Who's New Year?
28/12/08 17:49
In just a few short days from now, most of the world will usher in the “New Year” with huge celebrations and parties. Many will be looking forward to what the next year has in store and happy to be seeing the end of the present year. This year especially, with all of the problems that this nation faces in the months ahead, people are looking more than ever at the New Year as a new beginning. The new President will take office and a new administration will begin governing this country.
A lot of people make promises and resolve to make changes in their lives as the New Year begins. Most of these New Year’s resolutions will be tossed out within the first few weeks of the New Year’s beginning and in a very short time will be forgotten altogether as people resume their normal routines after the holiday season. Just as with the observance of the Christmas holiday, most people will observe the New Year celebration without even stopping to think about why.
Man’s New Year begins in the middle of the night, in the dead of winter. It is a time when most of the living things in our environment are dead, or in a state of suspension for the winter. The trees have lost all of their leaves and stand bare, the grass has all turned brown and appears dead, no flowers are anywhere to be seen and in most places snow covers the ground giving everything the same stark, white appearance. The sky is cloudy and gray for days on end and the daylight hours are short providing much less light then at any other time of year.
In contrast, God’s New Year begins in the spring. God tells us exactly when the New Year begins:
Exodus 12:1
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
What month was God referring to?
Deuteronomy 16:1
2 "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
So here the month is identified for us, the month of Abib. This month is now called Nisan in the Jewish calendar. When we examine where God placed and fixed the beginning of the year, we can clearly see the incredible mind of God for doing so.
The month of Abib, or Nisan as it is called today, occurs in the spring. Spring is a time of rebirth, of newness of life. All around trees are coming back to life and beginning to bud with blooms and leaves. The grass begins to grow and turn green, flowers are coming up everywhere and insects begin to come forth. Many of the animal species give birth to their young just before, or right at springtime. The whole earth is coming back to life after a long winter. The sun shines brightly, bringing warmth back to the land and the days begin to grow longer providing more light.
The observance of Passover also takes place in the first month, at the beginning of the year. The Passover pictures a beginning of new life for those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and the Passover they receive from the death penalty for sin. God fixed and appointed times for a reason, springtime is a time of rebirth and new beginnings. In His perfect wisdom, God fixed His New Year at that time where it makes complete and perfect sense. What God has set in place, cannot be changed.
Man has corrupted and polluted the true New Year, God’s New Year, and placed it where it does not belong. God does not tell us anywhere in His word to celebrate a New Year. Man has incorporated pagan celebration and traditions and made them into a false New Year beginning, that holds no meaning at all. God has clearly fixed and appointed the days and observances that He wants us to keep forever. Leviticus 23 lists all the appointed days and observances of God and they are still valid for us today. God says they are to be kept as an ordinance (a fixed observance) forever, throughout all of our generations (Leviticus 12:24-25).
Until next time…
A lot of people make promises and resolve to make changes in their lives as the New Year begins. Most of these New Year’s resolutions will be tossed out within the first few weeks of the New Year’s beginning and in a very short time will be forgotten altogether as people resume their normal routines after the holiday season. Just as with the observance of the Christmas holiday, most people will observe the New Year celebration without even stopping to think about why.
Man’s New Year begins in the middle of the night, in the dead of winter. It is a time when most of the living things in our environment are dead, or in a state of suspension for the winter. The trees have lost all of their leaves and stand bare, the grass has all turned brown and appears dead, no flowers are anywhere to be seen and in most places snow covers the ground giving everything the same stark, white appearance. The sky is cloudy and gray for days on end and the daylight hours are short providing much less light then at any other time of year.
In contrast, God’s New Year begins in the spring. God tells us exactly when the New Year begins:
Exodus 12:1
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
What month was God referring to?
Deuteronomy 16:1
2 "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.
So here the month is identified for us, the month of Abib. This month is now called Nisan in the Jewish calendar. When we examine where God placed and fixed the beginning of the year, we can clearly see the incredible mind of God for doing so.
The month of Abib, or Nisan as it is called today, occurs in the spring. Spring is a time of rebirth, of newness of life. All around trees are coming back to life and beginning to bud with blooms and leaves. The grass begins to grow and turn green, flowers are coming up everywhere and insects begin to come forth. Many of the animal species give birth to their young just before, or right at springtime. The whole earth is coming back to life after a long winter. The sun shines brightly, bringing warmth back to the land and the days begin to grow longer providing more light.
The observance of Passover also takes place in the first month, at the beginning of the year. The Passover pictures a beginning of new life for those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and the Passover they receive from the death penalty for sin. God fixed and appointed times for a reason, springtime is a time of rebirth and new beginnings. In His perfect wisdom, God fixed His New Year at that time where it makes complete and perfect sense. What God has set in place, cannot be changed.
Man has corrupted and polluted the true New Year, God’s New Year, and placed it where it does not belong. God does not tell us anywhere in His word to celebrate a New Year. Man has incorporated pagan celebration and traditions and made them into a false New Year beginning, that holds no meaning at all. God has clearly fixed and appointed the days and observances that He wants us to keep forever. Leviticus 23 lists all the appointed days and observances of God and they are still valid for us today. God says they are to be kept as an ordinance (a fixed observance) forever, throughout all of our generations (Leviticus 12:24-25).
Until next time…