Lunar Sabbath

LUNAR SABBATH The children of Israel were sent into exile because they did not honor YHWH and the Torah that He gave to them (Yehezqel/Ezekiel 12, 20, 22). The majority of Israelites are still in exile today. One of the parts of the Torah that Israel did not honor is His Sabbaths from which they "hid their eyes" (Yehezqel 22:26). And because of Israel's transgressions against His Sabbaths, He took His Sabbaths and His Feasts away from us (Hoshea/Hosea 2:11, Yeshayahu/Isaiah 1:13). Our Heavenly Father said He would re-gather His people back to Him in the last days (Yeshayahu 11:12) and He will re-establish righteousness among His people (Romans 11:26, Yeshayahu 59:20). This process is happening before our very eyes as many of His people return to the Torah by the hand of the Ruach HaKodesh. Many of us did not expect our spiritual lives to take the turn that they have taken, but we know in our spirits that what is changing in our lives is from Elohim. Genesis 1 records the six days in which Elohim formed the earth and Genesis 2 says that He completed His work and rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2, Exodus 16:26, Exodus 20 8-11, and Leviticus 23:6). We know that we are commanded to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day, but the question is, "The seventh day from what?" Traditionally, we count Saturday as the seventh day, but we need to ask ourselves why this is. If it is only because our present calendar calls it the seventh day and because others keep Saturday as the seventh day Sabbath, is that justification for accepting that Saturday is the Sabbath? There is ample evidence to affirm that, indeed, Saturday is not the Sabbath day and if one will examine the evidence with an open spirit that desires to know and do the will of YHWH Elohim, putting aside ones prejudices, biases, and desires for convenience, that conclusion will be obvious. There is nothing in Scripture at the "pashat" or literal level that makes a statement for or against the Saturday Sabbath. We need to examine historical evidence combined with a "ramez" level look at the Scriptures which gives a thread of evidence at a deeper level before we will understand this concept. We have seen that the Gregorian calendar which we use in our culture is not based upon the Scriptures. The Gregorian calendar has pagan names for the days of the week and for the months, whereas Scripturally only the first and last months are named (Aviv and Adar), and only the seventh day is named (Shabbat, Sabbath) and we are not to have the names of pagan gods upon our lips. We have seen that the year is to begin in the spring (Shemot/Exodus 12:2) but the Gregorian calendar year begins in the winter. We have seen that the months are supposed to be based upon the lunar cycle (1 Samuel 20) but our months have only a vague correspondence to the lunar cycle. The Saturday Sabbath is a product of the recurring week. The word which is translated "week" in our Scriptures is the word "Shabua" which means "seven" or "period of seven". The Scriptures say that "6 days work is done and then there is a Sabbath rest". Nowhere does it say in Scripture that the seven-day pattern is a continuously recurring pattern. The concept of a recurring pattern of sevens, the

week, is a concept dating from around 400-500 B.C.E. and there is much historical evidence to support that the recurring weekly cycle came out of Babylon just as the rest of our time-keeping has. The recurring weekly cycle, while convenient hi a society based upon merchandising, is not Scriptural. Not only is the continuously recurring seven day "week" not found in Scripture, it cannot be justified by any calendar in use. The Gregorian calendar has 30 or 31 days per month (except for February 28 or 29 days) which is not evenly divisible by seven. All ancient calendars untilized the moon to count off 12 thirty day months with four "weeks" of seven days punctuated by a pause at the time of the new moon. All of these ancient calendars from every ancient civilization had 360 days in the year. This can be seen from comparing Beresheit/Genesis 7:11 with Beresheit 8:4 and Beresheit 7:24-8:3. The 17th day of the second month until the 17th day of the seventh month is five months, 5 x 30 days, 150 days as is recorded in this passage. Ancient historical records record that the original 30 day lunar cycle was thrown off by cataclysmic events in the heavens which also triggered the flood recorded for us in Beresheit. Today the lunar cycle is 29.530588 days in length. According to the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia p.410, "The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent on the lunar cycle. Both date back to the nomadic period of Israel. Originally the New Moon was celebrated the same way as the Sabbath." The Encyclopedia Biblica (p. 4780) states that "The Hebrew month is a lunar month and the quarter of this period-one phase of the moon-appears to have determined the week of seven days", hi the Jewish commentary called the Zohar from nearly 2,000 years ago pp. 296-297 we find the statement that "The nations in the world reckon by the sun and Yisrael by the moon." The moon signals the days with its light, which increases and decreases. The Hebrew word for signal is "owth" Strong's number 226, which means "signal" or "beacon." Owth is the word translated "signs" in Beresheit 1:14, "for signs and for seasons". The moon is the heavenly body that turns on and off like a beacon. The sun and stars do not do this. And as it turns on and off it signals the days of the week and the month. Psalm 104:19 states "He made the moon for appointed times ["moedim", the feasts of YHWH]; the sun knows its going down." The King James Version renders this "He appointed the moon for seasons...". The word translated "appointed" in the King James Version is "asah", Strong's number 6213, which means "to make". And the word translate4 "seasons" is Strong's number 4150, "moed" which means appointed times. hi Leviticus 23:2-3 it is written, "Speak to the children of Yisra'el and say to them, The appointed times of YHVH, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are these: 'Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work, it is a Sabbath to YHWH, in all your dwellings."' So the first appointed time addressed in Leviticus 23 is the weekly Sabbath.

All of the appointed times of YHVH are based upon a lunar month beginning the evening when the first sliver of the moon is sited after the renewed moon period, the time when the moon is not visible. In Lunar Sabbath time-keeping, the New Moon is followed by 6 work days, and then on the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest (seventh day Sabbath), followed by 6 more days of work and a Sabbath, another 6 and a Sabbath, and another 6 and a Sabbath, 4 Sabbaths in all plus the New Moon Sabbath. Then there are one or two days of no visible moon depending upon when the first sliver of moon is again sighted making 29 or 30 days in the month to accomodate the lunar cycle which at this time is 29.530588 days in length. In this way of counting days, the 7th day Sabbaths always fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days of the lunar month. Lunar Sabbath days coincide with the phases of the moon in which the first crescent of the moon after the dark period is day one of the lunar month, the first 7th day Sabbath falls at the first quarter phase of the moon hi which the moon appears to be a half of a pie shape, the second Sabbath is when the moon is full, a full circle, also called 2nd quarter, the 3rd Sabbath is when the moon has waned to half full which is third quarter, and the 4th Sabbath is when the moon is back down to a last sliver which is called fourth quarter phase. In conclusion, it seems very apparent that the New Moon and Sabbath were celebrated similarly in the past, and they were celebrated in the past by resting from the normal routine of the week (Amos 8:5), and they are appointed times of YHVH and will be celebrated in the future. The day of the New Moon is a non-commerce day along with the 7th day Sabbath (Ezekiel 46:1). Both the New Moon day and the 7th day Sabbath are days of worship and not one of the six work days (Isaiah 66:23). The day of the New Moon is a non-commerce day along with the 7th day Sabbath (Ezekiel 46:1). Both the New Moon day and the 7th day Sabbath are days of worship and not one of the six work days (Isaiah 66:23). Since the future kingdom will represent a restoration of all things it seems that both New Moon and Sabbaths are also to be days of worship. It seems that if we are keeping Sabbath, we should also be keeping the day of the New Moon and if we are keeping the appointed times of YHVH according to the lunar cycle, we should also be keeping the seventh day Sabbath according to the lunar cycle. Today YHVH is revealing more understanding of His truth as an important step in the re-gathering of the House of Israel and the House of Judah in order to unify them into one stick to be the Bride of Messiah. Re-establishing His Sabbaths and feasts according to His timing is an important part of this restoration process.