Church of God, In Truth
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Which new moon do you keep?
WHICH NEW MOON DO YOU KEEP?
TRUE NEW MOON ? ASTRONOMICAL ? CRESCENT MOON ?
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We receive blessings as we strive to build godly character through God's inspired instructions. The knowledge of God's truth must be the prime source of our beliefs and practices for truth to set us free.
In the opening words of Luke's gospel, he is stating his determination to keep his like-minded associates informed of his findings. "For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, that you might know the certainty of those things, wherein you have been instructed" (Luke 1:1,4).
Within the Church of God, In Truth; be it through tithing, freewill offerings, keeping God's true Holy Day Sabbaths, listening to sermon tapes, listening to sermons on the Internet, reading Church articles on the internet, receiving the "Prove All Things" magazine, or in "talking often one to another," there is a select group of believers who have determined to make their calling and election sure!
In Peter's second letter, he wrote, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:10, 12-13,16). Following up with Peter's statement, to make "our calling and election sure," is the Apostle Paul's statement: "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to Truth against them which commit such things" (Rom 2:2). Truth is not based upon incomplete, inaccurate or circumstantial evidence. Rather, it is based on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
We are all familiar with the real "Lord's prayer" in which Jesus Christ prayed, "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). "Sanctify" literally means, "to be set apart, separate them from error, untruths and false doctrine." Truth denotes what is true in things pertaining to God and the duties of man. Christ told the Pharisees in the book of John, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). That feeling of freedom was what my wife and I felt when we learned about God's Holy Days and His true new moons. We had looked into the postponement rules for about one year prior to starting the Church of God, In Truth. We searched and studied diligently, to find out what the origin of the postponements was.
It did not take much searching to find that we had been keeping the traditions of men and not following God's clear instructions to not "pollute His Sabbaths." In the pages of Isaiah we read, "Thus saith the Lord, keep you judgment, and do justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil" (Isa 56:1-2). Sabbath observance is no less important today than it was back then.
Revealed within the book of Jeremiah, we find the house of Judah polluting God's temple - the same ones that are polluting God's house today. How? By encouraging God's called out ones to postpone His commanded annual Holy Day Sabbaths. "For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations [their customs] in the house which is called by My name [now, the Church of God], to pollute it" (Jer 7:30).
The practice of Judaism today, is effectively postponing the "sign" between God and His people - His Sabbaths. Both Exodus 31:13 and Ezekiel 20:11 and 12 support that fact. "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Ex 31:13). "And I gave them My statutes, and showed them My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. And hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. Notwithstanding the children rebelled against Me: they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted My Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness" (Ezek 20:11-12,20-21).
Postponing God's annul Holy Day Sabbaths, is a tradition of Judaism instituted by the Pharisees - just as God's weekly seventh day Sabbath was postponed to the first day of the week, Sunday, by the Catholic church at the Council of Laodicea in A.D.364!
Armed with the knowledge of these things, we went to different ministers and Churches of God groups concerning the postponement of God's Holy Days. None of them would have a dialogue with us about these postponement rules.
This February of 2004, we started our 12th year as the Church of God, In Truth. We have come to understand more than ever, that God's "ecclesia" [church] will never be a popular church. Why is that? Because, God's true people will have faith in His written word. They will believe and trust in His conservative ways and believe in His revealed seven step Holy Day plan for salvation. God's Church will believe strongly that His weekly and annual Sabbaths are a sign of His people, and will trust in His laws, statutes and judgments. God's Church should never become a "social club." It will not be practicing the tradition of men and God's Church will never develop the attitude of being "big" in their own eyes. And, perhaps most importantly, God's Church should never presume to postpone any of God's Holy Sabbaths! We see what the attitude of God's people should be like from what Paul told the Corinthians. "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Cor 1:26-31).
To fully "glory in the Lord" is what it will take for us to be in His kingdom, that we daily pray to come. God's kingdom involves more than being just a "hired hand" in the government of God. This is why we need to ask ourselves this question: "Will I just be a citizen in God's kingdom, or will I be one of the kings and priest in His Kingdom? Will I be a bride of Jesus Christ in God's Kingdom?
We are given these qualifying choices to make today - prior to God's coming kingdom. Now is the time to stand up for God's truth, His laws, statutes, and judgements. We must have the courage and faith to teach truth from God's word.
Christ, in His Olivet discourse states, "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:15). There is no one in the various Churches of God that believes we, or any one else, has the right to change God's 7th day Sabbath to Sunday. The Church of God, In Truth has, for many years, challenged anyone to show us from scripture where it is OK to postpone an annual Holy Day Sabbath, or where a preparation day is more important than a Sabbath day! Show us from God's Word that it is OK to postpone the first day of a new month just for convenience sake - so there will not be a back to back weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Day Sabbath. There appears to be some hypocrisy in evidence.
As a part of God's future family, now in our 12th year of tackling these challenging questions, let's keep in mind Paul's words to the Romans, that God's judgment is according to truth. "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things" (Rom. 2:2).
Truth from God's Word is how we are going to be judged. This is why we are encouraged to, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess 5: 21). To do this we need to let the Bible interpret the Bible
and let God's Word be our full authority, not some man made traditions! Syncretism, the mixing or blending religious beliefs - are not to be practiced within God's ecclesia.
We are to buy the truth: "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding" (Pro 23:23). We do this by spending time in Bible study, prayer, meditation, fasting and proving all things from His word.
By now, most of you have read the Elders letter in the Jan/Feb 2004 "Prove All Things" magazine. If you have not, I would encourage you to do so. The articles clearly explain how those who keep the postponement rules found in the Jewish Hebrew Calendar, will be counting to Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread from a three day postponed new moon this spring! What moon phase are they counting from? We, the Church of God, In Truth were shown at God's Feast of Tabernacles last year, how the crescent moon is tied to and connected to the Catholic Church. This is the same crescent moon that is observed by Islam.
Let's refresh our memory with the historical story of Abraham found in the book of Genesis, chapter 11, where we read that Terah, Abrahams father, moved the family from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran. "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran" (Gen 11:31-32).
The city of Haran was on the busy trade route connecting Nineveh, Asshur and Babylon in the east (Mesopotamia), with Damascus, Tyre and the cities of Egypt in the west. It was a natural stopping place for Terah and his family on their way to Palestine. The interesting part of this story is that Haran, like Ur of the Chaldees, was a center for the worship of the crescent moon god! This is the same moon god that the Muslims bow down to today, called Allah!
The story continues, "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you: So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran" (Gen 12:1,4).
God had Abraham and his family move south - away from Ur and Haran where the people worshiped and observed the crescent moon god. Joshua states that Terah, Abraham's father had served pagan gods in Ur. "And Joshua said unto all the people, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods" (Joshua 24: 2).
When reading Abraham's story, it seems a miracle that Abraham remained untouched while growing up with these sinful pagan influences surrounding him. After Joshua revealed Israel's history to the second generation of Israelites, he said to the elders of Israel, "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve you the Lord" (Josh 24:14).
>From the exhortation of Moses and Joshua, we are given a hint as to what sort of "gods" were being embraced by Israel and that Abraham was advised to leave behind. We can endlessly speculate about these gods from the "other side of the flood," or go and dig and see what the evidence reveals. This is the only way to find out the truth.
Archeologists have uncovered temples dedicated to the moon god throughout the Middle East and uncovered thousands of clay tablets which described their religious beliefs. Evidence indicated they believed the crescent moon god "Sin" was married to the sun goddess and the stars were their daughters! This crescent moon god, Sin, was the most powerful god of the sky. He was also known by the popular name, "Nannar." Nannar was also regarded as the lord of the calendar. His sacred number is 30 and his emblem is the crescent moon.
In Ur of the Chaldees, where Abraham was raised, the moon god was the most worshiped of all their gods. Even bread was baked in the form of a crescent moon as an act of devotion to the moon god. Could this be what God condemns in Jeremiah 7:18? "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger."
When Sir Leonard Woolley, an archeologist that headed up the excavation of the temple in Ur, found many symbols of the crescent moon on pottery, amulets, clay tablets, earrings, necklaces and pictures on walls [murals]. They found a copper calf with a crescent moon on its forehead. They uncovered two idols of a man setting upon a throne with a crescent moon carved into its chest. You can read more about this crescent moon in our "Prove All Things" special calendar issue, under the title "Faint Crescent, New Moon or Pagan Symbols?"
It seems clear from what was discovered in Ur and Haran why God would tell Abraham to "get out of this country, and from your kindred, and from your father's house, unto a land that I will show you" (Gen 12:1).
Moses reminded Israel and now us, to rebuke the worship of pagan god's - especially the crescent moon god, who was considered the guardian of the night. For more biblical evidence of this, we need only go to the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter four, Moses is telling the Israelites to be concerned and aware of the rites and ceremonies of pagan religious practices. "And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, [keep in mind a "statute" is something which is established or defined - a prescribed task], that you might do them in the land whither you go over to possess it. Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves; for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female" (Deut 4:14-16). The word "similitude" that is used here, is Strong's # 8544. Its definition is: 1. appearance; 2. form; 3. something pass before your eyes; 4. image; 5. representation; 6. semblance; 7. likeness. Notice again Deut. 4:12 concerning this word "similitude," "And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: You heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; [ image or likeness ] only you heard a voice" (Deut 4:12). Remember Moses just told us in verses 15 and 16, to take heed and make no graven image or likeness of any figure. Now in verse 19, "And lest you lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when you See the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, should be driven to worship them, and serve them, [worship them # 5647] which the Lord your God has divided unto all nations under the whole heaven." Take note in this verse of the word "see." "When you see, the sun and the moon even all the host of heaven." "See" is Strong's # 7200, it literally means: 1. see; 2. to view 3. to see a face of someone or thing; 4. look at objects of pleasure; 5. to behold.
You can only make a image out of something you can see. You cannot make an image out of something you cannot see! Moses in the same speech , told Israel in verse 23, "Take heed unto yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord your God has forbidden you."
With this in mind, it should be clear that we are not to embrace the crescent moon that Abraham and his family were told to move away from and Israel and Judah were commanded not to serve.
Postponing God's true new moon, which is not seen, for the image of the crescent moon, that is seen – is worshiping Nannar - Haran and Ur's crescent moon god, that was used for their calendar. Moses again reminds Israel, "But the Lord has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto God a people of inheritance, as you are this day" (Deut 4:20).
Ezekiel, whose name means "God will strengthen," wrote of the future - for our days, "Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying, ‘Then said I unto them, cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against Me, and would not hearken unto Me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt'" (Ezek 20:2,7-8). What was this abominable idol their eyes were seeing? None other than Nannar, the crescent moon god, that Ur of the Chaldees, Haran, Egypt and all the Middle East observed and still do today!
As God's called and redeemed, we are to "cast away" postponing God's appointed times for man's times and using the crescent moon - which most Churches of God find themselves using today, to count their holy days!
What does God say about the worship of idols - such as using the crescent moon to count the first day of the New Year and the Holy Day Sabbaths from? Is there a punishment for doing so? Indeed there is: "If there be found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God giveth you, man or woman, that has wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; and it be told you, and you have heard of it, and inquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: then shalt you bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto your gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die" (Deut 17:2-5). God appreciates and highly values the man who purposefully chooses in his own mind to practice carrying out God's will.
Proceeding forward from the time of Moses in the14th century B.C. to the 8th century B.C., we find Judah was still embracing and counting God's Holy Days from the crescent moon. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the holy one of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. 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 hates: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them" (Isa 1:1-4, 13-14). These verses need no explaining!
I have had people say to me, and you probably have also, "If the Hebrew calendar, the one most Churches of God keep today, was wrong, God would have reveled it to Mr. Herbert Armstrong and besides Romans 3 tells us the Jews were given the oracles of God to keep. To that, I say, true, they were given the oracles, but they did not keep them, as we just read in Isaiah Chapter 1. God took His government and truths away from Judah. "Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you [Judah], and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spake of them" (Matt 21:43,45).
I have also been told, "If the Hebrew calendar the Churches of God keeps today is wrong, why didn't Jesus Christ tell the Pharisees to change it in the New Testament?" He did! In the book of Mark, Christ answered the scribes and Pharisees, "Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Mark 7:6). This just confirms what we read in Isaiah 1:13-14 about how God hated their new moon and assemblies! Christ continues His answer in the book of Mark: "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things you do. And He said unto them, full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you" (Mark 7:7-9,13).
Lets move forward now to our time. We will begin by distinguishing the difference between two phases of the moon. One is called the true new moon and the other is the astronomical new moon - the one the Hebrew calendar calls "molad"- the one the Jews postpone until the crescent moon can be seen.
The well respected Jewish scholar, Rabbi Nathan Bushwick, provides us with a definition of "molad" [astronomical new moon] in his book, "Understanding the Jewish Calendar," on page 71, chapter nine, titled "The Molad:" "As the moon moves around the earth, there is one moment that it exactly between the earth and the sun. At that moment the faces the dark side of the moon. Already for about a day before this moment the moon has not been visible from any point on the earth and it will remain invisible for about a day more. This moment is called the molad, the birth of the new moon. We use the molad as the official beginning and end point of the cycle of the moon." This "molad"or astronomical new moon conjunction, sometimes identified as the "mean" conjunction, is usually postponed during the year by a day or more - causing their [Hebrew] calendar to actually count from the visible crescent moon for their holidays. Because most Churches of God go by the Hebrew calendar, which in turn follows the Jewish tradition of postponing the true new moon conjunction, these same Churches of God are also postponing God's true Holy Days!
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 5, page 45 and 46, under the title "Calendar," we read of the difference between a true conjunction of the sun and moon and a "mean"or "molad" astronomical conjunction of the sun, moon, and earth. It reads: "A month is the period of time between one conjunction of the moon with the sun and the next. From the true conjunction to the first sighting of the new crescent in the region of Jerusalem observation at which may well be presupposed [meaning tacitly assume to be the case] in the calculation of the astronomical Jewish calendar...shortly before the autumnal equinox the minimum interval from the true conjunction to the Astronomical moon phases is approximately 20 hours, which the maximum is close to 72 hours, with the minimum of approximately 18 hours shortly before the vernal equinox." Please take the time to read that statement again, so you fully grasp what was said.
It is important for all of God's called people to recognize that there is a difference between man's astronomical, mean [or middle] conjunction and God's true conjunction that can take place sometimes 20 or more hours [as we just read] before the astronomical conjunction of the sun, moon, and earth. Unfortunately, that is one of those "traditions of men," which most of the Churches of God go by. The astronomical moon is calculated from an average subject . It is never exactly between the waning and waxing crescents of any month! Recently, the Astronomical Institute of Utrecht University, answered a question I asked them about the astronomical moon. I will pull one paragraph from the two page e-mail they answered back with: "The motion of the moon in the sky is subject to many perturbations that cause the dates and times of the true or apparent conjunction to the sun and moon to deviate from simple arithmetical progression. Such a calculation is usually performed in two steps, first, the conjunction is calculated for the mean moon which is a fictitious moon that has the same average motion as the true moon but that is not subject too any perturbations. If no accuracy is required and if you don't mind an error of up to about a half a day, then you can omit the second step and use the times of the mean conjunction as estimates for the time of the apparent conjunction." God is a precise, organized and exact God. He does not "estimate" when His holy time begins - and neither should we!
Let's look at another definition, this time from a U.S. Naval Observatory information pamphlet entitled, "Moon Phases and Percent of the Moon Illumination:" "These phases of the moon, in the sequence of their occurrence starting from the new moon are: new moon– the moon is not visible [except during a solar eclipse]. Waxing crescent - the moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing. Waning crescent– the moon appears to be partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight. The fractions of the moon's disk that is illuminated is decreasing. Following waning crescent is new moon [the true new moon], beginning a repetition of the complete phase cycle of 29.5 day average duration. At new moon the percent Illuminated is 0." The astronomical "new" moon is a tradition of man and should not be used to count for God's appointed Holy Day Sabbaths!
Genesis1 states, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen 1:1-2). "Darkness" here is Strong's #2822 – root 2821. All definitions used in this article have been taken from two sources. The "New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Genenius Hebrew- English Lexicon" and the "Genenius Hebrew–Chaldees Lexicon of the Old Testament" by Baker. Using Strong's numbers, these two lexicons give a more detailed and accurate definition of the Hebrew word: Darkness is Strong's # 2822 and its root 2821meaning: 1. Obscurity; 2. Extraordinary darkness; 3. Extreme darkness; 4. Hiding place; 5. Blindness; 6. Conceal. This same word darkness is used in Isaiah 45. "And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel mine elect" (Isa 45:3-4). These are very revealing verses.
Back to Genesis 1 and verse 3, "And God said, let there be light: and there was light." This "light" is Strong's # 216, root 215, meaning: 1. Light as diffused in nature; 2. Bright; 3. Light lacking clarity; 4. Illuminated. This light came from the sun, but the vapor canopy around the earth diffused and blocked the sun's light. Vs. 4, "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness." Here God caused the earth to rotate so there would be a day portion and a night portion within a 24 hour period of time. Vs. 5, "And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
"Darkness" in this verse is the same Strong's number we read in verse 2 and in Isaiah 45:3: 1. Obscurity; 2. Extraordinary darkness; 3. Hiding place; 4. Blindness; 5. Conceal.
The first five verses of Genesis describe the events that took place on God's first day of re-creating the earth for man. There was diffused light and obscured concealed darkness - showing us that both light and darkness were on the first day.
Looking forward to God's fourth day of creation, we will see God made the sun and the moon appear, making the "whole host of heaven" visible to man. "And God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them [the objects] be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them [the objects] be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them [the objects] in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: [this is the same concealed darkness we read of in verse 4and 5] and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day" (Gen 1:14-15). Neither here nor in verses 2-5, did an original creative act of the sun and moon occur. The sun and the moon were already created as it tells us in Gen 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"
This first creative act refers to the dateless past. Vs.2, refers to God re-creating the earth for mankind. When we examine this re-creating act of God, it clearly shows us that the obscured, concealed, dark, new moon was on the first day. Gen 1: 2-5, also tells us this "treasure of darkness" was not only the first day of the week, it was the first day of the month and it was the first day of God's re-created year! If we count from the fourth day of God's initial re-creation week [when the crescent moon became visible!], to arrive at God's weekly Sabbath, then all Sabbath keepers have been keeping the wrong day for God's Sabbaths - the weekly Sabbath as well as the annual Holy Day Sabbaths!
It was on the fourth day of the re-creation of the earth that God revealed the sun, the crescent moon, the stars and all the host of heaven. Almost anyone would agree that this fourth day should not be counted as the first day of the week, or the first day of the month, or the first day of the year! So, why is it that so many of God's people want to use the [postponed] 4th day crescent moon to count from? We must count from the first day of re-creation and thus the true dark new moon, to arrive at the correct 7th day Sabbath and the annual Sabbaths.
It would be good for all to study for themselves this evidence of what phase the moon was in on God's first re-creation day. I would like to also say that there is a difference between darkness in astronomy and darkness - meaning: cloudiness and gloominess. Look at the example of Exo. 20:21, "And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." Not only does this show that this is a different darkness than an astronomical darkness, but it also shows that man has been brain washed to equate darkness with evil. Exo. 20:21 and similar scriptures, plainly show that God dwelt in thick darkness many times, and it was not evil! Scripture also reveals that darkness precedes almost every major event in which God plays a part.
I pray this explains why the Church of God, In Truth will not use the crescent moon or the astronomical moon for God's appointed Holy Day times. Please contact us for free literature explaining this and other related subjects.
James Russell
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