God's Calendar - The Month (New Moon) of Tammuz 2021 (5781)

Hello, friends. I'm Chadwick Harvey, and this is Faithful Performance — weeks for 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 are going to go through the month of Tammuz on God's calendar, continuing our journey through these powerful months that He has ordained. If you've been with us for the last three months, we've gone through the month of Nisan, the month of Iyar, and the month of Sivan — months that are so important on God's calendar. We covered the Exodus from Egypt, the feast days that Jesus the Messiah fulfilled during the springtime, on through Shavuot in the month of Sivan, which was last month. All of that gives us great revelation as we now step into the month of Tammuz, which is the door to the new beginnings we will discuss. We appreciate you joining us, and we hope this gives you great insight into God's seasons and His calendar.

It all begins with God's calendar, and it is so important to understand that calendar as it is described in Genesis 1:14–16. In Genesis 1:14–18 it says: "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 important. In the very beginning of the Bible, God created His calendar — He established the prerequisites we must understand. We all live by the Roman or Gregorian calendar, but it is based upon the sun alone. God's calendar, the one He uses — which is the Hebrew Jewish calendar — requires both the sun and the moon. Both are necessary for His calendar, the one He uses for His divine appointments and for the fulfillment of prophecy at the end of the age.

When God says these lights are for "signs and seasons," He is not referring to winter, fall, summer, and spring. He is speaking of the *moadim* — the feast days, the Shabbats, the Shemitah years, and so on, extending into "days and years" as well. The moon declares the months; the beginning of each month is based on the moon. The sun governs the days — much like the Shabbat, the Sabbath day. These are the two great witnesses. The Roman calendar we use for daily life is based on the sun only. The Islamic calendar is based on the moon only. God's calendar uses both sun and moon, and that calendar today is the Hebrew Jewish calendar. Once we understand the biblical dates embedded in God's feast days, we can then relate them to the Gregorian calendar we use.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." God is a God of order — a God of seasons, patterns, *moadim*, and divine appointments. We must make a transition from our Western mindset to the calendar He uses, because it gives us great revelation, not only as we examine the prophecies of the Bible, but personally as well, as we go through our own purification journey, our own cleansing, and our own walk with the Lord as we mature spiritually.

In Genesis 2 we see a tree of life. Then at the end of the Bible, in Revelation 22, we see a tree of life again. As Isaiah 46:9–10 declares, He announces the end from the beginning. That tree of life in Revelation 22 is yielding fruit every month — and those months are not January, February, March, and April. In eternity He will not use the Gregorian calendar. His calendar will be the one He has ordained. We will not be in some timeless blur in heaven — there will be order. We will understand the months, because every month the tree of life will yield fruit. This is truly incredible when we look at what God has declared about His calendar.

In Psalms 81:3–4 we read: "Blow the trumpet at the time of the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day. For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob." This is a commandment — something we must recognize and understand. The new moon sets the stage for the feast days and the Shabbats. Without understanding the new moon, you cannot know when Passover falls, or when the Feast of Tabernacles arrives. God told Moses in Exodus 12 to recognize the new moon so that the months, Sabbaths, and feast days could be declared. Psalms 81 commands the blowing of the shofar at the new moon, at the full moon — which corresponds to Passover and Tabernacles — and on the solemn feast days. He says this is a statute of Israel, a law of the God of Jacob. It is important to understand that this applies to Jew and Gentile alike, because we are grafted in — Romans 11, Ephesians 2, Galatians 3 — grafted into Israel, into the commonwealth of Israel. All who believe in Messiah, Jew and Gentile, are part of that commonwealth. This is the law of Israel, and it is something we need to recognize and proclaim.

In Psalms 104:19–21 it says: "He appointed the moon for seasons" — the word for seasons here is *moadim*, divine appointments — "the sun knows its going down." Again He is pointing to the two great witnesses, the sun and the moon, just as He established in Genesis 1:14–16. This is how important God's calendar is — He is consistently directing us back to it throughout Scripture.

When we look at the moon, we can also think about King David and the Davidic Covenant. If you are not familiar with the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7, it is God's promise to David that he would have an heir — and we know that heir to be Yeshua, Jesus — who would sit on an everlasting throne in Jerusalem over the children of Israel. This confirms the Abrahamic Covenant, the promise, and the New Covenant as well, all of which work together.

In Psalms 89 we read: "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.'" The psalm continues: "I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed 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."

Whenever we look at the moon, and even the sun, we should remember the Davidic Covenant — the promise to David, to the Jewish people, and to Messiah who will sit on that throne. Gentile believers are grafted into this as well, through the New Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the Abrahamic Covenant. As Galatians 3:26–29 tells us, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Our Lord is a promise-keeper, and the moon is His faithful witness in the sky to that fact.

Jeremiah 33:25–26 reinforces this: "Thus says the Lord: 'If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and My servant David, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.'" No one can remove the sun and the moon except God Almighty, and He will not do that until the new heavens and the new earth. So as we look at these celestial bodies — His billboard, what He has ordained in the sun, the moon, and the stars — step outside and look at these beautiful things and remember God's promises: His promises to David, His promises to the Jewish people, and His promises written for you and for me.

This is ultimately what the new moon is about — not only giving praise to the Lord for renewing the moon and marking the seasons and times, but renewing your own life, stepping into the newness of the month, and taking time to pray and meditate on these things.