God’s Calendar vs. Man’s
Calendar
Back in the 1990’s
you’d see business men with black leather books that looked like Bibles, and
essentially it was their bible, it was their “Day-Timer” or “Day-Runner,” it
was their calendar. It organized their life and set their days and weeks,
filled with appointments, meetings and tasks. It basically dictated, controlled
and managed their work life. Many also had large desk calendars on their desk
before them where they could instantly “pencil” someone in as they were talking
on the phone. Today all that is on their smart phone or tablet.
Ever wonder if God
has a Calendar? Does he have a “Day-Runner” booked with meetings, dates and
appointments? If so, can we see it? Can we know it? Can we even be a part of
it? Can we be “penciled” in to one of His appointments?
In short, Yes He
does. But we have to go back to Genesis to see how God’s calendar is set up and
how He reckons time.
ADONAI gave names to all the days of the week in Genesis 1-2. They are day 1, 2, 3,4,5,6 and Shabbat.
Today, in Hebrew, the days of the week are: Rishon, Sheni, Shlishi, R’vi’i,
Chamishi, Shishi, Shabbat. The week started on the day we call Sunday and ended
on Sabbath, the day we in the western world call Saturday. He also deemed a day
from sundown to sundown and not midnight to midnight. “There was evening there
was morning, the first day.”
“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 (from evening to evening), shall ye
celebrate your sabbath.” – Lev. 23:32
The Hebraic months were originally numbered also but eventually received
names.
If one looks into the matter one will see that even the Hebrew calendar
was not spared from having names associated with pagan deities bled into them.
Rabbi Menachem Posner gives us an explanation for this:
“In the pre-Babylonian era, we find in the
Scriptures only four months on the calendar that are identified by name:
The first month (Nissan):
Aviv
The second month (Iyar): Ziv
The seventh month (Tishrei): Eitanim
The eighth month (Cheshvan): Bul
The second month (Iyar): Ziv
The seventh month (Tishrei): Eitanim
The eighth month (Cheshvan): Bul
The other months were just known by their
place in the calendar—e.g., third month, fourth month—starting from the first
month: first by virtue of the fact that it is the month when our nation left
Egypt, the month when we became a nation.
(Apparently, even the four months that had
names were more often than not referred to by their numeric place on the
calendar, with the names serving as secondary titles accompanying their numbers.)
The Jerusalem
Talmud tells us that the modern names of the months “came up
[to Israel] with [the returnees] from
Babylon,” at the onset of the second Jewish commonwealth, approximately 350
BCE.
So, why did we begin to use these names? Why
didn’t we stick with the biblical practice of referring to months by their
number?
Nachmanides suggests that this is consistent
with Jeremiah’s prophecy: “Therefore,
behold days are coming, says G‑d, and it
shall no longer be said [by one who wishes to pronounce an oath], ‘As G‑d
lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but
rather, ‘As G‑d lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the north
land [Babylon] . . .’”
The original system was to count months in
numeric order, starting from Nissan. Thus, any time a person mentioned a month,
he was in effect recalling the exodus from
Egypt: we are in, say, the sixth month—six months since the month of the
Exodus. Thus, the numeric naming served as a constant reminder of
our deliverance from Egypt.
After we were delivered from Babylonian
captivity, however, we started using the names that we became used to using in
Babylon. And now, these names served to remind us that G‑d has redeemed us from
this second exile.”
A Rabbi at Aish.com weighs in regarding the various names used for
the Hebrew months throughout the centuries:
“If you look in the Bible, you'll see that the
Hebrew months don't have names. Rather they have numbers, counting from the
month of Nissan, which is described as "the first month" (Exodus
12:2).
In 1-Kings 6:2 the month of Iyar is referred to as
the "month of Ziv." The word "ziv" is an adjective and
means "radiance." Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov explains that it is called
"radiance" because in this month the sun is in full radiance.
Similarly, the Jewish people came into full radiance in this month, for they
were made ready to receive the Torah during this month.
1-Kings 6:38 refers to the month of Cheshvan as
"the month Bul," related to the word "baleh" which means,
"withers," and the word "bolelin" which means
"mixed." It is described in this fashion since the grass withers in
this month, and the grain is mixed for the household livestock. The Radak
explains that the word "bul" is related to "yevul" which
means produce, since plowing and planting begins in this month.
Other names we use today are Babylonian in origin,
adapted by the Jews some time during the Babylonian Exile, circa 400 CE.
Ironically, the month of Tammuz is the name of an idol which appeared (via
optical illusion) as if it was crying. This was achieved by putting soft lead
into its eyes, and by kindling a small fire inside, which would melt the lead.
This explains the reference in Ezekiel 8:14: "There were women sitting,
causing the Tammuz to cry."
There are other opinions about the name of this
month. Rashi says that the name Tammuz is an Aramaic word meaning
"heat," since it is a hot summer month… Even though the names of the months are
linguistically speaking Babylonian, they were adopted by the Jews with the
understanding that they were Divinely inspired names, and are laden with
kabbalistic nuances. Based on this, the Sages expounded the names of the months
- e.g. Elul is an acronym for "ani ledodi vedodi li" (I am to my
beloved, and my beloved is to me”), and Nisan is the month of
"nissim" (miracles).”
The months of the
year and the days of the week that we go by in the Western World have been
named after pagan deities.
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The
rest of the months—September, October, November, December—are derived from the
Latin words for the numerals 7, 8, 9, and 10. They were the 7th, 8th, 9th, and
10th months of the old Roman calendar before July and August were inserted
ahead of them.
Satan
knows how to deceive and weasel his way into the masses. He knows how to
sabotage and daily and monthly attempts to divert our acknowledgement and
praise to the One True God; YHWH.
“Their sorrows
shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of
blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.”
– Psa. 16:4
Kind of odd how secular man reckons time, compared to how God reckons
time, we see it’s basically totally the opposite.
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God’s Time
· The day starts and ends at sundown.
· The week starts on Sunday and ends on
Saturday.
· The days of the week are numbered 1-6.
· The months start in the Spring
· Lunar based calendar
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Man’s Time
· The day starts and ends at midnight.
· The week starts on Monday and ends on
Sunday.
· The days of the week are named after
pagan gods.
· The months start in the Winter
· Solar based calendar
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Satan is the great
counterfeiter, he always tries to imitate God, yet at the same time, does the
opposite of Him. Satan even goes so far to have a false Messiah, an anti (another/against)
Messiah!
“And he shall speak great
words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” – Dan. 7:25
“Little children, it is
the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are
there many antichrists;
whereby we know that it is the last time.” – I John 2:18
So basically,
satan will, has and will continue to, set up leaders (false/anti-Messiah’s)
that will do away with God’s Divine Laws (Torah) and change His Divine Calendar
(Lev. 23). This has happened in secular society by the advent of the various
and now current Gregorian calendar, as well as in the realm of religion, for
Christianity by and large, ignores God’s Torah (Laws) and goes by the Gregorian
calendar and its holidays and leaving the Feasts of the LORD by the wayside.
Let take a quick
peek into God’s calendar. What dates does He have marked on it and for what
purpose? In Hebrew, the dates God marks off for a special observance and or
celebration are called the “Moedim,” meaning, the “Appointed Times.” It’s
likened to God setting at date, a romantic date. So who is God going to go out
with to meet? His People, not just Israel, but anyone who has but their faith,
trust, allegiance and worship in the God of Israel and His Messiah. After all
are we not called His Bride? If so, then these Moedim are the dates in which He
wants to take us out on to spend time with us and bless us. Have you ever been stood up on a date,
waiting for hours at a restaurant only to have your date be a no show? How did
that make you feel? We are created in God’s image, so God has emotions too. How
do you think God feels after setting up a date, promising to meet His Beloved
on a particular day and time only to have His Beloved be a no show, but instead
they show up and attend parties set up by their ex-lover? This is how it is when
we forgo the Feasts of the LORD and instead celebrate holidays with pagan
origins.
