Day 5 - #obediencechallenge - Lights in the Heavens

If you want to know what this is all about, see my intro post at 30 Days to Better Faith.

If you're following along, we've covered the Sabbath, the dietary commands, and what a Torah Portion is. Today, let's talk about the calendar. God gave a special calendar to the Israelites, which was much different than the calendar we use today (the Gregorian calendar).

God gave us lights in the sky, which we were to use to determine the day and month, as well as the seasons and for signs. Genesis 1:14 states:

"Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years..."

The sun tells us the day and the moon tells us the month.

Let me first say that there is a lot of argument as to exactly how God's calendar is meant to be determined, despite being laid out for us in scripture. Here, I will give you the facts according to scripture, and when I am inserting my opinion, I will let you know as well. I believe that the important thing in trying to use God's calendar is that we are TRYING to keep it, as far as we are able to tell what is correct. One day, Jesus and/or His two witnesses will set everything straight so that confusion no longer exists over exactly how to determine these things.

God's day begins at sunset, and not midnight, as in our Western world. So that means that tonight at sunset, a new day begins. When the sun goes down 24 hours later, that day is over. Sunset to sunset, not midnight to midnight. This concept is found in Genesis 1:5:

"God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day."

The months begin at the new moon aka "rosh chodesh." This concept is found in Exodus 12:2:

"This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you."

Where you see it translated as "month" - the literal words are "rosh chodesh" or "new moon." Here is where a lot of confusion lies. Some will say that the month begins when the first sliver of the crescent is visible.

Others will say that it begins on the true new moon or conjunction (where the moon shows almost no light, except for very little uniform around its edge like a halo).

My opinion: I personally believe the moon begins at the true new moon/conjunction stage. I think there is some negative connotation tied to crescents, and it is a prominent symbol used in the Islamic faith, and I am not sure that it would be something that God would use to mark his times. But that is just my feeling about it.

There are 12 months in God's calendar, with this month being called Iyar.

Tomorrow, we will dig into the moedim, or God's Holy Days, which help us to understand the calendar further.