It should be easy to agree that God works according to PATTERNS – and has designed all of creation to conform thereto. We see everywhere how He operates in “cycles” of varying lengths. The weekly cycle – the Sabbath day of rest. And we all recognize the yearly cycles – we celebrate the same yearly & seasonal festivals and holidays. Why is it so hard to imagine that He has established a MONTHLY cycle for us, His children?
I will very shortly prove to you beyond a doubt that the New Moon is a monthly event that every follower of Jesus would do well to celebrate – THAT is not hard to do, the biblical injunctions and patterns are OVERWHELMING (to a thinking person). But more importantly, (and a more difficult feat) will be to prove to you that ***YOU*** WILL BE BETTER OFF if you will but follow the schedule that was established by A FATHER THAT LOVES YOU and only wants the best for you.
Please take a moment to review the 24 different Bible references to the New Moon celebration.
Numbers 10:10
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.”
Numbers 28:14
With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin ; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.
1 Samuel 20:5
So David said, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon festival, and I am supposed to dine with the king; but let me go and hide in the field until the evening of the day after tomorrow.
1 Samuel 20:18
Then Jonathan said to David: “Tomorrow is the New Moon festival. You will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
1 Samuel 20:24
So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon festival came, the king sat down to eat.
2 Kings 4:23
“Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” “It’s all right,” she said. 1 Chronicles 23:31
and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the LORD on Sabbaths and at New Moon festivals and at appointed feasts. They were to serve before the LORD regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.
2 Chronicles 2:4
Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on Sabbaths and New Moons and at the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
2 Chronicles 8:13
according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles.
2 Chronicles 31:3
The king contributed from his own possessions for the morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons and appointed feasts as written in the Law of the LORD.
Ezra 3:5
After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD.
Nehemiah 10:33
for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moon festivals and appointed feasts; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God.
Psalm 81:3
Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
Isaiah 1:13
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
Isaiah 1:14
Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
Isaiah 66:23
From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD.
Ezekiel 45:17
It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons and the Sabbaths—at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 46:1
” ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened.
Ezekiel 46:3
On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to that gateway.
Ezekiel 46:6
On the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect.
Hosea 2:11
I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed feasts.
Hosea 5:7
They are unfaithful to the LORD; they give birth to illegitimate children. Now their New Moon festivals will devour them and their fields.
Amos 8:5
saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
Colossians 2:16
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
The first issue that simply must be addressed are the words of brother Saul/Paul;
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. Col 2:16
Of course, we have all been taught to believe that this verse means that you don’t need to honor the Lord on the New Moon. We are told that Paul really meant that the old testament laws have been done away with and not to be followed or acknowledged at all… The only problem with this statement is that it is in VIOLENT DISAGREEMENT with the words of The Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17,18
I will not here debate on Paul’s writings and ministry. We need to simply decide whom we will believe – Paul or Jesus…
Can I just throw one off the wall idea by you? Could it be that the reason why Paul went out of his way to explain how “dead the law is” because he himself felt so “tweaked” by his upbringing about “the Law”, that when he came into his later Christian years, that that is what he would question and discuss in some detail. From personal experience, I can remember 20 years ago when I was first awakening from Catholic upbringing and I realized that Mary is not the God that she had been made out to be. At first I was ANGRY with Mary! I lashed out AT MARY (mentally). Then in time I realized that it is not her fault that people ever use her as a tool of deceit. I believe the same here with Paul – he’s talking about something that had previously been really tweaked for him. How did Paul’s words get so distorted over the years?
So back to the words of Jesus Christ;
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come to fulfill them.. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law”
And then there are the 20 verses in the gospels with Jesus being quoted as saying;
So what do you think? Should we really Follow Jesus? Since He lived the perfect life, should we do the same things that He did? Should we follow in His footsteps in every way possible (or only on those things that our leaders have “taught’ us about Him?)
Just ask yourself; after looking at the evidence, is it likely that while on earth Jesus Christ honored His God and Father on the New Moon?
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27
This corresponds perfectly with Ezek 46;
“This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened. On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance to that gateway. Ezek 46:1,3
The special enablement of the Lord is “opened” on the Sabbath and New Moon. It is YOUR CHANCE to get ALL that the Lord has available for you!! Why keep your back turned to Him in ignorance on the day of the New Moon when you can enjoy an extra measure of His presence – His enablement for the month to come.
Let’s take a look at the ‘associations’ in the above verses – we should be able to discern the celebration by the company it keeps… In the above verses, the New Moon celebration is repeatedly mentioned with the Sabbath day of rest (4th of the 10 Commandments), and with the “appointed feasts” (Lev 23) .
Further analysis of these verses show that they were all mentioned together in the same verse and in the same context in 3 separate places: 1 Chronicles, Nehemiah and Colossians.
Again, Lev 23 is central location for information about “the appointed feasts”. It was to be the blueprint for the generations to come to be able to conform to Gods will and schedule. The phrase that we see most repeated in Lev 23 (vss 14, 21, 31, 41) is; “This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.” In your observation, did the Jews to whom He spoke wind up living beyond the confines of Israel? Yes, they were dispersed throughout the nations of the earth in 70 AD. Do we continue to observe feasts like passover, firstfruits, pentecost, atonement and tabernacles? YES, they have “lasted to this day”… (although Christendom has chosen their own versions of these special days and added a few – Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc)
Next we see that the New Moon is associated only with the “appointed feasts” alone on 2 different occasions: Num10:10 and Ezra. The New Moon is associated with the Sabbath alone on 4 occasions: 2 Kings, Isa 66, Eze 46 and Amos. Pretty strong company, eh? Don’t you wish that half of the doctrines that you believe in had half as much evidence as this?
Oh, and “should we be celebrating it still to this day? From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. Isaiah 66:23
But now, back to our main idea within this subject;
if you will but honor your father, and obey Him who fashioned the patterns and injunctions in His word for our BENEFIT!!!
“`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened.Ezekiel 46:1
Are you one of those few people who SEEK the Lord? Do you desire to know HIM and be changed to His likeness? The bottom line here is that His SPECIAL ENABLEMENT is available to you ON THE ACTUAL DAY OF THE SABBATH AND NEW MOON! He says that during the six working days the “gate of the inner court” is to be shut, but on these two days, it is OPENED. This is your chance to “go up into the mountain” with (Moses and) the Lord Jesus Himself, the GATES ARE OPEN.
The “key” word here is ENABLEMENT – and who wants it… There is only a small remnant of people whom He expects to find diligently PREPARING, as a bride prepares herself for the arrival of her betrothed. Are you one of them? Then take the opportunity that your Father has given you – seek Him when He “opens the gates to the inner court”…
Really, it’s a matter of respect. If you love and respect your Father, you will worship and honor Him according to HIS schedule – not your own, nor that of the church, nor the popes, nor ……
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” Luke 11:52
By Russell Dibird
Originally Published 1999
