SIGNIFICANT EVENTS  OF THE NEW MOON

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Many significant events recorded in the Old  Testament  occurred on the first day of the lunar month, which shows the  importance  that God places on the first day of his sacred month.

The Great Flood

It  is interesting to note that the date  of  the great  flood was calculated using the time of  Noah's birth (Gen.7:11; 8:13). If we do some simple addition  and subtraction using the dates given in chapters 7 and 8, we can easily  find that Genesis 8:13 is the point from  which  to calculate  the dates of the events surrounding the record of  the flood.  Genesis 8:13 reveals that  Noah was born on the first  day of the first sacred month of the year (a new moon).  Genesis 7:11 shows that the flood began 17 days after his six hundredth birthday and on his six hundred and first birthday, the waters dried up (Gen.8:13).

Although  the great flood did not begin or end on a new moon,  it is  significant  that the one who God used to save  humanity  was born on a new moon, which is symbolic of a new beginning. There were only eight people saved out of the flood, and the number 8 is  one of the numbers used in the Bible to signify a new  beginning.

The Tabernacle

God told Moses to set up the Tabernacle  on the first day of  the first  month  (Ex.40:1-2), which Moses did on the first day of the first month of  the second year after the Israelites left Egypt (Ex.40:16-18).

The presence of God rested on the Tabernacle on the first day  of the month (Ex.40:2,17,33-34; Num.9:15).

Offerings and Sacrifices

God gave instructions that special offerings and sacrifices  were to be made on the beginning of each new month (Num.28:11-15). The prophets Isaiah and  Ezekiel recorded that special offerings  and worship will be done on the New Moon after the return of  Christ. See Isa.66:22-23; Ezk.45:17-18.

Festivals

The Feast of Trumpets is always to be observed on a New Moon  day (Lev.23:24; Num.29:1). This festival pictures a new beginning for humanity  (Matt.24:30-31) and the return of Jesus Christ as  the conquering King of kings.

Moses Numbers the People

On  the first day of the second month, in the second  year  after Israel came out of  Egypt, Moses was told to take a census of the people (Num.1:1-18).

The Death of Aaron

Even the death of Aaron is recorded as occurring on the beginning of  the month. Aaron died when he was 123 years old on the  first day of the fifth month. The death of Aaron, ended the line of priests that came out of Egypt.  Israel completed  their mourning for Aaron on the first day of the next month  and began their journey into the promised land with a  new high  priest (Num.33:38-39). This commemorated the death  of  the old priesthood and the beginning of the new one.

The Covenant

On  the first day of the eleventh month of the  Israelites'  40th year  of  wilderness punishment, Moses assembled the  people  and went over  their  covenant   with   God again (Deut.1:3).

The Promised Land

On the first day of the eleventh month, Moses  gave  the instructions to Israel to possess  the promised land (Deut.1:3-8).

The Temple and Jerusalem

Hezekiah commissioned the cleansing of the temple on the first day of the first sacred month:

"Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first they finished" (2.Chron.29:17 Para.).

Cyrus the king of Persia commissioned the Jews to build a  temple for  God  in Jerusalem. After their arrival, they begin  to  offer sacrifices to the Lord beginning on the first day of the  seventh month, which was the Festival of Trumpets (Ezr.3:1-6).

Ezra  departed from Babylon on the first day of the  first  month carrying with him the decree of King Artaxerxes to free the  Jews from Babylonian captivity. Ezra arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month with the decree (Ezr.7:8-9).

After  the  temple in Jerusalem was dedicated, Ezra read  to  the people  from the book of the law on the first day of the  seventh month  (the Festival of Trumpets). This was the first  time  this had been done since the Jews returned from their  captivity  in Babylon (Neh.8:1-3).

On the first day of the tenth month, Ezra and other priests  began their  deliberation to solve the problem concerning the Jews  who had married foreign wives. The next year on the first day of  the first month, their decision concerning this problem was  formally made (Ezr.10:16-17).

After Hezekiah issued his command to repair the Temple and establish  the worship of God in Jerusalem, the repairs began  on  the first day of the first month (2.Chron.29:3, 17). It is  interesting that it took 8 days to clean the temple area up to the  porch of  the  Temple  and another 8 days to complete  the  repair  and cleaning.  The number 8  indicates a new beginning associated with the first day of the sacred month.

Revelation of Prophetic Events

God  often spoke to his servants on the first day of a new  month to give specific instructions and to reveal prophetic events.

God spoke to Ezekiel on the first day of several months to reveal that  he would destroy Tyrus (Ezk.26:1-4) and Egypt  (Ezk.29:14, 17-19; 31:1-2; 32:1-2).

The  Word  of the Lord came to Haggai on the  first  day  of  the sixth  month  to reveal the building of the Temple  at  Jerusalem that would take place just before the return of Jesus Christ (Hag.1:1).

After Christ's return,  the temple that will be established in Jerusalem for the worship of God will be purified on the first day of the first sacred month:

"This says the Lord God; In the first day of the first month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary" (Ezk.45:18 Para.).

SUMMARY

Although there are many other events that could be shown to  have occurred on the first day of the month, the above examples show  the importance  that  God has placed on this day by  causing certain events to take place on it.