The calendar controversy is very real, yet only a minute percentage of people on Earth are aware that the calendar they live by on a daily basis, taking for granted for their work, holidays and special observances, is a diabolical fulfilment of scripture and a fraudulent imposter. 

“And he shall speak words [commands]… and he shall think himself able to change times [seasons] and laws [decrees]…” 

Daniel 7:25, Douay-Rheims 

“…the whole earth marvelled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it? And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority… It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it…” 

Revelation 13:3-8 English Standard Version

The depth of deception has been far greater than any have realised.

An even smaller number of enlightened people are comprehending what the original calendar was or would look like today. It is this calendar that is the true sacred calendar given by the Eternal so that his faithful servants could worship Him in truth on the correct days which honour Him.

In collusion is the Hebrew or Jewish calendar, which is not an accurate demarkation of time for the observance of festivals, Holy days, the New Moon and perhaps even the biblical Sabbath. It is just as fundamentally corrupt as the Gregorian calendar which is relied upon by the European and Western nations of the world.

This is the incredible investigation of how this came about and what the original calendar as decreed by the Creator and revealed in the scriptures should truly be. 

It was in 1581 that Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new calendar. It was actually an amendment to the existing Julian calendar named after Julius Caesar, which had been in use for sixteen centuries until it was found to be several days out. Ten days were omitted from the calendar in 1581; so that the day following October 4th was called October 15th. The day of the week did not change, just the date skipped forward. October 4th was a Thursday and thus the following day, now called October 15th was still a Friday. The formula for calculating leap years was changed and with it, the New Year was moved from the logical March 25th in the beginning of Spring, to a pagan inspired January 1st in the heart of Winter.

However, the theological bitterness of the day meant that protestant countries refused to accept the Pope’s ruling. England retained the old calendar and another one hundred and seventy years passed. The discrepancy between the Sun and the Julian calendar still in use in England had increased to 11 days. Therefore in 1752, the new Gregorian calendar had to be accepted. In so doing Wednesday, September 2nd was now followed by Thursday, September 14th; with no alteration in the order of the days of the week. 

On the surface, this appears reasonable. It was untenable to let the calendar slip further and further away from the Solar calendrical year and the adjustment caused no disruption to the order of the Roman mandated seven day planetary weekly cycle. Makes perfect sense, right? No, not at all, for unawares to the public, this attention to the calendar was papering over some very big cracks. Issues, that only existed because of the changes which Julius Caesar set in motion over two thousand years ago. It did nothing to harmonise the rogue pagan solar week back into harmony with the Bible’s Astronomical-Lunar-Solar calendar and its lunar based week. 

To fully understand the issues impacting the calendar, it would be beneficial to start at the proverbial and literal beginning of what is a day, when does it begin and why and how it was changed. 

Prior to 46 BCE, the Romans began a day at sunrise. It was measured by 12 hours defined by the shadow on a sundial and nights were measured by the four Watches of the night, as recorded in the Bible – 2 Kings 20:8-11, Psalms 63:6, John 11:9. During the next four hundred years the Roman Emperors changed all their units of time for reasons of: power; in distancing themselves from the Jews and true believers; and ultimately in rebellion towards the Eternal’s decrees. Eventually, they formulated a calendar with a time measurement system very different from that of other nations and as delineated in the scriptures. These flagrant adjustments began under Julius Caesar who first, severed the Moon from measuring years, months, weeks and days, while crafting a new calendar. This single act allowed him to conceive variable lengths for months and fashion the new Roman eight day week in ‘a twist of genius’ to cycle without an end. It was no longer bound by the 29 or 30 day numeric phases of the Moon. 

“In the mid-1st century B.C. Julius Caesar invited Sosigenes, an Alexandrian astronomer [and Mathematician], to advise him about the reform of the calendar, and Sosigenes decided that the only practical step was to abandon the lunar calendar altogether. Months must be arranged on a seasonal basis, and a tropical (solar) year used, as in the Egyptian calendar, but with its length taken as 365 1/4 days.” [The Julian Calendar, paragraph 1, Encyclopaedia Britannica]

This decision immediately impinged on the seventh day Sabbath. Imported superstitions from Babylon eventually led Jewish Rabbis to name the seventh day Saturn’s Day or Saturday, Shabbti, ‘the star of the Sabbath.’ During the first century of our era, the planetary week became an established institution, “so that the Jewish Sabbath seems always to have corresponded to Saturn’s Day.” [Hutton Webster, Rest Days, page 244]

It was during the Council of Nicaea from 321 to 325 CE that Emperor Constantine the Great, due to his extreme hatred for all things ‘Jewish’, ensured that the modifications he made to his new calendar would never harmonise with or pay homage to the preordained time measurements as prescribed by its lunar phases and outlined in the Bible’s Mosaic Law – used by Jews and Christians. This he specified in a Creed specifically renouncing the Creator’s New Moons, the lunar calculated seventh day Sabbath and the annual Feast and Holy Days. 

When Constantine legislated the change back from the eight day continuous weekly cycle instituted by Julius Caesar, to the present seven day cycle, the new week initially began with Saturday as the first day, ending with a Friday. Constantine decided to reshuffle the week so as to commence on Sunday and deviously and deceitfully, end it on Saturday, the new seventh day.

“The modern seven-day week came into use during the early imperial period, after the Julian calendar came into effect, apparently stimulated by immigration from the Roman East. For a while it coexisted alongside the old 8-day nundinal cycle, and fasti are known, which show both cycles. It was finally given official status by Constantine in 321.” [Roman Calendar Encyclopaedia, Days of the Week]

To this day, the updated planetary weekly cycle from Sunday to Saturday as ushered in by the Romans, remains completely divorced from the Lunar phases. This monumental change was driven by seeking to bring harmony between two opposing calendar weeks; Rome’s new seven day continuous weekly cycle and the Jewish lunar week of seven days. Roman Emperor Constantine through civil enactments, made ‘the venerable day of the Sun’ which day was then ‘notable for its veneration’ the weekly rest day of the empire. 

This enforcement of the weekly observance of Sunday gave official recognition to a week of seven days and resulted in the official civil calendar of Rome adopting the same cycle, with Sunday as the first Day. Stunningly, the Roman calendar has remained until this day and in it, we still have the ancient planetary titles of the days of the week.

Constantine’s empire then had a perfect union for celebrating not only the ‘christian’ first day of the week, Sunday and the Jewish ‘seventh’ day of the week, the Saturday ‘Sabbath’, but also the newly established Roman holiday called Easter; in direct opposition to the Jewish Passover. All this was done according to the malicious whims of one man, the Emperor Constantine; born from the evil desires of his own heart. 

Years were changed from beginning in the springtime to commencing in winter and with months, weeks and days, they commenced without reference to the phases of the Moon. Days were adjusted to begin at Midnight by the Romans and from sunset by the Jews. No unit of time escaped this radical alteration ushered in by the Roman Beast. The aim to not just hide, but eliminate the Creator’s calendar. So that the observance of the New Moon, the true seventh day and the Holy Days were obliterated. 

Kerrie French remarks: ‘The Karaite Jews, from which the Seventh-day Adventist Church adopted their crescent New Moon for their 10-day count to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) of October 22, 1844, admit they don’t know when the true Seventh-day Sabbath occurs anymore: “Through all the trials and tribulations that humanity has experienced over the past 5,000 years, we have no proof whatsoever that our current Saturday is the actual seven-day “anniversary” of the original Shabbath of Creation.”’

This is a staggering admission from the largest Sabbath keeping Church in the world. 

Beginning in 70 CE, the Jews were pressured by Rome to give up their calendar based on the scriptures. In 351 to 352 CE Roman persecution flared and though the Jews revolted, they were crushed. Jewish towns were destroyed and decrees were issued against the local authorities and Judaism. The privileges and freedoms of the Sanhedrin were curtailed. Sanhedrin Patriarch Hillel II, motivated by the relentless tide of Jewish persecution agreed to limit the functions of the Sanhedrin with respect to proclaiming the New Moon, setting festival dates and employing intercalation – the inserting of the 13th lunar month.

“Under the reign of Constantius [II, 337-361 CE, son of Constantine] the persecutions of the Jews reached such a height that… the computation of the calendar (was) forbidden under pain of severe punishment. [The Jewish Encyclopaedia, Calendar]

Hillel II, published details informing all Jews of the methods for a revised mathematically based calendar. Hillel II is given the credit for the present fixed Rabbinical calendar which harmonises with the Roman calendar for all time. The process of transforming the calendar was completed in 358 CE, when the Rabbinical Pharisees of the Sanhedrin, under the leadership of Hillel II adopted the measuring of  a 24 hour day, from sunset to sunset. 

“… the time of the transition from the reckoning of the day as beginning with morning to the reckoning of it as beginning with evening… in the earlier calendar and in the literature which records this, the day was reckoned from the morning, presumably from sunrise, while in the later calendar and the literature pertaining thereto the day was reckoned from the evening… Elsewhere we have presented quite a mass of evidence which establishes conclusively that the earlier practice in Israel during the Biblical period was to reckon the (24 hour) day from sunrise to sunrise… That in the earliest period of [the] Israelite sojourn in Palestine, under calendar 1, the day was reckoned from morning to morning is established by [an]… abundance of evidence…” [Supplementary Studies in the Calendars of Ancient Israel, pages 1-148, courtesy of Kerrie L French, SUNRISE or SUNSET When Does a Day Begin? 2015]

Mark 16:1-2

English Standard Version

When theSabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

At the same time, the Jews sensationally embraced Rome’s seven day continuous weekly cycle which was adrift from the cycle of the Moon. To circumnavigate the chaos that would ensue from uniting the lunar months with the Roman weekly cycle and its Saturday masquerading as the seventh day Sabbath, the Jews of necessity had to devise the Four Rules of Postponement [refer Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth Tribe & article: Chronology of Christ]. 

“Intercalations were determined at meetings of a special commission of the Sanhedrin. But Constantius, following the tyrannous precedents of Hadrian, prohibited the holding of such meetings… How difficult the fixing of the annual calendar consequently became may be judged from an enigmatic letter addressed to Raba… and preserved in the Talmud… Almost the whole Diaspora depended for the legal observance of the feasts and fasts upon the calendar sanctioned by the Judea Sanhedrin; yet danger threatened the participants in that sanction and the messengers who communicated their decisions to distant congregations… As the religious persecutions continued, Hillel II determined to provide an authorized calendar for all time to come, though by so doing he severed the ties which united the Jews of the Diaspora to their mother country and to the patriarchate.” [I Singer & S Mendelsohn, Hillel II, Jewish Encyclopaedia]  

Kerrie French states: “It was a document of intervention and convention to bring harmony to the two calendar factions that could not otherwise be coordinated.  Without these newly implemented self-made rules, the Roman seventh-day would cycle irresponsibly, falling on the lunar sacred days of the New Moon, Passover (Pasch), or Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).” 

This clandestine, historic universal decision led by Hillel II, was the final last act of the Sanhedrin. The Jews had swapped the scriptural lunar based Sabbaths for the popularised Roman continuous weekly cycle. Irrevocably causing the true Sabbaths to be no longer in synchronisation with the Lunar cycle and its monthly phases beginning with the New Moon.

“In the Diaspora the New Moon came to occupy a secondary position in contrast to the Sabbath; the prohibition against work and the carrying on of commerce was lifted, and the New Moon, although still celebrated by means of increased offerings, soon was reduced to the rank of a minor or half holiday. Its importance was confined to the fact that it remained of great value and necessity for the fixing of the festivals.” [Universal Jewish Encyclopaedia, New Moon, Volume 8, page 171]

The Western world has been oblivious and ignorant of this massive assault on our calendar both by Rome and the Jews, yet the Apostle Paul counsels: “So rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error, not paying attention to Jewish myths and the commandments and rules of men who turn their backs on the truth.” [Titus 1:13-14 Amplified Bible] The truth is in the original Hebrew and Greek texts and exposes the falsehoods promulgated by Christianity and Judaism. 

The Creator clearly states the permanence of the Sun, stars and Moon as indicators of both day and night: “The Lord has made a promise to Israel. He promises it as the one who fixed the sun to give light by day and the moon and stars to give light by night…. The Lord affirms, “The descendants of Israel will not cease forever to be a nation in my sight. That could only happen if the fixed ordering of the heavenly lights were to cease to operate before me.” [Jeremiah 31:35-36 New English Translation] When the Sun is in the sky between sunrise – after the dawn – and sunset, it is daylight or daytime and when the first ‘star’ is visible such as Venus during dusk, then it is night or nightfall. 

As the day must have the Sun shining, when it is gone it is then night time. The Sun and stars do not shine at the same time for the Sun rules the daytime and the stars rule the night. There is no overlapping of these celestial lights as per Genesis chapter One. 

“Alahim called the LIGHT DAY, and the darkness He called night. And then followed dusk, and then followed dawn, the first 24 hour division of time.” [Genesis 1:5 The Creator’s Calendar Restored Text]  

We learn in Genesis chapter one that darkness is an actual segment of time. It preceded  or began Day One of the Re-creation week or rather epoch [Refer Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. As the very first day of the very first month in Earth’s history was dark; with no light preceding this day, then why should we expect the calculating of subsequent months to be any different?

Genesis 1:1-4

English Standard Version

‘In the beginning… darkness was over the face of the deep… 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.’

“In the Hebrew mind the day began at the rising of the sun.” [Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words]. “The sun alone indicated the hours for daily worship; at sunrise, when the day began, there was the morning sacrifice; at sunset, when the day closed, there was the evening sacrifice.” [International Standard Bible Encyclopedia] 

A progression began for changing the beginning of a day from sunrise to sunset as documented in historical records.

“Later (Orthodox) Jewish calendar: Following the reign of King Josiah (c. 640-609) and especially after the Babylonian exile a number of significant and enduring changes occurred in the Israelite calendar showing that the (Orthodox Pharisee) Jews gradually adopted the Babylonian calendar of the time… The day however, was counted from evening to evening, after the Babylonian fashion…”  [New Catholic Encyclopaedia, Volume 11, page 1068]

“So far as we know, the Babylonian calendar was at all periods truly lunar… the month began with the evening when the new crescent was for the first time again visible shortly after sunset. Consequently, the Babylonian day… begins in the evening…” [The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, page 106]

“In certain spheres of the population the older system continued to be in use, either exclusively or side by side with the newer system. Thus in the temple service the older system continued all through the time of the existence of the second temple, and there the day was reckoned from morning to morning…”  [Rabbinic Essays, Pages 447-451]

“The day was either the period of sunlight, contrasted with the night or the whole period of twenty four hours, although NOT defined as such in the Bible… In earlier traditions the day apparently began at sunrise (Lev. 7:15-17, Judges 19:4-19)… Later its beginning was at sunset and its end at the following sunset… this system became normative… and is still observed in Jewish [Babylonian Talmudic] tradition, where for example, the shabbat begins… at sunset and ends… at sunset.  [Oxford Companion to the Bible, page 744]

“In order to assure against profanation of the Sabbath the Jews added the late Friday afternoon hours to the Sabbath.” [The Jewish Festivals: History and Observance, page 13] “If we look at the essentials of a day of rest and reflection, which has a religious orientation, it is possible to justify the shifting of the Sabbath worship to Friday evening (the celebration of which was moved back to the eve of the feast) as early as the Middle Ages…” [Judaism: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, Kung, page 518] 

This shift from sunrise to sunset meant the Sabbath was being kept for 24 hours as opposed to the 12 hours of the day, from sunrise to sunset, or more specifically from after dawn to the beginning of dusk. 

“… ’Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’ by doing all one’s work in six days and by resting the seventh day ‘to the Lord your God.’  If we take a closer look at this text we will discover that the ‘time of Sabbath keeping’ is found within the Fourth Commandment. Since God called the light day, we are to remember the Sabbath light, to keep it Holy (Exodus 20:8). 

And that Sabbath is on the seventh light (Exodus 20:10), and not the seventh night… It is thus important to note at the outset that the method of observing the Sabbath from sunset to sunset is dictated not by the Fourth Commandment itself, but by the method of sunset reckoning, which became normative in (Rabbinical Pharisee) Jewish history.” [The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, chapter 6]

The modern Roman calendar severs the Moon from measuring years, months, weeks and days. Its units of time can not be synchronised to the calendar instructions contained in the Bible. In tandem, the Jewish calendar has been changed by ‘Rabbinical Pharisee Jews’ between the first and the fourth centuries CE, so that all their original units of time measuring are obsolete. The changes to both the Roman and Jewish calendars means that months, weeks and days ‘float through that of [the] Creator’s standard time-measuring model.’ Kerrie French explains: “As a result, neither Friday, Saturday, nor Sunday can be consistently synonymous with our Creator’s true seventh-day Sabbath, ever.” 

French continues: “How does ALL the world wonder after the Beast? Is it a mere issue of keeping sacred the correct planetary day on the Roman calendar, such as Saturday vs. Sunday, as defined by Seventh-day Adventists? No, as that is impossible, for the very reason that both Saturday and Sunday are part of the same fictitious time-replacement system. A system proactively designed by the Romans to eliminate all things prophetically time-centric to the [Old Testament] Law. Then later the lie of the cycling week was adopted by the Jews to distance themselves far from the guilt and scrutiny that the lunar week and calendar would otherwise flaunt as self-evident, placing themselves as the chief conspirators in the death of their own Messiah.” 

We have ascertained that the seventh day of the Roman calendar called Saturday, is not  the true Sabbath day. Let’s look further into the evolution of the calendar and the computation of the Sabbath from the cycle of the Moon, as addressed in the scriptures. 

“Sabbath and New Moon, both periodically recur in the course of the year. The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle… Originally the New Moon was celebrated in the same way as the Sabbath.” [Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Holidays, Volume 5,  page 410]

Kerrie French: “The Roman Gregorian calendar is based upon the principles of time-measuring that utilizes the imaginary Solar-Line as viewed from earth at noon, through the sun, and marks the ruling constellation of the Zodiac that is not even visible. This system begins in winter instead of spring and declares Sagittarius as the first constellation of the year, although not visible in the night sky at this time of year. It only enters the visible sky on the eastern horizon in mid-summer. This view of the Gregorian Solar-Line Time does not fit the Scriptural model…” [New Moon by New Moon You Shall Keep – Isaiah 66:22-23]

Similarly, the ‘astroplot’ below illustrates the growing popularity of the Enoch solar calendar with its reciprocal ‘Solar-Line Time’ independent of the moon. It is also based upon a 365.25 solar year, devoid of a connection to the lunar phases. Though in contradistinction to the Gregorian calendar, the Enoch calendar interpretation focuses on the Sun and the vernal equinox with consecutive 30 day months. Each quarter of the year has one day added to bring its total to 91 days; with an additional day added on the last day of the year, to make a total of 365 days for the year. 

French claims that by removing the Moon as a ‘beacon of time’ the Romans followed in the footsteps of the Egyptians, in using only the Sun as the backdrop of the constellations, thereby allowing weeks to cycle without end or any anchor to the months and years. The Moon had until this point been used to designate days, weeks and months. ‘Then [the Romans and Jews] sold this to the entire world as having existed since the dawn of creation. The world bought into this lie because the Scriptures appeared to support this view. Ironically, the Romans together with the Jews had their hands on the sacred manuscripts. It indeed appears that some things relating to time have been changed in both the oldest manuscripts as well as the translations.’

Isaiah 66:22-23

English Standard Version

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain [Revelation 21:1]. From [H1767 – day: enough, sufficient, ‘according to the abundance of’, ‘as often as’] new moon to new moon [H2320 – chodesh: new moon], and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.”

This verse in the book of Isaiah reveals that the New Moon and the Sabbath are eternally entwined from the past, with our present Earth and until the future new Earth. The Hebrew word for Moon means a ‘new moon, [a new] month’ and ‘monthly.’ Chodesh derives from H2318, chadash which means: ‘renew, repair’ with the implication of ‘to be new, make anew, to renew oneself, to rebuild.’ 

This definition it would seem, describes a waxing Moon growing bigger from either a dark Moon conjunction or the first visible crescent. We also learn from Isaiah that the New Moon is a day of worship akin to the Sabbath. This is corroborated by Ezekiel and the Apostle Paul – Colossians 2:16.

Ezekiel 46:1, 3

English Standard Version

“Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened… 3 The people of the land shall bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 

“And then the Moon, ever punctual to mark the times, an everlasting sign: It is the Moon that signals the Feasts, a luminary that wanes after being full. The month derives its name from hers. She waxes wonderfully in her phases, a banner of the hosts on high, shining in the vault of heaven.” [Ecclesiasticus 43:6-8, circa 19-180 BCE]

We shall return to the Sabbath and its relationship with the New Moon in regard to its counting cycle and when it is to be observed. Firstly, what is a New Moon? Historically, there have been two ways to calculate a New Moon, yet there is a third way as supported by Kerrie French and others; with the claim that it is actually the first and original way of beginning a new Lunar month and has been intentionally lost, buried in history. 

We will investigate the three principle ways of calculating a New Moon, with the goal of understanding which method is correct from a Biblical and historical perspective. This will be no mean feat, for there is considerable confusion and disagreement on the subject. We will begin with the most radical and least supported method. The proposal that the New Moon is actually when the Moon is full on the usually accepted 15th day of its 29/30 day cycle. Thus according to this premise, the Full Moon is the new Moon and actually day one of a new Lunar monthly cycle. 

An issue with reckoning the New Moon Day by the Full Moon is that the subsequent phases of the moon are inconsistent and unpredictable, negating the moon of its ordained role as a beacon and a ruling celestial body of the night. 

Making reliable identification of days by the moon’s appearance becomes very difficult, if not impossible; for the moon can appear full for more than one day each month. This would make consistent reckoning by observation problematic. Also, as we shall discover when using the Full Moon as the new Moon, there will be one or two dark days in the middle of the month and so the quarter phases of the moon will not regularly announce the Sabbaths. 

Recall that the word chodesh for the New Moon derives from chadash. A clear contradiction exists when using the Full Moon as the New Moon, in that the Moon from day one is tearing down as in losing light and not being ‘renewed or rebuilt’. Immediately after the moon begins to be full, it starts to surrender light. Meaning that between the evening when the New Moon is declared and the day after it is recognised as the official New Moon Day, the moon will have already lost light. It will continue to lose light as it wanes until the middle of the month, after which it will again begin to rebuild. This definition of a New Moon as the Full Moon, unfortunately defies all logic and is not a pure or honest definition of the meaning of the Hebrew words chodesh and chadash. For this reason, it rules itself out from being a viable method for calculating the New Moon. A pivotal verse is found in the Book of Psalms.

Psalm 81:3

New English Translation

Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon [H2320 – chodesh],and on the day of thefull moon [H3677 – kese: fulness (Proverbs 7:20)] when our festival [Unleavened Bread 15th Abib and the Feast of Tabernacles 15th Tishri] begins [H2282 – hag: pilgrim-feast].

If we allow the Bible to interpret itself, we learn that the New Moon and the Full Moon that heralds the two major festivals of worship in the year are two separate, different Moons. One begins the 1st day of the each month, the other, the Full Moon is on the 15th day of the Lunar month and signifies the first days of both Unleavened Bread in the first month of Abib or Nisan and the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month of Tishri. 

The Hebrew word used for the festivals connotes a pilgrimage or trek to get to the destination where the Feast is being kept. The Eternal coordinated the timing of these required attendance travels when there would be light by the Full Moon on the days immediately preceding the 15th day of the Lunar month. It obviously was not intended for the Israelites to travel in total darkness or in winter, for neither are the festivals or Holy Days in the Winter Season. When the Moon is full, it is the only visible lunar phase which appears exactly the same for both the northern and southern hemispheres within the same 24 hour period.

We have discussed the darkening of the sky when the Messiah died [refer Chapter XXIX Esau: The Thirteenth tribe and Article: Chronology of Christ]. This occurred from Noon until three o’clock when Jesus took his last breath [Matthew 27:45]. The argument rests on this occurrence having to be a total solar eclipse and for this to occur, the Moon had to be in dark conjunction and ergo, the Moon was not a Full Moon. According to the WLC website, this answer is an impossibility: “In fact, Jerusalem was not in the path of totality at any time during the first century. Another crushing blow to this supposition is that solar eclipses generally only last about 7-8 minutes, not 3 hours. “The longest total solar eclipse during the 8,000 year period from 3000 BC to 5000 AD will occur on July 16, 2186, when totality will last 7 min 29 s.” 

The darkness which fell over the land at the Crucifixion was a miracle, a supernatural intervention; whether it culminated in a naturally occurring phenomenon or not. “Claiming that there was a total solar eclipse, lasting three hours, at the time of [Christ’s] crucifixion is outrageous and cannot be substantiated by even one piece of evidence.” 

The second and most widely accepted method of reckoning the New Moon is by sighting the first visible crescent Moon after the dark conjunction. For this method of calculation, much stock is placed in the Jewish Babylonian Talmud. Yet the information contained therein is questionable and not a reliable source. Particularly, when we consider the unbiblical practice adopted after the first century for the Saturday Sabbath beginning at sunset. 

WLC states: “While many historians, encyclopedias, and Bible dictionaries testify that the Biblical month began with the first visible crescent, none offer any real evidence to support their claims. It seems likely that they are relying largely on tradition, as the authors of the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia readily admit.” 

‘”Little is known of the procedure of determining the calendar up to the 2nd cent. C.E., when a description is given of the traditional practice, it ran as follows: On the thirtieth day of the month a council would meet to receive the testimony of witnesses that they had seen the new moon. If two trustworthy witnesses had made deposition to that effect on that day, the council proclaimed a new month to begin on that day… If no witnesses appeared, however, the new moon was considered as beginning on the day following the thirtieth.” (Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, page 632)’

A disadvantage in using the first visible crescent of the Moon is that it is impossible to have the Feasts begin during the same twenty-four hour period around the world; nor is it consistent with the principles which govern the scriptural parameters of a day. The Hebrew word chodesh for new Moon ‘is used in Scripture more than 270 times, yet it is not used even once to denote something (i.e. the visible moon, the crescent [Moon]).’ Whereas the ‘Hebrew word for crescent [H7720], saharonim, is used exclusively [three times in the Old Testament] in connection to idolatry’ according to WLC. 

In the Bible, jewellery fashioned after the Crescent Moon as worshipped by the heathen nations is condemned; for it represented the goddess Ishtar, a symbol of fertility and also a chief Babylonian god, Sin – Genesis 35;4, Judges 8:21-26, Isaiah 3:18-23 [Chapter XXII Alpha & Omega]. 

“The Crescent was a favourite amulet among many peoples of Western Asia, and it represented to them the strength and protection of the waxing and not the waning moon.” [Amulets and Superstitions, E A Wallis Budge, page 213] WLC: “Sin worship was also prevalent in Arabia in the days of Muhammad. Consequently, Islam venerates the crescent to this day. Many religions with Babylonian roots venerate the crescent (i.e. Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.).” In the Book of Jeremiah, mention is made of cakes baked for the worship of the Queen of Heaven [Jeremiah 44:18-19]. Various commentaries state that these cakes were crescent shaped to represent the Moon. 

As the Hebrew word saharonim is not associated with the New Moon or month, similarly, the Hebrew word yerach [H3391, H3393, H3394] is never used to signify a New Moon. It is used for an observable Moon that is either waxing to a Full Moon, is a Full Moon or waning after one. The word is translated as moon 28 times and 13 times  for a month.

Psalm 104:19

English Standard Version

He made the moon [H3394 – yareach: Moon] to mark the seasons [H4150 – Moed, Mowadim: appointed time, place meeting]; thesun knows its time for setting [H3996 – mabow’: sunset, entrance, entering, a coming in].

An interesting article includes an enlightening and revealing passage regarding the Hebrew calendar.

Kings David and Solomon Chronological, Historical and Archaeological Evidence, Gerard Gertoux, 2015 – emphasis & bold mine: 

“… the accurate dating in 1 Kings 6:37-38 proves that the report writer was an eyewitness because thanks to the development of calendar systems used in Palestine it is possible to date some biblical events. At the early 2nd millennium BCE there were only two major systems of dating: 1) the Mesopotamian calendar of Babylonian origin based on a lunar cycle beginning at the 1st moon crescent with the 12 months named and 2) the Egyptian civil calendar with 12 anonymous months of 30 days alongside a lunar calendar starting at the full moon.”

Both these methods rely on beginning the new month on false interpretations of a New Moon; neither of which are supported scripturally. 

“The absence of a temple with its priesthood forced the Israelites to use calendars where they were staying. It is thus possible to date their wanderings through various calendars they used (according to the biblical text, the Israelites stayed in Egypt for 215 years from 1748 to 1533 [240 years from 1687 to 1446 BCE] and in Canaan after that date. The first temple was completed in 997 BCE [959 BCE] and destroyed in 587 BCE. The Israelites deported into Babylon for 50 years returned to build the temple which was functional from 517 BCE and calendar months have been translated through their Babylonian equivalent). [The] Babylonian calendar was gradually established in the whole western Orient. The city of Alalakh, for example, adopted it about 1500 BCE. This calendar was also used in Palestine but the name of the months [were] Canaanite at that time… The Canaanite calendar was used in Phoenicia up to the 6 century BCE . After the fall of Babylon, Jews of Judea adopted the Babylonian calendar, however their former religious calendar with its anonymous months was always favoured. The names of Babylonian months were used to reflect the rank of Jewish months: In the 4th year of King Darius, the word of Yahweh was addressed to Zechariah on the 4th [day] of the 9th month, in Kislev (Zechariah 7:1). This system of Babylonian origin used the names of Aramaic months…

The biblical text uses the two words yeraḥ and hodešto designate lunar months. The word hodeš, used to designate the new moon, comes from hadaš “new” (as in the name Carthage, Kart-hadešt “new city”) and means “renewal“, hence its meaning “new [moon]”. 

The word yeraḥ “month” comes from the word yeraḥ “moon” and can be translated as “lunation“. The word “full moon” (Proverbs 7:20) is kese or lebanah “the white one” (Isaiah 30:26).”

Isaiah 30:26

English Standard Version

Moreover, the light [H216 – ‘owr: ‘illumination, lightning’ from H215: ‘shine, luminous, to become lighted up’] of the moon [H3842 – Ibanah: ‘white’ from H3835 – laban: ‘to be white, to make white, to become white’] will be as the light of the sun [H2535 – Chammah: ‘heat’ from 2525: ‘hot, warm’], and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days…

“Both words hodešand yeraḥused in the sense of “months” are not synonymous since Canaanite inscriptions have been found with the words hodeš yeraḥ ethanim which can be translated as: new lunation of Ethanim [seventh month (Tishri)] (1 King 8:2). If the two words were synonymous the translation would be: month of month of Ethanim! This semantic nuance is important because in a lunar calendar beginning on the new moon, the two words “new [moon]” and “lunation” to designate a month may agree, but in a calendar starting at the full moon, lunation is the only appropriate word.” 

This is telling in that the New Moon and Full Moon are two different moons and damming for those who teach that the New Moon and Full Moon are one and the same. 

“Archaeology shows that the Jews of Judea used only the word hodeš “new [moon]” to designate month, whereas that the Jews of Egypt used only the word yeraḥ “lunation”. We read, for example, on the ostracon of Arad n°7 (c. -600): to the 10th [month], the 1st of the month to the 6th of the month. Upon entering Canaan, the Israelites used the Canaanite calendar, the 1st (anonymous) month of their calendar becoming Abib. The Canaanites used the word yeraḥ referring to “month”, that could be ambiguous for the Israelites because this term designated also a “month” starting at the full moon as in Egypt (the Jews of Elephantine have continued using yeraḥ). The term hodeš “month” starting at the 1st moon crescent (as in Syria) was prevailing in Palestine from 1000 BCE.” 

It is safe to say, that during the reign of King David from 1010 to 970 BCE, the calendar being used was based on the New Moon hodes as the first day of the new month and not yerah, the Full Moon.

“Placing months according to chronology, we obtain the following changes in biblical calendars: Archaeology has confirmed this chronological sequence since the word yerah appears for the last time in the Gezer calendar dated around 950 BCE [during the reign of King Solomon 970-930 BCE] and the name of Canaanite months disappeared in Palestine at that time.”

It is both disheartening, yet unsurprising to learn changes to the Hebrew calendar were taking place as early as Solomon’s reign, whose heart turned away from the Eternal [refer Chapter XIII India & Pakistan: Cush & Phut and Chapter XXX Judah & Benjamin – the Regal Tribes]

“The “Canaanite” dating in 1 Kings 6:1 is therefore in full agreement with the construction of the temple in the early 10th century BCE [966-959 BCE]. If the scribe who wrote the Book of Kings had done it from an oral tradition afterthe Babylonian exile he would have used Babylonian months instead of Canaanite months. In addition the word yeraḥ was used at this time by the Jews in Egypt instead of hodeš in Judea. If the Pentateuch was written about 900 BCE instead of 1500 BCE (as most German biblical scholars teach), the scribes of that time would not have used the word yeraḥ.”

1 Kings 6:37-38

English Standard Version

37 In the fourth year [966 BCE] the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month [H3391 – yerach: Full Moon] of Ziv [Iyar, 2nd month April/May]. 

38 And in the eleventh year [959 BCE], in the month [H3391 – yerach] of Bul [Chesvan, October/November] which is the eighth month [H2320 – chodesh: New Moon], the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.

The third and final method for calculating a New Moon is from the conjunction, when the Moon is entirely dark between the end and beginning of a new Lunar month. Unfortunately this is not as straight forward as it would seem, for the Bible does not expressly state a method, which leaves it open for numerous interpretations of when a New Moon begins after its conjunction. 

One option includes advocating the day of conjunction as the New Moon day and thus the first day of the month. The main issue with this method is that the New Moon occurs before the last month has finished. That is, on the same day as the last day of the previous month. As the Moon entering conjunction with the Sun and being completely dark is logically the end of its monthly lunar phase, it follows that the next day as it begins a new revolution to become illuminated is its first, new monthly cycle. Taking place after dawn at sunrise. 

A second option proposed is to use the day after the conjunction, though only if the first visible crescent is sighted that same evening. Thus the visible crescent would herald a work day following after a Sabbath occurring on the 29th* of the month. The exception would be if the visible first crescent Moon was not seen that evening and so that that day would become the 30th and the following day would be the 1st day and New Moon. At first sight – pun not intended – this appears a reasonable method. According to WLC there are two key issues to be aware when using this method to calculate the New Moon. 

“Using this method, it is impossible to consistently unite the world in beginning the Feasts in the same 24-hour period. Only by reckoning the day after conjunction as New Moon Day can everyone on Earth be united in observing the New Moons, Sabbaths, and annual Feasts.

Those who adhere to this method cannot know for certain if it is New Moon Day until the day is almost over because they must wait to see if the crescent moon will be visible that evening after sunset. This is clearly a problem, especially when considering the Feast of Trumpets (which coincides with New Moon Day in the Seventh Month), and the tremendous importance of offering the prescribed sacrifices precisely on New Moon Day, at the beginning of each month (Numbers 28:11-15). The priests surely knew when New Moon Day came. They did not have to wait until the day was almost over to find out if they had offered sacrifices on the correct day. A signal that is retroactive is not truly a signal.” 

A further option advocated by some, is to measure from the first sunset after the conjunction. This is done by those who subscribe to a day beginning at sunset, though this is not supported scripturally and is a tradition stemming from Babylon. 

Yet another method of calculation is to choose the day after the waning crescent Moon can no longer be seen before sunrise. It is based on the premise that the disappearance of the moon indicates that the conjunction will take place later that day, thus making the following day the New Moon Day. WLC elaborates: “Conjunction day is the day the sun rises without the moon being seen first. The following day would then be New Moon Day, as it would be the first new day after Conjunction. If the waning crescent can be seen on the morning of the last Sabbath (the 29th day of the lunar month), then it will be a 30-day month. If the waning crescent cannot be seen on the morning of the last Sabbath, it will be a 29-day month… this method… is not reliable and cannot be used to consistently and accurately identify the day of Conjunction… [for by] using the proposed method… [the] New Moon Day [can sometimes] be declared one day late.” 

The final method and overall most viable in calculating the New Moon, is based on the fact that the moon begins to illuminate immediately after the conjunction. Though it cannot be seen – until the sun sets as the moon is obscured by the greater light of the sun – it has undeniably begun a new revolution or cycle of illumination. The first day at sunrise after the conjunction takes place is the most plausible beginning of the new month. A compelling reason in support of this method is that the Eternal’s command to observe His Holy days at their appointed times could not be truly obeyed except through using the first sunrise after the conjunction. 

It means for instance, that a weekly Sabbath could be kept by the whole world on a specified day and not over several days. Using this method uniquely unites the entire globe at the same time on one 24 hour solar revolution. As an example, using the first visible crescent for reckoning the New Moon does not consistently unite the world in beginning Feasts, Holy Days, Sabbaths and New Moons in the same 24-hour day. WLC aptly state: “Scripture commands us to observe the Sabbath, not a Sabbath. Does it then make sense that there would be multiple Sabbaths in the same week? Does it make sense for different locals to celebrate the Sabbath 48 hours apart? Only by reckoning the day after conjunction as New Moon Day can everyone on Earth consistently observe one Sabbath Day.” 

In essence, a unique dateline is established each month, rather similar to the International Dateline devised in 1884 by the International Meridian Conference in Washington DC. Only this dateline is a revolving dateline as opposed to a stationery one and is the real dateline if mankind were still to be using the Astro-Lunar-Solar calendar of antiquity. In testimony of its scriptural foundation, no one would begin a New Moon Day more than 24 hours after the actual conjunction. Everyone around the Earth would experience their New Moon within the same day period, with the last geographic region on Earth to begin their New Moon within 24 hours of the first. 

WLC: “This is an ideal representation of the Lunar Month when reckoning by the first visible crescent and the Dawn after Conjunction. Because the Moon can achieve the perfect Quarter, Full, and Conjunction phases at any time during a 24-hour period, and since most (if not all) programs/calendars use a midnight to midnight reckoning of a date, you will sometimes see the perfect phases shown a day earlier or a day later, making them not always line up exactly. When reckoning by the first visible crescent, there is actually more variance (from month to month) than what is shown in the depiction above because there are several variables involved in determining the earliest visibility of the moon. The Dawn [sunrise] after Conjunction method establishes a much more consistent pattern of phases.” 

Ezekiel Chapter forty-six, verse one, establishes three different types of days, with New Moon days, Sabbath days and Work days. These are delineated in nature and are recognisable when logically reckoning the sunrise after conjunction as the commencement of the New Moon. The New Moon is preceded by darkness during the conjunction; Work days are preceded by the illuminated phases of the Moon; and the Sabbath Days are preceded by the quarter phases. Using this method allows for consistently identifying the Sabbaths by the moon’s appearance more easily and practically – as shown in the chart above. The crescent moon will often be visible to the naked eye on the New Moon Day during the evening before the first day of the workweek, but not always. 

Historical support for using the day after the conjunction as the New Moon day is provided by WLC – emphasis & bold mine. 

‘A record of the Christian transition to pagan calendation has been preserved in… One of the oldest dated Christian sepulchral inscriptions… discovered in Rome [referring] to dies Veneris (day of Venus). What sets this particular inscription apart is that it lists both the Julian date and the luni-solar date. Dated A.D. 269, it states: 

“In the consulship of Claudius and Paternus, on the Nones of November, on the day of Venus, and on the 24th day of the lunar month, Leuces placed (this memorial) to her very dear daughter Severa, and to Thy Holy Spirit. She died (at the age) of 55 years, and 11 months (and) 10 days. (E Dichl, Inscriptiones Latinæ Christianæ Veteres, Volume 2, page 193, #3391. See also, J B de Rossi, Inscriptiones Christianæ Urbis Romæ, Volume 1, part 1, page 18, #11).”

‘The “Nones” of November is November 5 which fell that year on the day of Venus, Friday. In that lunation, this corresponded with the 24th day of the lunar month, or “Second Day” on the Biblical week. Examining the dates here with astronomy software, we find that New Moon Day (the first day of the lunar month) was reckoned as the day after conjunction.’ 

Further historical weight is lent by a contemporary of the Messiah, the Jewish philosopher, Philo of Alexandria [20-50 BCE]. It would be remarkable if he was not aware of a. the calendrical calculation of the New Moon, Sabbath and Feast Days and b. if there were rival methods or not. Philo does discuss the calendar, placing emphasis on when the Sun illuminates the Moon, as the beginning of a new month. He also confirms that the first day of the New Moon follows the conjunction, with a month being reckoned from conjunction to conjunction. Philo also acknowledges the logical clear configurations of the Moon’s waxing half at the end of the first week and waning half at the end of the third week, as achieved by a conjunction New Moon as opposed to a visible crescent Moon calculation.

“Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning, whether of number or of time, is honorable. Secondly, because at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven destitute of light. Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders…” [Philo, Special Laws II, Section XXVI (140-142), emphasis & bold mine] 

“The third (festival) is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.” [Philo, Special Laws II, Section XI (41)]

“This is the New Moon, or beginning of the lunar month, namely the period between one conjunction and the next, the length of which has been accurately calculated in the astronomical schools.” [Philo, Special Laws II, Section XXVI (140)]

“Again, the periodical changes of the moon, take place according to the number seven… And the changes which the moon works in the air, it perfects chiefly in accordance with its own configurations on each seventh day… all mortal things… drawing their more divine nature from the heaven, are moved in a manner which tends to their preservation in accordance with this number seven. … Accordingly, on the seventh day, Elohim caused to rest from all his works which he had made.” [Philo, Allegorical Interpretation, 1, Section IV (8-9), Section VI (16)] 

“…there is one principle of reason by which the moon waxes and wanes in equal intervals, both as it increases and diminishes in illumination…because it receives the perfect shapes in periods of seven days – the half-moon in the first seven day period after its conjunction with the sun, full moon in the second; and when it makes its return again, the first is to half-moon, then it ceases at its conjunction with the sun.” [Philo, Special Laws I, (178)]

“And this feast is begun on the fifteenth day of the month, in the middle of the month, on the day on which the moon is full of light, in consequence on the providence of Elohim taking care that there shall be no darkness on that day.” [Philo, Special Laws II, The Fifth Festival, Section XXVIII(155)]

WLC: “You will need to check the time of Conjunction for your specific area. Note: When reckoning the day after conjunction as New Moon Day, the moon will [become] full on the 14th or 15th of the month.” 

By following the correct cycle of the Moon as the only arbitrator of when a seven day Sabbath falls as per scripture, then the weekly Sabbaths will continuously fall upon the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th* days of each lunar month – regardless of whether it is a 29 or 30 day month. Every seventh day Sabbath identified in Scripture is consistently counted from the New Moon, falling upon these preordained days. No other verses define the Sabbath as falling on any dates other than the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each lunar cycle month [Exodus 40:17, Leviticus 9:1, 2 Chronicles 7:8-10; 29:17, Esther 9:18, Luke 1:59; 2:21].

The Holy Days, Festivals and Sabbaths were a sign between the Eternal and Israel. In the next appendix we shall investigate whether they have remained signs in the inter-covenantal period which has been interpreted as the New Covenant. 

Ezekiel 20:12-13, 19-20

English Standard Version

12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign [H226 – ‘owth: ‘a distinguishing mark,  remembrance, miracle, proof, monument, signal, beacon’] between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes [H2708 – chuqqah: ‘ordinance, custom’] but rejected my rules [H4941 – mishpat: ‘judgements, laws, decrees’], by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned [Ezekiel 20:19-20, Psalm 65.8].

1 Chronicles 23:30-31

Living Bible

30 Each morning and evening they stood before the Lord to sing thanks and praise to him. 31 They assisted in the special sacrifices of burnt offerings, the Sabbath sacrifices, the new moon celebrations, and at all the festivals. There were always as many Levites present as were required for the occasion.

The Eternal’s chosen people were not good at following His instructions. Nor are they today any better.

Psalm 74:9

New English Translation

We do not see any signs of God’s presence; there are no longer any prophets, and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. 

A universal subterfuge taught by nearly all Christians, is that at the Council of Laodicea the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday. “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s Day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.” [Council of Laodicea, Canon 29, 363-364 CE]. 

According to French, it was Karl J von Hefele, a Catholic bishop, writing in his History of the Councils of the Church from the Original Documents, who recorded ‘that the word “Saturday” (dies Saturni) does not exist either in the Greek or Latin text. Rather, the word “Saturday” was supplied in the English translation as a replacement term for the word Sabbato, meaning Sabbath. Here is the original Latin text: “Quod non oportet Christianos Judaizere et otiare in Sabbato, sed operari in eodem die. Preferentes autem in veneratione Dominicum Diem si vacre voluerint, ut Christiani hoc faciat; quod si reperti fuerint Judaizere Anathema sint a Christo.”’ [Council of Laodicea, Canon 29] 

Therefore the fact of the matter is, that at the time the Julian calendar was being introduced and enforced on early believers; no one confused the word Sabbato with dies Saturni. Everyone at that time recognised these to be ‘unique names for two separate days, as found on two distinctly different calendar systems.’ 

Kerrie French explains: ‘It is only as this fact of history has been forgotten as it was purged from the records, that Saturday has been assumed to be the seventh-day Sabbath of Scripture, and partly because it was adopted by the Jews in conformity to Rome’s demands. Couple with this the promotion of the entire Roman calendar system throughout the world, and we can see why “All the World has followed the Beast” into a fraudulent pagan worship system. How crafty was this! For only by including the Jews and other Saturday Sabbatarians can John’s statement in Revelation fully encompass all the world [Revelation 13:3].’ 

Thus the pagan planetary week, was a counterfeit of the true biblical week instituted by the Creator in the beginning of Earth’s history. It employed the ancient pagan ‘venerable day of the Sun’ which was esteemed by the heathen above the other six days because it was regarded as sacred; the chief of the planetary deities. Just as the true Sabbath is inseparably linked with the biblical seven day week; the false Sabbath of pagan origin was embedded in a weekly cycle. Added to Sunday, was its secret twin, the false Sabbath, hidden in Saturn’s Day. The two counterfeit planetary deities – the Sun and  Saturn – were permanently linked together in perpetual deceit. Saturn means: ‘the hidden god, the god of hidden counsels, the concealer of secrets’ and ‘the hidden one.’ [refer Chapter XXII Alpha & omega] 

The deception has included all the world as the Apostle John predicted, for not only the Jews, but all Sabbatarians; including the Seventh day Adventists and the Churches of God, who have unwittingly accepted in essence, a sign or mark of the Beast. Sunday keepers have swallowed the grand deception whole, while Saturday observers have at least sought after a seventh day; being one step closer to the Eternal’s sanctified day of worship. But, both days are built upon the false Roman devised continuous weekly cycle. Saturday is undeniably the seventh day of a week, yet it is not the true seventh day Sabbath in God’s word.

“The (early) Hebrews employed lunar seven-day weeks, which ended with special observances on the seventh day, but none the less were tied to the moon’s course.” [Rest Days, Hutton Webster, pages 254-255]

“The weeks do not continue in a regular cycle regardless of the moon. Each month has four weeks, the beginning with the New Moon. I have no doubt that this was the old Hebrew system.” [Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars, Stephen Langdon, page 89.]

“The Sabbath depending, in Israel’s nomadic period, upon the observation of the phases of the moon, it could not, accordingly be a fixed day (fixed to the week that cycles without end).” [Jewish Encyclopedia, Sabbath] 

“Most theologians and some scholars assume that mainstream Jewish society, at the time of Jesus… was practicing a fixed seven-day week which was the same as the modern fixed seven-day week. This is extremely doubtful. The change, from a lunar to a fixed week, was brought about by the power and influence of Rome. 

As long as the Nazarenes held power in Jerusalem, all Roman practices and customs, including that of the consecutive week, were held at bay.” [Shawui Sabbath: Ancient Sabbath Observance, The Nazarenes of Mount Carmel, David Clark, 1999-2006, emphasis & mine] 

The preceding quotations support the ancient Israelites using a Lunar calendar and the fact that the true seventh day Sabbath was intrinsically linked to and its calculation solely based upon, the phases of the Moon. Closing words from author Eviator Zerubavel.

“The invention of the continuous week was therefore one of the most significant breakthroughs in human beings’ attempts to break away from being prisoners of nature (and from under [the Eternal’s] law) and create a social world of their own.” [The Seven Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week, Eviator Zerubavel, New York: The Free Press, 1985, page 11] 

Post Scriptum  

This article will be viewed by some readers as overly technical and perhaps even redundant. I confess, the subject matter is rather specialist and has been aimed at those who have a Sabbatarian background. Aside from religious Jews who observe the Sabbath and Holy Days, the target audience is a very small number of Christian believers who keep the Sabbath and an even smaller quantity who embrace the annual festivals and Holy days. Yet it is my sincere hope that the information presented will be of value and lead all readers to question an area of their life which would not normally come under any scrutiny and much less be understood, as a significant deception. 

© Orion Gold 2023 – All rights reserved. Permission to copy, use or distribute, if acknowledgement of the original authorship is attributed to orion-gold.com