Before you accept or reject the lunar Sabbath, you owe it to yourself to examine what the Bible actually says. In this teaching, you’ll discover why this topic has challenged the assumptions of countless sincere believers and why it deserves a careful, Scripture-first investigation.

If you are a passionate believer seeking the absolute truth about the Sabbath, you have likely run into major contradictions between modern calendars and scripture. In this video, we examine the lunar Sabbath from a Messianic and Christian perspective, comparing Scripture with tradition and encouraging you to test every claim against the Word of Yahweh.

This teaching is designed to help you:

• Understand what the Lunar Sabbath doctrine is.
• Examine the strongest biblical and historical evidence surrounding the Lunar Sabbath.
• Distinguish between tradition, personal ambition, and what Scripture actually teaches.
• Strengthen your Bible study skills by learning how to evaluate difficult passages in context.

If you’re passionate about biblical truth, the Sabbath, Scriptural education, and in-depth Bible study, this teaching is for you. Whether you agree or disagree with the conclusions, our goal is to encourage you to search the Scriptures diligently and let the evidence speak for itself.

So join us as we learn the God Honest Truth about the Lunar Sabbath doctrine.

#BibleStudy #BiblicalCalendar #BiblicalSabbath #GodHonestTruth #LunarSabbath #Messianic #SabbathRest #Torah #TrueSabbath

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Transcript

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Teaching Introduction

So, you’re getting into the scriptures. You finally discovered that we should be doing a Sabbath. But which Sabbath? There’s all kinds of options out there. We’ve already looked at the arguments for Sunday as Sabbath. So, now we’re going to take a look at what’s called the lunar Sabbath doctrine. So, is the scriptures itself telling us that the Sabbath is determined by the new moon, or are the scriptures telling us something different? Well, make sure to tune in and stay tuned for this particular teaching. This is going to be part eight of studying the lunar Sabbath doctrine. So, hang on. There’s a lot that goes into this. It’s going to be overwhelming sometimes, but just stick with us as we learn the God honest truth about the lunar Sabbath.

Video Start

All right. So, this teaching is going to be about the lunar Sabbath, and it’s going to be the starter episode for a two-part series on the lunar Sabbath. And this is all part of a bigger series on the Sabbath in general as it comes from scripture. And as you know, we start to study and learn more about what the Sabbath is, how to observe it, all the ins and outs and stuff like that. So, we’ve got a whole bunch of stuff going on. And this is just the next episode. And like I said, lunar episode, I’m sorry, the lunar Sabbath is going to be in two episodes and this is the first. There’s going to be a whole lot of information coming to you. And if you’d like even more information, as always, make sure to go to our website and click on the article post for this particular video where you can find the on demand video.

You may be able to find the video slides that you um see on your screen here and you can go through them at your own pace and stop at one or whatever you need to do. Makes it so much more convenient. Also, you’ll be able to find on that page the notes that we took for this particular subject and the AI monographs that we had done, research reports on this particular subject as well, which have been very, very useful. So, go check that out on our website at godhonesttruth.com. Now, if you’re watching this live, the notes that we took are not up there yet because we have a bunch of notes that we are putting together and putting into this particular study and this particular um two episode teaching and we don’t want to spill the beans as it were about the information coming up next week or for the next episode because there is some bombshells um especially next episode. There’s going to be some this time.

So, don’t get, you know, don’t set your standards low for this episode, but there’s going to be some really big ones coming next time. And I don’t want to give it away too early. So, though once this um teaching, this multi-part series on the lunar Sabbath is done, then the notes will be up there and you’ll be able to have it up for yourself. Uh, but as always, you can just take the notes as we go over them here on the teaching on the live stream. So, make sure to stay tuned. Those are coming, but I’m going to wait until we are done with the lunar Sabbath teaching before I release those so as not to let the cat out of the bag, as it were.

Series Overview

So, before we get started in this particular teaching, let’s do a quick overview of the Sabbath series that we’ve been going over since it has been a little while since we did the last one. So, during the series, we broke it up into various episodes to make it easier to understand, make it easier to digest, and make it easier to get through. Now, each one has been, you know, at least an hour long. So if we did them all at one time, that would be a very long video. So we broke them up into various episodes. In the first episode, we looked at Shabbat in the Tanakh, what uh mainstream churchianity refers to as the Old Testament. Episode two, we looked at Shabbat in the Brit Chadasha or what mainstream churchianity refers to as the New Testament. Then we looked at Shabbat in the early centuries and a whole bunch of good information there about that turning point where everything kind of went and veered off a little bit. So very good episode and well each of these are good episodes but that one definitely has a bunch of good um how should I say it illuminating information in it as far as this Sabbath goes. Then episode four, we looked at Shabbat, the Reformation, and also up until modern times and discovered some people that you probably hadn’t heard about before. So that was definitely a good one to go back and look at as well. Then in episode 5, we looked at some of the arguments that are commonly used to put forth a Sunday as Sabbath argument um I’m sorry, position. And that was the first episode in that one. And then in episode 6, we did um arguments for the Sunday position. the second part of that particular teaching. And now we’re up to episode seven and we’re looking at the lunar Sabbath. And this is going to be part A on the lunar Sabbath teaching.

Objective

So our objective for this particular teaching on the lunar Sabbath is going to be define what the lunar Sabbath doctrine is to examine the foundations that are used for the lunar Sabbath to test the lunar Sabbath doctrine against scripture. to examine the lunar Sabbath in light of logic as well. Then we’re going to look at the lunar Sabbath and history and then finally consider what it all means. During this particular episode, this part A as it were, we’re only going to get through partways through testing the lunar Sabbath doctrine against scripture. And then next time we’ll finish up with the rest of it. So, we’re going to get about halfway through this list of objectives this time and then take on the rest of it um and the next episode, part B as it were.

Before Moving On

And before moving on, there’s a few things I want to put out there and have it known before we really get into this particular teaching. Um, number one, this whole issue of lunar Sabbath or non lunar Sabbath or whatever it is, this is not a salvation issue. If you are a lunar sabbatarian, if you are a seventh day sabbatarian, uh, or lunar sabbath keeper or a seventh day Sabbath keeper, either way, you are my brother and sister. You are no more or less saved if depending on whichever one you are holding to because this issue of the lunar sabbath is not a salvation issue. Just put that out there right from the very beginning. Lunar Sabbatarians and non-Lunar Sabbatarians are all brothers and sisters Messiah, like I said. And if you’re not willing to consider something different than what you already know and look at some evidence for the lunar Sabbath, then please click off this video. I’m not interested in people who are close-minded. All you’re going to be doing is wasting your time, and I don’t want to waste your time. So, go ahead and just start clicking off if you’re not willing to look at some evidence for the lunar Sabbath. Likewise, if you’re not willing to consider some evidence testing the lunar Sabbath, also go ahead and click off. You’re just as close-minded as the first, and I don’t want to waste your time either. So, if you’re not willing to test some evidence that goes against what you already believe, this may not be the video for you. This is not about an appeal to the majority, which is commonly called the popular opinion. not appealed to the minority either, which is, you know, more like saying that, well, because a minority holds it, they’re obviously oppressed because they have the truth. It’s not about either one of those. This is about examining from base level what scripture says about the lunar Sabbath and to determine what the actual truth is. some terminology that we’re going to look at real quick and use during the course of these two videos or teachings on the subject of the lunar Sabbath. We’re going to be using the term lunar sabbath or lunar sabbatarian. And this is going to describe someone who holds to the doctrine of the lunar sabbath. The other term that we’re going to go ahead and define right now is the 7th day Sabbath or seventh day sabbatarian. And that’s someone who holds to the belief that the Sabbath occurs every seventh day on a constantly repeating pattern. Now I understand that the vast majority of lunar sabbatarians hold to you know six days and then the Sabbath after the new moon or starting with new moon. So they consider themselves seventh day Sabbath Sabbatarians as well. But just to distinguish and differentiate during this particular teaching teaching, the term lunar sabbath or lunar sabbatarian refers to someone who holds to the doctrine of the lunar sabbath. Um, regardless of which model that is. And seventh day Sabbath or seventh day sabbatarian refers to someone who is holding to a every seventh day repeating constantly forever um Sabbath kind of person. That kind of person. So now I realize that this is lunar Sabbath people or those who hold to a lunar Sabbath doctrine are not a monolithic block. They are they hold different views and there’s different nuances between different models. I understand that. So don’t believe that everyone is exactly the same regarding one particular side of the aisle. They’re not. During this particular series, we will be getting nerdy and we’re going to be getting in the weeds. There will be math involved. I’m just going to go ahead and warn you right now. There will be math involved. So, you have been duly warned.

Study Principles

Now, wait, since it has been a while since we have um done the last episode in our lunar or I’m sorry, in our Sabbath series, let’s go over some study principles just to keep in mind, especially during this study on the lunar Sabbath. And I’m going go over this real quick since we went over in depth in previous episodes. So just bear with me. Um stop the video or go check out the video slides on our website if you want to stop at a particular one. But I’m going to go through this fairly quickly. First of all, we’re going to look at the principles of hermeneutics. And starting with the first one, we’re going to look at it’s the uh literal principle, which is taking the scriptures that we read in a literal meaning unless the uh passage or the genre dictates something else like a um vision or a dream or a prophecy um something like that or poet poetry that might dictate a different way of taking it other than literal. that in general you take things in a literal fashion. Then we also look at the contextual principle which means taking things into context and not taking just a single verse or phrase out of context. That is very helpful when studying stuff. Then we look at the uh principle of scripture uh scriptural harmony which means all of the scripture harmonizes together and it’s not contradictory. Also, it al means that when you find a passage that is difficult, you can harmonize it and better understand it by looking at a passage that is easier to interpret and uh we say uh decipher. So that’s what the principle of scriptural harmony is. Then we look at the grammatical principle looking at the grammar um the syntax of the language that is being used at the time which would be the uh Hebrew or Aramaic of the Tanakh or the Greek of the Brit Chadasha. Then we go on look at the historical cultural principle looking at how the people at the time the particular passage was written would have understood it. How the author would have meant it at that particular time in history and in that particular culture. And we look at the genre depending on what kind of genre it’s being written in. Whereas like revelation is a prophetic and vision text. Um Psalms is a lot of poetry and other things. Some could be historical but looking at the genre that and taking that into consideration anyways when trying to interpret a particular passage. When we look at the progressive revelation principle and this is something not to get tripped up on or misunderstand. This doesn’t mean that, you know, the Bible is insufficient and we need the later rulings of man-made councils to understand things. No, that’s not what it means. What it means is that you may not understand everything on Genesis 1, but as you go through the rest of the scriptures, then you get start learning more and more and more and more gets revealed over time. And we look at the authoral intent. This pretty much goes back to the um historical and cultural aspect thing that we looked at earlier. What does or what did the author originally intend when they originally wrote what it is that they wrote and that we’re looking at and trying to interpret. Now the next thing we’re going to look at is sola scriptura and this means that the scriptures the Bible itself is the ultimate authority. It is infallible and it’s inspired autographs. So not the translations come down to us. Those are important. Those are definitely helpful because not all of us speaks every language on the world or in the world. So know that the uh original autograph that is the authoritative infallible authority that we go by not man-made doctrines, not man-made councils or creeds or anything like that. Sola scriptura by scripture alone. Now creeds and councils can help in various commentaries but the ultimate authority over top of all that is going to be scripture. Then we look at the uh distinction between descriptive and prescriptive and this came in very important when we looked at the Sunday argument episodes and this is also going to be very very important as we look at the lunar sabbath as well. So descriptive will be something that describes what someone is doing. That may or may not be something that we should do or model our lives after, but it’s describing something that did happen. Whereas prescriptive is something that we are commanded to do, we’re told to do. It is prescribing something for us to do. The um ten commandments are prescriptive. Do this, don’t do that. Those are prescriptive. Whereas the people leaving out of Egypt and they stopped here, they did this. That’s all descriptive. So keep that distinction in mind between descriptive and prescriptive. Then we get into the distinction between exegesis and eisegesis. And exegesis is the process of drawing out the meaning of the text from the text itself. And eisegesis means taking your own thoughts, your own ideas, your own doctrines, and trying to read back into text what you want it to say. And that’s not what we should be doing. We should be doing exegesis and allowing scripture to change us and not be trying to change scripture to fit what we want it to say. Then we look at the process of or I’m sorry, the idea of anachronism. And this is taking something that is more modern or past the time of the scripture you’re looking at and trying to force it back in there. And that’s just simply incorrect. And it’s almost a form of eisegesis to tell you the truth. Then we look at confirmation bias. And this is something that we all have and sometimes it’s very subtle and it’s very um implicit. We don’t know that we’re doing it sometimes, but we do all have confirmation bias and we need to be aware of that. So definitely look out for your own confirmation bias. And if you see a passage that you know seems to support something you already believe and someone else is trying to present something different, give them the time of day. let them, you know, put forth their case and examine it in light of scripture and see if what they saying is actually true and try to guard against your own confirmation bias. So, that’s the foundation for this teaching and just a reminder of some study principles to keep in mind as you’re doing anything in the scriptures or anything in the Bible as far as studying goes, but especially in the Sabbath series and especially now as we get into this lunar Sabbath study.

What is the Lunar Sabbath?

So, if you’re just coming at this from a very fresh perspective and you have no idea of what the lunar Sabbath is, well, what is the lunar Sabbath? I’m glad you asked. Let’s go ahead and define that real quick. The lunar Sabbath is a calendar system doctrine which asserts that not only does the month start with the sighting of the first sliver of the new moon, but also the beginning of the week and therefore the counting for the week and Sabbath as well. According to the majority of lunar sabbatarians, the first day of the month is a non-work day and a non and not a standard weekday or weekly Sabbath. The second day is a work day, a regular weekday and the first day of the first week of the month. Then the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th are the following weekly Sabbath for that respective month. This is all in reference to the concept of the Hebraic biblical calendar and not the common Gregorian calendar that we use in the world today. Now, like I said before, um lunar sabbatarians are not a monolithic group. There’s some people or some lunar sabbatarians have a different model than what I just described um or just a little bit. Anyways, the vast m and what I just described is the vast majority of what I came across in the research. And most of the time they start with the sliver of the moon. That’s within the uh what they consider the new moon. But some um that I came across say that it starts with the conjunction of the moon when it’s still dark and others say that the month starts with the full moon. That could be a discussion all in itself. But what we’re going with during this particular uh teaching series on the lunar Sabbath is the more common one or the more widespread one which says that it starts with a sliver of the new moon. And then uh on the Sabbaths for the week, I’m sorry, Sabbaths for the month are the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd, and the 29th all the time. It does not change. It’s always the 8th, always 15th, always 22nd, and always 29th. Now, other models might have the 1st, 14th, 21st, and 28th. But again, the biggest model that I looked at said the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th always forever in a repeating pattern because it starts with the new moon day and then starting counting seven after that. That’s why it’s on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. So in a nutshell, just to make this even a little bit more simple to um for those of you who may just be coming at this from a very beginning. Anyways, the core claim of the lunar Sabbath doctrine is that the month and the week month and the week both resets with a monthly lunar cycle rather than running on an unbroken 7-day cycle. Day one is the new moon and a nonwork day. Neither a standard work day nor a weekly Sabbath. It’s just a new moon day in other words. And then days two through seven are the six standard work days of that week where day two is work day number one. Then the fixed Sabbaths occur on the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd, and the 29th of every lunar month. And again, the 8th, 15th, and 22nd, and 29th of every biblical month must always be weekly Sabbaths, rest of which no regular work or heavy labor is to take place. And all the commands and regulations uh in scripture regarding Sabbaths apply here in this particular model as well. For those of you who like a visual style learning, that’s me included. Here is a calendar that lines up with this model of the lunar sabbath or the lunar sabbath model that we’re looking at anyways which is the most common one that I run across. You look up there day one that is the first sliver of the new moon when the new moon is sighted and that is the new moon day. It’s not a work day. It’s not a Sabbath day. It’s just simply a new moon day. And then on the 2nd is the first day of the week running all the way through the 8th which is be the um seventh day of that particular week making it a Sabbath. Then it goes on to the 9th through the 15th and then the 16th through the 22nd and the 23rd to the 29th. Now lunar months are not like the months in our Gregorian calendar. Lunar months are either 29 or 30 days long and it’s all depending on when it’s sighted. So some months have 29 days in the Hebraic in this uh lunar Sabbath calendar. Some months have 29 days, other months have 30 days. And this is something that also lines up with the what we find in scripture as well, which we’ll look at here in just a moment. But it’s important to note that in this lunar Sabbath model, the first day is not a work day, a weekday, or a Sabbath day. It’s just a new moon day. Keep that in mind. And number two, another important very important thing to understand about this is that every Sabbath for the month is on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th and cannot in any way be any other day. Those are some of the most important things to understand right here. And there’s a visual representation of a lunar Sabbath calendar. And that’ll be coming up more as we go through this particular teaching uh when it is appropriate. So that is that’s what the lunar sabbath doctrine is.

Foundations of the Lunar Sabbath

So what is the foundations of which the lunar sabbath doctrine is built? Where do they actually get this idea and this doctrine from? Well let’s look at some scripture. Let’s look at number one starting at the very beginning in Genesis. And this comes from Genesis 1 14-18.

And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so. And Elohim made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day, and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good.

Notice here in the very beginning of this passage, it says that Elohim created lights in the heavens and they were to separate the day from the night and they were to be a for the signs and appointed times. That’s an important thing to keep in mind here when it comes to the lunar sabbath doctrine. This appointed times here is in Hebrew what’s referred to as moedim. And you can actually see that when I put up the uh Westminster Leningrad Codex there, you can see it says Moadin. And for further verification about this and just to get more in-depth and specific on the moon itself, we go and look at Psalms 104:19. He made the moon for appointed times. The sun knows it’s going down. So, further verification that the moon is for appointed times or moedim. And just to back that up, I’ve highlighted there in the Hebrew the word for moon and also the word for moedim or appointed times. It’s clear, crystal clear that the moon is for appointed times as we saw back in Genesis. And now we see here in Psalms 104 some further evidence of what we’re talking about here as far as the lunar Sabbath doctrine goes. We look at Leviticus chapter 23:es 2-3.

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “The appointed times of Yahweh, which you are to proclaim as set apart gatherings, my appointed times are these. Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest. A set apart gathering you do no work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh and all your dwellings.”

So, the weekly I’m sorry, the I guess you say weekly or regular Sabbath is listed as an appointed time here in Leviticus 23. And if you don’t believe me, you can always just go and read it in whatever translation you got. It says the exact same thing. And again, this word here in Hebrew for Sabbath is Shabbat. And again, the word for appointed time is moed or moed. Here it’s got the conjugation of moede, which is my appointed time. That’s how you do it or conjugate it in Hebrew anyways, but it’s all the same thing. It’s pointing to the Sabbath being one of the appointed times of which we already saw that the moon is a sign for guiding the appointed times or the moedim. Some further verification here, I’m sorry, some further basis for the foundation of the lunar Sabbath. We look at Exodus chapter 16. We’re going to be jumping around through various sections. We’re going to look at verse 1, verse 4-5, verse 13, verses 21-23, and verse 30.

And they set out 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 15th day of the second new moon, after their going out of the land of Mitzrayim. And Yahweh said to Moshe, “See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day in order to try them, whether they walk in my Torah or not. 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.” And it came to be that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And they gathered it every morning, each one according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted. And it came to be 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 Moshe. And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set apart to Yahweh, that which you bake, bake, and that which you cook, cook, and lay up for yourselves all that is left over to keep it until morning.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

So, how does this play in to the foundation of the lunar Sabbath doctrine? Well, as you go through this particular passage, you said you see they’re coming out of Egypt. They’re heading toward the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai. And we see that it’s in the second month after they came out of Egypt. And it’s on the 15th day when they get there. That’s something to keep in mind, okay? They get there on the 15th day and they start whining. They start complaining. And so Yahweh says, “I’m going to teach you my Sabbath now that you’ve come out and you can start learning. I’m going to teach you my Sabbath by giving you manna and quail.” And in order to teach you my Sabbath, you’re going to gather manna for six days and but none on the Sabbath. So on the sixth day, make sure to gather enough for two days. So to cover day six and day seven, the Sabbath. And he tells them this from what we can see here on the 15th. And then the next day, which is the 16th, it starts raining manna and that would be day one. So the 16th would be day one. Then you got the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and then 22nd. 22nd would be the seventh day after that. I’m sorry, will be the uh 7 days after when this started, which will be a Sabbath. So if the seven days after it started is the 22nd and it’s a Sabbath that displays further credence to this model of the lunar Sabbath doctrine where the Sabbath always falls on the 22nd and counting backwards that means the 15th would have also been a Sabbath further lining up with the lunar Sabbath doctrine. So that’s what the lunar Sabbath doctrine is and also some of the scriptural foundation that goes into the u composing of the doctrine itself.

New Moon in Scripture

All of this revolves around the new moon. And a lot of people I’ve come to find out don’t know that much about what the new moon is in scripture. So what we’re going to do now is take a quick look at what the new moon is in scripture. how it’s regarded, what it’s used for. And this could be an entire teaching all on its own about just the new moon. And that’s something that we probably should be doing and look for that coming up here probably next season on God Honest Truth. But for right now, we’re just going to do a brief overview of what the new moon is in scripture and how it’s treated, what it’s used for, all that kind of stuff. as we look at the various passages in scripture and we’re going go over some of these coming up here in just a moment. But we see that number one, the new moon is a guide for appointed times because it starts the month then that’s how you know when the 14th is of the month so you can have Passover or the 10th of the month is to have Yom Kippur etc etc. So the new moon is used as a guide for appointed times or moedim on the new moon. This is also a special day. It’s a moed itself actually. And when during the new moon celebration, you are to sound the shofar and things like that. Make a joyful shout, joyful noise. Sort of like at Yom Teruah, but this is every single month. Actually, you also uh I’m sorry, in scripture there’s also special offerings and sacrifices that are prescribed. We’ll go over a couple of those here in just a minute. We can also see in scripture that we’ll look at here in a moment that it’s a time for feasting, fellowship, and seeking the word, instruction in Yahweh’s word. And we also see it sometimes tied to prophetic and future worship as well. Let’s look at some of those scriptures real quick, especially the or starting out with the one um the point that the new moon is a guide for appointed times. We look at again at Genesis 1:14.

And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and appointed times and for days and years.”

Then in Psalms 104:19, one more time, he made the moon for appointed times. The sun knows it’s going down. And then as far as what to do on a new moon celebration, the sounding the trumpet or the shofar, we look in Numbers 10:10.

And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and at the beginning of your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your ascending offerings and over your slaughterings of peace offerings. And they shall be a remembrance for you before your Elohim. I am Yahweh your Elohim.

And then also in Psalms 81:3, blow a shofar in the new moon in the covering for the day of our festival. And then also since the new moon celebration in scripture is a moed, there are special offerings and sacrifices that go along with this particular celebration. And again, that’s if the tabernacle or the temple was still standing. Of course, we can’t do it now because there’s no priesthood, no temple. But when it was standing, these are the offerings and sacrifices that were commanded. We look at Numbers 28 11-15.

And on the beginnings of your new moons, you bring near an ascending offering to Yahweh. Two young bulls and one ram and seven lambs a year old, perfect ones. 3/10en of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with oil for each bull. 2/10en 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 an ascending offering of sweet fragrance, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. And their drink offering is a half a hin of wine for a bull and one-third of a hin for a ram and 1/4 of a hin for a lamb. This is the ascending offering for each new moon throughout the new moons of the year. And one male goat as a sin offering to Yahweh is prepared besides the continual ascending offering and its drink offering.

So there were special offerings and sacrifices that went along with this. Now, as we mentioned earlier, the new moon celebration was also a time for getting together and getting instruction and stuff like that. A few examples that we can see from scripture here is 1st Samuel 20:5.

And David said to Jonathan, “See, tomorrow is the new moon, and I ought to sit with a sovereign to eat, but let me go and I shall hide in the field until the third day at evening.”

Now, there’s a whole bunch of stuff going on in this particular story, but we can see here that it was actually rather customary for David to go and eat or feast with the king on the new moon. So, they were getting together. We can also see in 2 Kings 4 23 and he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.” I apologize for that. I should have put more context there. Anyways, they’re going to see the prophet and they have the presumption that you only go see the prophet on a new moon or a Sabbath to receive instruction, not on just any regular day, but they were going anyways. So, here we see they have the custom of going on a new moon to receive instruction from a teacher, in this case, a prophet. Now, one thing I do want to point out here is that these examples and other examples we see in scripture of getting together on a new moon are descriptive in nature, not prescriptive. Keep that in mind. This is not saying that, you know, thou shalt get together with the king on the new moon. Nothing like that. This is just describing what people did on a new moon celebration. Another thing I want to point out and have you look at and this is and you know this is coming from what we’ve just presented to you about the new moon and it goes a lot more in depth and I invite you to go do your own study in that and hopefully we’ll have a episode coming up within the next year about this. But notice that when you look at the new moon celebration or the new moon moedim in scripture a couple things come up that people are um mistaken about a lot of times or incorrect about. I’m not really sure the best way to put that, but they think that the new moon is a rest day, and it’s not. There is no command in scripture that the new moon be a type of Sabbath or a Shabbaton, a a minor Sabbath or anything like that, like a a feast day. Uh, you know, on Passover, you got on the first and seventh days, you have rest days, regardless of what day of the week it is. on Yom Kippur you have a rest day even though it’s not a Sabbath you also have um I’m sorry even if it doesn’t fall on a Sabbath then on Sukkot as we just got done learning not too long ago the first day and the eighth day are Sabbaths as well but this rest day is not prescribed or told commanded to us as far as the new moon goes that’s important to know because we look all throughout the Torah as for the commandments and the prescriptions uh surrounding the new moon celebration, there is no command to, you know, rest or to have a sort of Sabbath on the new moon. Another thing to keep in mind, too, and look this up in the Torah if you don’t believe me, but as far as the new moon commandments go in the Torah, what we are prescribed and commanded to do, we are not told to refrain from commerce. Shocker. I know. By all means, it’s going to be shocking at sometimes, but is not commanded that we do not buy and sell on the new moon celebration. You will not find that in the Torah. And I know what some of you out there are thinking. You’re thinking about, “Okay, well, this particular verse is coming up. I know this particular verse.” And we’ll get to that. Not this episode. It’ll be next episode. I promise you we’ll get to that. But just know that in the Torah, in all the commandments is regarding the new moon celebration, there is no command to refrain from buying or selling. And there’s no command to rest on the day of the new moon. So just keep that in mind as we go forward, as you learn more about the new moon celebrations. Now, one thing I do want to point out is that culturally it it eventually became a day of rest and no commerce in Israel, but it’s not commanded. And I don’t know exactly how long it took to become like that, but again, that’s the distinction between tradition and what scripture says also.

Testing the Lunar Sabbath Scripturally

So, now moving on, let’s start doing some testing on the lunar Sabbath doctrine. And as always, and this is something I really got to applaud those who hold to the lunar Sabbath, they always say that scripture should be what we go off of to determine the doctrine. And I completely agree. So, let’s go ahead and look at this and test the lunar Sabbath doctrine according to scripture.

Creation Week

First thing we’re going to look at is testing it against what we see in the creation week. So, just a quick synopsis of what went on during creation week. On day one, the heavens and the earth were created. And take special note here that in Genesis 1 1-5. During day one, we clearly read that light was created. Not stars, not sun, not moon, but light. Light in general. Keep that in mind. It’s going to come up to be very important for it in just a moment. Then on day two, the expanse was created to separate the waters above and the waters below. You know how that goes. On day three, the waters gathered together. Dry land appears and plants are created and appear. Then on day four, lights in the heavens are created. What lights are these? These are the sun, the moon, and the stars. And they’re set in the heavens. And there are to be signs for um to be for signs and for appointed times. As we read earlier, this is something important to take note of. The moon, the sun, and the stars were created on day four, but there was already light and dark before this since day one. So keep that in mind. We go on look at day five. Aquatic creatures were created and also fowl or birds, aerial creatures were created. Then on day six, the land creatures were created and also humans were created as well. Yay, humans. And then on day seven, Yahweh himself ceases his work of creating. He blesses the seventh day and he sets it apart or makes it holy in other words. And this is the very first thing that was ever blessed or set apart. This is the very first Sabbath. And this is the example that was given to us and is the connection that is made in Exodus 20 when we are given the ten commandments. So some important points to consider uh as far as creation week goes and if you have an opinion or interpretation then by all means let me know. But here’s some points that I would like to bring up for you to consider. Number one, the moon wasn’t created until day four. Why is this important? Well, if we go back and we think about the lunar Sabbath doctrine, they the model asserts that there’s the new moon and then seven days after the new moon, that’s when the first Sabbath of the biblical month occurs on the eighth day. That doesn’t jive what we see within the creation week because the moon in creation week was created on day four in the first Sabbath was 3 days after that. Now some of the push back that might come is that when the moon was created, maybe it was created in the phase it was supposed to be and then after that it got into sync that we were supposed to be in with the the lunar Sabbath model. But we’re not told that. In all fairness, we’re not actually told what phase the moon was in when it was created. But if ever the moon was to be considered a new moon, it would have been when it was first created and brand spanking new. It even had that new moon smell right on on day four. So, that’s an important point to consider there. But again, it does not specify what phase the moon was in. I’ll give you that. However, another thing to keep in mind, another important point I think to bring up and for you to consider is that light existed on day one before the sun and the moon and the stars were created and put in the heavens which was on day four. Light existed long before 3 days before on day one. That is how long light has been around. Light has been around longer than the sun and the moon. And as such, there were days that existed before the sun and moon. Remember, sun and moon weren’t created until day four. But on day one, it says the evening and the morning were day one. That’s when light was created. Then on day two, the evening and the morning were day two. Day three, the evening and morning were day three. So there’s already three days of light and dark to com. That’s what a day is comprised of, right? 24-hour period of dark and light. Obviously, we can see from creation week that sun and moon are not required for that. So, it was three days there that existed before the month, the moon and the sun were even created and light existed long before the uh sun and moon were created. The seventh day as we see in the creation week is the seventh day of creation. the seventh day of light, not the seventh or the eighth day after the moon was created. Think about that. Evening and morning are a day and there were six days and then the seventh day. That’s important to keep in mind, I think, because it was only three days after the moon was created when the first Sabbath occurred. Another important thing to keep in mind, so there was just there was more than just the uh moon declared as a light as well. Keep in mind that it’s not just the moon that we go by for signs and appointed times. We’re also to go by the sun and we can also use the stars as well. Don’t ask me how to use the stars. I’m not a 18th century sailor, but you know, you can use the stars as signs as well. That’s something I probably got to learn more about. But anyway, there was more than just the moon that was declared as a light and as a sign and a guide for the appointed times. The seventh day was memorialized from the very beginning of Yahweh’s creative work. And it was memorialized on the seventh day after six days of creation. And these days are composed of light and dark irregardless of a sun or a moon. So let’s look at Exodus 20 8-11.

Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart. Six days you labor and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. You do not do any work. You nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger, who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, Yahweh blessed the seventh day and set it apart.

So, why do we have this pattern of six days and then a Sabbath? Because it’s a memorialization of what Yahweh did in the creation week. And it’s been like that ever since everything was created. Six days, then a Sabbath, six days, then a Sabbath, six days then a Sabbath. Unfortunately, the lunar Sabbath model, every single lunar Sabbath model breaks this command of six days and then a Sabbath. And you’ll see why coming up here in a little bit later. And it’s because there are actually eight or nine days in a lunar Sabbath week sometimes. And yeah, it it completely breaks this six days and then a Sabbath model. And they there’s objections to what I just brought up. We’ll get to that a little bit later on, but just know it breaks this command here um of the commandment in uh the ten commandments here. So, it doesn’t read in the ten commandments about the Sabbath. It doesn’t read six days after the new moon, thou shalt work, but the seventh is a Sabbath. Nothing like that. A day, as we already intimated, a day is evening and morning as shown in creation week. And irrespective of the sun and moon or even the stars, days one through three were still days even though the sun and the moon and stars had yet to be created. The command in the ten commandments is undeniably tied to six days and then the Sabbath. There’s absolutely zero connection to the moon and the Sabbath either in the creation week or in the ten commandments. And again, you look at creation week and it’s not 7 days after the moon is created. We look at the ten commandments and it doesn’t say seven days after the new moon. Nothing like that. No, it’s a repeating pattern of six days and then the Sabbath. So that is how the whole concept of creation week and the commandment or the Sabbath and uh the ten commandments correlates or doesn’t correlate or how you think that goes with the concept of the lunar sabbath doctrine.

Exodus From Egypt

Another thing we want to look at and examine and test against the lunar Sabbath doctrine is the Exodus from Egypt. We already read this when we looked at some of the foundations that are used for building the lunar Sabbath doctrine, but it bears repeating and let’s look at it again, but look at it some more in detail. What we looked at earlier, let’s read it again. This is Exodus chapter 16, and we’re going to be jumping around through several different verses. uh just taking out the irrelevant parts as far as our study here goes. We’re going to be looking at Exodus 16:es 1 4-5 13 21- 23 and verse 30.

And they set out 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 15th day of the second new moon after their going out of the land of Mitzrayim. And Yahweh said to Moshe, “See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day in order to try them, whether they walk in my Torah or not. 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.” And it came to be that quails came up at evening, and covered the camp. And in the morning the dew lay all around the camp, and they gathered it every morning, each one according to his need, and when the sun became hot, it melted. And it came to be 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 Moshe. And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath. Set apart to Yahweh. That which you bake, bake, and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over to keep it until morning.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

That’s what we read earlier. But let’s look at it more in detail and let’s look at some different points to consider on this particular passage. I’m going to go to another slide, but if you want to hold that in your own uh Bible, then it might help for you to go back and look at as well. But some points to consider here. Number one, as we look at this passage, the 15th in scripture is not referred to as a Sabbath. That’s an important point to point out, as it were. The second month is later on as we see in scripture slated and um the the opportunity for a second Passover is put forth in the second month when this is happening now. The original Passover when they left Egypt happened in the first month. They’re now in the second month in this passage. And as we saw on the 15th day of the second month is the second chance for the second Passover in case you happen to miss the first one, right? You I mean you guys already remember that. Another point, the start of the manna isn’t specifically said to be on the 16th. It just says the the next day, but it says they arrived on the 15th. And then it goes on to tell that they were complaining, but it doesn’t say that they it doesn’t um specifically correlate. They’re complaining with the 15th and then the start of the manna on the 16th. So, the start of the manna in scripture isn’t specifically said to be on the 16th. And as a result, it doesn’t mean that the uh seventh day isn’t the 22nd either because in scripture, the seventh day here in this passage isn’t specifically said to be the 22nd. That’s something important to keep in mind. We’ll take things literally as we read them. And exeet, not is far as the Sabbath goes in this passage is not said to be on any particular day. actually the 15th as we see they arrived at the wilderness on the 15th. Now why is that important to consider? Well, think about this. There were well over a million people traveling through the wilderness. Well over a million people that was arriving on the 15th day at this particular spot. Why is that important to consider? Well, think about it. All these people when they’re moving through the desert, they’ve got everything packed up. They’ve got the tabernacle packed up. They’ve got their household stuff packed up. They got their livestock. They’re moving through all kinds of stuff they got packed up. So, when they set up camp and they arrive at places like this, they then pretty much have to set up and construct a temporary city, right? I mean, they’ve got to sleep. They got to set up their tents and all this other stuff. So, it’s going to be a day of physical exertion when they arrive at a spot to set up camp. And that would have been, as we’re told here, on the 15th. That’s when they arrive. So, the 15th would have actually been a day of physical exertion. Now, how does that jive with the commandments that we see later on regarding the Sabbath? We’ll get to that more in just a moment or a little bit more. Anyways, um so on that even more the people had not yet learned about Yahweh Sabbath. This is where they actually start learning about the Sabbath. So they hadn’t yet learned about the Sabbath and hadn’t yet got all the commandments is including the commandment to rest yet. They might have known it before slavery in Egypt, but after 430 years, they would have probably forgotten a whole bunch of stuff and they were having to relearn. And the Sabbath is something they were especially having to relearn. And that’s where the whole story of manna comes in to reteach them the Sabbath and what to do and when it was and all this other stuff. So, the people had not at this point yet learned the Sabbath and this was starting to teach them the Sabbath. And as such, the 15th being a Sabbath and assuming that it’s a Sabbath could have simply been a case of Yahweh overlooking ignorance. And as we see, there are cases for when people unintentionally sin, right? There’s plenty of sacrifices that go on for that later on as we see um in the Torah. So, this very well could have been a Sabbath on the 15th. And this very well could have been a case of Yahweh just overlooking their own ignorance. And in my personal opinion, take it how you will, but in my personal opinion, I think the plain reading would indicate that the 15th was a weekly Sabbath. Because as we read earlier u the way it reads the plain reading they get on the 15th they complain the next day as it says it starts the manna and then they gather for six days and seven days after that is a Sabbath. So 7 days after the 15th would have been the 22nd and that seventh day is said to be a Sabbath and so you count backwards and that would make the 15th a Sabbath. So I personally think that this the 15th was a weekly Sabbath and the 22nd was also a weekly Sabbath. However, that does not prove the uh lunar Sabbath doctrine. And here’s why. This passage that we just read in this story of the people arriving at Elim and the starting of the manna and stuff like this, this is a description of only one single month. It’s not a command that he says the first Sabbath starts after seven days after the new moon or anything like that. Doesn’t say that the Sabbaths are every 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. Nothing like that. It’s simply describing what happened during that particular month. It’s not an actual command for the lunar Sabbath doctrine. Do you understand what I’m saying? for this to be happening once. And yes, this particular, at least in my opinion, going off of plain reading, this particular passage does align with the lunar Sabbath model that we presented earlier. However, just because something happens once, that could be just an isolated incident. If it happens twice, that could just be a coincidence. Still not setting a pattern yet. Now, if it happens three times or more, that is starting to establish a pattern. However, what we just looked at, that’s just one case, and that’s pretty much about all you can find in scripture. Anyways, so keep all those particular points in mind as we continue during this study and also the study next week.

Manna in the Wilderness

Another point to bring up also, and this is still in the wilderness in the Exodus from Egypt, and this is probably one of the more major points regarding the lunar Sabbath, and it’s unfortunately not in favor of the lunar Sabbath doctrine. This is the manna in the wilderness, the command to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day. And we’ll explain why this is important if you haven’t caught it already. So in Exodus 16:es 4-5,

And Yahweh said to Moshe, “See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day in order to try them, whether they walk in my Torah or not. 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 we see this come to fruition in Exodus 16:es 22- 26.

And it came to be 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 Moshe. And he said to them, “This is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set apart to Yahweh. That which you bake, bake, and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over to keep it until morning.” And they laid it up till morning as Moshe commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm was in it. And Moshe said, “Eat today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you do not find it in the field. Gather it six days. But on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there is none.

So they were given bread for two days on the sixth day. Exodus 16:es 29-30.

See, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he he has given you bread for two days on the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place. Do not let anyone go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.

Now, why is this important? Well, another aspect to bring up real quick just to give you a further context of what we’re talking about here in the manna in the wilderness. If we go on in chapter 16 and look at chapter 16:35, it says, “And the children of Israel ate manna 40 years until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.” So far what we see with the manna in the wilderness, we’re told and see in scripture it says gather six days then on the seventh there is no manna. Six days no manna on the seventh. Make sure you gather twice as much on the sixth day. Six days of manna and then seventh no manna. Six days of manna then one day of no manna. Get it? There is an established pattern there. Six and then none. Six and none. Six and none. And they did this for 40 years. Notice that there is no special exception for any other pattern. Okay. What I mean by that is look at this calendar again. This is a lunar Sabbath calendar. And again there are there either 29 or 30 days in a lunar month. I should rephrase that also as a biblical month or a Hebraic month or whatever you want to put it. That’s the way that you get a lunar month from scripture. Now, the calendar in scripture, as far as we can tell, is not a lunar calendar. It’s also not a solar calendar. It’s a lunisolar calendar. It’s a combination between those. Remember, it’s both the sun and the moon. But a lunar month is about 29 days or even 30 days. I think it’s 29.4 if you want to get technical about it. But each month is either going to be 29 days or 30 days. In a lunar Sabbath system, this would put certain weeks at either 8 days or 9 days. Because at the end, if you got 30 days, remember the last Sabbath would have been on the 29th. Then you got day 30, which you would gather manna. And then you would have a new moon day, which again is not a Sabbath day. So supposedly you’d gather manna on the new moon day and then you would have the start of your week which would be another 6 days. So you had three and another three. That’s 8 days before you get to the next Sabbath. Now what does scripture say about gathering on the eighth day? It doesn’t it doesn’t say anything about an 8 day week. And that’s even that’s a contradiction in and of itself that we’ll get into next time. So this pattern we see in the manna it says gather for six and then you get none on the Sabbath. And this whole exercise of manna in the wilderness was to teach the people the Sabbath day. Yahweh’s Sabbath day when it was six days and then a Sabbath. Six days and then a Sabbath. Six days and then the Sabbath. A pattern that’s continued on down through scripture. Again, there’s nothing in scripture about an 8 or 9 day week and what to do with the manna or about the manna in such a circumstance. It says only gather twice as much on the sixth for the seventh is a Sabbath to Yahweh. A special instruction would have had to have had have been given if the lunar Sabbath doctrine were true, especially during a 40year span. You do one or two months, you could squeeze that and make it work, right? But not 40 years. There’d be a whole bunch of eight or nine day weeks there. And remember this did this happened for 40 years and there was zero indication that there was any issue due to an eight or nine day week before the Sabbath came around. Never anything said such as you are given bread for 2 days on the eighth or ninth day for the extra long week. Nothing like that in scripture. So this issue of the manna in the wilderness and the people learning Yahweh’s Sabbath as they come out of Egypt, it completely um it’s very very strong evidence against the doctrine of the lunar Sabbath. I’ll put it that way. And if you if you stay with me till the end of the um of this particular episode, I’ll I’ll explain, you know, why this has kind of been a little bit difficult for me. But um yeah, there there’s nothing about in scripture about an 8 or 9 day week and especially with the manna and when to gather it. It only says on the sixth day gather twice as much cuz the seventh day is a Sabbath. Six days Sabbath, sixth day Sabbath, sixth day Sabbath done. Nothing else. And that is very very detrimental evidence against the doctrine of the lunar Sabbath. So some people who hold to the lunar Sabbath might push back and say, “Okay, so what did the Israelites do for Yom Kippur if the manna was for two days for the Sabbath?” Right? During the regular week, you have six days and then the Sabbath, six days in the Sabbath. But Yom Kippur does not play well in either system, either the seventh day Sabbath system or a lunar Sabbath system, right? So, how what did the Israelites do for Yom Kippur? You know, if it was only to be gathered twice as much uh on the sixth day for the Sabbath day. Okay. Well, let’s look at that. Let’s look at the instructions for the various feast days real quick. And let’s start out with Passover and Shavuot. Passover. We’ll look at Leviticus 23 6-8.

And on the 15th day of this new moon is the festival of Matzot to Yahweh. Seven days you eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you have a set apart gathering. You do no servile work. And you shall bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh for seven days. On the seventh day is a set apart gathering. You do no servile work.

Shavuot. Leviticus 23 15-16 and verse 21.

And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves seven completed Sabbaths until the tomorrow after the seventh Sabbath you count 50 days. Then you shall bring a new grain offering to Yahweh, and on the same day you shall proclaim a set apart gathering for yourselves. You do no servile work on it, a law forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

Now, before we go on, let’s take note of something to pay close attention to. It says here, you do no servile work. Remember the first day and the last day of Pesach and first day and last day of Shavuot are what they refer to as high days or like minor Sabbath stuff like that. It’s where you do no servile work but you still can eat. Okay, keep that in mind. It’s not like a regular Sabbath and we’ll get to that in just a moment too. But moving on, let’s look at the uh feast of Yom Teruah and the feast of Sukkot. For Yom Teruah, we look at Leviticus 23 24 and 25.

speak to the children of Israel saying in the seventh new moon on the first day of the new moon you have a rest a remembrance of teruah you do no servile work you shall bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh

and for Sukkot we look at Leviticus 23 34-36

speak to the children of Israel saying on the 15th day of the seventh new moon is the festival of Sukkot for seven days to Yahweh on the first day is a set apart gathering you do no servile work for seven days you bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day, there shall be a set apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a closing festival. You do no servile work.

Again, there the commandment here for Yom Teruah and also for Sukkot is that you do no servile work. And for Sukkot, it’s the first day and the eighth day, the first day and last day. do no servile work, but it does not forbid eating. And it also does not forbid cooking. So keep that in mind. Same as for Passover and Shavuot. You rest, but you can still cook and eat. You just don’t do any servile work. That’s the same for Passover, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Sukkot. You send it here for yourself. Now, this is all, you know, considering that it does not fall on a weekly Sabbath. Okay, keep that in mind, too. So now let’s look at Shabbat, a weekly Sabbath. Exodus 16 23.

And he said to them, this is what Yahweh has said. Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set apart to Yahweh. That what you bake, bake, and that what you cook, cook, and lay it for yourselves all that is left over to keep it until morning.

And then we look at Exodus 35:3. Do not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day. So what we learn from this? Well, on the regular weekly Sabbath, there is to be no cooking, right? It doesn’t say you can’t eat. It just says don’t cook. However, on the feast days that we looked at, Passover, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Sukkot, etc., etc., you have a command to rest, but you can cook. You can cook your foods, not don’t do any servile work. You see the distinction there? Yeah, that’s the difference between Shabbat and the feast days that we looked at so far. So, what about Yom Kippur? Let’s go back to the push back that we looked at earlier. What about Yom Kippur? How would that have applied to the manna in the wilderness? Well, let’s look at the uh commandments and the restrictions that go along with Yom Kippur. Let’s look at Leviticus 23 27-32.

On the 10th day of this 7th new moon is Yom HaKippurim. It shall be a set apart gathering for you, and you shall afflict your beings, and shall bring an offering made by fire to Yahweh, and you do no work on that same day, for it is Yom Kippurim, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your Elohim. For any being who is not afflicted on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. And any being who does any work on that same day, that being I shall destroy from the midst of his people. You do no work, a law forever throughout your generations and all your dwellings. It is a Sabbath of rest to you and you shall afflict your beings on the ninth day of the new moon at evening. From evening to evening you observe your Sabbath.

So what we can tell from this and how does it relate to the uh prescription for the regular Sabbath and also the prescriptions for the feast days? Well, in contrast to the other feast days, Yom Kippur here says you do no work. It doesn’t say do no servile work. It says you do no work. And actually, if you look in the Hebrew, it says Shabbat Shabbaton, meaning a Sabbath of complete rest. So here, I would actually say that this is also another day which you do not cook. But notice it does not say that you cannot eat. So you don’t cook, but you can still eat just like with a regular Sabbath, regular weekly Sabbath. So how does this correlate and fit in with the manna in the wilderness? Did they have to gather twice as much on the day before Yom Kippur? Nope. Think about it. When they got the original commandment or the manna, it says gather twice as much on the sixth day because there is none on the seventh day that comes down. That’s to teach them the Sabbath. And they also weren’t to cook on the Sabbath as well. But think about this. If Yom Kippur did not fall on weekly Sabbath and instead just fell during regular weekday, the manna still would have come down, right? And they could have eat could have eaten the manna raw without cooking it. And they did because it’s described as what it tastes like. We look at that in Exodus 16:31.

And the house of Israel called its name manna and it was like white coriander seed and the taste of it was like thin cakes made with honey.

That was the raw version. Now they also had a cooked version when they cooked it and this is the description of that when they actually cooked it. Numbers 11 7-8.

Now the manna was like coriander seed and its appearance like the appearance of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar and cooked it in a pot and made cakes of it. And its taste was as the taste of cakes baked with oil.

So they had it both ways. They ate it raw and they had it cooked. And so if it was Yom Kippur, they couldn’t cook. No problem. go out in the morning, gather the manna, eat it raw, no problem. It sustained them, it nourished them. There’s absolutely zero problem with that. They just couldn’t cook it on Yom Kippur. So, there’s no contradiction there with the manna in the wilderness and Yom Kippur. But there is a stark contrast between the manna in the wilderness and the lunar Sabbath doctrine. In fact, the manna in the wilderness example is evidence against the lunar Sabbath that totally contradicts it and uh just more evidence against the lunar Sabbath itself.

Counting of the Omer

All right, so we looked at what the lunar Sabbath doctrine is. We looked at the foundations used to um build the lunar Sabbath doctrine. We looked at creation week. We looked at the Exodus from Egypt. We looked at the manna in the wilderness. Now, let’s go ahead and look at the counting of the omer and see how that relates or doesn’t relate to the doctrine of the lunar Sabbath. So, how do we count the omer in Leviticus 23 15-16, we read,

Thus, and from the tomorrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves seven completed Sabbaths until the tomorrow after the seventh Sabbath, you count 50 days. Then you shall bring a new grain offering to Yahweh.

And again, Deuteronomy 16:es 9-10.

Count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count 7 weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. And you shall perform the festival of Shavuot to Yahweh your Elohim according to the voluntary offering from your hand which you give as Yahweh your Elohim blesses you.

So what are we saying here? Okay. So, we go from Passover to Shavuot. And the way we get there is we have Passover and then we have the weekly Sabbath which comes after sometime after Passover, a day, two days, whatever. And then the day after that weekly Sabbath after the Passover, we start counting and we count seven completed weeks, seven Sabbaths for a total of 49. And the day after that, we have Shavuot. And that would be 50 days. Right? That’s how you count it up. That’s how you do the counting of the omer. It’s not a specific date on the calendar. It’s a counting exercise. I told you there’s math involved. I I gave you fair warning at the very beginning. Don’t get mad at me now. So, how does this relate to the doctrine of the lunar Sabbath? Well, this is a major problem for the lunar Sabbath doctrine. Here is again a visual example of the lunar Sabbath calendar. The issue comes up with this. If we’re counting seven weeks for a total of 49 days and then 50th day after that seventh Sabbath, this would not jive with a lunar Sabbath calendar because we already saw there are either 29 or 30 days in a lunar month. And according to the lunar Sabbath model, some weeks would have eight or nine days. And that presents a major problem when you’re trying to get to 50 using seven weeks. If it’s seven sevens, no problem. That’s exactly what’s described in scripture. But if you have four sevens and two eights, you know, that presents a major issue because you don’t get to 50 that way and you can’t keep the commandment as is given in scripture. You can’t get to 50 days. It’s going to be more than that. That’s the problem with the counting of the omer and the lunar Sabbath doctrine. And in fact, the some of these I should put this uh some of the evidence that I looked at from the pro um lunar sabbath um adherents, some of them put forth the idea that it was to count seven Sabbaths and then do 50 days. I still have no idea how they got that uh from scripture, how they could get to that interpretation that, you know, that’s something they put forth and it’s all in an effort to try and justify this lunar Sabbath doctrine. But it’s not what comes from scripture, unfortunately. And but again, if you’re trying to count seven completed weeks for a total of 49 days has to be seven weeks of seven days. You can’t have an eight or nine day week in there. And it throws everything off of kilter because you wouldn’t have 50 days. And Shavuot is 50 days after this counting. And we even see that Shavuot eventually becomes uh referred to even before the uh first century that even before the first century the um festival Shavuot becomes referred to as Pentecost and Pentecost in Greek means 50. We look at the writings of uh Philo. This is Philo of Alexandria and he writes in the special laws. Quote,

“The solemn assembly on the occasion of the festival of the sheaf having such great privileges is the prelude to another festival of still greater importance. For from this day the 50th day is reckoned, making up the sacred number of sevens with the addition of a unit as a seal to the whole.” And this festival being that of the first fruits of the corn has derived its name of Pentecost from the number of 50. And on it is the custom to offer up two leavened loaves made of wheat as a first fruit of the best kind of food made of corn.

End quote. So even before the time of the first century and you can read in the book of first Maccabees and second Maccabees and other places too they refer to Shavuot as Pentecost even before New Testament times and that’s something that mainstream Christianity doesn’t realize is that when it says in the book of Acts that the apostles were there at Pentecost they were doing what scripture already told them to do. It wasn’t anything new. It wasn’t the birth of the new church that was in contrast to Judaism. No, nothing like that. They were doing stuff according to the commandment and it was already being called Pentecost before the apostles went up there. But yeah, you can’t get to 50 days using a lunar Sabbath model. you’re going to have more than that because you’re going to have an eight or a nine day week in there, at least one, and it’s going to throw everything off and you cannot keep the commandment on a lunar sabbath model. That’s why a lunar sabbath model just simply does not fit with scripture. And the counting of the omer is another detrimental example of why the uh lunar sabbath model is not a biblical one. The biblical example we get is six days then a Sabbath. Six days then a Sabbath. And the new moon starts the month. Yes. But it does not reset the week. And that is the entire crux of the issue when it comes to the lunar sabbath doctrine. It’s this question and it has to be answered that yes the new moon does start the month. It resets the month. But the crux of the issue is does the new moon reset the week? That is the central question. Not can we find an example here and there where the dates of um Sabbath and scripture line up with our model. That’s not the question. The question is does the new moon reset the week? And it’s not something we find from scripture. In fact, we find just the opposite. when we find scripture and lunar sabbath doctrine in contradiction to each other and that it’s like I said it’s it’s been hard for me to do that and it’s been hard for me to put this whole presentation together and I’ll get to that in just a moment so just bear with me

Summary

but anyways in summary let’s go ahead and wrap up this particular teaching part a on the lunar sabbath doctrine the lunar sabbath is a calendar system doctrine which asserts that both the month and the weeks reset with the new moon. According to the lunar sabbath doctrine, the first day of the month is a nonwork day followed by six working days. Then the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th are the weekly Sabbaths for the month. The lunar sabbath doctrine is based on the premise that the moon is for moedim. The Sabbath is one of the moedim and therefore the Sabbath is determined by the moon. In scripture, the new moon is one of the moedim, begins the months, and is used as a guide for the feast, but it does not reset the week. It only resets the month. Examination of creation week reveals that the moon was created on day four and only 3 days before the first Sabbath, not 8 days. In Exodus 16, the people will start learning the Sabbath pattern at a time when utilizing a plain reading, I’m sorry, at a time when utilizing a plain reading. The 15th and the 22nd are Sabbaths, but in a passage that is descriptive, not prescriptive, and that is exegesis, not eisegesis. During the 40-year wilderness journey, the people were told to gather manna for 6 days, twice as much on the sixth day, and none was available on the seventh. No special exception was stated for an 8 or 9 day week ever during the entire 40-year period. When counting the omer from Passover until Shavuot, we’re told to count 7 weeks plus the day after the last Sabbath for a total of 50 days. A counting that would be completely impossible within a lunar sabbath calendar system. And that’s just the God honest truth.

Final Thoughts

Like I said, this is the uh part A of the Lunar Sabbath teaching. We are gosh over two hours total stream time and this is only maybe halfway through the teaching. So I’m really glad we busted this up into two parts. But just some final thoughts and something I wanted to um wanted to relate. Uh this is this might be one of the hardest ones I’ve done. um going against the whole uh Sunday of Sabbath perception that was easy fun actually. Um but this one wasn’t. This one was um very hard. I I enjoyed the study. I really did. And looking through uh the ins and outs of both sides of the issue. Um but as I got through a lot of the videos and the teachings and the um articles and the information um especially from the pro lunar sabbatarian side of things um a lot of what I ran across was from people who have a people who have a heart for scripture and want to do things right and want to get things right and learn more and that’s what came across and they came across in um a lot of them anyways most of them actually came across in a very Christlike manner and that’s was of um a contrast to a lot of things that I saw in other studies uh especially when it comes to um Sunday versus the seventh day studies you know some of those within mainstream churchianity get downright nasty over s such subjects and this is not something that these um pro- lunar Sabbath people um did. I’m sorry. Uh something that um that pro Lunar Sabbath people did. Um when I was going over their stuff and their videos and their um their articles and the information they put out there, they were not nasty like that. They wanted to do they tried to do the best they could to put out the information and study. And that’s what really made it hard trying to put this together, knowing this would contradict everything that they believed as far as lunar Sabbath goes. And I I respect them for wanting to have um to have a heart for the scriptures and try to get the truth and stuff like that. Just unfortunately, they’ve been led astray by this particular doctrine. And I didn’t want them to feel like failures. I didn’t want them to feel like they had missed a mark, like they had wasted their time and stuff like that because they they truly were good people. That’s the way they came across to me. And that’s why it was hard for me. This is probably the hardest one I put together. And um sorry, and um yeah, but at the end of the day, they deserve to know the truth and they want to know the truth. That’s the way they came across. That’s what I said. that they seem like they really wanted to know the truth. And that’s what I want to put all this together and the ins and outs and in depth as much as possible to help them see the truth of the matter. And one thing that I really noticed too and that came across to me is that certain subjects especially like the godhead, you know, you get into that and there’s it gets very tense around that subject. It really does. And that’s something the um lunar sabbath adherents did not do. They did not say, “Well, it’s confusing.” Yeah, but it’s a mystery. You have to accept it or you’re not saved. They didn’t say that. You know, some people on the Godhead subject, they do say that, and you know who they are. But, um, this was not something the lunar Sabbath people um did. Like I said, they came across very Christlike. They came across very nice uh and like a heart for the truth and for scripture and for Yahweh. uh but they were incorrect in their adherence to the lunar Sabbath. And hopefully I really hope this one, this teaching and the next teaching coming up comes across with um the air of love and respect for those of you who do hold to the lunar Sabbath doctrine. I I have love for you and we if we may disagree on this particular subject but you are still a brother or a sister and messiah to me. I do not do not reject you. I will have you know fellowship with you. I’ll break bread with you. I would give my life for you. U even though we disagree on this particular subject, you are still saved. This is not a salvation issue. Um, but yeah, hopefully this comes across in a spirit of love and education and not as a spirit of hatred or anything like that. So, yeah, this is the final thoughts I wanted to put across because this really has been one of the hardest, if not the hardest to put together and to put out there and that’s why.

But yeah, uh, but yeah, just to wrap up, uh, do want to thank you everyone who has watched till the end. This is just part A and part B is coming up next time, next episode. So, make sure to stay tuned for that. And the notes will be put up and published for after the um part B comes out. So, make sure to look for that if you want all the information and even more information that when we put in the videos. So, look out for that. If you want that information, go down below, click on the link, and that’ll take you directly to the article post where the uh notes will be eventually published. And also uh you’ll be able to see the on demand video, the video slides and the AI research uh monograph research reports that we had put together. Make sure you go down below, let me know um in the comments, what you got out of this, what you liked about it, um what you learned, what kind of stuck out in your mind about the whole teaching. And then after you get done down there, make sure you hit that like button if you liked it. Hit that down vote button if you didn’t like it, but let us know in the comments so that we can improve future videos. Also, make sure to hit that subscribe button and ring the bell so that you’re notified every time we go live or upload a new on demand video. And also, make sure to hit that share button and share this around with someone that you may know. Thank you for joining us for another production from God Honest Truth Ministries. We really do appreciate your time and hope that we have been of service to you. If you have any feedback, then please reach out to us by writing to team at godhonesttruth.com and make sure to visit our website for more information on our social media links, audio bibles, teaching resources, and so much more.