Exodus 12:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
The word “beginning” is found 106 times in 104 verses. The first time we read that word is in Genesis 1:1. Everything started for this world at that time. Of course God, the Godhead, has no beginning. God is eternal, but everything He created has a starting point.
Some years ago I was challenged with our observance of New Years eve. The person thought I was wrong in wanting to commemorate the end of a year and the beginning of a new year. The Lord made note of the beginning of a new year, or the beginning of the barley harvest, the beginning of parenting, etc.
It is important to note that our recognition of the end of the year and the beginning of a new year does not need to be a time of debauchery. We can spend time together with friends if we so choose. The important factor is to make our remembrance or our recognition of events revolve around God. It is good to recognize how God has worked and led. We know that He is faithful and He will lead us further along.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
That is a promise worth noting. Things in our world are constantly changing. Loved ones die and new ones come. Couples get married and sometimes marriages are ripped apart. There are things that can bring discouragement; however, for the child of God, we do not need to remain in that place. We can know that God is in control. He does not approve of all that happens, but those who are His children do not need to be swept up with the things He does not approve of.
In our opening verses God changed the calendar for the nation of Israel. I read this week that it was in 45 B.C. that January 1 was first officially recognized as the beginning of the new year on the Julian calendar. As far as I know, many nations follow that calendar. We know that the nation of Israel has their own calendar. Of course for the purpose of world affairs, they have to follow the Julian calendar, but they also have their own calendar which runs different from ours.
As mentioned in our opening verses, God changed the calendar for the nation of Israel. This change was due to the fact that He was doing a new thing in the life of the nation of Israel. They had been in bondage for a number of years. Their time in Egypt had begun in a rather pleasant manner. It began with a famine that God sent upon that entire region. Through that famine, God moved Jacob and his family to Egypt. Prior to that famine, God brought Joseph, a type of Jesus Christ, into Egypt as a slave. Joseph proved himself to be a worthy man of God and even though the Pharaoh of that time was not a believer in the true God, he was wise enough to recognize a good man when he saw one.
Joseph was elevated to second in command in the entire nation of Israel. When his family came to Egypt, God granted them favour in the eyes of the Pharaoh and they were given the best of the land of Egypt.
Due to the lazy character of the governing family of Egypt, when that Pharaoh died, and the next Pharaoh took over, that Pharaoh did not read his history. He saw the Hebrews, all living in the land of Goshen, and he saw them as a threat to his family’s dynasty. Rather than check for the facts, he went with his assumptions and imposed oppressive laws against the Hebrews. His philosophy was to keep the nation of Israel poor and busy working for him. They had enough to eat, because they needed to work for him. They were enlisted in work that his own people did not want to do.
Even though it was an oppressive time for Israel, Egypt benefited greatly from having them in their land. They built cities for the Pharaoh. Times became progressively worse for the Hebrews and they cried unto the LORD in their affliction.
Over time, Israel had become quite secular in their thinking. They still knew about God, but their relationship with Him was rather distant. However, God did not forget about them. He chose Moses at just the right time, to become the leader of the nation of Israel. Up until that time, they had not had a human leader. They were twelve tribes and they managed to get along, but they did not have a central leader to act on their behalf. God had earlier stated that He was to be their Leader. Abraham came to understand this, as did Isaac and Jacob. Joseph was not their leader, but he certainly was a type of “saviour and protector” for the nation of Israel. From there things seemed to drift away from God.
Over God’s specified timeframe, Moses showed the nation of Israel the importance of knowing and trusting the true God. Due to their current situation at that time, there would be some pain involved in waking them up and in bringing them out of the bondage they were in.
The final event that shook the nation of Egypt deeply, was the Passover. The nation of Egypt had already been severely damaged by the plagues that God sent against them. However, the Pharaoh was a very stubborn man. He had the backing of his people, but he was ruining their lives and their land. In the end, he led his army to destruction.
Through all of that, God showed Egypt and Israel that it is not productive nor wise to fight against the LORD. We know that these events were rehearsed in the ears of other nations and when Israel came to Jericho, the people there knew of the mighty hand of God. The Gibeonites also stated that they had heard of God’s mighty hand at work on behalf of the nation of Israel.
God showed the nation of Israel that He needed to take priority in their lives. He changed their calendar to help them to remember that. The first thing they needed to remember was that He was their Deliverer. The Passover was about the death of the firstborn of the unbelievers, and the ‘salvation’ of the firstborn of the believers. This was a type of the fact that Jesus Christ, our Passover, is the Saviour. Those who turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, are saved and promised eternal life.
The moment of your salvation, if you are saved, was the moment of new beginnings in your life. Life changed the moment you turned to God for salvation. That is the Biblical fact. As we have often mentioned, for most who profess to be saved, things did not change. You kept your old habits and just spoke about Jesus sometimes. You may have started to go to a secular religious club that was called a church, but it was very much centred around what you set as boundaries for what you would tolerate.
For the nation of Israel, the Passover was a major event that shocked many of them. They never accepted the significance of that event. They were somewhat thankful for the deliverance from Egyptian bondage, although that was dependent on their circumstances. A few of them, like Joshua and Caleb, believed in the true God and were blessed for trusting in Him.
Today, the few that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are blessed in knowing Him. From that moment when you trusted in Him as your Saviour, He also became the Lord of your life. If you want to argue that point, then you have a problem with God, not with me. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ is not some passive saviour but that He is THE SAVIOUR, Who becomes THE LORD of the true child of God.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For those of us that know the true God and Saviour, let us take this beginning of a new year to thank God for His blessings over the past years and let us humbly submit to His continued leadership as we embark on this new year.
For those who have an imaginary God and Saviour, why not listen to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in your life right now and turn to the true God in repentance and trust in the true Saviour now to forgive you and give you His gift of salvation and eternal life. Your life too will be changed if this becomes the beginning of eternal life for you. You will be pleasantly surprised at the mighty hand of God as He begins to do His good work in your heart and life. We are praying for the salvation of many souls in this current year. If this is your beginning, we would love to hear about it. We will pray for you.
May God richly bless each one that reads these devotionals.
Pastor Bartel