Constantine Hid The Scriptural Calendar

This Revelation 18:4 – Come Out Of Her study proves that there are many reasons why Saturday on the pagan Roman calendar can’t be the Scriptural Sabbath.

You can click away, thinking that you know the truth; but I pray that you will read the whole explanation to consider it, before declaring that I’m mistaken.

People make the declaration that Saturday has been the seventh-day Sabbath since the creation week in Genesis 1. And they say that Messiah observed the Sabbath on Saturday. But those are false associations without any proof.

There was no such thing as Saturday when Messiah carried out His ministry, as the Romans observed an eight-day week with days named after the first eight letters of their alphabet.

It wasn’t until later in the first century, when Mithraism became a popular religious cult in Rome, that the Romans started using a seven-day calendar with names after planetary gods.

The week started on Saturn day (Saturday), Dies Solis (Sunday) was the second day of the week, Luna (Monday) was the third day, and dies Veneris, Venus Day (Friday), was the seventh day of the week.

It wasn’t until the fourth century that Emperor Constantine officially moved to the seven-day calendar. When he did that, he switched Saturday to the seventh day.

So the current seventh day is not the same as the seventh day from the 1^st century to the 3^rd century, which was Friday; thus, we can’t say that Saturday has always been the seventh day of the week.

Then in the 16^th century, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar to make it more accurately reflect the solar cycle. Ten days were dropped off of the yearly calendar to synchronize the calendar to bring the vernal equinox from March 11 back to March 21.

So the current seventh day is offset by three days, compared to the Saturday of the 4^th-16^th centuries; thus, we can’t say that there’s always been a continuously repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle.

We can see that Saturday has not always been the seventh day of the Roman calendar.

So there’s no way to say that the Saturday of today’s Roman calendar lines up with the Sabbath that Messiah observed during His ministry. And do we really think that the Satan-empowered antichrist beast popes would conveniently line up the Scriptural Sabbath with their pagan calendar? No!

The concept of a continuously repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle is invalidated by the Scriptural New Moon Day.

Scripture declares that there are three types of days, not two; which invalidates the concept of a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle. 

How can the Scriptural Sabbath be every seven days, when there are commanded New Moon Days once a month? It’s not possible.

Ezekiel 46:1 tells us that the gate was opened on Sabbath days and New Moon days.

Thus says the Lord GOD: “The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.

This makes it impossible that the New Moon Day can fall on a weekly Sabbath or a work day, which invalidates the concept of a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle. 

Numbers 28:11 defines a specific sacrifice on the first day of the month, the New Moon day.

And in the beginnings of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;

The sacrifices that are offered on the New Moon Day are different than the sacrifices on the Sabbath days.

Numbers 29:1-6 describes the sacrifices that were commanded on the first day of the seventh month, on the New Moon Day.

And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work, it is a day of blowing the trumpets for you. And you shall prepare a burnt offering as a sweet fragrance to Yahuah: one young bull, one ram, seven lambs a year old, perfect ones, and their grain offering: fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ĕphah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs, and one male goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you, besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the continual burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their right-ruling, as a sweet fragrance, an offering made by fire to Yahuah. 

These verses also define Sabbath days and New Moon days as separate days:

And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. 2 Kings 4:23

And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD: 1 Chronicles 23:31

Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. 2 Chronicles 2:4

Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 2 Chronicles 8:13

He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 31:3

For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. Nehemiah 10:33

And it shall be the prince’s part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 45:17

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. Hosea 2:11

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

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2:16-17

The New Moon Day is the first day of the Scriptural month.

Because it’s the first day of the Scriptural month, that means that the concept of a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle is invalid.

If you have to make excuses to dismiss the following explanations, in order to support your current beliefs, then that should be a red flag.

The narrative of Joshua and the priests walking around Jericho seven days in a row, proves that none of those days were a Sabbath day.

And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. Joshua 6:35

Walking a circuit around the city of Jericho would break Sabbath rests rules, so that proves that the first day was the New Moon Day, then they marched around the city on the six work days of the first week of the month. Then they would have rested on the next day, on the weekly Sabbath day on the 8th day of the month.

1 Samuel 20 proves that the first day of the month is the New Moon Day.

David was not present at meal time on the New Moon Day and the second day of the month, and Saul asked why he was absent both yesterday and today.

And David said to Jonathan, “See, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I ought to sit with the sovereign to eat. But let me go, and I shall hide in the field until the third day at evening. 1 Samuel 20:5

And it came to be the next day, the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?” 1 Samuel 20:27

Significant events took place on the 1st day of the month, the New Moon Day.

This doesn’t prove the lunisolar Sabbath calendar, but it shows that the first day is esteemed in the Father’s eyes. And it gives us evidence that the New Moon Day establishes the Sabbaths for the month.

And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt. Numbers 1:1

And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. Numbers 1:18

And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the LORD, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month. Numbers 33:38

And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them. Deuteronomy 1:3

For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. Ezra 7:9

And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. Ezra 10:16

 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the (fifth) month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 26:1

And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 29:17

And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 31:1

And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 32:1

In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Haggai 1:1

The fourth commandment about keeping the Sabbath validates that the Feast of Unleavened Bread falls on a weekly Sabbath.

The fourth commandment in Exodus 20 relates the seventh day Sabbath to the creation week.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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. Exodus 20:8-11

Then the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5 relates the seventh day Sabbath to the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Deuteronomy 5:12-14 point to the weekly Sabbath.

Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

Deuteronomy 5:15 links the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day on which the Israelites came out of Egypt, to the weekly Sabbath day.

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

The Israelites left Egypt at evening, under the brilliant light of the full moon, after they had observed the weekly Sabbath on the 15th during the daytime. And because that is established, it means that the 8th, 22nd and 29th of the month are also weekly Sabbaths.

We see how the creation week pattern of six work days and one Sabbath day, play out in the lunisolar Sabbath calendar. Nowhere does Scripture proclaim that there has been a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle since creation. And the Scriptural New Moon Day invalidates that concept.

Scriptural Sabbaths fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month.

People deny that the New Moon Day affects the weekly cycle, and they debate ad nauseum about the Hebrew meaning of words to press their case.

But the proof is in Scripture, as there are many examples of Sabbaths falling on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of the month; and no examples of weekly Sabbaths falling on any other days on the Scriptural calendar.

The biggest clue is that the spring Feast of Unleavened Bread and fall Feast of Tabernacles always fall on the 15th day of the Scriptural month. 

We see the lunisolar Sabbath calendar at work in the first month:

Passover falls on the 14th day of the first month, and it’s the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath day.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is on the 15th day. Since the weekly Sabbath occurs every seven days, we see how in the first month that they take place on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.

The Feast of First Fruits is on the 16th day, which is the first day of the week following the Sabbath. The Feast of First Fruits points to Messiah’s resurrection and He would rise on the third day.

The 2nd weekly Sabbath of the first month is called the ‘high day’ because the Holy Feast Day of Unleavened Bread takes place on it. This is validated by the four Gospels, which document the Mary came to the tomb on the first day of the week after the Sabbath.

And we see the lunisolar Sabbath calendar at work in the seventh month:

The first day is the New Moon Day.  With technology today, we know the exact minute of the dark moon, but the Israelites/Jews didn’t know the day or hour that it took place, as it may occur late one day or early the next. So they celebrated the New Moon Day over two days and confirmed the correct day when they cited the sliver crescent moon after sundown. When Messiah was talking about His return, He used this Jewish idiom in saying that ‘no man knows the day or hour’ to point to the fall Feast of Trumpets, which is the only Holy Feast Day that occurs on the first day of the month. This is confirmation that a Scriptural month starts with the New Moon Day.

The Feast of Tabernacles is on the 15th day. Since the weekly Sabbath occurs every seven days, we see how in the first month that they take place on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.

This Feast of Tabernacles is observed for seven days and then a Sabbath takes place on the 22nd day of the month.

Leviticus 23:39 proves that the Feast of Tabernacles falls on the second weekly Sabbath of the month, which is why it’s called a high day; and that the 22nd day of the month is a weekly Sabbath.

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.

The eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles has to be a weekly Sabbath, which confirms that the 15th was one too. This means that the Sabbaths in the seventh month fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days; and the only way this is possible is if the first day is the New Moon Day.

If the weekly Sabbath is not based on the New Moon Day, then that means that the spring Feast of Unleavened Bread and fall Feast of Tabernacles can occur on any day of the pagan Roman calendar.

But how can you have two Sabbaths in one week? You can’t, as it invalidates the concept of a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle.

Exodus 16:1 describes events on the 15th, the second weekly Sabbath of the month.

And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

It’s pointing to the monthly anniversary of the Israelites coming out of Egypt on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which falls on the second weekly Sabbath. This establishes that the other Sabbaths fell on the 8th, 22nd and 29th of the month.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 proves that Aviv 15, Israel’s deliverance day, is the weekly Sabbath.

In the context of the fourth commandment about keeping the Sabbath, it points to the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a weekly Sabbath.

Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Solomon faithfully kept the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, starting on the 15th of the month, a High Sabbath. As commanded, they made a solemn assembly on the 22nd, the next weekly Sabbath.

He then sent the people away on the eighth day, the 23rd of the month, which was the 1st day of the week. So we have a confirmation of the 15th being the High Sabbath and the 22nd being the next Sabbath.

Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people. 2 Chronicles 7:8-10

King Hezekiah honored the 8th day Sabbath. 

They began to sanctify on first day of the month, the New Moon day; they gathered together on the 8th day Sabbath; they sanctified the temple in eight days, the last day being the 15th day Sabbath; and they completed the task by the 16th, which is the first day of the next week.

Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. 2 Chronicles 29:17

The Israelites marched around Jericho for seven days, in offensive battle readiness, and attacked the city on the seventh day. If the continually repeating six work days / 1 Sabbath day cycle were true, then they would have been walking on a Sabbath day, which is a clear violation of the Father’s commands.

This is explained by the fact that the first day was the New Moon Day, the first day of the month. They marched for six more days, and then they rested on the 8th, the weekly Sabbath.

The book of Jasher confirms that the seven-day march around Jericho started on the New Moon Day.

And it was in the second month, on the first day of the month, that the Lord said to Joshua, Rise up, behold I have given Jericho into thy hand with all the people thereof; and all your fighting men shall go round the city, once each day, thus shall you do for six days. And the priests shall blow upon trumpets, and when you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall give a great shouting, that the walls of the city shall fall down; all the people shall go up every man against his opponent. And Joshua did so according to all that the Lord had commanded him. And on the seventh day they went round the city seven times, and the priests blew upon trumpets. And at the seventh round, Joshua said to the people, Shout, for the Lord has delivered the whole city into our hands. Jasher 88:14-18

The only way that walked around the city seven days in a row is if the first day was the New Moon Day, which invalidates the concept of a continuously-repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle.

Nehemiah 8:18 points to the seven day observance of the Feast of Tabernacles High Sabbath on the 15th of the month and then the weekly Sabbath on the 8th day, on the 22nd. 

Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner.

Numbers 33:3 points to the children of Israel leaving Egypt after the Unleavened Bread Holy Sabbath day observance was over, in the evening. 

And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

They would have been able to see because of the full moon.

The narrative of Esther 1 points to the Jews resting on the 15th day weekly Sabbath of the twelve month of Adar, despite the order of the king.

But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Esther 9:18

Instead of being in sorrow from the demands of the kings, their righteous observance of the sabbath on the 15th day of the month resulted in joy as they celebrated by sharing with each other on the weekly Sabbath preparation day on the 14th.

Ezekiel 32 points to Yah speaking to Ezekiel on the set-apart days of the New Moon Day and second weekly Sabbath day of the twelve month.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me. Ezekiel 32:1

It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me. Ezekiel 32:17

John records that Messiah taught on the weekly Sabbath on the 22nd day.

The Feast of Tabernacles is observed for seven days, starting on the 15th and ending on the 21st.

John 7:37 says that Messiah proclaimed this on the seventh day, on the 21st:

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

John 8:1 records that Messiah left Jerusalem to go to the Mount of Olives.

Then John 8:2 says that Messiah came into the temple, as was the custom on the weekly Sabbath.

And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

John 19:31 points to the Feast of Unleavened Bread being a weekly Sabbath, which is referred to as a ‘high day,’ a great day because a Holy Feast Day falls on it.

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 text identifies the 15th as a Sabbath day, and then makes the declaration that it’s a ‘high day’ because the Feast of Unleavened Bread takes place on it. This proves that the weekly Sabbaths are always on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th of each luni-solar month.

The pagan Roman calendar is not compatible with Scripture.

The Jews developed Rules Of Postponement to accommodate a 7-day Sabbath cycle.

Recall the kind of behavior that caused the Jews to be taken to Babylon and their city and temple destroyed. Yah proclaimed”

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Amos 5:21

To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. Jeremiah 6:20

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Isaiah 1:13-15

While in Babylonian captivity, many of the Jews continued in their rebellion and adopted more pagan Babylonian customs. Over the years, the Jews developed Rules of Postponement to align a 7-day Sabbath cycle with the Lunisolar calendar.

In the 4th century, Emperor Constantine forced the Jews to observe a solar-based calendar, which featured a repeating cycle of 7 days; or be subject to death.

In 358 AD, Sanhedrin patriarch Hillell II compromised with Rome when he provided a mathematically-based calendar that would harmonize with the Roman sun-based calendar, while appearing to still be based on the luni-solar Scriptural roots. In order to reduce persecution by Rome, the Jews exchanged Scriptural lunar Sabbaths for the popularized Roman unbroken-cycle-of seven day weeks. This causes their Sabbaths to be out of sync with the New Moons, and with the holy appointed Feast Days.

The Rules of Postponement make sure that while following the Roman calendar, that certain Holy Days are not adjacent to the Saturday Sabbath. But their Rules of Postponement are not Scriptural, which confirms that the Jewish rabbi are not using the Scriptural Calendar for the seventh day Sabbath!

Abib 10, 14 and 16 (which are commanded work day) float on the Roman calendar, making them fall on Saturday Sabbaths every 1-3 years.

Abib 10, the 10th day of the first month, the Israelites had to go and purchase a lamb if they didn’t have one.

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Exodus 12:3

If Abib 10 falls on Saturday, there is no provision in this command to purchase it a day early or a day late.

Abib 14 is the preparation day for the 15th day Sabbath. There is no Scriptural provision to prepare on a different day.

On Abib 16, they harvested some grain to wave the sheaf. There is no Scriptural provision to carry this out on a different day.

Every 1-3 years; either Abib 10, 14 and 16 will fall onto Saturday on the pagan Roman calendar; which violates the commands of Scripture.

None of this happens on the lunisolar Sabbath calendar. There are always six work days on a week. Abib 10, 14 and 16 always fall on work days.

Commanded Sabbath Holy Feast Days fall on work days on the pagan Roman calendar. 

Since many people divorce the weekly Sabbaths from the lunisolar calendar, this means that the Holy Feast Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles can fall on a work day on the pagan Roman calendar.

This means that during that week, there would be two sabbath days, one for the Holy Feast Day and the other for the weekly Sabbath. But this invalidates the concept of a continuously repeating ‘six work day / one Sabbath day’ cycle.

None of this happens on the lunisolar Sabbath calendar, as the Holy Feast Days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles take place on the second weekly Sabbath of the month; so the weekly pattern of six work days is maintained.

These Jewish resources validate that the Sabbath is tied to the New Moon Day. 

Saturday Sabbath observers proclaim that the Jews have kept track of the Sabbath, but the Jews were compromised while in Babylonian captivity and also when Roman Emperor forced Jewish scholar Hillel II to create a 7th-day Sabbath with special Rules of Postponement, to avoid persecution.

The witness of Philo validates that the Scriptural weekly Sabbaths are based on the lunisolar calendar.

Philo was of the tribe of Levi and lived from 20 BC to 40 AD, so he witnessed the amazing things which took place during this time.

In this account, Philo proclaims that the greatest festivals, the Holy Feast Days of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles, fall on the weekly Sabbath day.

”But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration, at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced.” (The Decalogue XXX (159)

Philo points to the Feast of Unleavened Bread taking place on the weekly Sabbath.

“Again the beginning of this feast is appointed for the fifteenth day of the month (or seventh day of the week) on account of the reason which has already been mentioned respecting the Spring season might receive special honor of one sacred day of festival.” (The Tenth Festival XXXIII (210)

The 1943 Universal Jewish Encyclopedia volume 10 page 482 says,

“With the development of the importance of the Sabbath as a day of consecration and emphasis laid upon the significant number seven, the week became more and more divorced from its lunar connection, so that by the time of the second Temple it was merely a period of seven days and no longer depended on the new moon. From Judaism the week passed over to Christianity, and through the influence of the later was generally adopted throughout the Roman empire.” (edited by Isaac Landman under the article “week”, written by Simon Cohen, Director of Research)

In the 1943 Universal Jewish Encyclopedia volume 5 page 410 edited by Isaac Landman under the article “ HOLIDAYS”, written by a well respected Rabbi, Max Joseph, it says,

“1. Sabbath and New Moon (Rosh Hodesh), both periodically recurring in the course of the year.  The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle.  Both date back to the nomadic period of Israel. Originally the New Moon was celebrated in the same way as the Sabbath; gradually it became less important, while the Sabbath became more and more a day of religion and humanity, of religious meditation and instruction, of peace and delight of the soul, and produced powerful and beneficent effects outside of Judaism.”

A Scriptural day starts at dawn not when the sun goes down.

Most people who observe a Saturday Sabbath believe that it starts on Friday at sundown.

But we can see by the narrative of Genesis 1 that the creation events took place during the light of the day. And then there was ‘darkness of night’ which takes place from ‘evening to morning.’ One complete day has the pattern of ‘light of day > darkness of night.’ A Scriptural day starts when the sun begins to rule the sky.

The only time a command is given to start observance at sundown is on the Day of Atonement, on which we are to start the observance at the evening on the ninth day and continue it until the evening of the tenth day. It points to two different days and does not say that a day is from evening to evening.

Each of the Gospel narratives show that Mary came to the tomb at the dawn (beginning) of the first day of the Scriptural week, on the 16th day of the month.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Matthew 28:1

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. Mark 16:1-2

And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. Luke 23:53-56, 24:1-2

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. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. John 19:31, 19:42, 20:1

These Gospel narratives also prove that the Sabbath prior to the first day of the week was the weekly Sabbath. They don’t proclaim that the first day of the week started after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but on the sabbath.

Does a Scriptural month start with the full moon?

The witness of Philo validates that the full moon takes place on the second Sabbath of the month.

Philo validates that the weekly Sabbaths are based on the phase of the moon, as the full moon appears on the second weekly Sabbath.

“For it is said in the Scripture: On the tenth day of this month let each of them take a sheep according to his house; in order that from the tenth, there may be consecrated to the tenth, that is to God, the sacrifices which have been preserved in the soul, which is illuminated in two portions out of the three, until it is entirely changed in every part, and becomes a heavenly brilliancy like a full moon, at the height of its increase at the end of the second “week.” (The Preliminary Studies XIX (102))

Philo, in answering the question, Why does He command (them) to keep the sacrifice until the fourteenth (day of the month), speaking about the passover lamb in the first Scriptural month?

(Consisting of) two Sabbaths, it has in its nature a (special) honour because in this time the moon is adorned. For when it has become full on the fourteenth (day), it becomes full of light in the perception of the people. And again through (another) fourteen (days) it recedes from its fullness of light to its conjunction, and it wanes as much in comparison with the preceding Sabbath as the second (waxes) in comparison with the first. For this reason the fourteenth (day) is pre-festive, as though (it were) a road leading to festive rejoicings, during which it is incumbent upon us to meditate”. (page 17 of Ralph Marcus’ translation of Philo’s work entitled “Questions and Answers, Exodus, Book 1”)

Here’s a one-page PDF that shows why Saturday cannot be the Scriptural Sabbath.

For more information on the Roman calendar at the time of Messiah’s ministry, read:

Time’s Greatest Conspiracy Theory: The “Continuous Weekly Cycle”
http://www.hope-of-israel.org/weeklycycle.html

The evolution of the ancient Roman calendar
http://www.romae-vitam.com/ancient-roman-calendar.html

To prove that Saturday cannot be the weekly Sabbath, one simply has to read about Aviv 10, when the Passover Lamb was to be purchased; Aviv 14 which is a preparation day for the first day of Unleavened Bread, and Aviv 16, on which the barley could be harvested.

All of those are commanded work days, so they cannot possibly fall on a Sabbath. But on the Roman Gregorian calendar they do fall on Saturday every few years, so it invalidates the premise.

People who observe a Saturday Sabbath say that the 6 work day / 1 Sabbath Day cycle has repeated continuously since it started in Genesis; but that simply is not true.

The 6 work day / 1 sabbath day cycle is interrupted, as their High Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles fall on work days.  So in one week there are two Sabbath days and only five work days; and the 6/1 cycle in interrupted.

Only on a lunisolar calendar are the High Feast Days on the weekly Sabbath Day, thus the name, High Sabbath.

The format of a day is clearly revealed in Genesis 1.

It declares that the time of the light is daytime and the time of the darkness is nighttime.

“And Elohim called the light ‘day’ (Yom) and the darkness He called ‘night.’ (Laylah)  And there came to be evening (Ereb) and there came to be morning (Boqer), one day.”

Day = Yom (H3117) — From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day(as the warm hours)

Night = Laylah (H3915) — From the same as H3883; properly a twist (away of the light), that is, night; figuratively adversity: – ([mid-]) night (season).

Evening = Ereb (H6153) — From H6150; dusk: – + day, even (-ing, tide)

Dawn = Boqer (H1242) — From H1239; properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning: – (+) day, early, morning, morrow.

Yah the Heavenly Father is declaring the proper order: Day + Night = 1 full day. Light + Darkness = 1 full day.

It’s proclaiming that Day (dawn to dusk) + Night (dusk to dawn) = 1 full day.

The work of creation was done during the Day and then there was rest at Night, and that makes up one full day.

The narrative of the 2nd-6th days declare what Yah created during the Day, and then the narrative for the 2nd-6th days ends in “And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the (second-sixth) day.”

Daytime creation events + Nighttime rest (from evening to morning) = 1 full day.

Doesn’t that line up with a natural order of things; that a day would start when the sun begins to rule the sky? Doesn’t that make more sense than the Jewish Babylonian tradition, that a day starts when the sun goes down?

So we see the pattern; work is done during the daytime, and we rest during the nighttime. This same pattern should be followed on a Sabbath day.  We’re commanded to rest from our labors during the daytime, during the time that we would normally work.

The only time that observance of a Sabbath is declared to start in the evening is on the Feast of Atonement. But if a day started at the evening of the day before, then Yah would have simply said to observe that Sabbath all of the 10th day, meaning during the whole 24 hour period.

But it’s not declaring to start the observance on the 10th day at evening, but on the 9th day at evening. It’s saying to observe it from the evening of the 9th day, all the way through the end of daytime of the 10th day, which is from one evening to the next.

It’s making a unique declaration for that solemn Sabbath day, because the norm is to observe the Sabbath rest during the daytime, from dawn until dusk.

One can look at the record of Passover in Exodus 12 to see when a day ends.

12:5-6 “Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats.  And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same new moon. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’ěl shall slay it between the evenings.”

They were told to kill the Passover Lamb on the night (Laylah) of the 14th day, which falls between dusk (ereb) and dawn (boqer).

12:7-10  “And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.  And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.  Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts.  And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire.”

They were commanded to eat it on the Passover, on the 14th day, before the next morning (boqer), which is the start of the 15th day, the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread.

12:11  “And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Pěsaḥa of יהוה.”

They ate it with haste because the Passover was coming to a close. They had to eat it or burn it before the Sabbath day started at dawn.

One can look at the record of Messiah’s crucifixion to see when a day starts.

Messiah was impaled on the cross at 9am, three hours after the day started. He died six hours later, at the 9th hour, at 3 pm.

“And it was the third hour, and they impaled Him.” Mark 15:25

“And when the sixth hour came, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.” Mark 15:33

“And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Ěli, Ěli, lamah sheḇaqtani?” which is translated, “My Ěl, My Ěl, why have You forsaken Me?” And Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.” Mark 15:34, 37

Mark 15:42-43 invalidates that the day starts at sundown, for they took Messiah’s body AFTER the evening began. If the Sabbath started at sundown, then they were working on the Sabbath. But the text states that it was still the preparation day for the Sabbath, the 14th, Passover.

“And when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Yosĕph of Ramathayim, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the reign of Elohim, came, boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of יהושע.”

Pilate had a centurion verify that Messiah was dead, as death by crucifixion usually took 2-3 days. (Mark 15:44-45)

But Pilate wondered whether He was already dead, so summoning the captain, he asked him if He was already dead. And when he learned this from the captain, he gave the body to Yosĕph.

Mark 15:46 tells us that Joseph then went and got burial linens, and returned to Golgotha to remove the body.

And he, having bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

John 19:39 says that Nicodemus carried 100 pounds of myrrh and aloes for preparing the body for burial, which would not be allowed on the Sabbath day.

And Naḵdimon, who at first came to יהושע by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

John 19:40 says that they wrapped the body with the linen and spices.

Then they took the body of יהושע, and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as was the habit of the Yehuḏim for burial.

Matthew 27:59-60 says that they carried the body to Joseph’s own tomb.

And having taken the body, Yosĕph wrapped it in clean linen, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and went away.

Luke 23:53-54 says that they did all of that work on the preparation day, on Passover, as the Sabbath drew near.

And taking it down, he wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb hewn out of the rock, where no one was yet laid.  And it was Preparation day, and the Sabbath was approaching.

Matthew 27:62 validates that the next day was the Sabbath.

On the next day, which was after the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate.

Messiah’s Resurrection Day reaffirms that a day starts at dawn.

Matthew 28:1 tells us that the Sabbath was ending at dawn.

But late in the sabbath, as it was dawning into day one of the week, Miryam from Maḡdala and the other Miryam came to see the tomb. 

On the resurrection day, the Feast of First Fruits, Mark 16:1-2 tells us that Mary of Magdalene came to the tomb early in the day, when it was dawn.

And when the Sabbath was past, Miryam from Maḡdala, and Miryam the mother of Yaʽaqoḇ, and Shelomah bought spices, to go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

John 20:19 then tells us that on the same day, the first day of the week, that Messiah appeared to the Apostles in the evening; once again proving that the day started in the morning.

When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the taught ones met, for fear of the Yehuḏim, יהושע came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace to you.

Acts 10:23 clearly declares that Peter accepted the men who were sent by Cornelius into his residence, allowed them to sleep overnight, and then left with them on the next day:

Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

These videos provide many Scriptural proofs that a day starts in the morning.

WHEN DOES A DAY START – MORNING OR EVENING? PART 2

 

 

David Nikao Wilcoxson

Here is a list of more detailed studies:

The New Moon In Scripture Is A Dark Moon PDF
http://christianitybeliefs.org/the-falling-away/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/THE-ONLY-DESCRIPTION-OF-A-NEW-MOON-IN-SCRIPTURE.pdf

WHEN DOES A DAY START – MORNING OR EVENING? PART 3
https://youtu.be/UW3DdysjCb8

WHEN DOES A DAY START – MORNING OR EVENING? PART 4
https://youtu.be/EtB5e-t981o

WHEN DOES A DAY START – MORNING OR EVENING? PART 5
https://youtu.be/C9TwrazbbI0

Next Study: The Names Of The Father And The Son

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