Noah and the Calendar

In Genesis 7:11 we are told:

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (Genesis 7:11)

This verse pinpoints ONE VERY SPECIFIC DAY! It was Month 2, Day 17 of Noah's 600th year. Such dating obviously implies a calendar.

A few verses later we are told:

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7:24)

Here we have A VERY SPECIFIC AND LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME. It was exactly 150 days. This is repeated a few verses later.

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. (Genesis 8:3)

The very next verse then again pinpoints ONE VERY SPECIFIC DAY! It was Month 7, Day 17.

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. (Genesis 8:4)

The conclusion is inescapable that the period of time of 150 days was equal to EXACTLY FIVE MONTHS! Expressed as a mathematical equation this would read as:

Month 2, Day 17 + 150 Days = Month 7, Day 17.

Therefore in the calendar that was in use at the time of Noah (and therefore also in the time going back to the creation of Adam) every month consisted of exactly 30 days, no more and no less!

BUT THAT IS NOT THE HEBREW CALENDAR!

Because the moon takes just over twenty nine and one half days to go around the earth, THEREFORE in the Jewish calendar of today the months have alternately 30 days and 29 days. The 2nd, 4th and 6th month always have 29 days, supposedly to stay synchronized with the movements of the moon. It follows that with the present Jewish calendar the equation would thus have been:

Month 2, Day 17 + 147 Days = Month 7, Day 17.

So here is the point we should recognize:

We see here at the time of Noah A PERFECT CALENDAR, one in which every month had exactly 30 days, and where every year consisted of 12 times 30 days = 360 days. And that is the annual cycle which, back in Genesis 1:31, God pronounced as "VERY GOOD"!

That is also the reason WHY in prophecy a year is equated with 360 days, because that is precisely the way it was when God created Adam and Eve. A prophetic year consisting of 360 days is not some kind of wishful thinking on the part of God; it is an expression of the reality which existed when man had first been created until the time of Noah and even beyond Noah's time.

There is a popular song which is sometimes sung at weddings, where some of the words go like this: "LOVE, LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING ...". You may have heard this song at one time or another? Well, what we need to understand is that this statement is equally true for SIN. It is a fact of life that:

"SIN, SIN CHANGES EVERYTHING ...!"

Sin ALWAYS changes things! When God first created Adam and Eve things were vastly different from today. At that time:

- animals were tame and did not hurt human beings

- there were no weeds to impede the growth of crops

- there were no sicknesses and no AIDS viruses, etc.

- there were no fears

- there was only one language

- there was a perfect annual cycle.

But sin changed everything! It didn't all change all at once, but things continued to constantly change for the worse, and that process is still continuing today! The more we human beings sin, the more things change for the worse.

As a direct result of human sins, at some point in time:

- many animals became hurtful to mankind

- weeds made farming increasingly difficult

- sicknesses and diseases appeared and new ones continue to appear

- fears became a regular and permanent part of life

- God divided people through different languages

- the cycles of the moon and of the earth were changed.

Yes, sin, sin changes everything!

As far as the solar year and the lunar month are concerned, we could speculate as to when and how those changes occurred. We can postulate and we can speculate and we can reason, but we don't really know! It doesn't really make a difference as to whether God changed the yearly cycle at the time of Joshua's long day (see Joshua 10:12-13) or whether God did this at the time of King Hezekiah (see 2 Kings 20:10-11) or even at some other time. There is a distinct possibility that in the days of David the monthly cycles were still exactly 30 days long.

But what we DO know is that today we don't have a 30-day lunar month, and we don't have a 360-day solar year. Yet those are precisely the lengths that are indicated in prophetic statements, and they are also indicated at the time of Noah. Therefore at some point in time between the time of Noah and today those cycles were changed.

Now exactly what do all of these changes from their original state to the state we find today represent?

They represent PENALTIES FROM GOD!

Can we understand this?

Why did God change it so that many animals are in fact DANGEROUS for us human beings? It is a penalty for human sins!

Why did God create weeds? They are a penalty for sins (see Genesis 3:17-18).

Why did God create a multitude of sicknesses and diseases? They are the penalties for sins (see Exodus 15:26).

Why are we human beings constantly plagued by fears? Because we sin, and fear is always the first immediate consequence of sins, even as it was for Adam and Eve (see Genesis 3:10).

Why did God divide the languages? Because the sins of humanity were getting worse (see Genesis 11:6-8).

And why did God change the lengths of the lunar month and of the solar year? Because of human sins!

Understand that in the presence of sins you simply CANNOT have perfection in any area of life. Perfection simply does not exist in the presence of sins. The perfection in everything that God included in His statement in Genesis 1:31 has been destroyed by human sins. EVERYTHING HAS DEGENERATED SINCE THEN! Nothing of what was "very good" is still left today, not one thing!

Go back to Genesis chapter 1 and examine it carefully.

On the first day light again penetrated down to this earth. But that light is no longer "very good"! Today it will give you skin cancer. We have polluted the atmosphere to the point where direct sunlight is actually dangerous to our health.

On the second day the waters were divided and the atmosphere was created. But we have polluted the atmosphere with countless poisons.

On the third day the seas were divided from the dry land and all the plants were created. But we have polluted the water and the soil with the most dangerous toxins imaginable. And we have polluted all the vegetation which God created. That includes the foods we eat.

On the fourth day God established perfect cycles for the lunar month and the solar year, but as a result of human sins they have been corrupted to the cycles we have today.

On the fifth day God created the sea creatures and the birds, but the perfection God created in these creatures has long since been marred by human sins; we have polluted the food chains and the habitat for all of these creatures. And many animal and plant species have become extinct because of our sins.

On the sixth day God created all the land animals and mankind. But our sins have destroyed many species and corrupted the life-cycles of all the others. Sicknesses in the animal kingdom are the result of human sins. And we have most certainly corrupted ourselves. We are the last degeneration in the chain of human life, dream teams and all!

And on the seventh day God created the Sabbath. And we human beings have certainly polluted that! So what is left of the "everything" which God had made and which He pronounced to be "very good"? Nothing is still left. It has all been polluted by us human beings.

And the central thing in that whole list, right in the middle on the fourth day, the solar and lunar cycles, have also been corrupted. What would possibly be the point in maintaining perfection for cycles, when everything else all around them has become utterly corrupted?

Can we understand this?

Now think very carefully. It was GOD'S doing, in response to human sins, that caused the lunar month and the solar year to change from their perfect cycles to the corrupted cycles we see today.

DOES GOD EVER CLAIM ANYTHING THAT IS CORRUPTED TO BE "HIS"? DOES GOD DESIGNATE CORRUPTED AND POLLUTED THINGS AS "SACRED"?

People have talked about God's "SACRED" calendar. But is there really anything "SACRED" about our CORRUPTED solar year and our CORRUPTED lunar month? People tend to use words rather freely, sometimes without considering the actual meaning of the words they use. For example, here are the meanings of the word "sacred", as given in Webster's Dictionary:

- set apart for the service or worship of deity;

- devoted exclusively to one service or use;

- worthy of religious veneration, holy;

- entitled to reverence.

Do these definitions apply to the Jewish calendar? For that matter, do these definitions apply to ANY calendar we could devise today?

NO, THEY DON'T!

Listen! When God, in response to human sins, corrupted the perfect solar year, then God did NOT at the same time give humanity a "SACRED" calendar to regulate that corrupted solar year. As with all of man's sins in other areas of life, when God imposed penalties on man, then God has in effect said:

"Until now I have done things for you. But your sins are cutting you off from Me. Therefore from now onwards I sentence you to working it out for yourselves! You didn't want My ways. So go ahead and work out your own ways!"

Corruption from a perfect state is always a consequence of sin. Corruption is a penalty for transgression.

So the Bible reveals a calendar based on perfect monthly and annual cycles in the days of Noah. Every month had exactly 30 days, and every year had exactly 360 days. But in response to human sins at some point in time after the days of Noah God allowed those perfect cycles to become corrupted.

When Jesus Christ returns to this earth to rule for 1000 years as "King of kings and Lord of lords", then God will also restore the perfect monthly and annual cycles.

Frank W. Nelte