Was the Beginning of the Calendar Year Changed?

 

Recently, in a group Bible study we were discussing the flood, and the dates listed in the flood account in Genesis, and we brought up the teaching that the Hebrew calendar didn’t always begin in the spring but began in the fall. A couple people mentioned this and then quickly moved on without really going into it, leaving those who hadn’t heard this teaching before a little caught off guard and without the full context of what the theory actually was. The purpose of this post is to explore this subject a little bit and provide context for what was glossed over.

First of all it needs to be stated that this is a conjecture based on an implication that some teachers and scholars (not all) teach and, while I tend to think that it holds a lot of water, I can’t say that it’s a 100% sure thing.

In Exodus 12:2, when YHWH was giving the Passover instructions to Moses He said, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.” The implication people are seeing is that if Moses is instructed that the month of the Exodus is going to be beginning of months, YHWH was saying it because this was a change from the traditional beginning of months. The New Commentary on Holy Scripture commentary says this:

Before the Exile the Hebrew year began in the autumn (23:16), but after the Return the Babylonian custom of beginning the year in the spring was adopted^[1].

To add further context, the IVP Biblical Background Commentary says:

This event established Abib (later called Nisan) as the first month in the religious calendar of Israel. By the civil calendar, Tishri, six months later, was the first month, and thus the month that “New Year’s Day” was celebrated. The Israelite calendar was a lunar calendar with periodic adjustments to the solar year. Abib began with the first new moon after the spring equinox, generally mid-March, and went through mid-April. ^[2]

There are other commentaries which say similar things (Bible Knowledge Commentary, Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, Faithife Study Bible, etc.). However, there are scholars who disagree with this hypothesis. In fact, Michael LeFebvre, in his book The Liturgy of Creation postulates that the narrative of the Ark and it’s landing on dry ground in Genesis 8:13-14 is an argument for this event happening in the spring. He says that it’s not difficult to see the New Year’s relevance of this moment and that the Hebrew would have been able to associate with Noah when spring was upon them and new life was springing up all around them. It would be like they were seeing the new life which Noah saw after he exited the ark.[3] Jacob Milgrom, who is probably the biggest name in the study of the book of Leviticus (and wrote a 2700 page, super in-depth commentary on it) makes the argument that there is no proof that the Israelites ever kept a calendar which begins in the fall (Tishri) but he acknowledges that there is more than ample evidence that other surrounding cultures did have two different months which marked the new year[4]. For those who might want to look into this source, I would probably suggest Milgrom’s less scholarly (and much easier to follow) Continental Commentary on Leviticus[5].

This actually gets into a whole different topic of how Yom Teruah became the Jewish Rosh Hashannah, and that is an altogether different post, which deserves its own space.

The truth of it is that many Christians have seen that if there was a calendar switch, and the 7^th month mentioned in Genesis 8 was actually the 1^st month at the time of Jesus, then the 17^th day of the seventh month would be the allow for the date of the ark resting on dry land to be the same day that Jesus rose from the grave. Seeing the significance of it, many Christians are anxious to go along with the calendar switch hypothesis. 

On a personal note, if there was no calendar switch (and Exodus 12:2 was simply placing greater importance on an already existing traditional new year) then the 17^th day of the 7^th month happens to be my and my wife’s anniversary, and I’m perfectly happy with that taking place on the same day the ark came to rest, marking a new beginning.

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^[1] Brown, S.L., “Exodus,” in A New Commentary on Holy Scripture: Including the Apocrypha, ed. Charles Gore, Henry Leighton Goudge, and Alfred Guillaume, vol. 1 (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1942), 76.

^[2] Matthews, Victor Harold, and John H. Walton., The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Ex 12:1–11.

[3] LeFebvre, Michael. The Liturgy of Creation: Understanding Calendars in Old Testament Context. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019, 62.

[4] Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 23-27: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Yale University Press, 2001, 2011-2018.

[5] Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus: A Book of Ritual and Ethics: A Continental Commentary. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004, 280.

 

Love Never Fails, But We Sure Do

 

In Part One of this series on love we looked at love in general, and then more specifically who we’re supposed to love. In this second part I wanted to take the time to look at how we’re supposed to love. The best way to do this is to go to the place in the Bible that is read most when you’re talking about love. It’s the part of the Bible that’s read at almost every wedding. It’s 1 Corinthians 13. We’ll be looking specifically at 1 Cor 13:4-7.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

While we often hear these verses at weddings, it should be noted that the word translated as ‘love’ here is agape and not eros. This is the kind of love that we’re supposed to be showing to everyone around us, not just our husband or wife. The next verse, right after we read that love endures all things, starts out by telling us that…

Love. Never. Fails.

… So we need to realize that if we don’t see the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 applying to us and our treatment of those around us, it’s not love that’s failing, it’s us.

Using this passage as a measuring rod against how the Evangelical Church is doing right now is heart breaking. My heart is breaking for the people of the LORD. My heart is breaking because we’re not being who we’re supposed to be. My heart is breaking because we’re shocked that the world isn’t being drawn to our light, without realizing that we’ve turned the dimmer down so low that they can’t even see it. Hide it under bushel? Yep. My heart is breaking because I love my King and He misses His children.

Love suffers long and is kind I see a people who are offended at the mere thought of suffering, and they need to get their reward immediately. They are not long-suffering. I see a people who are barbarous in their malignity. They are not kind.

Love does not envy I see a people who look at those around them and can’t stand if they don’t have everything their neighbors have. They are full of envy.

Love does not parade itself I see a people who need to be the first in line and beat their chest to let you know that they are supposed to be at the head of the table. They parade around, showing off their superiority.

Is not puffed up I see a people who are not able to be in second place; they have turned their election into a thing to lord over those around them, and they are at risk of losing it. They are the definition of puffed up.

Does not behave rudely I see a people who can’t help but seek to cut you down and call you names if you disagree with them. They are the rudest of the rude.

Does not seek its own I see a people who are so offended at the thought of ‘suffering’ that they run away from all of the people who disagree with them and sit in the stew of their own hatred all by themselves, with only those who agree with them around them. They seek their own and won’t suffer anyone else.

Is not provoked I see a people who are aroused to anger at even the thought that someone disagrees with them. They are the most easily provoked people I see.

Thinks no evil I see a people who focus on the malice all around them, and plan their actions based on the evil they see. They think about evil before they think about good, and their actions are solely based on all of the evil they see.

Does not rejoice in iniquity I see a people who make light of the sinful ways of their leaders, while being sure to tell you how full of sin their opponents are. They rejoice in the iniquity of others, while making excuses for the iniquity of their own.

Rejoices in the truth I see a people who love to twist facts in order to make their points. It doesn’t matter so much to them that their ‘facts’ are right, so long as there’s a scent of truth to them, and it helps them win an argument. They do not rejoice in the truth, unless it’s a truth that helps them.

Bears all things I see a people who positively can’t endure anything in their life which they don’t agree with, and they’ll let you know all about it, all the time. They are unable to bear anything uncomfortable.

Believes all things I see a people who look for conspiracies at every turn and won’t be bothered with hearing how there could be a different way of looking at it. They would rather seek out reasons to not believe before even testing with Scripture.

Hopes all things I see a people who doesn’t have a hope that good things can come out of things they disagree with, as if God isn’t powerful enough to work all things for good. They are tragically hopeless and have no faith in God’s power.

Endures all things I see a people whose roots are so flimsy that the slightest breeze blows them over. This people cannot, and will not, endure real persecution, should they ever see it.

People of God, we need to be willing to repent of our unloving ways. We have left our first love and it’s obvious to the world around us. They want nothing to do with our King because of the way that we’re representing Him. So often, in the Christian community, I hear, “if you’re being persecuted then you must be doing something right.” Well, while it’s true that we should be willing to enter into persecution for the sake of our allegiance to the King, sometimes we’re not being persecuted so much as mocked, and we’re mocked because of our poor representation of our King, not because we’re doing something right.

My heart is breaking.

My heart is breaking because His heart is breaking.

Return to your first love. Find the Jesus who shattered the chains in your life. Yes, be zealous for righteousness, but do it like Jesus. The only people He ever showed a temper to were the supposed religious, not the sick and hurting. Right now, we are acting like the Pharisees whom he called hypocrites and vipers.

Remember the Jesus who saved you. Remember the Jesus who loved you when you were unlovable. Remember the Jesus who reached out to you and brought you into the fold when you didn’t even know you were lost. Remember that Jesus, and model yourself after Him.

Love. Never. Fails.

What Is Love?

This is going to be a two-parter. The first part is going to be a lot more like what I usually write. The second part is going to be a lot more difficult, and I’ve had to pray about whether or not I should even post it, but so far, the answer I’ve gotten is, post it. So, enjoy this first part, and, well, I ask that you read the second part, too.

There are few things more important in life than love. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean a romantic sort of love, though this definitely can be an important part of your life. The intent of this post isn’t to get into the different meanings of the different forms of love in the Greek, but it’s important to understand that there are three different kinds of love in the Greek language: Agape; Eros; and Philos. That romantic love is, as can probably be guessed, eros. Philos is the love you have for your brother. Maybe the easiest way to keep this straight is being thinking about the city of Philadelphia. Philos, as we’ve said, is one of the words used in Greek for ‘love’. Adelphos is the Greek word for brotherly. This is why Philadelphia is sometimes called the city of brotherly love. Agape is the kind of benevolent love that God has for us.

The first time love is mentioned in the bible is in chapter 22 of Genesis, when God is telling to Abraham to take his son “who he loves” to be sacrificed. There’s a different rabbit trail which could be gone down which deals with how Abraham’s willingness to give up his own son, even though he had great love for him, is pointing toward that John 3:16 moment where, because of His great love for the world He created, He was willing to give up His own Son in order that the world might be saved. In fact, I think it should be pointed out that when we think about John 3:16 we don’t often put Abraham in the mix. We think of God as an impersonal being who just did what He had to do and we forget that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac was meant to show us a piece of the story of in the life of Jesus, as well. As much as we can imagine it was difficult and painful for Abraham, it’s worth imagining that God felt that, too. In fact, when the Septuagint – which is the Greek version of the Old Testament which was completed more than 200 years before the time of Jesus, and is the version of the Hebrew Scriptures that the Apostolic Fathers used when quoting the Old Testament in the books of the New Testament – records the account of Abraham and Isaac, it uses the word agape, and not one of the other forms of love.

Why, then, is it important to know the differences between these different loves?

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

If, as disciples of our Lord, Jesus, the world around us is supposed to be able to tell that we are disciples of His by the love we show for one another, it’s probably important to know which kind of love it is that we’re supposed to be showing. You’ve probably already guessed that the word for love used in this verse isn’t eros, though that would make for a much more absurdly funny (and hedonistic) Christianity. So the question is, are we supposed to be known by our philos for one another, or our agape for one another? Are we supposed to be known for our brotherly love, or for our self-sacrificing, godly love? I could just tell you, or you could just look it up real quick, but I want to point out something else Jesus said a few minutes after He told his disciples that they will be known by their love for one another. In John 15:12-13 Jesus says,

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

This probably makes it pretty obvious but the kind of love we’re supposed to be known by is our agape for one another. So, the next obvious question would have to be, who is ‘one another’? Are we just talking about other Christians, or are talking about everyone?

I want to start out by saying that even if we’re talking about just the Christians, this is not an easy task. There are Christians who are doing terrible things, some of them even (erroneously) doing terrible things in the name of the Lord. So even if this command from Jesus just means that we need to love our fellow Christians so much that those in the world around can see that we’re different because of the love that we’re showing for them, this is not going to be an easy commandment to follow. But… what if it’s the other one? What if, when Jesus says that we’re supposed to be able to be known as His disciples by the way we show love, He means to everyone?

When, in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus was approached by a man who was an expert in the Torah and asked how one inherits eternal life, He responded by asking this expert in the law what the law has to say about it. When this man answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 (love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself) Jesus said that the man was correct. In this we can see that, to love the LORD is to love your neighbor, because all people were created as image bearers of the LORD. Here’s the part that I think is pertinent to what we’re talking about, when the expert in the law heard Jesus agree with him, he automatically tried to limit who would be considered his ‘neighbor’ so Jesus, seeing what he was doing, told the parable of the Good Samaritan, where He makes it abundantly clear that all people, even the person you hate, is your neighbor.

When we question whether we’re supposed to be known by our love to everyone, and attempt to argue that we’re only supposed to be known by our love for other believers, we’re doing the same thing the expert in the law did when he questioned who his neighbor was. And Jesus has an answer for that (Luke 10:30-37).

This is why, when I read the command of Jesus to love one another in order to be known as one of His disciples, I read it to mean that we’re supposed to love everyone, and not just other Christians. I’ll not be the one potentially putting a muzzle on the love we’re supposed to show our neighbor. I don’t want anyone to be able to question whether I’m a disciple of King Jesus. If I want to shout from the rooftops that I am a disciple of King Jesus, He says that we do that by loving those around us. Sure, post it on your Facebook wall, but that’s not the command of Jesus; the command of Jesus is to self-sacrificially love those around you, even unto death.

In the second part of this series I will look at what love really is, and how we’re failing miserably at it.

Click here to read Part Two.