Exodus 23:21-23

The Voice

²¹Pay attention to all he shows you and obey whatever he tells you. Do not cause him any trouble. He will not forgive you if you rebel against him for he carries My name in him.

The Hebrews follow a lunar calendar that has 11 fewer days than the solar calendar. Since it has only 354 days in the year, an extra month (a “leap” month) is added periodically to bring the dates into alignment with the seasons. Within this annual cycle, God sets aside several great feasts for the people to celebrate. The people are to honor their God by having days of pure rejoicing as they recall their rescue from Egypt and God’s ongoing provision. In keeping with the needs of an agricultural people, these feasts are situated around the harvests: first, the collection of the winter grains; second, the harvest of the other grains 50 days later; third, the gathering of the main crops of the field.

Month	Length	Date of Celebration	Modern Months
Nisan	30	14 Passover	March/April
		15-21 Unleavened Bread
		16 Firstfruits
Iyyar	29		April/May
Sivan	30	6 Pentecost (Weeks)	May/June
Tammuz	29		June/July
Ab	30		July/August
Elul	29		August/September
Tishri	30	1-2 Rosh Hashanah (New Year)	September/October
		10 Day of Atonement
		15 Ingathering (7 days)
Heshvan	29 or 30		October/November
Chislev	29 or 30	25 (8 days) Hanukkah	November/December
Tebeth	29		December/January
Shebat	30		January/February
Adar	29 or 30	14-15 Purim	February/March
Veadar*	29		February/March

* (added 7 of every 19 years)

²²If you are obedient to his voice and follow all of My instructions, then I will be an enemy to all of those who are against you, and I will oppose all those who oppose you. ²³When My messenger moves ahead of you and leads you to the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites—I will annihilate them.

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