2 Chronicles 2:4
Some have thought that II Chronicles 2:4 proclaims that the new moons are to be an ordinance forever, similar to the weekly Sabbath and annual holy days. But the context reveals that this verse provides no such authority.
Solomon, writing to Huram (Hiram), the king of Tyre (verse 3), was explaining what he (Solomon) was doing and why Huram should deal with him in the same way he dealt with David, his father. It was not a general proclamation to Israel; Solomon is stating his intentions in the dedication of the Temple. It is Solomon who, in verse 4, declares this to be "forever to Israel." God was not making this proclamation, as He did Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; the spokesman was "merely" a king, and there is no indication that God either inspired his statement or, on the other hand, condemned it. But Solomon's statement must be seen in the context of a letter about the Temple dedication: He is declaring that the things that were formerly carried out at the wilderness Tabernacle were now to be performed at the Temple.
An interlinear Bible reveals that the phrase "is an ordinance" is not in the original Hebrew (this is also italicized in the NKJV to show that the phrase was added). So the last part of the verse literally reads, "This forever to Israel," and, again, these were Solomon's words to Huram, and thus did not have the weight of when God declares something to be "perpetual" or "everlasting."
This verse does not add to what was already established by God in Numbers 29:6 regarding the new moons (which only gives instructions about the animal sacrifices, which do not have a literal place under the New Covenant). For more information, see the article entitled The New Moons.
David C. Grabbe
