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God’s Commanded New Moons and the Beginning of Biblical Months
Confused man has changed the times to suit his own purpose.
Clearly the New Moon observance is a sanctification
of the beginning of a New Month and is commanded to be observed in the scriptures.
Col
2:16 Then do not let anyone judge you in eating, or in drinking, or in part of a feast,or of a new moon, or of Sabbaths, The gentile converts of Colossians learned to practice
the keeping of the New Moons. And as they were doing so, some people were making fun of them for observing Jewish customs!
We see that they were observing the laws of God, and people were saying that they did not need to keep the old
ways. But what we find here most interesting is the fact that the “New
Moons” are mentioned along with the Feast Days, and the Sabbaths. Paul tells us that it was common practice
for the Church of God to keep the New Moons.
So why do the true believers of God not keep the New Moons today? What has
happened since then? Why has the Church stopped keeping the observance of the New Moons?
Some people say that because the New Moon was not established as a Holy Day,
it should not be kept! Yet, the same thing could be said about the Passover not being a Holy Day! Both the Passover
AND the New Moons were commanded to be observed and neither are declared to be Holy Days!
Lets continue exploring the “New Moons” throughout the scripture
and see what God leads us to understand as we seek to please him.
We've looked at the new moons in the times of Christ but what about in the future? What
does God say will happen with the “New Moons” in His future coming Kingdom!?
Eze 46:1 So says the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that faces the
east shall be shut the six days of work. But on the Sabbath day
it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it
shall be opened.
The
court of the Temple where people will worship will be closed on the regular week days. But on the Sabbath day, and on the
“New Moon” it will be open!
And
the people will be worshiping God on the New Moons and
they will offer sacrifices to God during that day!!!
Eze 46:3 And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate on the Sabbaths, and on thenew moons, before Jehovah.
Eze 46:6 And in the day of the new moon: a bull without blemish, a son of the herd, and six lambs, and a ram, they shall
be without blemish,
New Moons Before Christ’s Time
So if it will be important to God in the Kingdom, and it was important to the
church at the time of the apostles, was it important for the people of God before Christ? In the book of Samuel God tells
us that they were keeping the New Moons…
1Sa
20:5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, the new moon is
tomorrow. And sitting I should certainly sit with the king to eat. And you shall send me away, and I shall be hidden in
the field until the third evening.
1Sa
20:18 And Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon,
and you shall be expected, for your seat will be empty.
1Sa 20:24 And David was hidden in the field. And it was the new moon. And the king sat down by the food to eat.
So we see here that David and the Israelites kept the observance of the New Moons.
Now lets look at the book of Kings where we well see a scripture that indicates
that on the “New Moons” the people
went to listen and speak with the spiritual leaders of the day, much like you would do on the Sabbath.
A woman that had been kind to Elisha by feeding
him and building a room for him, was in distress because of her sons recent death. Because of this tragedy she went to find
and seek help from Elisha.
Notice
here what her husband says to her as she leaves…
2Ki 4:23 And he said, Why are you going to him today; it is neither new moon nor Sabbath? And she said, Peace.
They would get together with the prophet of God, to learn from on the New Moons just as they did on the Sabbath! So it is clear to see that
Israel was observing the New Moons!
New Moons to be kept by ALL FLESH
Also, God tells us through Isaiah that all people will come to
worship Him on the New Moons, just the same as in the Sabbaths!
Isa 66:22-24 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make stand before Me, declares
Jehovah, so your seed and your name shall stand. 23 And it will be, from new moon to its new moon,and
from Sabbath to its Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Jehovah. 24 And they shall go out and see the
dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be put out; and
they shall be an object of disgust to all flesh.
So
it should be clear to us from these scriptures & examples that it was very important to God that all His people kept
the observance of the New Moons!
Unfortunately,
just as many people today have lost knowledge and defiled the keeping of the New Moon, so also Israel defiled the keeping
of the New Moons much like they did the Sabbaths
of God.
So
far we have seen many important details about the New Moons that help us to better understand what it is, how it was observed
and its significance today. So to summarize what we know about the “New Moons” thus far…
· They were observed in the times of Paul – Col 2:16
· Coming to the temple to worship during it – Eze
46:1-6
· Being observed
in the kingdom of God – Eze 46:1-6
·
Being observed by King Saul – 1Sa 20:5-24
·
A time to gather for a special sacrificial meal – 1Sa 20:18
· To be observed by ALL flesh in the future – Isa 66:22-24
· A time for worshiping God – Isa 66:23
· Amos speaks of those sitting at the new moon gathering
and wishing they were not there worshipping God, folks who would rather be going about their own ways than worshipping God
on Sabbath and New Moons. This is the same as people sitting at Passover and wishing it was over so that they
could do their own thing instead of obeying and worshipping God. – Amo 8:5
God gave
Moses instructions to follow…
2Ch
8:12-13Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Jehovah on the altar of Jehovah that he had built before the porch, 13 even
as the matter of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the appointed feasts three times in the year, in
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Booths.
So God tells us that, He commanded Moses to order worship and sacrifices on
the New Moons, much like in the Sabbaths and Holy Days!
From this we can also begin to see how much emphasis God puts on the New Moons…they are a very important thing to be observed!
More evidence of an “Order Commanded to them…”
1Ch 23:27-32 For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from
a son of twenty years and above, 28 because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of
Jehovah, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of God’s
house, 29 both for the Bread of Arrangement, and for the fine flour for food offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and
for the pan, and for what is soaked in oil, and for every measure and size, 30 and to stand every morning to thank and praise
Jehovah, and likewise at evening. 31 And they were to offer all burnt sacrifices to Jehovah in the Sabbath, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the
order commanded to them, continually before the face of Jehovah, 32 and that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle
of the congregation, and the charge of the Holy Place, and the charge of Aaron’s sons, their brothers, in the service
of the house of Jehovah.
This
scripture says that David set the order, of the way the Levites were to offer sacrifices to God in His Holy Days and Sabbaths
and NEW MOONS! David had to have had some kind of
pattern to give this command.
Was it from the scriptures or from God Himself, just as He told Solomon how to build the Temple? David
had many visions of God and he was considered a prophet too. Could we take some commands from him just as much we do from
Moses? After all this is Holy Scripture!
Even
Solomon when he was about to built the Temple said that the reason was so that people could come and worship God in the appointed
times, including the New Moons!!
2Ch
2:4 behold, I am building a house to the name of Jehovah my God, to dedicate to Him, to burn incense of sweet spices before
Him, and for the continual Bread of Arrangement, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbath, and on the new moons, and at the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This shall
be upon Israel forever.
Notice: A commanded observance forever for all the people of God!
King Hezekiah
restores what is right…
2Ch
31:3 And the king’s portion from his substance was for burnt offerings, for burnt offerings of the morning and the
evening; and the burnt offerings of the Sabbaths, and of the new
moons, and of the appointed seasons, as it was written in the Law of Jehovah.
And after Israel had gone astray, King Hezekiah restored the sacrifices during
the New Moons as Moses ordered Israel to do
before God!
Ezra restores what is right…
And Ezra, when Israel came out of Captivity, made it a point to continue
to offer God His sacrifices. And to keep the appointed worship times of God!
Ezr 3:2-5 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up, and his brothers the priests,
and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt
offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 And they set the altar on its bases, for fear was
on them because of the people of those lands. And he offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings morning and
evening. 4 They also performed the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and the burnt offerings by number, days by days, according
to the ordinance, the thing of days in its day. 5 And afterward the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of Jehovah that were set apart, and of everyone
who willingly offered a freewill offering to Jehovah.
Nehemiah restores what
is right…
Nehemiah restored the
service to God on the Holy Days and the proper keeping of
the Sabbath and the New Moons, and tithing!
Neh 10:31-33 And if the people of the land should bring goods or any food to sell on the Sabbath, we would not take from them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day. And they would forgo the seventh year, and the
interest of every hand. 32 Also, we made stand on ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for
the service of the house of our God, 33 for the Bread of Arrangement, and for the continual food offering, and for the continual
burnt offering, of the Sabbaths, of the new moons,
for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of
the house of God.
So if
these people that worship the true God were so concerned about the keeping of the Law and restoring it back to what would
please God… and this included the keeping of the
New Moons…
What is stopping us from doing the same??
When we pull
away – He pulls away…
When
God was upset with His people for not doing what was right and turning away form the right worship that he had commanded. Our own worship, doing things our own way; made the peoples worship
a stench in His nostrils. He considered it nothing more than mere lip service! Serving him according to the commandments
of men; instead of doing what he had commanded.
Is
this what is happening to us, His people today? Is the right worship of God lost today? Will He abhor our worship according
to our own ways: or will he accept us as we seek to please him by doing what is right in His eyes??
Isa 1:12-14 At whose request do you come before me, making my house
unclean with your feet? 13 Give me no more false offerings;
the smoke of burning flesh is disgusting to me, so are your new moons and Sabbaths and your holy meetings. 14 Your new moons and your regular
feasts are a grief to my soul: they are a weight in my spirit; I am crushed under them.
Hos. 2:11
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days,
her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn
feasts.
Offerings on the New Moons…
God did allow a record in the book of Numbers of what would be His offerings given to
Him by the nation of Israel in the FIRST DAY OF EVERY MONTH!!
Num 28:10-14 This is the burned offering for every Sabbath day, in addition to the regular
burned offering, and its drink offering. 11 And on the first
day of every month you are to give a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs
of the first year, without any mark; 12 And three tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for every
ox; and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one sheep; 13 And a separate tenth
part of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering for every lamb; for a burned offering of a sweet smell, an offering
made by fire to the Lord. 14 And their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for an ox, and the third part of a hin
for a male sheep, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burned offering for every month through all the months
of the year.
And God commanded Israel
to blow the Trumpets on the first day at the beginning of every month! This was to be done over all of their sacrifices so
they would be a “MEMORIAL” to them.
Num 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over
your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your
God: I am the LORD your God.
So
we see that the people of God were worshiping God in the keeping
of the New Moon as told to us by Paul
in the new testament, by David, by Hezekiah, by Ezra, Nehemiah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Amos, Saul, Jonathan, and even Moses. We
can see that they did meet together, they worshiped God, they came to meet the religious authorities of the land, they broke
bread together, they sacrificed, they were not to buy or sell – it seems clear that God is showing us there was some
type of order and service set for this day.
So what are we to do??
It is very clear from scriptures that we need to observe the New Moons. And do what we can to please God, as He obviously is expecting
of us today!
When & How…the experts or the scripture?
So how can we know when the New Moon will be? And what should we
do during that day? God is not an author of confusion among his people; Satan is and he will always be.
Satan has given man many choices and chances, so they can
learn to do what is more convenient to them! Man, since the time of the early church, has learned to keep the New
Moons with a lot of baggage involved in the keeping of them.
The clear way and the record of the Holy Scriptures are easily ignored because of the
technicalities and debates over Rabbinic thoughts and different ways to see the moon phases and occurrences. It has
become so confusing, that people completely ignore the keeping of the New Moons altogether!
Today,
people that use the moon cycle to determine the beginning of the month, decide whether or not to skip a day or two according
to their own will and own conveniences. They change the record of the true day!
When it is next to a Sabbath, they choose to skip a day so that it will not
affect the preparing of that day.
Is this allowed in the scriptures??
The truth is that God never allowed this kind of choice in the
counting the month cycles. At least it is not in the record of the scriptures. And it is never mentioned that it ever occurred
in the history of Israel. Lets for a moment ignore the Jewish scholars and so called experts of our day and just look at
what the scriptures teach us about it.
How can we know when a first day of the month really
begins?
In the book of Genesis,
God told us that the celestial bodies were given to us to tell the time!
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
God says here that the lights are for the telling of the times!
For days, for seasons, and for years!
Notice that it says the lights, the “luminaries”. Not the darkness but the lights! So today,
as people are watching when a New Moon will begin. They look for the darkness of the Moon when it is not visible on the skies.
And from there, from this darkness, some begin to count the beginning of a New Moon or lunar month!
But the scripture is clear, God said to use the light and not the darkness! Going by this guide from God
– we would have to conclude that the first sliver of light would be the beginning of the new lunar month and that day
would be the New Moon.
Another analogy to consider…
Jesus Christ is the light and He is represented as such, while
Satan is darkness and he is represented as such. Would God use the LIGHT to determine the beginning of this special day
or would he use darkness?
More to consider…
God also told us that the first month of His lunar year was in the Spring and
not in the Autumn as some people use for the beginning of their year. Israel also was used to other calendars while they
were living as slaves to Egypt. But God before He took them out
of Slavery told them what would be their new way of counting their year..!
Ex 12:2 Let this month be to you the first of months, the first month of the
year.
We would have to use
the first month of the year, the one that falls in Spring, so that we may be able to keep the Spring Passover Festival, at
the right time. In this way we would be able to keep the counting for Pentecost in the right order as well.
Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel,
and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall
bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11And
he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without
blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth
deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering
thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, [of the new harvest] until the selfsame
day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings.
And
ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven
Sabbaths shall be complete: Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye
shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Pentecost
was to be counted from, the next day after the Sabbath that falls in the week of the Passover/- Unleavened Bread Festival.
From that first day of the week, which would be to us Sunday. They were supposed to count seven full weeks, and the day
after the Seventh Sabbath would be a total of 50 days.
Now the wave offering would not be possible, without the ripening of the grain since the Lunar calendar
would be out of sync with the rotation of the Earth around the Sun after several years. It would be necessarily, to add a
13 month into the year that was out of sync. In this way it would allow the New Year to have the ripening of the grain in
the right time for it to be waved!
This is the only way possible, for people to keep the right dates for all the Holy Days of God. Any other correction that is done to the lunar calendar, is for the
convenience and laziness of man!
The
scriptures do not give us the right to change the calendar of God. And God never, ever, told man to change what He has ordained!
Anyone that will be faithful to God would have to be willing to
go through some inconvenience in those occasions that have a Holy Day fall next to a Sabbath. This is part of our faithfulness
and part of our test.
Are we
willing to follow God, or do our own thing out of convenience? It’s clear then that we need to do something about the
commands of our God. We must worship our Lord as He wants and learn to correct our ways when we are shown where we are wrong.
The New Moons must be kept, and we must learn how to keep them
in our time. We have the opportunity to restore this truth in much the way Hezekiah and Nehemiah did in their day. We may
not have ALL the facts, but to a member of the church of God who wants to please God in all His command there is a lot of
information in the scriptures to work with, certainly enough to observe this command.
I hope and pray that God will grant you wisdom and understanding
as you dig deep into his scriptures to better understand this very important day.
Editors comment: The
New Moon is not a Sabbath or a Holy Day.
If
every New Moon Day is a Sabbath, why do we find God commanding labor upon the day, and labor being exacted upon the day?
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the
first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. … Thus did Moses: according to all
that the LORD commanded him, so did he. And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the
month, that the tabernacle was reared up. (Exodus 40:1,2,16,17 — read all of Exodus 40:1-33 to see how much labor
was done this New Moon Day)
In
the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai
the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest,
saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house
should be built. … Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and
I will be glorified, saith the LORD. … Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high
priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet,
as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD. (Haggai 1:1,2,8,12)
If every New Moon Day is a Sabbath, why do we
find God commanding Zerubbabel to gather wood and build upon the first day of the month? Recall God’s judgment against
the man who gathered wood on the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32-36.
If every New Moon Day is a Sabbath, we should find the command to make the Sabbath offering
on the New Moon Days as well. No such command was given. Only the daily offering was to accompany the New Moon offering.
(Numbers 28:15)
The New Moon is NOT
a Sabbath unless it happens to fall on a Sabbath. The New Moon is NOT a Holy Day except for the first day of the Seventh
month.
The New Moon is merely
the consecrating of the beginning of a month with special sacrifices by God’s command.
I suggest that New Moon’s be observed
by family or local congregational Bible Studies in replacement of the sacrifices, as they are to be observed as day’s
of worship [yet NOT Holy Days or Sabbaths just the consecration of the beginning of each month] in the Kingdom.
They are essential to a proper understanding of the Biblical Calendar;
and the consecrating of months in the Biblical Calendar.
The importance of the New Moons lies in the fact that they are essential elements in determining ALL of
the commanded Holy Days; except for the Sabbath. That is why God has set them apart for special recognition without calling
them actual Holy Days.
They are
the foundation of God’s Calendar and they are the foundation for properly dating the actual commanded Holy Days! We
should get in the habit now!
