civil calendar which hangs on your office wall is similar in structure to the calendar that was used in ancient
Egypt. Like its Egyptian ancestor, the civil calendar is governed by the sun alone, and its months (January
to December) are in no way influenced by the moon. In the civil calendar, a new moon can occur on any
day in the month; days begin in the middle of the night (0.00 hour) and years (in the Northern Hemisphere)
begin in the middle of winter on January 1st.
The ―Sacred‖ Calendar
By comparison, the sacred calendar is strikingly different.
In it the days begin and end at sunset when three stars appear in the sky. Months begin at the sighting of a new moon. Years begin in Israel's spring, when nature awakens from its winter sleep (Northern Hemisphere).Not surprisingly, therefore, many creatures from tiny birds keeping to their 14, 21 or 28 day cycles, right
through to the complex human body (i.e., ladies‘ menstruation), are designed to keep in step with the weekly
and monthly periods of the Creator's calendar.
Interesting though these points may be, they are, nevertheless, of small account when compared with these
two all-encompassing facts:
That YHWH's main objective in designing the sacred calendar was to enable His worshippers to
identify and keep their spiritual appointments with Him on the sacred days of His choosing. That the Almighty would never do anything which concerns the human race without first telling His
servants the prophets.―Surely the LORD GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets‖.
(Amos 3:7)The Most High not only reveals His plans to His servants the prophets; but, like every good managing
director, His plans are carried out on schedule - at ―appointed times‖. And those appointed times are all
linked to the sacred calendar, which has been in existence since the creation of the world. We read of the
sacred calendar's use in the account of Noah's flood which was over 800 years before Israel came out of
Egypt.
―In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the
same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened‖.
(Gen 7:11)―And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains
of Ararat‖. (Gen 8:4)―And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month,
the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and,
behold, the face of the ground was dry‖. (Gen 8:13)Here we can see that the sacred calendar was in use many hundreds of years before the first Jew (Judah)
was born. The sacred calendar is, in fact, the oldest calendar known to man; and, if I may put it thus, is the
only one that is linked to the ―diary‖ of YHWH God of Israel. I therefore consider it an inestimable privilege to
tell you about it, to briefly explain its structure and above all, to help you to understand the Book of Matthew
better; and to help you keep your weekly and annual appointments with the Creator of the mighty universe.
With these thoughts in mind, let us begin by defining some of the basic terms used in this section.
What is a Hebrew day and when does it start?
In the sacred calendar, a 24 hour day is the period of time between one sunset and the next. According to
the Scriptures, days begin and end at sunset when three stars appear in the heavens.
Why does the Jewish day start at sundown? Think about it, what makes more sense: for a new day to begin
when the old day ends, or in the middle of the night? That‘s basically why the Jewish day begins at sundown
- it follows the laws of nature. But a fuller understanding of why the Jewish day starts at sundown requires a
quick examination of time.
When YHWH created the universe, He created time, space and matter simultaneously. At the very beginning
of Creation, the clock began ticking at 00:00 at the precise moment space and matter burst into being.