|"If I shut up the heavens and there is no rain; if I command the locusts to ravage the land; or if I let loose pestilence against My people, when My people, who bear My name, humble themselves, pray, and seek My favor and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear in My heavenly abode and forgive their sins and heal their land." II Chronicles 7:13-14|
Note: Scriptures are quoted in blue
The new moon is another way that ETERNAL choses
as a means of separating those who will obedient to Him.
by Charles J. Voss
Keeping the Sabbath makes us different, but we are not alone. There are Jewish folk, Adventists, and people from the various ex-Armstrong groups all seemingly doing the same thing--keeping the Sabbath. From that level of obedience, ETERNAL moves us to another level of separation--keeping the Scriptural Calendar. If you accept the very clear evidence that ETERNAL spells out in the Hebrew Scriptures Old Testament or Tanakh, you will know when the new Full Moon is and when the feasts and festivals are. However, only a very few people will see and understand the importance of keeping HIS feasts and HIS festivals at HIS appointed times.
I am sure we all understand that the people of Israel had a lunar calendar. The movement of the moon in the sky indicated the months and years. In that wonderful time before clocks and appointment diaries, the people of Israel knew when the most important events of their year were to take place. The Torah has clearly spelled out the beginning of the New Year. The New Year begins on the first Full Moon after the barley sprouts and is green in Israel. The feasts and the fast are all determined by the Full Moon.
The Full Moon rises in the east. Why do you think, in Ezekiel’s prophecy of the Third Temple (Ezekiel 46:1-12), the East Gate of the Temple will be opened on the day of the New Moon? The answer is because then we can watch through the Temple gate and see the Full Moon rise!
It is possible to tell in advance which day the New Full Moon will occur, so that we can prepare our celebrations (1 Samuel 20:5-26). Those who look for a non-moon (dark of the moon) or a pagan crescent sliver of light in the sky only know after the event that it happened.
Unfortunately, when the Jews fell into the error of looking for the sliver of light in the sky, people no longer understood how to determine the occurrence of the Full Moons and consequently the new year and feasts. By observing the sliver of light in the sky it required a committee to decide when the new month began, thus, setting themselves up as the authority. Today, rabbis are looked to as the authority on the new moon instead of ETERNAL. Even though, all through time, revelation of ETERNAL’s Will has been made clear and precise in the Tanakh and He has never authorized a mediator to alter His Word. Those who refuse to follow ETERNAL’s Way have fallen into a heathenry pagan life-style that does not conform to ETERNAL’s Instructions. We are required to listen to ETERNAL and to obey ETERNAL. Rebellion to His Word and Will is SIN.
Listen to what ETERNAL states...
Isaiah 1:14. “...My soul detests your New Moons and your appointed times; they have become a burden upon Me; I am weary of bearing them?
It is because the first day of their month is not established by the Full Moon; therefore, they are not keeping His Appointed Times. Furthermore, if any of us are not using ETERNAL’s new Full Moons to set His Appointed Times, then it is a burden to Him and He is weary of bearing it. Do you think that a person who takes ETERNAL’s Rules and twists them to conform to their own way is pleasing Him? Obviously, the answer is “NO!” ETERNAL does not accept “a near miss” as being good enough. It does not please Him if we keep the feast but miss the appointed day by a few weeks or even just a few days.
It is not acceptable to the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE for us to have our own calendar, our own dates, and our own festivals. You read that already! He detests OUR New Moons and OUR appointed times. ETERNAL expects our love, worship, and obedience. He will absolutely not accept anything less!
The Midianites wore gold crescent moon symbols. Gideon took those symbols and melted them down to make an ephod of gold turning those pagan symbols into a symbol on the outer garment of the High Priest. Even using the gold of the crescent moon idols to make an ephod became a snare to Gideon because all Israel played the harlot with it. This shows that ETERNAL not only detests using the crescent moon to determine dates He also detests these pagan symbols even if they are made into a righteous symbol.
People who use the non-moon or the crescent moon as a symbol or as a means of calculating the days of the ETERNAL are in error. They continue today in the fatalistic steps of the ancient Midianites by integrating the crescent moon into their lives and a modern innovation of using a non-moon is equally as bad.
Those of us who love and obey ETERNAL will make His Ways our priority. We will prove all things for ourselves, determine precisely what the Scriptures say, and then conform to HIS Way.