Page 160 - Foundations

The first day of every month is referred to in Hebrew as Rosh Chodesh. Rosh Chodesh means “head
of the month” and it occurs on the first sighting of the new moon over Israel. You can note on the
calendar above that the days of the week are numbered, rather than named. Yahweh did not assign
names to the days of the week such as Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.. These names are pagan in
origin, the days of the week being named after a specific god that was honored during each
consecutive 24 hour period. The beginning of this practice was ancient Babylon. The Babylonians
recognized five planetary bodies, as well as the sun and moon. Each one of these planetary bodies
were named after gods.

It is easy to recognize the name of the moon in Monday, and the Sun in Sunday. The other five days
of the week which correlate to planets and their associated gods bear different names depending upon
the nation, language and century in which the calendar was in use. Four of the five names for the days
of the week have come down to us in English through Norse or Teutonic mythology. The fifth bears
a Roman name.

• Tuesday - Tiws’ Day, Tyr - God of War. One of the sons of Woden. (Corresponds to the
Roman god Mars.)
• Wednesday - Woden’s Day - The chief Teutonic deity. (Corresponds to the Roman god
Mercury.)
• Thursday - Thor’s Day - Hammer wielding god of thunder and lightning. (Corresponds to the
Roman god Jupiter.)
• Friday - Frige’s Day, Freya - Wife of Woden, and goddess of beauty and love (Corresponds
to the Roman goddess Venus.)
• Saturday - Saturn’s Day - The Roman God Saturn.

For obvious reasons, Yahweh eschewed the use of such names, referring to each day of the week
solely by its numeric value. This is true even of the Sabbath, for the word Sabbath (shabbat) in
Hebrew means “seventh.”

Yahweh’s appointed calendar for His people has always been a Lunar calendar. It seems significant
that Yahweh would force men to look up toward the heavens to determine what time it is. Yahweh
desires mankind to remember that the creation runs according to a divine calendar of events. Yahweh
has appointed times and seasons for mankind. Every event upon this earth is running according to a
heavenly timetable, a divine plan of the ages. It is important for Christians to recognize this truth.
Nothing can hinder God’s calendar, or speed it up. There is a time appointed for all things under the