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Appendix A

Comments on Passages used as Evidence of Lunar Sabbaths in History:

Some studies indicate that Exodus 12 is an example of a weekly Sabbath on the 15^th. The argument runs, “The first day of the feast of unleavened bread was on the 15^th which was a Sabbath (See Leviticus 23: 4-16). This makes the Sabbaths for the first month (Abib) to have fallen on the 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, and the 29^th.”

But look at the passage quoted, Lev 23:4-16. Specifically note verses 7-8. Not only does it make the first day a Sabbath, but it also makes the seventh day of the feast a Sabbath.

In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.8  But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

What verse seven and eight prove is that not all ceremonial holy convocations that involve rest from work can correlate with weekly Sabbaths. And so the fact that there are also holy convocation seven days apart in the seventh month (the 15^th and the 22^nd) loses its significance in view of the fact that holy convocations are only six days apart in the first month.

Some studies indicate that Exodus 19 is an example of a month where Sabbaths correlate well with the lunar calendar. The argument runs like this: “Israel left Egypt the night of Abib 15. Three months later, on the very same day, the 15^th, they rested before the mount. (See Deuteronomy 16:1; Numbers 33:3; Exodus 19:1-2.)”

But when we read the passage we find that the 15^th, and 16^th were days of cleaning up and getting ready for a meeting with the Holy God on the 17^th. If one of these three dates must be chosen for a Sabbath from the narrative, better the 17^th.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. 10  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11  And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

But really, there is not enough data to make a Sabbath of any day. The argument, as worded above, might lead the reader to think that the Bible associates the 15^th with “rest”, but the passage rather associates it with “camping.” As a preparation day, the 15^th and 16^th do not seem like Sabbaths.

At least one study refers to Leveticus 23:15-16 as evidence of Lunar Sabbaths. This is the argument: “Leviticus 23:15-16 tells us that Pentecost always takes place on the first day of the week on the 9^th of the third month. . .”

If this was true, namely that the 9^th of the month was always a “first day” of the week, it would be a very strong argument indeed for Lunar Sabbath keeping.

But you may read Leveticus 23:15-16, its context, and even the whole Bible, and you will find no such idea as is asserted in this argument. There is no passage that says that the Pentecost fell on the 9^th day of the third month. Here is the passage:

And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.

Now consider these two verses carefully. Seven Sabbaths plus one day is “fifty days” inclusive. That is seven complete weeks (first day through Sabbath) plus an additional first day. That is exactly 50 days with a continuous cycle of sevens. But interject into that mix two new moons and you suddenly have 52 days. In truth, Leviticus 23:15-16 is significant evidence against the Lunar Sabbath idea.

One study finds evidence of Lunar Sabbaths in the fact that the manna stopped falling on the 16^th of the first month. But the passage, Joshua 5:10-12, says nothing about whether the 15^th had been a Sabbath. (Indeed, if the 15^th was a Sabbath, then the last day of manna falling was the 14^th rather than the 15^th.)

The same study finds evidence of the 8^th being a Sabbath is Exodus 40:2, 17. The argument runs like this: “Aaron and his sons were sanctified for seven days beginning on New Moon Day (See Exodus 40: 2, 17). On the eighth day (which was also the 8^th of the month), there was an assembly of the congregation. During the preceding seven days, they were not to leave the tabernacle.”

So the evidence of a Sabbath is found in the “assembly of the congregation” on the 8^th day.

What does Exodus 40:2, 17 show? It shows that the first day of the week was the day that the temple was constructed. The remainder of the chapter shows the immense volume of physical work that Moses did in raising up the temple.

2  On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 17  And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

The priests were sanctified for a week. If we have to assign a seventh-day Sabbath to the story, the best place would be the seventh-day of their temple stay. But even this would be a stretch. The truth is that the story (Lev 8-9) doesn’t have any information about when the Seventh-day Sabbath occurred.

The 22^nd of the seventh month was always to be a holy convocation, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. So when Solomon kept it that way in 2 Chronicles 7:8-10, it doesn’t throw any additional light on the question of whether that holy convocation also coincided with the seventh-day Sabbath.

Some find evidence in Esther 9 for a Sabbath on the 15^th of the 12^th month. But the passage indicates that both the 14^th and 15^th were kept as special days, and so the passage provides no information about whether the 14^th, or the 15^th, or neither of those days, was a seventh-day Sabbath.

The story of Hezekiah describes sixteen days of cleaning the courtyard and temple. On the eighth day they started on the temple itself. They finished on the 16^th. But there is no evidence here regarding the location of a seventh-day Sabbath. Indeed, it is quite apparent that if some day was kept holy, it was not the 8^th.

The healing of the blind man on Sabbath in John 9 is believed to be evidence for a Sabbath on the 22^nd of the seventh month. The argument runs like this: “Christ attended the Feast of Tabernacles. (John7:10.) On the last day of the Feast, the 21^st of the seventh month, Christ stood and spoke. (John 7:37.) Christ spent that night on the Mount of Olives. (John 8:1.) The next morning, the 22^nd of the seventh month, Christ returned to the temple. (John 8:2.) At the temple, Christ healed a blind man. (John 9:6.) The healing of the blind man caused great anger for it was the seventh-day Sabbath. (John 9:14.) This places the weekly seventh-day Sabbaths on the 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, and 29^th of the month yet again.”

John 8:1 is, very likely, the 21^st of the 7^th month. Granted. But that it is the same day as John 9:14 is a great stretch. While Jesus went into the temple in 8:2, he was wandering in 9:1, fifty-nine verses later. By chapter 11:55 you are already all the way to Passover. There is no sensible way to know how much time elapsed between 8:2 and 9:1. Even if John 9:6 did say that the man was healed in the temple it would be no evidence that it was the same day, for:

John 18:20  Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

The fact is that we have no way of knowing the date of John 9, even if we do know the date of John 8:1-2. And John 9:6…says nothing about the blind man being in the temple.

Paul’s Journey in Acts 20 is alleged to provide evidence for the lunar-calculation of the Sabbath. The reasoning goes like this: “The seventh day of their stay at Troas was the second day of the month which Paul refers to as the first day of the week.” And so if the first day of the week is the second day of the lunar month, then the month matches lunar-calendar expectations.

The problem is that the math doesn’t work out right. If you count the days inclusively (as Jews always did) then they were in Philippi for the 21^st. A plain reading of the passage makes it appear that they traveled on the 22^nd (which would be an argument against the Lunar Sabbath reckoning).

But let us assume that they rested on the 22^nd and began traveling on the 23^rd and only traveled four days. Those days would be the 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th, 26^th. Now they are in Troas for a week. Let us start that week on the 26^th (as Jews would). That week is the 26^th, 27^th, 28^th, 29^th, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd. And Paul leaves the next morning, the day of the 3^rd, the first day of the week.

A first day on the third does not fit at all with a lunar Sabbath reckoning. And as this is one of only three stories in scripture that allow us to decently correlate a day of the weak with a day of the month, this is significant indeed.

 

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