“David answered Y’honatan, ‘Look, tomorrow is Rosh-Hodesh, and I ought to be dining with the king. Instead, let me go and hide myself in the countryside until evening of the third day'”-1 Samuel 20:5
Jonathan, still under the delusion that David’s life was not in danger, tells David…
“Heaven forbid! You’re not going to die! Look, my father does nothing important or unimportant without telling me first; so why should my father hide this from me? It just won’t happen!”
But David isn’t having any of it.
And I don’t blame him.
The crazy King tried to spear him not once, but TWICE!
David tells Jonathan his father is hiding his real intentions from him…
But since Jonathan is still skeptical, David proposes a test that will prove without a doubt he is right about Saul.
This test involves an upcoming festival meal that was to take place at each new moon.
In Hebrew, it is ROSH CHODESH.
Rosh Chodesh means the “head of the month” in Hebrew and refers to the celebration of the beginning of a new Hebrew month in the Jewish calendar.
Now there’s a common misconception in Christian land I need to debunk.
It is the notion the Hebrews used a lunar calendar.
That’s NOT true.
They used a SOLAR-LUNAR calendar.
The lunar cycle was used to designate the months and the solar cycle was used to figure out the seasons and year.
This makes sense because the 7 Biblical Feasts were based on agricultural seasons…
Yet, at the same time, Scripture commands us to observe them on SPECIFIC days of the month.
That’s why a “solar-lunar” calendar was used…
Because it took into account both the rotation of the sun and the moon…
Which nicely dovetails into the takeaway for today.
In Hebrew, God’s appointed seasons are called MOEDIM.
It refers to the Hebrew festivals of Passover (Pesach), Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and others.
These Moedim are supposed to be times for celebration, remembrance, reflection, and spiritual renewal…
But they’re much more than that…
They’re holy times that God has woven into the very fabric of the universe…
So when we observe them, we’re aligning ourselves in perfect harmony with the Creator.
Now, even though Shabbat is not one of the Biblical festivals, I recently experienced this sense of peace and alignment last Friday when I resolved to rest from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, instead of letting work get in the way.
And boy, let me tell you it was tough…
I had so much work to do…
And was feeling stressed outta my mind…
But I said, the heck with it…
I’m going to align myself with the Lord’s appointed times…
So last Friday evening, just as the sun was setting…
I shut down my computer and CEASED from all work…
I took a nice, long relaxing walk in the city.
Afterward, I went home and rested.
And boy did I need that rest.
I slept trusting God that He was gonna take care of everything I needed to do from the 1st day of the week (Sunday)...
And you know what?
He did!
Not only was I more productive and energetic than usual…
But it came without the usual stress and frustration.
That’s your lesson for today!
When you align yourself with God’s appointed times…
You will receive supernatural blessings from on high.
Be blessed!
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