The Biblical Calendar

The Full Story:
Why does the "Jewish" Calendar differ from the Biblical (Observational) Calendar?

Genesis 1:14-17 describes the sun, moon and stars as being ordained for signs and seasons, days and years - a calendar! It describes each of these signs serving a specific purpose - the sun to rule the day, the moon to rule the night and the stars to divide the day from the night. The term seasons in the original Hebrew is mow`ed which references the appointed times or festivals as described in Leviticus 23 (not the four seasons based on the equinox/solstice cycle). These festivals are determined by counting the number of days (evening and day) starting with the chodesh (renewed moon). These calendar signs are always described from the perspective of an observer and are referenced as such throughout the Bible. Both English terms month and new moon are always used to translate the Hebrew word chodesh because they are interchangeable in their meaning - therefore the first day an observer sees the new moon (chodesh - better translated as renewed moon), it is the first day of the month to that observer.

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The Bible gives no specific calculations for determining chodesh or any portion of a calendar other than counting the number of days from the chodesh event or counting the number of chodesh events (months) from the first chodesh that occurs with ripened barley, or aviv, found within the fields (chodesh of the aviv). Although man often uses mathematical calculations as tools to help determine when these events will occur, the events themselves will nearly always vary to an observer. Observed months generally last 29 or 30 whole days (chodesh to chodesh), years last 12 or 13 months (chodesh's). By relying on calculation, man essentially replaces the observance of the ordained signs as given within the Bible. Although mathematics is not evil, man's reliance upon it can cause an observer to no longer act on faith by looking to Yehovah's ordained signs, but rather relying on men's mathematical formulas and averages that may or may not be accurate to a particular observer. Additionally, history shows that when man begins to rely on mathematics for telling time, it becomes a casual excuse to add rules and adjustments for simplification and consistency without much concern (such as leap years, date lines and time zones). But the reality is man adding to the scriptures, which the Bible forbids (Deuteronomy 4:2)!

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Finally, these man-made mathematical rules begin to change our way of thinking about time itself causing us to make the Biblical references of His ordained signs seem lacking in detail. Man begins to force these mathematical rules to scripture that should never apply, such as forcing the first day of chodesh to begin on the same day of the week worldwide based on the international date line. Or redefining chodesh as being the dark moon (conjunction) when the earth, sun and moon are mathematically aligned (invisible to an observer). Or delaying the start of a calendar month based on the day of the week or when the calculated conjunction occurs after a digital clock reads 12:00pm in the same timezone as Jerusalem. None of these rules are even remotely described within scripture.

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Neve Shalom would like to thank RenewedMoon.com for this article.

For the current Biblical Calendar, please CLICK HERE.