Sabbath:
Counted From the New Moon?
In
recent years, and amidst
the various calendar controversies,
the question has arisen
in certain circles: Should
the Sabbath count start
with the sighting of the
new moon? Apparently, some
have answered in the affirmative.
Followers of this reckoning
provide many, many writings
of men for their support
(due to lack of direct Scriptural
support). For example:
"All
the days are styled "favourable,"
an expression which must
indicate a pious hope, not
a fact, since the words
ud-khul-gal or umu limnu
("the evil day")
are particularly applied
to the seventh, fourteenth,
nineteenth, twenty-first,
and twenty-eighth days...With
regard to the reasons which
dictate the choice of the
seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first,
and twenty-eighth days,
two views have been entertained.
It has been held, in the
first place, that the "evil
days" were selected
as corresponding to the
moon's successive changes;
hence that the seventh day
marks the close of the earliest
form of the seven-day week,
a week bound up with the
lunar phases." (Hutton
Webster, Rest Days: A Study
in Early Law and Morality,
New York: The MacMillan
Company. 1916. P. 224)
"Asurbanipal
in the seventh century promulgated
a calendar with a definite
scheme of a seven-day week,
a regulation of the month
by which all men were to
rest on days 7, 14, 19,
21, 28. The old menology
of Nisan [1] that made the
two days of the dark moon,
29, 30, rest-days, so that
each lunar month had 9 rest-days,
on which neither the sick
could be cured nor a man
in difficulty consult a
prophet; none might travel
and fasting was enforced."
(S. Langdon, Babylonian
Menologies and the Semitic
Calendars, London: Oxford
University Press, 1935,
pp.86-87)
"The
association of sabbath rest
with the account of creation
must have been very ancient
among the Hebrews, and it
is noteworthy that no other
Semitic peoples, even the
Babylonians, have any tradition
of the creation in six days.
It would appear that the
primitive Semites had four
chief moondays, probably
the first, eighth, fifteenth,
and twenty-second of each
month, called sabbaths from
the fact that there was
a tendency to end work before
them so that they might
be celebrated joyfully."
[2] (The New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious
Knowledge, Vol.10, p.135)
"It
is powerfully urged by the
believers in a primitive
Sabbath, that we find from
time immemorial the knowledge
of a week of 7 days among
all nations-- Egyptians,
Arabians, Indians -- in
a word, all the nations
of the East, have in all
ages made use of this week
of 7 days, for which it
is difficult to account
without admitting that this
knowledge was derived from
the common ancestors [Adam
and Eve] of the human race.
Among all early nations
the lunar months were the
readiest large divisions
of time...(and was divided
in 4 weeks), corresponding
(to) the phases or the quarters
of the moon. In order to
connect the reckoning by
weeks with the lunar month,
we find that all ancient
nations observed some peculiar
solemnities to mark the
day of the New Moon."
(The Popular and Critical
Bible Encyclopedia, Vol.
3, 1904, p.1497)
“1.
Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh
Hodesh), both periodically
recurring in the course
of the year. The New Moon
is still, and the Sabbath
originally was, dependent
upon the lunar cycle. Both
date back to the nomadic
period of Israel. Originally
the New Moon was celebrated
in the same way as the Sabbath;
gradually it became less
important, while the Sabbath
became more and more a day
of religion and humanity,
of religious meditation
and instruction, or peace
and delight of the soul,
and produced powerful and
beneficent effects outside
of Judaism.” (Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia, p.410
, “Holidays”)
The sheer weight of all
the commentaries, encyclopedias,
and other such writings
used by teachers of this
reckoning would almost seem
to prove this doctrine true.
But before one readily accepts
it, let us recall the Biblical
admontion to "put all
things to the test, and
hold fast to that which
is good."
As students of the Word
of God, we should all be
aware of the measuring stick
for doctrine:
"All
Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction
in righteousness: that the
man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto
all good works." (II
Tim 3:16,17)
"To
the Law and to the Testimony:
if they speak not according
to this word, it is because
there is no light in them."
(Isaiah 8:20)
We should always use this
plumbline to measure all
things we build our spiritual
house with.
Let us begin our testing
of the "Lunar Cycle
Sabbath" doctrine with
the introduction to the
Word of God--the book of
Genesis.
Sabbath
Of Creation
What day of creation week
did God rest upon, and sanctify
and bless as a holy rest?
Was it the first, second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
or seventh day?
"And
on the seventh day God ended
His work which He had made;
and He rested on the seventh
day from all His work which
He had made. And God blessed
the seventh day, and sanctified
it: because that in it He
had rested from all His
work which God created and
made." (Genesis 2:2,3)
Ok, now which of the creation
days did the new moon appear
on? Was it the first, second,
third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
or seventh day?
"And
God said, 'Let there be
lights in the firmament
of the heaven to divide
the day from the night;
and let them be for signs,
and for seasons, and for
days, and years: And let
them be for lights in the
firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth':
and it was so. And God made
two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule
the night: He made the stars
also. And God set them in
the firmament of the heaven
to give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day
and over the night, and
to divide the light from
the darkness: and God saw
that it was good. And the
evening and the morning
were the fourth day."
(Genesis 1:14-19)
Giving Genesis chapters
1 & 2 an overview, one
can gather the following:
Creation
Week
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
No Moon in existence yet
No Moon in existence yet
No Moon in existence yet
Sun, Moon and Stars created
2nd day of the Moon
3rd day of the Moon
4th day of Moon
God
rests; He sanctifies and
blesses this day--the 7th
day of the week
If the Sabbath is indeed
to be reckoned from the
moon as "Lunar Cycle
Sabbath" calendar proponents
claim, then one must consider
why we find that God rested
on the 7th day of creation
(which was the fourth day
of the moon) rather than
resting on the 10th day
from "the beginning"
of creation.[3] Also, if
"originally the New
Moon was celebrated in the
same way as the Sabbath,"
as the Universal Jewish
Encyclopedia claims, why
then did God not rest on
the day the moon was made?
(We'll examine the claim
that each and every New
Moon day is a Sabbath momentarily.)
The testimony of the first
witness stands against this
"Lunar Cycle Sabbath"
theory. But, let's have
all things established in
the mouth of at least two
or three witnesses.
The
Manna And The Sabbath
"And
they took their journey
from Elim, and all the congregation
of the children of Israel
came unto the wilderness
of Sin, which is between
Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth
day of the second month
after their departing out
of the land of Egypt. And
the whole congregation of
the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron
in the wilderness: And the
children of Israel said
unto them, 'Would to God
we had died by the hand
of the LORD in the land
of Egypt, when we sat by
the flesh pots, and when
we did eat bread to the
full; for ye have brought
us forth into this wilderness,
to kill this whole assembly
with hunger.'...And the
LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
'I have heard the murmurings
of the children of Israel:
speak unto them, saying,
'At even ye shall eat flesh,
and in the morning ye shall
be filled with bread; and
ye shall know that I am
the LORD your God'.' And
it came to pass, that at
even the quails came up,
and covered the camp: and
in the morning the dew lay
round about the host. And
when the dew that lay was
gone up, behold, upon the
face of the wilderness there
lay a small round thing,
as small as the hoar frost
on the ground....And they
gathered it every morning,
every man according to his
eating: and when the sun
waxed hot, it melted. And
it came to pass, that on
the sixth day they gathered
twice as much bread, two
omers for one man: and all
the rulers of the congregation
came and told Moses. And
he said unto them, 'This
is that which the LORD hath
said, To morrow is the rest
of the holy Sabbath unto
the LORD..." (Exodus
16:1-30)
From the above account,
it can be ascertained that
the 15th day of zif in the
year of the exodus from
Egypt occured on the weekly
Sabbath.
Second
Month (Zif)
9
------------
------------
10
------------
------------
11
------------
------------
12
------------
------------
13
------------
------------
14
------------
------------
15
Israel
camps
Quail
is sent
16
Manna
is sent
(day
one)
17
Manna
is sent
(day
two)
18
Manna
is sent
(day
three)
19
Manna
is sent
(day
four)
20
Manna
is sent
(day
five)
21
Double
Manna
(day
six)
22
Sabbath
Day
(day
seven)
We see here that the Sabbaths
occured then on the 15th
and 22nd--and thereby also
the 8th (seven days previous)
and the 29th (seven days
thereafter). This is at
odds with some of the "prooftexts"
used by some Lunar Cycle
Sabbath Calendar proponents.
For one, as noted near the
beginning of this article,
Babylonian archealogical
finds wherein the 7th, 14th,
19th, 21st, and 28th days
are "rest days"
are often quoted for support
of the Lunar Cycle Sabbath
teaching, yet we find here
in the Scriptural account
of the second month after
the exodus, Sabbath days
of the 8th, 15th, 22nd,
and 29th days of the month,
and also the children of
Israel laboring on the Babylonian
"sabbaths" (at
least these 19th, 21st,
and 28th days, wherein they
gathered manna).
Questions To Ponder:
If the 14th day of the month
is always Sabbath, why do
we find Scripture declaring
the 14th day of the first
month, the month of the
abib, to be a day of preparation?
(see Matt 27:62; Mark 15:42;
John 19:14, 31, 42; all
of which correspond to the
fact that there is no command
in Torah to rest from labor
on Passover, the 14th day
of the abib).
If the 15th day of the month
is always a Sabbath (Hebrew:
Shabbat), which would allow
no manner of work upon it
according to the commandment,
why do we find God calling
the 15th day of the abib
a shabbaton, and instructing
Israel that certain labors
may indeed be performed
on it that are not lawful
to be performed upon the
7th day Sabbath of the Fourth
Commandment? (Exodus 12:16;
Leviticus 23:7 "no
servile work") [4]
The
Sabbath And the Full Moon
Despite this point, some
Lunar Cycle Sabbatarians
may actually cite the above
example from Exodus 16 and
claim it is proof for their
doctrine--because the full
moon, which is believed
by Lunar Sabbath adherents
to be a sign of a Sabbath
day, can occur on the 15th
of the month as well as
the 14th. True enough, the
full moon can fall on either
day--in fact, it can occur
the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th,
or 16th day after the new
crescent is first seen.
[5]
Questions To Ponder:
If the Sabbath is be reckoned
by counting seven days after
the new moon, how could
there ever be a Sabbath
on the eighth day of the
month as above?
Pause and think on this.
If the 2nd Sabbath of a
month is to be based upon
the full moon (the day of
the full moon is the second
Sabbath of a month, it is
claimed), then what day
would be the first Sabbath
of a month when the full
moon occurs on the 12th,
13th, 15th, or 16th day
of the cycle?
Again, pause and think on
this.
The weekly cycle with its
culmination in the seventh
day Sabbath is independent
of both the lunar (monthly)
and solar (yearly) cycles.
As we saw earlier in the
Genesis account, the week
began before them both.
Weeks run consecutively
without "uncounted
days" in between as
with the lunar-based calendar
weeks (wherein the 29th
and 30th days of the lunar
cycle are not included within
the frame of any week).
Note that in the Exodus
16 account of the manna
and the Sabbath, that the
Israelites were commanded
to gather an omer each day
for days 1 through 5 of
the week, but were instructed
to double the amount on
the sixth day to cover the
Sabbath. They were never
instructed to gather more
than 2 omers for Sabbath
preparation--they were never
told to triple or quadruple
the gathering amount. How
would they have known how
much manna to gather anyway,
since it was unknown when
the moon would reappear,
and if the month would be
29 or 30 days? The fact
is, no such provision was
given to cover the alledged
rest days of the 29th &
30th each month. Plainly,
each week consists of seven
days that run back to back.
Note the fourth commandment
itself:
"Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep
it holy. Six days shalt
thou labour, and do all
thy work: But the seventh
day is the Sabbath of the
LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is
within thy gates: For in
six days the LORD made heaven
and earth, the sea, and
all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day:
wherefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day, and hallowed
it." (Exodus 20:8-11)
The commandment clearly
shows that we have 6 days
of labor in between the
weekly Sabbaths--not 7 or
8 as the Lunar Cycle Sabbath
would have occur in between
the last Sabbath of a month
and the first Sabbath of
the next month. According
to the Bible, each and every
week consists of 6 days
of labor, followed by the
7th day of rest.
This fact is consistant
with the Scriptural criteria
for determining the Feast
of Firstfruits (i.e., Pentecost).
"And
ye shall count unto you
from the morrow after the
Sabbath, from the day that
ye brought the sheaf of
the wave offering; seven
Sabbaths shall be complete:
Even unto the morrow after
the seventh Sabbath shall
ye number fifty days..."
(Leviticus 23:15,16)
"Seven
weeks shalt thou number
unto thee: begin to number
the seven weeks from such
time as thou beginnest to
put the sickle to the corn.
And thou shalt keep the
Feast of Weeks unto the
LORD thy God..." (Deuteronomy
16:9,10)
The Holy Scriptures give
us three main criteria for
determining Pentecost [6]
:
1)
The count is to begin on
the "morrow after the
Sabbath" (during the
Feast of Unleavens), and
end on a "morrow after
the Sabbath."
2)
The count is to contain
seven Sabbaths---seven complete
weeks (culminating on the
day after the seventh Sabbath).
3)
The count is to number 50
days.
All three of these criteria
must be met in order for
Pentecost to be correctly
determined in line with
the Scriptural commands.
Could they all be met utilizing
the "Lunar Sabbath"
calendar? Let's take a look.
First
Month--Abib (Lunar Cycle
Sabbath Reckoning)
1
New
Moon
2
------------
3
------------
4
------------
5
------------
6
------------
7
Sabbath
8
-----------
------------
9
------------
------------
10
------------
------------
11
------------
------------
12
------------
------------
13
------------
------------
14
Sabbath
Passover
15
Day
1 FOUB*
------------
1st
day of count to 50
16
Day
2 FOUB*
------------
2nd
day of count to 50
17
Day
3 FOUB*
------------
3rd
day of count to 50
18
Day
4 FOUB*
------------
4th
day of count to 50
19
Day 5 FOUB*
------------
5th
day of count to 50
20
Day
6 FOUB*
------------
6th
day of count to 50
21
Day
7 FOUB*
Sabbath
(1st)
7th
day of count to 50
22------------
------------
8th
day of count to 50
23------------
------------
9th
day of count to 50
24-----------
------------
10th
day of count to 50
25------------
------------
11th
day of count to 50
26------------
------------
12th
day of count to 50
27------------
------------
13th
day of count to 50
28
Sabbath
(2nd)
14th
day of count to 50
29
------------
15th
day of count to 50
30
------------
16th
day of count to 50
*
"FOUB" denotes
the Feast of Unleavened
Bread
Second
Month--Zif (Lunar Cycle
Sabbath Reckoning)
1
New
Moon
17th
day of count to 50
2
------------
18th
day of count to 50
3
------------
19th
day of count to 50
4
------------
20th
day of count to 50
5
------------
21st
day of count to 50
6
------------
22nd
day of count to 50
7
Sabbath
(3rd)
23rd
day of count to 50
8
------------
24th
day of count to 50
9
------------
25th
day of count to 50
10
------------
26th
day of count to 50
11
------------
27th
day of count to 50
12
------------
28th
day of count to 50
13
------------
29th
day of count to 50
14
Sabbath
(4th)
30th
day of count to 50
15
------------
31st
day of count to 50
16
------------
32nd
day of count to 50
17
------------
33rd
day of count to 50
18
------------
34th
day of count to 50
19
------------
35th
day of count to 50
20
------------
36th
day of count to 50
21
Sabbath
(5th)
37th
day of count to 50
22
------------
38th
day of count to 50
23
------------
39th
day of count to 50
24
------------
40th
day of count to 50
25
------------
41st
day of count to 50
26
------------
42nd
day of count to 50
27
------------
43rd
day of count to 50
28
Sabbath
(6th)
44th
day of count to 50
29
------------
45th
day of count to 50
Third
Month--Sivan (Lunar Cycle
Sabbath Reckoning)
1
New
Moon
46th
day of count to 50
2
------------
47th
day of count to 50
3
------------
48th
day of count to 50
4
------------
49th
day of count to 50
5
Pentecost
(?)
50th
day of count to 50
6
<--
Count ended
7
Sabbath Count continues
->
7
Sabbath
(7th)
8
