First New Moon of the Year
Every culture around the world celebrates the beginning of a new year, however, it isn’t always celebrated on the same day throughout the world interestingly enough.
Each nation celebrates its New Year’s day at different times for example:
- Iranian – in the spring
- Chinese – in the winter (at the end of January, beginning of February)
- Europeans celebrate the new year from December 31 to January 1.
- Also, people of religious denominations celebrate their new years in accordance with one of these three mentioned above
- The Christian religion celebrates together with Europeans
- Muslims celebrate in the spring
- Various Jewish movements in the fall…
All these dates are not accidental and have their own sacred meanings. So which one is right? The answer to this just might surprise you… None of them.
In general, the very concept of celebrating New Year’s Eve is completely unbiblical (not according to Scripture). It actually came from paganism, along with the corresponding symbols, rituals, and spirits, whose roots go all the way back to Babylon. As believers, we need to use biblical discernment to be able to understand if this feast is pleasing to our Father the Most High, and if it is pleasing to Him, then we need to figure out what day we should celebrate it. The Scripture tell us in the book of Leviticus (Chapter 23) which Feasts we are commanded by the Most High to observe and celebrate. New Year’s Day is not on this list, but this doesn’t mean that celebrating some event like New Year’s Day is a violation of the Law – not at all! There are many holidays in Scripture that the Hebrew people celebrated, however, they are all associated with YHWH Elohim. Purim, Hanukkah, building the Temple, etc. These Holidays are completely voluntary, including the celebration of the New Year (NY).
So when does NY begin, according to the Scripture?
First, let’s start by stating that the celebration of this day should be associated with YHWH and His creation, instead of the worship of pagan gods and pagan traditions.
Scripture says:
Ex.12:1 This month (first month) shall be your beginning (רֹאשׁ ro‘sh) of months; it shall be the first (רִאשׁוֹן ri‘shown) month of the year to you.*
* The beginning of the month of the year is “Rosh Hashanah” in Hebrew. That is, the beginning of the year falls on the first month (in spring), and not on the seventh (in fall), as some Jewish teachings say.
It is interesting to note that this day also coincides with the feast of the new moon. According to the Scriptures, YHWH commanded his people to celebrate the special days of the new moon:
Num.10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed seasons, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your YHWH: I am YHWH your Elohim.
Ps.81:1 To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to YHWH of Jacob. Raise a song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the lute. Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
New Moons fall on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th months of the year. These months foreshadowed the biblical events that happened to Noah and his family and their entire experience with the ark. Therefore, these days should be days of remembrance for us believers:
The Book of Jubilees Chapter 6 And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new moon of the fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh month, and on the new moon of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained as a testimony for ever. And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever, so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him: And on the new moon of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened (the ark) and saw the earth. And on the new moon of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them. And on the new moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah was glad. And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial for ever, and thus are they ordained.
Therefore, the first day of the first month is the Feast that we are commanded to observe. But this Feast is not called NY as we call it today, but rather it is simply called the first new moon of the year. So, this means that we have the official right to mark this day of the first new moon of the month – the beginning of the new year, which YHWH created at the very beginning of His creation!
Also, the new moon of the seventh month coincides with the feast of the Feats of Trumpet (Yom Teruah), so we celebrate a double holiday (new moon and Yom Teruah), with trumpet blasts.
NEW MOON
There are many examples in Scripture related to this day (new moon or new year):
Noah’s ark
The Book of Jubilees Chapter 6 And on the new moon of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened (the ark) and saw the earth.
First Temple
2Chr.2:4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of YHWH your Elohim, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of YHWH your Elohim. This is an ordinance forever to Israel (to the People of YHWH).
2Chr.8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to YHWH on the altar of the Elohim which he had built before the vestibule, according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Times Before the Second Temple
Ezr.3:1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem. Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of YHWH of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses (Torah) the man of YHWH. Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to YHWH your Elohim, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of YHWH that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to YHWH your Elohim. From the first day of the seventh month (the new moon of the seventh month) they began to offer burnt offerings to YHWH, although the foundation of the temple of YHWH your Elohim had not been laid.
Neh.10:28 Now the rest of the people – the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of YHWH, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding – these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in YHWH’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of YHWH, and to observe and do all the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, and His ordinances and His statutes: we would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons; if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt. Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our YHWH: for the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our YHWH your Elohim.
Future Temple (Millennium)
Is.66:15 For behold, YHWH will come with fire and with His chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword YHWH will judge all flesh; And the slain of Elohim shall be many. “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together,” says YHWH. “For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to YHWH out of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says YHWH, “as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of YHWH. And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,” says YHWH. “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the YHWH, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says YHWH.
Ez.45:17 Then it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.”
Ez.46:1 ‘Thus says YHWH: “The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.
Ez.46:6 On the day of the New Moon it shall be a young bull without blemish, six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish.
That is why the Apostle Paul speaks of the shadow of the future, meaning that only the Feasts of YHWH and His Special Days which are indicated in Scripture, are the real shadow of Yeshua, and not the pagan ones, whose shadow goes to Babylon and the occult practice.
Col.2:16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are (present) a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah.
It is interesting to note that if the People of YHWH did not celebrate the days of the new moon or took them away, that it would result in a curse for the People of YHWH:
Hos.2:1 Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’ Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked And expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. “I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry. For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’ “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, and wall her in, so that she cannot find her paths. She will chase her lovers, but not overtake them; yes, she will seek them, but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then it was better for me than now.’ For she did not know that I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold – which they prepared for Baal. “Therefore I will return and take away my grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths – all her appointed feasts. “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, of which she has said, ‘These are my wages that my lovers have given me.’ So, I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. I will punish her for the days of the Baals to which she burned incense. She decked herself with her earrings and jewelry and went after her lovers; But Me she forgot,” says YHWH.
New Year is the Time of Birth of Something New, The Beginning of a New Messianic Era.
Speaking about “the shadow things to come” (Col.2:16), which is the shadow of the future we are able to learn a couple of interesting things:
- Spring (March – April) is the period of the solar equinox (Equalux).
- This is a time of awakening in nature and bears the first fruit of the earth – barley (omer). Sheep breeding also occurs at this time.
- In this month, the moon reaches its fullness, and the day of Passover (Pesach)
- When the one-year-old lamb (the lamb born at the same time a year ago) is slaughtered for the Passover (Lev. chapter 23). This month, on the tenth day, the lamb is brought into the house (Ex. chapter 12 = Luke chapter 2).
On this day, the Tabernacle was built – the first dwelling place of YHWH (Ex. chapter 40). John says: “The Word became a man and settled (tabernacled) among us.” (John 1:14). So, we can say assuredly that these symbols point directly to Yeshua, who is the Word of YHWH. This Word has settled and dwells (tabernacled) in us!
Hebr.8:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which YHWH Elohim erected, and not man.
Exactly six months before the new moon of the first month (on the feast of Sukkot: Book of Jubilees Chapter 16), angels came and informed Sarah that she was pregnant with Isaac (the only begotten son of Abraham). After 9 months, Isaac was born, on the Feast of Shavuot (Book of Jubilees Chapter 16). It turns out that the conception on Sukkot time (the time of the giving of the Torah) and the birth on the Feast of Shavuot (the day of the Covenant) directly point us to Yeshua, who, perhaps, was also born on Shavuot – the time when sheep can be left overnight in the field and the grass is not all burned out in the sun. It’s sad to know that modern Christianity is so dissolved in paganism and all of the worldly (secular) holidays that Christianity no longer notices what kind of shadow these Feasts and celebrations are. Today they have forgotten that the Feasts of YHWH in Scripture (Lev. Chapter 23), are Feasts of the Most High which we belong to:
Lev.23:2 The feasts of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are MY feasts (these are My appointed seasons).
YHWH Elohim in his Word warned His people not to mix with paganism and not to act according to their customs and traditions. And His Word remains relevant today:
Lev.18:3 You shall not do as was done in the land of Mizraim in which you dwelt, nor shall you do as is done in the land of Canaan to which I am bringing you. Neither shall you walk in their statutes. You shall do My ordinances and keep My statutes and walk in them. I am YHWH your Elohim.
Deut.12:28 Be watchful and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of YHWH your Elohim. When YHWH your Elohim cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship YHWH your Elohim in that way; for every abomination to YHWH which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
Lev.20:22 ‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am YHWH your Elohim, who has separated you from the peoples.
This was confirmed by the apostle Paul in his letters to the Congregation, in which some people, apparently, continued to practice paganism:
1Cor.10:20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to YHWH Elohim, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
2 Cor.6:17 Therefore “come out from among them and be separate, says YHWH. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
Gal.4:8 But then, indeed, when you did not know YHWH (were pagans/unbelievers), you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known YHWH (became believers), or rather are known by YHWH, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements (worthless elementary things)*, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
* It is quite obvious that Paul meant pagan “holly-days” since the Feasts and special days of YHWH have never been considered to be “weak and beggarly elements” let alone that they have never been considered anything of “bondage”! But, unfortunately, this is the conclusion that various religious teachings come to…
New Year, Christmas, Easter, Sunday, and Other Secular Holidays.
Whose Shadow Do You Think It Is?
We often don’t give a second thought to what it is that we might be celebrating and whether it has any relation to YHWH of Israel that we belong to. As a matter of fact, many things that we observe now relate back to the pagan statutes of our ancestors… and behind their traditions are spiritual things to which we open our souls. At first glance, these pagan traditions and holidays can seem attractive, harmless, and even interesting. For example, trees with garlands, tattoos, yoga classes, or the study of “hidden knowledge”. But all of this is the fruit of the tree “of knowledge of good and evil”, from which we are told not to eat. They have descended from fallen angels and do not glorify YHWH of Israel. It’s important to take note that some of these rituals actually constitute the worship of Lucifer in a transformed way or through taking different forms.
You can find more information about YHWH Feasts here: “PROPHETIC FESTIVALS OF YHWH ELOIM”
This year, the new year (new moon of the first month) was in April.
The schedule of all Feasts and events of YHWH can be found here: CALENDAR