(May 27, 2010)
Here is an old song that some of you might be familiar with.
New Moon
You shed light in the night
You give me hope of a harvest
You help me chop my crop
You are probably more familiar with the pagan version of this song, Blue Moon. Two full moons in one month, what a ridiculous concept.
There are many songs about the moon in this western culture. Remember Moon River and By The Light Of The Silvery Moon? Other cultures also have songs and stories that relate to the moon. The moon induces romance in some, was used to measure time especially before the paper calendar came into use and it shines light at night.
Today we have lights all over the place to help us see in the dark, in our homes, in our cars and on our streets. We generally don’t pay much attention to the moon anymore.
Nevertheless:
God commands the observance of New Moons.
Please turn to Daniel 7:23-25
Daniel 7:23-25 I’ll be reading from the NIV.
First I want to show you the worlds opposition to God’s commands.
Daniel 7:23,
He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. (This was the Roman Empire.) 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. (so following the Roman Empire we have ten kings, The Vandals, The Heruli, The Ostrogoths, Justinian, Charlemagne, Otto, Charles V, Napoleon, Garibaldy. That makes nine who actually came from this kingdom. There is only one left to come.) After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones (He is different in several ways. He is a Pope. The Papacy believes in the infallibility of the Pope. So it is as if all the Popes who ever ruled continue to do so through all that they said and wrote. The Papacy is as one continuous rule or ruler.); he will subdue three kings. (the three kings that were subdued were the Vandals, the Heruli and the Ostrogoths, midway through the sixth century CE.) 25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. (This is the point that I am emphasizing here, he will try to change the set times. This prophesy spans about fifteen hundred years but culminates in, and finish the verse.) The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. (We know this to be the time of the end. That is the same three and a half years that is mentioned in other places in the Bible and is just ahead of us now. Sir Isaac Newton predicted Christ’s return to be in the year 2050, forty years from now.)
The Papacy has set itself against the Saints oppressing them for many hundreds of years. They changed the Sabbath to Sunday and changed the Holy Days to holidays, changing the law of God. And they tried to change the times by setting the months totally out of synchronization with the lunar cycle by establishing the Gregorian calendar as the standard for the world. Many have consequently been blinded from the truth of God and from observing the Sabbath and the High Holy Days missing out on the understanding of God’s plan for man. Many others were oppressed and even put to death by such measures as the inquisition. During the inquisition, heretics, those who would not yield to Roman ways, would be processed. This applied most particularly to Sabbath and Holy Day keeping Jews and Christians.
The worst is yet to come as a three and a half year period lies ahead when the Saints of the Most High will be given into his hands, as many of your Bibles state, that is into the Popes hands.
In the Gregorian calendar seven months have 31 days. This throws the months completely out of synchronization with the lunar cycles, even to the point of having occasional months begin and end with a full moon, a Blue Moon being the second full moon in the month. Ridiculous.
The length of the lunar cycle is either 29 or 30 days, presently, rounding off to the nearest day. It cannot be anything else and hasn’t been since ancient times when it was 30 days long. It will be restored to 30 days in the future.
God’s holy calendar is a lunar calendar not a Roman Papacy solar calendar. All the High Holy days are set according to this Holy calendar. The moon governs the months in this calendar. It is one of the two world time pieces. The sun to govern the days and the moon to govern the months. Both were created by God for these purposes and are irrefutable to a sensible person. In a lunar calendar the fifteenth day of the month is always a full moon, thus one full moon per month, always.
The most common word for moon in Hebrew is ghoh-desh (Strong’s No. 2320). The one word is translated as either moon or month or new moon depending on it’s application. There is a second Hebrew word for moon. It is yah-reh-agh (Strong’s No. 3394).
In Greek the word for moon is selainai (Strong’s No. 4582) and for month main (Strong’s No. 3376). New Moon is noumeinia (Strong’s No. 3561).
God named the months by numbers 1 through 12. The thirteenth month is not mentioned in the Bible. At least not by that name. All twelve other months are mentioned by number.
The expression ‘New Moon’ in the Bible refers to the beginning of the monthly cycle of the moon. There are differences of opinion on the exact definition of New Moon. UCG follows the Jewish mainline tradition.
New Moons were observed in ancient times as ordered by God. There are several references to this fact in the Bible. I will state one here.
Please turn to Numbers chapter 10: verse 10 (NIV)
Numbers chapter 10: verse 10
Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.
Here we see God himself talking and saying that trumpets should be blown and sacrifices and offerings made on the New Moons, all the New Moons. Many translations say on the first day of your months. This proves that there is no confusion as to what the New Moon represents, it is the first day of the month.
So you can see that;
God commands the observance of New Moons and that the New Moon establishes the first day of the month.
The observance of these days mentioned, the New Moons and the annual or appointed Feasts, the High Holy Days, is to be done into perpetuity or as long as you are able.
There are some who think that the New Moons should be treated as Sabbaths. There is no evidence of this in the passage quoted.
God’s moon should govern the months. However, today they are governed by evil and wicked men, their evil and wicked empire and their evil and wicked church. They are acting against God’s creation, against God’s will and against God’s instructions. It is pompous arrogance, full of ridiculous self-importance, over bearing pride and no consideration for others especially the saints.
Please turn to Isaiah 13:11.
These people will be dealt with accordingly in God’s own time.
Isaiah 13:11. I’ll be reading from the NASB.
Thus I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud,
And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.
The United Church of God puts out a calendar every years to guide us in observing God’s appointed Feasts. On this wallet sized calendar the first day of the sacred year is given. In the first month we observe the Passover on the 14th day, the First Day Of Unleavened Bread on the 15th day and the Last Day of Unleavened Bread on the 21st day of the first month.
The first day of the seventh month is also indicated, that is the Day of Trumpets. In this seventh month we also observe the Day Of Atonement on the 10th day, the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles on the 15th day and the Last Great Day on the 22nd day of the seventh month.
So you can see how important the first day of the month and the new moon which establishes the first day of the month are. I would like to see a small change to this calendar, that is to indicate which day is the first day of the rest of the months in order that we might note these days also and be more in tune with God’s Holy calendar and the lunar cycle.
There is no doubt whatsoever that we should observe New Moons and that the months should be governed by the moon, as created and directed by God Almighty, and not be trampled over by the distortions of Roman popes.
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