¿Porque los adherentes del Judaismo son los "hijos falsos" guardan el "Sabado Romano"?

Lori B

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Zetitic

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Re: Are weeks counted from New Moon Day?

by Lisa » August 4th, 2012, 8:24 pm

Oh my word. .
Say the word elliptic in the same sentence with plane and conjunction while illustrating how counting correlates to a pattern. Now let's dissect the meanings of hebrew words and unlearn a bunch a crap while a two year old screams 'Look at me do DIS' all day long.

I was pouring over Enoch last night and this morning.
I am barely grasping Enoch's explanation of the cycles of the sun and moon.
Some of Enoch is clear to me (when a day begins...) at least.
I can see the pattern which Enoch speaks about (NMDay precedes the beginning count of the 4 weekly Shabbats that occur every month)....but HOW Enoch (or Urial's explanation) explains how it all works is what is confusing to me.

It seems to me that the significance of New Moon Day is to establish the head of each month -- then start counting work days. And it is apparent to me that the First New Moon day following the vernal equinox tells us when the 1st month of each new year begins.

I'm confused about what New Moon Day is though. Shabbat? If so, what kind of Shabbat? Rest day? Or am I using the wrong word to describe New Moon Day?
Also, doesn't moon and month mean different things (while being related)?! People keep equating these two words, and it's my understanding they can mean something slightly different.

Are we supposed to cease work on New Moon Day? Or just blow the trumpet and praise Yah with a party? Or blow the trumpet and get on with work? But then wouldn't that count as a work day (which would throw Enoch's counting of work days off the 8th,15,th,22nd and 29th days)?

Does anyone else have this dilemma in lack-of-understanding of what we should/can and should not/cannot do on New Moon Day?

Part of the problem for me is the language usage. It's like reading ye olde englush written by a bushman who speaks xhosa tongue and likes his wine. Then he throws in some maths and geometry to really mess with me.

Apparently, I'm a bear of vewy wittle bwain. Abba help me.

In an abstract sense, I think I grasp what Jean said. What he thought was fact is now in question because it was based on an assumption, which may not be what we thought it was, therefore, we're doubling back to reconsider other things again which brings him to conclusions based on other established truths -- further opening up other possibilities. Does that about sum it up generally?

You know. I have been agonising over this calendar thing since 2007. There have been many tears of frustration spilled over this topic for me. I've set aside the gregorian calendar when reading scripture. I know it's not right. I want to follow Yah's calendar.
I KNOW Abba is trying to show me something with this New Moon Day thing. And I have long suspected we don't know with absolute certainty which day is the weekly Shabbat.

I'm not asking to be spoonfed - I'm not lazy to read and search. I just don't understand this. I'm so at His mercy to get this.

For now all I've got that I'm certain of is that Day begins when light breaks forth in the morning. 6 days we work and the 7th day we rest. When the full moon rises in the east as the sun is setting in the west - the following morning is New Moon day (of course, Enoch has now made me understand that sometimes there are 'two' full moons, so I am trying to grasp the yearly cycles or quarterly cycles of when they are 28/29/30 months - and it seems to be we should learn how to observe the moon so we know when it's going to be a month with 29 days or 30 or whatever part of the cycle we're in).

It's clear as mud, huh.
Sigh....please pray for me brethren. Shalom.

Psa 27:14: Wait on יהוה, be strong, And let Him strengthen your heart! Wait, I say, on יהוה!

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Jean Valjean

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Re: Are weeks counted from New Moon Day?

by Lisa » August 4th, 2012, 11:19 pm

Jean said:

An important consideration with the Book of Enoch is that there is confusion, even in some of the translators themselves, as to what Enoch is saying. Sometimes in a single sentence, Enoch will be expounding on the one-fourteenth parts of light which the Moon attains and gives up; and he will make a parenthetical insertion about the full Moon being one seventh of the Sun’s full light. It is nearly impossible to decipher at first.

And THAT? Is what I'm talking about!
I am definitely not finding it remotely easy to always track where Enoch is headed in the texts. This is doing my head in. So I'm off to sleep now and hopefully Abba will give me wisdom and understanding - help me digest it as I rest tonight. It can happen (it's happened before).

Jean said:

The pieces are all coming to us sister. Have patience and faith – and remember that your brothers and sisters will all be moving only as fast as the slowest members as we proceed into and through the wilderness. If anyone becomes lost, the Shepherd will know what to do.

Uhm, I think that would be me . I thank you all for your patience with me, in advance.
Shalom.

Psa 27:14: Wait on יהוה, be strong, And let Him strengthen your heart! Wait, I say, on יהוה!

Lisa

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Biblical Proof for the LUNAR Sabbath

John D. Keyser

The Bible teaches that ALL days are ordinary workdays unless YEHOVAH God deems them otherwise. With no adding to or taking away from the Bible, all days are ordinary days except the ones He designates as worship days. For example -- the Bible shows us that after six workdays we are to rest (see Genesis 2:2; Exodus 16:26; Exodus 20:8-11 and Leviticus 23:3).

Not only are we to rest on this day, but it is also a worship day -- a holy day set apart (sanctified) as an intermission from the previous workdays. Intermission or rest from what? The six ordinary workdays! The sun rises and sets on every day alike, but the moon tells us which ones are not ordinary days. These days are intermissions, and without the moon we would not know which days YEHOVAH God has chosen. The moon signals the days with its light -- as it increases and decreases.

In Ezekiel 46:1-3 we learn that the New Moon (first day of the month) is also an intermission day -- notice!

Thus says the LORD God: "The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. The prince shall enter by way of the vestibule of that gateway from the outside, and stand by the gatepost. The priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening. Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the LORD on the Sabbaths and the New Moons.

Also, notice Isaiah 66:23 --

"And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.

In Numbers 28:11-14 the offerings for the New Moon day are outlined by YEHOVAH God:

At the beginnings of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish; three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil, as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Their drink offering shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year.

Then, in Numbers 10, a further part of the ritual for the New Moon days and the appointments is described --

Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the assembly and for directing the movement of the camps.... And when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.... Also, in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God (verses 2, 7 and 8, 10).

The New Moon day of the seventh month (Tishri) is especially important to YEHOVAH God, and He ordained extra offerings for that day. Notice:

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon , the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD (Numbers 29:1-6).

The fact that the New Moon day is a Sabbath rest is unequivocally stated by YEHOVAH God in Leviticus 23:24-24 -- take special note of this:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a SABBATH REST, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'

The ordinary New Moon days of the other months are also days of blowing trumpets so, these too, are Sabbath rests.

In this 7th month (Tishri), and on the 15th day of the moon, is an intermission (Sukkot or Tabernacles). Along with the 1st (New Moon), 8th (weekly Sabbath), 10th (Yom Kippur or Atonement), 22nd (weekly Sabbath and Shmini Atzeret) and 29th (weekly Sabbath), we are to assemble for worship. Leviticus 23:3 clearly teaches us that after six ordinary work days there will be a worship day.

Without question it is quite obvious that the New Moon is not one of the ordinary work days. YEHOVAH God wants us to work those six days, but we are admonished to rest after six work days which, in the 7th month, would be the 8th day of the moon. We are not forbidden to work on the 9th, but are commanded to rest and worship on the 10th with no food. After the 10th there is no commandment not to work on the 11th through 14th days of the moon -- except, of course, with man's calendar!

After the 10th has passed, we can eat and work on the 11th through the 14th -- but we are commanded to rest on the 15th. It is a worship day -- see Numbers 29:12.

Now we are not commanded to fast or worship the next six days (16th through the 21st), but we are ordered to dwell in booths seven days from the 15th to the 21st (Leviticus 23:40-43). We are then ordered to keep the 8th day counting from the 15th -- which is the 22nd (another worship day or Sabbath).

Counting on with YEHOVAH God's instructions, there is no Holy worship on the 23rd day through the 28th, but the pattern of rest and worship after six workdays would apply on the 29th -- unless, of course, you use man's Gregorian calendar of today.

The Bible plainly teaches that the New Moon is a worship day -- a day of no buying or selling, and NOT one of the ordinary workdays (Ezekiel 46:1; Isaiah 66:23 and Amos 8:5). After that, there is no commandment not to work on day 2 of the moon through day 7, but we must take an intermission on day 8 for worshiping YEHOVAH God because it is the seventh day or Sabbath from the 1st workday after the New Moon worship day. Then six more workdays, then rest and worship on the 15th, etc. This goes on year after year from one New Moon to another and one Sabbath to another.

To further prove the appointments (intermissions) are after six working days (not counting the New Moon), let's look at the following examples in the Bible --

EXODUS 16:

YEHOVAH God has left us clues in His holy word the Bible -- clues that we can easily piece together and learn HOW to determine YEHOVAH's Sabbath day! For the first clue, let's turn to the book of Exodus, chapter 16:

And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, WHETHER THEY WILL WALK IN MY LAW OR NOT" (New King James Version, verses 1-4).

These verses are much clearer in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which reads as follows --

And they departed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sina; and ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY, IN THE SECOND MONTH after their departure from the land of Egypt, all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron. And the children of Israel said to them, Would we had died smitten by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and ate bread to satiety! for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to slay all this congregation with hunger. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread upon you out of heaven: and the people shall go forth, and they shall gather their daily portion for the day, that I may try them WHETHER THEY WILL WALK IN MY LAW OR NOT.

These verses bring out TWO main points, (1) the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron on THE 15TH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH after leaving Egypt and, (2) YEHOVAH God was going to test the Israelites to see if they would WALK IN HIS LAW OR NOT. It is very interesting that Moses should mention THE EXACT DAY that the Israelites murmured against him and Aaron in the wilderness -- nowhere else in the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to the Promised Land is an exact date mentioned. This clearly indicates that this date was IMPORTANT TO YEHOVAH GOD and that He wanted the Israelites to remember it. Also, on this date He was going to teach the Israelites something very important -- to test them and see if they would obey Him or not. What was this important lesson?

Let's continue in Exodus 16 --

"And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be TWICE AS MUCH as they gather daily." Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, "At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. But what are we, that you murmur against us?"...Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED IN THE CLOUD. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, `At twilight [evening, after sunset] you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God. "' So it was that quail came up at evening and covered the camp ...(Verses 5-13).

This day -- the 15TH DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH -- was so important to YEHOVAH God that He appeared in the cloud before the Israelites and then caused thousands (maybe millions) of quail to be blown into the Israelites' camp "at twilight," i.e. after sunset of the 15th. WHY was this day so important to YEHOVAH God? Writes Herbert W. Armstrong: "I will show you that God was speaking to them [the children of Israel] on a SABBATH. It is evident that the Eternal first preached to men on the FIRST SABBATH. Adam was created on the sixth day of creation week. Evidently he was created in the late afternoon, since the creation of man was the last act of creation on that day. When the sun had set, immediately after Adam's creation, God preached to him, offering him the GIFT of eternal life (through the tree of life), and warning that the wages of sin is DEATH (Gen. 2:15-17).

"And here God is again preaching to Israel, through Moses, ON THE SABBATH" (Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath, pp. 30-31).

Now let's continue with the narrative in Exodus 16: "...and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat'...So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. And so it was on THE SIXTH DAY, that they gathered TWICE AS MUCH BREAD, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, 'This is what the Lord has said: "TOMORROW IS A SABBATH REST, A HOLY SABBATH TO THE LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning!"' So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. Then Moses said, 'Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. SIX DAYS YOU SHALL GATHER IT, but on the SEVENTH DAY, which is THE SABBATH, there will be none.'

"Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, 'How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day" (verses 13-30).

Starting on the 16th day of the month, YEHOVAH God provided food for the Israelites then, on the seventh day after the 15th, He did not provide any manna -- thereby showing that this day (the 22nd day of the month) was a Sabbath. Obviously, if the 15th was seven days before the 22nd, it too was a Sabbath day! This Herbert Armstrong clearly understood. We can see here that YEHOVAH was setting up His weekly Sabbath cycle for the Israelites. If the 15th and the 22nd were Sabbath days, then the 8th and the 29th of the month were also Sabbaths! So here we see a pattern -- 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. What significance do these dates have? Just this -- THEY CORRESPOND TO THE PHASES OF THE MOON!! YEHOVAH God was showing the Israelites that His Sabbath days were to fall on the days corresponding to the moon's phases, thus showing that the weekly Sabbaths were to be kept by THE SAME CALENDAR or reckoning used to determine the annual Sabbaths or feast days!

I ask you, WHY would YEHOVAH God complicate the Israelites' lives by having them keep two calendars or reckonings -- one for the weekly Sabbath and one for the annual holy days? This makes no sense whatsoever! YEHOVAH God set up ONE calendar for ALL of His days -- not two!

EXODUS 40:12-15:

Aaron and his sons were sanctified for seven days (Leviticus 8:33) which began on a New Moon (Exodus 40:2) -- and on the 8th day was an assembly (Moed) of the congregation. The point we should notice is that during these seven days they were not to go out the door of the tabernacle for seven days, day and night -- see Leviticus 8:34-35.

No calendar Sabbath would disrupt these seven days of consecration because it was from the New Moon till the 7th day of the moon -- and after the six workdays they assembled the congregation. Why did they assemble the congregation? To observe the 7th day Sabbath which fell on the 8th day of the moon!

In Exodus 40:2 YEHOVAH God spoke to Moses saying: "On the FIRST DAY [New Moon] of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting." Then, in Exodus 40:12-15, Moses was commanded to anoint Aaron and his sons and dress them in Holy garments; and Verse 17 says: "And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up." The rest of the chapter explains what was placed in the tabernacle, and Leviticus 1:1 says that YEHOVAH God called to Moses from out of the tabernacle and instructed him further. Now, this is still on the New Moon. We must remember that the Bible is broken up by man into chapters, verses and books when quite often the train of thought continues on.

In Chapter 8:3 of Leviticus Moses is instructed to gather the congregation (still on the New Moon day) and in verses 6-13 Moses brings Aaron and his sons and puts the Holy garments on them and anoints the tabernacle -- along with Aaron and his sons -- as YEHOVAH God commanded. Then, in verse 33, they are commanded NOT TO GO OUT OF THE TABERNACLE FOR SEVEN DAYS. But, on the 8th day (Sabbath) YEHOVAH God appears to them: "It came to pass on the EIGHTH DAY that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel....And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD [Shekinah] appeared to all the people, and the fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar...(Leviticus 9:1 and 9:23-24). This clearly places the weekly Sabbaths on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th!

LEVITICUS 14:1-10:

In Leviticus 14, verses 1 through 10, we learn about the law of the leper --

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time that he has to be cleansed. When it has been reported to the priest, the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the leper has been healed of his scaly affection, the priest shall order two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for him who is to be cleansed .... The one to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water; then he shall be clean. After that he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent seven days. On the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair -- of head, beard, and eyebrows. When he has shaved off all his hair, he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; then he shall be clean. On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and one log of oil. These shall be presented before the LORD, with the man to be cleansed, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, by the priest who performs the cleansing.

The point here is that if the seven-day count began on any other day except an intermission day the leper would sometimes have to do his laundry on a Sabbath -- which was absolutely forbidden by YEHOVAH's law.

The reason this 7th day is not a Sabbath is because (1) he couldn't wash his clothes, etc. on the Sabbath, and (2) because it is not the 8th day from when he showed himself to the Priest on the Sabbath, and (3) it is not the 7th day after six workdays. Therefore, this 7th day was actually the sixth workday.

In the Bible the 8th day is many times synonymous with the weekly Sabbath. Notice John 7:22-23:

Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), AND YOU CIRCUMCISE A MAN ON THE SABBATH. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

Now notice what Acts 7, verse 8 says --

Then He [YEHOVAH God] gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham begot Isaac AND CIRCUMCISED HIM ON THE EIGHTH DAY; and Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

What better day to enter this covenant than on the Sabbath day? The Sabbath and the 8th day are synonymous. If the 8th day is the Sabbath, then the 15th, 22nd and 29th are also Sabbath days!

II CHRONICLES 7:8:

In II Chronicles 7:7-8 we read the following:

Solomon consecrated the center of the court in front of the House of the LORD .... At that time Solomon kept the Feast for seven days -- all Israel with him -- a great assemblage from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. On the EIGHTH DAY they held a solemn gathering; they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the Feast seven days. On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he dismissed the people to their homes, rejoicing and in good spirits over the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and Solomon and His people Israel.

When the Temple was dedicated it always began on an intermission or Sabbath -- just like the sanctification of Aaron and his sons.

The example in II Chronicles 7:7-8 shows that Solomon kept the dedication of the altar for seven days (8th through 14th day of the moon) and then the Feast of Tabernacles for the next seven days (15th through the 21st day of the moon); and in the 8th day (22nd day of the moon) they made a solemn assembly. On the 23rd he sent the people away. Why is the 22nd day of the moon called the 8th day? Because it was 8 days from the previous Sabbath! We have already seen that the New Testament (John 7:22-23 and Acts 7:8) calls the 8th day the Sabbath.

From the New Moon to the 8th day (Sabbath) we have 8 days; from the 8th day to the 15th day (Sabbath plus first day of Tabernacles) we have another 8 days; and from the 15th day to the 22nd day (Sabbath plus Shmini Atzeret) we another 8 days. The next Sabbath or intermission from here is the 29th. There are 4 weekly Sabbaths in each moon.

When you count from Sabbath to Sabbath there are 8 days --just like in Isaiah 66:23 where you have "from one New Moon to another" and "from one Sabbath to another" (8 days apart).This proves that Solomon kept the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the moon as Sabbaths and never counted the New Moon as one of the six workdays.

If the 8th day wasn't a Sabbath from the last Sabbath, then a leper or someone under a Nazirite vow, would have to wash his clothes and shave his body on a weekly Sabbath -- which was forbidden. Cleansing took place from Sabbath to Sabbath. Remember that the Sabbath that ends a week also begins a new week on a 8 day count. You would observe a Sabbath then work six days and rest on the 7th day which will always be on the 8th day from the last intermission day or Sabbath for worship. Sabbaths are recorded from Sabbath to Sabbath in the Bible. Ezekiel 46:1 and Isaiah 66:23 show that the gates to the Temple were to be shut the six working days and open on Sabbaths and the Day of the New Moon . You have the New Moon day with the Temple gates open, then the six working days (2nd day to 7th day of the moon) with the gates closed. Then you rest on the 7th day which is the 8th day (gates open) from the New Moon, work another six days (9th to the 14th) and rest on the 7th which is the 8th day again (from the last Sabbath) and is the 15th day of the moon. Then 8 days from this is the 22nd day of the moon and another Sabbath, etc.

ESTHER 9:

In the ninth chapter of Esther we find further proof that the 15th day of the moon was kept as a rest day. Notice!

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king's command and his decree to be executed....Thus the Jews defeated all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, with slaughter and destruction, and did what they pleased with those who hated them .... And the Jews who were in Shushan gathered together again on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and killed three hundred men at Shushan; but they did not lay a hand on the plunder .... But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth day; and on the fifteenth day of the month they RESTED, and made it a day of feasting and gladness (Verses 1, 5, 15 and 18)

Notice in this chapter that the 13th and the 14th were the days they got the victories, while the 15th was the day they rested. Clearly, therefore, they were keeping the Sabbath on the 15th day of the moon. This being the case, they would also be keeping it on the 8th, 22nd and 29th! At this time they decided to keep the 14th, along with the 15th, every 12th moon (month) to commemorate receiving rest from their enemies (Esther 9:22).

Since the Jews were commanded to remember the 15th day and keep it Holy in remembrance of YEHOVAH God who, with a mighty hand, gave them rest from their enemies, do you think they would count one through fifteen over and over again to remember the 15th? Or would they continue to use the only calendar the Bible speaks of -- the Heavenly lights? YEHOVAH God commanded the Israelites to remember the Sabbath day because He brought them out of bondage in Egypt with a mighty hand, and it was the 15th when He gave them an intermission or Sabbath day.

Notice Deuteronomy 5:15 --

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe THE SABBATH DAY.

Then, in Numbers 33:3, we read:

They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. It was on the morrow of the Passover offering that the Israelites started out defiantly, in plain view of all the Egyptians.

Here YEHOVAH God equates the 15th day of the first month with the Sabbath! Also, He calls it "the morrow of the Passover offering" -- indicating that the weekly Sabbath AND the first day of Passover fall on the same day! Now if the Sabbath was on the 15th day of the 1st moon (month) when they were delivered from Egypt -- and also on the 15th day of the 2nd moon (month) -- it would be impossible to use the Roman Calendar count of 1 through 7 (and counting the New Moon as one of the six work days) and have the weekly Sabbath fall on the 15th day two moons or months in a row! Not only that, but it is apparent that Exodus 19:1 and 2 teaches that the Sabbath was also on the 15th in the 3rd month --

On the third new moon, after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain...

This makes THREE months in a row that the Sabbath was on the 15th -- which further increases (if that were possible) the impossibility of this happening with the Roman Calendar!

JOSHUA 5:10-12:

In comparing Joshua 5:10-12 with Leviticus 23:10-11, 14 we find further confirmation that the weekly Sabbath falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each month (moon) -- notice:

And the children of Israel kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, to the westward of Jericho on the opposite side of the Jordan in the plain. And they ate of the grain of the earth unleavened and NEW CORN. In this day the manna failed, after they had eaten of the corn of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna; and they took the fruits of the land of the Phoenicians in that year (Joshua 5:10-12, Septuagint).

When ye shall enter into the land which I give you, and reap the harvest of it, then ye shall bring a sheaf, the first-fruits of your harvest, to the priest; and he shall lift up the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you. On the morrow of the first day [of Unleavened Bread] the priest shall lift it up....And ye shall not eat bread, or THE NEW PARCHED CORN, until this same day, until ye offer the sacrifices to your God: it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings (Leviticus 23:10-11, 14, Septuagint).

In Leviticus 23:10 it states that when the Israelites came into the land they were to wave the sheaf of the first-fruits on the morrow after the Sabbath, and verse 15 says that they were to begin a count on the morrow after they brought the sheaf to the priest to be offered and verse 14 says they could not eat new parched corn etc. until the SAME DAY they brought the offering. Now both Josephus and Philo agree that this would always be on the 16th of the moon (the morrow after the Sabbath on the 15th) when the priest would wave the sheaf -- and they lived during the time the Priesthood was still active. This indubitably means the Sabbath will always be on the 15th every year -- and the only way this can happen is to count the Sabbaths by the moon. It also proves that the Sabbath in the first month or moon each year will be on the 15th without fail, which is absolutely impossible to happen on the Roman calendar count.

Now in Joshua 5:11 we saw that when the Israelites came into the land they did exactly what YEHOVAH God told them. They kept the Passover on the 14th day at even (night, that begins the 15th) and verse 10 states that they ate PARCHED (NEW) CORN etc. on the morrow after the Passover (next day) which would be the 16th, and proves, once again, that the 15th was the Sabbath and the 16th was the morrow after -- as the two historians who watched the Priest doing it this way confirm. And the manna ceased on the same morrow or day (the 16th) after 40 years . It had begun 40 years earlier on the 16th, as we have already seen in the 16th chapter of Exodus.

Some misguided individuals try to say that the 14th was the Sabbath in Joshua chapter 5, but if that were so then counting backward we would come to the 7th of the moon that would also be a Sabbath. However, in Joshua 1:11 Joshua instructs the officers to pass through the camp and command the people to prepare food because in three days they would pass over the Jordan River -- notice:

Go through the camp and charge the people, thus: Get provisions ready, for in three days' time you are to cross the Jordan, in order to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession.

Now this had to be the 7th day of the moon because they passed over the Jordan on the 10th day of the moon -- "The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho" (Joshua 4:19). They would not command the people to prepare food on the Sabbath -- which proves the 7th day was not the Sabbath and, therefore, the 14th was not either. The 8th day was the Sabbath, then the 15th. You can easily mathematically prove the 14th was not a Sabbath by counting 1-7 from the pinpointed Sabbath we discussed in the 16th chapter of Exodus and you will find that the 14th was not the Sabbath at the end of 40 years.

JOHN 5:

In John 5:1 we read that "after this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." All the commentaries and Bible notes explain that this was the first day of the Passover season, i.e. the 15th day of the moon. Now, in verses 2 through 8 we continue --

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed ...Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"...Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."

Now this occurred on the same day -- the first day of Unleavened Bread (the 15th). The very next verse (9) explains that this day was also the weekly Sabbath! Notice!

And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. AND THAT DAY WAS THE SABBATH.

The Greek word here for "Sabbath" is Sabbaton -- which means the weekly Sabbath or rest day. So the Sabbath in verse 9 is the same day as the Feast in verse 1 -- showing once again that the weekly Sabbath falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of the moon. It also shows that they did not count the New Moon day as one of the six workdays.

JOHN 9:14:

In the Book of John we find more conclusive evidence showing that the Messiah kept the weekly Sabbath on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the moon or month. Starting in John 7:2 we read that "the Jews Feast of Tabernacles was at hand." Moving down to verse 10 we learn that "when his [Yeshua's] brothers had gone up [to Jerusalem for the Feast], then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret." Then, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (the 21st), "Jesus stood and cried out, saying, `If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink"' (John 9:37).

John 8:1 tells us that right after this (on the same day -- 21st) "Jesus went to the Mount of Olives" but "early in the morning (the next day -- the 22nd) he came again into the Temple and all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them" (verse 2). So the Messiah came again into the Temple on the 22nd day of the moon -- which in this month was Shmini Atzeret. Verse 59 indicates that after the Jews became upset with him and tried to stone him "he hid himself and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." Now Chapter 9, verse 1, continues by relating that "as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth." Taking pity on the man, the Messiah "spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay" (verse 6) who, in verse 7, was able to see for the first time.

Now, what day did this occur on? We already know it was the 22nd day of the moon and also Shmini Atzeret -- but what else was it? Notice! "NOW IT WAS A SABBATH when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes" (verse 14). Once again, the word for "Sabbath" in this verse is Sabbaton -- meaning the weekly Sabbath. This is further confirmed in verse 16 where some of the Pharisees said "this man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." Same word, same meaning. Clearly, the Sabbath in this week fell on the 22nd, which means the other Sabbaths of the month fell on the 8th, 15th and 29th! And Yeshua the Messiah kept these days as his custom was.

How can we fail to see that these Sabbaths are always on the set days of the moon? And here again, the Messiah was keeping the Heavenly Sabbaths that were created by the Heavenly calendar -- not mans'. The Sabbath here was on the 22nd, which means the Sabbath also fell on the 8th, 15th and 29th days of this month -- as in all other months!

JOHN 19:31:

Let's first go to Mark 15:42 in the Jewish New Testament --

Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before a SHABBAT), as evening approached, Yosef of Ramatayim, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who himself was also looking forward to the Kingdom of God went boldly to Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body.

In a footnote this New Testament remarks "Shab.bat -- the Sabbath," implying a weekly Sabbath. In Luke 23:54, narrating the same time period, we find: "It was Preparation Day, and a SHABBAT was about to begin." Once again, the footnote to this verse says "Shab.bat -- the Sabbath" -- also implying the weekly Sabbath. Now, if we drop down to Luke 23:56 we read -- "On SHABBAT the women rested, IN OBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENT." What "commandment" is this? The FOURTH COMMANDMENT of course! In reference to this verse the Jewish New Testament Commentary makes this clarifying statement: "It is sometimes claimed that the New Testament says nothing about keeping the fourth commandment. This verse contradicts that claim, so it is important for a Jewish understanding of the New Testament. On Shabbat the Women rested, in obedience to the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15; also Exodus 16). Of course they did! They observed Shabbat every week" (by David H. Stern. P. 150). Obviously, the WEEKLY SABBATH is the focus of verses 54 and 56.

Now that we have established the weekly Sabbath is the focus of these verses, let's go to John 19:31 in the Jewish New Testament and read what the apostle John has to say: "It was the Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on SHABBAT, since it was an especially important Shabbat." The New King James version makes it clearer: "Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the [weekly] Sabbath (FOR THAT [WEEKLY] SABBATH WAS A HIGH DAY)." What "high day" was this? My Bible references it to Exodus 12:16 -- the first holy day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread! Therefore -- and notice this -- we have here TWO SABBATHS ON THE SAME DAY -- THE WEEKLY SABBATH AND THE FIRST HIGH OR HOLY DAY OF THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. This is EXACTLY what we would expect if the Jews of the Messiah's time were keeping the weeks according to the lunar cycle! This particular day was Nisan 15 and, according to the lunar reckoning, was ALWAYS a weekly Sabbath and a high day!

During the Crucifixion week the weekly Sabbath is on the 15th of Nisan. A simple backward count tells us that the 1st work day is the 2nd day of the moon -- and proves once again that the New Moon was NOT counted as one of the six work days, and also places the weekly Sabbaths on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the moon. If Yeshua the Messiah had not been killed on the 14th, he would have kept the Sabbath on the 15th as his custom was.

If we go to Matthew 28:1 we read: "After the Sabbath, when it was growing light on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to view the grave" (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures). At first glance there appears to be nothing unusual about this verse. However, if we consult the original Greek, we find a remarkable corroboration of the double Sabbath -- the word "Sabbath" is in the PLURAL! Therefore, this verse should read (in English) -- "After the Sabbaths [plural], when it was growing light on the first day of the week..." Also, the phrase "when it was growing light on the first day of the week" is translated from the original Greek, which literally says "to the [day] lighting up into one [first] of Sabbaths" -- notice the plural form once again.

The same thing is found in Mark 16:2 where the Greek literally says: "And exceedingly early to the one [first] [day] of the Sabbaths they are coming upon the memorial tomb..." which in English usage reads "And very early on the first day of the week they came to the memorial tomb..." (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures).

The word "Sabbath" is also in the plural in Luke 24:1 and John 20:1, showing that this particularly weekly Sabbath was also a high day.

In case you think this is a coincidence, there are numerous other places in the gospels that refer to a double Sabbath day. At the beginning of his ministry, right after the forty days in the wilderness, Yeshua went to his home town of Nazareth where he entered the local synagogue on the Sabbath day and began to read. Notice! "So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read" (Luke 4:16, New King James Version). If you check the Greek for this verse you will find the word "Sabbath" is in the PLURAL once again -- indicating a DOUBLE SABBATH, i.e. weekly Sabbath and a festival high day. Here's the literal translation from the Greek: "And he came into Nazareth, where he was having been reared, and he went in according to the custom to him IN THE DAY OF THE SABBATHS into the synagogue, and he stood up to read" (The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures).

Some people have tried to say that this was Pentecost (Feast of "Weeks") but the time frame is all wrong. Not only that, but in other parts of the New Testament the word "Pentecost" is used for this day -- see Acts 2:1, 20:16 and I Corinthians 16:8. Since this incident is right after the 40 days in the desert (this is where the idea of the 40 days of Lent comes from) this particular weekly Sabbath is the first high day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, Nisan 15. The very passage the Messiah read from Isaiah 49 indicates it was the Passover season.

Later the Messiah went down to Capernaum where, once again as his custom was, he entered the local synagogue and began to teach: "And they went their way into Capernaum. No sooner was it the Sabbath than he entered into the synagogue and began to teach" (Mark 1:21.). Again, the original Greek shows the word "Sabbath" to be in the PLURAL, indicating another double Sabbath. Note the literal translation from the Greek: "And they are entering into Capernaum. And at once to the SABBATHS having entered into the synagogue he was teaching" (ibid.). This evidently took place on the high day of a festival season -- another double Sabbath -- showing again that the Jews of the Messiah's day were keeping the weekly Sabbaths according to the lunar calendar or reckoning.

The next mention of a Sabbath in the book of Luke comes at Luke 6:1. Here the word "Sabbath" is in the SINGULAR, indicating a regular weekly Sabbath.

Many unscrupulous ministers (some of the Church of God ilk) try to create a weekly Sabbath on the 17th day of the moon during the crucifixion week -- and try to say the 15th was a yearly Sabbath only. But if that were so, the 10th day of the moon would also have to be a Sabbath. The Bible proves this to be totally false in John 12:1: "Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was..." This would place Yeshua's arrival in Bethany on the 9th day of the moon; and verse 12 says that on the next day (the 10th) he went to Jerusalem. Notice: "The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him..." The 10th day of the month of Nisan was the day when the Passover lamb was to be selected -- read Exodus 12:3 through 6. This was a very busy day and definitely NOT the Sabbath!

The very actions of the Messiah and the crowds on this day would have violated the Sabbath -- if it was indeed the Sabbath:

#1) The Messiah would have broken YEHOVAH's law by riding the ass and causing it to work if the 10th was a Sabbath.

#2) The crowds were cutting tree limbs, etc., but most of all they were buying and selling on that day. Also, Yeshua entered the Temple and healed a man on the 10th, without the Pharisees accusing him of breaking the Sabbath.

This all proves that the 10th was NOT a weekly Sabbath -- and therefore the 17th could not have been a Sabbath either. You can prove this by simply reading Matthew 21:2-15 and Luke 19:35-46.

  ACTS 20:5:

The apostle Paul was using YEHOVAH God's calendar after the crucifixion, and we find evidence of this in Acts chapter 20. Notice verses 5 through 7 --

These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.

They sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread (on the 22nd) and 5 days later (on the 26th) joined the others in Troas where they abode for 7 days. The 7th day was the 2nd day of the new month and Paul calls the second day of the moon the 1st day of the week. That makes the 1st day of the new month the day of the New Moon -- which we already know to be a worship day in which no work is done.

Counting the 26th as the first day of their stay in Troas, we count the 27th as the second, the 28th as the third, the 29th as the fourth, the 30th as the fifth, the 1st or New Moon as the sixth day of the stay, and the 2nd day of the moon as the seventh day of Paul's stay at Troas. Verse 7 of Acts 20 calls this second day of the moon the first day of the week because they only stayed seven days. The seventh day of their stay fell on the first day of the week, and the second day of the month, or moon, is always the first work day of the week, following the New Moon day. If the 2nd day of the moon was the first work day of the week, that clearly proves that Paul kept the weekly Sabbath on the 8th day of the moon -- along with the 15th, 22nd and 29th! Won't you follow him as he followed the Messiah?

The apostle Paul was remembering the true Sabbath day to keep it Holy. By counting six work days after the New Moon day -- and then rest the seventh day after the six work days according to the commandment -- it will always fall on the 8th day from the New Moon, as it was in the beginning in Genesis 1. YEHOVAH God rested the seventh day, or after the six work days, but it was the 8th day from the beginning. This is because YEHOVAH created the Heavens and the Earth before He worked on them on the 1st work day.

In this example concerning the second month of YEHOVAH's calendar, the weekly Sabbaths fell on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month. The apostle Paul was remembering the true Sabbath to keep it Holy. By counting six work days after the New Moon day and then resting the seventh day after the six work days (according to YEHOVAH's commandment) it will always be on the 8th day from the New Moon. The main thing to remember is that the New Moon is not one of the six work days, and from the examples we have seen in the Bible it was never intended to be counted as one. After the beginning or New Moon, the first work day begins, and the 7th day will ALWAYS be the 8th day from the beginning.

Every place in the Bible where Sabbaths and New Moons are indicated, the 2nd day of the moon or month is always the 1st work day, and the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month are Sabbaths WITHOUT EXCEPTION! It will be so in the New Heaven and the New Earth states the prophet Isaiah --

"For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD, "so shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD (Isaiah 66:22-23).

 

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From Sabbath to Saturday: The Story of the Jewish Rest Day

John D. Keyser

Yeshua the Messiah had much to say about the Sabbath and its observance. In the gospel of Mark we read about the beginning of the Messiah's ministry and the message that he taught. Repeatedly he said that this message, or gospel, came directly from YEHOVAH God the Father and was, therefore, YEHOVAH's message to mankind. In Mark 1:1 we read: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." This gospel of Yeshua the Messiah is not a gospel from men about the person of the Messiah, but is the gospel of the Messiah himself -- the gospel the Messiah preached, the very gospel YEHOVAH God the Father sent by the Messiah for mankind!

After John the Baptist was thrown into prison, Yeshua came to the Galilee region preaching the good news of the Kingdom (or government) of YEHOVAH God on this earth, calling on men to repent and to believe that very message or gospel. He called his disciples and immediately, we read in Mark 1:21, "they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the SABBATH DAY he entered into the synagogue." It was Yeshua's custom or practice to attend the synagogue services on the Sabbath day, as the four gospels point out.

Yeshua preached in the synagogues in towns throughout Galilee -- see Mark 1:38-39. Some time later Yeshua and his disciples went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day (Mark 2:23) and were accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath by plucking ears of corn to eat. In reply, Yeshua showed the Pharisees how to observe the Sabbath by saying: " The sabbath was MADE FOR MAN, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28).        

The SABBATH is one of those things that was MADE or CREATED. Therefore it was YEHOVAH God who MADE the Sabbath -- YEHOVAH made it for Yeshua the Messiah! Very few, it seems, realize it today -- but the Sabbath was MADE FOR YESHUA THE MESSIAH! No wonder, then, he plainly said that HE is Lord also of the Sabbath! (Mark 2:28). 

Now let's read Mark 2:27 again! The Sabbath was not only one of those things that was made (it not only had a Maker) but it was made for someone. We have seen that it was made for the Messiah -- but was it made for anyone else? People today seem to think it was made "for the Jews," but what did the Messiah himself say? He clearly said it was made "for man"! So the Sabbath was made for Yeshua AND man! Now if it was made for mankind, we should logically assume that it was made WHEN MAN WAS MADE! But let's not "assume" -- what does the Bible have to say? Let's turn back to the book of Genesis -- back to the time when MAN was made: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:26-27).

When did this occur? Verse 31 clearly says it was the sixth day of the creation week. Also, man was the very last being created on that day. Man came into existence, then, probably in the late afternoon of the sixth day of the week. Now let's understand this! Did YEHOVAH God complete the creation process on the sixth day? Does the Bible say that on the seventh day YEHOVAH ceased to CREATE? Absolutely not! "On the seventh day God ended" -- WHAT? Not the act of creating! He ended "his WORK which he had made."

Let's continue -- "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). There were, in fact, a full SEVEN DAYS of creation! Not six -- SEVEN! And on the seventh day He MADE THE SABBATH! But understand this, the Sabbath was made by REST -- not by work. What YEHOVAH God ended on the seventh day of the creation week was the WORK of creation -- in other words, that which was created by work! On the seventh day He rested! He created the Sabbath by resting.

This day also points to YEHOVAH God's plan of redemption for us as we cease from our labors and enter into His millennial rest. The Sabbath is given us for a memorial to remember the great creative power of YEHOVAH God; that He made the heavens and the earth. It is also a day for us to remember that He is also our Redeemer -- He has called us out of the world of bondage and sin just as He redeemed ancient Israel from Egypt, a type of the world we find ourselves in.

Now, some have asked why did YEHOVAH God -- who had done the WORK of creation -- rest? Was He exhausted from all His efforts? Was He so tired that He was forced to stop and rest? Absolutely not, for YEHOVAH "fainteth not, neither is weary"! (Isaiah 40:28). Yet, let us realize, this was a real rest because it is written in Exodus 31:17 that "in six days the Lord [YEHOVAH God] made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Since He was evidently "refreshed" by this rest, it had to be a REAL rest -- yet He was not tired or weary! So, then, WHY did He rest? To place His DIVINE PRESENCE IN THAT DAY! In other words, He made the Sabbath on that day by resting, whereas He had made all other things by working!

Taking this a step further, we find He "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it"! What does "sanctified" mean? If you check in a dictionary you will find that it means "set apart, for HOLY use or purpose." YEHOVAH God set this day apart from all the other days -- He set it apart for HOLY use -- for a day of physical rest in which His people may assemble and worship Him!

The "Soul" of the Sabbath!

From the article Creation: The Jewish Oral Tradition, we read something else about the Sabbath day that YEHOVAH God "created" or set aside in Genesis 2 --

Now we all know that God created the world during the original six days, and rested on the Seventh. Everyone thinks that God refrained from His creative activities on Shabbat, and did not introduce anything new into the world -- but did God perhaps "create" something on the Sabbath? The Talmud indicates (BT Chagigah 12) that yes, something new certainly was introduced into the fabric of the world with the advent of the Sabbath.

What was this "something new" that God introduced with the Sabbath?

It was the element of permanence. "The world was unstable and shaky," say the rabbis, "until the arrival of the Sabbath -- then the earth was firmly anchored into place." Why? What is it about the Sabbath that brought "stability" to the world? Before the Sabbath, the whole of creation was a shaky and insecure thing. It is as if the permanence of creation was debatable, uncertain; an open question hanging in the balance until the arrival of the seventh day; it almost seemed as if there was some doubt as to whether or not this will be a sure thing -- the earth hung suspended in the universe, lacking a sense of cohesion -- quivering and heaving with the possibility that perhaps all is only temporary.

Continuing, this fascinating passage concludes:

Indeed, something about the Sabbath had the capacity to bring the world its sense of permanence, and lock it into place -- but just what is it?

The powerful answer is at once both beautiful in its simplicity and staggering in its depth: The holy Sabbath is the soul of the world; it is the soul of creation itself.

This is the mystery of the words "And on the seventh day, He refrained (from work) and 'Vayinafash' -- He rested..."

The Creator stopped His work, on account of this -- 'Vayinafash' -- "and He rested" according to its simple meaning, but actually a form of the word is 'nefesh' meaning soul: for the secret contained within these words is that when the Holy One stopped the process of creation, in so doing, "vayinafash" -- the nefesh, the life-force was brought down into each level of creation and became fixed there within in a permanent fashion. Before the Sabbath came, the world literally stood by like a body without a soul, and every aspect of creation was devoid of the inner essence of life. The holy SABBATH day became the soul of all creation, and through it, existence became whole (ibid.).

It is also mentioned, in the Encyclopedia Biblica, that "the Hebrew Sabbathon conveys the idea of propitiation or appeasement of divine anger and [it] is...the opinion [of Professor Jastrow] that the Hebrew Sabbath (i.e. CREATION SABBATH) was originally a Sabbathon -- i.e. a day of propitiation and appeasement; marked by atoning rites...it was celebrated at intervals of seven days, CORRESPONDING WITH CHANGES IN THE MOON'S PHASES, and was identical in character with the four days in each month, i.e. 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th! (The MacMillan Company, 1899. P. 4180).

The same encyclopedia adds (p. 4173) that

The word "Sabbath" is a feminine form/word. The ROOT (of Sabbath) has NOTHING to do with resting in the sense of enjoying repose; in transitive forms and applications, it means: "to sever"; "to put an end to"; intransitively, it means "to desist" -- "to come to an end." In a transitive sense -- "the divider" -- indicates the Sabbath as dividing the month. It certainly cannot be translated 'The Day of Rest.'"

Adam and the Lunar Sabbath

When YEHOVAH God "HALLOWED" the seventh day of the week (Exodus 20:11) He made it HOLY. It is, as the scriptures show, HOLY to YEHOVAH God. Now the Sabbath is a day -- it is the particular seventh day of the week YEHOVAH God brought into being in Genesis 1 and 2 (Matthew 28:1). Therefore what YEHOVAH God did -- AND YEHOVAH DID IT FOR THE MESSIAH AND MANKIND -- was to make future TIME holy!

The Sabbath is a space of time that YEHOVAH God set apart from the sixth day of the week at sunset to the seventh day of the week at sunset. Whenever that time comes to us -- and this is the topic of this article -- we are in holy time! It is YEHOVAH's time, not ours! YEHOVAH God made it holy and the Ten Commandments back this up; and He commanded us to keep it holy!

It is a fact that since the very inception of the world -- from the dawn of man's history -- there has never been even one Sabbath which was not kept to some extent. This world has never been without these "righteous pillars," the Sabbath observers, and every generation has, to at least some degree, seen each Sabbath observed.

This was so from the begining of time -- since the very first Sabbath. The first man, Adam, was considered a righteous man who kept the Sabbath according to Bereshit Rabbah 22. He is also credited with the authorship of Psalm 92 -- "A Song for the Sabbath Day." After Adam, the Sabbath was observed by his son Seth, whom YEHOVAH God considered to be a righteous man also. He was followed in turn by another righteous man -- Methuselah.

In the article Ages of Adam, by Clark K. Nelson, we read that

Luni-solar calendar foundations of the Jewish calendar extend from the earliest verses of scripture. Natural, uniform motions of the heavenly spheres are the pivotal markers of time reckoning. The list of ancient characters mentioned in the Old Testament used this lunar-solar calendar system of time recording. OBSERVATION OF LUNAR PHASES coupled with solar positioning graduated [marked] the lifetime ages of Adam and his descendants (1995).

Nelson goes on to say –

Changes in the appearance of the moon provided the seven-day week. Originating with ancient interpretations of lunar time, divisions of seven days separate THE FOUR BASIC LUNAR PHASES...Starting with a dark new moon, the moon gradually comes into view on following nights. In about seven days the first half of the moon is visible. The second half waxes until full moon and the end of two weeks. Lunar light reverses progression in the third week, waning to half visibility again. A fourth week completes the month, and visibility again diminishes toward a new moon. Completion of four lunar phases comprises the month.

In the Encyclopedia Biblica (1899) we find stated that "the stars served to mark divisions of time. They are set in the firmament 'to divide the day from the night,' and to 'be for signs, and for moeds/signs/festivals/appointed times, and for days and years!' 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" (The MacMillan Company. P. 4780).

In another part of his article (Ages of Adam), Nelson brings out the concept of masculine and feminine dualism in the luni-solar calendar:

Ancient time reckoning and recording affirmed the most basic counting procedures according to cycles of the sun, moon, and stars. Entrenched throughout the history of world civilization are the main ingredients of lunar-solar calendars. From the earliest conceptions of Adam and Eve to the wide array of mythology and folklore, humanity is aligned with masculine and feminine dualism inherent to luni-solar calendar operations. Patterns of female fertility cycles have been forever linked with lunar, monthly periods of about 29 and one-half days.

Eve is the woman in literal Hebrew. She is the life giver, mother to the living, or child bearer. The feminine fertility issue has always been associated with LUNAR OBSERVATION. The lunar month has been forever etched on humanity right alongside with the moon-mother perceptions of ancient times. CYCLES OF NEW MOONS WERE THE BASIC TIME RECKONING INGREDIENTS FOR LUNAR-SOLAR CALENDARS. Where Eve represented the feminine side of human order according to lunar observation, Adam represented the masculine, solar side, according to solar positioning on the horizon. In other words, Adam's male image also implied meaning toward the rising and setting positions of the sun through all four seasons during the year. Clarification of God resting on the seventh day defines a separation between successive time frames. God again divides, separates, or is between the light and darkness of the moon. TRANSITION FROM ONE LUNAR PHASE ENDING TO COMMENCEMENT OF THE NEXT LUNAR PHASE WAS THE MOST REVERED UNIT OF TIME MEASUREMENT KNOWN. God set aside the Sabbath Day as holy. God consecrated the Jewish Shabbat for all time to come. The sacred Jewish significance of the seven-day week, and the number seven elsewhere SUPPORT RELIGIOUS OBSERVATION OF THE MOON AS AN EARLY CALENDAR (Ages of Adam).

Confirmation of the fact that the lunar week goes all the way back to Adam and Eve is found in The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia –

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 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. Accordingly, in the Mosaic law the same thing was also enjoined (Numbers 10:10; 28:11, etc.), though it is worthy of remark that, while particular observances are here enjoined, the idea of celebrating the New Moon in some way is alluded to as if already familiar to them. In other parts of the Bible, we find the Sabbaths and New Moons CONTINUALLY SPOKEN OF IN CONJUNCTION; as (Isaiah 1:13, etc.) the division of time by weeks prevailed all over the East, from the earliest periods among the Assyrians, Arabs, & Egyptians. It was found among the tribes in the interior of Africa....The Peruvians counted their months by the moon, their half-months by the increase and decrease of the moon, AND THE WEEKS BY QUARTERS, without having any particular names for the Week Days (1904. Vol. 3, p. 1497).

Noah Brings the Sabbath to Mesopotamia

Now we come to Noah. Genesis 6:9 says "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah WALKED WITH GOD." Amos 3:3 says two cannot WALK TOGETHER unless they AGREE -- so Noah must have agreed with YEHOVAH God about the Sabbath day. In 2 Peter 2:5 we read that Noah was "a preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS" and we know that "all thy COMMANDMENTS are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172). So, therefore, Noah must have preached about the Sabbath, and also kept it himself since it is one of YEHOVAH's commandments.

The knowledge of the Sabbath was brought through the flood by Noah and his family, and when Noah's children and their descendants spread out into the area that later became known as Babylonia, the knowledge of the Sabbath went with them. As a result, we find a "Sabbatum" in the ancient records of Assyria and Babylonia where certain activities were prohibited on the 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 28th days of the lunar month.

The Babylonian Connection

In the year 1869 the late George Smith, a well-known pioneer student of Assyriology, discovered among the cuneiform tablets in the archives of the British Museum in London "a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days or 'Sabbaths,' are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken." Some six years later Sir Henry Rawlinson published this calendar in the fourth volume of his standard collection of cuneiform inscriptions.

Records Hutton Webster --

It appears to be a transcript of a much more ancient Babylonian original, possibly belonging to the age of Hammurabi, which had been made by order of Asshurbanipal and placed in his royal library at Nineveh. The calendar, which is complete for the thirteenth or intercalary month, called Elul II, and for Markheshwan, the eighth month of the Babylonian year, takes up the thirty days in succession and indicates the deity to which each day is sacred and what sacrifices or precautionary measures are necessary for each day (Rest Days: A Study in Early Law and Morality. New York: The MacMillan Company. 1916. P. 223).

Webster continues by saying –

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 (ibid., p.224).

S. Langdon, in his book Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars, mentions the Asurbanipal calendar –

Asurbanipal in the seventh century promulgated a calendar with a definite scheme of a seven-day week, a regulation of the monh by which all men were to rest on days 7, 14, 19, 21, 28. The old menology of Nisan made the TWO DAYS OF THE DARK OF THE 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 (London: Oxford University Press, 1935. Pp. 86-87).

"A similar association with the moon's course," explains Hutton Webster, "is set forth in the case of a seven-day period in a text which specifically indicates the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days as those of Sin, the moon god." "Another text," continues Webster, "connects several days of the month with the moon's course in the following order: first day, new moon; seventh day, moon as 'kidney' (half moon); fifteenth day, full moon."

"Finally," writes Webster, "in the fifth tablet of the Babylonian 'Epic of Creation,' a work which in its original form is traced to the close of the third millennium B.C., it is told how the god Marduk, having created and set in order the heavenly bodies, then placed the moon in the sky to make known the days and DIVIDE THE MONTH WITH HER PHASES." "Although this interesting production, in its present mutilated state," elicits Webster, "mentions only the seventh and fourteenth days, we are entitled to believe that the original text also referred to the twenty-first and twenty-eighth days of the month" (Rest Days: A Study in Early Law and Morality, pp. 228-229).

The Babylonian "Shabattum"

These cuneiform records of ancient Babylonia contain a term shabattum, which has been generally accepted as the phonetic equivalent of the Hebrew shabbathon, more than likely an intensive form of shabbath or Sabbath -- referring to a Sabbath of particular solemnity. Writes Hutton Webster --

Shabattum, a word which has been found as yet only five or six times in Assyro-Babylonian documents, occurs in a lexicographical tablet containing the equation shabbattu(m) = um nukh libbi. The accepted translation of the latter expression is "day of rest of (or for) the heart" (s.c., "of the angered gods"). Various scholars in England and Germany...have therefore explained shabattum and its equivalent phrase by the five "evil days" found in the calendar already noticed. This identification was based on the observation that these seemed also to be penitential days, when by special observations the gods must be appeased and their anger averted. (Rest Days, pp. 235-236).

As is wont with all humankind, the original meaning and intent of the Sabbath day, as revealed by YEHOVAH God to Adam and his descendants, became perverted after the flood and associated with pagan gods. However, the timing of these Sabbath or rest days was kept intact. Continues Hutton Webster –

A lexicographical tablet from the library of the Assyrian king Asshurbanipan gives the names attached to several days of the Babylonian month; and among these is the designation shabattum, applied to the FIFTEENTH day [of the lunar month]. Still more recently a similar use of shabattum has been found in a text which contains an account of the moon's course during the month. Reference is here made to the first appearance of the new moon, its ash-grey light until about the seventh day thereafter, its opposition with the sun on the fourteenth day, its aspects on the twenty-first, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth days, and finally its disappearance on the thirteenth day, being the time of conjunction with the sun. In this description, which for minuteness recalls the Polynesian naming of the nights from successive aspects of the moon, the fifteenth day again appears as shabattum (ibid., pp. 238-239).

In the next several pages of his book, Hutton Webster makes these observations –

The choice of the FIFTEENTH DAY as the shabbatum was obviously determined by the length of the Babylonian month, which in the earlier period was regularly taken at thirty days duration. We have seen, however, that, where lunar reckonings are employed and the month begins at sunset with the visible new moon, the fourteenth day more commonly coincides with the full of the moon. SHABATTUM being the technical expression for the FIFTEENTH day as the time of full moon, it is only reasonable to conclude that, if not the name, at any rate the observances belonging to this day would be often transferred to the fourteenth of the month, or to any other day on which the moon became full...And if for practical purposes the fourteenth day might be a SHABATTUM, it is not difficult to assume that this was also the case with the days (seventh, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth, perhaps, also, the nineteenth), which marked other characteristic stages of the lunation. In the developed Babylonian cult all these were "evil days," when the gods must be propitiated and conciliated. In the primitive faith of Semitic peoples they were occasions observed with superstitious concern as times of fasting, cessation of activity, and other forms of abstinence (Rest Days, pp. 240-241).

Webster goes on to associate the Babylonian "shabattum" with the Hebrew "Sabbath" as found in the Old Testament:

"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 Jehovah." This remarkable association of the Sabbath with the day of the new moon had been previously noticed by such acute critics as Wellhausen and Robertson Smith, who were unable to offer a satisfactory solution of the problem thus presented. When, however, the cuneiform records disclosed the fact that the Babylonian SHABATTUM fell on the fifteenth (or fourteenth) day of the month and referred to the day of the FULL MOON, it became clear that in these Biblical passages we have another survival of what must have been the PRIMARY MEANING of the Hebrew term SHABBATH [SABBATH]. As late, then, as the eighth century B.C., popular phraseology retained a lingering trace of the original collocation of the new-moon and full-moon days as festival occasions characterized by abstinence from secular activities. How long-lived were the old ideas is further illustrated by the provision in Ezekiel's reforming legislation that the inner eastern gate of the new Temple at Jerusalem should be shut during the six working days, but should be opened on the Sabbath and on the new-moon day for the religious assemblage of the people. That the term SHABBATH [SABBATH], the designation of the full-moon day, should have come to be applied to every seventh day of the month seems to be quite in accord with BOTH Babylonian and Hebrew usage, which, as we have seen, led the month itself to be called after the new-moon day.

The Hebrew seven-day week, ending with the Sabbath, presented so obvious a resemblance to the Babylonian septenary period, which closed with an "evil day," that scholars have felt themselves compelled to seek its origin in Babylonia (ibid., pp. 252-252).

The Common Semitic Antiquity

The Hebrew seven-day week, ending with the Sabbath, did not, of course, originate in Babylonia. The Sabbath day -- both Hebrew and Babylonian -- originated with the creation week and was transmitted down through the flood to Babylonia where Abraham was born. "The celebration of new-moon and full-moon festivals," remarks Hutton Webster, "which BOTH BABYLONIANS AND HEBREWS appear to have derived from a common Semitic antiquity, underwent, in fact, a radically unlike evolution among the two kindred peoples." "To DISSEVER the week from the lunar month," continues Webster, "to employ it as a recognized calendrical unit, and to fix upon one day of that week for the exercises of religion were momentous innovations, which, until evidence to the contrary is found, must be attributed to the Hebrew people alone" (Rest Days, p. 254).

According to M. Jastrow, there is a passage in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) which was in dispute several centuries before the Messiah concerning its meaning. In the 23rd chapter of Leviticus the word "Sabbath" appears to be used in a sense precisely THE SAME as that of the Babylonian SHABATTUM, referring to the FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH. In this passage it is directed that on "the morrow after the Sabbath" the sheaf of the first-fruits of the harvest is to be brought to the priest, who shall wave it before YEHOVAH God and then count fifty days from "the morrow after the Sabbath" to the commencement of the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

Professor Jastrow clearly shows that the word "Sabbath" is used in Leviticus 23, not in its later sense of a seventh day of rest, but as a survival of the old designation of the Sabbath as the FULL-MOON DAY! Jastrow concludes by saying, "The two references in Leviticus stand out as solitary signposts of an abandoned road" ("The Day After the Sabbath," American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, 1914, xxx, 104).

The fact that the Babylonians kept Sabbath days that lined up with the phases of the moon is noted by a number of different sources. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics by James Hastings --

The Babylonian...seven-day week...is the week with which we are so well acquainted...this was the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of every [lunar] month. Of special interest in connection with the seven-day week is the 19th of the month, which was a "week of weeks" from the first day of the preceding month."

In the Ten Commandments by Joseph Lewis we find written:

In 1869 George Smith, well known as a pioneer student of Assyriology, discovered among the cuneiform tablets in the British Museum "curious religious calendars of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or 'Sabbaths,' are marked out as days on which no work should be undertaken." Authorities contend that this reckoning of the days of the week and the taboo prescribed for the seventh day [which falls on the moon's phases] probably belonged to the age of Hammurabi.

The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, also acknowledges that

The idea of the week, as a subdivision of the month [was found]...in Babylonia, where each lunar month was divided into four parts, CORRESPONDING TO THE FOUR PHASES OF THE MOON. The first week of each month BEGAN WITH THE NEW MOON, so that, as the lunar month was one or two days more than four periods of seven days, these additional days were not reckoned at all. Every seventh day (sabbatum) was regarded as an unlucky day. This method of reckoning time spread westward through Syria and Palestine, and WAS ADOPTED BY THE ISRAELITES, probably after they settled in Palestine (vol. 10, p. 482. Article "Week.").

The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia states that "among ALL early nations the lunar months were the readiest large divisions of time...(and were divided into 4 weeks), corresponding to THE PHASES OR 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 (1904, p. 1497).

Almost all scholars today agree that the primal seven-day calendar, as used among the very ancient Semites (including the Babylonians and Hebrews), was based upon the moon. Furthermore, this unique weekly cycle was observed in tandem with the lunar phases. An example of the early week, based upon the phases of the moon, is described in the Fifth Tablet of the Semitic Story of the Creation (12-18). Note that the moon is said to "make known the days" and its horns "the seasons," creating the Sabbath on the 7th and 14th days of the lunar month --

[The moon] He caused to shine, ruling the night:
He set him then as a creature of the night, to make known the days.
Monthly unfailing, He provided him with a tiara.
At the beginning of the month then, appearing in the land,
The horns shine forth to make known the seasons.
On the seventh day the tiara perfecting,
A sa[bath] shalt thou then encounter, mid-[month]ly.
(From Hastings, on Sabbath: Babylonian).

Another ancient reference -- a writer by the name of Aristobulus -- refers to Sabbaths and Holy Days being associated with lunar phases rather than with the modern practice of consecutive days. Notice!

Homer and Hesiod let us know, what they learned out of our books, that the seventh day was a holy day. Thus, says Hesiod: There is the firstday of the 'month,' and the fourth, and the seventh, that holy day (Eusebius' Praep. Evang. 13:12, 13).

The seventh day of the lunar 'month' implies knowledge of a lunar-phase calendar! Aristobulus continues by saying:

The seventh day is also a day illuminated by the Sun [when the crescent of the Moon is illuminated].....All things were made by sevens in the starry heaven; and go around in circles in all the years succeeding one another [again, implies a sequence of lunar quarters]. (Ibid.).

Like the ancient lunar calendars, the Hellenistic calendar counts days from sunset to sunset and not from sunrise to sunrise or midnight to midnight. To the ancients in Athens, Jerusalem and Babylon, each new month began with the appearance of the young crescent moon in the evening sky and not when the moon was dark, i.e. the new moon. This evening was celebrated with the lighting of torches and bonfires, to announce to all in the countryside that the new month had officially begun. The second day of the month began on the following evening and the third day began on the third evening.

According to Janet and Stewart Farrar in The Witches' Goddess, "The modern use of seven day weeks also stems from the ancient lunar calendar. The first of every lunar month was marked as the first day of a new week and a Sabbath was celebrated every seventh day to mark the 4 quarters of the moon. The last week was followed by the days of the dark moon when the goddess was held to be menstruating and so an extended Sabbath was observed until the waxing crescent moon reappeared and the new month began" (Phoenix Publishing, pp. 24-25, p.106).

Abraham Goes to Canaan

Abraham, the tenth generation from Noah through Shem, was born in the Chaldean city of Ur -- a thriving metropolis located in the land of Shinar, near the present junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Iraq. Ur of the Chaldees was about 150 miles southeast of Nimrod's onetime royal city of Babel, or Babylon, notorious for its unfinished Tower of babel.

The Chaldean civilization, with its advanced mathematics and astronomy, has always baffled the archaeologists. However, this phenomena can easily be explained as resulting from an influx of people from the Semitic branch of the family of Noah, after the Flood. In this country of the ancient Chaldees, the descendants of Shem, who was the father of the children of Heber (Ibiri, Abiri, or Hebrews), settled after the Flood.