The lunar month in the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible which in biblical times was determined by observation.
When the Sanhedrin (70 elders of Israel) acknowledged the New Moon, it set the calendar date for the festivals of that month. The date of the festivals therefore, depended on the New Moon for their proper celebration.
After they had received testimony from two independent, reliable eyewitnesses, they would declare Rosh Chodesh (first of the month) through the sounding of two silver trumpets from the Temple. Great fires were lit from mountain to mountain as a signal to others, and runners also carried the message to distant places.
Why am I sharing the foregoing information? At Rosh Chodesh:
• Special sacrifices were offered at the Temple
• Reciting the Hallel
• Eating special meals
- Wearing special clothes
- It is marked by a time of rest
But basically, Rosh Chodesh, unlike Shabbat has been greatly underplayed but for believers it holds immense prophetic significance. This became particularly apparent to me recently when I read the following passage from Scripture, Until then, every month would remind me of fresh beginnings as a new cycle commences. But things changed when I read a passage from Psalm 89. Speaking of the Jewish people in verses 29-38 we read:
“ I will maintain My love for him forever, and My covenant with him will be firm. 30 His seed I will establish forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.If his sons forsake My Torah, and do not walk in My judgments, 32 if they violate My decrees, and do not keep My mitzvot, 33 then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with flogging. 34 But I will not withdraw My lovingkindness from him, nor will I betray My faithfulness. 35 I will not violate My covenant, nor alter what My lips have uttered. 36 Once for all I have sworn by My holiness —surely I will not lie to David— 37 his descendants will endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me, 38 and as the moon, established forever, and a trustworthy witness in the sky.”
These verses confirm the opening verses of the Psalm (verses 4-6) which state:
“I have made a covenant with My chosen one. I have sworn to David My servant: 5 ‘Forever I will establish your seed, and will build your throne from generation to generation.’”
Every time we celebrate Rosh Chodesh, we recognise God’s promise to the Jewish people!
But when we see the context of this amazing promise from the preceding verses, we see that the Psalmist was referring also to the Messiah. Verses 20-30:
“Then You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, and said: “I have bestowed help on a warrior. I have exalted one chosen from among the people. 21 I have found David My servant. With My holy oil I have anointed him. 22 With him My hand will be established. Surely My arm will strengthen him. 23 No enemy will exact tribute from him, no son of wickedness will oppress him. 24 I will crush his adversaries before him, and strike down those who hate him. 25 My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, and by My Name his horn will be exalted. 26 I will also set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. 27 He will call to Me: ‘You are my Father,[d] my God and the rock of my salvation.’ 28 I also will set him as firstborn—[e] the highest of the kings of earth.[f][g] 29 I will maintain My love for him forever, and My covenant with him will be firm. 30 His seed I will establish forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.”
But there is more. For in Matt 24 referring to the return of Yeshua on the Day of the Lord we read Yeshua prophesying that:
“29 immediately after the trouble of those days,
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light
and the stars will fall from heaven
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’with power and great glory.”
The moon being ‘darkened’ describes an unprecedented time of trouble for the Jewish people spoken about in Zech 12 when “All Israel shall be saved” and God snatched the impending victory of Satan to destroy the Jewish people.
So every time we look into the sky to view the New Moon on Rosh Chodesh, we can celebrate God’s victory over the Jewish people, and His victory over the lives of every believer. His promises never fail and His Word is entirely reliable!
Raphael ben Levi
