Did Yeshua ever indicate when the Sabbath day was? I used to think not, but then an online acquaintance brought to my attention the following gospel accounts, which I now realize clearly indicates a particular day of a month (“chodesh”) to be a Sabbath day.
(NOTE: This is not an argument for a Lunar Sabbath reckoning.)
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Mat 12:1-8 ESV)
One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mar 2:23-28 ESV)
On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Luk 6:1-5 ESV)
These three gospel accounts testify to the fact that on a Sabbath, Yeshua and his disciples were going through the grainfields. The disciples began to pluck heads of grain and the Pharisees asked why they were doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.
First of all, it is not unlawful to pluck heads of grain when walking through someone else’s grainfield. Torah actually makes a point to say this is allowed.
“If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your bag. If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain. (Deu 23:24-25 ESV)
The Pharisees were questioning whether or not this could be done specifically on the Sabbath day. Yeshua responded by calling their attention to what David did when he and his companions were hungry in the account found in 1 Samuel 21.
Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread–if the young men have kept themselves from women.” And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away. (1Sa 21:1-6 ESV)
We learn here that the only available bread was that which was replaced each Sabbath day.
“You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf. And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the LORD. Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the LORD regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD’s food offerings, a perpetual due.” (Lev 24:5-9 ESV)
Given this it appears that the day on which David did this was a Sabbath day. The question is, Do we know when this Sabbath day was?
Looking at the previous chapter we can see that David is fleeing from Saul after it became clear to Jonathan that Saul’s intent was to harm David. Let’s look back at that part of the story…
David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit at table with the king. But let me go, that I may hide myself in the field till the third day at evening. If your father misses me at all, then say, ‘David earnestly asked leave of me to run to Bethlehem his city, for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the clan.’ If he says, ‘Good!’ it will be well with your servant, but if he is angry, then know that harm is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with your servant, for you have brought your servant into a covenant of the LORD with you. But if there is guilt in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your father?”
And Jonathan said, “Far be it from you! If I knew that it was determined by my father that harm should come to you, would I not tell you?”
Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you roughly?”
And Jonathan said to David, “Come, let us go out into the field.” So they both went out into the field. (1Sa 20:5-11 ESV)
First, I need to point out that while most of our Bibles, which are based on the Masoretic Text, say “new moon” in English, the word in Hebrew is “chodesh” (H2320), which simply means “renewal”. But, in the Septuagint, which is a Greek text translated from an earlier Hebrew text, the Greek word is “noumenia” (G3561). This is a form of a compound word for “neos” (new) and “men” (month).
When we study the Hebrew word “chodesh” in the Tanakh, we find there are only 12 chodesh in a year, and the word is most often translated as “month”. Taking this into consideration and the Septuagint’s text with the Masoretic Text, it appears that a more accurate rendering of verse 5 is that David is saying, “tomorrow is the new month”.
And Jonathan said to David, “The LORD, the God of Israel, be witness! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? But should it please my father to do you harm, the LORD do so to Jonathan and more also if I do not disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in safety. May the LORD be with you, as he has been with my father. If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
And Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD take vengeance on David’s enemies.” And Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him, for he loved him as he loved his own soul. (1Sa 20:12-17 ESV)
We see here that Jonathan will sound out Saul’s disposition towards David on the “new month day”, which is “tomorrow” in this scene, and the day after that, which is the “third day” from the present time in this scene.
Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon (new month), and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.” (1Sa 20:18-23 ESV)
It’s a bit unclear as to the reference to “the third day” here since a few verses prior, it appears to be referring to the 2nd day of the chodesh, but a look at this verse in the Septuagint seems to clear it up (plus what we see unfold in the rest of this chapter).
(1Sa 20:19 Brenton Septuagint) And thou shalt stay three days, and watch an opportunity, and shalt come to thy place where thou mayest hide thyself in the day of thy business, and thou shalt wait by that ergab.
If the day that Jonathan is speaking is the day before the new month, staying three days would be “tomorrow” (the new month), the next day (the 2nd day of the chodesh), and the 3rd day (the 3rd day of the chodesh). As we see the events play out, we’ll see that it is on the third day of the chodesh when the arrows are shot.
So David hid himself in the field. And when the new moon (new month) came, the king sat down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, on the seat by the wall. Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. Yet Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, “Something has happened to him. He is not clean; surely he is not clean.”
But on the second day, the day after the new moon (new month), David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”
Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Let me go, for our clan holds a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has commanded me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.”
Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. And Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had disgraced him. (1Sa 20:24-34 ESV)
We see here that on the 1st day of the “chodesh” David wasn’t at the king’s table, and then on the 2nd day of the “chodesh”, he wasn’t there again.
In the morning Jonathan went out into the field to the appointment with David, and with him a little boy. And he said to his boy, “Run and find the arrows that I shoot.” As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the boy came to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?” And Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry! Be quick! Do not stay!” So Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows and came to his master. But the boy knew nothing. Only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go and carry them to the city.” And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The LORD shall be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring, forever.'” And he rose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city. (1Sa 20:35-42 ESV)
Here it is made clear that it is the third day of the “chodesh” when Jonathan indicates it is not safe for David to stay. So David rose and departed. The next verse tells us…
Then David came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David trembling and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” (1Sa 21:1 ESV)
When we read these passages together, it becomes clear that David went to the priest on the 3rd day of the chodesh. It doesn’t state which chodesh it is, but it is clear as to which day of the chodesh it is and Yeshua identifies it as a Sabbath day.
Three Schools of Thought
There are three schools of thought that I am aware of who hold to the testimony of Enoch that there are precisely 364 days in a year, indicating that the Sabbath day falls on the same days of the year, year after year (364 is evenly divisible by 7).
One notion states the first Sabbath day is on the 7th day of the year. I do not agree with this notion since the pattern laid out in Genesis 1-2:3 indicates the luminaries were not put in the heavens to be “for days and years” until the 4th day. How can you have a year starting on the 1st day of the 7-day pattern if there were no luminaries to serve for days and years until the 4th day?
Another notion is that the first Sabbath day is on the 4th day of the year. This is based on the idea that since the luminaries were put in the heavens to be “for days and years” on the 4th day of the 7-day pattern, then that would be the first day of the year. That would mean: 1st day of the year is 4th day of the 7-day pattern; 2nd day of the year is 5th day of the 7-day pattern; 3rd day of the year is 6th day of the 7-day pattern; and 4th day of the year is the Sabbath day.
The third notion is that the first Sabbath day is on the 3rd day of the year. This is based on the fact that the Day of Atonement (10th day of the 7th chodesh) is called a Sabbath in Leviticus 16 and 23, and the 7th day from the 15th day of the 2nd chodesh is called a Sabbath in Exodus 16. When you apply both of these dates as the 7th day of a 7-day pattern, it is revealed that the 5th day of the 7-day pattern is the first day of the year, yielding the first Sabbath to be on “the 3rd day” of the year.
Here is a comparison of these two last calendar models side by side with the 5th day start of the year on the left and the 4th day start of the year on the right. If you notice, only one of the calendar models identifies a Sabbath to be on the third day of the chodesh. It is the one that lines up with Leviticus 16 & 23 and Exodus 16. This is the one I believe to be true.
What say you?
Clearly this study is scriptural support for the third notion that the first Sabbath day is on the 3rd day of the year. The other notion that the first Sabbath day is on the 4th day of the year never has a 3rd day of a chodesh being a sabbath day. Great find Carrie!!! Thanks so much for sharing and continuing to diligently search the scriptures.
This is a very good study. I agree with error in translating month as moon. However, I have been studying the creation calendar of Enoch and must disagree with a fourth or fifth day start from the spring equinox. If a calendar model is expanded to more than one year, it becomes evident the equinoxes cycle through the days of the week as the years progress. This invalidates a fourth or fifth day start and a fixed week. In David’s case, the 364 day year still existed. If so, the two days David hid in the field were the fall equinox, which would have been a weekly Sabbath and a memorial to Noah, as explained by Enoch and Jubilees. The second day would have been the Day of Trumpets. This being two Sabbaths, David would not have embarked on a journey until the third day. The creation calendar of Enoch begins the year on the day following the spring equinox as witnessed by the first Chief of Thousands, the constellation of Aries. From this first day, every seventh day is a weekly Sabbath. The instructions for Passover confirm this as it was instructed the lamb was not to roasted by fire until after nightfall (no kindling fire or cooking on a weekly Sabbath). In David’s 364 day year, the four seasonal marker days also fell on a weekly Sabbath, being every 91st day or the end of every 13th week. This invalidates a fixed week and Saturn’s day Sabbath. Here’s the problem we face today. Something has changed, the time between the markers (equinoxes/solstices) is no longer 90 days and the Chiefs of Thousands, the constellations no longer align. However, the spring feasts and fall feasts can still be counted from the two equinoxes of spring and fall.
Thank you for your comment, Wayne.
I agree that the 364-day year as laid out in Enoch doesn’t seem to line up with a 365-day year, but I believe it is completely supported in the Tanakh.
You said, “..the two days David hid in the field were the fall equinox, which would have been a weekly Sabbath and a memorial to Noah, as explained by Enoch and Jubilees. The second day would have been the Day of Trumpets. This being two Sabbaths, David would not have embarked on a journey until the third day…”
First of all, I do not agree that the equinoxes are weekly Sabbaths.
I believe the **first spring equinox** was **the day when Elohim put lights in the expanse of the heavens to be for signs to mark, for seasons, for days and years**. And the first day of the year was the next day. This would have been the 4th and 5th days of creation, respectively. (It could not have happened prior to this because the luminaries were not put in the heavens until the 4th day.) The 7th day of creation would have been the third day of the year and the 1st Sabbath day. Every seventh day following that would be a Sabbath day.
This is confirmed by the fact that the manna began on the day after the 15th day of the 2nd chodesh (according to Ex 16)…it appeared for six days and on the seventh day there was none. This was called a Shabbath (H7676) unto YHVH; it would have been the 22nd day of the 2nd chodesh…seven sevens from the 3rd day of the year.
Secondly, I do not agree that Yom Teruah is a weekly Sabbath.
The “7th day” spoken of in the Ten Commandments as recorded in Exodus 20 and Deut 5 is referred to as a “shabbath” (h7676). While Yom Teruah is referred to as a “shabbathon” (H7677), it is never called a “shabbath” (H7676). The same goes for the 1st day of Sukkot and the 8th day that follows. However, the Day of Atonement is called a “shabbath”.
This tells me that the Day of Atonement is a “weekly” Sabbath, whereas the other days of holy convocation in the 7th chodesh are not.
This is confirmed by the fact that the 10th day of the 7th chodesh is twenty sevens from the 22nd day of the 2nd chodesh, which is when the manna ceased.
Isha
There is a lot of confusion about terminology, especially using the term Sabbath to describe any of the seven annual appointed times. Even the Jews refer to the first and last days of Unleavened bread as a Sabbath. I think this is why they even confuse themselves into performing the wave sheaf offering on day two of Unleavened Bread, instead of the day after the last day of Unleavened bread.
However, I don’t see how anyone can confuse the Day of Atonement with a weekly Sabbath. Atonement being on the tenth day of the seventh month would make it day 192 of the year and not divisible by seven. Unless you are using a fixed week with it’s Saturn’s day Sabbath.
Where does it say the wave offering is to be after the last day of Unleavened Bread?
Also, if you do a search for “Shabbath” (H7676), you’ll find the Day of Atonement is the only day referred to as such besides the 7th day.
A fixed week does not automatically denote a “Saturn’s day Sabbath”.
Lev. 23 lists the appointed times in sequential order. In describing the seven days of unleavened bread, there is no pause between setting the first and seventh days apart. It describes the wave sheaf offering on the morrow after the Sabbath. Using the calendar of Enoch as described by Enoch, the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is on a weekly Sabbath.
However, there is another explanation found in the Messianic writings of the events of the crucifixion. At his death we are told the tombs of the set apart ones were thrown open. Matt. 27:52
Coming out of their tombs after the resurrection they went into the city and were seen by many. Matt.27:53
Matt. 28 Describes Mary’s visit to the tomb on the first day of the week, after the Sabbath. Again confirming the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a weekly Sabbath. The women were stopped by a man in a garden/field depending on the wording in the scriptures you sue. Turns out, it was the Messiah in the field. He was in the field performing the wave sheaf offering for the resurrected set apart ones as they would be first fruits and quite possibly the 24 elders we read about in Revelations.
Sorry, my mistake. The account of Yahshua in the garden is in John 20:15.
Each of the appointed times which are outlined in Lev 23 are separated with “And YHVH spoke to Moses saying…” There is an interruption between the Feast of ULB and the Feast of Weeks. All of the appointed times are at specific dates in the year except for the Feast of Weeks. That one hinges on the following: “When ye shall enter into the land which I give you, and reap the harvest of it, then shall ye bring a sheaf, the first-fruits of your harvest, to the priest…” (v 10).
It doesn’t specify which “day after the Sabbath”, but it does specify “when ye shall enter the land…and reap the harvest”, so it seems to me it depends on what the harvest is reaped.
From what I understand there is nothing specified in Enoch that indicates the seventh day of ULB is a Sabbath.
Isha,
There are many events relative to the Feast of Weeks. Of those events where the Feast of Weeks is being celebrated, it is done towards the middle of the third month. Using the instructions of Enoch to create a calendar, and using the events of the third month to plot a date when the Wave Sheaf offering should be performed, we find it is done after the days of Unleavened Bread. Using the lunar calendar and the day after the first day of Unleavened Bread, places the Feast of Weeks on or about the first of the third month. I’m not sure how the 4th or 5th day start calendar works. So you should test your calendar to see where your Feast of Weeks ends up.
Wayne, here is a link to the calendar as I understand it: http://messyanic.com/calendar-bookmark.pdf
There are 364 days in a year, 12 chodesh with 30 days in each chodesh with an extra day inserted at the end of each quarter, all laid out in a 7-day repeating pattern.
As you can see the Feast of Weeks is not identified on there since there is no date given for it in Torah. However, if the first of the harvest is brought to the priest during or after the Feast of ULB in the first chodesh, and he waves it on the day after the following Sabbath, when you count seven sevens, it brings you to the third chodesh.
I encourage you to check this out and see how it lines up with Torah.
Isha
I’ve looked at this calendar. Using a fourth or fifth day start presupposes a fixed week which is not scriptural and causes other problems as the date of the spring equinox cycles through the days of the week as years pass. The next problem is the tenth day of the first month falling on the Saturn’s day Sabbath of your fixed week. You will not be able to purchase a lamb, as buying and selling are forbidden on the Sabbath. See the instruction in the margin of the calendar. Since there is no designation for the wave sheaf offering and the Feast of Weeks, I can’t comment on them. Here’s where the real problem comes into play. Using the dates given for the fall equinox (the third leader of the seasons) by such web sites as the U.S. Naval Observatory, NASA, timeanddate.com, etc. the fall equinox is 186 days from the spring equinox. This makes the year lopsided and throws off the proper thirty day monthly count. With this in mind, perhaps we should take a look at Israel’s tradition of having two new years. The civil new year in the spring and the agricultural new year in the fall. Perhaps the calendar should be reset by the fall equinox? The importance of the spring and fall equinox are made evident by the appointed times being measured from them and no other. We know something has happened to alter the days of the year since the time of Enoch, Noah and Moses. Perhaps by resetting the year at the spring and fall equinox we can keep the appointed times in their season and on the days our Father declares as clean days.
I agree with you 100%!!!
Isha,
A lot of folks follow the fourth or fifth day start without giving thought to the rest of the year and the year after. Using a fourth or fifth day start destroys the instructions of Enoch. The four leaders of the seasons come first, these are the equinoxes and solstices. They are followed by the Chiefs of Thousands, the constellations. They are followed by the Captains of three hundred and sixty. This makes a year.
If you use a current calendar and overlay these instructions, you will notice that the equinoxes and solstices cycle through the days of week as the years progress. You will come to a time when the spring equinox is behind the fourth or fifth day on a fixed week calendar. Then you have to wait a week to begin your year. Can you imagine Moses telling Israel “Today is the equinox, ya’ll come back in four or five days and we’ll begin the new year”.
Using the instructions of Enoch. The spring equinox is the first leader of the first season. The leaders of the seasons are not counted in the months, but reckoned in the year. So, day one is the following day which is the first day of the first Chief of Thousands, the constellation of Aries, the Ram. From here we begin our count. Every seventh day is a Sabbath. The ninety first day is the second leader of the seasons, the summer solstice. Being the ninety first day, it’s a multiple of seven and a weekly Sabbath. The four leaders of the seasons are also declared memorials to Noah, per Jubilees. If this wasn’t a weekly Sabbath we would be worshipping Noah.
I understand it’s hard for folks to give up their fixed week and Saturn’s day Sabbath. But the ancients didn’t name their days or months. In fact Judah didn’t name their days or months until they learned it during their exile in Babylon. Coming our of Babylon, we see Judah even naming two of their months after pagan Babylonian gods. Perhaps this is part of the reason why our Father begs us to come out of Babylon and count his days correctly?
Please understand, I do not attempt to claim when the Sabbath day is today, and I don’t ascribe to a “Saturn day Sabbath”…I’ve just been studying and sharing about what Scripture seems to be testifying to. It seems to me that the Sabbaths may be fixed days of the year, meaning if the day of atonement is declared to be a Sabbath, then it is a Sabbath every year. If the 7th day after the 15th day of the 2nd chodesh is a Sabbath in the year of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, then perhaps it is a Sabbath every year.
I also am still learning about the stars’ role in all of this
There is another theory to consider. Yahshua may have followed the solar calendar of the Essenes. I found a web site (which I lost) to calculate the lunar alignment with the solar. This alignment occurs in alternating cycles of eight and eleven years.
Here is a PDF I posted on my Facebook group The Ancient Calendar of Enoch.
Folks assume that since the Messiah was Jewish, he followed the customs and calendar of the time he lived in. Other than events at his birth and a mention of his being in Jerusalem when he was twelve years of age, very little is known about the rest of his life until around the time of the crucifixion.
I’ve been using web sites that calculates the phases of the moon all the way back to year 1 CE. I found the new moon and the spring equinox occurred on the same date in the year 11 CE. This may explain his being in Jerusalem at the age of twelve during one of the annual feast/festivals/appointed meeting times.
Going forward to the last year of his life we read of the conflict between him and the Pharisee. The Pharisee made many accusations against him for healing on the Sabbath. We are told of his reading the Torah on the Sabbath. But, was it really his Sabbath? Besides, what’s the harm in dropping by to visit whether it’s a Sabbath you observe or not?
Although it may have been the recognized Sabbath of the Pharisee, was it the Sabbath kept by the Messiah. It’s believed the Messiah may have been keeping the calendar of the Essenes which is the solar calendar of Enoch and the book of Jubilees.
Where all of this comes into focus is the Passover of the crucifixion in the year 30 CE. Using one of the web sites to calculate the moon phases, I find the new moon and the equinox again occurred on the same date in the year 30 CE. This would align the calendar of the Essenes with the calendar of the Jews, causing Passover to be on the same date.
In summation, it may have only appeared the Messiah was following the Jewish new moon calendar and Sabbaths. By the way, the new moon and the spring equinox occur on the same date in March 2015.
Wayne, to address your comment above that started with “Isha, I’ve looked at this calendar. Using a fourth or fifth day start presupposes a fixed week…”
1. There is no “Saturn’s day Sabbath” on the calendar I linked to above. You keep addressing that phrase in all of your comments on this blog, yet I have never referred to “Saturday” anywhere in my posts or comments. Please stop doing so here because you are clouding the issue.
2. Why do you believe a fixed 7-day pattern is not scriptural? I agree “Sunday” through “Saturday” is not scriptural, but don’t you agree a repeating 7-day count seems to exist?
3. Are you saying the counting of sevens (“weeks” in your venacular) starts over each year/equinox/quarter? If there is a need to start the count over each year/quarter, that can still be done on the calendar I linked to above using the pattern laid out in Genesis with the 4th day being the marker day, when the luminaries were put in the heavens to be for signs to mark.
4. The text in Exodus 12 does not say to “purchase a lamb”. It simply says to “take” (H3947 “laqach”) a lamb.
5. You are using the US Naval Observatory, NASA, timeanddate.com, etc. to change Enoch’s testimony. Enoch indicates there are 91 days in each quarter. Perhaps the US Naval Observatory, NASA, timeanddate.com, etc. are not measuring days and nights the same as Enoch, hence the discrepancy in days/quarter.
6. You are suggesting to use the tradition of man to change Moses’ testimony. YHVH indicates to Moses a one time start to the year and throughout the rest of the Tanakh there appears to be twelve enumerated chodesh. There is nothing in Torah that I see to indicate two different “kinds” of years, such as “civil” vs “agricultural”.
7. I agree something happened since the dates given in the Tanakh and today. –> YHVH took His appointed times away from Israel and scattered Israel among the nations. Perhaps instead of manipulating the words of YHVH in order to keep the appointed times (that have been taken from us), we ought to be humbling ourselves, seeking Him and learning from His Word. They are supposed to be *His* appointed times, not ours.
Using the method that you are suggesting, if you start the year with the 7th day of the year as being the Sabbath day, then the days that are specifically identified in Torah as Sabbaths (the day the manna is withheld and the Day of Atonement) are *not* Sabbaths. This is a huge problem, in my view.
The calendar of Enoch, Noah and Moses is 364 days. That works out to 52 weeks. Enoch explains that to properly count the days of the months, the four leaders are excluded in the months but reckoned in the year. By this we do not count the first leader of the season, the spring equinox in the month, so the first day of the new year is the day after. From the first day we count every seventh day as a weekly Sabbath. By this reckoning the four leaders of the seasons are the 91st day of each quarter and always fall on a weekly Sabbath, 91 divided by 7 equals 13 weeks in each quarter. We begin the year on day one of the first week and end the year on day seven of the last week at the spring equinox. The following day begins a new year at day one again.
This system was perfect, but something has changed. Either the dates given by the web sites I listed are wrong, or the time from the spring equinox to the fall equinox has increased by four days and the time from the fall equinox back to the spring equinox has decreased by three days. This makes the first half of the year 186 days and the latter half 179 days. Anyway you format the calendar it will be wrong. Ezekiel 22:26 tells us of clean and unclean days for the appointed times. Since the appointed times are measured from the spring and fall equinoxes, perhaps it’s appropriate to do just that and forgo trying to fit the calendar into the days we have now?
The Day of Atonement is the tenth day of the seventh month. How can this fall on a weekly Sabbath, unless you are keeping the fixed week of the Gregorian calendar? I’m all for finding the truth, but a fourth day or fifth day start is not scriptural.
Wayne, I agree with the first half of your first paragraph. You lost me with “From the first day we count every seventh day as a weekly Sabbath. By this reckoning the four leaders of the seasons are the 91st day of each quarter and always fall on a weekly Sabbath…”
The reason is because when the counting begins like this, the days that are called “Sabbath” in Torah don’t work out to be “weekly” Sabbaths. So either Torah is wrong in calling those days Sabbath or the counting method is wrong. (This time last year I seriously considered that counting method, but I found it lacking in Scriptural support. So I continued searching for understanding.)
If we pay more attention to what happened during the six days of creation, we see that it’s not *just* about the pattern of work 6 days, cease work on the 7th day, but it also tells us specifically what happens on each of those days. Luminaries were put in the heavens to be for: signs to mark, seasons, days and years. This happens on the 4th day.
Wouldn’t you agree that the spring equinox (or whatever the day is that is 6 parts day to 6 parts night, with the sun rising/setting in a particular portal for the last time) is a “leader day” to mark seasons, days and years?
If we consider that day to be the “leader day” and plot it on the 4th day of a 7-day pattern, then the first day of the “year” is the next day, and that is the start of the count of days for the “year”. Following the rest of the pattern, the “third day” of the year/quarter is the first Sabbath. Then every seventh day after that are subsequent Sabbaths. (If you haven’t done so already, I encourage a study on the enumerated days in Scripture…I found it very illuminating. The most popular & significant enumerated day is the “seventh day”; the second most popular & *significant* is the “third day”.)
When we apply this counting method, then the days that are identified in Torah as Sabbaths are indeed Sabbaths…*and* many more days are revealed to be Sabbaths as well.
Regarding “the dates given by the web sites”, we have to keep in mind they are using measurements that are foreign to Scripture (ie base-60 minutes and seconds measurements). Also, how do they determine the start and end to a “day”? Perhaps their measurement is not the same as Enoch’s. Then there’s the whole “daylight savings time” and reckoning a 24-hour “day” from midnight to midnight that are all foreign to Scripture.
We cannot attempt to reconcile what *man says* to what *Torah says* simply because there is too much error in what “man says”. This is why I will not put Gregorian dates to the calendar model I linked to above. For one, I don’t even know how at this point. Rather, I am spending my time and energy learning what *Torah says* and observing the luminaries for myself, all the while staying sensitive to the Spirit of God/Elohim to see *how* they could be fulfilling what Torah (& Enoch) teaches.
In Scripture the Sabbath falls always on the 8., 15., 22. and 29.
There is no other dates then this.
See here: http://www.nccg.org/642Art-SabbathDays.html
Hi Silvan,
I agree the Sabbath falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th in four of the twelve chodeshim of the year (as well as on the 1st), but it appears to fall on other days in the other eight chodeshim according to the Bible.
Yeshua referred to the day that David and his men took the shewbread was on a Sabbath day, and it’s clear that it was on the 3rd day of the “chodesh”. And then Lev 16 & 23 both clearly indicate that the 10th day of the 7th “chodesh” is a Sabbath day.
Shalom Isha, I can’t really see Messiah referring to that day David took the bread as sabbath day.
The sabbath in Lev 16, 23 and other places, which do not fall on the 8., 15., 22. and 29. are yearly feast day sabbaths.
Aside from these there is absolutely no mention nor evidence for a weekly sabbath on another date then those on the 8., 15. and so on.
You refer to a “yearly” Sabbath and a “weekly” Sabbath, yet I see no such distinction made in Torah.
From what I have found there is only the Sabbath (H7676) that happens on the 7th day, and of the yearly holy convocations, there is only one day specifically referred to as a Sabbath (H7676)…that is the Day of Atonement. No other yearly holy convocation is ever referred to as such.
Isha,
I see no real difference between H7677 and H7676. There are weekly, annual Sabbath’s and even Sabbath every 7th (Smittha) and 50th year (Jubilee). Incidently the next biblical year will be a Smittah year.
When you look for example at Exodus 16: Exodus 16 is the first place where the word “Sabbath” is used in Scripture. Here YHWH is speaking to Moses and Aaron on the 15th day of the 2nd month and tomorrow would begin a series of 6 days of manna, followed by a Sabbath. From day 15 add 6 days of manna = 21. Next day (22nd) is the Sabbath. Israel was to collect one portion of manna from the 16th to the 20th and a double portion on the 21st because the morrow was the Sabbath. If the 22nd is a Sabbath, so is the 15th (as well as the 8th and the 29th).
Another example: Exodus 19:1 proves that the children of Israel arrived at Sinai on the 16th day of the third month. Please read the context. In agreement, the Book of Jubilees 1:1 flat out says that Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai on the 16th day of the third month. Moses indicates that the children of Israel rested at Rephidim the 15th of the third month. The root word for Rephidim means “rest” and this passage says that they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai the “same day” of the third month that they left Egypt (two months earlier). If you’ll remember, Israel got as far as Succoth the 15th, and actually left Egypt the on the 16th. Numbers 33:3-6. So Israel arrived at Sinai on the 16th and Moses was immediately summoned up the mount. YHWH told Moses to go back down the mountain and to tell the people to consecrate themselves for on the third day (the 18th) He would come down on the mount in a cloud, Exodus 19:10-11 –today, tomorrow and the third day. If the 18th is the third day, then the 16th is the first day, meaning that they were “resting” in Rephidim on the Sabbath, the 15th, which is the weekly Sabbath.
There are more examples on the link I posted.
Regarding the first day of the month. The first day of the month is always New Moon Day, Rosh Chodesh, and thus can NEVER be a Seventhday Sabbath.
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.
(Ezekiel 46:1 KJV)
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.
(Ezekiel 46:3 KJV)
Newmoonday is not a work day and it is not a Seventhday-Sabbath, but it is a day of assembly and worship and where no commercial activity is allowed.
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?
(Amos 8:5 KJV)
The New Moon sets the beginning of the month:
1Sa 20:5 And David said unto 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 unto the third day at even.
1Sa 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month (CHODESH): for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
Yahweh gave us the creation to determine which days and feast days including the sabbath days:
Gen 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 (hebr. moedim), and for days, and years…
The Sabbath is a moedim, too.
Now, how can you determine by the lights of heaven, if it is a Sabbath Day?
Sorry, I forgot to post the scripture that the Sabbaht is a moedim:
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts (moedim).
Lev 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
I do not believe “chodesh” means “new MOON”. If it did, then that translation should work every time “chodesh” is used, but it doesn’t hence the reason, I believe, it is mostly translated as “month”. It seems to me a more accurate translation would be “renewal”.
In the NT, the Greek word used in Colossians 2:16 translated as “new moon” is “noumenia” (G3561), which is a compound of the words “neos” and “men”. “Neos” means “new”, and “men” means “MONTH”, not “moon”. (“Selene” is the Greek word for moon.) The word “noumenia” is used in the Greek Septuagint in these passages: (Brenton) Exodus 40:2,17; Numbers 10:10; 28:11; 29:6; 1 Samuel 20:5,18; 2 Kings 4:23; 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 29:17; 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Nehemiah 10:33; Psalms 81:3; Isaiah 1:13,14; Ezekiel 23:34;
I tend to wonder if there are only 2 or 4 noumenia, not 12. These noumenia would be either the beginning of the 1st and 7th chodesh or the beginning of the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th chodesh. All of which are not sabbaths (H7676).
Shalom Isha, I really don’t understand where you are coming from but I would like to submit my question again. How can you see from the lights of heaven if it is a sabbath?
At this point, I believe I can tell when the year and four seasons begin by observing the path the greater luminary takes across the sky. If the Sabbaths are determined off these marker days, then it seems to me that it’s a matter of counting sevens after “the third day” of each quarter/season.
Noting the repeated use of “equinox”; do you mean that, or eqilux?
“Equinox” is the generally understood term for when the sun passes over the equator. It is physically observable by the naked eye that the sun rises due east and sets due west on the days of equinox (at least for 2014, it was). I do not know how to physically observe the “equilux”.
I’m glad to find your website. HalleluYH! I thought I was the only one who started the year on the 5th day of the week. I believe this because I know that YHsha died on the 14th day of the first month which falls on the 4th day of the week.
Your work is interesting….
Hi, just wondering. Do you know if bread was offered in the temple daily and not only in the Sabbaths? I need to also reread the verses, but if it was fresh bread, and bread was only prepared on the Sabbaths for the priests, then it would make sense that the third day of that month was a Sabbath. Jesus didn’t actually refer to it as a Sabbath. But I see the connection could exist in the references.
It’s also possible that a chodesh, renewal could last longer than a typical day. This could help the year to be intercalated.
For example, Enoch suggests that the chodesh splits up the seasons and is not officially a day of any month but comes between months. However, it seems that God directed the first day of the seventh month to take on this observance. He never mentioned the other chodesh days directly in terms of Biblical holidays, but he does refer to “new moon days” plural (new month days).
Now, if this observance starts the day/night the sun rises/sets due east, then the sun may sometimes rise/set a couple of days due east depending on where you live. That could be why David and Saul seemed unsure how long the feast would be (two or three days as I recall) beforehand.
It makes sense because different places of the world can’t reckon a day using sunset/sunrise, but rather the return of the sun/stars to their original position in the sky. This, if the sun rises/sets due East for longer than 24 hours, then that “day” is the same day for as long as it takes to move out of that position to start the new part of the year (tekufah). If the moon cycles to the furthest east and that marks the chodesh, then the chodesh doesn’t end until it is out of that position.
The temple was oriented facing due east and people like Daniel prayed due east, morning, afternoon, and evening. So he would always notice what day the equinoxes came on.
It may also be that the calendar rotates in it’s yearly cycles. Just like with Noah’s ark where there seems to be a ten day difference between the 600th and 601st years.
I should add regarding some comments…I don’t see why if the chodesh are only four per year, why they can’t fall on a Sabbath. This could be why God gave no important instructions, because they simply overlap, so Sabbath behavior is fine on a chodesh, no problem.
But someone here said that the lights can’t be used for holidays.
That’s not true. Firstly, the “lights” are not the moon, which rules neither the day or the night. I think everyone seems to be saying the lights refers to the stars. So that’s good.
But in certain places of the world, there is darkness for half the year or less. So the rotational position of the stars, the lights, are used to mark a day. Right? This means both or either the stars and sun can be used for “days” and “seasons.”
Oh, and as engaging as this conversation can be. The article starts with missing something else Jesus says.
He said “the priests are allowed to profane the Sabbath.” Profane means “make common.” Why? Because they are working (working is what was profane) in the temple. For such an important work, to minister in God’s house, they were allowed to work. Jesus said, “But something greater than the temple is here.”
Now, if you believe Jesus died and went away, and so as a “kingdom of priests” we are not allowed to profane the Sabbath, then I can understand how you’re connecting dots, but I disagree that Jesus is just dead and gone. He’s alive and next to the Father, and we the church are his body, the temple.
This verse isn’t sanctioning church workers in buildings to work in a church building. That’s not discerning the body of Christ to be people, not a place.
I believe the way we minister out in the world involves working (for men working in the world, inside/at the home for women or under husband’s authority…ex Priscilla and Aquila). We are not allowed to “work for bread which perishes” meaning days 1-6 are not common working days for us. Neither is day 7.
God wants us to work to take care of our needs, but that is just a facade. We all know it is really Good taking care of our needs and our job is just good measure (showing we aren’t busy bodies) and providing opportunity to reach others at the workplace. Otherwise, we’d be in trouble with Jesus.
Anyway, something greater than the temple was and is here. The priests, which we are, are allowed to profane the Sabbath by working in the temple. The temple is Christ’s body, also there is a heavenly temple that we are already seated in. Therefore, seven days a week, we are to work in the temple, and we are, as we minister the gospel to the world when and wherever we do it.
God is seeking those to worship Him who will worship in spirit and in truth (neither in this mountain, Jerusalem, or that mountain, Samaria).