Do we ever find a 13th month in Scripture?

I have seen the notion passed about, regarding a thirteenth month in scripture. I see many people say things such as “there is no thirteenth month in the scriptures”.  So this was where I decided to look for it, if it existed or if it did not.

Now I want to be clear. Even if we do find the thirteenth month in scripture, I do not believe it would have always been this way. The main reasons I say this is because of the time of trouble spoken about in Daniel and Revelation.  They speak of “time, times and half a time”, which we see is 360 + 720 + 180 or 1260 days or 42 months. 42 months. That is 1260 days / 42 months = 30 days per month.

So if we see this, why would we even entertain the thought of a thirteenth month right?

Think of what occurs in a divorce. One person in a relationship of two, leaves that relationship because of something which the other person has done which can no longer be tolerated.

Part of what He gave us was His appointed times. His Sabbaths, His new moons, His feasts. These were the times we were able to spend with the Father. But we were unfaithful, and hence they were removed.

A certificate of divorce was given. It is like Yahuwah picked up His home (which is His temple and His appointed times) and moved it such that it could no longer be found.

We see this in Hosea 2

Hosea 2:2,9-11
2 “Bring charges against your mother, bring charges;
For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!
Let her put away her harlotries from her sight,
And her adulteries from between her breasts;

9 “Therefore I will return and take away
My grain in its time
And My new wine in its season,
And will take back My wool and My linen,
Given to cover her nakedness.
10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
And no one shall deliver her from My hand.
11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease,
Her feast days,
Her New Moons,
Her Sabbaths—
All her appointed feasts.

Think about how the Father would remove the appointed times from the people. He would have to make it so they could not be found. He would need to modify time the way we know it. And this was done in the days of Hezekiah when the sun moved backward in the sky, the earth slowed. The solar year then became longer which also made the lunar year shorter at the same time. No longer would the people be able to find the appointed times.

So what effect would this have upon our year as we currently know it? The number of days in a solar year moved from 360 to 365.25 and the number of days in a lunar year moved from 360 days to 354.37 days. Together they still add up to 360 days per year (365.25 + 354.37/2 = ~720/2 = 360 days per year)

Before we continue with the prophecy spoken about in Hosea 2, I wanted to pause for a moment and look at what we currently have time wise. We have a solar year 0f 365.25 days and a lunar year of 354.37 days. We have a scriptural year however which changes between 354 and 384 days. Why? To keep the calendar in line with the growing seasons every three to four years an extra month of 30 days needs to be added to the calendar. This keeps the lunar calendar in line with the solar calendar. They both move along together. Is it the way Yahuwah wanted it? No. I do not believe so. It is because we had rejected him and thus He rejected us. Sin cannot live with Yahuwah. The two are not compatible in the same way Light is not compatible with darkness. It is one or the other. Pure or impure.

When we read the book of Ezekiel, specifically chapters 1 – 8, we see something many do not always see.  Let’s draw out a timeline by first collecting the dates from scripture.

In Ezekiel 1:1-2 we are told that Ezekiel received a vision from Yahuwah on the 5th day of the 4th month, in the 5th year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity.

Ezekiel 1:1-2
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, thatthe heavens were opened and I saw visions of Elohim. 
2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity.

So we start at the 5th day of the 4th month. Then in Ezekiel 3 we find that Ezekiel dwelt by the river Chebar for 7 days.

Ezekiel 3:15
15 Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.

This brings us to the 12th day of the 4th month. Then in Ezekiel 4:1-11 he is given instructions by Yahuwah to lay on his left side 390 days and when he accomplishes this he is to then lay on his right side 40 days; equaling a total of 430 days (A day was to represent a year for Israel and Judah for their inequity). In Ezekiel 8 we find that upon the 5th day in the 6th month of the 6th year he is sitting.

Ezekiel 8:1
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of Yahuwah Elohim fell upon me there. 

So let us look at this 430 day count when we use a calendar with 12 months in it only. We are going to assume 30 days in the calendar as well, even though today we have 29, and 30 day months in the Gregorian calendar.

Month # = day count
4 – (from day 12) = 18
5 = 30
6 = 30
7 = 30
8 = 30
9 = 30
10 = 30
11 = 30
12 = 30
1 = 30
2 = 30
3 = 30
4 = 30
5 = 30
6 = (to the 5th day) 5
Total = 413 days

The problem here is that we still have another 17 days to go until we meet the 430 days.  It is hard to imagine that Ezekiel would have disobeyed Yahuwah. So what is the solution? Let’s look at the calendar when we use a lunar month which changes between 29 and 30 days as we have today, and when a 13th month is added. The thing I find interesting is that this calendar represents a people living in sin as well. It is not pure.

Month # = day count
4 – (from day 12) = 18
5 = 29
6 = 30
7 = 29
8 = 30
9 = 29
10 = 30
11 = 29
12 = 30
13 = 29
1 = 30
2 = 29
3 = 30
4 = 29
5 = 30
6 = (to the 5th day) 5
Total = ~ 435 – 436 days (depending upon whether you start your count with 29 or 30 days in the first month).

This count of 430 days is only possible when one adds in a thirteenth month into the calendar. A purely solar only calendar does not work. So yes. We do find a 13th month in scripture, but it appears when Israel is in Sin.

In the rest of Hosea 2 the prophecy continues:

16 “And it shall be, in that day,”
Says Yahuwah,
“That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’
And no longer call Me ‘My Lord,’

17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals,
And they shall be remembered by their name no more.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
With the beasts of the field,
With the birds of the air,
And with the creeping things of the ground.
Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth,
To make them lie down safely.

19 “I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me
In righteousness and justice,
In lovingkindness and mercy;

20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness,
And you shall know Yahuwah.