Building on the Foundation

  In our Christian walk, sometimes it’s easy to get distracted. We get our priorities mixed up, lose focus, and take our eyes off the ball. Many things can distract us and distort our priorities — even good things. In Luke 10:38-42, we find an illustration of how even good things can become a distraction: 38 Now it happened as they went that He [Jesus] entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Is it bad to serve others? Is it wrong to show hospitality? Of course not! This was

  For a number of years now, God’s calendar has been a favorite study topic of mine. It’s also one of the most controversial and hotly debated topics. So today, let’s take a gander at another topic of calendar controversy. When does a year begin on God’s calendar? Some say it begins in the spring; some say it begins in the fall. Who’s right? Surprisingly, both are right — but it depends on what type of year we’re talking about. God’s Word documents two different types of years, as we’ll see momentarily. Just as we have both civil and fiscal years today, so they did in Bible days, too. Nisan: The Religious and Civil Year How do we know that a Biblical year begins in the spring? Simple. We know that Passover is in the spring, and in Exodus 12:1-2, God gave these instructions for the Passover month: “Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.’” So the month of Passover m

  Over the past thirty years or so, many people rejected the calculated Hebrew calendar in favor of sighted calendars, solar calendars, and probably others as well. But of all those who reject the Hebrew calendar, very few understand it. It seems to me that if people wish to reject the Hebrew calendar, they should at least understand it first. God’s Word tells us, “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13). This post isn’t meant to wade into the calculated calendar vs. sighted calendar issue, but simply to show what the Hebrew calendar seeks to accomplish, and how it works. What Type of Calendar? Today, most of the world follows a solar calendar, the Gregorian calendar. In this system, the sun determines years, and the moon plays no role at all. Each time the earth completes one trip around the sun, that marks roughly one year. The calendar divides the year into twelve parts that are still called “months,” even though they have nothing to d