Understanding the Lunar Calendar Understanding the Lunar calendar, to begin lets name all the months according to scriptures and research; 1. Abib (Deu 16:1) 1. Nisan (Neh 2:1) 7. Ethanim (1 Kings 8:2) 2. Zif. (1 Kings 6:1) 8. Bul (1 Kings 6:38) 3. Sivan (Esther 8:9) 9. Chisleu (Zechariah 7:1) 4. Fourth Month 10. Tebeth (Esther 2:16) 5. Ab (researched) 11. Sebat (Zechariah 1:7) 6. Elul (Neh 6:15) 12. Adar (Esther 3:7) Ten of these months are found in the Scriptures only two are not named. The 4TH and 5TH months. The fifth month we found through research to be Ab or Av. Also through research we also found a supposed name for the fourth month (Tammuz) but because this name depicts a Babylonian deity Tummuz or Dumuzi, We decided against the use of it. Beginning with the summer solstice came a time of mourning in the Ancient Near East; the Babylonians marked the decline in daylight hours and the onset of killing summer heat and drought, with a six-day "funeral" for the summer god of food and vegetation Tummuz. The prophet Ezekiel also spoke of this in the Scriptures. Ezekiel 8:12-14 KJV [12] Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The Lord seethe us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. [13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. [14] Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Let's talk about the first month for there are two different names given to this month. Although the month Nisan is mentioned and also called the first month, this occurred hundreds of years after The Lord gave the commandment to use Abib. Since the Babylonian captivity, Nisan has been used by some. Essentially both names mean a growth of grain. (Nehemiah 2:1 KJV [1] And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sat in his presence, Esther 3:7 KJV [7] In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month. 1 We use the name Abib for the first month because of the commandment given to Moses by the Lord. Exodus 12:1-3 KJV and Deuteronomy 16:1 KJV. [1] Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. [1] And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, [2] This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. [3] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Now we had discussed names of the months so now let's talk about the moon, in order to understand the calendar you must understand a little about the moon and its purpose according to the scriptures. Now what starts a new day, man uses 12 AM to start his new day but the Lord uses sundown or evening to start a new day. Genesis 1:5 KJV [5] And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. This is important, in order to learn the proper sequence of count from one night to the next. The true purpose of the sun and moon; Genesis 1:14-16 KJV [14] And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: [15] And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. [16] And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. It takes the Moon about 29 1/2 days to revolve around the earth. So a month or a moon can consist of 29 or 30 days depending on when the new moon appears. So when the new moon appears to start the new month we must give it 24 hours or one full day and it must begin at sundown. The new moon times vary depending on your location in the world. We use the Jerusalem time of the new moons to start the month, for the purpose of feasts days etc., which is the plan of God (Leviticus the 23 chapter) Here's an example of the new moon from the scriptures. 1 Samuel 20:24-25, 27 KJV [24] So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. [25] And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty. [27] And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor today? 2 Here is an illustration of the moon revolving around the earth and also the phases of the Moon you will notice in this illustration how the moon is completely dark. A new moon occurs once every month when the moon is lined up between the sun and the Earth. During a new moon, the moon is at its closest to the sun. At this time the night sky appears dark and moonless. No moon is seen because the light from the sun is blocked and the part of the moon that faces the Earth is dark. 3 The next illustration is of the calendar month March 2013; the month is set on Jerusalem Time. We will begin the year based on the new Moon and count the days leading to the Passover and unleavened bread. Now let's start with the new Moon which occurs on March 11, 2013 at 9:52pm Jerusalem time. Now because the sun has already set, we cannot begin to start the month until the following day which would be March 12 at sundown, because the New Moon has to have a complete day. The first night of the New Year Abib 1 begins at sundown March 12 the first day of Abib 1 begins March 13 at sunrise. Abib 2 begins March 13 at sundown Abib 2 daytime begins March 14 at sunrise. Based on this sequence is the pattern of counting days based on the sunset established .Lets continue the count to Passover night which comes in March 25 The 13th day of Abib at sundown, and Unleavened Bread, March 26th the 14thday of Abib at sundown. March 2013 Jerusalem, Israel ADAR – ABIB Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Sunrise: Sunrise: 6:07am 6:05am Sunset: Sunset: 5:37pm 5:37pm Adar 19 Adar 20 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: 6:04am 6:03am 6:02am 6:01am 6:00am 5:58am 5:57am Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: 5:38pm 5:39pm 5:40pm 5:40pm 5:41pm 5:42pm 5:43pm Adar 21 Adar 22 Adar 23 Adar 24 Adar 25 Adar 26 Adar 27 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Sunrise: First night First day at 2nd day at 3rd day at 4th day at Sunrise: 5:55am of the new sunrise / 2nd sunrise/ 3rd sunrise/ 4th sunrise/ 5th 5:56am Sunset: month at Sunset: 5:44pm night at night at night at night at 5:43pm New Moon: sundown sundown sundown sundown sundown 9:52pm Adar 30 Abib 1 Abib 2 Abib 3 Abib 4 Adar 28 Adar 29 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: Sunrise: 5:47am 5:46am 5:45am 5:43am 5:42am 5:41am 5:39am Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: Sunset: 5:48pm 5:49pm 5:50pm 5:50pm 5:51pm 5:52pm 5:52pm Abib 5 Abib 6 Abib 7 Abib 8 Abib 9 Abib 10 Abib 11 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 13th day Passover 15th day at 16th day at Sunrise: sunrise/ Sunrise: Sunrise: at sunrise/ day sunrise/ 5:38am th 6:32am 6:31am 14th night at sunrise/ 17 night at Sunset: 16th night at Sunset: Sunset: Passover Unleavened sundown sundown 5:53pm 6:56pm 6:57pm sundown at sundown Abib 12 Abib 13 Abib 14 Abib 15 Abib 16 Abib 17 Abib 18 4 In 45 BC Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar and developed the Julian calendar which later was reformed in the 1582 by Pope Gregory.