Calendar in the Bible

The reason we need a calendar from the bible is to know when the annual holy days are. There is a simple calendar described in the bible.

Holy day calendar:

1. Determine the first new moon after the equinox. (the first new moon of the year)
2. Determine the first sunset after the new moon, this is the beginning of the first day of the first month.

For all other months, count the new moons from the first. The first day of the month begins at the first sunset after the new moon.

This calendar automatically adjusts every year to the seasons, adding extra months when needed. No calculations or math are required and anyone in the world can determine the same dates using this. It requires no human to prove to another what the date is, we can all prove it separately ourselves. No international date line is required for this calendar to work as it is based on the moon and the sun.

Despite not requiring calculations the bible’s calendar can be calculated and predicted far in advance because it uses the moon and the sun, which have predictable movements.

If you understand how the moon moves in the sky, you can see which day of the month it is. And every morning, on the last half of the month, the closer the moon gets to the horizon at sunrise, the closer it gets to the next new moon.

Differences and Similarities from the Jewish Calendar

There are only a few differences from this calendar and the Jewish calendar.

Similarities:

1. Both use the equinox as the start and end of the year.
2. Both recognize the new moon conjunction as the point in time for determining the new moon.

Differences:

1. The Jewish calendar uses a static number of days (approx. 29.53 days) to determine how long a month is. The calendar in the bible uses the actual new moon to new moon to determine the length of a month.
2. The Jewish calendar uses math and and some logic to determine the first new moon of the year. The calendar in the bible uses the first new moon of the year.

Scriptures on the calendar

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons [mowed], and for days and years; Gen 1:14

The word “seasons” here is mowed and is the same word used here for the annual feast days.

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts [mowed].Lev 23:2