When does God’s year begin?  What day must His people acknowledge (not celebrate) as the Biblical beginning of the new year?  Before we allow Him to answer for Himself, a little history is in order.  Let us return to the time when the children of Israel find themselves in a land not their own.  For 420 years they and their ancestors have been in Egypt, much of that time serving as slaves to the most powerful nation on earth.  God has sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt.  They have crossed the Red Sea and are now safe.  For many years they have worked seven days a week, eliminating the possibility of observing God’s Sabbath.  As a result they have worshiped bull calves along with their Egyptian overlords.  As a result the generation of Israelites that came out of Egyptian slavery know nothing about the Sabbath or anything else relative to the God of their forefathers–Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  In preparation for leaving Egypt God has commanded them to observe what would come to be known as “Passover.”  This command includes the Gentiles who had accepted the Israelite’s God and had come out of Egypt with them (Exo. 12:38).  These people were not Israelites, but rather Gentiles who had been defeated and enslaved by the Egyptians.  These Gentiles were accepted into the Israelite camp and would later, through marriage into Israelite families, become spiritual Israelites.  Therefore everything thereafter that God commanded Israel, their biological Gentile brethren would also obey.  Let us now see what He said to the newly freed nation.

In Exodus 12:1,2 we find God speaking to Moses concerning the Israelites shortly after their escape from slavery: “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month will be unto you (Israel) THE BEGINNING OF MONTHS; IT SHALL BE THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR TO YOU.”  The Israelite name for that month was, and still is, Abib (Exo. 13:4).  Abib takes place during the time of the spring equinox.  God begins His new year in early spring when new life is taking place among both vegetation and animals.  This God-declared time for the beginning of a new year was in effect for centuries before Catholic Pope Gregory XIII changed it to the January 1.  The change was instituted to placate  heathen “converts” that had been forced to “embraced” Catholicism at the point of a Roman sword.  To please them the pope changed the date of each year’s beginning.  Read Simon of Samaria: The Legacy.  Key word–Legacy for a detailed list of heathen beliefs and customs the Catholic Church embraced.  The Catholic Whore of Relevation 17:1-5 was riding (controlling) the Roman Beast (government) which carried out her wishes.  Later, the Whore’s Harlot daughters would depart from her, taking with them many of their mother’s heathen beliefs and practices.  Both mother and daughters continue to believe and practice those abominations today.  See the Introduction to this website.

The Lord commands His saints to come out of this world and to reject her ways (Rev. 18:4/ 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).  They are to reject the world’s annual celebrations, all of which are steeped in heathenism.  This includes not only New Year’s Day, but also Christmas, Easter, St. Valentine’s Day, Halloween and the Sunday Sabbath.  The God Who spoke with Moses and to the Israelites from atop Mt. Sinai does not change.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).  He said, “I am the Lord, I change not.”  It is said of Him that “In Him there is no shadow of turning.”  The beginning of the new year is the same today as it was at the time of Israel’s escape from captivity so many centuries ago.

In Deuteronomy 12:30,31 we find the Lord commanding us, “Take heed not to be deceived into following them (heathen beliefs and customs), … and (take heed) that you do not ask about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? so that I might do likewise.’  You must not do so to the Lord your God, for every ABOMINABLE thing which the Lord HATES they have done for their gods ….”  Celebrating New Year’s Day is a heathen abomination which God hates.  He hates and labels as an abomination any spiritual custom, belief, act or image used in worship of Him.  These hated abominations include crosses, fish, pictures, statues, engravings, beads, etc., as well as natural things such as the sun, moon, planets, rock formations, animals, fire when they are used in service to, or in worship of, Him.

The Lord has given man specific days to observe in man’s worship of Him.  Those days are outlined in Leviticus 23.  By observing the holidays of this world, man rejects the days God has set aside for special observance.  For those who reject the Old Testament, believing that it was “nailed to the cross,” remember that God said through the Apostle Paul that the New Testament Church was founded on the teachings of both the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament apostles (Eph. 2:20).  Peter noted that “Holy men of old (the prophets) spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).  This is the same Holy Spirit that moved upon holy men of new who wrote the New Testament.  We are told in 2 Timothy 3:14-16 that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.”  The New Testament apostles taught the people out of the Old Testament.  The New Testament did not exist during their lifetimes.  Paul noted that the men of Berea “searched the Scriptures daily” to see if what he was teaching them was true.  He was teaching them out of the Old Testament, which they consulted to confirm what he was telling them.  When Stephen preached his famous sermon to the Jews, he taught them straight out of their own Scriptures.

Satan, the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4/ Rev. 12:9), has deceived church people into believing his word and rejecting God’s Word in all areas of spiritual life.  Read Bait and Switch.  Key word–“Switch.”  Dating back some 4000 years to the time of the Babylonian Empire, he has used heathen, Satan-concocted, man-centered holidays such as New Year’s Day, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day and the Sunday Sabbath to obscure God’s Holy Days.  These holidays are counterfeit versions of the Lord’s commanded Holy Day celebrations.  Having embraced the devil’s counterfeit celebrations, doctrines and customs, the Institutional Church has become a counterfeit church system whose god, messiah and salvation are also counterfeit.  And as is the case with counterfeit money, unless one carefully studies the real, one cannot identify the false.  Because Satan has blinded the eyes of the church to God’s Truth, false Christianity is now accepted and true Christianity is rejected throughout the world.  As was true in days of old, religious men call right wrong and wrong right.  L.J.