Today is a day that a lot of Romans get very excited over, especially at midnight the night before...and by 'Romans' I mean those who unquestioningly accept the Roman Catholic Gregorian Calendar which was established in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a reform of an earlier Roman calendar known as the Julian Calendar established in 46 BC. His stated goal had been to restore the vernal equinox to 21 March where it had been at the time of the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. This calendar is not only secular but also tells us which religious festivals to celebrate and when.

The first countries to accept this new calendar were the Italian states (this was before Italian reunification), Portugal and Spain in 1582 itself, the last being Orthodox Greece in 1923. So this calendar has been around in Europe and elsewhere in the world for as long as 94 to 436 years depending on whether your country clung onto the older Julian calendar for a longer or shorter period of time. Other countries outside the West still cling onto various calendars like the Islamic or Chinese ones though they are forced, by international commerce, to run both their own and the Gregorian side by side.

Even the Jews of Judaism run their own calendar, starting their New Year in the autumn at Rosh Hashanah which the sect of Pharisees made up and then superimposed it on top of a bona fide festival established by Yahweh (called Yom Teruah or the Day of Trumpets/Shouting) and then proceeded to change its meaning.

The Biblical New Year begins in the spring, in around the Gregorian period of March/April, called Aviv 1. This is a most important day because Yahweh commands that we use it to calculate elements of the entire annual calendar. The old year ends at sunrise on the last day of the previous month and the new year begins on the first day of Aviv, renamed 'Nisan' by the post-exilic Jews in imitation of Babylonian customs. Knowing when the New Year starts is therefore of vital importance to the true believer because without it we will get everything else wrong.

1 January, however, is totally irrelevent to Bible believers because Yahweh has commanded no winter festivals or observances except for the monthly new moons at Rosh Chodesh and the weekly luni-solar sabbaths on the 8th, 15th, 21st and 29th days of each month (they're always the same days). Indeed today is the 14th day of the 10th month (tomorrow being the 15th day or Sabbath) - so we are some way off from Yahweh's New Year sill.

1 January is not, however, a date that the Romans picked out of a hat. Far from it. It was already a pagan festival when the Catholics 'christened' it. The first Roman month was called Januarius by the pagan Romans who worshipped Janus (Latin, Ianus), the god (demon) of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gates, doorways, endings and time. Janus was a two-faced god since he looks to the future and to the past. The month of January was named in honour of this demonic entity by the pagan Romans and was adopted by the paganised Roman Catholic Church in place of the true biblical start of the year in order to be more appealing to pagans joining the Church who did not like letting go of their traditions. To ascribe any meaning to this day, including engaging in revels, is therefore to worship at a pagan altar and the demon it serves.

True, we cannot ignore the calendar that the world operates by - you can't just pretend it isn't there - but you can order your spiritual life and temporal rhythms around the true calendar that Yahweh has ordained. Grabted, it isn't always easy (it may require lifestyle adjustments) but it can, and does work. More importantly, it's worth being right with Elohim (God). So 1 January is, for us, is just an ordinary work day - there is nothing 'holy' or 'holi-day-ish' about it. It isn't set-apart (the meaning of the word 'holy' or qadosh) to Yahweh and never can be so we have no business doing so in any shape or form.

Midnight is the 'big moment' for pagan and compromised Christian party-ers but that isn't even the start of a new day in Yahweh's calendar either [1]. Sunrise has always marked the start of the new day until the Jews changed it to sunset after the Babylonian captivity (imitating the Babylonians) and the Romans made it midnight (imitating other pagan/occult religions). Man just loves to 'improve' (as he supposes) the ordinances of Elohim (God). Day-start corresponds to sun-rise.

Yah'shua (Jesus) is not coming back until His Remnant start embracing the emet (truth) - all of it. The restoration of the divine calendar has to take place before the Remnant can physically move into its allotted place. As it is written:

"Make teshuvah (repent) therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of Yahweh, and that He may send Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim (God) has spoken by the mouth of all His qadosh (holy, set-apart) nevi'im (prophets) since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21, NKJV).

It's your choice. You can either ignore the Most High, continue partying and saying 'Happy New [Unholy, Pagan, Demon-Inspired Day of Janus] Year' when it isn't and keep on hoping for blessings for mocking Elohim (God) by taking on the Mark of Janus, or you can get on the train that's leaving Satan's religion behind and heading back home to Zion. Have a blessed 14th day of the 10th month in Yah'shua (Jesus). Amen.

Endnotes