So like always, I'm feeling challenged by some people...I don't know them in real life, just through reading their blogs and talking with them through various yahoo groups...here are some of the things I'm being challenged in...I have no resolutions to my wondering thoughts...just lots of questions...lol And without being all legalistic, our family will be going through these questions this year and exploring what God has to show us and teach us...
What calendar should I follow? Daniel 7:25 "He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." Now I realize that we shouldn't be just taking one verse and wonder what it means...lol but after reading the whole chapter 7 of Daniel, I DO wonder what it means and if it's referring to something that happened in that time or is it referring to the calendar that man made which makes no sense really...especially when compared to the lunar calendar, which in my head makes the most sense!
According to Exodus 12:1-2 "1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year." this is in referance to the Passover also stated in Leviticus 23:5 "The LORD's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month." Deut 16:1 "1 Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night." So in those verses, it tells us what month God has stated as the first month of the year. This month is Abib...no where in Scripture have I yet found a place that even states Rosh Hashanah (a Jewish fall festival) to be the new year. Here is some good calendar info...if you're intrigued!
Also, when does our day really begin? Genesis 1:5 "God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day." The term "and there was evening, and there was morning-the ______ day" is used throughout the creation story...to me this means our day starts at sundown and goes until the next sundown. This verse backs up this theory as well, Neh 13:19 "When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over." but then you have verses like this one Gen 19:34 "The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." Just to add to confusion..."In the time of the Roman Empire, the day may have begun at midnight, as indicated by the Gospel of John (4:6; 19:14)." (from above link...)
Is it ok to follow "christian" holidays if we are lovers of the Lord??? or follow the Feasts that He Himself has asked us to remember in Leviticus 23? Here are many thoughts that I share...Grab a cup of coffee though, because it's a very interesting read full of facts and history...
One thing we DO want to remember this year, regardless of what we end up doing with our holidays/feasts, is to remember our Lord. I pray that each and every holiday/feast we celebrate, ultimately points to Him....He is the ONLY reason for us to keep on breathing. We were made for HIS glory!!
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