Father God established His calendar in the beginning. Specific events are listed during the first week of creation that show He set his calendar in motion. On the first day, He established that “evening” and “morning” equal a “day”. On the fourth day, He established the method of keeping track of days. On the 7th day of creation, He established the Sabbath day.
Genesis 1:1-5 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
Genesis 1:14-19 “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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 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. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”
Genesis 2:1-3 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
Later, when he had chosen a people for himself to be set apart from the world, he gave them 10 rules to follow called “commandments”, and He told them to remember the special Sabbath day and to keep it holy.
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.
He wrote these rules into stone with his own finger, and He signed them with his name “Yahuah” as a covenant between them. There are 8 “Do Not” rules and 2 “Do” rules. He said if they chose to obey them, it would bring life and blessings. If they chose to disobey them it would bring curses and death. He encouraged them to teach their children these commandments and pass them on to each generation.
The 4th commandment is to remember to obey His Sabbath day and keep it holy. This is His Sabbath Calendar.
#4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
When is Sabbath and how do we keep it holy?
Exodus 31:13 “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.”
There are 4 Sabbaths each month. A month is about 29 evenings mornings (days) long on Father God’s Calendar.
The sighting of the moon by two witnesses begins the month, next work 6 days, then rest 1 evening and morning (Sabbath day) and repeat this cycle 3 more times to complete the month.
The next month begins with sighting of moon by two witnesses, next work 6 days, then rest 1 evening and morning (Sabbath day), repeat cycle 3 more times to complete the month.
These are the cycles of the Sabbath Calendar!
We are instructed to keep the Sabbath day holy!
Exodus 20:11 “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The scriptures tell us the New Year begins when the barley is ripe for harvest and the next sighting of the moon takes place (this usually takes place during mid March-April time of year on the Gregorian man-made calendar). The first appointed feasts of the year begin during the first biblical month according to the barley harvest and the sighting of the moon. The following months of the year continue the cycle of the Sabbath calendar by sighting the moon each month to establish the days for work, Sabbath rests, and any appointed feasts for that month.
There are 7 appointed feasts that are to be celebrated on specific dates during the year according to the scriptures. These are “appointed” dates Father God has scheduled and are not man’s calendars and man’s traditions for holidays. One must understand and obey the Sabbath days to understand when to keep the appointed feasts. We will go over these in the next story about Father God’s Calendar.
Faith in Father God’s only begotten son, Jesus, Yahusha (Yahuah saves) brings us into a right relationship with Father God, and because we are forgiven and have been adopted as his children, we can walk in a right relationship with Father God. We walk with Father God as we love him, think about him, and obey his commands.
He established the calendar schedule for blessings and life. We are to Work, Sabbath Rest, and Celebrate appointed Feast Seasons with Father God at the days and times he established. We do not need a blood sacrifice, ritual, building, or man-made tradition to meet with him, because of the perfect gift of Jesus Yahusha. He is Lord of the Sabbath. He said the Sabbath was created to bring blessings into the life of those who keep it. Obeying Father God’s commandments and calendar is where blessings and power flow into the lives of those who will believe and obey.
Jesus said that if you accept and obey him, the same spirit that dwelled in him will also dwell in you. The Holy Spirit of God worked through him to do all of the miracles he did during his time on earth, and raised him from the dead on the third day. This spirit is able to work through you and empower you to do even more miracles than he did.
However, I believe the reason the followers of Yahuah Father God today have very little blessing and essentially no power in their daily life to help others is because they don’t follow His calendar and obey the true Sabbath and appointed time for Feasts. Instead they have put a different calendar created by men in it’s place. They choose to worship on Sunday, or Friday, or Saturday instead of the true Sabbath.
Jesus told us to continue with the way he showed us freely giving in love because it had been freely given to us.
Are we doing the “great commission” Jesus gave us by healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, setting the captives free, and meeting the needs of those around us, and sharing the good news with all those we meet?
Or are we unable to fulfill his instructions? Are we too far in debt, financially lacking, too physically feeble and weak in our own lives to meet this command of Jesus?
Why? Jesus said “Man’s traditions nullify the power of God in people’s lives.”
We need to understand the importance of keeping the true Sabbath in honoring Father God. We need to implement keeping the Sabbath day holy. What does Father God want from a Sabbath? The same instructions Jesus Yahusha gave us.
Read Isaiah 56-58.
Read Matthew 25:31-46
The sighting of the moon begins each month’s Sabbaths and the barley harvest begins each year’s cycle of Sabbaths and Feasts with Father God. Check out the next post about the Calendar of Father God.
Be wise and be blessed!
Maranatha!