God’s Calendar - The Month (New Moon) of Av 2021 (5781)

Hello, friends. I'm Chadwick Harvey, and this is Faith Fulfillments, where we explore the testimony of the biblical prophets and how they perfectly correlate with the current events of today. Thank you for joining us.

In this episode, we're going to continue our journey on God's calendar as we discover the Hebrew month of Av. We're going to see great revelation that we can receive personally, historically, and even prophetically as we look into the future about this Hebrew month. It is such a great month to pray into, to look at all the symbolism, and all of the things the Lord is showing us. We want to bring these things to light, and it all begins with God's calendar.

As we've discussed in previous videos, God does have a calendar that He uses — one that He has ordained. We find that in Genesis 1:14–16: "Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth.' And it was so. Then 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. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on 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. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day."

This is so incredible. God created two great witnesses in the sky — the sun and the moon — and those are the prerequisites to His calendar. Most of us go by the Western calendar, the Roman or Gregorian calendar, for our jobs and daily life, and we do need to understand it. But God has His calendar based upon the sun and the moon. The Gregorian calendar is based upon the sun only. We have to get on God's seasons, His calendar, His timeline. We receive great revelation — personally, historically, and prophetically — as we discover the month of Av. His calendar is the one He is going to use at the end of the age for the prophecies to be fulfilled with the feast days, and so it is so important to get on His calendar and His ways. Unless we have a basic understanding of His calendar, some of what we read in Scripture will remain obscure to us.

The sun and the moon are the prerequisites for God's calendar. The moon dictates the months, and the sun dictates the days — including the Sabbath days. That is how the two work together.

It is also important to understand that there are two calendars God uses. The first is the civil calendar, which begins in the fall on Tishrei 1 — think of it roughly as September 1. This is the Genesis calendar, the one associated with the creation of Adam. It is the calendar that counts time as it relates to the return of the Messiah, particularly in connection with the fall feast days. The second is the Exodus calendar — the biblical, spiritual calendar — where God told Moses, "This is your first month." On this calendar, you count the feast days, you count the Sabbaths, and so forth. It is the spiritual calendar, the first month for the one new body and the one new man. Both calendars work together in unison, and both are based upon the sun and the moon. One tracks prophetic time regarding the return of the Messiah through the Genesis framework, and the other, the Exodus calendar, governs the counting of the feast days.

As we find in Ecclesiastes 3:1, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." God does have seasons. He does have His timeline. As we've discovered in the previous four months, it is so important to understand God's seasons and His timing. Of course, the Holy Spirit can do anything at any time, but He does have His seasons — times He wants us to pray into, to receive personal and prophetic revelation, and to look at the historical events that have occurred on these days.

In Genesis 2, we see the tree of life. This is so important to recognize in relation to God's calendar. In Genesis 2 we have the tree of life, and then when we look at Revelation 22 at the very end of the Bible, we find the same tree of life. We are all trying to get back to the tree of life that was in the garden at the beginning — back to the garden, which we will reach at the end when we live with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. In Revelation 22, we see that the tree of life is bearing fruit every month. Even in eternity, we are not going to exist in a time lapse. We are going to have seasons. There will be fruit yielded every month on the tree of life, and those months are not going to be January, February, March, and April. They are going to be on His calendar. It is so important to get on His calendar before we enter into the millennial kingdom and before we step into eternity, so that we are not ignorant of what His calendar declares. The Hebrew calendar — God's calendar — will exist even in eternity. His seasons never change, and it is up to us to get on His seasons and His patterns.

Psalms 81:3–4 says: "Blow the trumpet at the time of the new moon, at the full moon, on a solemn feast day. This is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob." This is a commandment. In Psalms 81, He wants us to blow the trumpet at the new moon — the new moon for the month of Av begins at sundown on July 9th. He wants us to acknowledge these things: to acknowledge the new moon, the full moon (which is when Passover occurs and when the Feast of Tabernacles begins, at the middle of the month), and the solemn feast days. He says this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob — a commandment for us to understand. He wants us to acknowledge the new moon and to go forward with the counting of the feast days and the Sabbaths.

And this commandment is for both Jew and Gentile. As we find in Exodus 12:49, there is one Torah for the citizen — the Jew — and the stranger — the Gentile. But as Paul says in Ephesians 2, you are no longer strangers to the covenants because you have the blood of the Messiah. And if we love Him, we keep His commandments, as the book of John declares. These are not burdensome. To acknowledge the new moon, to acknowledge His creation and what He has ordained — this is a remarkable thing. The new moon renews itself every month. It is totally amazing when you look at it, and He wants us to be a part of that, a part of His beautiful creation that He has ordained.

Psalms 104:19–21 says: "He appointed the moon for seasons; the sun knows its going down." These are the two great witnesses the Lord has — the sun and the moon. This is His creation, and His calendar is based upon both: the greater light, the sun, and the lesser light, the moon — the faithful witness in the sky.

These two witnesses are also connected to His covenants, specifically the Davidic covenant. When we see the new moon or the full moon, we can think about that everlasting covenant with King David. It is a divided covenant, a covenant He will never abandon. Yeshua — Jesus — is going to fulfill the Davidic covenant when He comes and returns. This was given to the Jewish people, the seed of David, and the Gentiles were grafted into these things through Romans 11, Ephesians 2, and Galatians 3. As a seed of Christ, you are the seed of Abraham. This is the one new body, the one new man. He wants us to understand about the new moon — to acknowledge these things and to understand His faithfulness to His covenant.

We find this in Psalms 89, beginning at verse 4: "I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: 'Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.' Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: 'I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: his seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; it shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.'"

This is one of the most wonderful promises in all of Scripture — given to King David, to the descendants of David, which is the Jewish people. Again, we as Gentile believers are grafted into the Abrahamic, the Davidic, and the new covenant. These promises are sworn by His holiness. So whenever we look at the moon, we can think about King David, the Jewish people, and the promises He has given to them — promises we as Gentile believers are also grafted into. It is such a beautiful thing to truly understand.

As it says in Jeremiah 33, if anyone could take away the sun and the moon, then He would break His covenant. Of course, no one can — but God Almighty. He is going to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, and their descendants, and we are grafted into these things through Romans 11, Ephesians 2, and Galatians 3.

We are commanded to celebrate the new moon here on earth right now — but what about the millennial kingdom, when Jesus returns and rules for a thousand years on David's everlasting throne, fulfilling the Abrahamic, the Davidic, and the new covenant? Will we be celebrating the new moon? The answer is absolutely yes. We find this in Ezekiel 46:1: "Thus says the Lord God: 'The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened.'"

This is totally amazing. When you look at Ezekiel 40 through 48, those are the millennial kingdom chapters. They describe what is going to be happening during that time — with the Levites, the sacrifices, the offerings, the temple, and the inner and outer courts. And here, in chapter 46, we see that the gateway of the inner court facing east — the Lion's Gate, the Eastern Gate — shall be shut the six working days, but on the Sabbath and on the day of the new moon, it shall be opened.