Over the past couple months I had pondered why the Quakers use the terminology like '1st day of the week' or '6th month of...____'. I figured they were just trying to use proper English...lol. Shows how much I know. :-)
In January I was looking over some articles about some Biblical issues I wanted to learn more of and came across an article similar to this.
After reading it, a lightbulb went on in that noggin of mine...and ..now I know. :-)
Origins of the names of days and months
Did you know that the names of our months and week days have their roots in paganism?
If numbering the days was good enough for God, why did we change them?
Why, if we wanted to name them, were they named in honor of pagan deities?
Perhaps because "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." (Isaiah 53:6)
God never told anyone to change His seventh day Sabbath to the first day. Furthermore, His days run from sunset to sunset, not from midnight to midnight:
Genesis 1:5 - 5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
He called the days He created, the First Day, the Second Day, etc. He rested on the 7th Day, and even made it one of His Commandments that we do the same!
Genesis 2:2 - By [Ex 20:8-11; 31:17] the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and [Heb 4:4, 10] He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Exodus 20:11 - "[Gen 2:2, 3; Ex 31:17] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 23:12 - "[Ex 20:8-11; 31:15; 34:21; 35:2, 3; Lev 23:3; Deut 5:13f] Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.
However, like everything else, man decided to "do his own thing".
Isaiah 53 - 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
So,WHY did man decide to name the days of the week (which ended up being named after Pagan gods)? Because, like everything else, Satan made sure that God's commandments were confused and ignored.
Days of the week:
*The First Day: Sunday was named after the Sun god.
*The second Day: Monday was named after the moon goddess.
*The Third Day: Tuesday was named after the god Tyr.
*The Fourth Day: Wednesday was named after the god Odin.
*The Fifth Day: Thursday was named after the god Thor.
*The Sixth Day: Friday was named after the goddess Frigga.
*The Seventh Day: Saturday was named after the god Saturn.
Months:
*JANUARY:
Named for Janus, the Roman mighty one of portals and patron of beginnings and endings, to whom this month was sacred. He is shown as having two faces, one in front, the other at the back of his head, supposedly to symbolize his powers.
*FEBRUARY:
This name is derived from Februa, a Roman festival of purification. It was originally the month of expiation.
*MARCH:
It is named for Mars, the Roman mighty one of war.
*APRIL:
This name comes from the Latin APRILIS, indicating a time of Fertility. It was believed that this month is the month when the earth was supposed to open up for the plants to grow.
*MAY:
This month was named for Maia, the Roman female deity of growth or increase.
*JUNE:
This name is sometimes attributed to June, the female mighty one of the marriage, the wife of Jupiter in Roman mythology. She was also called the "Queen of heaven" and " Queen of mighty ones." The name of this month is also attributed to Junius Brutus, but originally it most probably referred to the month in which crops grow to ripeness.
*JULY:
Named for the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, this is the seventh month of the Gregorian year.
*AUGUST:
Named for Octavius Augustus Caesar, emperor of Rome; the name was originally from augure, which means, "to increase."
*SEPTEMBER:
This name is derived from the Latin septem, meaning "seven."
*OCTOBER
This name comes from the Latin root octo, meaning "eight."
*NOVEMBER:
This name is derived from Latin novem, meaning "ninth."
*DECEMBER:
This name is derived from the Latin decem, meaning "ten."
The Bible says we should not use pagan deity names!
Exodus 23:13: and in all things that I have said to you take heed: and make no mention of other Elohim, neither let it be heard out of your mouth.
Psalms 16:4: their sorrows shall be multiplied that give gifts to idols: Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take their names upon my lips.
I know there are many others out there who never knew this information, so I thought I would pass it along for some food for thought.
Hmmm...now to use the proper terminology when talking about the days of the week / month. Oh this ought to be a fun thing for me to try. :-)
On another note, yesterday hubby and I bought a new printer, on sale at Target for $50. Our other one stopped working properly (only had it since 2006 so who knows why it was having malfunctions already), so I am enjoying printing out all these saved articles I have had in my 'favorites' folder for months now. :-)
I didn't get to go to church today as I would have liked. Didn't get to sleep till 0430 this morning and there was no way I would have been able to function on 3 hours of sleep (the alarm was set to go off at 0730).
Note to self: get spare bedroom completely fixed up so if I ever have sleep issues again (which I will) I can go into a quiet room and fall asleep without interruptions.
Needless to say, I am looking forward to bedtime tonight. :-)
Sleepy hugs and blessings from my house to yours,
Dawn
10 comments:
I was thinking about this the other day because of some of my bible readings. I'd like to start this too, but I wonder how confusing it will get if you call Sunday the first day, when most regard it, in our culture, as the 7th and so on?
I am going to study this :o)
I learn something new everyday. :)
Do you know where the names for the Jewish calendar came from?
That's very interesting! I knew the months were named after pagan gods, but didn't know the days of the week were.
I agree with what Angie says, I wonder if it would get confusing to people who regard Monday as the first day.
This is certainly something I'll put some study into.
It is strange that October is the 10th month but comes from the word meaning 8. Wonder why that is?
Just a thought
Romans 8:1
"There is therefore no comdenation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."
Romans 14:5- 6
"One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord for he giveth God thanks and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not and giveth God the thanks."
I knew this already. Today of course the Quakers are much more accepting of Paganism, some groups (particularly in the USA)welcoming modern Pagans amongst them.
Being as the early Christians appropriated Pagan festivals and renamed them Easter, Christmas, Candlemass etc in order to be better able to impose their religious beliefs on others, I can't see any issue with most Christians using names rather than numbers for the week days. That is unless you are prepared to give up the Holy days too.
Victoria ~
I did a quick Google search a few days ago on your question, but didn't really search it out better. Maybe you and I can do a search together and see what we come up with.
It would be neat to know about where the Jewish folk got the names of their calendar..
I enjoy learning new things.
We all have grown up being spoon fed what the world wants us to be taught, so it's nice when YAH begins opening minds and hearts to deeper explore things that we may have never thought of before. :-)
Blessings to all!
Dawn heres a website that explains the jewish calendar in detail. One thing I find enteresting is that the hebrew calendar which is older than the gregorian calendar begins in a different month than the gregorian, example Nissan is the first month in the hebrew, which falls on the new moon around march or april of the gregorian calendar. I wonder would our month 3 really be month 1?
sorry forgot to copy website:
http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm
Just one more comment, LOL I just realized why Sept means seven. It is the seventh month in the hebrew calender, why it is not in the gregorian is interesting. Maybe to hold onto some of the origin?
Very interesting. I have studied the hebrew calendar quite a bit, but never the gregorian, so I am learning alot.
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