GLOBAL  IMPACT  STUDIES

If you find the truth, will you believe it?

If any man desires to do God's will, he will have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from myself and on my own accord.  John 7:17 

 

ROSH CHODESH  (The Head of the Month) The New Moon Day

 

"Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.  For this is the statute for Israel, an ordinance of the Elohim of Jacob" (Ps. 81:3-4 Amplified Version, emphasis added).

"Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days [feast days], and in the BEGINNINGS OF YOUR MONTHS, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your Elohim:  I am Yahuwah your Elohim" (Num. 10:10).

The New Moon

We are called to worship Elohim in Revelation 14:7. "And worship Him [not Them] that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." When shall we come to worship Yahuwah? Does it really matter to Elohim, the Creator "of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters," when we come to worship Him?

In order for us to find the answer we need to zoom into the future to see when those who will worship Him in the earth made new and back to the past to see when they came to worship Elohim, the Creator, "of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." 

Yahuwah is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" Heb. 13:8) just like His Son.  Elohim is constant and stable.  He changes not (Mal. 3:6).  He is not one way today and completely different

tomorrow. By looking into the future and when people will come to worship Him and to the past and when people came to worship Him, we should be able to come to the proper understanding of when to worship Him today.  Should we not?

If you will take the time to look at the context of Isaiah 66:23, you will see it is talking about the future. "And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith Yahuwah” (emphasis added).  Is this when you are worshipping Yahuwah at the present? Are you coming “to worship before Elohim” on the "New Moon" and the "Sabbath?"

What about the past?  When did Elohim’s "people" come to worship Him in the past? Does the Bible tell us? We are dealing only with “when” we are to worship Elohim in this study. Not how and not where. "Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before Yahuwah in the Sabbath and in the new moons" (Eze. 46:3, emphasis added).

The following verse emphasizes the importance of the "new moon" and the "Sabbath" and what was to be done on each of those days.  "Thus saith Yahuwah Elohim; The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened" (Eze. 46:1, emphasis added).   So on both of those days, the inner court was opened.

Which has more significance, the "new moon" or the "Sabbath?"  How would we know? Or are they of equal importance? Consider what the following verses are saying. "And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto Yahuwah in the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish" (Eze. 46:4, emphasis added).

"And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs and a ram: they shall be without blemish" (Eze. 46:6, emphasis added).  What do you think? How much more valuable was a young bullock? Do you suppose Elohim places more value on the "new moon" by asking for a greater offering on this day?

The actual required offering for the new moon day was given in Numbers 28:11.  "And in the beginnings of your months [new moon days] you shall offer a burnt offering unto Yahuwah; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish" (emphasis added).  Israel had not followed Elohim with exactness as is seen throughout the Old Testament times.

When we worship Elohim has real implications which are of a lasting nature. Soon we will be given a choice of either worshipping Elohim, the Creator of the Universe, by following His plan of worship and suffering the consequences of that decision or worshipping the beast and suffering the consequences of that decision. See Revelation 14:9-10.

There have been attempts to debunk the Biblical Lunar-solar Sabbath. My question to all of you reading this is what does one do with all the Biblical evidence in support of coming to worship before the Creator on the "new moon" days?  Evidence in both in Old Testament times and to what we will be doing in the earth made new indicate we will be worshipping on the “new moon” days.  Remember Elohim does not change (Mal. 3:6).

This is not some obscure teaching that is new, but it is something that was lost and buried in the past and which Elohim has been trying to bring to the world’s attention for the past eighty-plus years.  “Yahuwah hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion” (Lam. 2:6, emphasis added).   

What others have done with it when it came to their attention does not concern me.  It does concern me when it is going to be a subject of major contention in the not-too-distant future and is going to be a major issue in determining our loyalty or disloyalty to the Creator.  

The following verses reveal the importance of observing the Sabbath, the new moons, and the feast days marked out in Leviticus chapter twenty-three.

"And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the Sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel . . .  Thus saith Yahuwah Elohim; In the first month, in the first day of the month, (New Year’s Day) thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary:" (Eze. 45:17-18, emphasis added).  This was to be done on the Biblical New Year's Day which was also the new moon day for the first month of the New Year!

"Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto Yahuwah on the altar of Yahuwah, which he had built before the porch, even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles" (2 Chron. 8:12-13, emphasis added). 

"He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of Yahuwah" (2 Chron. 31:3, emphasis added).

"And for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of Yahuwah our Elohim. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel" (2 Chron. 2:4, emphasis added).

"And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto Yahuwah in the Sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before Yahuwah" (1 Chron. 23:31, emphasis added).

When it comes to what Christians do in observing what is found in the Bible, most use the smorgasbord method. They think they have the right to pick and choose what they will follow.  But Yahushua had a different take on it. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Elohim" (Matt. 4:4, emphasis added).  Yahushua was quoting what had been written in Deuteronomy 8:3.

If Elohim "appointed the moon for seasons [mow'ed - appointed times];" as stated in Psalm 104:19, and as it is contended that it was not for determining the Sabbaths (which is an “appointed time” to meet with Elohim), then what was it appointed for? 

If you say the feasts [mow'ed - appointed times], then how is the Sabbath not included when it is the first feast day mentioned in Leviticus chapter twenty-three?  If Elohim put the weekly Sabbath together with the annual feast days then what gives man the right to separate them from the annual feast days?  "What therefore Elohim has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6).  If Elohim joined the weekly feast day (the Sabbath not Saturday) with the annual feast days, then what right does any man have in saying the weekly feast day (the Sabbath) is not determined by the new moon when many accept the fact the annual feast days are determined by the new moon? 

The fact is most do not want to acknowledge this truth because it is an "inconvenient truth" they do not want to observe because it will require changes that need to be made that most are insecure with.

People will tell you the Sabbath and the annual feast days were done away with at the cross.  The only things that were done away with at the cross were the "sacrifice and the oblation."  "And He [Yahushua] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Dan. 9:27, emphasis added).  People have been taught incorrectly and have accepted a lie in place of the truth of the Bible.  Even though the “sacrifice and oblation” came to an end does not mean the days set aside by Elohim to meet with His children came to an end.  He still meets with those who observe them on the correct days.

The "new moon" day was called by the children of Israel a “solemn feast day.” “Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day, for this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the Elohim of Jacob" (Ps. 81:3-4, emphasis added).

The two silver trumpets (Num. 10:2) were to be blown "in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months" (Num. 10:10, emphasis added).  It was to be "two silver trumpets" that were to be blown and not the shofar.

The statutes, judgments, and commandments of Elohim were to be observed by Israel as a condition by which they were to remain in possession of the land Elohim had given them and to be under His blessing and protection. If they violated those statutes and judgments and commandments, Elohim would drive them from the land which He eventually did.

As you can tell from the following verse, they violated this part of the covenant made with Elohim. "Hear this, O you that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat" (Amos 8:5).  Elohim had put the same restrictions on the New Moon day as He had on the Sabbaths and Israel violated both.

As a result, Elohim promised them they would reap what they had sown. "I will cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts" (Hos. 2: 11).  "Yahuwah hath caused the solemn feasts [which includes the New Moon day (Ps. 81:3-4)] and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion" (Lam. 2:6, emphasis added).

Their religion had become mere rituals that they observed without their heart and soul being in it, and Elohim could tell. He referred to this when He told Israel "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.  Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates:  they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them" (Isa. 1:13-14). 

"Behold you trust in lying words, that cannot profit.  Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; and [then] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" (Jer. 7:8-10).  Such hypocrisy was not tolerated by Elohim!

Elohim calls for those who will worship Him to do so "in Spirit and in Truth" (John 4:24). I once heard a black preacher say, "I thought that you white folk never got excited, and then I went to a football game."  If one does not get excited about his relationship with the Creator of the Universe, one should re-examine that relationship.  Has your relationship with the Creator become cold and stagnant?  What is the remedy?  How do we regain that first love?  “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Rev. 2:4). 

Paul told the believers in Colossae to "let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days [italicized means it is supplied and is not in the Greek manuscripts]: which ARE a shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:16-17). These were not done away with, for the word "are" means they are still relevant and will have significance in the future.  When people who are promoting the Biblical Lunar-solar calendar are opposed and judged, the people doing the judging are doing the very things forbidden to be done in Colossians 2:16.

When Paul was talking to the church at Galatia, he was addressing believers who had come out of paganism and had observed the pagan holidays when he said, "You observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain" (Gal. 4:10-11, emphasis added).  He saw them going back to their old ways of life observing the pagan holidays.

Does it not concern us with more and more of Christianity observing the pagan holidays (certainly they are not holy days) of Christmas, Easter, Lent, Halloween, and St. Valentine’s Day, etc. which have absolutely no authority from the Word of Elohim; while the Feast Days commanded by Elohim to be observed on prescribed days as the Sabbath, Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles, and new moon days receive less and less observance and attention by the Christian community?  What is wrong with that picture? Have we changed gods and do not even know it?  We are called to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:2-4), but most of us don’t even know or even care to know what Babylon is.

What is with this "new moon" thing anyway? It is the primary timepiece in determining the Creator’s calendar.  This is how it works.  "And Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty" (1 Sam. 20:18). "So David hid himself in the field and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat . . . and David’s place was empty" (1 Sam. 20:24-25).  "And it came to pass on the morrow which was the second day of the month" (1 Sam. 20:27). 

The new moon is the first day of the month and determines the following days of the month in numerical sequence. Months when using the Lunar-solar calendar are either twenty-nine or thirty days.  Each new moon (full moon) determines the beginning of a new month. It also determines as brought out in Leviticus 23:3 when the Sabbath will occur. The Sabbaths always occur on the eighth, fifteenth, twenty-second, and twenty-ninth days of the Biblical Lunar-solar month according to the Creator’s calendar and not the Gregorian calendar which pays no attention to the moon in determining the monthly cycle.  Moon is from where the month gets its name.  It is the head of the month.

In Luke 6:1 we read:  "And it came to pass on the second Sabbath after the first, that He went through the fields" (emphasis added).  Luke is telling us the second Sabbath, which was the fifteenth day of the month, was when this event in the life of Yahushua occurred. 

Please, this article is not meant to go into the details of how the Creator’s calendar works. It is meant only to show you that the new moon is a part, an extremely vital part, of the Creator’s calendar and will be observed throughout eternity. Even as far back as the time of Noah in the Old Testament times, we see the Creator’s calendar was in use. See Genesis 7:11, 8:4-5. This article also shows us that the annual feast days are still to be observed because they were not done away with at the cross.  Only the "sacrifice and oblation" were done away (Dan. 9:27).

There are approximately two hundred verses in the Old Testament which use Biblical Lunar-solar language for dating purposes. Just one example of this is "and it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month . . . And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried" (Gen. 8:13-14).

Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament the timing of events is always mentioned in Lunar-solar language and never in the seven day weekly cycle.  There is no evidence, Biblically or historically, sustaining a continuous seven day weekly cycle since creation.  None!  There was no other means of calendation used until the year 45 BC when the eight-day Julian solar calendar came into existence which was the predecessor of the current Gregorian calendar.  There is no mention of Friday, Saturday or any of the other Gregorian named days in the Bible account of historical events because that calendar did not exist in the times the Bible was being written.  

Throughout the Old Testament, the language of the Biblical Lunar-solar calendar is used. The moon is an extremely accurate timepiece, and when each new moon (new moon) will arrive can be determined in advance by using data from NASA.

It is what the Creator set up in the beginning to keep time for humanity. "And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven . . . let them be for signs, and for seasons [mow'ed is the same Hebrew word used in Leviticus chapter twenty-three for 'feasts' and means the ‘appointed times’] and for days and years" (Gen. 1:14, emphasis added). 

The moon is specifically pointed out to be the heavenly body that determines the seasons (mow'ed - appointed times) in Psalm 104:19. "He [Elohim] appointed the moon for seasons [mow'ed - appointed times]" (emphasis added).  At the time of Creation, the only mow'ed (appointed time) in existence was the weekly Sabbath.

It is impossible to believe that while the Jews were using the Biblical Lunar-solar calendar to keep track of time, they had in their back pocket a seven-day uninterrupted calendar from Creation.  How would they have kept track of the days while in Noah’s ark?  There is not one Biblical statement validating the assumption that the seven-day weekly cycle has been uninterrupted.  What do we do with Lamentations 2:6?  “And He hath violently taken away His tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: He hath destroyed His places of the assembly: Yahuwah hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest” (emphasis added). 

See the history of the modern Gregorian calendar, and you will find it originated back in the first century B.C. (45 BC) as the Julian calendar and was originally an eight-day cycle. There are records of this to prove that point.  How is it possible to know when the seventh day from Creation is when you consider what was done in AD 1752?

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51370/why-our-calendars-skipped-11-days-1752  The calendar shown on this link shows the calendar dropped the days from Tuesday, September 2, and picks back up on Saturday. September 14.

"To get the calendar back in sync with astronomical events like the vernal equinox or the winter solstice, a number of days were dropped.

"The papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII in AD 1752, decreed that eleven days be dropped when switching to the Gregorian calendar. However, the later the switch occurred, the more days that had to be omitted.

"This created short months with only eighteen days and odd dates like February 30 during the year of the changeover.

"In North America the month of September 1752 was exceptionally short skipping eleven days."

From Wikipedia "Change from Julian to Gregorian Calendar"

Daniel 7:25 tells us the "little horn" (Daniel 7:8) will "think to change times and laws" (Dan. 7:25).  We know that he changed the Ten Commandments when he removed the second Commandment and divided the tenth to keep the number at ten. Most Protestant denominational catechisms which list the Ten Commandments still have that change incorporated. Compare it to the law given at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:2-17). 

But how did the “little horn” successfully change the "times?" He did it by forbidding the calendation using the Biblical Lunar-solar system and setting up his calendar which has come down to our time as the present-day Gregorian solar calendar.  The solar calendar can only be traced back to 45 BC when the eight-day Julian calendar came into existence.  Prior to that time only the Lunar-solar calendar existed.  History verifies that fact. 

Please, this is just a brief article encouraging you to further study as to what Elohim wants His children to know and observe during these final years of earth’s history.  "And the times of this ignorance Elohim winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30) He only winks at our ignorance if it is not our fault and if we do not have an opportunity to learn what is the truth of a matter.  If we chose to remain ignorant when the truth of a matter is made available to us, will Elohim still wink at it?  He commands everyone to repent (change).  

So if we are going to be worshipping Elohim in the future "from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another" (Isa. 66:23), and if His people in the Old Testament worshipped Him "from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another," then when should we be worshipping Him today? That is the question you must answer for yourself. He will not force you into obeying Him, but He expects you to study this out for yourself and follow the convictions He brings to you from His Word.

The following are statements from Jewish sources that speak of the Biblical Lunar-solar Calendar.

“Under the reign of Constantius (337-362) the persecution of the Jews reached such a height that . . . the computation of the (Biblical) calendar was forbidden under pain of severe punishment.” The Jewish Encyclopedia, Calendar.

“Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recur in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle (Biblical lunar-solar calendar).” Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 410

“The Sabbath, as marking the end of the week, reveals its lunar origin; the phases of the moon having taught . . . to divide the period elapsing between two new moons into four equal groups (weeks), the last day of each—in imitation of the moon’s coming to rest, as it were – becoming the day of rest. Indications are not wanting that at first the New Moon festival was not counted among the seven days of the week; but after seven times four equals twenty-eight days had elapsed, one or two days were intercalated as New Moon days, whereupon a new cycle of four weeks began, so that the Sabbath was a movable festival (When compared to the seven-day weekly cycle used in the solar calendar.). Later the week and the Sabbath became fixed. [fourth century]; and this gradually resulted in taking away from the New Moon festival its popular importance.” Jewish Encyclopedia.com, By Emil G. Hirsch, Ph.D., LL.D., Rabbi, Sinai Congregation; Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Philosophy, University of Chicago

“In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar . . ." Jewish Virtual Library, Jewish Calendar  A seven-day continuous weekly cycle can only be traced back to the fourth century AD except in 1752 AD eleven days were dropped.

“Declaring the new month by observation of the new moon, and the new year by the arrival of spring, can only be done by the Sanhedrin. In the time of Hillel II, the last President of the Sanhedrin, the Romans prohibited this practice. Hillel II was therefore forced to institute his fixed calendar, thus in effect giving the Sanhedrin’s advance approval to the calendars of all future years.” Torah.org, Judaism Site

Numerous historical statements similar to the ones above could have been added. From the evidence available, it appears Hillel II, the last president of the Jewish Sanhedrin, excused the Jews from calculating their Sabbath days by the Biblical Lunar-solar calendation method.

Talmudic tradition teaches that if one does not know when the Sabbath occurs, all that is required is that a person observes one day in seven. Under this Rabbinical tradition, where ignorance exists (The Sabbath was not lost track of through ignorance, but it was a deliberate changing of the calendar.), no law is broken. Thus, if knowledge of true calendation is lost (It was not lost; it was deliberately changed.), the Jews and many professed Christians believe that worshipping on Saturday on a continuously fixed weekly cycle of the solar year, is acceptable. This was done under threats from the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church and the Emperor Constantine.  But is this acceptable to Elohim?  "I am Yahuwah, I change not" (Mal. 3:6).

There is a great misunderstanding of what Yahushua did away with at the cross!  Daniel 9:27 is very clear on this matter!  "And He [Yahushua] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:  and in the midst of the week He [Yahushua] shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease" (emphasis added).

Many contend the Ten Commandments Law was done away with and the Sabbath was replaced with Sunday worship.  Others contend that only the annual feast days were done away with while they continue to worship on the Sabbath: however, Saturday is not the seventh day of the Biblical Lunar-solar calendar.  Saturday is the seventh day of the Catholic Gregorian calendar.  Saturday and Sunday are both incorrect, and you will find no verse in the Scriptures to sustain either contention. 

If the feast days were done away with, then the seventh-day Sabbath was done away with also because it is the first feast (mow'ed - appointed times) day mentioned in Leviticus chapter twenty-three where all the feast days are listed.  Only the "sacrifice and the oblation" came to an end which was signified when the veil was rent in two from the top to the bottom by the hand of Elohim.  "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent" (Matt. 27:51). 

Yahushua's sacrifice was the Sacrifice to which all sacrifices pointed forward.  He was the Lamb of Elohim! See John 1:29 and Isaiah 53:7.  He replaced “the sacrifice and oblation” with “the bread and wine!”  The Passover sacrifice pointed forward to the cross and the bread and wine look back at the completed sacrifice.  One was prophetic.  The other is a memorial to be observed annually on the Passover!