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the
first day of every month is the new moon.
The light of the moon is the sign needed to determine the start
of each month The principle established in Genesis 1:14 is basic and fundamental. It shows that the light of the moon is the
sign that is to be used to determine the moedim, the festivals, by determining the first day of the month. This fact is stated
even more explicitly in Psalm 104:19. God appointed the moon for seasons. Now, since the moon is to be used for this purpose,
it is evident that nothing else is needed. The days of the week, therefore, are not to be used for this purpose! The start
of each month is to be determined by the moon, so postponements based on the 7-day weekly cycle are not permitted.
The
sabbath day had to be counted and remembered continually, from generation to generation. And it has been. Exodus 20 says we
are to “remember” the sabbath day. To continue to count it properly, what we need to know is, “When does
one day change into another?” Is it at sunrise, noon, sunset, or midnight?
The Bible shows that a day ends
when the sun has set where you are. It is observed locally, by anyone. The day ends, and a new day begins, when the direct
light of the sun has gone, when the sun itself has actually gone down below the true horizon. Leviticus 22:6-7 defines “even”
as “when the sun is down.” These two verses are a good example of a biblical definition. The Hebrew word translated
“even” is “ereb. It refers specifically to the period of dusk, or twilight, that begins at sunset, when
the sun is down. In this sense the word is often translated as “evening.” The word ereb can also refer to the
exact point in time when the sun has completely set, when a day ends and evening begins (Leviticus 23:27, 32). And in a larger
sense it can be used to refer to the entire 12-hour period that begins at that point in time. In Genesis 1:5, 8, etc., the
words “evening” and “morning” are used to refer to the 12-hour periods that begin at sunset and sunrise.
Modern Jewish tradition is that the evening does not begin, and the day does not end, until three stars of the second
magnitude become visible. This would be regarded as when the rule of the sun ends and the rule of the stars begins. But in
the first century, the people of Galilee still used the same standard described in the Old Testament. They had no doubt about
when a day comes to an end. Mark 1:29-33 shows that the people of Galilee regarded the setting of the sun as the end of that
sabbath day. Not knowing that Jesus might heal people even on the sabbath (Luke 13:10-17), they waited, and “at even,
when the sun did set” (KJV) they brought the sick to be healed.
The day ends, and a new day begins, when
the sun sets where you are. So the first of the three calendar rules given in the Bible is simply this: “The day ends
when the sun falls below the true horizon.”
Months - The Moon is Renewed
It is the light of the sun
that determines when a day ends, because we can watch its light disappear below the horizon. If that day was the last day
of the month, then we soon see the light of the new moon to show that this new day begins a new month. We know this because
the Hebrew word for month, used over 200 times in the Old Testament, is “chodesh” in Hebrew characters it is spelled
the same way. Chadash, as a noun, means a new thing, something fresh. As a verb, to be new, to repair, renew, rebuild.
The moon is not new until it has been renewed. While the moon is close to the sun in the sky, the sun’s light
falls only on the far side. The side of the moon facing the earth is dark. A dark moon, invisible to us, has not yet been
renewed. A new month cannot start until the moon itself has been renewed, and begins to rule the night. It is the light of
the new moon which shows us that a new month has begun, and that light is first seen when the first day of that month begins,
at sunset.
On the first night of the month the moon is usually seen for less than an hour after sunset. It becomes
visible as the sky darkens. In some months, it can be seen for only a few minutes that first night, before it follows the
sun below the horizon. But each night the moon grows brighter and is seen longer. Soon it has become bright enough to be seen
even in the daytime.
Centuries ago, people were familiar with how the appearance of the moon changes through the
month. But today many do not pay it any attention. When you actually start looking at it, you can learn things that most people
in our day have never noticed. In any calendar based on the phases of the moon, every month is either 29 or 30 days long.
If the new moon cannot be seen when the 29th day of the month ends, then that month is 30 days long, and the new moon will
be visible the next night. The Bible does not need to tell us that every month is either 29 or 30 days long. Observation tells
us that.
A new month begins when the moon is renewed. So the second of the three rules that define the calendar
is this: Start each month with the day on which the new moon is first seen after sunset.
Difficult Questions
The traditional calculated calendar in use today is based on the belief that no calendar can be found in the Bible, but
that knowledge of a calendar was instead given secretly to religious leaders, who were also given the authority to control
the calendar and amend it.
But we can see that the Bible itself, in the very first chapter of Genesis, claims that
everything needed for a calendar - how to determine days, months, and years - is freely available to everyone who can see
the light of the sun, moon, and stars.
We have seen already how clearly the Bible explains how to determine when
to start days and months: the emphasis placed on the word “light” by multiple repetition, the instruction to depend
on that light as evidence, plain statements which declare that the light of the new moon determines the start of each month,
etc.
Another example is how the Hebrew word “ereb” is given a meaning so precise that it can be used
to refer to a point in time - the instant that the sun sets and the evening begins. Leviticus 23, verse 27, states that the
day of atonement is the tenth day of the seventh month. Verse 32 then defines the tenth day of the month. It says that the
tenth day of the month begins “at even” on the ninth day of the month and lasts from that “even” until
the next “even.” In this verse, the Hebrew word ereb can only be referring to the point in time when one day becomes
another. We only have to turn back one chapter to learn the Bible’s own explanation of when that point in time is. Lev.
22:6-7 states that it is “when the sun is down.”
It is the Bible’s exact definition of words,
and careful use of those words, that can be relied on to answer seemingly difficult questions - questions that have been argued
about for centuries. Even books of the Bible written more than thirty centuries ago, in a language that has altered so much
that the meaning of many passages is now clouded by the passage of time, contain important statements that define themselves.
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" It Shall Be Established Forever Like The Moon, And As A Faithful Witness
In Heaven Psalm 89:37.
The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We should keep the Sabbath holy unto
the Creator who made it for us. How should we keep the Sabbath HOLY?
But in order to establish the Sabbath, it's the
New Moon that sets up the first day of creation.
Only those who continue to obey God's command to keep the Sabbath
will finally enter the glorious "rest" of God's Kingdom and receive the gift of eternal, spiritual life! Keeping, or not keeping,
God's Sabbath reveals our attitude. Keeping the Sabbaths shows that we are willing to forsake our own thoughts for periods
of time specified by God. It shows a willingness to learn, study, think and meditate on the really important things. Sabbath-keeping
shows an attitude of simple obedience. It is a test of our attitude, revealing whether we really want to obey and depend upon
God and receive His Holy Spirit.
The purpose of the Sabbath is to rest from physical labor and to worship God. On
His Holy Day, we can forget our daily routine and draw closer to the Creator God in study, meditation, and prayer, and have
a foretaste of our glorious future eternal rest. By thinking upon God, the purpose of human existence, God's revealed laws
of life and God's plan for mankind, we add great strength and meaning to our life. The Sabbath is truly one of the greatest
blessings God has bestowed upon mankind. When we keep the Sabbath day, we show faith and belief in God's promise of a future
eternal rest with a glorified spiritual body in the Kingdom of God. By resting on the Sabbath, we are actually "acting out"
the Kingdom of God and what it will be like to be Sons of God in His Kingdom.
God, from the very beginning, set one-seventh
of man's time to the honoring of the great work of creation which God is bringing about within man. "When you have properly
worshipped God on the Sabbath and studied His word and its application, you will be prepared to enter God's Kingdom as a priest
and ruler.
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