A Case for the Lunar Sabbath

Rebuttal to Angel Rodriguez
(Director of the Biblical Research Institute
of the Seventh-day Adventist Church)

In August of 2008, the page below appeared in the Adventist World Magazine. Angel Rodriguez discussed six premises upon which He bases his views and that of the Biblical Research Institute of the S.D.A. Church (B.R.I) with regard to the subject of astro-luni-solar calendation and its corresponding lunar Sabbath.

It is an understatement to describe the influential position and responsibility of Angel Rodriguez or his recent replacement at the B.R.I. The doctrinal decisions made by this organization regarding the principles of time as ruled from the shamayim (heaven’s sun, moon, and stars) will affect the eternal reward of so very many. (Click on the image below to enlarge it.)

The position the B.R.I. maintains at the time of this article is in support of the modern Roman calendar and its continuous weekly cycle, claiming it to be in harmony with the time-keeping of the Scriptural seventh-day Sabbaths.

Congruent with the fundamental views of Angel Rodriguez, Ron Du Preez of the Michigan Conference of S.D.A.’s will release his new book next week (08-01-11).

The Purpose of this Article

The intent of this rebuttal is to demonstrate from Scripture that the Creator’s time-measuring model is irrefutably defined by the three-part orchestration of the sun, moon, and stars as positioned in the starry shamayim (heavens) above. In addition, it will be demonstrated that these principles of time are not original to Earth, but a duplicate copy of the time system surrounding Yahuah’s seat of power, itself, and unfallen worlds. A response to this rebuttal was requested from the B.R.I., yet has never been received.

Note: The term “luni-solar” refers to a two-part time system put forth by the sun and moon alone. Yet, according to Scripture, we have discovered that the Creator’s true time-measuring model also included the stars (Genesis 1:14-17). So it is that we utilize what we believe to be a more accurate term for our Creator’s three-part celestial timepiece and will, throughout this article, refer to it as the astro-luni-solar calendar.

Calendars, the Test in the Final Conflict

Each individual should carefully weigh the decisions made on this subject upon the evidence in Scripture alone. Those who do not research this subject for themselves will experience “an overwhelming surprise” when they discover this final conflict over the Sabbath will NOT be between Saturday and Sunday as they had believed. Rather, it will be between the Papal Roman Beast calendar and the Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar and their respective New Moons, Sabbaths, and Feast Days.

This subject of “TIME” is of vital consequence to the obedient followers of the Most High, Yahuah Alahim, in the coming great and final conflict. Here presented is weighty evidence for the Creator’s astro-luni-solar time system, ordained as His ruling principles. Although this system has been under a perpetual attack from the enemy of souls and His earthly ambassadors for centuries, it is by the Ruach (presence and power of Yahuah) of truth that the obedient followers are being redirected to His preordained celestial time-measuring mechanism. These divine principles unlock mysteries, never before realized and stir the soul of Yahuah’s obedient followers to dig deeper in preparation for an eternal home.

Times and Laws to be Manipulated by the Beast Power

According to the prophetic word of Daniel 7:25, the beast power would seek to “change both TIMES and LAWS.” In 45 B.C., the Julian calendar was crafted, serving to accomplish the first phase of changing time. It was the brainchild of Julius Caesar as guided by Sosigenes, astronomer and mathematician of Alexandria, Egypt. It was the first step taken to sever the year, the month, the week, and the day from the lunar month cycle.

“In the mid-1st century BCE, Julius Caesar invited astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria 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.” Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Julian Calendar,” para. 1. Britannica.com/science/calendar/The-western-calendar-and-calendar-reforms.

The Julian Week

In its infancy, the Julian week was eight days in length and by design, was freed from all ties to the lunar phases by a twist of genius, known to modern society as the “continuous-weekly cycle.” As time passed in the 375-year interim between Julius Caesar and Constantine, a cycling seven-day planetary week began to emerge, with its first day being Saturday and ending with Friday. Constantine then reorganized the week to commence on Sunday and end on Saturday, and legislated throughout His empire, the cycling seven-day planetary week we have today. This was done to bring harmony between two opposing calendar weeks, Rome’s new seven-day continuous week cycle and the Jewish lunar seven-day week, and to bring Constantine’s empire into a more perfect union for celebrating the newly established Roman Holiday called “Easter.” All was done according to the desires of His own heart.

The Chameleon Week Impostor

Who would be any the wiser in modern times, as this “new” and improved week mimicked in formatting many of the attributes of the time-keeping system spoken of in Scripture, which was instituted at creation? What effect might the presence of this new style week have had on the Hebrews, who continued to be in Roman captivity, devoutly resisting the early Julian-styled months with its kalends, ides, and nones? Might they have, under duress, willingly swapped their lunar ordained week and Sabbath for this new style seven-day week just to stop the ongoing persecution? Absolutely!

All these years later, history bears evidence, the sun, moon, and stars proclaim it, and Scripture reveals the truth so that under the Almighty Father’s direction and at the appointed time, His followers may have the discernment to discover the truth and be restored to His unchanged worship rhythms.

“Unfamiliar” is no more synonymous with wrong
than “familiar” is synonymous with right.

The Creator’s calendar, as viewed in the shamayim (heavens) by night, has never been in harmony with the wall calendars crafted by Rome. Not surprisingly, NASA is only able to keep an accurate account of time as they consistently utilize the sun, moon, and stars, but not from Scripture’s appointed time-measuring model. Albeit there has been a move to utilize atomic energy to measure time, here again, the standard for its accuracy is with astro-luni-solar time-reckoning. For it is that without the lunar phases and constellation divisions, there are no accurate divisions of years, months, or weeks.

A Case for the Lunar Sabbath – Rebuttal to Angel Rodriguez

In responding to each of the following points made by Angel Rodriguez, I desire that the reader prayerfully weigh the evidence, regardless of its popularity or the reader’s current unfamiliarity with the themes and rhythm of the lunar Sabbath. Simply because a subject is unfamiliar does not automatically disqualify it as having intrinsic value and inherent significance. Therefore, much of the outcome of this rebuttal will depend on the reader’s honesty with their current educated or uneducated paradigm in recognizing the TRUTH vs. how Rome has already changed the times of our Creator.

Years were changed from beginning in spring to commencing in winter.
Years, months, weeks, and days commence with no reference to the demarcating lunar phases from one New Moon to another.
Days were changed to begin at midnight by the Romans and sunset by the Jews.

Stunningly, NO unit of time was left untouched! The Creator’s pre-ordained TIME itself was the target! Intercepting TIME was vital to Satan’s intercepting the worship due to the Creator on New Moon Days, seventh-day Sabbaths, and all the Kadosh annual Feast Days (Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:1-3).

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.”

http://www.karaiteinsights.com/article/shabbat.html

Weighing the Evidence

You are invited to participate and judge by weighing the evidence. Each question will be given points, and each point is equal to a pound of evidence. The choice is between the Saturday Sabbath, as proclaimed by Papal Rome (and supported by modern Jews), and Angel Rodriguez of the B.R.I. of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in contrast to the Lunar Sabbath, as proclaimed by the Scripture in reference to our CREATOR’S celestial timepiece, and declared by Kerrie French author of this article and proprietor of TheCreatorsCalendar.com.

Scripture is the standard by which this subject must be weighed and not by long-trodden traditions of men, well-groomed paradigms of past experience, the apocryphal Book of Enoch, the Pope, a Prophet, a Reformer, a Rabbi, or a Pastor.

The Law of Inference Definition:

“In the law of evidence, a truth or proposition drawn from another that is supposed or admitted to be true. A process of reasoning by which a fact or proposition sought to be established is deduced as a logical consequence from other facts, or a state of facts, already proved or admitted. A logical and reasonable conclusion of a fact not presented by direct evidence but which, by process of logic and reason, a trier of fact may conclude exists from the established facts. Inferences are deductions or conclusions that with reason and common sense lead the jury to draw from facts which have been established by the evidence in the case.” West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008, The Gale Group, In c. All rights reserved.

“A rule of logic applied to evidence in a trial, in which a fact is “proved” by presenting other “facts” which lead to only one reasonable conclusion– that if A and B are true, then C is. The process is called “deduction” or “deductive reasoning,” and is a persuasive form of circumstantial evidence.” Copyright 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Rights reserved.

To most effectively present both views, the questions will be followed first by the views of Angel Rodriguez and secondly by Kerrie French’s rebuttal and response. All concepts and terms in this document can be further researched at www.TheCreatorsCalendar.com.

It may be a difficult task, so prayerfully ask yourself, which option reveals the weight of evidence in harmony with Scripture?

Question 1A

I’ve been told that the Scriptural Sabbath was a lunar Sabbath fixed to the moon rather than a specific day of the week independent of the moon or sun. What do you think? 5 Points.

Angel Rodriguez:

Any Biblical evidence to support this proposal is lacking. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable honoring the issue by addressing it here. But apparently, I should say something about it.

If the time for the Sabbath was determined by the moon, then the Sabbath will have to be observed on different days during the [Papal Roman] month and not on the seventh day of the [Papal Roman] week. The Sabbath could be any day of the [Papal Roman] week, based on the time of the new moon. Let me say a few things about this matter.

Kerrie French’s Rebuttal and Response:

Angel Rodriguez has declared that “Any Scriptural evidence to support this proposal is lacking.” This sets the reader up to either cancel Scripture as viable altogether or cast great doubt upon this astonishingly relevant subject. This sounds very much like a judge in a courtroom who has just stricken from the record all the relevant evidence along with its source. In effect, He is saying, “Believe me and not your own eyes.” His statement is in conflict with fundamental duty and the grandest virtue among the believers who are to “search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so (Acts 17:11).” Scripture alone defines truth, history supports it, and astronomy verifies it. Personal feelings outside of these parameters amount to little.

Angel Rodriguez’s statement regarding the Sabbath not being determined by the moon states that if the Sabbath were lunar, “the Sabbath will have to be observed on different days during the [Papal Roman] month and not on the seventh day of the [Papal Roman] week.”

Many people have no knowledge that throughout the earth’s history, humankind has, out of the rebelliousness of their hearts, crafted calendars with different month lengths and varying week lengths, all to disassociate themselves from the binding claims of the laws of the Creator. Is it possible that the modern Roman calendar named after Pope Gregory may be one of these? If so, would not our loving Creator have provided a set of criteria that defines His true calendar? Would this calendar not contain perfect weeks derived from six workdays and a seventh-day Sabbath, all fitting into His preordained and perfect month? Would this not be designed so that we may worship Him according to His correct time-keeping, in harmony with the rhythms of the trinity of the sun, moon, and stars?

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 Encyclopedia, “Days of the Week.”

24 Prophetic Kohen Courses x 2 = 48 Lunar Weeks

From 1 Chronicles 24:7-18, we discover that there were 24 Kohen divisions designed to occur twice each astro-luni-solar year. Meaning that each division of Kohenim (priests) served in the Yarushalom temple for one week from Sabbath to Sabbath for two separate courses for a total of 48 weeks, conforming to the astro-luni-solar year. The ancient Hebrew astro-luni-solar year (regular years) contained precisely 48 weeks.

News Flash! The modern Roman calendar consistently has 52 weeks, illustrating that the two time-measuring calendar models are not a match. The continuous weekly cycle we have all followed and believed was consistent with the Creation story is discovered not to fit all the Scriptural criteria. Only the ancient Hebrew astro-luni-solar calendar and its lunar week style were utilized from the time of King David to the birth of the Messiah, during times Israel was obedient.

The first course of the year began on Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) in spring, Abib 1 (the first full New Moon Day) of the First Lunar Month. This first full New Moon of spring will occur in the constellation of Bethulah (Virgo) by night on the east-west time continuum of the year’s wheel of stars (HaShanah). This sign announces the New Year will begin the following morning at sunrise. A Great Sign Appeared in the Shamayim.

It is to the principles of the “week” as set forth in the 24 Kohen courses, recorded in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18, and repeated twice throughout the lunisolar year that we find the correct placement of the week. It was in the temple services we discover the week was lunar because it was a division of the lunar month, and it did not cycle without end, utterly divorced from the sun, moon, and stars. Strikingly, it is to this unique weekly model that the prophetic details of Messiah’s actual birthday were fixed. Refer to the article, Our Messiah’s True Prophetic Birthday.

The Roman Julian Eight-Day Week

As touched on earlier, it was Constantine who legislated the change from a perpetual eight-day week to a continuously cycling seven-day week. Wouldn’t the Creator have ordained earth’s week and month to be in harmony with His divinely appointed TIME principles rather than the arbitrary man-made calendar fabricated by Caesar? (Genesis 1:14-18) We are given direct council to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s but to Yahuah the things that are Yahuah’s.”

While time and money appear to go hand in hand, are they both the creations of Caesar? Not at all, as money is a tool of Caesar, and he decided its value, its size, and its material weight and then stamped his image on it. The Creator’s correct natural time, on the other hand, cannot be manipulated in any way by man or beast. Only as humanity, in willful rebellion, crafts and accepts the witty inventions of men, will they find themselves marching to the manufactured beat of a different drummer.

Because Scripture designates the Sabbath as a SIGN, it is by definition related to the shamayim (sun, moon, and stars), for which the signs are given (Genesis 1:14; Ezekiel 20:12; Ezekiel 46:1). It is of great importance to note that while there are similarities between the two calendar styles, they are not in harmony with each other beyond 29 days. Each calendar style defines its seventh day on different days and by entirely different methods.

It is true, as Angel Rodriguez mentioned, that if we are comparing the celestial calendar to the standard of the modern Roman calendar, it will appear that the lunar Sabbath floats through the Gregorian week from one Gregorian month to another in a perpetually overlapping aspect. However, in contrast, if we use the Creator’s celestial calendar model, which is fixed to the lunar phases as the STANDARD it was designed to be, it is the continuous weekly cycle and its Saturday that floats erratically through the lunar week and month with no connection whatever to the sun, moon, or stars. It is all a matter of perspective, the Creator’s or rebellious mankind’s.

Case in point: If you are on a raft floating down a river, free from ropes and anchors, the trees, rocks, and houses upon the land will appear to be floating by you. But your paradigm changes instantly when stopping for lunch, and you securely fastened your raft to a rock on the shoreline. From this stabilized perspective, when you observe other rafts of people floating by, it is then unquestionably understood that it is the other raft that has no ties or anchors that is freely FLOATING by. The free-floating raft represents the continuous weekly cycle as it has no ties or anchor points to the established trinity of LIGHTS in the heavens.

Only one style month model is beaconed from one New Moon to another, and one is not. Only one of these week’s models aligns with all the time-measuring criteria of the ruling sun, moon, and stars, for “SIGNS, SEASONS, DAYS, and YEARS. For together, as a GPS device, Genesis 1:14 and 16 lay the foundation that all TIME UNITS ordained by our CREATOR and placed into position on the fourth day are each intrinsically SIGNALED by the LIGHTS of the SUN, MOON, and STARS. This means that any unit of time-measuring that is not SIGNALED correctly by all three is an IMPOSTOR.

As a result of the evidence, when utilizing only the Creator’s ordained astro-luni-solar calendar model, it is impossible for seventh-day Sabbaths to overlap the New Moons. This is because they are both fixed as to a rock by the same measuring device that numbers all days from 1-29 or 30. New Moon Days are consistently fixed to the first day of each lunar month, while seventh-day Sabbaths are perpetually counted from the New Moon Day and fixed to the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th day of each lunar month.

The Creator’s GPS TIME Device

Just as a GPS device can locate anything on the earth for any reason, so too our CREATOR’S TIME MODEL behaves as a GPS device. It can pinpoint the placement of each of His FEAST DAYS and seventh-day Sabbaths with four anchors: 1) the Day of the lunar month counting from the New Moon, 2) the Day of the lunar Week; 3) the Week of the lunar month, and 4) Lunar Month of the astro-luni-solar Year.

In contrast, the modern Gregorian calendar can never place a specific event at the same time of the year, month, week, and day, consistently from year to year. The event will always float through the weekdays or dates. The same is true for the Saturday Sabbath. Please refer to the illustration below, as it is the foundation for the Creator’s calendar principles.

The A.D. 31 calendar below strikingly illustrates the floating Saturdays of Rome’s calendar throughout this astro-luni-solar year standard. Each lunar month is marked with the full moon on the far left. Each day of the month has its own unique lunar phase to demarcate its count. The four weeks are counted from each New Moon. Note the overlay of the Gregorian Roman Saturdays is highlighted in pale green as a visual aid. Each black box represents the first day of a Roman month and illustrates the same floating phenomena as both months and weeks have been severed from the lunar phases. For convenience, each Roman Gregorian calendar date is shown in black letters. You can check this for yourself on your own wall calendar today, noting that the designated New Moon and full moon appear to float through its months. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Both the lunar months and the lunar weeks, with their corresponding lunar seventh-day Sabbaths, are clarified by the lunar phases, as each is numbered, counting from the full New Moon Day. Notice the symmetry and perfect order displayed by the New Moon Days on the far left, as they are followed by their four weeks and seventh-day Sabbaths, highlighted in blue. Each falls consistently throughout the lunar month.

As this article will progressively provide support on behalf of the astro-luni-solar calendar, keep in the back of your mind that this alone is the standard ordained and established at creation. It was to this model that the sacred appointed Feast Days and Sabbaths were rendered. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME-MEASURING MODEL IN WHICH THE FEAST DAYS CAN BE ACCURATELY PLACED FROM YEAR TO YEAR. For each Feast Day is given multiple time-centric criteria for locating them. Strikingly, it is impossible to locate the Feast Days on the Roman Gregorian calendar beyond a month without applying the Rules of Postponement.

Finding Sabbath when Stranded on an Island

If you were knocked unconscious for days and stranded on a deserted island for a year or more, such as in the blockbuster survival movie “Cast Away” of the year 2000, would you be able to discover what day of the week or month you were in?

Tom Hanks, playing the part of a UPS manager whose plane crashed in the South Pacific Ocean, ultimately utilized the sun for month approximations and the passage of years. But he was never able to know the day of the week or the date of the month.

If he had been seeking to keep sacred the seventh-day Sabbath, he would never have found it with the current knowledge he possessed. His paradigm is no different than “ALL THE WORLD WHO FOLLOW AFTER THE ROMAN BEAST” CALENDAR, keeping as sacred either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. This calendar deprivation occurred because the moon was systematically removed from the knowledge of mankind in 45 B.C. by Julius Caesar, as mentioned earlier. As a result, most of us have never learned how the moon demarcates every single day of the month and week with its own unique lunar phase throughout time. And then the full moon by night marks the ruling constellation, so we know which month we are in throughout the entire year.

The lunar phases hold the Scriptural KEY to finding the true LUNAR APPOINTED WORSHIP TIMES, which include NEW MOONS, LUNAR SABBATHS, AND LUNAR FEAST DAYS. Shockingly, there is not a single 24-hour period that is not marked with its own unique lunar phase within each lunar month, and “From one New Moon to another New Moon.” This was the simplest method a loving CREATOR could provide so mankind, young or old, from every nation of earth, and in both the northern and southern Hemispheres, could know exactly where they were on a lunar day, the lunar week, the lunar month, and astro-luni-solar year.

Each lunar phase identifies its position in the sky relative to the sun, along the lunar elliptical orbit around the earth. As a result, when Genesis 1:16 tells us that the greater light (sun) rules by daylight, but the lesser light (moon), together with the stars, rules at night, it identifies the primary position of the moon when it is ruling the night. The Full Moon is this lunar phase that is in OPPOSITION to the SUN’S LIGHT, designed as the GREATEST BEACON to commence the count, ruling “from one full New Moon to another.” We have a marvelous Creator who thought of everything. So that if stranded on a deserted island, etc., one can always discover all of Yahuah Alahim/Elohim’s set-apart sacred days.

What Establishes Appointed Times

According to Scripture, the Creator prepared His calendar before creating Adam and Eve by appointing the sun, moon, and stars to rule (measure time) for signs (Sabbaths), seasons (lunar months), days, and years during the fourth day of creation.

Then Alahim/Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the shamayim to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years . . .” Genesis 1:14 NKJV

At first glance above, it may appear that the “seasons” (mo’edim #4150) reference only festival appointments or congregational assemblies. However, notice in the Strong’s Dictionary of Scripture and B-D-B Hebrew Lexicon that it is also identified as both a signal and an appointment in “fixed time.” So what might it be a signal of, and what time might it be fixed to? Amazingly, both questions can be responded to with a single answer. The common denominator is lunar time, as defined by the moon. This is marvelously verified in Psalms 104:19. Neither Strong’s or Brown-Driver-Briggs included the word “lunar” for Seasons, which illustrates their determined error. Because we have it on good authority in Psalms that (#4150 mo’edim or “seasons”) specifically means “lunar appointed time.”

He appointed the moons for seasons [#4150 mo’edim – appointed times of assembly]. . . Psalms 104:19

All humanity had to do was to look up into the starry shamayim (heavens) for the full moon to arise in the east as the real New Moon and commence the monthly count of dates and monthly count of weeks. This will never be possible with a human-made counterfeit system. But further still any given night, the lunar phase tells you where you are in the month, whether the first week, second, third, or fourth week and then tells you which day of that week, in approximation.

What becomes apparent from the Hebrew definitions above, in connection with the Scripture verses below, is that the seventh-day Sabbath is indeed also a “sign.” The implication of this is that the Sabbath, which punctuates the seven-day week of creation, is, after all, reckoned by numbering from New Moon day (LIGHT), making it a lunar Sabbath. In contrast, there is no mention in Genesis, or anywhere else in Scripture, that the Sabbath is reckoned by an unbroken cycle of weeks since creation. The continuous week cycle is wholly divorced from the sun, moon, and stars, in contrast to what Yahuah Alahim specifically declares that it was to be SIGNALED BY HIS LIGHTS (Genesis 1:14).

Notice it is the Almighty Father speaking. He is the one who preordained the Sabbath to be “a sign.” Is it, therefore, conceivable that the “signs” referred to in Genesis 1:14 are associated with days and years? It may be eternally linked to “the week” ending with a “Sabbath?”

Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign (#226 oth) between them and Me, that they might know that I am [Yahuah] who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised my judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Ezekiel 20:12-13 NKJV

I am [Yahuah your Alahim]: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign (#226 oth) between Me and you, that you may know that I am [Yahuah your Alahim] Ezekiel 20:19-20 NKJV

They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs (#226 oth); you make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. Psalms 65:88 NKJV

Your enemies roar in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their banners (counterfeit wall calendars with continuous weekly cycles) for signs (#226 oth). Psalms 74:4

We do not see our signs (#226 oth); there is no longer any prophet; nor is there any among us who knows time (#5704 `ad).

Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; do not be dismayed at the signs (#226 oth), of the (#8064 shamayim – revolving celestial bodies) for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile… Jeremiah 10:2-3 NKJV

Is it possible that in the Eternal Father’s great wisdom, these terms were encoded on purpose and connected to clues that would later be re-discovered?

The New Moon and the Lunar Month

All will agree that there has never been a day on Earth that was disassociated from the sun, whether it was visible or not. Yet, the sun rises and sets with no apparent visible change marking one day as different or unique from the next. But many are unaware that among the principles that rule time, it is the moon together with the stars by night that defines each monthly calendar date, as both the terms “month” and “mo’ed’” (#4150) are connected to the moon. The sun determines when the day begins and ends, but the moon demarcates each day’s “date” with its unique lunar phase as counted or numbered from New Moon day. This is because the moon has two unique attributes that distinguish one day from another. These are its 29.5 lunar phases that occur each month, but then in combination with these, are its longitudinal positions in the sky. Lunar phases change daily. Beginning with the full moon as the actual New Moon rises in the east. This is followed by fourteen waning phases until entirely dark, then 14 waxing phases until full again.

“And then the MOON, ever punctual to mark the times, [as] 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 [the shamayim].” Ecclesiasticus 43:6-8, c.a. 19-180 B.C.

The terms “New Moon” (#2320) and “lunar month” (#2320) are interchangeable, as both are intrinsically connected to the term “lunar month,” which is derived from the word “moon.” The full New Moon refers to the specific first phase of the moon or month, whereas the term “lunar month” includes all moon or month phases in their order from 1-30. These phases change daily in a pattern consistent with their longitudinal positions in the sky. The full New Moon is simply the first lunar phase that appears in its fullness prior to being divided by portions of darkness, first by waning phases until total darkness is achieved, and then in the waxing phases that build in their light back towards full. The full New Moon appears at sunset on the eastern horizon and shines the whole night from east to west. Once it is seen, the shofar is blown, announcing the next daylight is New Moon day. Psalms 81:3.

In the Oxford English Dictionary clip below, the term “month” is defined as – “A measure of time corresponding to the period of revolution of the moon.” Notice also the similarity in spelling between the Genesis 1:14 word “mo’ed” (#4150) and the variations of the word “month” through history in different languages. Who would have thought that this verse in Genesis is defining all the creator’s units of time, which in addition to “days and years,” by default would include months (mo’ed #4150) and their corresponding Sabbaths (‘oth #226)? What might be the implications? It would imply that not only the days and the years are defined by the sun, moon, and stars, but also the weeks, Sabbaths, and months. As a result, both months and Sabbaths would be determined and fixed to the moon and numbered from New Moon day. Therefore all units of time would be consistently identified by the orchestration of the sun, moon, and stars and not according to a diverse set of time measures, as some suggest (Deuteronomy 25:13-15). But is there evidence of this?

The term “New Moon” and “lunar month” (Chodesh #2320) are used interchangeably throughout Scripture. Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon defines this same word correctly in three ways: a) New Moon; b) the first day of the month; c) a lunar month. While the term “Sabbath” is recorded approximately 150 times in Scripture, the term “New Moon” or “lunar month” is recorded nearly 300 times. Modern Bible translators have chosen to translate (Chodesh #2330) as a “month” without the lunar designation. Might this be proactively done to disentangle it from all ties to the moon so that it can even appear to fit the Roman kalend month paradigm of January – December that have NO ties to the sun, moon, or stars? Absolutely!

The Sacrifice Factor

In comparing the two Scripture verses below, it is discovered that there was more than twice the number of sacrifices to be performed by Yasharal (Israel) on New Moon Days than on seventh-day Sabbaths. This demonstrates the great value the Almighty Father places upon His Holy appointed New Moon Days, but most pragmatically, it identifies the distinction made between New Moon Days and Sabbath days. There is simply no overlapping ever! New Moon Days are day one of the lunar months, while the seventh-day Sabbaths are day seven of each of the four cycling weeks, each with its own list of sacrifices. The only overlapping that is inherent among the sacrifices is that the daily sacrifices occur on each day of the month, including New Moon Days and Seventh-day Sabbaths.

On the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink offering . . . Numbers 28:9 NKJV

At the beginnings of your [lunar #2320] months you shall present a burnt offering to the Yahuah: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish; 12 three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull . . . Numbers 28:11 NKJV

Two or Three Kinds of Days?

Ezekiel 46:1 defines with a “thus says Yahuah” that He, the Creator, ordained three kinds of days which are named and have a specific function. Notice below that the “east gate” of the temple, being open or closed for worship, actually defines that these days can never overlap. A day is either a workday or a worship day, and never both. There is no guesswork here. New Moon days will never fall on workdays, just as Sabbaths can never fall on workdays. Likewise, New Moon days can never be seventh-day Sabbaths because the New Moon day must always be the first day of the month and never the seventh day of anything. It can only be the day following the visible full moon sighting. Notice in the following verse are the words of Yahuah, Himself.

Because the moon had been removed from the month and week by Julius Caesar, and later when Constantine changed the “week” from eight days to seven days, he continued the use of its unique attribute of two kinds of days that cycled without end, with no New Moon Day. Consequently, since Genesis 1 also identified only two kinds of days, 1) workdays and 2) Sabbaths, most of the world quickly bought into the “continuous-weekly-cycle theory,” as the two appeared to be in sync. However, with diligent research into Biblical timekeeping, it becomes apparent that the Creator ordained three kinds of days in contrast to only two kinds of days.

It is the “New Moon Day,” that is the third kind of day, which is not mentioned in the Genesis 1 account. Because there are only two kinds of days identified in Genesis 1, it was easy to believe Roman propaganda that her week, with its continuous weekly cycle, was in harmony with that of Creation. Yet, this is the SUPREME DECEPTION! When the New Moon day, the third kind of day, is placed in position, the week cycle containing two kinds of days is broken every month within 29 or 30 days.

As a result, every date identified in Scripture is consistently counted from the New Moon day, including the seventh-day Sabbaths, as their cycle starts and stops according to each month’s refreshing by the New Moon. This “lost time principle,” now restored, signals that all seventh-day Sabbaths occur consistently throughout Scripture, upon the 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd,and 29^th of each lunar month.

Test this for yourself. If you look at your modern wall calendar, you will find that the New Moon day often falls on workdays as it appears to float through the man-made month. This is a wake-up call that the modern calendar used to define work days and Sabbaths is an impostor, as it runs contrary to the criteria of the sacred Scriptures. By default, your “wall calendar” has been telling you the seventh-day Sabbath is Saturday when this is just another lie of Rome. You and your entire church are not alone, as we have all fallen into this pit of deception, which was prophesied in Revelation 13:3, “And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”

As S.D.A.’s, we always thought the Mark of the Beast would apply to the other denominations, as keeping Saturday was the antidote to receiving the “Sunday” MARK. Yet, this is the grandest of all deceptions. Strikingly, if we believed this, we would be declaring John the Revelator to be a liar, as the verse definitively states, “ALL the world marveled and followed the beast.” This includes Adventists and Jews.

Also, notice that the modern calendar reference to the New Moon defines the completely dark occulted lunar phase as New Moon. Scripture tells a different story in which the full moon is the original and true New Moon. Refer to the article, Announcing an Official Paradigm Shift.

Constantine and the Week

Caesar Augustus, more commonly referred to as Constantine, in A.D. 321-325, established a new and uniquely stylized solar planetary calendar. This was the first step necessary for the development of His new religion (Christianity) and worship rhythm crafted outside the boundaries of Scriptural constraints. Yet, all the while appearing to honor the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of our Messiah. From the black and white marble halls of Rome, it was fashioned and realized at the five-year summit meeting of the notorious Council of Nicaea.

Upon this premise, the presumed “repulsive and revolting” Scriptural astro-luni-solar calendar of the Jews was taken captive and replaced with the pagan solar calendar as a tribute to Constantine’s newly honored Roman god, “IESUS CHRISTUS,” translated from the Greek “Iesous Christos.” Neither translation was interested in carrying forward the Messiah’s actual Hebrew name of YAHUSHA HAMASHIACH, “the only name under the shamayim (heaven) whereby we must be saved.”

Together, the solar-only planetary calendar and the introduction of His new god became Rome’s ready replacements of Yahusha, the true Messiah, along with His pre-ordained worship rhythm throughout Scripture. Even the day He died for you and me was on Passover, the 14th of the month, when the dark conjunction lunar phase was in the sky by daylight, causing a total solar eclipse. This was Earth’s darkest hour. For both, the sun and moon were dark, as if in mourning.

Many other doctrines were spawned at that council, including the Trinitarian doctrine and Easter. Each was a replacement theology of the Roman pagan kind. All that was left to do was to sell them to the world. And for those who weren’t buying, they utilized force under the penalty of death. Thus it was that the planetary week with its unending cycle, wholly divorced from the moon, replaced the Scriptural week, which had previously always been fixed to the count from one New Moon to another.

In 321 A.D., Constantine, emperor of Rome . . . by civil enactments made “the venerable day of the Sun,” which day was then “notable for its veneration,” the weekly rest day of the empire . . . The enforcement of the weekly observance of Sunday gave official recognition to the week of seven days and resulted in the introduction of it into the official civil calendar of Rome. The Romans passed that calendar down to us, and in it we have still the ancient planetary titles of the days of the week. Odom, op. cit., p. 243-244, emphasis supplied.

When the historical and time-centric facts of the Julian/Gregorian calendar are comprehended, it becomes apparent that Sunday is not the only false worship day established upon paganism. Saturday dies Saturni is also a counterfeit and bogus worship day. The mere fact it is the seventh day of the fraudulent modern Roman week sets it in opposition to the actual lunar seventh-day Sabbath of Scripture. By extension, both Saturday and Sunday are the fruit of a dishonest, human-made calendar system that is built upon the premise of only two kinds of days instead of three. As a result, neither Saturday nor Sunday can be the true Scriptural Sabbath. Read more on Three Kinds of Days.

So now let me ask you— is there weighty evidence that the continuous weekly cycle was fabricated by man and not ordained by the Creator? Yes.

What Really Happened at the Council of Laodicea?

We were also taught to believe that the Council of Laodicea, Canon 29 stated that the Christians shall not be idle on Saturday and that this is when Sabbath 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

According to Karl J. von Hefele, a Catholic bishop, in his History of the Councils of the Church from the Original Documents, states 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

At the time the Julian calendar was being enforced upon the early believers for religious purposes, absolutely no one confused the word Sabbato with dies Saturni. Simply everyone at that time recognized these to be unique names for two separate days, as found on two distinctly different calendar systems. 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 the Jews adopted it 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.

These . . . eventually led Jewish rabbis to call Saturn “Shabbti,” “the star of the Sabbath.” It was not until the first century of our era, when the planetary week had become an established institution, that the Jewish Sabbath seems always to have corresponded to Saturn’s Day [Saturday]. Rest Days, p.244 by Hutton Webster

This planetary week was paganism’s counterfeit of the true, Biblical week instituted by the Creator in the beginning of earth’s history. In the counterfeit week employed in ancient paganism “the venerable day of the Sun” was esteemed by the heathen above the other six days because it was regarded as sacred to the Sun, the chief of the planetary deities . . . Just as the true Sabbath is inseparably linked with the Biblical week, so the false Sabbath of pagan origin needed a weekly cycle. Thus we have found that the planetary week of paganism is Sunday’s twin sister, and that the two counterfeit institutions were linked together … Odom, op. cit., p. 243-244, emphasis supplied.

We have all been naïve victims of Roman propaganda, an altogether familiar echo from the prophetic word identifying that “ALL the world would follow after the Beast” (Revelation 13:3). This in no way alludes to only some of the world, but ALL. We can now see how this does NOT EXCLUDE Seventh-day Adventists, WWCOG, or the Jews, as Saturday CANNOT be the Seal of Yahuah or an antidote to receiving the MARK OF THE BEAST, but in contrast, is itself a SIGN or MARK of the BEAST.

Once presented with principles from Scripture, we are able to see a fuller picture and make an informed decision to either remain captives of the Beast Power via the man-made calendar system or use the keys of the Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar to unlock the bars to our freedom and enter through the East Gate (Ezekiel 46:1-3) into His Eternal Kingdom, before it’s too late.

We have the choice to continue to cling to a pagan “Saturday” Sabbath theory that highlights a purported week that cycles without end since creation, which cannot be supported by Scripture, history, or astronomy, either by name or by its rhythm. We have the option to remain content with the tradition of Sunday sacredness. Still, according to the facts, both Saturday and Sunday signal the rhythm of the fraudulent calendar and falsified week cycle Beast System and are a sure-fire ticket to receive its Mark. Scripture is the revealer of the lunar Sabbath truth, and both astronomy and history support it. Have you ever considered that it may be that the calendar you choose determines who you worship and, by default, will define your future destiny?

The Evidence Summary

All of the Creator’s principles of time are defined according to the sun, moon, and stars. Genesis 1:14, Ezekiel 46:1
Sabbaths = signs (#226 ‘oth). Ezekiel 20:12-13, Ezekiel 20:19-20
Lunar appointed time = seasons (#4150 mo’ed). Genesis 1:14 and Psalms 104:19.
The Creator’s months are lunar according to Strong’s Concordance, Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, the Oxford English Dictionary, and Exodus 12:1-3.
If knocked unconscious and stranded on a deserted island, you would never know when Saturday or Sunday occurred. But using the Creator’s Calendar with its sun, moon, and stars, it is a piece of cake to understand both the day of the month and week within 24 hours.
There are three kinds of days each month, and not just two. It is the New Moon day that breaks the cycle of weeks each month. Ezekiel 46:1
The Creator’s calendar dates are counted from the visible “full” New Moon. Exodus. 12:1-3; Leviticus 23:5-39, Ezekiel 46:1, 1 Chronicles 23:30-32
The Creator’s Sabbaths are counted from the New Moon. Exodus 12:1-3; Leviticus 23:5-39, Ezekiel 46:1, 1 Chronicles 23:30-32
The Creator’s astro-luni-solar calendar months contain four seven-day weeks. Exodus. 12:1-3, Leviticus 23:5-39, Ezekiel. 46:1, 1 Chronicles 23:30-32

Question 1b

**What about the Israelite Calendar? Was it astro-luni-solar? 5 points**