placed ahead of darkness in regard to time. That is exactly what the word of Yahweh says about each creation day—darkness first, light next.
We also see clearly in Nehemiah the Sabbath day beginning at sunset.
Nehemiah 13:19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.
“Began to be dark” is the time when the sun is beginning to set. Therefore the gates were closed at evening just before the Sabbath commenced.
We also see the day ending at sunset based on the law of paying laborers.
Deuteronomy 24:14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: 15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto Yahweh, and it be sin unto thee.
Lastly, we see in Leviticus 23:32 and Exodus 12:18 Yahweh’s feast days going from evening to evening.
Leviticus 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
(2) Yahweh’s Week
What we find in the Scriptures over and over is that Yahweh week consists of a seven day cycle; six work days, followed by a Sabbath or seventh day of rest, which was instituted at creation.
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day Elohim ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which Elohim created and made.
In fact the Hebrew word “Sabbath” means “rest”. Yahweh’s week is seven days and is tied to His weekly 7th day Sabbath.
The Strong’s Lexicon defines “week” (#7620) as:
7620 shabuwa` shaw-boo’-ah or shabuan {shaw-boo’-ah}; also (feminine) shbu.ah {sheb-oo-aw’}; properly, passive participle of 7650 as a denominative of 7651; literal, sevened, i.e. a week (specifically, of years):–seven, week.
And the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states:
Shabua – period of seven, a week, the Feast of Weeks. This term occurs twenty times in the OT, always indicating a period of seven. Indeed, the word obviously comes to us from sheba (q.v.) and could literally be translated always as “seven-period.”
Notice that this reference says “Shabua” is derived from “Sheba.” The word translated “Seven” all throughout the scriptures is “sheba.”
7651 sheba` sheh’-bah or (masculine) shibrah {shib-aw’}; from 7650; a primitive cardinal number; seven (as the sacred full one); also (adverbially) seven times; by implication, a week; by extension, an indefinite number:–(+ by) seven(-fold),-s, (-teen, -teenth), -th, times). Compare 7658.
“Shabua” is just another form of the same word. “Sheba” is translated “seven” over 350 times in the Scriptures.
Clearly the word “week” cannot be separated from the number seven. The entire reason a “week” is called a “shabua” is because it always contains seven days. This being the case, a week cannot be 8 or 9 days as may lunar Sabbath folks keep.
The problem with the lunar Sabbath is that a person could potentially work 7-8 days rather than the 6 that Yahweh commanded, and rest on the 8th-9th day instead of the 7th day that Yahweh commanded. Or a person could work 6 days and have a Sabbath rest for two to three days on the 7th, 8th and possibly the 9th day. With either method, Yahweh’s command to work six days and rest on the seventh is ignored at the end of every month.
If Yahweh was expecting man to work six days and keep the Sabbath on the seventh day on an uninterruptible recurring pattern (i.e. Yahweh’s week), it would be easy to see that all He needed to do was command us to do our work for six days and rest on the seventh — no further explanation needed.
And that’s exactly what He did:
Exodus 20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim.”
Exodus 23:12 “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest.”
Exodus 31:15 “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahweh.”
Exodus 31:17 “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ “
Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest;”
Exodus 35:2 “Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to Yahweh”.
Deuteronomy 5:13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim.
If we start without any fanciful ideas, and just take the Scriptures for what they say, not adding anything to it, we could only arrive at the understanding that Yahweh’s Sabbath falls on an uninterruptible seven day (weekly) rotation. There really isn’t room for any other possible interpretations. Six days you labor and you rest on the seventh.
The fact that Yahweh blessed and sanctified one specific day… clearly demonstrates that a cyclic pattern is to follow. If that cyclic (recurring) pattern is ever interrupted by extra days, the one specific day (the 7th day) disappears! If Yahweh wanted to sanctify and bless the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month, He would need to say that He blessed and sanctified those specific days of the month.
The truth is, the concept of a week extending to 8 or 9 days is foreign to Scripture. In fact, it is a direct contradiction of Scripture. In Hebrew, the number seven and the word translated “week” are both rooted in the same Hebrew word which simply means “seven.” For more information on Yahweh’s Sabbath, please read “The Fourth Commandment”.
(3) Yahweh’s Month
Yahweh’s months are determined by the moon and are extremely important in a saint determining the Almighty’s Feast Days.
Psalm 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons (better translated appointed times – #4150): the sun knoweth his going down.
Psalm 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon (#2320), in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the Elohim of Jacob.
Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon (#2320) to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Yahweh.
2320 chodesh {kho’-desh} • from 02318; TWOT – 613b; n m • AV – month 254, new moon 20, monthly 1, another 1; 276 • 1) the new moon, month, monthly 1a) the first day of the month
2318 chadash {khaw-dash’} • a primitive root; TWOT – 613; v • AV – renew 7, repair 3; 10 • 1) to be new, renew, repair 1a) (Piel) 1a1) to renew, make anew 1a2) to repair 1b) (Hithpael) to renew oneself
We see in Scriptures that moon (#2320) comes from the Hebrew word “chodesh”. And this Hebrew word “chodesh” is translated not only as moon or new moon, but month. In fact this Hebrew word is mainly translated as month in the Scriptures. Let us look at a few examples.
Numbers 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days (#4150), and in the beginnings of your months (#2320), ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim: I am Yahweh your Elohim.
Exodus 40:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses, saying, 2 On the first day of the first month (#2320)
Ezra 7:8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month (#2320), which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 For upon the first day of the first month (#2320) began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month (#2320) came he to Jerusalem
Although the Hebrew word “chodesh” is mainly translated “month”, not “new moon” the primary meaning of “chodesh” is actually “new moon” which starts the first day of the month. Only by extension did it come to mean “month”, that is, the period between one new moon and the next.
The meaning of “chodesh” is also tied to the first day of the month as we see preserved in a number of passages such as 1 Samuel 20:5, in which Jonathan says to David “Tomorrow is the new moon (#2320 chodesh)”. Clearly, in this verse “chodesh” is used to refer to a specific day on which the month begins and not the entire month. Another passage which uses “chodesh” in its primary sense is in Ezekiel 46:1 which talks about “the day of the New Moon (#2320 chodesh)”.
1 Samuel 20:5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon (chodesh #2320), and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.
18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon (chodesh #2320): and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.
24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon (chodesh #2320) was come, the king sat him down to eat meat.
Ezekiel 46:1 Thus saith the Sovereign Yahweh; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon (chodesh #2320) it shall be opened.
Months are determined by the first visible crescent moon at sunset in Jerusalem. Why the first visible crescent moon in Jerusalem and not the conjunction as many use?
Many people have been led astray by the inaccurate use in modern languages of the term “New Moon”. Modern astronomers adopted this otherwise unused term, which had always referred to the first visible crescent, and used it to refer to the conjunction (when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, at which time it is not visible). The astronomers soon realized that the inaccurate use of the “New Moon” to refer to conjunction would lead to confusion so to be more accurate scientists now distinguish between the “Astronomical New Moon” and “Crescent New Moon”.
After much prayer and guidance by the Holy Spirit, we rejected the conjunction method of calculating the New Moon. One of the biggest reasons was that we could not get around the fact that Messiah kept the Feast Days of His time and did not once mention that they were on the wrong days (see Matthew 26:17-18, John 7:1-14, etc.). There is absolutely no doubt that the Jews of the time marked the New Moon by the first visible crescent moon in Jerusalem. The leading historical records and expert scholars are dogmatic and unanimous on this subject. Without this information, it would be easy to buy into the idea that the conjunction sets the New Moon day.
The sighting of the first sliver or crescent of the New Moon marks the beginning of the months. And this first visible crescent moon sighting is from Jerusalem, out of which goes Yahweh’s law.
Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the El of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
Michah 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the Elohim of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
Although the sighting of the first visible crescent happens in Jerusalem, there is up to a 24-hour delay before believers should begin the New Moon Day and the new month at their locale. What believers must do is simply wait until sunset in their area to start the New Moon day and the beginning of the new month, just like the weekly Sabbath. We would not start the New Moon day at 10:00 am in St. Louis just because the first visible crescent has been sighted at that moment in Jerusalem. Another reason for making the New Moon day at sunset in our area after the first visible crescent in Jerusalem is that a day cannot simultaneously be part of the old month and part of the new month.
Other than the first month of the year that is called Abib in Scriptures (Exodus 12:1-2, Exodus 13:4, and Deuteronomy 16:1), months are typically numbered. Examples include 1 Kings 6:1 for the second month, Ester 8:9 for the third month, Jeremiah 39:2 and 52:6 for the fourth month, Numbers 33:30 and Ezekiel 20:1 for the fifth month, Nehemiah 6:15 and Haggai 1:1&15 for the sixth month, 1 Kings 8:2 and Leviticus 23:27&32 for the seventh month, 1 Kings 8:2 for the eighth month, Zechariah 7:1 and Nehemiah 1:1 for the ninth month, Ester 2:16 for the tenth month, Zechariah 1:7 for the eleventh month, and Ester 3:7, 8:12 and 9:1 for the twelve month.
Lastly, months (one new moon to the next new moon) are typically 29 or 30 days in length due to the elliptical orbit of the moon around the earth. And since a lunar year is shorter that a solar year, there is an extra month in the year about every three years. For more information on this topic, please read “The New Moon”. We will end this section with a question that will be answered in the next section about Yahweh’s year; “when does the first month or Abib start?”.
(4) Yahweh’s Year
The year is an astronomical event also determined by the sun.
Genesis 1:14 And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Not only does the sun determine days, it also determine years. So the first thing to acknowledge is the year, which is made up of days, is determined by the sun. Next, we see that the first month “of the year” is Abib.
Exodus 12:1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month (Abib) shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
So, what does “of the year” actually mean? Let us look at Scriptures that use “of the year”.
Numbers 28:14 And their drink offerings shall be half an hin of wine unto a bullock, and the third part of an hin unto a ram, and a fourth part of an hin unto a lamb: this is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year.
1 Chronicles 27:1 Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.
The Scriptures tell us that months are part of the year. So logically, the year must come first before we have the first month “of the year” or Abib. We also see there is a cycle to the year, which has a beginning and an end.
Deuteronomy 11:12 A land which Yahweh thy Elohim careth for: the eyes of Yahweh thy Elohim are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
1 Kings 20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
Exodus 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
That cycle of the year has to be a complete sun cycle.
Psalm 19:4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit (revolution/returning) unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The cycle of the year is the point at which the revolution of the earth around the sun comes to its complete cycle. And that cycle begins and ends at the Vernal or Spring Equinox, which ends Winter and begins Spring. Why the Vernal Equinox? Yahweh’s calendar is also based on agricultural cycles. Yahweh called the first month of the year Abib (Exodus 12:2). The Hebrew word “Abib” refers to a developed grain. This can only happen in the Spring in Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? We know that the law (including Yahweh’s calendar) goes forth from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2).
It is interesting to note that the Vernal Equinox designated the new year up until recent times. In fact, while the Roman Catholic Church introduced the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, the United States still observed the new year at the Vernal Equinox up until 1752. Plus a number of countries including China, Russia, Romania, Greece, and others did not use the Gregorian Calendar until after the 1900’s.
Understanding Yahweh’s calendar is critical to meeting our Creator at His appointed times. These appointed times are time-linked events that will help a saint grow in the grace and knowledge of YahwehShua Messiah.
HalleluYah
(9/21)