Rosh Chodesh Significance: The beginning of a new month

Observances: Torah readings, The holiday is publically announced on the Shabbat before it occurs

Exo 12:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; he said, Exo 12:2 "You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you.

Exo 12:3 Speak to all the assembly of Isra'el and say, 'On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household —

Question: So how do we tell the new

month?

What are we to look for?

Does Israel follow what the Egyptians were doing or does Adonai tell us in HIS TORAH?

Answer: (Num 10:10) "Also on your days of rejoicing, at your designated times and on Rosh-Hodesh, you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; these will be your reminder before your God. I am Adonai your God."

Question: So what is Rosh-Chodesh?

H7218 ראש� ro'shBDB Definition:1) head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning1a) head (of man, animals), 1b) top, tip (of mountain), 1c) height (of stars), 1d) chief, head (of man, city, nation, place, family, priest), 1e) head, front, beginning, 1f) chief, choicest, best, 1g) head, division, company, band1h) sumPart of Speech: noun masculine

Question: So what is Rosh-Chodesh?

H2320 חדש� chodeshBDB Definition:1) the new moon, month, monthly1a) the first day of the month1b) the lunar monthPart of Speech: noun masculine

Question: So what is the spiritual

importance ofRosh-Chodesh?

The emergence of the moon - from darkness to light - is a picture of Adonai's salvation for all people Jew & Gentile and our personal deliverance from darkness to light. Note that the word for month is chodesh, etymologically related to chadash, meaning new.

Question: Many people say there is an

Old Testament & New Testament.

Is there a old and new?

Ecc 1:9 What has been is what will be, what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecc 1:9 That which4100, 7945 has been1961 is that which7945 will be, And that which4100, 7945 has been done6213a is that which7945 will be done6213a. So there369 is nothing369, 3605 new2319 under8478 the sun8121.

Ecc 1:9 That which4100, 7945 has been1961 is that which7945 will be, And that which4100,

7945 has been done6213a is that which7945 will be done6213a. So there369 is nothing369,

3605 new2319 under8478 the sun8121.

Before we the Hebrew word was H2320H2319 חדש� chadashBDB Definition: 1) new, new thing, fresh

Question: So what is Rosh-Chodesh?

What does a new moon look like?

In Hebrew, Rosh Chodesh means, literally, "head of the month" or "first of

the month." Rosh Chodesh is the first day of any new month. If a month is 30 days long, then the 30th day is treated as part of the Rosh Chodesh for the next month, and the Rosh Chodesh for next month extends for two days (the 30th of the earlier month and the 1st of the later month).

In ancient times, Rosh Chodesh was a significant festival day. At that time, the new months were determined by observation. Each month began when the first sliver of moon became visible after the dark of the moon.

Observers would watch the sky at night for any sign of the moon. If they saw the moon, they would report their sightings to the Sanhedrin, which would interrogate them to make sure that they were not mistaken.

Where in the sky did the moon appear? Which direction was it pointing? If two independent, reliable eyewitnesses confirmed that the new moon had appeared and described it consistently, the Sanhedrin would declare the new month and send out messengers to tell people when the month began.

After the moon appeared was a festival, announced with the sounding of the shofar, (B’midbar 10:10)

commemorated with solemn convocations, family festivities and special sacrifices.

The importance of this holiday in ancient times should not be underestimated.

The entire calendar was dependent upon these declarations; without the declarations, there would be no way of knowing when holidays were supposed to occur.

Knowing precisely when Rosh Chodesh began was critical to the order of the mo'edim, or appointed times commanded by the LORD.

In fact, the entire Jewish calendar was dependent upon knowing when Rosh Chodesh began, and without this information the set times for the festivals and holidays would be lost. 

Questions: So what are the phases of the

moon.

What are Adonai’s months?

Questions: So what are the phases of the

moon.

It takes about 29.5 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth. During each lunar orbit, the Moon's appearance changes from not visibly illuminated (a new moon) through partially illuminated (a waxing crescent) to fully illuminated (a full moon), then back through partially illuminated (a waning crescent) to not illuminated again (a new moon). This cycle of moon phases is called a lunation:

The first time that the waxing crescent of the Moon is visible marks the beginning of a Jewish month, called Rosh Chodesh ("head of the month"). Twelve chodashim make a shanah or year (however, since 12 x 29.5 equals 354 days, but a solar year is 365 days, an extra month (called Adar Sheni) is added to the Hebrew calendar every two or three years in order to keep the solar seasons aligned with the lunar calendar).

Astronomy note: The Earth's moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun but it is also about 400 times closer, so that they both appear to be about the same size in the sky. This accords with the Scripture that says, Gen 1:16 God made the two great lights — the larger light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night — and the stars.

The Jewish calendar, unlike the secular calendar, is arranged according to the phases of the moon. Many Jewish festivals fall on the full moon. Rosh Chodesh (literally, "head of the month" or "head of the moon"), the first of every Hebrew month, always falls on the new moon. In biblical times, Rosh Chodesh was a festival marked by celebratory sacrifice and feasting, in rabbinic times, bonfires were lit on the mountains to announce the arrival of the new moon, and today Rosh Chodesh remains a minor holiday for all traditional Jews.

The renewal of the moon, when the moon begins to show its light after a dark period, is a day for Jews to celebrate their own renewal.

Questions: What are Adonai’s months?

Twelve chodashim make a shanah or year (however, since 12 x 29.5 equals 354 days, but a solar year is 365

Mat 25:13 So stay alert, because you know neither the day nor the

hour.

Mat 25:13 So stay alert, because you know neither the day nor the hour.

Biblical/Hebrew Name English Name Time of Observance

Pesach Passover Nisan/Aviv 14 March-April

Hag HaMatzah Feast of Unleavened Bread

Nisan/Aviv 15-21

Bikkurim First Fruits of Barley Harvest

The morrow after the Sabbath during Hag

HaMatzah

Shavuot Feast of Weeks/First Fruits/Pentecost

Fifty days from the Feast of First Fruits

Yom Teruah Feast of Trumpets Tishrei 1September-October

Yom Kippur Day of Atonement Tishrei 10Sukkot Feast of

Tabernacles/BoothsTishrei 15-21

Chanukkah Feast of Dedication Chislev 25 –Tivet 3November-December

HISTORICAL APPLICATION OF THE FEASTSFeast Historical Aspect

Nissan 10 Bring lamb to your fathers house Yeshua comes into Yerushalayim His Father’s House

Pesach (Passover) s deliverance out of Egyptian bondage. Yeshua sits to eat His final meal.

Hag HaMatzah (Unleavened Bread) The going out of Bikkurim (First Fruits) Crossing the . Yeshua rises from the grave.

Shavuot (Pentecost) Giving the Torah at . Ruach HaKodesh come in Acts 2.

Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) Blowing the Shofar/Beginning 10 days of Awe

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Cohen (Priest) entered the Holy of Holies. Cleansing of the peoples sins

Sukkot (Tabernacles) Entering the Promised Land/Great Rejoicing

Hebrew English Number Length Gregorian Equivalent

Nissan 1 30 days March-AprilIyar 2 29 days April-May

Sivan 3 30 days May-JuneTammuz 4 29 days June-July

Av 5 30 days July-August

Elul 6 29 days August-September

Tishri 7 30 days September-October

Cheshvan 8 29 or 30 days October-November

Kislev 9 30 or 29 days November-December

Tevet 10 29 days December-January

Shevat 11 30 days January-February

Adar I (leap years only) 12 30 days February-

March

Rosh Chodesh Part 2The very first commandment given to the children of Israel after being delivered from Egypt was to sanctify the new moon (Exodus 12:1-2), thereby causing the fledgling nation to depart from the solar tradition of the Egyptians (Ra worship) and to look to the moon for a new means of reckoning time and seasons:

Rosh Chodesh As Amun's cult grew bigger, Amun rapidly became identified with the chief God that was worshipped in other

areas, Ra-Herakhty, the merged identities of Ra, and Horus. This identification led to a merger of identities,

with Amun becoming Amun-Ra. As Ra had been the father of Shu, and Tefnut, and the remainder of the Ennead, so

Amun-Ra was likewise identified as their father.Ra-Herakhty had been a sun god, and so this became true

of Amun-Ra as well, Amun becoming considered the hidden aspect of the sun (e.g. during the night), in

contrast to Ra-Herakhty as the visible aspect, since Amun clearly meant the one who is hidden. This complexity over the sun led to a gradual movement towards the support of

a more pure form of deity.

Rosh Chodesh As soon as the new moon was visible as a waxing crescent, the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Rabbinical Court) in Israel was informed and Rosh Chodesh was formally announced (this system was later discarded in favor of the fixed calendar developed by Hillel II (c. 360 CE.), which has been in use to the present day). The day after the new moon was sighted was a festival, heralded with the sounding of the shofar and commemorated with convocations and sacrifices.

Rosh Chodesh The new moon is the night on which the moon is first visible after its monthly disappearance from our nighttime sky. The alignment and movement of the moon in relation to the earth and sun means that, to the earthly observer, the moon passes through phases in which it grows and diminishes and, at one point in its cycle, disappears altogether.

Rosh Chodesh When the moon is closest to the sun, positioned between the sun and earth, its lighted side -- the side illuminated by the sun's light -- faces away from the earth, so that it is invisible to us. As it moves away from the sun to orbit the earth, it appears first as a thin crescent of light and continues to grow and fill for the next fifteen days. Midway through its orbit, when it is furthest from the sun and the earth is between the sun and the moon, the lighted half of the moon is entirely visible on earth, so that it appears as a complete sphere in the heavens and bathes our night with the full luminescence of its pacific glow.

Rosh Chodesh Then, as the moon continues its orbit of the earth, moving closer to the sun, less and less of it is visible to us; the sphere shrinks by nightly increments to a half-sphere and then to progressively leaner slivers of light, until, at the point of its greatest proximity to the sun, it once more disappears from our view.

Rosh Chodesh The moon said to God: 'Sovereign of the Universe, can two kings share a single crown?' God replied:  'Go and make yourself smaller.' 'Sovereign of the Universe, she said to him, 'because I made a proper claim before you, am I to make myself smaller?' He said to her, 'Go, and you will rule over both the day and the night.' She said 'What good is a lamp in broad daylight?' He said, 'Go! Israel shall use you to count the days and the years.'[The moon went on complaining].... On seeing that the moon would not be consoled, the Holy One of Blessing said 'Bring an atonement for me for making the moon smaller.'[Hence the sin-offering of the new moon was offered in the Temple.]                                                —Babylonian Talmud, Chullin 60b

Rosh Chodesh Psa 81:1 [For the Leader. On the gittit. By Asaf:] Sing for joy to God our strength! Shout to the God of Ya`akov! Psa 81:2 Start the music! Beat the drum! Play the sweet lyre and the lute! Psa 81:3 Sound the shofar at Rosh-Hodesh and at full moon for the pilgrim feast, Psa 81:4 because this is a law for Isra'el, a ruling of the God of Ya`akov.

(read all of this Tehilim)

Rosh Chodesh

D’varim/Deuteronomy 4:1-19B’midbar/Number 28:10-15

Shemu'el Aleph/1 Samuel 20 (All)

2 Chronicles 2Ezra 3

Yesha'yahu/Isa 1, 66 (specifically the end)

Ezekiel 45 “The Prince”, 46

Mat 24:29Colossians 2