Rosh Chodesh - A Remembrance for His People...

     ...and you shall know that I am YHVH your Elohim!

Tonight , as the sun sets outside my window and the new crescent moon is just visible, I have the joy of wishing you a Happy New Month (Rosh Chodesh..means "head of the month") and a Happy New Year (Rosh HaShanah...means "head of the year")!

(Actually I can't currently see the thin crescent of moon because of the bright city night lights and all the tall buildings around me...but I look forward to seeing it soon!)


"And יהוה (YHVH) spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you.'"  Exodus 12:1-2

This was one of the very first commandments YHVH gave to the people of Israel as He was about to lead them out of the land of Egypt, where the the sun god Ra was worshipped, into HIS land with HIS yearly calendar of months and appointed times, based on the moon's phases.

The sighting of the new moon sets the beginning of each month and is a critical part of determining the proper timing of each of YHVH's appointed times for His people.

This particular new month is also commanded by God in His Biblical calendar to be the first month of the year!  

He made this the beginning of the year to be a perpetual memorial to His people of the time He brought them out of Egypt...a remembrance for all generations of His mighty work on behalf of His people.


"...so that I show these signs of Mine before him, and that you relate in the hearing of your son and your son’s son what I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them. And you shall know that I am יהוה.”   Exodus 10:1, 2

“And you shall inform your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of what יהוה did for me when I came up from Egypt.’  And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of יהוה is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand יהוה has brought you out of Egypt.  And you shall guard this law at its appointed time from year to year."  

Exodus 13:8-10 

 (referring specifically to the festivals of Passover and Unleavened Bread, also part of the departure from Egypt, also commanded in the first month)

The sad thing is that very few people in the world follow this important command of YHVH (as well as many others).  Christians observe another new year.  Many observant Jews celebrate the official new year at the time of the Feast of Trumpets.  Most of the world has a new year date that is other than what YHVH commanded!
But as for me and my house (which is just me at the present time), I WILL SERVE THE LORD YHVH!

Another sad thing is that many people have taken what YHVH gave as a sign, a remembrance that should point His people to focus on HIM, and instead they have focused on the sign itself.  The moon has become a central element in much of the world's idol worship.

But YHVH tells us in His Word what purpose He had in mind when He created the moon...

Psalm 104:19 says, "He made the moon for appointed times; The sun knows its going down."

The word for "appointed times" in this verse is the Hebrew word "moedim."  

Moedim is the word used even today in the Hebrew language for all of YHVH's commanded and appointed times in the Word (such as the Sabbath, Passover, Sukkot, Yom Kippur, and all the other commanded set-apart days).

YHVH tells us in His Word that He created the moon as a sign of the appointed, set-apart times He has commanded His people to observe....and all of this is for one purpose:  

So we will know that He is YHVH our Elohim (God)...so we will focus on Him always!!

But instead, the moon has become for some a symbol of "mother earth" and other pagan ideas and for others it is something to be worshipped in itself.  Many cultures use lunar calendars, but not in the way YHVH has set up in His Word.
And others go the opposite extreme and say that anyone who follows YHVH's commands regarding the new moon, regarding His set-apart, appointed times and feasts, is actually falling into legalism and is not experiencing the "freedom" of a relationship with God (and yet these same people live daily by a calendar that includes names of false gods such as Saturn in Saturday, Frigga in Friday, Thor in Thursday, Janus in January, Mars in March, Augustus Caesar in August, etc).

Read the rest of Psalm 104...see how the creation is treated in YHVH's Word.  It's all about HIM!
Everything He has created and everything He commands and expects His people to do is all about HIM!
He wants us to be in relationship with Him, and He has made clear the way for that to happen.  (Remember, Yahshua, who is THE answer for the way to life with YHVH, also lived His life in complete obedience to YHVH's Word, His Torah, His commands.)

For many years I followed the traditions of man that said I must do certain things at certain times of the year.  I was taught that these traditions and actions and yearly celebrations are signs of God and His relationship with us (such as Christmas, Easter, etc).

BUT...if they do not fit into His commanded way of life, if they go against what He has commanded, then I don't want to have anything to do with them.

I know this could come across as negative (which I do not want to be).
So let me state it another way...

Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; raise a shout to the Elohim of Jacob. 

Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, the pleasant lyre and with the harp. 

Blow the ram’s horn at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our festival day. 

For this is a law for Israel, and a right-ruling of the Elohim of Jacob. 

He appointed it in Joseph for a witness, when He went throughout the land of Egypt; I heard a language that I did not know. 

He says, “I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were freed from the baskets. 

You called in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you in the covering of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.     Psalm 81:1-7

“And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over your peace offerings. And they shall be a remembrance for you before your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim.”   Numbers 10:10

In my deliberate study of YHVH's Word over the past few years to seek HIS way of life, while learning about how to keep the set-apart times He has commanded, I noticed how important the monthly moon phases were in many places in His Word.

So, in the past few months I have been reading YHVH's Word to specifically learn more about how He uses the moon every day, every month, every year as a sign of His faithfulness to His people, His desire to dwell in relationship with His people, His plan for LIFE!  

And now whenever I look up in the night (or day) sky and see the moon at various phases, my heart does a little leap of gladness!   At the same time, my mind goes immediately to focus on YHVH, and I say "thank you" for His plans, His faithfulness, His nearness, His mighty works on the behalf of His people!  

In my life up to this point, before I had intentionally read and paid attention to what His Word says about this command of the new month and the new year, seeing the moon in the night sky would not bring any response at all within my heart and mind (except maybe to say "how pretty or how big or how bright the moon is tonight").

But now my heart jumps when I see the moon!  

Why?  

Because I am reminded of so much of His goodness, the perfection of His plan, the intricacy and extent of His love for His people!

What a difference it makes to know and follow the Word of YHVH rather than just following traditions of man!  

His commands, precepts, instructions, purposes are so much richer and meaningful than anything man could come up with!  

Why do I waste my time following anything else in this world other than what YHVH has said?  

(good question)

His Word is full of these signs and remembrances!  So many items, events, parts of creation are used by YHVH as memorials for us to constantly remember Him and His faithfulness and His mighty works!

I won't go into details on any of these...you can research more on your own.
But here is only a partial list of what YHVH has given us as signs pointing to Him, remembrances that remind us that He is Elohim:

A rainbow - Genesis 9:15
Circumcision - Genesis 17:11
His NAME - Exodus 3:15, Psalm 135:13, Hosea 12:5
The Festival of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread  - Exodus 12 & 13  (coming up soon!!)
The Stones on the priest's garment  - Exodus 28, 39:7
Tzitzit (tassels on garment corners) - Numbers 15:39-40
The Sabbath  - Exodus 20:8-11; 31:13; Deuternomy 5:12-15; Ezekiel 20:12 etc
The Word of YHVH - Deuteronomy 6; 11:18
The 12 stones at the Jordan River  - Joshua 4
Yahshua - His life, death and resurrection...He is THE sign!  - Isaiah 7:14;  Matthew 16;  Luke 2; Luke 11 (sign of Jonah)
YHVH's sustaining of Israel -  Mary's song in Luke 1
Communion... taking the bread and wine, symbolizing the body and blood of Yahshua -  Luke 22:19; 1 cor 11:24-25


So, as you look at the moon tonight, fix your gaze on YHVH...remember the faithfulness of your Elohim and rejoice! 
Let your heart do a little leap of gladness, and thank Him!

If we really know the Word of YHVH and truly live life in Him the way He has commanded, then we should be reminded of Him continuously throughout every day of our lives!

May this be so as we prepare ourselves for the coming Passover celebration.

Under His never-slumbering watch care,

Gina