Ponder Scripture Newsletter

 

 

ith the seemingly endless array of Bible-based articles, newsletters and other publications currently available on the Internet, there is a veritable "information overload" of sorts when it comes to searching for various Bible-related topics.  Since there is already an abundance of Bible-related topics to choose from, you can well imagine that one could devote his or her full time to reading these studies.  June and I have added our share of studies to cyberspace, some of which are very lengthy.  Indeed, some topics require lengthy explanations to provide in-depth answers.  On this page, however, we want to keep things as "short and sweet" as possible.  While we primarily gear our writings to those who share our understanding that the Torah is relevant for believers today, anyone is welcome to read and offer feedback; however, due to our schedules, we cannot guarantee a quick turn-around response time.  We invite you to direct all correspondence to seekutruth at aol dot com.

Archived Newsletters

 

Newsletter #5:  The Fourth Month of the Scriptural Year

 

 The "Pre-First Day" of Creation:  Did the Sabbath That Occurred After Creation Fall on the Eighth Day of the Month?

 

by Larry Acheson

 

07/10/2011

 

I

t seems pretty simple, doesn't it?  According to the Scriptural record, Yahweh spoke the heavens and the earth into existence within the space of six days and then He rested on the seventh.  Before that first day, time as we know it didn't exist.  Before that first day, creation as we know it, including the sun, moon and the stars, did not exist.  That's the way things are presented to us in the Biblical account of Creation.  Mankind, it seems, would like to make things more complex than they really are.  Although Scripture records the "great lights," including the sun and the moon, having been created on the fourth day of Creation, a group of people known as lunar sabbatarians believe the moon had already been created in advance of day #1.  Furthermore, they are persuaded that the weekly Sabbath, even though it was the seventh day of Creation, fell on the eighth day of the month.  That's right, even though Scripture only presents a seven-day time span from the beginning point of Creation until the ending point of the seventh-day Sabbath, lunar sabbatarians maintain that the seventh day of that week was actually the eighth day of the month.

     Over the years, June and I have spent considerable time discussing the "ins and outs" of lunar sabbatarian beliefs, many of which we have found to be so confusingly bizarre that the sheer ridiculousness of their belief about a "pre-first day" didn't really sink in until a friend of ours named Chuck Henry recently put it under his microscope of logic and reason.  Since this particular lunar sabbatarian Creation model has the weekly Sabbath that immediately followed the Creation falling on the eighth day of the month, even though there was no "day 8" yet, and since the Creation account makes no mention of the Creation dynamics actually starting on "day 2" of the month, red flags should be flying like crazy before the eyes of even the most inexperienced Bible students.  Chuck Henry, in his study titled "Evidence From the Creation Week," draws special attention to the absurdity of this particular belief.  Chuck not only addresses (and refutes) the lunar sabbatarian "Pre-First Day of Creation" model, but he also identifies what may be the underlying catalyst for the emergence of lunar sabbatarian practice and belief. 

 

     Please keep in mind that those who believe the weekly Sabbath falls on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of each month must believe that there was some sort of "pre-first day" within the framework of the Creation account.  I found this teaching to be so incredulous that I resolved that anyone who would fall for such a notion cannot really be trusted to offer any valuable commentary or analysis of Scripture.  This may sound harsh, but when you really think about this, it defies the Scriptural account of Creation to believe that there was a "pre-first day."  Moreover, even though Scripture plainly presents the moon as having been created on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-18), the lunar sabbatarians with whom we have discussed this matter agree that the moon had already been created prior to the first day of Creation. 

 

     For additional insights into why we are persuaded the Lunar Sabbath Doctrine is built on a false premise, we invite you to read our study titled Something Different:  Lunar Sabbaths. We understand some folks may be overwhelmed by the length of our growing study, and we understand their concern.  We live in a world dominated by information overload and many people demand that we either make things brief or else they won't even look at what we have.  To those people, we can only suggest that you just pick out a chapter whose title seems like it might address a particular aspect of lunar sabbatarian belief that interests you.  Focus on just that one chapter.  We are persuaded that any one chapter of our study, in and of itself, serves to expose the fallacy of lunar sabbatarian belief, and Chuck's chapter is no exception.

 

     Ironically, not long after Chuck sent us his study, June and I received an unsolicited e-mail from a lunar sabbatarian named David in which he promotes his web site.  It wasn't until we reviewed the article that he offered for recommended study that we realized that he is a lunar sabbatarian.  Of course, that is how lunar sabbatarians often "hook" unsuspecting believers.  They know that if they were to advertise up-front that they are lunar sabbatarians, the majority of their e-mail recipients would quickly delete the e-mail without even finishing it.  Anyway, upon determining that we were on some lunar sabbatarian's e-mail distribution list, I decided to see if he is among those who believe that the seventh day following Creation was actually the 8th day of the month.  Sure enough, that is precisely what he believes.  Here is the e-mail response that he sent me (for privacy reasons, I blotted out his e-mail address):

 

 

     Notice that in David's defense of the "pre-first day," he expresses additional extra-Biblical beliefs as though they are facts, including his belief that other worlds besides earth come to worship at the Creator's feet.  As with other singular aspects of lunar sabbatarian practice and belief, this serves to illustrate that it helps to have a vivid imagination. If it is true that other worlds' inhabitants come to worship the Creator at designated times, then we can only wonder what makes our world (earth) so much more special than the other worlds that He would select our world as the one on which He will dwell for eternity (Revelation 21:1-4).  We understand that there are many varying interpretations of the Bible and that is why there are at least 225 separate religious bodies in the United States alone,¹ but believing that there was a "pre-first day" is just one of the more absurd ones that we have come across, and since it is apparently foundational to lunar sabbatarian practice and belief, identifying and refuting this fallacy is just one more reason to reject the Lunar Sabbath Doctrine.

 

Sighting of the Fourth New Moon

We were blessed to sight the fourth new moon of the Scriptural year on the evening of July 2, 2011.  We do not begin a new Scriptural month unless we know the new moon crescent has been sighted over Israel, and since Israel is eight hours ahead of us, we found out well in advance of our own sighting that it had already been seen in Israel.  Here is the photo taken from our own sighting:

    

     Two nights after relishing the sighting of the new moon, we headed out to enjoy the sighting of the July 4th fireworks.  They were nothing short of spectacular.  We took a few pictures, some of which turned out kind of "funky," such as this one:

     I'm not exactly sure how or why the above photo turned out the way it did.  I sure don't remember seeing anything quite like that during the event.  Here's something that comes closer to what we saw:

     On an ironic note, I noticed an interesting contrast between the spirit of national unity that brought so many people together in that special viewing location and the spirit of "me first" that dominated the departure scenario at the end of the fireworks display.  As we pulled out of our parking spot, we listened as a radio station played "I'm Proud to Be An American."  Sadly, many of those Americans were in such a hurry to leave that they seemed to think nothing of cutting in front of us.  We actually had two drivers battling to be the first to cut us off.  It was almost a battle for independence just to leave the parking lot.  In view of the combative nature of drivers in such a hurry to leave, we decided to just pull into an empty parking space and wait for things to clear up before our own departure. Later, as we pulled onto the street, we could see the sad results of drivers whose impatience caught the attention of the local police department.  The display of flashing lights from police cars was almost as impressive as the fireworks display!

 

     I think there is a lesson from our experience that many professing believers just don't seem to grasp.  Maybe those drivers who cut in front of us aren't Bible believers.  If they are, they may need to review some key Bible verses, such as Mark 9:35, where Yeshua says, "If any man desires to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all."  I can understand the desire to want to return home as quickly as possible, but to do so at the expense of another driver's convenience (and possibly well-being) doesn't seem like the noble way to go about it.  Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but I grew up believing that the "American way" closely parallels the principles taught in the Bible, which would include some basic rules of common courtesy.  Is it possible that one can step back and see a parallel between America's declining Bible-based values and its declining displays of courtesy on the highway?  I'm proud to be an American, but I want that pride to be reflected by the moral values presented in Scripture.  As Yeshua also said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

 

 

___________________________________

 

¹ This information is taken from Frank S. Mead's book Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 8th edition, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1985. 

 

Back to Ponder Scripture Newsletter Archives