We are rolling into chapter twelve of Exodus with our word for today. חֹ֫דֶשׁ new moon, month, the period between successive new moons. It is used 275 times in the Old Testament, 6 times in our chapter. We find our word used to mark events relative to how long someone has lived. Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ month, on the seventeenth day of the לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. Our word is also used to describe how long something has taken. Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his חֳדָשָׁ֥יו months and have set limits he cannot exceed. 2 Samuel 6:11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three חֳדָשִׁ֑ים months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. 2 Samuel 24:8 After they had gone through the entire land, they came back to Jerusalem at the end of nine חֳדָשִׁ֛ים months and twenty days. We also see it used to mark how long a king has ruled. 2 Kings 23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three חֳדָשִׁ֔ים months. We find our word used to describe when an event occurred. Haggai 2:1 On the twenty-first day of the seventh לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai. Our word is also used to identify feasts set on a recurring schedule at the same time each year. 2 Chronicles 2:4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him…for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the וְלֶ֣חֳדָשִׁ֔ים New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. In our chapter we find our word used of the original event in that it reset the whole calendar system and of the feasts that would occur every year at the same time of the year. Exodus 12:1-3, 6, 18 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This הַחֹ֧דֶשׁmonth shall be for you the רֹ֣אשׁbeginning of חֳדָשִׁ֑יםmonths. It shall be the first לְחָדְשֵׁ֖יmonth of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household…you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight… In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the לַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ month at evening.
This is an amazing thing to reset someone’s entire calendar system. The people were slaves that God was going to form a nation out of them. This new nation would have a different way to mark time than what they knew being in Egypt. This whole system started at the Passover event which was the last of the plagues that God judged Egypt with that moved Pharaoh to let his people go. This reminds me of that massive shift of the day God’s people would gather to worship together. Before it was always the sabbath on Saturday. But it moved to Sunday. This would have to be a huge event to get people who were engrained with the tradition and direction of God to follow the Sabbath. It was the most miraculous event in all of history. None other than the resurrection of Jesus Christ God’s son from the dead which happened on the first day of the week, Sunday. Matthew 28:1, 5-6 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week…The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. We see this practice of the church in the book of Acts. Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.
