[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it.
Jeremiah 52 v4 [NIVUK]
Have you ever wondered why our tenth month is called October when ‘octo’ is a prefix that is usually associated with the number eight? A similar question could be asked about Septem(7)ber, Novem(9)ber and Decem(10)ber.
In the time of the first Roman empire some of the months were named in honour of various gods (Janus, Maia, etc) whilst others were named according to their numeric sequence. However, Julius Caesar and emperor Augustin wanted months named after themselves so July and August were inserted, displacing the later months which nevertheless retained their number-based names.
The word ‘month’ is itself from the same root as moon and was originally a measure of the time required for a full lunar cycle. In many ancient cultures the months were triggered by the observation of a new moon. The Hebrew calendar in Old Testament times had 12 months of 28 days each in most years and a periodic supplementary month to restore consistency with the natural seasons.
As time passes and cultures wax and wane so the calendars in use have evolved. Our modern western calendar comprises months with an inconsistent number of days. That could be a factor in why long-term Biblical prophecy such as that in the book of Daniel is more commonly expressed in terms of symbolic days, weeks or years.
Our opening verse describes the event in 588BC which led to the exile of the Israelites in Babylon. Despite the horrors that the people endured the event was remembered by later generations; the fast of the tenth month (10th day of Tebheth) commemorated the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,[1] which was itself part of God’s process of refining his people.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: … the fast of the tenth [month] shall be to the house of Judah [a] season of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Zechariah 8 v19 [ESVUK]
The tenth month became a landmark in the account of Noah; it was a demonstration of God’s promise to preserve Noah’s family:[2]
And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
Genesis 8 v5 [NIVUK]
It was in the tenth month that the young Jewess Esther was presented to King Xerxes and became the winner of the most prestigious beauty pageant in the ancient Middle East. She found herself in a situation was had not been part of her life plan. The account of Esther includes the well-known discourse about God’s forward planning:
And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Esther 4 v14 [ESVUK]
We all have a sphere of influence. It might be widely recognised or we might consider it to be insignificant, but no one is insignificant to God. Perhaps God has arranged your circumstances for some specific purpose.
Are you ready for what God has planned for our tenth month?
References:
[1] https://biblehub.com/topical/f/fasts.htm
[2] Genesis 6:18
Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.
Bible dates:
Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.
Horley Baptist Church onlineHBC main site
Confidential prayer link
Link to Recent Reflections
Link to Index of Bible Passages
Last week’s reflection: What’s Your Excuse?
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys
In Britain it is hard to see the moon through the cloud and rain!