God's Clock - the Month

The Mazzaroth Defines a Month

The next construct of Time which Yahweh used the Mazzaroth to define is the Biblical month. In English, the connection between the month and the moon is clear. In fact the word "moon" is the root word of the word "month". Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines the word "month" as follows:

A Month is: "a measure of time corresponding nearly to the period of the moon's revolution and amounting to approximately 4 weeks or 30 days or ¹/₁₂ of a year."

But just knowing that the English word "month" is connected to the lunar cycle does not mean that God's original calendation of the month was associated with the moon. After all, the Bible wasn't written in English. For this reason, we need to look at the Hebrew word which is translated as "month" in the Bible.

The Hebrew word which is most often translated as "month" in our English Bibles is khodesh (Strong's Concordance #H2320). For example, khodesh was the original word which is translated as "month" in Exodus 12:2:

Exodus 12:2  "This month (khodesh) shall be unto you the beginning of months (khodesh): it shall be the first month (khodesh) of the year to you." 

When we look khodesh up in the Strong's Concordance (#2320), we find the following meaning:

"the new moon; by implication a month: - month (-ly), new moon."

Thus, in the Bible, "month" is not only associated with the moon, its primary meaning is "new moon". And the term "month" is only the "implication", meaning that it is the length of time it takes to go from one new moon day to the next new moon.

Some have suggested that a month was merely a 30-day count, in the beginning. Thus, one does not need a moon at all in order to define a Biblical month. But anytime we divorce God's TIME from the heavenly lights, we have lost sight of Yahweh's heavenly Clock, and thus have lost touch with Heaven's true Time.

It is true that the week is a simple count of seven days. But the day itself is defined by the heavenly lights (sun by daylight and moon and/or stars by night time). Thus, a week is really counting seven solar/lunar cycles.

Similarly, a Biblical month also is not a simple count of 30 +/- days. Rather it is a count of days with respect to the lunar phase. This is a key not only in determining the start of a Biblical month, but also a Biblical year (which will be explained in more detail in a later blog).

In Exodus 12:2, using the primary meaning of khodesh, we find that the Biblical year begins with a particular New Moon. That one certain New Moon is the first New Moon of the year. 

But the month isn't mentioned in our Genesis 1:14 list of Times established by the heavenly lights... Or is it?

Genesis 1:14  "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons (mo'ed), and for days, and years." 

While it is true that there are no translations of the word "khodesh" in Genesis 1:14, it does say that the heavenly lights were given "for seasons". "Seasons" is Strong's Concordance number 4150 and is translated from the original Hebrew word mo'ed. In looking up the meaning of this word we find the following meaning:

"an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival... feast..."

In Leviticus chapter 23, all the "feasts" (mo'eds) of Yahweh are listed:

Leviticus 23:1-2 "And (Yahweh) spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts (mo'ed, Strong's #4150) of (Yahweh), which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts (mo'ed, Strong's #4150)." 

The word "feasts" which is from the Hebrew word mo'ed, is also translated as "seasons" in Genesis 1:14. Thus we see that the timing for the feasts of Yahweh are determined by the moon. This is certainly suggested by the connection of Leviticus 23's "feasts" with Genesis 1:14's "seasons". But the Bible does actually state that Yahweh gave the moon to indicate the timing of His Seasons:

Psalm 104:19 "He appointed the moon for seasons (feast days, Hebrew: mo'eds)..."

And what are the Feasts (mo'eds) of Yahweh for which He appointed the moon to set the times? According to Leviticus 23, the first mo'ed is the weekly Sabbath. It is the seventh day (counting fully seven solar lunar days). But the remaining mo'eds are determined by the moon only, which is why this break appears in the listing between the Seventh day Sabbath and the remaining Feast days:

Leviticus 23:4  "These are the feasts (mo'ed) of (Yahweh), even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons (mo'ed)." 

In Hebrew, the word "mo'ed" appears twice in Leviticus 23:4. But it is translated differently, first with the primary meaning indicating the annual holy days. But the second time mo'ed is translated as "seasons" because translators understood it was a reference to the moon (Psalm 104:19). 

The Seventh-day Sabbath (weekly Sabbath) which appears in Leviticus 23:3 (the verse just prior to this thought break of verse 4) to indicate that the weekly Sabbath is calculated differently (by 7 light/dark periods, as explained before). But the Feasts which are listed AFTER verse 4 are determined by the moon, hence the use of the terminology "proclaim in their seasons".

The feasts (translated "seasons" in Genesis 1:14), for which the timing is determined by the moon are:

• Passover - the 14th day of the first Biblical month (counting from the first New Moon of the year). (Leviticus 23:5)
• Unleavened Bread - the 15th to 21st days of the first Biblical month (counting from Passover, which is counted from the first New Moon of the year). (Leviticus 23:6)
• Pentecost/Feast of Weeks - After using the first New Moon of the year to determine the timing for Passover and Unleavened Bread, you are able to count to 50 days from the Day of First Fruits, which falls after the Sabbath in the week of Unleavened Bread (counting from Passover, which is counted from the first New Moon of the year). (Leviticus 23:9-16)
• Feast of Trumpets - Again, the heavenly light of the moon is used for timing this annual Sabbath...  The Feast of Trumpets is the seventh New Moon (counting from the first New Moon of the year). (Leviticus 23:23-25)
• Day of Atonement - Atonement is the 10th day of the 7th Biblical month (counting from the seventh New Moon). (Leviticus 23:27)
• Feast of Tabernacles - The Feast of Tabernacles is the 15th to 21st day of the 7th Biblical month (counting from the seventh New Moon). (Leviticus 23:33-35)

Having gone through the "Feasts" (mo'eds) listed in Leviticus 23, which is the same word translated as "seasons" in Genesis 1:14, we can see how the heavenly lights (of which the moon is part) are used to determine Yahweh's "Seasons". Once again, no part of the Heaven's Time is disconnected from the Mazzaroth.

Genesis 1:14  "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons (mo'ed), and for days, and years." 

We want to re-tune ourselves, realigning with Yahweh's Clock. In so doing, we'll be better able to worship Yahweh at His appointed times. And the first step in this re-alignment process is reconnecting to His Time through discerning the Mazzaroth (sun, moon, stars, etc...)

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