Where did our calendar come from? Has January always been the first month of the year?
Today, the calendar system we use is based on the Gregorian calendar. It evolved over hundreds of years, with ancient influences and political adjustments.
One of the earliest established calendars in world history is the Egyptian calendar, based on a 365-day solar year. The Babylonian calendar was lunar-based, with months set up according to moon phases, and influenced later calendars. Eventually, the Roman calendar used a 10-month system that began in March; January and February were added later.
In 46 BC Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, a revision of the Roman calendar. It aligned more closely with the solar year (365.25 days), and added leap years, but it started drifting from the solar year by 11 minutes per year.
By the 16th century, the Julian calendar had drifted about 10 days. So Pope Gregory XIII introduced a reform to correct this. October 4, 1582 was followed by October 15, 1582 as the next day, skipping 10 days! Leap year adjustments were refined, and today the Gregorian calendar is the international standard.
Our calendar is a man-made tool and system that truly helps society in many ways. 365 days a year in 12 months of 24 hour days 7 times per week. In the Bible, God adopted human calendars and times to do his saving work.
God created the world in a span of 6, natural, consecutive days.
God designed special days (like the Sabbath Day or the Day of Atonement).
God introduced religious celebrations attached to particular months, even particular years (like the Year of Jubilee).
God made promises based on human calendars (like announcing through his prophets that the ancient Jewish captivity would end after 70 years).
God sent his Son Jesus to be born “In those days” when “Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (Luke 2:1).
So, even God uses a calendar! But, different from humans, from science and business, from the most popular celebrities, from our schedules, from our lifespans, from our finite submission to the tick of the clock and turn of the calendar — God isn’t limited by the calendar.
The sun and moon don’t tell God what to do. God tells the sun and moon what to do. Aging among the human race will never be reversed, but God doesn’t age or get old because he is timelessly eternal.
As you walk into a new year (by the way, it is happening with or without your permission) walk with God. Walk by faith that trusts in the One who isn’t limited by your past or confused about your future.
PRAYER: Thank you, God, for calendars and clocks, for the orderly procession of time. Though it limits us, you are never limited. I praise you for giving orders to the sun and moon, to daylight and weekends. I want to trust your ways that aren’t limited by my past, or confused about my future. Amen.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP: What will your personal time with God, in Bible reading, meditation, and prayer, look like for this year? For each month? On a weekly routine? Which part of the day? Looking for help? Here’s a guide I put together: 5 Practical Questions to Create Your Bible Reading Plan.
