Once every four years, we call it a leap year. Most of us just realize that February typically has 28 days and every four years, it has 29. If we were pushed to explain it, the majority of us including this writer would have that deer in the headlights look and be stumped to give a rational answer.
Once you read this, I think you will still be scratching your head!
“In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar once again. Because the Earth revolves around the sun once every 365.2421 days, one leap day every 4 years is just slightly too much. Instead of shortening the leap day, the Gregorian calendar is designed such that leap days only happen every 4 years except years evenly divisible by 100 but not 400.
“There was not a leap day in 1900 and there will not be one in 2100. So a baby born on February 29, 2096 will be in the 3rd grade on his 1st birthday!”1
This phenomenon was taken into account in the Bible. Exodus 12:1-2 starts the year rolling by saying, “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.” In the book of Esther, we learn that the month’s name is Nisan.
A Jewish website says that the Jewish calendar names came from Babylonia. And the calendar was arranged a bit differently.
“In the Gregorian calendar, most months are either 30 or 31 days (because 365 ÷ 12 = 30.4). In the Jewish calendar, since the lunar cycle is about 29.5 days, all months are either 29 days (known as “missing” months) or 30 days (known as “complete” months).
“Most months have a set number of days (Nisan—30, Iyar—29, Sivan—30, Tammuz—29, and so on). There are two exceptions: Marcheshvan and Kislev can be either 29 or 30 days.
“In the Gregorian calendar, every four years an extra day is added, creating a leap year—a year with 366 days instead of 365. In the Jewish calendar, however, leap years have an additional month. The Torah specifies that Passover must be celebrated in the spring and Sukkot during autumn. This poses a problem, as the lunar year is eleven days short of the solar year, and any given date will potentially regress from one season to the next.
“In order for the festivals to retain their positions relative to the seasons, an adjustment must be made to enable the lunar calendar to maintain harmony with the solar cycle. To do so, years are grouped into 19-year cycles. In the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th year of every 19-year cycle, another month (Adar) is added. Such a year is called “shanah m’uberet,” literally “a pregnant year.”
“Based on this, any given year can contain either 353, 354, or 355 days (or in a leap year: 383, 384, or 385 days). When both months are 29 days, the year is known as chaseirah (missing); when both are 30, the year is shleimah (complete); and when Marcheshvan is 29 days and Kislev is 30, the year is k’sidrah (regular, meaning these two months follow the alternating pattern of the rest of the months).”2
Right now, some of you are thinking that you just wasted a lot of time reading today’s devotional! You are more confused than when you started. I’m there with you! I’ve read all of this many times and find myself stymied and baffled.
Here’s what we need to know. Daniel 2:21 says, “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” This is echoed in Acts 1:7. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Ultimately, the LORD is the one who controls the calendar, the days of the week, and the month of the year. He establishes the seasons, too.
Today is just another one of God’s days. Today is a gift along with its 24 hours, 1440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds. Let’s not waste the precious time He has given us.
1https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-leap-day-february-29
2https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4624325/jewish/17-Jewish-Calendar-Facts.htm
