“The New Moon Days and Yahweh’s Calendar”

We are going to talk today about the Calendar of Yahweh and the New Moons and the importance thereof versus the calendar of men. We want to talk about this. This is something I feel that Yahweh has laid on my heart to share and I feel it is important for us to examine and get our minds on the correct path.

I did a study over a year ago on the calendar and how we can determine a new month and how we can determine a new year, things like that. And so, I am not going to rehash that same study, but there are some other things I want to cover that I feel are important for us as a body of Messiah and I want to talk about.

But we need to get on Yahweh’s timetable as we get closer and closer to the time of tribulation. The day is going to come when quite possibly you won’t be able to check EliYah.com and know when the next New Moon is going to be or Festival is going to be.

So for those of you who are somewhat familiar with the Hebraic Roots, you need to have some way of being able to keep track of this for yourselves and knowing what to do. So I encourage you to watch that study on the calendar.

But there is something I think Yahweh sort of wanted us to implement and it has to do with the New Moons. But we want to talk about this.

There are some people among us who are actually observing the New Moon Days as a Sabbath. And there are some who just look for the New Moon, and some who just, pretty much, the New Moon goes by and they don’t pay much attention to it.

But I want to talk to you about why a calendar is important and why it matters. How many of you right now if I were to ask you what day is it on Yahweh’s Calendar could tell me what day it is? Could you tell me what today is according to Yahweh?

Is today the 13th month, the 27th day? Do we know that? Do we not know that? Do we know it has been 1,944 years since the destruction of the temple? Why does the calendar matter? What is the big deal? And so, we are going to talk about this: The New Moon and Yahweh’s Calendar and why it matters.

And first, I need to tell you why it matters. Because in the beginning Yahweh our Creator, when He created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, He came up with the idea of a calendar. He invented it. He thought of it. It was His idea to create a calendar, to create a week, to create months, to create years.

It was His thoughts that put this into motion. And so, He established the concept of a calendar in the beginning. And in fact, we can read about this calendar. No, not just in the Torah, not just in Exodus and Deuteronomy and Leviticus, but we can also read about it in Noah’s time.

Genesis 7:11 – In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12 – And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

On the seventeenth day of the second month. We see it again. Yahweh’s calendar is established from the very beginning. Abraham wasn’t born, yet. There was no such thing as a Jewish man, let alone Israel and Judah. The calendar that Yahweh established in the beginning is by and large ignored by traditional Christianity and by most of the world.

And in fact, almost everybody follows a calendar originally developed by a demon worshipping emperor named Julius Caesar, with a slight modification and refinement by Pope Gregory. And we structure our lives around this man and his demarcation of time.

We have watches with Caesar’s calendar programmed in there for us. Our computers. In the lower right hand portion of your computer screen, you will see the date on most of your computers of Caesar’s calendar. And we structure our lives around the calendar of a demon worshiper. That’s what we do… most of us.

Because the calendar now used by the world was first instituted by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.E. That is before Messiah was even born. And since Rome has ruled the world for many centuries, the Roman calendar was adopted by much of the world.

Pope Gregory’s refinement was motivated by his desire to celebrate Easter at the same time the first council of Nicaea had agreed upon in 325 A.D. But what if we decided to do something really radical? What if we decided to start paying attention to Yahweh’s Calendar? After all, He is the one that invented the idea of having one, right?

He invented the idea of having a calendar to begin with. It was His idea. And since it was His idea, why do we think we can fix it? Why do we think we can improve upon what Yahweh established?

You see, if the world was to start following Yahweh’s Calendar, wouldn’t they kind of see that as an acknowledgment that Yahweh is the One that is our Creator and He is Elohim and the Scriptures are true? Oh, but they don’t want that.

We would never be able to go to Washington D.C., and successfully lobby: “Everybody follow Yahweh’s calendar.” It just wouldn’t work. The world doesn’t want to follow Yahweh or His ways, barring a miracle, right?

So since even the world understands that it would be an act of homage and acknowledgment of Yahweh’s authority to follow His Calendar, uh huh, aren’t we doing the same by following man’s calendar instead of Yahweh’s Calendar? Aren’t we doing the opposite?

Aren’t we failing to give proper homage to Yahweh and His Calendar and His way by failing to follow and acknowledge and recognize His Calendar? Are we setting Him aside as being the One in authority here, ignoring the Calendar He established in Genesis in favor of a pagan one just because the rest of the world does it?

Let me ask you a question. If everyone else in the world was following Yahweh’s Calendar, would you still follow the pagan one? No! If everybody in the world called the Messiah “Yahushua,” would you insist on calling Him “Jesus”?

If everyone in the world was following and keeping the Sabbath Day on the seventh day of the week, would you still be establishing a church on Sunday or the first day of the week? If everybody in the world kept the Feast Days of Yahweh, would you be still opening presents on December 25th?

Who are we following? We have to ask ourselves that and that question usually cuts right to the chase. Are we preferring the way of the world over the way of Yahweh?

Scripture says those who think they can change times and laws are among those who are in rebellion against the Most High. That is Daniel 7:25. And we don’t want to be that way.

Instead of having man’s calendar on our watches, and so on, the calendar of Caesar, why don’t we have something else?

Deuteronomy 6:8 – You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

What? The Law of Yahweh. That is what He wants us to have on our hand rather than man’s calendar and his watches.

And so, whether we realize it or not, to follow Caesar’s calendar instead of Yahweh’s Calendar is actually an act of homage or a tip of the hat or a form of acknowledging Caesar and, ultimately, to his mentality and, sadly, the gods he worshiped.

I know, I know you are not trying to worship another god just because you happen to recognize Caesar’s calendar. But we have to realize, Caesar’s calendar has everything to do with paying homage to the idols of Rome.

In fact, JANUARY was named in honor of the Roman idol Janus. APRIL is most likely named after the goddess “Aphrilis.” MARCH is named in honor of Mars. MAY is named in honor of the goddess Maia. Do you get my drift?

JUNE is named in honor of the Roman goddess Juno. Yuck! And July and August are named after the pagan emperors themselves, Emperors Julius and Augustus Caesar.

Now the other months, September through December, are actually not named after pagan deities. “Sept,” “oct,” “n-o-v/nov” and “d-e-c/dec” are actually words that we even use. You know, “septuplets” would mean seven, “octuplets” would mean eight and “nonuplets” would be nine. I don’t think anyone has ever had ten children.

And that is kind of unusual because it is actually the ninth month of Caesar’s calendar and yet we are calling it “Sept” as if it is the seventh month. Because originally the year began in the spring. Yahweh decided that by the way.

But why would we name a month in honor of a demon? I mean, I’ve got a real problem with that. And I have a hard time believing that Yahweh is indifferent to it.

And here is the thing that bothers me, you know. The names of these idols live on, even to our generation where people don’t even worship these things anymore. I mean, at least not a lot of people are.

The names of these idols live on and meanwhile man takes the name of Yahweh out of His own book. And, you know, the names of idols are uttered billions and billions of times every day by billions of people because the world follows the calendar originally established by a demon worshiping emperor, Julius Caesar.

Julius’ name lives on. Augustus Caesar’s name lives on. The idols’ names– Janus, Mars, Aphrilis, Maia, Juno– all live on. Yahweh’s name? You can’t even find it in the pages of most English Bibles, let alone anywhere else.

Doesn’t this sound exactly the way Satan would have it to be? And, if so, don’t we want to do things the way Yahweh established them in the beginning?

I mean, pagans have even named the days of the week: Sunday in honor of the sun; Monday in honor of the moon; Tuesday in honor of Tiw (the Anglo-saxon name for Mars); Wednesday in honor of Woden (the Anglo-saxon name for the god Mercury).

And actually, Woden and Goden were the same deity and Goden is where we get the English word “god” from… Thursday in honor of Thor (the Anglo-saxon name for Jupiter); Friday was named in honor of Frigg (the Norse name for Venus). And then the worst one of all. The Sabbath. Saturday was named after the idol Saturn.

To call the Sabbath Day “Saturday” means “the day of Saturn.” That is what you are saying when you say “Saturday.” And to say that a day is “Thursday” is to say “the day of Thor.” How can that not bother us? I mean, if we are after Yahweh’s own heart, how can that not bother us?

In 321, Constantine gave homage to the sun when he said: “On the Venerable Day of the Sun. “On the Venerable Day of the Sun,” he said. “The sacred day of the Sun,” he said. “Let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.

“In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.

“Given the 7th day of March, [A.D. 321], Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time.”

So this is what Constantine established, a Sunday day of rest, by his own words. And that’s why the Church is doing what it’s doing today… partly.

Now he was kind of following what some church members were already doing. He just made it law, but he didn’t say anything here about doing it because of the Scriptures or because it honored the Messiah’s resurrection. He just said “on this sacred day of the Sun,” everybody rest (Sunday).

Now I know he was a convert to Christianity, but he was still holding onto pagan ways and wanted everyone to go along with Caesar’s calendar rather than Yahweh’s Calendar.

According to Wikipedia here, it says: “Constantine enforced the prohibition of the First Council of Nicaea against celebrating the Master’s Supper on the day before the Jewish Passover. This marked a definite break of Christianity from the Judaic tradition.

“From then on the Roman Julian Calendar, a solar calendar, was given precedence over the lunar Hebrew calendar among the Christian churches of the Roman Empire.” The final break.

And so, Yahweh’s Calendar was dismissed as being a “Hebrew Calendar” and Constantine wanted to break away from that. Instead, he wanted to follow the calendar of the Roman Empire. His motive was to break away from anything Jewish.

He actually wrote: “Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries.” Anti-Semitism is why the Church rejected Yahweh’s calendar. And later the Council of Laodicea decided that it was even wrong to observe the Sabbath and work was actually commanded.

The Council of Laodicea decided: “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on [what they called] Saturday [and the original there has: “sabbato,” not to be idle on the Sabbath], but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day [the Master’s day] they shall especially honor, and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day.

“If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out [the Greek there, “anathema”] from Messiah.”

Amazing! How could you be anathema from Messiah by doing what Messiah did? They don’t see that He’s Jewish! Come on. You can’t do this. But anti-Semitism had a way of blinding their eyes. And so, in line with Constantine, the Council actually told everyone to work on Sabbath. And, to me, that’s terrible. It’s sad. Very sad.

And so, I have a problem with saying, “This is Saturn’s day. This other day is the Sun’s day. This other one is Thor’s day,” knowing that every day belongs to Yahweh, not demons. I would like to think that that kind of language is an abomination to our lips and to Yahweh’s ears as well, because Yahweh says:

Psalms 118:24 – This [is] the day YAHWEH has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

And so, what do we say? We can call what is commonly called “Sunday,” we can call it “the first day of the week,” “second day of the week,” “third day of the week,” and so on, and go according to that. Isn’t that better? First day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day, seventh day… or we call this day “Sabbath.”

This (the sixth day) might be called the Day of Preparation or Preparation Day, however you want to say it, in preparation for the Sabbath. And these other days, they don’t have names in the Scripture. Scripture does not have names for these days. So, let’s just call it first, second, third, fourth and fifth day.

Now what if I said to you, “I’ll join you on the third day of the week”? How many of you are thinking, “Okay, that’s Wednesday”? See how pervasive the enemy’s ways have become ingrained in our minds? The third day of the week is actually not “Wednesday,” or the day commonly called “Wednesday.” It is the day commonly called “Tuesday.” See?

We are conditioned to think of “Sunday” as being the last day of the week because of the work schedules of the world. And so, I don’t know about you, but I want to be completely free of this worldly mentality. I don’t want my life to revolve around Julius Caesar and his calendar or Pope Gregory and his calendar.

I want my life to center around YAHWEH’s Calendar, HIS demarcation of time, rather than a couple of Romans who did not honor Yahweh.

Now I realize we happen to live in a world where every event, every scheduled activity, every birthday, every anniversary, everything is centered around Caesar’s calendar. This fact is only further convincing me of how I want to me more focused on Yahweh’s timetable.

And, yes, if I am talking to somebody in the world, sometimes here on the broadcast, I have to remember to say “on the day commonly called ‘Monday'” or I’ll say “the day called ‘Monday.'” Or if I write it down, I’ll put the day in quotation marks because I am quoting somebody else, not what I would call it.

And maybe I am just being overly technical for some of you. Maybe I sound a little bit silly or legalistic, or whatever. I’m just trying to honor my King and His Calendar. Yahushua said:

Matthew 23:23 – Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier [matters] of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

He didn’t say stop paying tithe of mint and anise and cummin. He said these you ought to have done, without leaving the others what? Justice, mercy and faith undone. So even if you think it is a small thing, we should do small things without leaving the bigger things undone.

And we do this because we have a passion for the things of Yahweh. We have a holy jealousy for Him and His ways. We have a desire to see Him be exalted rather than the devil. And because He expressed in the first two books of Scripture He has His own calendar, it ought to matter to us. It should matter.

It matters because it’s something He has done. And the dates which the Bible uses are based on Yahweh’s Calendar, not man’s, not Caesar’s… Yahweh’s.

Genesis 8:4 – Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

That is during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Genesis 8:5 – And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

Interesting. Later on in Genesis…

Genesis 8:13 – And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first [month], the first [day] of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.

14 – And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.

And so, in the interest of following Yahweh’s Calendar and establishing its importance in our lives, how about we start paying more attention to what He says and when He says is a new month? How about we start getting on Yahweh’s timetable rather than the timetable of pagan Rome?

And in order to do that, we have to give Yahweh the honor due Him and the Calendar He established. We need to hang HIS Calendar on our walls and on our refrigerators. And maybe if we start doing that as we should, Yahweh will give all of us more understanding and clarity of how He wants us to observe His Calendar.

Maybe some of the confusion and disagreements that exist among believers in the Feast Days and the Torah, you know, maybe some of those things would be resolved if Yahweh would see our efforts, and say, “Look at them. They are really trying to follow My Calendar. They are really, really focused on it.”

Tell you what. I’m going to show you a few things. And I know of people that came to the truth of observing the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week, rather than the first day of the week, because they decided they were going to keep what they called “Sunday” like a real Sabbath.

Then they found out, according to Yahweh, that begins on “Saturday” night because days begin at evening. And then, “Oh, wait a minute! What’s going on here anyway with this Sabbath?” And they come to find the truth of the Sabbath by just honoring Yahweh with even what was actually wrong.

And so, if we are wrong about the calendar somewhere, maybe He will help us if we are very devout in this and focused on getting on His time frame. And the reason why it is so hard is because Caesar’s calendar is so deeply ingrained in our lives. And I recognize that.

But wouldn’t it be nice if His Calendar was deeply ingrained in our lives instead of Caesar’s? I think so. But, you know, anyway, Yahweh’s Calendar is going to be a big deal one day whether you like it or not.

Isaiah 66:22 – For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me, says YAHWEH, So shall your descendants and your name remain.

23 – And it shall come to pass [That] from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me, says YAHWEH.

We are going to get back on Yahweh’s week and we are going to get back on Yahweh’s months. And it says:

Isaiah 66:24 – And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Yahushua referred to this when He was talking about the wicked perishing in the lake of fire. So in the future, Yahweh is going to force everybody to acknowledge HIS Calendar rather than Caesar’s calendar.

Everyone is going to know, “Okay, it is a new month.” And we are going to acknowledge Yahweh is the Author of time, not Caesar, not these idols. HE decides when it is a new month– not Caesar, not Rome… Yahweh.

And we often pray, “Yahweh, may Your Kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Right? Well, guess what? When Yahweh’s Kingdom comes and His will is done on the earth as it is in heaven, we are going to follow His Calendar. That tells me what His will is right now. That tells me what His will is.

And the Feasts! We are going to gather for the Feasts, too! The whole world!

Zechariah 14:16 – And it shall come to pass [that] everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, YAHWEH of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

17 – And it shall be [that] whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, YAHWEH of hosts, on them there will be no rain.

18 – If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they [shall have] no [rain]; they shall receive the plague with which YAHWEH strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

That is Gentiles! So the Feast Days are not just for the Jews as they say. It’s for everybody. When Yahweh’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven, everybody– Jew, Gentile alike– will keep Yahweh’s Calendar. But we won’t even know when the Feasts are unless we pay attention to Yahweh’s Calendar. And Yahweh knows that.

And so, everyone will have to pay attention to His Calendar, gather on His New Moons, His demarcation of time, His months, His Holy Days. And if they won’t, they will be punished. Does that not tell you how important His Calendar is to Him?

So I say let’s pay attention to His Calendar now. If that’s His will, if that is His express will in the age to come, that tells me what His will is for us. After all, the end time events are going to center around Yahweh’s Calendar, not the one from pagan Rome.

And we need to know what time it is. We need to know what day it is. We need to know what month it is. How many of you, if I ask you the question, “What day and what month is it right now on Yahweh’s Calendar?” could have told me twenty-seventh day, thirteenth month.

Most people say, “Oh, yeah, it’s March 29th.” But how many of us could have told me today “the 27th Day of the 13th Month”? Shalosh esreh… 7/27. Shalosh esreh. I’m sorry, it is how you say “thirteenth” in Hebrew.

Well, I’ve got some good news for you. If you are like me and you have a real conviction about this, you can walk over to that calendar hanging on the wall, that Roman calendar honoring Caesar and his pagan gods, you can walk over to that calendar right now and, as long as you believe like I do, the crescent determines the new month…

And take your black marker and black out the name “April.” Instead put “Aviv.” A-V-I-V. And “Aviv” is the first month of Yahweh’s year. Yahweh said:

Deuteronomy 16:1 – Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to YAHWEH your Elohim, for in the month of Abib YAHWEH your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night.

And amazingly, the same will be true… this is amazing, because the days of “April” line up with the same days of the week as “Aviv.” It all lines up. The same days of the month called “April” line up with the same days of the month of “Aviv” on Yahweh’s Calendar. This is rare.

Now it happened once in “February,” but it happened again this “April,” and it’s going to happen again, depending on your understanding of the calendar. It’s going to happen again. So if you believe in a local sighting, a local crescent sighting of the new moon… I’m sorry, the month of “April” would be the one that says local sighting.

Now if you believe in an Israel sighting, if you know what I’m talking about, then it may not be seen. It might be seen, it might not be. But the month following, which is called “May,” everybody will be on the same page at that point.

And actually the month of “May,” you can cross out that word “May” from your calendar and put “Ziv.” Ziv. And “Ziv,” Z-I-V, that is the month of Ziv. That is the second month of Yahweh’s Calendar according to 1 Kings 6, verse 1. That is when he began to build the house of Yahweh, the month of Ziv. Solomon.

1Kings 6:1 – And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of YAHWEH.

“Ziv” means “brightness” or “radiance.” It is also seen in 1 Kings 6:37.

1Kings 6:37 – In the fourth year the foundation of the house of YAHWEH was laid, in the month of Ziv.

So instead of saying “April 1st” or “May 3rd,” we’ll just call it “Aviv 1st” and “Ziv 3rd.”

Yes, I know it sounds strange to some of you in your ears. That is only because it’s different than what you are used to, and I’m sure for some of you it may have been an adjustment also to call the Messiah “Yahushua” rather than “Jesus.” But, you know, our words are important.

Now you are not going to be able to do that with this month called “June.” You won’t be able to put “Sivan” in for that month, because they are not going to match up. But this is a good way to get started on following Yahweh’s Calendar and getting established and paying attention to His Calendar.

So if there is ever a time when you want to get on Yahweh’s timetable, it would be this year, because these next two months will be pretty easy. And maybe Yahweh is giving us a little help here. Either way, you know, we’ve got to pay attention.

And so, when we talk to the world, yes, we have to use their names, and so on, so they will understand what we are talking about, but we can still say it in a cautious way, not giving any honor or credence to the idols and demons of Rome, and just say “the month called ‘April,'” “the month called ‘May.'”

It’s not the month I call it, but it is what it is commonly called. And maybe that is just splitting hairs or semantics, but I feel better about that.

Now, anciently, Israel paid close, close attention to Yahweh’s Calendar.

1Samuel 20:5 – And David said to Jonathan, Indeed tomorrow [is] the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third [day] at evening.

So they were watching the moon’s phases and had familiarity with when the next moon was going to be. And there are times, even without a moon chart, or anything, I can kind of tell by judging how bright the moon is, and so on, when it is going to be seen next. And then, we see later in the chapter…

1Samuel 20:18 – Then Jonathan said to David, Tomorrow [is] the New Moon; and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.

19 – And [when] you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid on the day of the deed; and remain by the stone Ezel.

20 – Then I will shoot three arrows to the side, as though I shot at a target;

1Samuel 20:21 – and there I will send a lad, [saying], `Go, find the arrows.’ If I expressly say to him, `Look, the arrows [are] on this side of you; get them and come’ — then, as YAHWEH lives, [there is] safety for you and no harm.

1Samuel 20:22 – But if I say thus to the young man, `Look, the arrows [are] beyond you’ — go your way, for YAHWEH has sent you away.

23 – And as for the matter which you and I have spoken of, indeed YAHWEH [be] between you and me forever.

24 – Then David hid in the field. And when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat the feast.

1Samuel 20:25 – Now the king sat on his seat, as at other times, on a seat by the wall. And Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.

26 – Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, for he thought, Something has happened to him; he [is] unclean, surely he [is] unclean.

27 – And it happened the next day, the second [day] of the month, that David’s place was empty. And Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has the son of Jesse not come to eat, either yesterday or today?

So we see that they had some kind of a gathering or at least a meal. They made it a special event. In this case, the king held a feast of three days. And Saul, in particular, did not want anyone to sit at his table if they were unclean.

Now there is no Scripture anywhere telling us that this is a requirement or that the day of the New Moon is a holy day or that we have to do anything in particular on the day of the New Moon. There is not a single verse in the Torah that tells us to do anything on the day of the New Moon, but there were specific commandments given for the priests.

Numbers 28:11 – `At the beginnings of your months you shall present a burnt offering to YAHWEH: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish;

And so, there were special offerings given.

Numbers 28:12 – `three-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; two-tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram;

13 – `and one-tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour, mixed with oil, as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to YAHWEH.

So there were these offerings that were commanded.

Numbers 28:14 – `Their drink offering shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb; this [is] the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year.

15 – `Also one kid of the goats as a sin offering to YAHWEH shall be offered, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

So this was the first day of the month. And there were also these trumpets that were commanded to be done. And I guess I don’t have the first part of Numbers there, but it says:

Numbers 10:1-3 – And Yahweh spoke to Moshe, saying: 2 “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for the calling of the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. 3 When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

And verse 4…

Numbers 10:4 – But if they blow [only] one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall gather to you.

5 – When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey.

6 – When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey; they shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys.

Numbers 10:7 – And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but not sound the advance.

8 – The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets; and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

9 – When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before YAHWEH your Elohim, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Numbers 10:10 – Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your Elohim: I [am] YAHWEH your Elohim.

So this ordinance with the trumpets and the special offerings, it was followed. It was followed by all of Israel.

1Chronicles 23:27 – For by the last words of David the Levites [were] numbered from twenty years old and above;

28 – because their duty [was] to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of YAHWEH, in the courts and in the chambers, in the purifying of all holy things and the work of the service of the house of Elohim,

29 – both with the showbread and the fine flour for the grain offering, with the unleavened cakes and [what is baked in] the pan, with what is mixed and with all kinds of measures and sizes;

1Chronicles 23:30 – to stand every morning to thank and praise YAHWEH, and likewise at evening;

31 – and at every presentation of a burnt offering to YAHWEH on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before YAHWEH;

32 – and that they should attend to the needs of the tabernacle of meeting, the needs of the holy [place], and the needs of the sons of Aaron their brethren in the work of the house of YAHWEH.

We also see 2 Chronicles chapter 2, verse 4:

2Chronicles 2:4 – Behold, I am building a temple for the name of YAHWEH my Elohim, to dedicate [it] to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of YAHWEH our Elohim. This [is an ordinance] forever to Israel.

2 Chronicles 8:12…

2Chronicles 8:12 – Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to YAHWEH on the altar of YAHWEH which he had built before the vestibule,

13 – according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts — the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

And then getting back to the time of the exile, Ezra chapter 3, verse 4…

Ezra 3:4 – They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as [it is] written, and [offered] the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.

5 – Afterwards [they offered] the regular burnt offering, and [those] for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of YAHWEH that were consecrated, and [those] of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to YAHWEH.

There it is… and for all the appointed feasts of Yahweh, and so on.

Ezra 3:6 – From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to YAHWEH, although the foundation of the temple of YAHWEH had not been laid.

Nehemiah 10:32 – Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our Elohim:

33 – for the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our Elohim.

So they were keeping these ordinances in terms of we see them mentioning the sacrifices. Now there was one time per year that there was a commanded Sabbath, a commanded gathering, on the New Moon, and that is found in Leviticus 23:24. It says:

Leviticus 23:24 – Speak to the children of Israel, saying: `In the seventh month, on the first [day] of the month, you shall have a sabbath-[rest], a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

So that is a commanded day of rest… just the New Moon of the seventh month. The fact this is not mentioned as a day of rest at other months I think speaks well to the fact that the other months are not really days of rest.

But this particular Sabbath, the Sabbath of the first day of the seventh month– Yom Teruah, or Day of Trumpets– is probably what is being spoken of here in Psalm 81.

Psalms 81:3 – Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

This word “full” could mean “concealed moon.”

Psalms 81:4 – For this [is] a statute for Israel, A law of the Elohim of Jacob.

Or this could be referring to the full moon, which we do blow the trumpets at the Feasts, as we saw earlier, and usually the moon is full during the spring and fall Feasts. So that would make sense as well.

Now one verse that some would use here is Amos chapter 8, verse 4. It says:

Amos 8:4 – Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail,

5 – Saying: When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit,

6 – That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals — Even sell the bad wheat?

And so, some would suggest, “Well, isn’t this indicating that maybe the New Moon is a day of rest because they are acting as if buying and selling is forbidden?”

And I know and I respect brothers who see it that way, but there is a little problem with that, at least from my perspective, because of some other verses which indicate work is done on that day. This could be referring to specifically the New Moon of the seventh month, but not the New Moon like every month there being a New Moon.

So here are some evidences that the New Moon Day is not a day of rest. Exodus chapter 40 says:

Exodus 40:1 – Then YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying:

2 – On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

3 – You shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil.

Exodus 40:4 – You shall bring in the table and arrange the things that are to be set in order on it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and light its lamps.

That is working.

Exodus 40:5 – You shall also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the Testimony, and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle.

6 – Then you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

7 – And you shall set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

And so, there’s all these things. You can continue reading into Exodus 40. There were lots of things being done on that day.

And then we have the book of Ezra chapter 7, saying:

Ezra 7:9 – On the first [day] of the first month he began [his] journey from Babylon, and on the first [day] of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his Elohim upon him.

So he arrives on the first day of the fifth month. He left on the first day of the first month. So those were two traveling days.

Ezra 7:10 – For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of YAHWEH, and to do [it], and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.

And so, I don’t think there would be a Scriptural comment about him seeking the Law of Yahweh and doing it if it was forbidden somehow to travel on the first day of the first month and the first day of the fifth month. I don’t think it would have been mentioned there.

And so, those do not appear to be… I mean, if you have ever walked 20 miles, I mean… it’s work, especially when you are just getting started on the journey. The first few days, until your legs get stronger, you are going to be worn out. So it doesn’t look like rest days to me.

So, at least for me, I have ruled out this possibility, especially in the absence of a specific command that it would be a day of rest. It just appears to be a day that Israel would get together and recognize a new month had occurred on Yahweh’s Calendar.

And so, we can also gather and rejoice that Yahweh has given us life for another month and pay attention to His time, His time frame, His Calendar, His demarcation of time. And the New Moon also appears to have been a day when people would go and inquire of Yahweh.

2Kings 4:22 – Then she called to her husband, and said, Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of Elohim and come back.

23 – So he said, Why are you going to him today? [It is] neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath. And she said, [It is] well.

So this indicates, at least culturally, the New Moon was a day when Israel would go and hear the Word of Yahweh from a prophet at least. And maybe they would gather.

We see, Isaiah chapter 1, verse 13…

Isaiah 1:13 – Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

Now traditional theologians, Christians, some would like to suggest that, “Oh, Yahweh doesn’t want us to keep the New Moon, the Sabbath.” Okay, then don’t go to church on the day you call “Sunday” because that is a calling of an assembly.

No! What is He saying? He is saying:

Isaiah 1:14 – Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing [them].

15 – When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.

So they were wicked, hands being full of blood, guilty of bloodshed, and here they are gathering on the New Moons, on the appointed Feasts, on the Sabbath, saying, “Oh, I’ll give praise to Yahweh, spread out my hands, lift up the hands, give glory to Yahweh,” while those hands they were lifting up were hands that were murderer’s hands. He says:

Isaiah 1:16 – Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,

17 – Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

18 – Come now, and let us reason together, Says YAHWEH, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

So looking back here, what He can’t stand is this: iniquity and the sacred meeting. He doesn’t want us to offer up our hands as an evening sacrifice and praise, the offering of praise upon our lips, while we are refusing to repent.

He says, “Repent! Learn to do good; Seek justice; Defend the fatherless; Plead for the widow; Care for the poor, the oppressed. Plead for them. Then I’ll accept you.” Because He commanded these things.

But either way, we do see Israel had a habit of gathering on the New Moon. Now maybe this custom arose because of everybody’s desire to go look for it and it is always more interesting and fun to look for the New Moon when there is a large group of people with you than it is just going by yourself.

And also, there are more eyes there to see it and you have more eyes looking for it. Whereas one person might miss it. And so, once the New Moon is seen, then, you know, blow the shofar, get together maybe for a meal. I could see how that would turn into something more than just looking in the sky for evidence of Yahweh’s new month. I could see that.

And I could see how it might have evolved over time and grown into a custom even though the Torah itself never really commanded that gathering. Now what’s interesting is that when Messiah returns, when Yahushua returns, and He sets up His reign on the earth, at that time there will actually be a commanded gathering, as we saw earlier.

Isaiah 66:22… it says:

Isaiah 66:22 – For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me, says YAHWEH, So shall your descendants and your name remain.

23 – And it shall come to pass [That] from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me, says YAHWEH.

Now some would say this is talking about the New Moon of the seventh month only, but I don’t know. I’m not so sure. I mean, there’s something about that. It could be talking about one New Moon to the next. And does that mean you are going to skip eleven of them and then go every twelfth New Moon? Or is it every month, every one New Moon to another?

And so, it looks to me like it’s a monthly thing, it’s an every month thing. And so, just as Yahweh added the commandments to get baptized when Yahushua died for our sins, He added the commandments to partake of the body and blood of Messiah, as we read in the book of Matthew, maybe Yahweh will add this commandment to gather on the New Moons.

If for no other reason but to move this world away from Caesar’s calendar and toward Yahweh’s Calendar, away from the Roman calendar with its pagan names of deities and back to Yahweh’s Calendar the way He established it from the very beginning of time.

And these New Moon gatherings, where we come and worship before Yahweh, will be a way of getting this world back onto His timetable, the one He established in the beginning at creation. And it is also during this time He will open up the gates of the inner court of the temple. In Ezekiel 45:17, it says:

Ezekiel 45:17 – Then it shall be the prince’s part [to give] burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.

And if you are looking at this, and you are saying, “What are you talking about? This can’t be future,” please read the context. It is undoubtedly, you cannot deny it, this is future. Read all those chapters, and if you’re still confused by that, watch the four studies I did on the book of Hebrews late last year/earlier this year on the Roman calendar.

So, yeah. But this, it says, also:

Ezekiel 46:1 – `Thus says the Master YAHWEH: The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened.

2 – The prince shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gateway from the outside, and stand by the gatepost. The priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening.

And so, this inner court, this gateway of the inner court, it faces toward the east, shall be shut the six working days, but on the Sabbath it will be opened and on the day of the New Moon it will be opened. What is He talking about here? It says:

Ezekiel 46:3 – Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before YAHWEH on the Sabbaths and the New Moons.

There we go!

And so, verse 6 says:

Ezekiel 46:6 – On the day of the New Moon [it shall be] a young bull without blemish, six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish.

Talking about the different offerings that will be offered on this New Moon Day.

And so, this is what I am trying to get to you here. This gateway right here of the inner court is the gate that will be shut during the six working days. It will be open on the Sabbath and on the New Moons.

And looking from overhead, here is the Eastern Gateway facing the east, which is the Mount of Olives. And this gateway right here will be closed on the six working days. But it will be open on the Sabbath and on the New Moon.

And for the believers in Yahushua the Messiah, in the first century, what were they doing? What were they doing on the New Moon Days? Were they doing anything unique, anything unusual? What were they doing?

Well, when Paul was writing to the Colossians, he said… chapter 2, verse 16:

Colossians 2:16 – So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

17 – which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Messiah (Lit. body of Messiah).

“But the body of Messiah.”

New Moon. Very interesting.

Now traditional Christianity would suggest that this verse is proof that the Feast Days and Sabbath and New Moons and clean and unclean laws are abolished, but it is actually saying the opposite. It is saying that these things ARE– presently, today– are a shadow of things to come.

Not “were” a shadow “way back when we kept those things and the Jews were commanded…” Not back then, but today, the New Moon, festivals, Sabbath, and so on, these things are, presently, a shadow of things to come.

And we see that in the Scriptures. We see that in Isaiah… the New Moons being observed, the Sabbath being observed, and so on. Zechariah 14… the festivals. And that is going to include food and drink. I mean, it’s going to be times of feasting.

And so, what Paul is saying is don’t let the pagans judge you for keeping these things. He’s not saying don’t let the Jews judge you for not keeping them.

He is saying don’t let the philosophies of men, traditions of men, the asceticism found in Greek theology, and all that, influence you into feeling like you are doing something wrong by acknowledging Yahweh’s New Moon, by acknowledging and keeping Yahweh’s Sabbath and the Feast Days.

And some translations for this word “body,” though, like the New King James, has the word “substance.” But biblically speaking, that word is translated “body” 144 times. Now, why does that matter? And only once “bodily,” and only once “slave.” And that was talking about a slave’s body. So either way, it means “body.”

What we are saying here is: Let no one judge you in… what? Food, drink, a festival, a New Moon, Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. Let no one judge you, but the body of Messiah.

In other words, don’t let anyone judge you except the body of Messiah. Only the body of Messiah is qualified to judge these matters. 1 Corinthians 5:11 says:

1Corinthians 5:11 – But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner — not even to eat with such a person.

12 – For what [have] I [to do] with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?

Yes, we can judge each other.

1Corinthians 5:13 – But those who are outside Elohim judges. Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person.

So, we have to… I mean, judgment begins with the household of Yahweh, right? So he is saying don’t let anyone on the outside judge you. Only let the body of Messiah judge these matters. And if you look this up in the Greek, that is exactly what this phrase is: “body of Messiah.”

And I have a full study on this topic of Colossians chapter 2. And these are the links: http://www.eliyah.com/col2.html, and also on the transcripts. If you go to the main page of EliYah.com and click “Archives,” at the very top, I have a full video study on Colossians chapter 2.

So, brethren, it’s clear to me that the early disciples were indeed giving attention to the New Moon Days. And, you know, the Roman calendar was being kept by the Gentiles in Colosse and other places.

So, you know, Julius Caesar had actually created this calendar that we are following today– it was a little different with a slight refinement by Pope Gregory– but he created this calendar one hundred years prior to, probably, of the time of this letter to Colosse. So they were already following that.

And so, when the Gentile believers in Colosse started to pay attention to Yahweh’s Calendar, rather than the Roman calendar, Paul is saying, “Look, don’t let these heathen judge you for not keeping the things of the world, the Roman calendar, and holding to the things of Messiah, because this is a shadow of things coming, yet.

“This is going to be our future. The whole world, the entire planet will worship Yahweh on the New Moon and the Sabbath.”

And so, the Gentiles were trying to cleave to Yahweh’s Calendar in a Roman calendar world.

Isn’t that the situation we are in right now? And so, if you are trying to follow Yahweh’s Calendar, and we live in this Roman calendar world, don’t let the Roman calendar followers judge you for keeping Yahweh’s Calendar, because the whole world is going to keep Yahweh’s Calendar one day whether they like it or not.

Now we were once Gentiles. And so, we followed the calendar of the Gentiles. But we are not Gentiles anymore, are we? We’re not. We are Israel. That’s who we are. We’re Israel. That’s why Ephesians 2 says: “You were once Gentiles. At one time you were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel. But now through Messiah you are brought near.”

And if we are brought near and we are made to be a part of the commonwealth of Israel by the blood of Messiah, it behooves us to follow the calendar He followed. Didn’t Messiah follow Yahweh’s Calendar? Did He follow Rome’s calendar? I don’t think so.

And so, if we are wanting to walk as Yahushua walked, the first thing we need to ask ourselves is: What would Yahushua do? What did He do? Knowing what He did is key to knowing what He will do. And knowing what He will do in the future tells us what He would do today.

He wouldn’t be following demon worshipping emperor calendars that give honor to demons and idol worshipping emperors. He would be following the Calendar that Yahweh established at creation, the Calendar that He Himself is going to re-establish when He returns and reigns on the earth.

So isn’t it about time we start doing what Yahushua would do? Isn’t it about time we know what day it is according to Him? Isn’t it about time we start structuring our lives around Yahweh’s demarcation of time rather than man’s? I think it’s high time. Brothers and sisters, it’s high time. So I want to help.

I want to help you and I want to help myself. And so, starting this year, Yahweh’s new year, according to Him, I’m going to start offering another broadcast besides the regular Sabbath broadcast I do every week. It will be much shorter, but starting on what the world calls this “Monday night,” end of quote, I will be offering a New Moon broadcast.

It will be a little different than the Sabbath broadcast. On this broadcast, I will be getting New Moon reports from various brethren around the world, especially here in the United States. We will take some Skype calls so that people can share music and share a shofar blast.

I am going to share some scriptures on the various events that occurred during that particular Biblical month in question. In other words, whatever events occurred during the first Biblical month in Scripture, we are going to go over those. The events that occurred in the second Biblical month, we will go over those, and so on.

But, you know, in some ways, we may learn some things together as we do these broadcasts, and it will be a help for me as much as anyone else. I mean, so many times I have felt this twinge of guilt because I forgot “the New Moon was tonight.”

And the New Moon would go by and I would miss it. I wouldn’t notice it, wouldn’t bother to look, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to be on Yahweh’s schedule. I want to be paying attention to it, because that is our future.

And maybe there will be some calendar questions, I’m sure, and we will get this refined and corrected, whatever we need corrected on. But listen, I just want to do what I know the early disciples were doing, because if they were doing it, then Yahushua was probably doing it, too. And I want to walk as much as I can like He did.

1John 2:6 – He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Crucified or impaled. Since He now lives in me, I will do what He did. I will conduct myself as He conducted Himself. And, yes, it is a tall order. I have not arrived there, yet. We are working on it. We are in progress.

So let’s live our lives as though, “Yes, Messiah is living in me. And the life which I now live, I am living by faith in Him. It is no longer I who live anymore. I’m going to live like Messiah did. I’m going to live the way Yahushua the Messiah will tell everybody to live when He returns. I want to live just as He did.

“I want to manifest the Messiah to the whole world by walking as He walked, by living as He lived, by talking as He talked, by loving as He loved, by dying to self as He died, by serving as He served, and, yes, keeping the Calendar that He kept.”

And so, as we do this, my brothers and sisters, I’m excited! As we do this, as we walk as Messiah did, and as He will tell the whole world to walk in the age to come, may Yahweh bless you and may Yahweh have mercy upon us, His peculiar people. HalleluYah!