This page was last updated on 31 May, 2018.
New Moon Day
New Moon what it is and isn’t
2Kgs 4:23 And he said, Why will you go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.
1Chr 23:31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices to the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded to them, continually before the LORD:
2Chr 2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
2Chr 8:13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
2Chr 31:3 He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.
Amos 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Ezek 45:17 And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel.
Ezek 46:1 Thus said the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
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Ezek 46:3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
→ ‘and’ means that NMD is different from a regular Sabbath.
Neh 10:33 For the show bread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.
Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Hos 2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days
New moon day is not a Sabbath or holy day.
Isa 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, said the LORD.
Psa 81:3 Blow the ram's horn in the new moon, on ??????, on our feast day. → Click
2Chr 2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual show bread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
Num 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. kk
New moon day is a day of worship.
Ezek 46:1 So says Adonai YAHWEH: The gate of the inner court that faces the east shall be shut the six days of work. But on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
Ezek 46:3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
Temple gates are only open on worship days. Sabbath isn’t a new moon day.
Amos 8:5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
No selling (trading) on new moon day.
Ezra 7:9 For on the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God on him.
No travel restriction (Sabbath day walk) on new moon day.
Exod 16:23 And he said to them, This is that which the LORD has said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath to the LORD: bake that which you will bake to day, and seethe that you will seethe; and that which remains over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
1Sam 20:5 And David said to Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at even.
No cooking allowed on Sabbath day so food has to be prepared the day before (preparation day). Such command is never given regarding new moon day. Saul invited David for a meal (meat) while it doesn’t specifically say so the context gives the impression it’s a feast meal. Not some cold stuff that was prepared yesterday.
Summary:
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The above shows there are 4 types of days. Work day, new moon day, Sabbath day and Feast day. Those days are mentioned separately for a reason; being they are not the same. Just like a regular weekday is a Sabbath when an annual Sabbath/feast is kept on a day so a new moon day is only a Sabbath or Feast day when a annual or weekly Sabbath falls on that day. Which is only during Feast of Trumpets.
Jericho
Josh 6:3 And you shall compass the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shall you do six days.
Josh 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
It’s argued Jericho was about 6 acres. Assuming a square city that’s 2043 feet and the allowed Sabbath day work is 3000 feet. For that reason some people claim the Sabbath day walk wouldn’t be exceeded, if just circled once. So it would be no problem if to circle the city during Sabbath. A Sabbath walk is the distance away from your own city. So walking 50 miles is no problem if within 3000 feet from the city walls. Click. They didn’t live in Jericho but I think that doesn’t matter much. Anyway, there are other ways to break the Sabbath…
Josh 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
They were soldiers. Undoubtedly carrying weapons. Ready to attack. Sounds very much like a soldiers day of work.
If there really was a continuous 6+1 cycle then one march is around the city. Not the seventh day because that surely exceeded the Sabbath walk. But there would still be work on the Sabbath day when they circle the city just once. Even if the march took just an hour was an hour of work.
The book of Jasher gives the answer for this dilemma of God ordering breaking the Sabbath. New moon day.
Jash 88:14 And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Rise up, behold I have given Jericho into thy hand with all the people thereof; and all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days.
New moon day is proven to be not part of a regular week.
Another 7 day war
New year. New month. New Moon day.
1Kgs 20:26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
1Kgs 20:29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
Another 7 day battle. So there must have been war during the a Sabbath. Unlike Jericho this may not seem as an offensive war but a defensive one. Defending is allowed on Sabbath so that could explain things away. But it looks like God set the date for the whole war.
1Kgs 20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said to him, Go, strengthen yourself, and mark, and see what you do: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against you.
God wasn’t helping Israel because theirs ways; which were bad, but because of revenge on these words:
1Kgs 20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
So God was on the offense and use the army of Israel to fight for Him. A staged war. Therefore offense instead of defense.
New moon day is proven to be not part of a regular week.
Troas
Acts 20:5 These going before tarried for us at Troas.
Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came to them to Troas in five days; where we stayed seven days.
Acts 20:7 And on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
- The feast of Unleavened Bread is from the 15th until the 21st of the month. See Proof #1.
- Daytime of the 22nd is Sabbath, so no traveling.
- They left the during the evening/night of that same day.
- Their journey took 5 days so they arrived in Troas on the 26th.
- They stayed for 7 days. The first day of their stay is the 26th.
- The last day of those 7 days was the 2nd day of the new month.
- In Acts 20:7 we read Paul was still preaching on the first day of the week and left the next day; the second day of the week.
- Paul leaves on the third day of the month which is also the second day of the week.
This count only works with a New Moon day (and a daylight Sabbath).
Creation account
New Moon Day: Gen 1:1-
Day 1: Gen 1:3-
Day 2: Gen 1:6-
Day 3: Gen 1:9-
Day 4: Gen 1:14-
Day 5: Gen 1:20-
Day 6: Gen 1:24-
Day 7: Gen 2:1-
Enoch
‘Light is put into the moon from the first day of the month until its light is completed,’ or the moon is full ‘on the 15th day of the month.’ “On the day that the sun sets in the west, and the moon rises during the night in the east, its light is completed.” The moon comes to fullness before it sets on the 14th, around sunset, and the sun rises on the 15th day. On this day, ‘its light is completed,’ and the moon is full all of the 15th day of the month, though it sets before sunrise, and rises full after sunset ‘during the night’ on the 15th of the month.
Enoch wrote the same as Philo. The moon is full/completed on the 15th.
The eight days of creation
The creation account shows God also created on a new moon day. Click
Dark energy before the Big Bang
Click here for a very interesting video. Over an hour long and contains some math. Don't mind if you don't understand the math, the beauty of the video will be very obvious.
As a summary I can say this: Each letter in Hebrew has a numerical value, very similar to the Roman numerals you often see on clocks. The Hebrew words for earth, sun and moon all have numeral value. As the video and the book which can be downloaded here, show that those numbers have a very strong relation to the diameter, mass and more. There a lot more fascinating words.
For what all this has to do with the calendar I point to page 298 of this book.
In the video go to 1h00 and especially 1h05 in the video. The timescales of the scientific age of the universe and the creation days are plotted in the same graph and they show an very strong correlation. Creation starts at day one. Scientific age starts at zero.
That means the line starts at the bottom left dot.
If we extent the line down another day we land at creation day zero and scientific age minus 3 billion years.
The scientific age of the universe is counted from the 'Big Bang'. But scientists are becoming more and more convinced that the real start lays before that. The Big Bang was preceded by a period of dark energy.
Here I showed creation was 8, not 7 day long. Day one is the first day of the week and day two of the month.
Day one of the month is always without a moon, dark.
Day one of the week has moonlight.
1 week = Big Bang = Day 1 of the week. -
1 month = Dark energy = Day 1 of the month. -
So science, the graph and the Bible agree there was a 'dark day'. New Moon Day.
Appointed times
Ps 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down.
Seasons is translated from the Hebrew word ‘moed’ which means ‘appointed time’, ‘appointed place’, ‘appointed signal’ and ‘appointed meeting’. I’ll start with stating the word moed can be used for many things that have nothing to do with moons, Sabbaths or Feast. For example, a person can have a moed to play tennis every Monday evening.
I think everybody agrees the Gregorian calendar has zero connection with the moon.
The present day Hebrew calendar has one moed, namely that every month starts with a new moon. So the moon sets a moed/appointed time for the month to start. Of course all Feasts an Sabbaths are clearly moeds but honestly speaking that doesn’t proof Sabbaths are always on 8, 15, 22, 29 of the month. My moed tennis game is on Monday.
I have yet to find a verse that directly states a Sabbath is a moed that can fall on only 4 days of the month. Let’s call the moed a draw. It doesn’t prove or disprove the luni-
Historical Quotes
Enoch
‘Light is put into the moon from the first day of the month until its light is completed,’ or the moon is full ‘on the 15th day of the month.’ “On the day that the sun sets in the west, and the moon rises during the night in the east, its light is completed.” The moon comes to fullness before it sets on the 14th, around sunset, and the sun rises on the 15th day. On this day, ‘its light is completed,’ and the moon is full all of the 15th day of the month, though it sets before sunrise, and rises full after sunset ‘during the night’ on the 15th of the month.
Philo 1
“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’s Special Laws II, The Fifth Festival, Section XXVIII (155)
A full moon on the 15th.
“The moon… perfects… in its own configurations on each seventh day…” [Sabbath]. Works of Philo translated by C.D. Yonge Allegorical Interpretation I, IV (8, 9) I VI (16) pp. 25-
“…like a full moon at the height of its increase at the end of the second week…” Works of Philo, translated by C.D. Yonge, January 2000, On Mating with Preliminary Studies, XIX (102) p.313
Full moon at the end of the second week. 2x7=14th. Philo doesn’t contradict his previous quote; no he proves the two weeks come after the new moon day. 2x7=14+1=15. Enoch is in agreement with Philo.
New moon day is proven to be not part of a regular week.
Philo 2
"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)
New moon day is a festival day; not a regular working day
"Each new moon was celebrated with a fast”
Jewish Family Celebrations, p. 35
"And we also find the following: “the sacred festival of the new moon, which the people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting, on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined . . .”
Philo, Book 26, XXX, 159
Historically, Israel fasted on new moon days. Says Hutton Webster, “the establishment of a periodic week ending in a Sabbath observed every seventh day was doubtless responsible for the gradual obsolescence of the new moon festival as a period of general abstinence, since with continuous weeks the new-
Rest Days., p. 255
“The four quarters of the moon supply an obvious division of the month...it is most significant that in the older parts of the Hebrew scriptures the new moon and the Sabbath are almost invariably mentioned together. The [lunar] month is beyond question an old sacred division of time common to all the semites; even the Arabs, who received the week at quite a late period from the Syrians, greeted the New Moon with religious acclamations. … We cannot tell [exactly] when the Sabbath became disassociated from the month.”
Encyclopedia Biblica, 1899 edit., pp. 4178-
“… each lunar month was divided into four parts, corresponding to the four phases of the moon. The first week of each month began with the new moon, so that, as the lunar month was one or two days more than four periods of seven days, these additional days were not reckoned at all.”
Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, p. 482. Article "Week."
“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.
Philo, Special Laws II, Section XXVI (140-
New moon is a festival; proving it’s not a regular working day.
Conclusion: A new moon day is the middle ground between a work day and Sabbath day. (Light) work and travel are allowed. But it’s also a worship day. But not a work day, a feast day or a Sabbath day. But it is possible that a feast day falls on New Moon Day. New year is such a day.
It is powerfully urged by the believers in a primitive Sabbath, that we find from time immemorial the knowledge of a week of 7 days among all nations -
Each New Moon was celebrated with a fast. (Jewish Family Celebrations, p. 35)
...The sacred festival of the new moon, which people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting, on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined.... (Philo Book 26, p. 159)
There was a distinct break between the Old Testament requirements...dealing with the Sabbath worship....They wanted to show that Christianity was distinct from Judaism....The other thing that we should remember, too, is that our calendar that we follow, including Seventh-
Patrick Madrid, Catholic Priest and conservative made the startling comment on EWTN, Global Catholic Radio Network on Jan 5, 2006 when answering a question about the Catholic Church changing the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday
I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms. unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of the Hebrews, and all other feasts of the Hebrews, sacrifices, prayers, aspersions, purifications, sanctifications and propitiations and fasts, and new moons, and Sabbaths,
The Conflict Of The Church And The Synagogue Athenaeum, Parks, James, New York, 1974, p. 397-
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