Autumn on the Calendar
One look outside will tell us our world is changing. We have proceeded from the lush green world of spring through the productive days of summer into a time of drying out. Fall with its cooler temperatures, pumpkin harvest and leaf coloration is getting close.
Days are getting noticeably shorter with the sun rising later and later each morning. Older people are asking when the time change occurs [and are suddenly interested in yard work … although they have only rarely performed a horticultural task during the course of their 85-90 years of life]. The procession of the autumn equinox, which is when the Sun crosses the Equator, occurs Thursday. Man has for thousands of years taken note of the seasons out of interest and necessity. In the year when Cain planted his first crop it became necessary to know when spring would occur. For those with tomato plants it is important to know the timing of the first and final frosts. In the prehistoric times man first began to count days, and in time he wrote the counting of days down on a calendar.
The world’s oldest calendar is found at Gezer in Israel. It counts the days in this way: “Two months of harvest, Two months of sowing, Two months of late planting, One month of hoeing flax, One month of barley harvest, One month of harvest and measuring, two months of vine pruning, One month of summer.” The calendar is important so the farmer gets his timing correct.
The calendar of the Bible is based on agriculture, just as the calendar of Gezer. The Biblical calendar is a twelve month lunar calendar, adjusted with a leap month by the Mesopotamian astronomers to maintain a proper planting season. The months are named “Aviv” for spring, “Iyar” for blossom, “Sivan” for season, “Elul” for harvest, “Tishri” for beginning, “Ethanim” and “Bul” meaning brooks and rain. The Hebrew calendar looks to God as the provider. The major events of the Hebrew people are agricultural. Passover is celebrated at the time of the first spring harvest. Shavuot or Pentecost is when the first fruits of the summer crop are given to God. The festivals of the seventh month are connected to the autumn ingathering. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur involve cultivation and care for the soul. Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles) thanks God at the time the final harvest. Simchat Torah represents the beginning of a new cycle.
Our current calendar when placed alongside the Biblical calendar will show some glaring, unthought-of differences. Under our current calendar and culture our holidays are civil and not agricultural. We think of people and not God. The names of the months (and even the days) honor Roman gods who’s sole ambition in life was to serve themselves, often at the expense of others. In any study of the Bible it is important rise above our cultural biases in order to learn about the people of the book and the desires of the Lord God, the creator of all things.