- 1 Calculating Time on the Hebrew Calendar Harvest Seasons
Verse: Gen 1:5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and
there was morning, the first day. ESV
Genesis 1:14-19; Numbers 10:10; Job 12:7-10; Psalm 19:1-4; Psalm 148:7-10
The Day -Most of the world reckons the day to begin at midnight, 12:00 PM according to our clocks in the various time zones. The Hebrew day begins at sundown and goes to the “next” day at sundown. This comes from Genesis 1 in the creation account where “the evening and the morning” defined a day. This is repeated in Genesis 1:5,8,13,19,23,31. The order of the day is consistent first the evening (night hours) then the morning hours (daylight hours). YHWH told the Hebrews (Lev 23:32) to keep Yom Kippur from evening to evening so Jewish holidays always begin at sundown, which is when the day begins. My Western mind thinks that my new day begins when I wake up in the morning, but the biblical paradigm is completely different. Add to this the fact that the Hebrew day actually begins at different times as calculated on our clocks. Sundown occurs an hour later in June than it does in December in
Minnesota. And, sundown in New York City will be different from sundown in Florida even on the same calendar day. Nevertheless, the Yom Kippur instructions do not alter, it is to be observed from sundown to sundown.
God is intimately familiar with these nuances, and He knows our perspective as well as our location. I believe that it is no mistake that we are required to observe the “stage” (sunrise, sunset, etc.) of the day rather than the calculated hour (according to a clock). YHWH desires to have a personal relationship
with us and He meets with us in His appointed times right where we are located. These are the appointments calculated by the great universe He alone created. The sun, moon, and stars are His great “clock” that we get to see and marvel upon.
Gen 1:14-15 And 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, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” ESV
For “seasons” OT:4150 is the word “moed” - appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): KJV - appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synogogue, (set) time (appointed). “Moed” is also used for “Feast”. The lights in the heavens help us track God’s appointments, His times of intimacy and gathering
for His people.
The Week
Weeks are 7 days long as in the creation account and the 7th day is set aside as a Sabbath day of rest and completion. The Sabbath finds its origin in Gen 1:1-2:3. God created 6 days and rested on the 7th day. God did not grow weary; rather He rested because His work was completed. God rested in the sense of satisfaction.
A 7th day Sabbath was instituted in the covenant of Moses and it was a “covenant” and a “sign” for the people of Israel.
Exodus 31:16-17 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was
refreshed.' ESV
The restrictions on work had a profound impact on work, travel, and other activities as they do to this day in Israel and with the Jewish people. But the activities, or lack of them, is not an end in itself. The conditions of the covenant were to be a “sign” (Hebrew “owth” Strongs 226) which means a signal
(literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc. It is translated “mark”, “miracle”, “(en-) sign”, “token”. So a sign is something visible that points to or distinguishes something or someone. Just like we have road signs, God has embedded a picture of completion into
the fabric of His calendar every seven days. Ever since Passover, Israel has been displaying the sign of the end, the Sabbath, week after week for thousands of years. This is not about our rules as much as it is about our intended future with YHWH.
Ex 31:12-13
And the Lord said to Moses, 13 "You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. ESV
Months
The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar based on the moon rather than the sun. The new moon marks the beginning of the cycle; it is the New Moon originally based upon the recognition of at least two witnesses in Jerusalem. The Hebrew months vary from 29 to 30 days in length with a 12-month cycle to the year. Since the sun and the moon follow separate orbits that are not precisely coordinated with each other, there is the occasional addition of a month to keep the seasons “on track”. The study of the Hebrew calendar as well as other calendars becomes complex as we contemplate the details of the
seasons. The hours of the rotation of the earth, the rotation of the solar year, and the rotation of the moon around the earth do not click together like the gears of a watch. Calendars and clocks are superimposed and compensated to keep seasons in their seasons.
God established the lunar calendar at Passover.
Ex 12:2-3
This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. ESV
The months were simply numbered with no names. It was not until after the return from Babylon that the Babylonian names were adopted into the Hebrew calendar, and they are still used today. It is significant that the reckoning of time was originally connected to personal observation instead of charts
on our walls and apps on our cell phones.
Again, YHWH is calling us to look and observe the rhythms and the mysteries of His creation, the moons, the Sabbaths, the agricultural seasons, benchmarks, and so forth. His creation is saturated with His thoughts and His marvelous works. So I find the heart of God to be more attached to intimacy, close observation and appreciation than with cold calculation of months and days on a chart.
Ps 19:1-3
19 The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
4 Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber ,and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. ESV
For more on Hebrew calendars see these pages:
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Calendar/calendar.html
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