Scriptural SabbathThe Scriptures are quite clear that the Sabbath is the seventh day. The question that continually comes up is from what day is the seventh day counted. When looking at this from an impartial position I can see where the beginning of the week is an issue because always before beginning a count the starting point has to be known. It is hard to be impartial since my family has been keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week before I was born, it is all I know. You might be asking which day should the count be started but the only answer I have ever found to be true is from creation. I don’t know any man today who was present at the creation other than Messiah Yahshua. So I have to rely on the Word of Yahweh to point out the starting point. I believe that Yahweh’s word is infallible. So the question comes down to what is the reference point that Yahweh has given us to start the week. The answer is found in Genesis 2:1-3. The Shabbat rest came after Yahweh finished the creation of all that exists. Proponents of a new moon start for the Sabbath need to consider the question of which day the moon was created. Genesis 1:14-19 reads that the sun and moon were created on the fourth day. So if the sun and moon were created the fourth day it was impossible for the first day to be new moon since there wasn’t even a moon in existence yet. The next issue that comes to mind for me is found in Exodus 20:8-11, most importantly Yahweh says to Moshe in verse 11 that the Sabbath is the same day that Yahweh rested after the creation. So if we are looking for witnesses we have at least two so far. Some call the keeping of the Sabbath every seven days a solar observance. Once again this can easily be disproved by looking back at the creation; once again the sun was not created until the fourth day. Consider along the same line of questioning that since the phase of the moon was not given on the fourth day or the seventh day that it is possible the seventh day was the first half of the moon. That would mean that the fourteenth day was the full moon, the twenty-first was the last half of the moon, and that the twenty-eight day was darkness. There are twenty-nine and a half days in the new moon cycle, in reality for any phase of the moon. After a day of darkness the new moon would present itself again. Some new moon Sabbath observers start by keeping the day the new moon is seen as a Sabbath, some do not but either way at the end of the month there is either a double Sabbath or a Sabbath separated by a day. Others end up with a seven or eight day week. I can’t say having two Sabbaths in a row is really a bad thing, two days of no work is great when it is Yahweh giving the rest but the issues should be evident. No matter which phase of the moon you consider to be the new moon you end up with quite a mess at the end of the month. Yahweh clearly commands that we work six days of the week and rest on the seventh. The only exceptions specifically given are found in Leviticus 23 also know as the annual Sabbaths. Here is another professed proof that the Sabbath is to be kept from the new moon, because all the annual Sabbaths except Atonement (possibly other days depending on lunar Sabbath theory followed) fall on a Sabbath. It is possible that this is the way it works some years but it is clear for example with the Passover as recorded of Yahshua that the annual Sabbath and the weekly Sabbath did not coincide. Another example can be found in the different commands for sacrifices, Numbers 28 and Numbers 29 which distinguish sacrifices for Sabbaths both annual and weekly. Other than the point about creation most lunar Sabbath observers I believe would still remain unconvinced of any problems with the lunar Sabbath doctrine. So I set out to see what is used as evidence to prove the lunar Sabbath doctrine. The main Scriptures used to prove the lunar Sabbath are found in 2 Kings 4:23, Isaiah 1:13, Isaiah 66:23, Ezekiel 46:1 and the main Scripture Amos 8:5. Isaiah 1:13 is really in the negative sense, Yahweh chastising Israel because they are keeping Yahweh’s new moons and Sabbaths with the wrong heart or possibly even on the wrong days. All these Scriptures have in common the new moon is set apart which can easily be seen in the commanded sacrifices for the new moon listed in Numbers 28. The main Scripture used by lunar Sabbath observers is Amos 8:5. Amos 8:5 at the first glance might appear to be about not selling on the new moon. A closer look though and it is clear that the problem was fraudulent activity. Around the time of the Babylonian exile the new moon observance gained in popularity, after the destruction of the temple other than Yom Teruah the only notification of the new moon in the synagogue is on the Sabbath before the new moon. The influence of the Babylonians is pivotal I believe in understanding the lunar Sabbath observance. The Babylonian calendar like Yahweh’s was based on the new moon for the beginning of months. Babylon is where the exiles from Israel learned the 19-year cycle for the start of years but there are major differences between the creation Sabbath and the Babylonian system. The difference was that only the Babylonian king, the magician, and the physician kept the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, and the nineteenth day differently than all the other days. Here is an excerpt from the Catholic Encyclopedia under the section Sabbath: In recent years a Babylonian origin has been advocated. A lexicographical tablet gives shabattu as the equivalent of um nuh libbi, "the day of the appeasement of the heart" (of the gods). Furthermore, a religious calendar of the intercalary month Elul and of the month Marchesvan mentions the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th days, the latter probably because it was the 49th (7x7) day from the beginning of the preceding month, as days on which the king, the magician, and the physician were to abstain from certain acts. The king, for instance, was not to eat food prepared with fire, put on bright garments, ride in a chariot, or exercise acts of authority. These days were then, days of propitiation , and therefore shabattu days. We have thus periods of seven days the last day of which is marked by abstention from certain actions, and called shabattu, in other words the equivalent of the Sabbath. A Babylonian origin is not in itself improbable, since Chaldea was the original home of the Hebrews, but there is no proof that such is actually the case. The reading shabattu is uncertain, shapattu being at lest equally probable. Besides, there is no evidence that these days were called shabattu; the signs so read are found affixed only to the 15th day of the month, where, however, sha patti, "division" of the month is the more probable reading. These days, moreover, differed entirely from the Sabbath. They were not days of general rest, business being transacted as on other days. The abstention from certain acts had for object to appease the anger of the gods; the days were, therefore, days of penance, not of joy like the Sabbath. Lastly, these days followed the phases of the moon, whereas the Sabbath was independent of them. Since the Sabbath always appear as a weekly feast without connection with the moon, it cannot be derived, as is done by some writers, from the Babylonian feast of the full moon, or fifteenth day of the month, which, moreover, has only doubtful claim to the designation shabattu. As I mentioned earlier some call the Sabbath fixed from creation a solar Sabbath but not mentioned was that others call it the Babylonian Sabbath. Neither name is true considering that the Babylonians did not fix the week from a point in time such as the creation, rather they fixed the week from the new moon. It would be a stretch to call the lunar Sabbath a Babylonian Sabbath and so I will refrain from doing that. On the other hand there is a deficit in Scriptural references for a lunar Sabbath. So far I have failed to find one argument in Scripture that really seemed point to a lunar Sabbath. There are so many things to be discussed about the Sabbath and the purpose of the Sabbath it is a shame there is so much confusion. That is unfortunately how Satan operates by confusing the issues. Paul wrote, “Study to show yourself approved.” It is clear to me that during Yahshua’s day there was no such thing as a lunar Sabbath other than the annual Sabbaths which are specifically detailed in Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16, and Numbers 28 and 29. A lot of the confusion has happened because it is common to reject authority. The authority to determine the times and seasons was given into the hands of the priests, we have not had such good training since the destruction of the temple. Even if Yahshua appeared before us today and said this is how you are to keep my feasts some would argue. That authority is still here as in Acts 15 the brethren hear the Word of Yahweh taught in the synagogue from Sabbath to Sabbath. So by hearing the Word of Yahweh we can learn His Sabbaths. Be steadfast, Yahweh gave Adam and Eve the Sabbath and they have passed it down to us so that we too might have a Shabbat rest. SummarySabbath is found in Scripture to be from creation. Yahweh rested on the seventh day just as we should. Yahweh worked six days to create all that exists. We too should do our fair share to provide for our families and to show Yahweh’s blessings in everything we do. The moon was not created until the fourth day; no where in Scripture is a phase of the moon listed in accordance to the Sabbath other than the annual Sabbaths. The lunar Sabbath theory has some major problems at the end and beginning of each month. It is impossible to tell whether the new moon is included in the count or is the first Sabbath. These questions show complete confusion, some of which is attempted to be overcome with sour rhetoric. Calling the Sabbath cycle started from creation solar Sabbath or Babylonian Sabbath really does nothing more than cause contention. As shown the Babylonian set apart days actually fit closer to the lunar Sabbath than any other systems. The final point is that we should study to show ourselves approved. Yahweh has given knowledge to his chosen people to continue his legacy and deliver a message of salvation to all that will listen. The lunar Sabbath theory lacks solid Scripture to back up its claims but has lead many away from the Sabbath which I believe Yahweh has given. Keep Yahweh’s Sabbaths faithfully and the reward will be immeasurable. |
