THE BURNING QUESTION:
Sabbath - When Is It?
Ernie L. Hoch
Page 2
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Have you ever heard the phrase “can’t see the trees for the forest”? Try to put aside all your biases and watch and see if what I relate here proves itself in time. You may, then, begin embarking on even a closer walk with our Heavenly Father, one in which gives Him another reason to say “well done, thou good and faithful srvant”. Praise Yahweh.
To begin with, let’s look at perhaps the most intriguing of recent discoveries. In the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, page 410 under the heading “Holidays”, I quote:
***“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, or peace and delight of the soul, and produced powerful and beneficent effects outside of Judaism.”***
I quote the whole passage above so that one can see that as soon as humanity departs from the “original” and supplants the use of the lunar cycle in the determination of the Sabbath day with another day determined by man, it becomes “more and more” popular. When humankind substituted Yahweh’s appointed times (feasts - moedim) with manmade traditions/ celebrations/ feasts, they also become more popular.
Let’s examine the above encyclopedic quote a little closer to see what they are really saying.
*** a. The New Moon is still… dependent upon the lunar cycle.
b. The Sabbath originally was dependent upon the lunar cycle.
c. Originally the New Moon was celebrated in the same way as the Sabbath.
d. Gradually it [the New Moon Sabbath] became less important, while the [Saturday – Saturn’s day] Sabbath [after being changed from Yahweh’s appointed time according to the lunar cycle as the set apart day of rest] became more and more a day of religion and humanity.***
Have you noticed how the NEW MOONS generally go by unnoticed among humanity in this day and age (except for a few small groups that this matters to)? Could this be because man has not found a good way to supplant them with an alternative? For how then could it be called the “new moon”? It couldn’t so man has let slide into obscurity that which he cannot change and promote/proscribe the
Gael Bataman
Originally Entered: 17 February 2008
Latest Update: 17 February 2008
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