The Assertions

First, let me summarize the nature of evidence that I have seen so far as given in support of the idea.

1. It is suggested that Sabbath falls on the 15^th of three Biblical months in a row (the three months beginning with the Exodus from Egypt). As moon cycles are only 29.5 days long, the Sabbath could not fall on three of them in a row unless the Sabbath was lunar based.

2. It is asserted that no Sabbath in scripture can be shown to occur on any day other than an 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, or 29^th of a lunar cycle. As only about 15% of Gregorian-style Sabbaths fall on those days, this is taken as corroborative evidence for lunar Sabbaths.

3. It is asserted that the lunar calendar was essential to the determination of the date October 22, 1844. As this calendar has been affirmed by Ellen White when she validated that date, it must be a valid calendar. And if the calendar is right for calculating feast-day dates, it must be right for calculating Sabbath dates as Sabbaths are among the feasts.

4. It is asserted that ancient authorities trace the seven-day week to Babylonian sources and that the Jews anciently kept the Sabbath on a lunar basis. This Jewish habit was changed by the Roman power and is the reason that Jews currently honor Saturday as found on the Gregorian calendar.

5. Circumstantial evidence, it is asserted, points to Lunar Sabbaths in the time of Joshua, Solomon, and Hezekiah, and Paul.

6. The New Moons do not count as “working days” and so there are still 6 working days in each weekly cycle in the new moon calendar.

While other thoughts have appeared here and there in lunar documentation, these are the ones that appear repeatedly in the documents I have read. What appears in not one of the documents is a “thus saith the Lord” teaching that new moons interrupt the weekly cycle.

The Evidence

The most intriguing argument, to me, in the six listed above was item number two. The word “Sabbath” appears more 100 passages of scripture. It seems, at first thought, that if not one of those can be shown to fall on the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, etc., day of the month, that that would be fairly significant evidence in favor of the lunar Sabbath theory.

Here are the facts:

There are many passages that refer to the Sabbath in a precept in such a way as to provide no precise and certain information regarding the correlation of days with months. See Ex 20:8-11; De 5:12-15; Ex 31:14-16; Ex 35:2-3; Le 24:8; Nu 28:9-10; [Neh 9:14]; [1 Chr 9:32]; Ps 92:1; Amos 8:5; Jer 17:21-27; Is 56:2, 6; Is 58:13; Matthew 24:20; John 7:22-23; Colossians 2:16 

There are 20 Stories in scripture that refer to the Sabbath, but without dating it in terms of a day of the month. See Nu 15:32; 2Ki 11:5-9, 2Chr 23:4-8; 2Ki 16:18; Neh 10:31; Neh 13:15-22; Matthew 12:1-12, Mark 2:23-3:4, Luke 6:1-9; Mark 1:21; Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16; Luke 4:31; Luke 13:10-16; Luke 14:1-5; Acts 1:12; Acts 13:14-44; Acts 15:21; Acts 16:13; Acts 17:2; Acts 18:4; John 5:9-18¹; John 9:14-16². 

There are only two stories in all of scripture that mention Sabbath in a context that can be dated in relation to a day of the lunar month. These are the giving of the Manna and the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. (Ex 16:23-29 and Mt 28:1; Mr. 15 42; 16:1; Lu 23:54-56; Jo 19:31.)

So how many Sabbath stories in scripture are datable? Two. This fact neutralizes the first two arguments. (In the appendix I address other passages that are asserted to be dateable correlations between the lunar calendar and days of the week.)

The third point, regarding the Lunar Calendar being used to establish October 22, is accurate as far as that goes. In other words, it is obviously true in scripture the feast days were calculated based on the Jewish lunar calendar.

But the extrapolation that says “if dates of the year must be calculated on an annual calendar, therefore days of the week must also be so calculated” is unwarranted. No prophet says anything of the kind. History does not back it up. Muslims today use a lunar calendar but keep a weekly day as honored. The argument is purely speculative.

The fourth point, strictly speaking, is not a Biblical one. But the history is faulty. The fact is that from the time of the book of Acts that there were Jews in “every city” that read the Torah on Sabbath.

Acts 15:21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

There is no way that one million Jews scattered all over the world could, simultaneously, be convinced to change their method of Sabbath keeping without abundant historical evidence being left behind to prove it.

But more than this, the gospel was carried to every part of the known world during the first century.

Colossians 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Lunar weeks predict that when the apostles traveled to India, Ethiopia, and the British Isles, that these places began keeping lunar Sabbaths. None of these were under the influence of Rome by the 3^rd century. This is why they kept the Seventh-day Sabbath so many centuries after Rome had stopped.

And there is no way that Christians around the world, faithful Sabbath keepers, could be convinced to change their day of worship without it showing up in history. The change of the Sabbath to Sunday shows up abundantly in history and proves, by this very appearance, that the other change never occurred.

The fifth point is circumstantial. We do not want to ever turn an observation into a command. But even the observations are faulty as can be seen in the appendix where these stories are examined. If we were to admit circumstantial evidence we would have to observe that the first day of the month was not treated as holy in the following passages:

            Genesis 8:13    Noah removed the covering of the ark, a great feat.

            Numbers 1:1   The men of Israel were counted on the first day of the week.

            Ezra 7:9           Ezra was traveling on two new moons.

The sixth point is based on a verse in Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 46:1  Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

The reasoning goes like this: If the gate is shut on the six working days and open on the new moon, then the new moon can not be one of the six working days. And since it is not one of the six working days, it must not be part of the week.

The fault lies in the fact that the verse is a perfectly natural way to write even if the new moons did occur on random days of the week. The inference that lunar Sabbath proponents make is unwarranted. It would be similar in character to reading “God loves a cheerful giver” and concluding that God doesn’t love other grudging givers.

The Bible is brief and well written. We can not impose on it a demand that enough details be given to prevent us from making false inferences.

Rather, we should demand a "Thus Saith the Lord” for our articles of belief".

 

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