Happy New Year’s Eve!
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, December 31, 2025 (Donate)
Today is the sixth day of Christmas—New Years Eve. Of
the Twelve Days of Christmas, this and tomorrow (New Years Day)
are probably the most popular of the holidays.
Sadly, many today happily celebrate these two holidays, not
realizing they are part of the Twelve Days of Christmas. The neat thing
about these two holidays is that one is the last day of the year and the next
is the first day of the year.
New Years Eve also goes by other names. Hogmanay
Day (aka Hoggo-nott or Hoog Min Day). This roughly translates as either “great
love day” or “holy month”/”holy morning” and could be both. Even so, it is meant
as a cap to the year.
A tradition that goes back [allegedly 2000 years ago] in German
and English customs reflects this “great love day” with a kiss at the new year.
People still do this at midnight, often with fireworks around the world.
Traditionally though, if was a day where people would have
bow shooting contests and other sporting events like javelin throw. Today, we
still watch sporting events! They are just different games and televised.
It was also a time for a special tithe in the Old Testament
to be sure they were caring for their local Levite priests and their families
(e.g., Deuteronomy 13:48)—this was done at the end of every 3 years as a cycle.
Really, New Years Eve is a day to thank God and give Him the
glory that you made it through another year. Whether you had a good year or a
bad year, the next year about to start and things could be fresh and new again.
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various
churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers
in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding
news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight
Council.
Bodie
launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal
website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken
on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
