Happy New Year? Biblical or nah?
- Chuck
- Dec 30, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 1, 2022
What are the origins of the New Year's celebration? Why do we celebrate it? Great questions, if I do say so myself :)
According to history.com , the New Year's celebration originated 4000 years ago from
ancient Babylon as they celebrated the first new moon.
Brittanica.com mentions, the New Year festival was celebrated at different times depending on the location. For example, in Babylon it used to start in mid-March, in Assyria in the other end it started in mid-September and for the Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians the year began in autumn roughly September 21st. As for the Greeks it started on December 21st. At 153 BCE the date was switched to January 1st.
But why was the New Year's celebration, which used to be at different dates according to the location, now established on January 1st you may ask! Again Great question!
According to history.com , the New Year's celebration was moved to January to coincide with the Roman god of beginnings Janus. So do you see the correlation now? January...Janus...That's it! Janus was allegedly able to see the future and the past simultaneously since he had two faces, one looking at the past and one at the future. Therefore January 1st was instituted officially by Julius Ceasar in 46BCE in the Julian Calendar (sourced from brittanica.com).
Today we use the Gregorian calendar for which the dates defers from the Julian calendar. For example this post is written on December 29, 2021 Gregorian time, but in Julian time today would be December 16, 2021. I will not get into details as to why that is, but if you wish for me to post on that specific topic please leave a like and a comment to manifest your interest.
Back to the Janus Topic....Who? Why? and what does the bible says about him?
Please click on the link below to see how Janus was portrayed ;
First things first, The who?
Well, according to greekmythology.com (see link below) Janus was one of the most important gods as he is alleged to be present at the beginning of creation, even the creation of other Greek gods. According to Greek mythology he oversaw the creation of religions and was the doorkeeper to Heaven...not Yahshua...Let's also not forget, as mentioned before, he was the guardian or the supervisor of time and all changes like a passage from war to peace as well as being the god of beginnings.
When it comes to The why?
Simple deduction, Janus god of beginnings, movements and changes in time (according to Greek mythology) = celebration in his honor on his dedicated month January.
Now, What does the bible say about it?
According to Genesis 1:1 God created the Heaven and the Earth, the Light, the Firmament, the Waters, the Stars, provisions for Food and so on and so forth...nowhere does it mentions a Janus nor the creation of other gods.
In Jonh 1:1 ''In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'' and Revelation 22:13 Yahshua says he is the beginning and the end and was there at the creation of all things : ''I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.''
John 10:3-16 also clearly mentions Yahshua (Jesus) is the gatekeeper and that through him alone can we get to the Father or access to the Kingdom. Also see Matthew 7:21-23 (see link below) that supports that Yahshua (Jesus) is the way to God.
Now How do all those references I threw at your faces all correlate and oppose to Janus's story?
It was said that Janus was there at the beginning as he is the god of beginnings, the gatekeeper and the god of time.
First, according to the bible Yahshua (Jesus) was there at the beginning with Yah (God) no Janus in sight.
Second, Yahshua IS the gatekeeper and no one goes to the Father but through him, still no Janus in sight.
Third, Joshua 10:13 Yah (God) stopped the sun and delayed it for Israel at the battle against the Amorites, therefore He is the God of time. Still no Janus there.
Now that we've identified all those paradoxes and observed that the bible clearly contradicts Janus's characteristics, what conclusion do you make of it?
From my perspective, I stand by the bible...and if you're a Yah and Yahshua's believer so should you...but please leave comments and let me know what you think.
Until my next post! Love you all and stay blessed!
Charly
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