just another NEW MOON thread...

[JohnMarsten]

Isaiah 66


22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23And 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 the LORD.
24And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.


My mother always used to come up with this verse when I argued with her about the sabbath. In order to substantiate her claim that God never abolished the sabbath day she used to say that God said that the sabbath would be kept on the new earth, according to Isajah...


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In another thread the new moons were mentioned and I have given it some thought... :


If we agree on the above verses from the bible that indeed the sabbath day will be kept on the new earth as mentioned in Isajah we must also agree that the new moons will be kept as well, right? Of course one might also agree on the fact that we will keep whatever God will have us keeping, that would be only natural as we are not going to Zion doing our own will. And yes, God will then make known to us what we are going to do and if new moons will be there, we will keep them...


but WHAT happened to the new moons along the way? apparently no one seems to be involved in keeping the new moons? at least not to my knowledge, there are quite a few churches that keep the 7th day sabbath but new moons, maybe, but like I said not to my knowledge...



WHEN did God abolish the new moons? were they part of the old covenant? were they abolished on the cross together with circumcision? and we do no longer have to keep them? at least they werent mentioned in the new testament, so it doesnt matter anyway...


WHY did God abolish them TEMPORARILY? because if we agree and believe the words of God given to us by the prophet Isajah then there is a high chance that the new moons will get a comeback lateron, so there is just an intermission between keeping them?


WERE the new moons inferior to the sabbath in general? the sabbaths were mentioned in the 10 commandment written by the hand of God, while the new moons were passed on to Moses verbally... does this make them less binding?


Feel free to comment on my observations!

 

[Pythons]

It's my understanding that the ancient Hebrew calendar required the "new moon" to initiate the count to even get to the Sabbath...
...The word month comes from the ancient understanding of 'The Moon'.
...The complete week was still 7 days in length with the 7th the Sabbath.
...However because the way each month started individually the Sabbath didn't 'cycle' like it does now.

 

[Stravinsk]

God did not abandon either His New Moon or His Sabbath.

Even His Creation testifies to the movement from east to west - whether that be the sun or the moon, both rise in the east - and set in the west.

The wise men who come to honor Christ - are from the East - they travel West...

The flaming sword of Eden - is on the east side of the Garden...

The place the Enemy would have us is in the place of Ezekiel 8:16 - with our backs to the Temple of God, our backs towards the east facing gate, worshiping the sun towards the east.

From a purely creation standpoint - the moon represents a "light in the darkness" - it is a sign for observances. The sun - while it regulates the year - is not a sign for observances - stare at it - and you go blind.

Currently - nearly the whole world goes by a purely solar calendar devised by a pope. Even the Jews set their feasts in accordance with the equinox instead of the barley harvest.

 

[JohnMarsten]

God did not abandon either His New Moon or His Sabbath.

Even His Creation testifies to the movement from east to west - whether that be the sun or the moon, both rise in the east - and set in the west.

The wise men who come to honor Christ - are from the East - they travel West...

The flaming sword of Eden - is on the east side of the Garden...

The place the Enemy would have us is in the place of Ezekiel 8:16 - with our backs to the Temple of God, our backs towards the east facing gate, worshiping the sun towards the east.

From a purely creation standpoint - the moon represents a "light in the darkness" - it is a sign for observances. The sun - while it regulates the year - is not a sign for observances - stare at it - and you go blind.

Currently - nearly the whole world goes by a purely solar calendar devised by a pope. Even the Jews set their feasts in accordance with the equinox instead of the barley harvest.

So if He didnt abandon the New Moon, are we meant to keept it holy as well as the Sabbath? is it another festival that we are to observe?

 

[Stravinsk]

So if He didnt abandon the New Moon, are we meant to keept it holy as well as the Sabbath? is it another festival that we are to observe?

In my view, yes.

For your conscience - ask God and look to the Scriptures.

 

[JohnMarsten]

In my view, yes.

For your conscience - ask God and look to the Scriptures.

So how do keep that festival?

 

[Stravinsk]

So how do keep that festival?

To be perfectly honest - my present situation allows me to keep any day or festival as conscience dictates.

As for new moon and sabbath determined from- I am a newbie and have no superior knowledge.

 

[JohnMarsten]

To be perfectly honest - my present situation allows me to keep any day or festival as conscience dictates.

As for new moon and sabbath determined from- I am a newbie and have no superior knowledge.

Just to be sure, so your conscience dictates you to keep both holy but you dont know how, are you generally aware if there is a new moon going on? at least in the sense like tomorrow is gonna be new moon and keeping a festival would be required but your conscience doesnt show you how and you just leave it aside, right?

 

[OntheDL]

It's my understanding that the ancient Hebrew calendar required the "new moon" to initiate the count to even get to the Sabbath...
...The word month comes from the ancient understanding of 'The Moon'.
...The complete week was still 7 days in length with the 7th the Sabbath.
...However because the way each month started individually the Sabbath didn't 'cycle' like it does now.

The observation of the new moon starts a new month. In the case of cloudy nights, the priests would simply count 30 days from the previous new moon and start a new month.

However the 7 day weekly cycle does not depend on the new moon. If the 30th day of the 6th month Elul is the 1st day of the week, the next day is the 1st of 7th month Tishri and it would be the 2nd day of the week.

The beginning of a new month does not reset the weekly cycle. Only annual feasts were contingent upon the new moon.

For the OP...

In the Old Testament, new moon, annual feasts and weekly sabbath were considered holy convocation. My understanding of Isaiah 66 passage is that it refers to the passing of time: from month to month, from week to week.

The annual feasts were a part of Mosaic law and foreshadowed Jesus and his ministry. So they are no longer required. The sign posts of time, however would still be relevant in heaven. Furthermore, in the OT the new moons were a family festival to recount cherished memories.

The weekly sabbath points to the root of creation. So the two festivals would be celebrated to remind redeemed of their family roots.

Why Sabbath-keeping churches do not keep the new moon?

1. The new moon is a part of ceremonial law and is not required of the NT Christians.
2. Since we use the Roman calendar, there is uncertainty which (Hebrew) calendar is accurate.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

How you keep new moons is a good question really. There was no prohibition against work on the new moon, nor was there any commanded assembly. The only commanded observance of the new moon was for the priests to make certain sacrifices in the temple. There was a widespread tradition in ancient Israel of feasting on the day of the New Moon, but this was not commanded in the Law.

 

[Stravinsk]

Just to be sure, so your conscience dictates you to keep both holy but you dont know how, are you generally aware if there is a new moon going on? at least in the sense like tomorrow is gonna be new moon and keeping a festival would be required but your conscience doesnt show you how and you just leave it aside, right?

As for if there is a new moon going on - I identify this as "first visible crescent" - not "dark moon". Therefore - the first visible crescent moon indicates that the next day is "new moon day", or the 1st of the month. The 2nd of the month is the 1st of the week. Therefore the Sabbaths on a Lunar Calendar are always the 8th,15th,22nd and 29th days of the month - but always the 7th day of each week. The 15th of the lunar month will always be a full moon - which makes sense because it was on the 15th of the lunar month that God led the Hebrews out of Egypt (by night - not during the Sabbath *day*)

As for observance

If this is any indication:

Amos 8:5

Saying, When doth the new moon pass, And we sell ground corn? And the sabbath, and we open out pure corn? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use perversely balances of deceit.

Both are days not to "buy or sell". It is true that the Tabernacle was set up on New Moon (Exodus 40:2) - but this religious "work" is obviously not the kind of work that is being referred to in normal, or ordinary trading.

 

[OntheDL]

How you keep new moons is a good question really. There was no prohibition against work on the new moon, nor was there any commanded assembly. The only commanded observance of the new moon was for the priests to make certain sacrifices in the temple. There was a widespread tradition in ancient Israel of feasting on the day of the New Moon, but this was not commanded in the Law.

The purpose of making offerings on the new moon feast is for the assembly.

I highlighted your statements above. How do you reconcile them with the following scriptures?

Ezekiel 46
1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.

Psalms 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

 

[Pythons]

A very serious Seventh-day Adventist has answered those questions Onthedl, feel free to look over the information about how the 2300 day prophecy of SDA confirms the calendation Stravinsk is telling you about.

http://www.4angelspublications.com/lunisoloar.php

I will openly state that while I believe the calendar ancient Israel used WAS the same calendar Stravinsk speaks of I do not share his belief that this system is expected or required by God.

I do however affirm that for the SDA 2300 year schema to be correct the lunar / solar calendar is the ONLY calendar that allows for Christ to have been put on the Cross in 31 A.D. at the Jewish Passover and the day to sync with a Gregorian Friday.