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I have been working on teaching my little bears the days of the week for a while now… but my method may be a bit different from others! You see, it started a couple of years ago when I started to teach my oldest daughter (then almost three) some preschool lessons. I have always tried to teach through real life application. But when I started to teach the days of the week, something jumped out at me!
It started with a verse
It started with my devotion time. (Side note: all Scripture quoted will be from the KJV unless otherwise noted) My husband and I had been reading in Hosea and chapter 2 verse 17 stood out to me. “For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.” We paused for a moment and wondered… “what are the names of Baalim?” and “Why will they be removed from her mouth?”
With that, we took to Strong’s Concordance and discovered that this is the plural of the deity Baal… plural of a deity? We decided to look a bit further at other Scriptures and this is what we found…
A Command and a Promise
There are many Scriptures that are similar to Hosea 2:17. Exodus 23:13 states “And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.” It is very clear here that children of YHWH are to not be using the names of other gods and deities.
Joshua 23:7 says it this way “That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them:”
The Psalmist makes his stance clear in Psalm 16:4 “Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.”
And lastly, Zechariah 13:2 holds the promise we saw in Hosea “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.”
Wait a second…
Wait a moment… did that all say what I think it said? Scripture is very clear that YHWH commands His followers to be set apart and to not even speak the names of other deities… As we began to reflect on these verses, we first thought “well, we don’t do that” but slowly, the reality dawned upon us… we actually do… EVERY SINGLE DAY!
The Grim Reality
The sad truth is that we all use the names of pagan deities whenever we speak the days of the week or the months of the year. Rather than speak the days by what our Creator YHWH calls them, we use the pagan names of various deities. Wow… we have definitely fallen short! (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”)
Thankfully though, there is grace, forgiveness, and mercy! We are blessed that He leaves us with the promise of restoration and healing of our tongues! But what do we do now?
It is true that we live in a pagan and sin-cursed world. We do not have to like it, but that is the reality. Most people do not follow YHWH but choose some other deity (or deities) to follow- be it one of antiquity or themselves.
So what do we do?
Our Imperfect Solution
With the realization of these Scriptures, we decided that for our family, we would do our best to refrain from using the pagan days of the week. We do teach our children what the names of the days and months are commonly called, but we also teach them the way they were spoken of in Scripture, the Hebrew names, and the names of the deities that the now standardized names of the days of the week came from.
Here is the chart that I made for our learning wall:
| Day # | English | Creation | Hebrew | Pagan | Pagan god |
| 1st | First Day | Light | Yom Rishon | Sunday | Sun/Apolo/Ra |
| 2nd | Second Day | Firmament | Yom Sheni | Monday | Moon/Diana |
| 3rd | Third Day | Earth, Plants, Trees & Seas | Yom Shlishi | Tuesday | Mars/Twia |
| 4th | Fourth Day | Sun, Moon, Stars | Yom Revi’i | Wednesday | Mercury/Woden |
| 5th | Fifth Day | Fowl & Fish | Yom Chamishi | Thursday | Jupiter/Thor/Zeus |
| 6th | Sixth Day | Animals & Man | Yom Shishi | Friday | Venus/Freya/Aphrodite |
| 7th | Seventh Day | REST! | Yom Shabbat | Saturday | Saturn/Cronus |
I also made a second chart which covers the months:
| Month | Days | Named For | Month | Days | Named For |
| January | 31 | Janus- god of door/gate | July | 31 | Julias Caesar |
| February | 28/29 | Februalia- pagan sin sacrifice ritual | August | 31 | Augustus Caesar |
| March | 31 | Mars- god of war | September | 30 | Latin septem- 7 |
| April | 30 | Latin aperire- to open/bud | October | 31 | Latin octo- 8 |
| May | 30 | Maia- goddess of growth | November | 30 | Latin novem- 9 |
| June | 31 | Juno- queen of gods | December | 31 | Latin decem- 10 |
I am still working on learning the Hebrew months and hope to make a chart in the future which will cover the Hebrew and Gregorian months and how they relate to one another.
In Conclusion
So… all that to say, I teach the days of the weeks a bit differently than most homeschooling mommas. I not only teach my children the days in English, but in Hebrew. I teach the days by number and also the history surrounding the pagan names of the days. It may seem like a lot to cover, but it has helped our family as we strive to live according to Scripture.
I hope this post has been a help to you along your own momma bear journey. If nothing else, I hope it has given you an alternative viewpoint to evaluate and consider. Thanks for sticking with me to the end! Remember- just take it all one moment at a time!
