If the Sabbath is not regulated by the Moon

I want to point out that this is a summary by Troy Miller. I'm afraid I have to disagree with some points. I have to disagree with Troy on two important aspects.

1. I do not subscribe to the doctrine to keep your Shabbat or know when Shabbath is, on account of the phase of the moon, like, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter. I subscribe to the statement that the Shabbath is based on the moon's cycles, but you cannot go by the phases, as they are not consistent seven days apart. There are instances of six days and eight days in nature. Therefore, the only way I see it as valid is to count from New Moon Day and keep the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th days as Shabbath. (As is confirmed by Troy)

2. I have many posts about point 18 where I have to disagree with Troy. You do NOT count seven weeks and then add 50 days. See my posts for why.
"Firstfruits" is my latest post about the subject. Find it on the menu under Posts.

Tom - 10 April 2022

Summarised from a study by Troy Miller.

It genuinely amazes me when someone says there is no proof in Scripture or the historical record that the original Sabbath was observed by the phases of the moon. Most of the time, this is a statement made by someone who has really not studied the issue thoroughly. If you wish to maintain that the Rabbinical Sabbath is the only valid interpretation (7-day cycle continuously); I respectfully present a list of 21 categories of Scripture you must ignore, disregard or spiritualize away. This is not an exhaustive list…

  1. Leviticus 23:1-3 says the Sabbath is the first of the Mo’edim (feasts-Strong’s H#4150), so you can ignore Genesis 1:14 (heavenly luminaries are for Mo’edim), and Psalms 104:19 (moon for Mo’edim).
  2. If you think the Sabbath is NOT a Mo’ed, then ignore all of the following passages of Scripture:

Numbers 15:3, I Chronicles 23:31, II Chronicles 2:4, II Chronicles 8:13, II Chronicles 31:3, Ezra 3:5, Nehemiah 10:33-34, Ezekiel 45:17, and Hosea 2:11.

  1. Ignore that the Exodus was on Sabbath, the 15th of Abib (Numbers 33:3, Deuteronomy 5:12-15, Psalm 81:4-6).
  2. Please disregard as a coincidence that the 8th day of the same month is called a set time or Mo’ed in Hebrew (Exodus 9:5).
  3. Ignore that the 15th day of the second month was also the Sabbath (Exodus 16:1). Manna fell for 6 days after the 15th. They gathered twice as much on the 6th day (the 21st day of the month, 15 + 6 = 21) because the following day was the Sabbath. If the 22nd was the Sabbath, so was the 15th.

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

  1. Disregard the fact that on the 15th day of the third month Israel departed from “Rephidim” which means rest (Exodus 19:2), inferring that the 15th day of the month for three consecutive months has been a weekly Sabbath, which cannot happen with the pagan/papal Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian can produce a weekly Sabbath for TWO consecutive months IF a February of a non-leap year is the first month (and assuming that the 15th of February just happens to be a Satyrday). February did not exist 4,000 years ago.

Point to Ponder: A calendar tells you when to worship. WHEN you worship tells heaven and the onlooking universe WHO you worship. It’s that serious! The Gregorian calendar is only a little over 420 years old and came into existence at the hand of a Jesuit astronomer and Pope Gregory XIII.

  1. Normally, I like 2-3 witnesses (texts) in order to prove a doctrine, but I will lower that standard to even ONE passage in Scripture that says that Satyrday is the Sabbath. When you cannot find one, please ignore that as evidence.
  2. Please disregard the fact that the daily sacrifices of Numbers chapters 28-29 are offered in addition to the sacrifices of the weekly Sabbath and annual feasts, and that the monthly offering is offered in addition to Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), the first day of the seventh month. But the Sabbath offering is never offered if it “just happens” to fall on one of the feast days. There are no coincidences in Scripture.
  3. Ignore that Numbers 29:12-35 shows eight days where the first and last (15th and 22nd) are Sabbaths. There is no provision for a Sabbath to “just happen to fall in the middle somewhere” because the Sabbaths are fixed, they fall on the same days each month.
  4. Ignore how Exodus 40 through Leviticus 8 describes the seven days of consecration for Aaron and his sons (starting on Rosh Chodesh—the new moon or first day of the month) without the intervention of a Sabbath, and how the Sabbath fell on the 8th, the day AFTER the 7-day consecration. This seven-day stretch was a New Moon and 6 workdays if you’re counting.
  5. Try to spiritualize away the battle of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-16), and how every day for seven days, Israel dressed for battle, carried every weapon at their disposal AND carried the Ark of the Covenant into this battle. Which begs the question: Which day of this 7-day battle was the Sabbath?

Point to Ponder: For 40 years, YHVH taught Israel how to keep the Sabbath. Are we to believe that His first instructions after entering the land were to break the Sabbath by engaging in battle? Come now, let us reason together. The Book of Jasher, twice mentioned in Scripture, gives an account of this battle adding only one small detail. This 7-day battle began on a new moon day (Day 1). Day one is followed by six working days (2-7). The first Sabbath of each month is the 8th day of the month. Israel marched around Jericho for 7 consecutive days (1-7) and did not break the Sabbath, as they observed the Creation Calendar…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (or is it possible 30 1 2 3 4 5 6?)

  1. Please disregard the dozen times in the Old Testament that Rosh Chodesh and the weekly Sabbath are uttered in the same breath, especially those which show a connection between them (Amos 8:5, II Kings 4:23, etc. See #2)
  2. Try to spiritualize away the fact that New Moon days are always excluded from the workdays and Sabbaths (Ezekiel 46:1-3, Isaiah 66:23, and Amos 8:5). New Moon day is a 3rd category of day. It is the first day of the month, but not a day of the week, which consists of 6 workdays and a Sabbath.

Point to Ponder: Ever wondered why the New Moon can now fall on any day of the month? Answer: “In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar asked astronomer Sosigenes to suggest ways to improve the calendar. Acting on Sosigenes suggestions, Caesar ordered the Romans to disregard the moon in calculating their calendars.” World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 28.

See Dan. 7:25 and Rev. 13:3.

  1. Ignore the total lack of postponement rules in the Torah dealing with the inevitable conflicts between Satyrday and YHVH’s other appointed times—and be thankful that Hillel II, a Jewish priest, added them for you, to “repair” what YHVH had ordained.
  1. Ignore the counting of the Omer given in Leviticus 23:15-16, and instead of counting it exclusively as commanded, (to count seven Sabbaths complete, then count 50 days) change it to inclusive to “make it work” using the Gregorian calendar (49 + 1).
  1. Please disregard the fact that David only set 24 courses of Temple service (I Chronicles 23-24), which of course works fine with 48-week lunar-based years, but self-destructs if the weeks are detached from the months, resulting in 18 days with no Temple service. There are Temple services on these 18 days. They are New Moon days, see #13.

  2. Don’t forget to ignore that all 4 Gospel writers call the 16th day of the month the first day of the week, indicating that the 15th was the Sabbath. (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19). The 15th of Abib was a high Sabbath (weekly and annual Sabbath) EVERY year.

  3. Disregard Lucifer’s boast (Isaiah 14:13) that he will sit on the “mount of the congregation,” (this word “congregation” is Mo’edim again). Satan is claiming his authority over the calendar to create appointed times contrary to YHVH’s.

  4. Spiritualize away Amos’ prophecy that Israel would worship “Chiun (Saturn) the star god you made for yourselves” Amos 5:26.

  5. Consider it purely coincidence that every weekly Sabbath in the Scripture which can be clearly date-identified, is on the 8th-15th-22nd-29th days of the Chodesh (month) WITHOUT A SINGLE EXCEPTION. Even history records a lunar regulated Sabbath…

“The Hebrew Sabbathon was celebrated at intervals of seven days, corresponding with changes in the moon’s phases…” Encyclopedia Biblica, 1899 edit., p. 4180

“In the time of the earliest prophets, the New Moon stood in the same line with another lunar observance, the Sabbath. Scribner’s Dictionary of the Bible (1898 edit.), p. 521

  1. Also disregard the total lack of Scriptures telling us to observe quarterly Sabbaths, every 91 days, or other holidays based on Egyptian or Babylonian calendars. It is said that there are consecutive 30 day months and after three months (90 days) there is an extra Sabbath added (day 91). There is no reason to return to the bondage of Egypt or the confusion of Babylon, please see Isaiah 8:20. There is also no Scriptural evidence for there to be 5-6 un-numbered days at the end of the year (days that do not count against the current year). It is said by some that the year is 360 days long and since the solar is longer than this by 5.25 days, that these days are ignored, not reckoned—a partial week at the end of the year. Please ignore the total lack of evidence for this in Scripture. There you have it, a list (or lack) of Scriptures to ignore.

If you are not yet convinced to get off the Gregorian Express, at the very least, admit that the original Sabbath, based on the cycles of the moon, is a valid interpretation of Scripture, and do not condemn your brethren who are led to observe it.

Copy by Troy Miller.

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