Counting of Sabbath days

[just-me]

From what I read in scripture, the first day of every month is a new moon. Ezekiel 46:1-3 confirms the first day of every month, each month beginning with a new moon, is a Sabbath day. This seems to make sense because the 15th and 22nd of the 7th month are Sabbath days. During Jesus' days it appears there were more than 4 Sabbath days. If the first of every month was a Sabbath day, according to the mentioned scripture, the month that Jesus was crucified would have had 9 Sabbath days, 5 from the new moon and 4 by the weekly count.

Ezekiel 46:1-3
1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh 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 .
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth ; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
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.

So my questions are these: Do the Biblical weekly Sabbaths begin with every month with a new moon, or are only the feast days calculated by the new moons?
Did the weekly Sabbaths become tradition after the exile of Israel?

I can find no record of weekly Sabbaths being observed or differentiating from the new moon cycle in the Old Testament. There is in the New Testament, however, the following.

Luke 23:54-56
54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after , and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Genesis 1:14 And God said , Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

According to Leviticus 23:39 compared with Exodus 16:1 and 25 these days can be divided by 7. From the 22nd of Lyar through the 22nd of Tishri there are 147 days. Both are Sabbath days if calculating the Sabbaths by the new moons of each month. 21 X 7=147

The 26th of September was the 1st day of Tishri according to the new moon even though I know that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this year on the 25th according to the calendar. (A traditional Jewish new year that isn't Biblical.) That would make the 22nd of Tishri a Sabbath day being Friday the 17th of October.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

 

[JimmieD]

So my questions are these: Do the Biblical weekly Sabbaths begin with every month with a new moon, or are only the feast days calculated by the new moons?
Did the weekly Sabbaths become tradition after the exile of Israel?

I can find no record of weekly Sabbaths being observed or differentiating from the new moon cycle in the Old Testament. There is in the New Testament, however, the following.

There was use of a solar calendar/cycle at some time(s) in ancient Israel as well, though it seems it was probably not as widespread or popular. There was a group of Jews in the Second Temple period, probably after the Maccabean Revolt, who used a solar calendar as well. Use of a solar, rather than lunar or luni-solar calendar, would result in different Sabbaths between the calendars.

The use of a solar calendar in the bible can be seen in Gen 7-8 and the Book of Daniel.

 

[just-me]

There was use of a solar calendar/cycle at some time(s) in ancient Israel as well, though it seems it was probably not as widespread or popular. There was a group of Jews in the Second Temple period, probably after the Maccabean Revolt, who used a solar calendar as well. Use of a solar, rather than lunar or luni-solar calendar, would result in different Sabbaths between the calendars.

The use of a solar calendar in the bible can be seen in Gen 7-8 and the Book of Daniel.

From what I have read, the solar calendar was not used concerning the calculations of Sabbaths, but it was used to calculate years and to know when a year needed 13 months instead of 12. Thanks

 

[Sola_Scriptura]

just-me, while your seeking knowledge is commended, what is your ultimate goal regarding this question? Are you trying to determine the time of the Annual Sabbaths so that you can observe them? I am curious.

God Bless

 

[Joidevivre]

Why, oh why, don't you just relax into the Sabbath rest we have in Christ - where we have ceased from works and come under His grace....

So much simpler to just make every day into a Sabbath with our Lord, and rest one day a week for your own health - emotionally and physically.

 

[KohenMatt]

From what I read in scripture, the first day of every month is a new moon. Ezekiel 46:1-3 confirms the first day of every month, each month beginning with a new moon, is a Sabbath day. This seems to make sense because the 15th and 22nd of the 7th month are Sabbath days. During Jesus' days it appears there were more than 4 Sabbath days. If the first of every month was a Sabbath day, according to the mentioned scripture, the month that Jesus was crucified would have had 9 Sabbath days, 5 from the new moon and 4 by the weekly count.

Ezekiel 46:1-3
1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh 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 .
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth ; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
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.

Personally, I don't see Ezekiel stating that the New Moon is a Sabbath, just that the temple is to be opened on these days, as well as the Sabbath. Also, God never set up the New Moon as a Sabbath in the Law, so I doubt He would have changed it here.

So my questions are these: Do the Biblical weekly Sabbaths begin with every month with a new moon, or are only the feast days calculated by the new moons?
Did the weekly Sabbaths become tradition after the exile of Israel?

I think only the Feast Days are calculated by the New Moons. While there is no record of a 7th day Sabbath being kept prior to the Law, it fits within God's nature that it did and that the patriarchs did, but the Law made it official.

Coincidentally, there seems to be a small movement among Sabbath keepers that the 7th day Sabbath changes in relationship to the New Moon. So whenever there is a New Moon, that starts a new 7-day cycle, which would change the Sabbath from a consistent Saturday to a ever-changing rotation.

 

[Joidevivre]

Why, oh why, don't you just relax into the Sabbath rest we have in Christ - where we have ceased from works and come under His grace....

So much simpler to just make every day into a Sabbath with our Lord, and rest one day a week for your own health - emotionally and physically.

This also puts the focus completely on Jesus - and not on the fact that WE have figured out the right day and are doing it right.

 

[just-me]

just-me, while your seeking knowledge is commended, what is your ultimate goal regarding this question? Are you trying to determine the time of the Annual Sabbaths so that you can observe them? I am curious.

God Bless

I supposed it was spurned by Sabbath observances of the feasts and also continuous arguing (in the past) about when the weekly Sabbath is. I repeat Daniel 7:25. "And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."

The Biblical calendar is centered on the lunar cycle, and the Gregorian calendar is centered on the solar cycle. The solar cycle adds another month every 3 or 4 years according to the moon cycle that is predominant.

 

[just-me]

Why, oh why, don't you just relax into the Sabbath rest we have in Christ - where we have ceased from works and come under His grace....

So much simpler to just make every day into a Sabbath with our Lord, and rest one day a week for your own health - emotionally and physically.

That is a very good point also according to Hebrews 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

 

[just-me]

Personally, I don't see Ezekiel stating that the New Moon is a Sabbath, just that the temple is to be opened on these days, as well as the Sabbath. Also, God never set up the New Moon as a Sabbath in the Law, so I doubt He would have changed it here.

I think only the Feast Days are calculated by the New Moons. While there is no record of a 7th day Sabbath being kept prior to the Law, it fits within God's nature that it did and that the patriarchs did, but the Law made it official.

Coincidentally, there seems to be a small movement among Sabbath keepers that the 7th day Sabbath changes in relationship to the New Moon. So whenever there is a New Moon, that starts a new 7-day cycle, which would change the Sabbath from a consistent Saturday to a ever-changing rotation.

Thank you. Even so, as I mentioned in the OP, the first Sabbath in Exodus 16 of the 2nd month correlate perfectly with the Sabbaths of the 7th month during the fast of tabernacles.

Leviticus 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

According to Leviticus 23:39 compared with Exodus 16:1 and 25 these days can be divided by 7. From the 22nd of Lyar through the 22nd of Tishri there are 147 days. Both are Sabbath days if calculating the Sabbaths by the new moons of each month. 21 X 7=147

 

[john832]

From what I read in scripture, the first day of every month is a new moon. Ezekiel 46:1-3 confirms the first day of every month, each month beginning with a new moon, is a Sabbath day. This seems to make sense because the 15th and 22nd of the 7th month are Sabbath days. During Jesus' days it appears there were more than 4 Sabbath days. If the first of every month was a Sabbath day, according to the mentioned scripture, the month that Jesus was crucified would have had 9 Sabbath days, 5 from the new moon and 4 by the weekly count.

Ezekiel 46:1-3
1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh 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 .
2 And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth ; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
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.

So my questions are these: Do the Biblical weekly Sabbaths begin with every month with a new moon, or are only the feast days calculated by the new moons?

I bet you already know the answer...

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Nowhere in any description of the weekly Sabbath is the moon involved in determining it. It is the seventh day of the weekly cycle.

Did the weekly Sabbaths become tradition after the exile of Israel?

Complicated question, what do you mean tradition?

I can find no record of weekly Sabbaths being observed or differentiating from the new moon cycle in the Old Testament. There is in the New Testament, however, the following.

Luke 23:54-56
54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after , and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

The Sabbath described here is a high day, the First Day of Unleavened Bread, not the weekly Sabbath.

56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

They worked on this day, Friday, and then rested on the (weekly) Sabbath. What Sabbath is according to the Commandment?

Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The seventh day, weekly Sabbath.

Genesis 1:14 And God said , Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

According to Leviticus 23:39 compared with Exodus 16:1 and 25 these days can be divided by 7. From the 22nd of Lyar through the 22nd of Tishri there are 147 days. Both are Sabbath days if calculating the Sabbaths by the new moons of each month. 21 X 7=147

The 26th of September was the 1st day of Tishri according to the new moon even though I know that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated this year on the 25th according to the calendar. (A traditional Jewish new year that isn't Biblical.) That would make the 22nd of Tishri a Sabbath day being Friday the 17th of October.

Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

There is a difference between the weekly Sabbaths and the annual Sabbaths (the Feast Days).

 

[just-me]

There is a difference between the weekly Sabbaths and the annual Sabbaths (the Feast Days).

This is true according to the New Testament writings. I suppose that there might be a scripture in the Pentateuch stating that a weekly Sabbath is kept outside of the moon cycle, but I haven't read anything to confirm why there was a difference between the weekly and the feastly (making up words here LOL) Sabbaths. I find nowhere in the Bible that there was a commandment given to divide these 2 observances? Even so, it is evident that the New Testament give both during Passover. From what I read the 22nd of Lyar is always the center of the weekly Sabbath day from that point on, but lands on that same day every year. What changed that?

Don't take my question as confrontational. I really appreciate your input.

 

[JimmieD]

Personally, I don't see Ezekiel stating that the New Moon is a Sabbath, just that the temple is to be opened on these days, as well as the Sabbath. Also, God never set up the New Moon as a Sabbath in the Law, so I doubt He would have changed it here.

I think only the Feast Days are calculated by the New Moons. While there is no record of a 7th day Sabbath being kept prior to the Law, it fits within God's nature that it did and that the patriarchs did, but the Law made it official.

Coincidentally, there seems to be a small movement among Sabbath keepers that the 7th day Sabbath changes in relationship to the New Moon. So whenever there is a New Moon, that starts a new 7-day cycle, which would change the Sabbath from a consistent Saturday to a ever-changing rotation.

Though I don't fall in the category of the small movment of Sabbath keepers you mention (I don't really care what days people take a break from work), it seems to me that the Hebrew lunar calendar began each month on the new moon and every 7 days following was a sabbath. This is based on (a) the calendrical system that seems to be assumed by Lev 23, (b) comparative studies where the Babylonian lunar calendar and sabbath operated the in a similar fashion (c) other passages where parallelism seems to connect Sabbath with New Moons and/or New Moons and Sabbaths are strongly associated with one another: Eze 45:17, 46:1-3; Is 1:13, 66:23; Amos 8:5; Hos 2:11...

This ancient lunar calendar didn't have "ever-changing" Sabbaths either, since "ever-changing" assumes some calendar other than the lunar one. Given this particular lunar calendar, the Sabbaths are consistently, and unchangingly, occuring every 7th day after the New Moon Sabbath. The Sabbaths only "change" or "shift" if you start using another calendrical system, which the Israelites eventually did at some/various points in their history. For example, if I start using a solar calendar or hybrid luni-solar calendar, and then if I follow the perscription of Sabbaths being every 7 days after the new moon, it will appear that the Sabbath is roving somewhat randomly through the days of the week. However, if I use the stricly lunar calendar, the Sabbaths always occur on the 7th day beginning with the New Moon.

 

[Sola_Scriptura]

Why, oh why, don't you just relax into the Sabbath rest we have in Christ - where we have ceased from works and come under His grace....

So much simpler to just make every day into a Sabbath with our Lord, and rest one day a week for your own health - emotionally and physically.

I agree that we must rest in Christ. However, I will have to disagree with your last statement. Please prayerfully read the text in the following link.

All the facts about the Christian Sabbath

God Bless.

 

[JimmieD]

I bet you already know the answer...

Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Nowhere in any description of the weekly Sabbath is the moon involved in determining it. It is the seventh day of the weekly cycle.

Also given a strictly lunar calendar, the 7th day of the week is a sabbath. Neither of the passages you mention preclude a lunar calendar like this in use.

Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

The Sabbath described here is a high day, the First Day of Unleavened Bread, not the weekly Sabbath.

At some point in Israelite history, they stopped using a strictly lunar calendar and adopted a hybrid luni-solar calendar (at some point, someone was using a strictly solar calendar given the datings in Gen 7-8). If you're using a lunar calendar like that of ancient Israel, there is no need for High Sabbaths in addition to weekly Sabbaths because the feasts coincide nicely with the Sabbaths in Lev 23. Only when you deviate from this do you find the necessity to have High Sabbath in addition to weekly Sabbaths. And at some point in Israel's history they did deviate, and so needed to reconcile the festival Sabbaths in Lev 23 with the weekly Sabbaths. The solution adopted by most was to have "High" Sabbaths and weekly Sabbaths. Not all Jews adopted this method though. The Essenes adopted something different where they reconciled the festival Sabbaths to coincide with the weekly Sabbaths on a solar calendar.

There is a difference between the weekly Sabbaths and the annual Sabbaths (the Feast Days).

This difference only needs to exist because Lev 23 assumed a lunar calendar that nobody uses anymore. Assuming a lunar calendar, there is no difference between weekly Sabbaths and festival Sabbaths; they coincide with one another....it's mysteriously almost as if that's what the author of Lev 23 intended.

 

[KohenMatt]

Questions to also consider....

How many instructions are given regarding the importance of the Sabbath?

How many instructions are given regarding the importance of the New Moon?

 

[JimmieD]

Questions to also consider....

How many instructions are given regarding the importance of the Sabbath?

How many instructions are given regarding the importance of the New Moon?

If the New Moon is a Sabbath and every 7th day from the New Moon is a Sabbath, then the instructions are one and the same. There would be no need to write a host of seperate instructions. Doing so would assume a different calendar other than the lunar one in use.

 

[KohenMatt]

There is actually a man in our church is thinking of leaving the church because he thinks we celebrate the New Moon on the wrong day, and thus celebrated the recent Feast of Trumpets on the wrong day.

We're trying to encourage him to press into fellowship, instead of letting a contentious and debatable topic break fellowship.

 

[KohenMatt]

If the New Moon is a Sabbath and every 7th day from the New Moon is a Sabbath, then the instructions are one and the same. There would be no need to write a host of seperate instructions. Doing so would assume a different calendar other than the lunar one in use.

I still don't see Scripture indicating the New Moon is a Sabbath Day.

 

[JimmieD]

There is actually a man in our church is thinking of leaving the church because he thinks we celebrate the New Moon on the wrong day, and thus celebrated the recent Feast of Trumpets on the wrong day.

We're trying to encourage him to press into fellowship, instead of letting a contentious and debatable topic break fellowship.

I would agree with you guys. No need to break fellowship over this.

... come to think of it....how could someone observe the New Moon on the wrong day? It's either there visible in the sky or it isn't. Ha.