LEST! YOU DID NOT KNOW? – By Charles Schokman
Have you ever wondered where the month of August got its name from? August, the eighth month of our calendar year, was named in honor of the Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar.
The original Roman calendar, which consisted of ten months, began with March and ended with December. However, during the reign of Julius Caesar, changes were made to the Roman calendar in order to align it with the solar year. These changes included the introduction of two new months, July and August. After Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, his adopted son and heir, Gaius Octavius, came to power. Octavius later changed his name to Augustus Caesar, officially becoming the first Roman emperor.
To commemorate his numerous accomplishments and to maintain harmony with the naming of the previous month (July, named after Julius Caesar), Augustus Caesar requested that the month then known as Sextilis (meaning sixth because it was the sixth month at the time) be renamed August.
The Roman Empire spread across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, bringing Egypt, northern Spain, the Alps and much of the Balkans under Roman control. And yet tucked away in the far right corner of Augustus’ Empire, in this small, seemingly insignificant area – another King was born.
In 42 B.C. Julius Caesar was formally deified as “the divine Julius” (divus Iulius), and Augustus became known as “divi Iuli filius” (son of the divine Julius) or simply “divi filius” (son of the god). But in the quiet Judean hills on the outskirts of his empire the true Son of God came into the world to free it of sin and death – something the Roman Empire was well versed in. The contrast of what is happening is quite amazing.
He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Matthew 2:15
This August let us remember that 2000 years on the once all powerful Augustus only has a month named after him, his influence and power ended when he died, and the Roman Empire though some of its building and influence is still around is now mostly just a few chapter of a world history book. But 2000 years on through the King of kings and Lord of lords Jesus, the Kingdom of God has reached the ends of the earth and is still here, he’s still alive and his kingdom is still growing. It will actually never end! (Luke 1:32-33) Praise the Lord!
Courtesy of New Life News Magazine.
