Who celebrates the new moon today? What is an observance? Why should we observe the new moon?
The definition of the word observance means this: It is a customary practice or ceremony, a rule that governs a religious order, or an act of watching.
What religious order observed the new moon in the past and what type of celebration was this?
The apostle Paul gives us a clue to the symbolism of the celebration of the new moon.
Colossians 2:16-17…Therefore let no man judge YOU in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath; for those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ.
So, what is a shadow, is it not the absence of some light? For something to have or cast a shadow would mean that it has substance. So, the apostle Paul discloses that the observances of the festivals, new moon, and of the Sabbath indicates to us something with substance is coming in the future. So, should we be celebrating these things today or in the future? We will answer these questions under the subheading New Heavens New Earth.
If we would look back at the history of the celebrations for the Jewish people that God gave them, we would see a pattern of every seven days we go from the new moon to a half moon to a full moon then back down to the new moon again making a lunar month.
Psalms 81:2-4… O cry out joyfully, YOU people, to God our strength; Shout in triumph to the God of Jacob. Strike up a melody and take a tambourine, The pleasant harp together with the stringed instrument. On the new moon, blow the horn, On the full moon, for the day of our festival. For it is a regulation for Israel, A judicial decision of the God of Jacob.
The moon cycle is every 29.5 days, and every seventh day is a Sabbath. So many of the festivals that God asked his people to celebrate fell on the new moon and followed this seven-day pattern.
What was the purpose of the celebrations?
Rosh Chodesh
The start of the month is known by the Jewish people as Rosh Chodesh’ it is the new moon and is translated as head of the month.
Numbers 10:10… And in the day of YOUR rejoicing and in YOUR festal seasons and at the commencements of YOUR months, YOU must blow on the trumpets over YOUR burnt offerings and YOUR communion sacrifices; and their use must serve as a memorial for YOU before YOUR God. I am Jehovah YOUR God.”
God wanted his people to rejoice, this was a time to show they were at peace as they celebrated with God.
What was the start for the new month for God’s people? And should we be celebrating these festivals today?
Isaiah 66:22-23… “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making are standing before me,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “so the offspring of YOU people and the name of YOU people will keep standing.” And it will certainly occur that from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath all flesh will come in to bow down before me,” Jehovah has said.
So, the new moon was the start the count down for the seven-day Sabbath. But did you notice that God said new heavens and new earth? This indicates a very specific time in mankind’s history. This is a future event as indicated by multiple Scriptures. So, we will circle back around to this thought under the subheading New Heavens and New Earth.
Are there any other Scriptures speaking about celebrating the new moon and what were the circumstances surrounding it?
1 Samuel 20:5-34 This is a story about David celebrating the new moon festival with King Saul, but David was afraid for his life, and he asked permission from Jonathan to be excused, and then they arrange for a meeting afterwards. David wanted peace with king Saul, but it was not to be. The king wanted David to be put to death for fear that the lineage of King Saul would end.
So, we can see that the new moon festival was to be more of a communion meal with the king of Israel and so too it goes with the God of Israel it is a communion meal with God showing that we are at peace with him. Are we at peace with God today, and if so, how do you show it?
Which festival or celebration was given first by God to his people?
The Passover
The Passover was the start of the new year for God’s people. The next three sited Scriptures refer to the Passover in detail with instructions with respect to days and how it was to be observed.
Exodus 12:1-7… Jehovah now said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 “This month will be the start of the months for YOU. It will be the first of the months of the year for YOU. 3 Speak to the entire assembly of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month they are to take for themselves each one a sheep for the ancestral house, a sheep to a house. 4 But if the household proves to be too small for the sheep, then he and his neighbor close by must take it into his house according to the number of souls; YOU should compute each one proportionate to his eating as regards the sheep. 5 The sheep should prove to be sound, a male, a year old, for YOU. YOU may pick from the young rams or from the goats. 6 And it must continue under safeguard by YOU until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel must slaughter it between the two evenings. 7 And they must take some of the blood and splash it upon the two doorposts and the upper part of the doorway belonging to the houses in which they will eat it.
Exodus 12:12-13… And I must pass through the land of Egypt on this night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I shall execute judgments. I am Jehovah. And the blood must serve as YOUR sign upon the houses where YOU are; and I must see the blood and pass over YOU, and the plague will not come on YOU as a ruination when I strike at the land of Egypt.
Exodus 12:14-24… “And this day must serve as a memorial for YOU, and YOU must celebrate it as a festival to Jehovah throughout YOUR generations. As a statute to time indefinite, YOU should celebrate it. 15 Seven days YOU are to eat unfermented cakes. Yes, on the first day YOU are to take away sourdough from YOUR houses, because anyone eating what is leavened, from the first day down to the seventh, that soul must be cut off from Israel. 16 And on the first day there is to take place for YOU a holy convention, and on the seventh day a holy convention. No work is to be done on them. Only what every soul needs to eat, that alone may be done for YOU. 17 “And YOU must keep the festival of unfermented cakes, because on this very day I must bring YOUR armies out from the land of Egypt. And YOU must keep this day throughout YOUR generations as a statute to time indefinite. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening YOU are to eat unfermented cakes down till the twenty-first day of the month in the evening. 19 Seven days no sourdough is to be found in YOUR houses, because anyone tasting what is leavened, whether he is an alien resident or a native of the land, that soul must be cut off from the assembly of Israel. 20 Nothing leavened are YOU to eat. In all YOUR dwellings YOU are to eat unfermented cakes… 23 Then when Jehovah does pass through to plague the Egyptians and does see the blood upon the upper part of the doorway and upon the two doorposts, Jehovah will certainly pass over the entrance, and he will not allow the ruination to enter into YOUR houses to plague YOU. 24 “And YOU must keep this thing as a regulation for you and your sons to time indefinite.”
God was very clear that he intended for the celebration to continue into the future.
The Lunar Calendar
There are many cultures that use a lunar calendar such as the Asian people. There is even an Islamic calendar in use today. Some farmers still use a lunar observance to plant their crops by.
With the formation of NASA and the Advanced Technology that we have today we are able to forecast most of the solar and lunar events surrounding the earth.
The Jewish religious leaders in trying to fit in with the Roman Empire adjusted their festivals to correspond with a seven-day work week. They were trying to fit in God’s festivals to their work week. But there are some Jewish people still holding on to the true lunar calendar.
Every three years an adjustment to the lunar calendar needed to be made to adjust for the solar year at the time of the spring equinox. At the end of the year extra days were added to the lunar calendar right before the spring equinox.
Do we need to adjust the celebrations of God to fit our calendar, or should we not really adjust our calendar to fit God celebration?
In light of the Advanced Technology that we have today how much easier it would be to adjust our calendar now to meet God’s festivals.
By simply knowing when the spring equinox occurs and picking the new moon closest to that date every year there would be no need to adjust the lunar calendar every three years. But we can see how the global society with as many diversities would find it hard to adjust to God’s timetable.
What would it take to restart God’s festivals and put them back to his original format?
New Heavens and New Earth
Should we be celebrating these festivals today? And could we really adjust our lifestyles to fit into God’s timetable and festivals?
These are very good questions, and we intend to answer them with God’s word.
Isaiah 66:22-23… “For just as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making are standing before me,” is the utterance of Jehovah, “so the offspring of YOU people and the name of YOU people will keep standing.” And it will certainly occur that from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath all flesh will come in to bow down before me,” Jehovah has said.
Did you notice that God said new heavens and new earth? This is a prophecy about what God intends to do in a future time for mankind. This is a future event as indicated by the Scriptures but especially in the letter penned from the apostle Peter.
2 Peter 3:13… But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.
Was this some new teaching that the apostle Peter was revealing? Or was he referring to a prophecy that God had already uttered from the past?
Isaiah 65:17-19… “For here I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart. But exult, YOU people, and be joyful forever in what I am creating. For here I am creating Jerusalem a cause for joyfulness and her people a cause for exultation. And I will be joyful in Jerusalem and exult in my people; and no more will there be heard in her the sound of weeping or the sound of a plaintive cry.”
So, this sounds like a restoration prophecy about Jerusalem, but as he states at the beginning of this Scripture there is more to it than that, it is a restoration of the earth and the heavens and the laws that govern it, for he says be happy and exult you people for I will be joyful in Jerusalem.
Are there any other scriptures that speak about the new heavens and the new earth?
The New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:1-5… And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw also the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” 5 And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also, he says: “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”
The beginning versus of the Scripture indicates a time span, a moment in a future time and event. When God’s tent the new Jerusalem will be established upon the earth and where God resides with mankind.
Are there any other prophecies that speak about the new Jerusalem and the new moon and the festivals of God?
Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:11 speaks about this future event and how the sacrifices and the celebration of the new moon and the festivals of God are to be celebrated. One other passage of Scripture found at Zechariah 14:16 also speak about a future time of the celebration of the festivals.
Look for part two God’s Festivals Reinstituted as we elaborate more on the festivals of our God and the timing of his future events.
My God is Jah!
Come Lord Jesus and turn the hearts of man back. Malachi 4:5-6
God’s Festivals Reinstituted Link: God’s Festivals Reinstituted
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