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.

Newsletter #8:  Bul 2011 (Eighth Month of the Scriptural Year)

Pagan Associations:  Have You Gone Back Far Enough?

by Larry & June Acheson

e never cease to be amazed by the vast assortment of interpretations of Scripture that come our way.  We have recently heard from lunar sabbatarians, one of whom sent me his reasoning for believing that John 7:2 through 9:14 proves that Yeshua was a lunar sabbatarian.  We address this particular teaching in chapter 8 of our study Something Different:  Lunar Sabbaths, "The Sabbath Observed by the Messiah (Part 2)."  We also heard from a believer who is persuaded that all Torah-observant believers should set their Sabbath clocks to correspond with sunset times in Israel.  In other words, if the sun sets in Israel at 7:00 PM Israel Time, which would be 11:00 AM here in Texas, then that is when we should begin our Sabbath here—at that precise moment. If we had to come up with a name for this particular belief, we would call it the "One-World Israel Time Zone" doctrine.  June and I are persuaded that Yahweh gave us the "great lights" (Genesis 1:14) to serve as "markers" or signs delineating the beginning of a new day in coordination with the ending of the previous one — regardless of where in the world we find ourselves.  We are also persuaded that Yahweh intends for His people to use those markers wherever they are.  Certainly, if the Apostle Paul had expected his fellow believers in Rome to begin the weekly Sabbath as the sun was setting in Israel, he would have instructed them to begin and end the weekly Sabbath in that location about an hour and a half before sunset, since the sun sets approximately an hour and a half later in Rome than it does in Israel. However, no such instructions are to be found.

     When it comes to beginning a new month, June and I would normally advocate going by the crescent new moon as seen from wherever we live, just as we do with each new Scriptural day.  In fact, if we suddenly found ourselves devoid of the technology that allows us to know when the new moon has been sighted over Israel, that is what we would do.  However, since we can know whether or not "day 1" of a new Scriptural month has begun in Israel, we personally choose to coordinate our days accordingly.  Just as the seventh day of the week that we observe encompasses the same day that is observed in Israel, we don't begin "day 1" of a new Scriptural month unless it is also that same day in Israel, even though that day began eight hours earlier for them.  Our friend Chuck Henry, in his excellent study The Scriptural Month, offers additional insight into why we prefer this method, and we recommend checking out his study for additional insight into the Almighty's calendar.

 

Have You Gone Back Far Enough?

     June and I have also recently heard from a believer who is being pressured to do no "regular work" on the day of the new moon. We actually cover this teaching in chapter 15 of our study Something Different:  Lunar Sabbaths, "Is There a “No Trade” Restriction on the Day of the New Moon?"  In this chapter, we address the fact that, regardless of whether or not you are willing to accept the Septuagint's translation of Amos 8:5, the truth of the matter is, that is how those 1st century BCE Hebrew scholars who translated the Septuagint understood the application of the Hebrew word "chodesh" in that verse.  Had they regarded the day of the new moon as a day on which business transactions are not allowed, they certainly would have translated "chodesh" into Greek as noumenia (new moon) instead of the more general mane (the Greek word for "month"). Moreover, if indeed there was a general understanding within the ranks of Judaism that "New Moon Day" was a rest day, there would have been a flurry of (recorded) protests over the way Amos 8:5 was translated in the Septuagint translation.  Indeed, the absence of any controversy within Judaism over whether or not we should rest on the day of the new moon offers sufficient evidence that regular work was (and is) sanctioned on that day. 

     Occasionally, June and I are questioned about our conviction that the crescent moon is the original Scriptural "marker" for beginning a new month, and this is a question that the above believer posed in his e-mail inquiry.  He has obviously been exposed to the teaching that using the crescent new moon to determine the beginning of a new Scriptural month constitutes imitating a heathen custom.  One web site, playing on the shock value of pagan association, offers this clever challenge, complete with visual aids: 

Would Yahweh use this pagan symbol to mark the beginning of a month in His calendar?

Think about it!

 

     With all the pagan crescent moons displayed above,[1] including at least three outhouses, it should be pretty obvious that we should steer clear of anything and everything associated with crescent moons, right?  There is a name for the above approach:  Guilt by association.  We caution against assuming that "guilt by association" means "truly guilty."

 

     In our study "When and Where Does the Scriptural Month Begin?" we cover our primary reasons for concluding that Scriptural evidence, combined with historical understanding, supports believing that the new Scriptural month begins with the sighting of the crescent new moon.  However, some groups, such as the group above who attempts to use their web site to demonize this method, criticize it because ancient pagans worshipped the new moon and even carved images of crescent new moons.  This "revelation" is presented by "conjunction proponents" so as to shock new Torah-observant initiates into rejecting crescent sighting as the means for determining a new Scriptural month.  We will say that, to a large extent, this approach has been successful.  Please don't get us wrong — we certainly want no part of any observance or celebration whose origin is ultimately traced to pagan worship. This means that June and I do not join in the observance of such common festivals as Halloween, Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas.  However, unlike the custom of watching for the new moon crescent for the purpose of starting a new month, all trustworthy, scholarly references that we are aware of agree that Halloween, Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas are observances that are ultimately traced to heathen worship.  In fact, in many instances, references whose authors embrace observing these holidays openly admit to their heathen origin and often point to the "Christianized" holiday as Christianity's "triumph" over paganism.  We need to be mindful of the fact that Torah enjoins us to not worship Yahweh in imitation of how pagans worshipped their idols (Deuteronomy 12:29-32).  Why borrow customs from heathens when the Almighty has already told us how He wants us to worship Him?

 

     Once we move beyond the elementary stages of Bible study, we should be able to determine that an association with paganism doesn't necessarily mean that this is where the custom originated.  Thus, the fact that pagans worshipped the moon does not automatically discredit using the crescent new moon to determine the beginnings of months.  For example, pagans also worshipped a moon deity named "Yah."[2] Does this mean we are imitating a pagan custom when we refer to the Almighty as "Yah" or "Yahweh"?    We hope you see our point:  Unregenerate mankind will invariably take something honorable and stain it with corruption.  We can either reject that which was once honorable or we can remove the stain and restore the original honor.  June and I choose this latter option.

 

     The believer mentioned above, in his e-mail inquiry, asked us if we believe observing the new moon based on the crescent sighting method is traced to pagan worship.  I answered that it is, but at the same time, I asked him to consider the following potential scenario:  

 

     As mankind began to wander away from the Faith handed down to them by Noah, they retained many of the customs and practices of their grandfather Noah.  However, as is the way of man, they eventually began doing things their own way.  I'm persuaded that the changes were more or less gradual — a little here and a little there.

 

     Let's say that Noah taught his family, including his grandchildren, to reckon the beginnings of their months with the sighting of the new moon crescent.  What would prevent one of the grandchildren, as he grew older and became an adult, from spinning a grandiose yarn for his children about the new moon and how it is so special?  Maybe it was a fanciful story about how the moon spoke to the sun — who knows what whimsical tales they came up with (ever heard of the "man in the moon")?  Maybe hearing that story caused the child to think the sun and the moon are living creatures to be afraid of offending.  Over a period of time, the sun and the moon became more than celestial markers for days and months — they became deities — objects of worship.

 

     With the passing of time, images were drawn of the sun and the moon. People (not just the children) were taught that if they pray to the sun and the moon, those luminaries will hear and bless them with a profitable year (and even a successful month).

 

     Prophets were sent to warn the people that Yahweh is the only Sovereign and to pray to Him only (Deut. 4:15-19, 17:2-5).  However, as prophetic warnings go, the prophets were ignored and even ridiculed.  People continued to worship the sun and the moon (Jer. 8:1-2), even though their great-great-great grandfather admonished them to only use those "great lights" for signs, seasons, days and years.

 

     Millennia later, when mankind finally learned that the sun is actually a huge fireball consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium, while the moon is more akin to a big rock made up of metallic iron, sulfur and nickel, worship of these celestial objects gradually died out (well, almost).  At the same time, more and more students of the Bible are coming to grips with the knowledge that the Creator's calendar is based on the lunar cycle.  However, do we go by the conjunction of the moon for determining when to begin the Scriptural month — or do we go by the sighting of the crescent moon?

 

     A few students, who have been studying some history, think they have the answer:  "Hey! We found where ancient people believed that if they prayed to the sun and the moon, they would be blessed with a profitable year!  They even drew pictures of crescent moons!  I've decided to not go by the sighting of the crescent moon because it looks like that's how those pagans worshipped their gods!"

 

   Our question for the above students:  Have you gone back into history far enough?

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[1] Taken from a web page titled "The Crescent Moon," North Texas Fellowship in YHWH, Celina, TX, copyright 2002-2010, http://yahwehsheep.net/CrescentSighting.html. 

[2] From Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan, Facts on File, Inc., 1993, p. 291.

 

 

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