What’s today’s date? What do you have going on for the rest of this week? Did you have to think about two different calendars? A family calendar and a work calendar? Does your fiscal year start at a different point than the new year? What’s with all the questions? I wanted to prepare your mind for what comes next; God’s calendar doesn’t look like ours, it has different months, and the months have twenty-nine or thirty days, unlike the calendar we are used to; it also has holidays you may not be familiar with or celebrate.
This is what God’s calendar looks like:
Exodus 12:1-3 “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:”
God’s calendar begins in our month of March or April, and they celebrate what we call New Year’s in the seventh month, which is September or October. So what’s up with the difference? Why can’t God just operate on our calendar? I’m pretty sure God’s calendar came first. As believers, we want to be in God’s timing; we obviously can’t throw out our calendars; just as you operate on a yearly and fiscal calendar, you can use the natural calendar and God’s.
God’s calendar gets us out of the natural realm and into God’s way of thinking and doing; it gives life a new order and rhythm. In Exodus 34, Leviticus 23, and Deuteronomy 16, God outlines three feasts for Israel to attend. These are the feasts of the Lord; they were given to the Jewish people, but they are God’s feasts; they are His way of operating.
If you’re wondering, do I have to do this? The answer is no. However, I submit that the right question is: as a Christian, can I celebrate the feast of the Lord? The answer is yes.
The first set of feasts is Passover, Unleavened Bread, FirstFruits, and fifty days later is Pentecost. Jesus died at Passover and rose on Firstfruits, and He sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover, and therefore, as Christians, we can celebrate the feast in its fullness. Just as Jesus fulfilled the spring feasts, He will fulfill the fall feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles; this is the second coming.
I’m sure you’re thinking, but what about Paul saying, ” Don’t let a man judge you concerning feasts and new moon celebrations.” As I said earlier, you don’t have to do this; however, there is a blessing in it. Now, that is not to imply a curse if you don’t. God wants to be close with his people; that’s why He instituted these feasts, to begin with, to call His children to a celebration.
Look at this prophecy concerning the Millennium in Zechariah 14:16-21 “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.”
Isn’t it interesting that the nations must go to Jerusalem for the feast? What about the end of Isaiah’s prophecy, where he speaks of the new heaven and the new earth?
Isaiah 66:20-23 “And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.”
“from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another…” If these things were done away with when the Church was established, why is God reinstituting them? Could it be they were never meant to go away? Could it be that the rhythm of a weekly sabbath and yearly feasts is a blessing from God that we have missed out on in the Church?
I’m going to make a statement that will be hard to deal with; it was hard for me to grapple with when the Lord first showed it to me through some books I read. The question is, did God change His calendar, or did “church fathers”? Did God replace Passover with Easter, or did man? Did God change the Sabbath to Sunday, or did man? Was it God’s original intent for the giving of the Spirit to overshadow the giving of the commands? Without Chanukah, there would be no Christmas. Without Purim, there would be no Passover fulfillment. God doesn’t change. Jesus accomplished the purpose of the sacrificial system, yes, but He is also the celebration point for God’s calendar.
God’s calendar isn’t just for the Jews; it’s for those of us who have been grafted into the olive tree of Israel. These celebrations are a celebration, and they bring a blessing. Each month has specific benefits and warnings, and it is to our advantage to know them. Each month I post about this on Instagram. God has rhythm, and we can enter it when we walk in His time according to His calendar.
Again, this isn’t a legalistic thing or a you have to thing; it’s an opportunity God gives us three times each year to course-correct if we need to (how many times did Israel need to?), and it’s a time to grow in our relationship with the Lord in a unique way. So why pass up such an invitation from the Lord?
Hebrew calendar resources:
You can get yearly calendars from many Judaica websites or Christian ministries that stand with Israel.
Teachings on individual feasts can be found here
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