Christian Churches of
God
No.
124B
Letter to the Churches of God re the New Moons and the
Hillel Calendar
(Edition 1.0 20080302-20080302)
During the recent two centuries the Churches of God ceased keeping the New Moons, and in the twentieth century they introduced Ditheism and the Hillel Calendar and some later Binitarianism with the result that very few of the Churches of God worship the right God on the correct days. This is a very serious situation for the Churches of God in the Last Days.
Christian Churches of God
E-mail:
secretary@ccg.org
(Copyright ã 2008 Wade Cox)
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Letter to the Churches of God re the New Moons
and the Hillel Calendar
2008 is the beginning of the 31st
Year of the Temple calendar. For those who follow the Temple calendar, there is
no intercalation in the 30th year. Thus the New Year is a month and
a postponement before the beginning of the Hillel calendar followed by those in
the Churches of God who follow the Babylonian postponements and its time
cycles, as enshrined in the Hillel calendar adopted in 358 CE. From their
adoption of the Babylonian calendar and the fixed 19-year time cycles and
intercalations, those who follow the Hillel calendar are in the fifty-eighth
century of the creation according to the Babylonian calendar and not the
sixtieth century and the 120th Jubilee as the Bible requires from
its timetable. This calendar is now hopelessly out of step as the Rabbis
themselves admit, and they are a month late in at least six of the nineteen
years of each cycle (see the paper Why is Passover So Late in 1997?
(No. 239)). Their solution is to state that they must wait for the
Messiah to come to fix it. The Churches of God have no such excuse. Indeed, to
claim that would be to deny Jesus Christ as the Messiah. He came, kept the Laws
of God, including the New Moons, and left us to continue what he started. That
issue is critical to the Churches of God and it is not good enough for the
Churches of God to be led astray under the false arguments advanced by the WCG
and ex-WCG ministry, such as we see examined below. Nor is it acceptable to
claim that the Jews have the Oracles of God and then simply alter the calendar
to keep a different Pentecost, as do the WCG offshoots (see the paper The Oracles of God (No. 184)).
This year, the Churches of God will be keeping Pentecost a month too late and
not even according to the Hillel calendar, and they have no authority for doing
that. If they had done that in 30 CE they would have missed the Holy Spirit,
and been just another sect of Judaism.
This day begins the Sanctification of the
Temple of God and begins the process to Passover and Unleavened Bread (see the
paper Sanctification of the
Temple of God (No. 241)).
Because CCG explains and keeps the Temple calendar – including all of the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts, as well as 7th Abib and the Wave Sheaf – and we are so widely read by the Churches of God, there are a number of problems raised for these ministers who teach against the Law and the Testimony (cf. Isa. 8:20). The majority of the ministers of the twentieth-century-raised and trained Churches of God and their followers do not keep the New Moons or the Feasts on the correct days and use incorrect reasoning to justify their failure to keep the Laws of God and His Calendar. Our many papers are read by the brethren of the Churches of God, and they are usually trying to seek the truth. To many, however, the Church is just a social club and they don’t really care what is true. For that reason God allowed the ministry to lead the Church astray (see also below).
The more diligent students are often approaching those who are their appointed ministry as the various papers attacking the concept of keeping the New Moons attest. The papers issued by the various churches and the independent ministry trying to justify themselves show they have no real understanding of the Temple system and the responsibilities of the ministry or any real grasp of the Law of God.
These errors are allowed to demonstrate who has the approval of God and who does not have approval.
1Corinthians 11:17-19
[17] But in
the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together
it is not for the better but for the worse. [18] For, in the first place, when
you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I
partly believe it, [19] for there must be factions among you in order that
those who are genuine among you may be recognized (RSV).
The KJV calls them heresies meaning “choices” or “decisions” leading to error.
1Corinthians 11:17-19
Now in this that I declare unto you I
praise you not,
that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in
the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you,
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Also we must study to show ourselves approved of God (2Tim. 2:15).
The fallacious arguments are typical of the incoherent reasoning based on false premises of the WCG apologists who keep the Babylonian and Hillel adopted calendar. There are a few individuals writing against CCG and the other churches who do not follow the Hillel system. The reasoning of these people has changed much over the years regarding the calendar. Some have adopted the Samaritan calendar which is also based on the conjunction. One or two have actually invented variations on the Samaritan calendar using the crescent. They all keep the Feast in the Eighth month most of the time. What is evident from the writings of these people is that they have no understanding of the Temple calendar, nor the historical writings of the historians at the time of the Temple period, nor of the Church and its variations and early calendar system. None of these people appears to understand that the New Moons were and are determined by the conjunctions, which the Samaritans understand and apply. In other words, these people have established a calendar based on false premises which they do not understand, thus having the dubious distinction of inventing a calendar that has never before been kept in either the Temple period or the Church of God. Most are Ditheist, as are many of the Armstrong offshoots. Many hold to the fallacy of the Third Resurrection (see the paper The Fallacy of the Third Resurrection (No. 166)). The critical problem with the offshoots is that they do not understand the actual Temple calendar and they do not understand how the rabbinical system changed the Temple system after its fall and introduced the Babylonian calendar to post-Temple Judaism. The Churches of God never accepted this error until Herbert Armstrong corrupted the WCG element of the Churches of God with it. He simply had no academic training with which to deal with it and nor do his ministerial adherents that cling to these errors. Certainly by their writings they seem to have no formal qualifications in the History of Religions, Philosophy or Logic.
The
major problem with the WCG system and its offshoots is that most of them have
absolutely no idea of the calendar in use during the Temple system, nor that
New Moons were kept as Festivals on the same level as the Sabbath during the
entire Second Temple period in Jerusalem. They also seem to have no real
understanding that the entire Law and the Prophets subtend from the Two Great
Commandments.
The
first question anyone should ask is this: “Is what I am doing justified by the
Temple system and the calendar in use at that time?” The calendar in use in the
Temple at the time of Christ was kept by Christ and the true Church of God.
Many
false statements are made by these various ministers of the WCG system. Much of
it is through ignorance, but much of it also is by devious deceit. We have seen
some of these people actually claim that the Hillel calendar was in use at the
time of Christ in the Temple, when any basic student of the subject would tell
you it was not introduced until two rabbis brought it from Babylon in 344 CE
and Hillel II authorised its use in 358 CE. It was developed from there on
until Maimonides or Rambam in the twelfth century. The Jews themselves proclaim
those facts in their reference material. We have even seen these ex-WCG people
remove sections of Bible texts to make the text say the opposite of what it
actually says in the Bible (see also the paper The Calendar and the Moon:
Postponements or Festivals? (No. 195)).
There is
an old saying that goes: If one wishes to be dogmatic, one has an obligation
to be correct. CCG can prove, from the records of the Temple system and the
records of the Church, that we keep the same calendar that was in use at the
Temple and which has been used over the ages. Only one or two small groups can
make the same claim. Some are single-issue groups and fall short on the
calendar because they have nothing else right either. The rest are either using
the Hillel nonsense or a few individuals at the present are using variations of
the Samaritan error based on a lack of understanding of the conjunction and the
Temple calendar, keeping the crescent when the Samaritans use the conjunction,
as did the Temple system. No other
group has used this calendar in the history of the Temple or of the Churches of
God. They don’t know enough of the history to understand the isolated nature of
their error. The fact of the matter is that Herbert Armstrong would never have
tolerated the Samaritan calendar or any other erroneous system based on it. Had
Armstrong understood the matter he could have been shown the original Temple
calendar and corrected his errors, but he was too idle to do the study and his
ministry was too spineless to study the matter in depth and explain it to him.
In fact, they adopted the calendar but rejected the Hillel Pentecost and
claimed the Jews had the Passover wrong even though Christ had declared the
Temple to be his Father’s House, and was killed as the Passover Lamb at exactly
the time the first lamb was killed – at the Ninth hour on the afternoon of 14
Abib. The logic appears beyond them
that if Christ was not killed at the time of the Passover he cannot have been
the Passover sacrifice by definition (see the papers God’s Calendar (No. 156)
and The Passover (No. 98)).
The
Samaritan calendar was around when Christ was alive, but he did not keep it
even though he was accused of being a Samaritan by some Pharisees. His
statements to the woman at the well show he was not of their views. He kept the
Feasts according to the Jerusalem calendar, as we know from the Gospels. We
also know that he kept the New Moons, as there is never a suggestion that he
did not keep the New Moons, and if he had not done so the Temple authorities
would have castigated him publicly for that offence and he would have been
called to account. The Sanhedrin would not have tolerated trading on the
Sabbaths and New Moons at any stage until the destruction of the Temple in 70
CE and after the cessation of the daily sacrifice. The Church did not keep the
Samaritan calendar as the Quartodeciman disputes show (see the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No.
277)). The fact that the sacrifices were done away did not mean that
the Church did not keep the calendar structure intact.
It is
correct that Leviticus 23 deals with the Sabbaths and Feasts and also the
Wave-Sheaf Offering, which must be kept on the Sunday within Unleavened Bread.
Those who follow the Laws of God must keep the Wave-Sheaf Offering as well.
The only complete list of the Sabbaths and Festivals and their offerings in the Pentateuch is found at Numbers 28 and 29. We read in Numbers 28:
[1] The LORD said to Moses, [2]
"Command the people of Israel, and say to them, `My offering, my food for
my offerings by fire, my pleasing odor, you shall take heed to offer to me in
its due season.' [3] And you shall say to them, This is the offering by
fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without
blemish, day by day, as a continual offering. [4] The one lamb you shall offer
in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening; [5]
also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with a
fourth of a hin of beaten oil. [6] It is a continual burnt offering,
which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to
the LORD. [7] Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each
lamb; in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to
the LORD. [8] The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; like the
cereal offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it
as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD. [9] "On the
sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an
ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink
offering: [10] this is the burnt offering of every sabbath, besides the
continual burnt offering and its drink offering. [11] "At the
beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two
young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; [12] also
three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil,
for each bull; and two tenths of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with
oil, for the one ram; [13] and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a
cereal offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an
offering by fire to the LORD. [14] Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of
wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a fourth of a hin for a lamb;
this is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year.
[15] Also one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD; it shall be offered
besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. [16]
"On the fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD's passover.
[17] And on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast; seven days shall
unleavened bread be eaten. [18] On the first day there shall be a holy
convocation: you shall do no laborious work, [19] but offer an offering by
fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male
lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; [20] also their cereal
offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer
for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; [21] a tenth shall you offer for each of
the seven lambs; [22] also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement
for you. [23] You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning,
which is for a continual burnt offering. [24] In the same way you shall offer
daily, for seven days, the food of an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the
LORD; it shall be offered besides the continual burnt offering and its drink
offering. [25] And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation; you
shall do no laborious work. [26] "On the day of the first fruits, when you
offer a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD at your feast of weeks, you
shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, [27] but offer a
burnt offering, a pleasing odor to the LORD; two young bulls, one ram, seven
male lambs a year old; [28] also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with
oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram, [29] a
tenth for each of the seven lambs; [30] with one male goat, to make atonement
for you. [31] Besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, you
shall offer them and their drink offering. See that they are without blemish.
The
emphasis has been added to the listings of the offerings required on the New
Moons as they form the third of the Festivals. The First or Daily offering is
done in the Temple and starts at sunrise and ends at 9 a.m., and the Evening
offering starts at the Ninth hour and ends in the Eleventh hour (see the paper The Psalms from the Temple
Worship (No. 87)).
Numbers
29:1-6 also specifies the offerings on the New Moon of the Seventh month and
the blowing of trumpets. The Jews argue that this is the actual New Year, which
they term Rosh Chodesh from the festival introduced in the third century
CE.
2Kings
4:23 shows the New Moons were days of public worship and consultation with the
prophets. 1Samuel 20:5 shows they were days known in advance and were used as
family holy days and sacrifices. Thus they did not rely on observation but
calculation of the conjunction, as we see below with Philo. There is, however,
a simple system in use among the Lemba tribe on the Limpopo in Zimbabwe. They
are YDNA Jews who married L1 and L2 mtDNA females. Their Buba Clan are
YDNA-tested Temple Levites and Priests of the Cohen Modal Haplogroup (CMH).
They use a simple method of “water in a dish” to calculate the New Moon on the
conjunction three days in advance. Thus they have accurate knowledge no matter
where they are and have used that method since the fall of the Temple when they
were cut off in the Diaspora.
As was
stated above, the Church did not sacrifice as it was fulfilled in Christ, but
they did keep the calendar in its entirety.
Philo
explains these elements of the Fourth Commandment in the Special Laws, as we shall
see below. He adds the Wave-Sheaf Offering as one of the elements of the Fourth
Commandment while it is not present here as it is not a Festival or Sabbath of
rest of the Lord.
The explanation of the responsibilities of the Prince and the Prince’s Levy are found in Ezekiel Chapter 45.
[1] "When
you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the LORD a portion
of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty
thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. [2] Of
this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the
sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. [3] And in the holy
district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and
ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. [4]
It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who
minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him; and it
shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. [5]
Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits
broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession
for cities to live in. [6] "Alongside the portion set apart as the holy
district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand
cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the
whole house of Israel. [7] "And to the prince shall belong the land
on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the
holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east,
corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the
western to the eastern boundary of the land. [8] It is to be his property
in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let
the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes. [9]
"Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence
and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness; cease your evictions of
my people, says the Lord GOD. [10] "You shall have just
balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. [11] The ephah and the bath
shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the
ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. [12] The
shekel shall be twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten
shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty shekels. [13] "This
is the offering which you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of
wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, [14] and as
the fixed portion of oil, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the
homer, contains ten baths); [15] and one sheep from every flock of two hundred,
from the families of Israel. This is the offering for cereal offerings, burnt
offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord GOD.
[16] All the people of the land shall give this offering to the prince
in Israel. [17] It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings,
cereal offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the
sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the
sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make
atonement for the house of Israel. [18] "Thus says the Lord GOD: In
the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull
without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary. [19] The priest shall take some of
the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the
four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner
court. [20] You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for any one
who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the
temple. [21] "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you
shall celebrate the feast of the passover, and for seven days unleavened bread
shall be eaten. [22] On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all
the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. [23] And on the seven
days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven
young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a
he-goat daily for a sin offering. [24] And he shall provide as a cereal
offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to
each ephah. [25] In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and
for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin
offerings, burnt offerings, and cereal offerings, and for the oil.
Note,
the New Moons are stated to be one of the ‘appointed feasts of the House of
Israel’. The phrase is a combination of SHD 3605 (kowl) meaning all
and every, and 4150 (mow’ed) the appointed festivals or assemblies.
They are appointed by God and not by Ezekiel, and the food is to be provided by
the Prince and cooked for the people on those Feasts. Note also that the
sanctuary is to be cleansed from the New Moon of Abib to the Seventh of Abib,
and the sequence is explained. It is laid down in the Torah but explained here.
These actions were completed in every restoration and were carried out while
the Temple stood.
God uses the prophets to explain the responsibilities in the execution of the Law. The New Moons are part of the festival system where God requires food cooked and supplied on the Sabbaths, New Moons and the Feasts for the feeding of the people, as detailed in Ezekiel 45. Where a matter is not being done then God reprimands Israel through His servants the prophets. One would have thought that was obvious to a novice, but not so for the Armstrong-trained ministry it seems. The position seems to be that they don’t understand it because they don’t want to understand it.
Isaiah 1:10-20
[10] Hear the
word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you
people of Gomor'rah! [11] "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed
beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
[12] "When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this
trampling of my courts? [13] Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an
abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I
cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. [14] Your new moons and your
appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of
bearing them. [15] When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from
you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full
of blood. [16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your
doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, [17] learn to do good; seek
justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. [18]
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool. [19] If you are willing and obedient, you shall
eat the good of the land; [20] But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be
devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (RSV).
The Vulgate according to the Douay Rheims reads as follows:
10 Hear the word of
the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrha. 11 To what
purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am
full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of
calves, and lambs, and buck goats. 12 When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your
hands, that you should walk in my courts? 13 Offer sacrifice no
more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths,
and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked. 14 My soul hateth your
new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary
of bearing them. 15 And when
you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you
multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves, be
clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely,
17 Learn to do well:
seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the
widow. 18 And then come, and
accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as
white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. 19 If you be willing,
and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. 20 But if you will
not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it.
Note the
Vulgate refers to the new moon, and the sabbaths, and other festivals.
There is no doubt in this structure that the New Moon is a Festival, and the
issue is the sins of Israel on these Feasts. Note that Isaiah is quoting the Law
of God as he states in 1:10. It is rendered as Teaching of our God in
the first text quoted (RSV), but it is Law of our God in most texts, and
the Masoretic Text and the LXX (SHD 8451: the Torah; LXX:
nomon Theou). Knox renders it as: Here is a command from our God.
Would anyone but a fool claim that God did not issue ongoing commands through
His servants the prophets, other than through Moses or Christ?
Knox
renders 13b-18 as: Enough of New Moons and Sabbaths, of thronged assemblies
where none but sinners meet. The new month begins, the feast day comes around,
how it cloys the appetite! These hateful tasks I can bear no longer. Hold out
your hands as you will, you shall get no heed from me; add prayer to prayer, I
will not listen; are not these hands stained with blood?
In case
there is some doubt as to the Hebrew, let us see what the Septuagint says:
10 Hear the word
of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodoma; attend to the law of God, thou people of
Gomorrha. 11 Of what value
to me is the abundance of your sacrifices? saith the Lord: I am full of
whole-burnt-offerings of rams; and I delight not in the fat of lambs, and the
blood of bulls and goats: 12 neither shall ye come with these to appear before me; for who has
required these things at your hands? Ye shall no more tread my court. 13 Though ye bring fine flour, it is
vain; incense is an abomination to me; I cannot bear your new moons, and your
sabbaths, and the great day; 14 your
fasting, and rest from work, your new moons also, and your feasts my soul
hates: ye have become loathsome to me; I will no more pardon your sins. 15 When ye stretch forth your hands, I
will turn away mine eyes from you: and though ye make many supplications, I
will not hearken to you; for your hands are full of blood.16 Wash you, be clean; remove your
iniquities from your souls before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities; 17 learn to do well; diligently seek
judgment, deliver him that is suffering wrong, plead for the orphan, and obtain
justice for the widow. 18 And come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and though your sins
be as purple, I will make them white as snow; and though they be as scarlet, I
will make them white as wool. 19 And if ye be willing, and hearken to me, ye shall eat the good of the
land: 20 but if ye be
not willing, nor hearken to me, a sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the
Lord has spoken this.
The term
rest from work is associated with the New Moons and the Feasts. The
fasting, even on Atonement, is condemned because of the sin associated with the
people.
How much
clearer does God have to be in what He says to get people to understand what He
requires on these Sabbaths and New Moons and other Festivals? There are none so
blind as those who will not see. Judah managed to keep the New Moons and
Sabbaths as days of solemn assembly and the High Priest robed for them both.
The problem is that the Church of God in the twentieth century was blind and
disobedient and led by a ravenous ministry. We have even seen people acting as
ministers of God opening their businesses for commercial operations and trading
on the Sabbath, New Moons and Holy Days of the Feasts. They employ others to do
their work, and enable the farce by making it impossible for their businesses
to hire Sabbath–keepers. Incredible but true! It is sin of a nature such as
that form of disobedience of which God is speaking in Isaiah.
No
amount of rationalisation or rhetoric will take away the sins of such people.
They can only repent and cease to sin and keep the Laws of God, which includes
keeping the New Moons, Sabbaths and Festivals.
The structure of the attack on the Calendar of God began first with the introduction of Sunday-worship in the Church at Rome from 111 CE side by side with the Sabbath, which is the only way it could have been done. The claims of Rome to the right to do this are asserted against the Protestants in the article in question (see the paper Rome's Challenge: Why do Protestants keep Sunday? (No. 249)). No academic would seriously argue that fact. The Roman Church under Anicetus, in 154 CE, then attacked the Passover and introduced Easter. Bishop Victor made the festival compulsory in 192 CE and thus caused a major schism in the Church (see the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes No. 277)).
The sections in Isaiah chapter 1, as we
see above, were used in the writings of the later Ante-Nicene Fathers and the
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers to do away with the Sabbaths, New Moons and the
Feasts and introduce their own. To argue that this fact is irrelevant shows a
complete ignorance of the history of the development of the false calendar in
Christianity.
As stated previously: “A careful reading
of the text shows that the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts are being kept in
iniquity and that God hates the way in which they are kept, not the fact that
they are kept. God says He cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. It is
not that He hates solemn assembly - which He Himself commanded to be kept - but
rather the iniquity in which it is kept. It is for that reason Judaism is not
allowed to keep the ‘true’ calendar (see the paper Distortion of God’s Calendar in
Judah (No. 195B)).” The above exposition has demonstrated that point to
where a dolt could understand it.
God says exactly what was claimed and that
was that the Sabbaths, which included the News Moons and Feasts, were being
kept in iniquity. To claim otherwise is a manipulation of the text. He says
plainly that their hands were full of blood and they were iniquitous. He says
to them: Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your
doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil. How much clearer does God
have to be for these people to get the message? Even if the text “wash
yourselves” is argued to refer to the baptism of Christ, it still enforces the
three systems on the servants of God and especially the Church, if that is the
case. No one in the Churches of God believes that this text does away with the
Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts. The arguments to ignore the New Moons cannot
rely on this passage. To attempt to deal with the issue as a future attack on
the Hillel calendar and make a claim regarding the New Moons shows a complete
ignorance of the Temple calendar.
The twentieth-century-trained ministry of the Churches of God, as a rule, demonstrates a complete ignorance of the place of the New Moons in the ancient Temple calendar, as we demonstrated above. The people of Judah kept the New Moons as Sabbaths all the days of the Temple, until the system was destroyed and the sacrifices stopped. That included Christ and the Church. The High Priest robed for these days of New Moon and Sabbaths and the Torah was read on the New Moons. Schürer deals with these aspects in his work, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (Vol. II, pp. 276, 308 and 454).
Amos 8:5 shows there was no trading allowed on Sabbaths and New Moons.
Amos 8:4-5 Hear
this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land fail,
saying when will the New Moon be gone that we may sell corn? And the Sabbaths
that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, and
falsifying the balances by deceit.
Philo gives us all ten elements of the
Sabbaths under his exposition of the Special Laws. Those who attack the New
Moons obviously have not read them or understood their significance. Indolence
can be excused but stupidity has to be pitied. The quoting of the arguments put
forward by people purporting to be ministers of God in example can hardly be “a
straw man” by definition and its use in logic. They are actual arguments of
people justifying their breach of the Laws of God.
The New Moons and the Feasts are also
recorded as required in Numbers 10:10 and a number of other texts. Leviticus 23
also requires the Wave Sheaf to be kept, which has been done by CCG from its
inception, just as the New Moons have been kept. From the paper The New Moons (No. 125)
we read:
“There is no doubt that the New Moon was anciently at least as important as the Sabbath.
The New Moon festival anciently stood at least on a level with that of the Sabbath (J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel, 1885, p. 113).
The New Moon was definitely holy time and, if we are to believe some modern scholars, was celebrated on the day after the sighting of the New Moon. This is conjecture based on later rabbinical propaganda. It was not done that way. [Observation was never used in Israel until after the fall of the Temple and from Jamnia to enable postponements on an ad hoc basis.] This fresh beginning was marked by special sacrifices (Num. 28:11-15) over which the trumpets were blown (Num. 10:10; Ps. 81:3). Normal work was not done.
The New Year on the New Moon of the First month, Abib, was of special significance (Ps. 81:3-5; cf. The Moon and the New Year (No. 213)). The New Moon of the Seventh month was also especially sanctified (Lev. 23:24-25; Num. 29:1-6).
2Kings 4:23 suggests that both New Moon and Sabbath were regarded as providing opportunity for consulting the prophets, and Ezekiel marks out the New Moon as a special day of worship (Ezek. 46:1,3)” (see the papers The New Moons (No. 125) and God's Calendar (No. 156)).
There is no serious scholar that argues that the New Moons were not kept as Sabbaths in the Temple period. The evidence is overwhelming. We dealt with Philo’s comments a few weeks ago.
“Philo stated in his exposition of the Special Laws concerning the Fourth Commandment that there were ten elements or festivals under the Fourth Commandment.
XI. (41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.
The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day. [The Daily Sacrifices]
The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath.
The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
The fourth is that of the passover which is called the passover.
The fifth is the first fruits of the corn--the sacred sheaf. [Note the Wave Sheaf is one of the Ten festivals of the Temple period.]
The sixth is the feast of unleavened bread, after which that festival is celebrated, which is really
The seventh day of seventh days.
The eighth is the festival of the sacred moon, or the feast of trumpets.
The ninth is the fast. [Atonement]
The tenth is the feast of tabernacles, which is the last of all the annual festivals, ending so as to make the perfect number of ten. We must now begin with the first festival.
[Note Philo here combines the Last Great Day with the Feast of Tabernacles making Ten instead of Eleven.]”
We had discussed the Temple period and the keeping of the New Moons in answer to the UCG Commentary: Should Christians observe New Moons?
“Those in CCG will be aware that we took the UCG ministry to task for their handling of the issue of the New Moons in the paper Commentary on the UCG Doctrinal Paper: Should Christians Observe New Moons? (No. 124). The issue of the position of Philo was discussed in that paper and a quote was used from Colson’s work. The second text referring to the New Moons was not used because it was thought that the point had been made clearly enough. That now appears incorrect. What we now find is that some people are misusing another text of Philo which is now to be discussed and added to the section of paper No. 124 that concerns Philo simply to demonstrate further that the UCG, PCG, LCG, and a host of others are not only wrong they are also wilfully ignorant and lead their people into unrighteousness.
The text in the Commentary states:
“We know from the evidence of Philo that the conjunction was used to determine the New Moon. The Bible provides other evidence from which we can make inferences and deductions. Philo says:
“This is the New Moon, or beginning of the lunar month, namely the period between one conjunction and the next, the length of which has been accurately calculated in the astronomical schools.” (Judaeus, Philo, The Special Laws, II, XXVI, 140, Treatise by F.H. Colson, Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA, 1937.)
UCG quotes Philo here but then fails to make the obvious conclusions or look for other evidence that supports what he has to say or how that affects the calendar. They start with Maimonides determining the crescent as the correct position and then go back over 1200 years to Philo (writing in the time of the Temple period in Alexandria), who says the exact opposite of their premise concerning Maimonides.
So, the astronomical schools are acknowledged to be in existence by Philo, who
is an impeccable authority on Judaism up to the Christian period. The ancients
calculated the length of the month quite accurately. The conjunctions were
calculated in the astronomical schools, and there was no need for witnesses in
observation. UCG was forced to acknowledge Philo in this document, but only
after they have established this false position with Maimonides, so they can
maintain their erroneous position. They could have, and should have, started
with Philo and established that there was no such system. So UCG have already
contradicted themselves in their own paper in their first two references. These
astronomical schools were obviously extremely important.
Philo shows that the Temple calendar was based on the conjunction and not on
observation. However, the comment is left hanging as it were. No mention is
made of the text in Josephus, which shows that the New Moons were kept during
the Temple period. Josephus, in his Wars of the Jews,
shows that it was regarded by the priesthood on a level with the Sabbath, and
the High Priest robed and officiated in the Temple on both the Sabbath and the
New Moon, as well as on the Feast days (W.J.,
5:5:7). The New Moon was thus treated on the same level as the Sabbath and the
Holy Days of the Feast. UCG could have and should have quoted that reference as
well, and that would have substantiated what Philo was saying in the first
century. So, we have a witness in the first century who was alive at the time
of the Temple, and two witnesses who saw the Temple (and saw it destroyed) and
knew what its system was. Two Jewish witnesses at the end of the Temple period
wrote on the Calendar and established that the New Moons were determined by
conjunction by the astronomical schools, and that they were used as a day of
worship on which the High Priest formally robed. As mentioned, he did that only
on Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts.”
In addition to this quote there is another text dealing with the New Moons and their determination that deals with the exact day of the New Moon but which is being misquoted so as to contrive to commence the New Moon on the day after the conjunction. Another erroneous interpretation commences the month a day before the conjunction. These interpretations are made impossible if we use both the quotations of Philo.
In dealing with the Feasts under the Fourth Commandment, we read Philo to say:
THE SPECIAL LAWS, II*
{**Yonge's title, A Treatise on the Special Laws, Which Are Referred to Three
Articles of the Decalogue, Namely the Third, Fourth, and Fifth; About Oaths,
and the Reverence Due to Them; About the Holy Sabbath; About the Honour To Be
Paid to Parents.} ....
Yonge's translation includes a separate treatise title at this
point: On the Number Seven. His next division begins and ends with roman
numeral I (= X in the Loeb). The text follows the Loeb numbering.
X. (39) The next commandment is that concerning the sacred seventh day, in
which are comprehended an infinite number of most important festivals. For
instance, there is the release of those men who by nature were free, but who,
through some unforeseen necessity of the times, have become slaves, which
release takes place every seventh year. Again, there is the humanity of
creditors towards their debtors, as they forgive their countrymen their debts
every seventh year. Also there is the rest given to the fertile ground, whether
it be in the champaign or in the mountainous country, which also takes place
every seventh year. Moreover, there are those ordinances, which are established
respecting the fiftieth year. And of all these things the bare narration
(without looking to any inner and figurative signification) is sufficient to
lead those who are well disposed to perfect virtue, and to make even those who
are obstinate and stubborn in their dispositions more docile and tractable.
(40) Now we have already spoken at some length about the virtue of the number
seven, explaining what a nature it has in reference to the number ten; and also
what a connection it has to the decade itself, and also to the number four,
which is the foundation and the source of the decade. And now, having been
compounded in regular order from the unit, it in regular order produces the
perfect number twenty-eight; being multiplied according to a regular proportion
equal in all its parts, it makes at last both a cube and a square. I also
showed how there is an infinite number of beauties which may be extracted from
a careful contemplation of it, on which we have not at present time to dilate.
But we must examine every one of the special matters which are before us as
comprehended in this one, beginning with the first. The first matter to be
considered is that of the Festivals. [Yonge's translation includes a separate
treatise title at this point:
To
Show That the Festivals Are Ten in Number. This
"treatise" begins with Roman numeral I (= XI in the Loeb), enumerates
each of the ten festivals individually, and extends through Loeb number 214.
The text follows the Loeb numbering.]
XI. (41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.
The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day.
The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath.
The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
The fourth is that of the passover which is called the passover.
The fifth is the first fruits of the corn--the sacred sheaf. [Note the Wave Sheaf is one of the Ten]
The sixth is the feast of unleavened bread, after which that festival is celebrated, which is really
The seventh day of seventh days.
The eighth is the festival of the sacred moon, or the feast of trumpets.
The ninth is the fast.
The tenth is the feast of tabernacles, which is the last of all the annual festivals, ending so as to make the perfect number of ten. We must now begin with the first festival.
We notice here that in the introduction in dealing with the third Feast, namely the New Moon, Philo uses the term which has been rendered “after” the conjunction and some others have rendered as “following” in the sense of “according to” or “as determined by” the conjunction. However, he qualifies this matter by saying: which happens on the day of the New Moon in each month. The text is thus quite clear that the New Moon is the day on which the conjunction occurs. In the later explanations, Philo then goes on to state that the month is from one conjunction to the next as determined in the astronomical schools, as was quoted above.
There can thus be no error. The New Moon is on the day of the conjunction as determined by the schools from Jerusalem. To postpone the New Moon as is done by Judaism is to postpone all the Festivals and make them of no value. It is simply thumbing one’s nose at God and His Laws. On the New Moon hang all the subsequent festivals.
Yonge’s translation lacked part of 140 and the texts of 142-144 (which is supplied here) and explains the timing and the theology behind the New Moon and why it runs according to the conjunction and the New Moon day is the day of the conjunction.
THE THIRD FESTIVAL XXVI. (140) Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning, whether of number or of time, is honourable. Secondly, because at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven destitute of light. (141) Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders. And this is, as it seems, an evident lesson of kindness and humanity to men, to teach them that they should never grudge to impart their own good things to others, but, imitating the heavenly bodies, should drive envy away and banish it from the Soul. {17}{sections 142-144 were omitted in Yonge's translation because the edition on which Yonge based his translation, Mangey, lacked this material. These lines have been newly translated for this volume.} (142) The fourth reason is that of all the bodies in the heaven, the moon traverses the zodiac in the least appointed time: it accomplishes its orbit in a monthly interval. For this reason the law has honored the end of its orbit, the point when the moon has finished at the beginning point from which it began to travel, by having called that day a feast so that it might again teach us an excellent lesson that in the affairs of life we should make the ends harmonious with the beginnings. This will happen if we hold the reins on our first impulses with the power of reason and do not permit them to refuse the reins and to run free like animals without anyone in charge of the herd.
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/philo/book28.html
Note, as we said above, Yonge does not have the full text of 140 as Colson does, and does not have 142-144, which appear to have been lost or removed to obscure the exact nature of the New Moons. However, the earlier section above still leaves no room for doubt as to when it was and how it was determined. Those who follow the Hillel Calendar and argue for its adoption are without excuse and disobey God. Their worship services are as rags.
God’s condemnation was based on iniquity. The Jews were sent off on a false calendar because they rejected Christ and did not understand the Nature of God. The same rule seems to apply to the Churches of God. The same rule applies to Ditheists and Binitarians and Trinitarians. None of the Armstrong ditheist system has ever kept the correct calendar and nor do the rabbinical Jews. The key seems to hinge on the understanding of the Nature of God. The Jews rejected the Messiah. Armstrong invented two co-eternal, co-equal God’s, one of whom decided to come down to Earth and be the son of the other – and the followers of Armstrong have written and given sermons on that blasphemy. Others invented a Binitarian God that split itself in two and a part died on the cross when the “father” element remained in Heaven. No wonder they don’t understand the calendar when they don’t get the Nature of God right.
The false arguments of the ministry of the various Churches of God are serious but erroneous issues for discussion. Their false positions are serious errors that have to be corrected. Some recent errors have no historical support anywhere, as we have observed above. Some of these attacks are so incoherent that they would fail a first-year introductory philosophy test.
The explanation of the implementation of the Laws of God is contained through the Scriptures. The Terumah levy was kept in the Law and the texts, and everybody did it, but it was not made fully clear to posterity until Ezekiel explained it properly in Ezekiel 45 and went on to explain the Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous, which occurs in the Sanctification process listed in the Torah (Sanctification of the Temple of God (No. 241) and Sanctification of the Simple and Erroneous (No. 291)).
One of the writers attacking our position makes an extraordinary statement in section 5 of his paper:
The laws God gave to His people in the Old Testament are NOT found in "the Prophets", and they are NOT found in "the Writings". ALL of the laws God gave are found in "the Law". Anybody who finds additional "laws" in either the Prophets or in the Writings, which laws are not first recorded in the books of Moses, is twisting the Word of God! The only laws mentioned in the Prophets and in the Writings are laws already recorded earlier in "the law of Moses".
An elementary Bible student is usually
appraised of the fact that Christ, when quoting the Psalms, said before the
High Priesthood: It is written in your law: I said ye are gods ... (Jn.
10:34) Would we dare to accuse Christ of blasphemy in twisting the word of God?
Such ignorance of the Law and the Testimony and the Temple system and its
historical record is simply breathtaking (Isa. 8:20).
It is worth noting that Christ kept the New Moons and Sabbaths and the Feasts under the correct calendar, and their observance is commanded in the Law.
The sacrificial system was in place from Adam and not just
from Moses. It was fulfilled in Christ, but we know that all flesh that is
killed in the millennial system from Zechariah 14:16-21 will be holy to the
Lord (see also the paper Vegetarianism
and the Bible (No. 183)).
Comments that attempt to place the New Moons with the sacrifices rather than the Sabbaths are dishonest in their argumentation, as the lists of sacrifices show. There were more sacrifices required on the New Moons than other days and they are listed and treated as Festivals.
The same writer who made the silly assertion above also made the ludicrous assertion that the New Moons will not be the same New Moons as they are now. The prophetic month has always been 30 days and the prophetic “time” 360 days, yet the year plainly is not that length. A period of “seven times” is and always was 2520 days and a “time, times and half a time” is 1260 days based on the prophetic year of one “time”, but no one in his right mind would suggest that the actual year was that length. We may see the moon knocked out of orbit but it is not required to deal with the issue of the New Moons. This pretence that God said we had to keep the New Moons and then "we don’t now, but later we will, but they will be different New Moons" is nonsense yet this perverse and illogical reasoning is common among these “ministers”. These people will resort to any argument to avoid keeping God’s Laws.
As was said previously: Ministers of the
various Churches of God use the argument that Isaiah 66:23 does indeed state
that God demands that all flesh will come and worship Him from one Sabbath to
another and from one New Moon to another, but they don’t have to keep the New
Moons now. They only have to keep them when Christ comes.
[Now this is the written argument of the
majority of the “Churches of God” on this issue.]
Isaiah
66:19-24
[19] and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Put, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations. [20] And they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their cereal offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. [21] And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD. [22] "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, says the LORD; so shall your descendants and your name remain. [23] From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD. [24] "And they shall go forth and look on the dead bodies of the men that have rebelled against me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."
The view that the Law does not have to be
kept now is essentially a Trinitarian and Catholic argument. Surely one can see
the logic that if the New Moons don’t have to be kept by the Church now, but
will be kept when Christ comes, and they are grouped in the same texts, then
the same argument applies to the Sabbath and the Sabbath does not have to be
kept now. Then the Trinitarians would be justified in not keeping the Sabbath
now and can keep Sunday or Tuesday or any other day they like until Christ
comes.
They are thus also free from the New Moons
and the Feasts. God is thus not immutable but is a respecter of persons, as He
requires different standards from humanity over the ages. The logic is clear.
In the same way, Zechariah 14:16-19
demands that the Feasts are kept in the millennial system, but God says that He
hates their feast in Isaiah 1:10-16 above. Therefore, the Feasts do not have to
be kept now. It is only when Christ comes that any of it needs to be done, so
it is reasoned.
Zechariah 14:16-19
[16] Then every one that survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of booths. [17] And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain upon them. [18] And if the family of Egypt do not go up and present themselves, then upon them shall come the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths. [19] This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the feast of booths.
Obviously, from Isaiah 66 and Zechariah 14 above, if the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts have to be kept on pain of death in the Millennium, and they do not have to be kept now by the followers of Christ, then God is not immutable and Christ is not the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. God is thus in respect of persons. However, we know that God is immutable and Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). Therefore, the reasoning involved is wrong and attributes sin to God, and is thus blasphemy.
Now, it logically follows also that if the
Laws of God are discretionary, then we do not have to keep any of them until
Christ comes. We are thus free from the Law and we can transgress the Laws of
God with impunity. However, John said that transgression of the Law is sin, in
that sin is transgression of the Law (1Jn. 3:4). Thus any person who reasons
against the Law of God and teaches men likewise cannot be a servant of God and
Christ, and cannot be a proper member of the Body of Christ, and there is no
light in them (Isa. 8:20) (see also the papers The Acts 15 Conference (No. 69);
(Colossians 2:16-17 (No. 205)
and Epistle of James
(No. 279)).
Thus, no person of the Body of Christ can
argue that the Sabbaths, New Moons and Festivals do not have to be kept, and
kept in a spirit of holiness on a permanent basis.
Trinitarians argue that they had the
authority of Jesus Christ to change Sabbath to Sunday. Catholics argue thus and
Protestants have no defence against the assertion. On the same basis, they
argue against the New Moons and the Feasts; but the true Churches of God have
never accepted and still do not accept any of the argument. Our people have
died in the thousands to keep the Sabbaths, New Moons and Holy Days and now the
ministry are the worst apologists for our opponents in undermining the true
Temple calendar and the understanding of the One True God (cf. The
Sabbatarians in Transylvania, CCG Publishing, 1998).
The real problem with the argument is that
Christ gave specific example in that he and the Apostles and the Church kept
all the Sabbaths, New Moons and the Feasts, and Paul said they were to let no
man judge them in how the Church kept them. He did not say let no man judge you
in how you did not keep them! The grouping and wording of the text
carries with it the implication that the Church keeps them.
Colossians
2:16:
Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of
the New Moon, or of the Sabbath [Days].
Christ also stated that the Sabbaths would be in effect in the Last Days in the
final tribulation when Christ would come again. Christ showed thereby that he
expected the Church to be keeping the Sabbaths when he came, and that the
entire structure of the Fourth Commandment stood – as did all the Law and the
Prophets.
Matthew
24:15-29
[15] "So
when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing
in the holy place (let the reader understand), [16] then let those who are in
Judea flee to the mountains; [17] let him who is on the housetop not go down to
take what is in his house; [18] and let him who is in the field not turn back
to take his mantle. [19] And alas for those who are with child and for those
who give suck in those days! [20] Pray that your flight may not be in winter or
on a sabbath. [21] For then there will be great tribulation, such as has
not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. [22]
And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but
for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. [23] Then if any one
says to you, `Lo, here is the Christ!' or `There he is!' do not believe it.
[24] For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and
wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. [25] Lo, I have
told you beforehand. [26] So, if they say to you, `Lo, he is in the
wilderness,' do not go out; if they say, `Lo, he is in the inner rooms,' do not
believe it. [27] For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as
the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man. [28] Wherever the body is,
there the eagles will be gathered together. [29] "Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken; (emphasis added). [Mark 13:17-18 omits reference to the
Sabbath. However, it is clear in Matthew].
It is quite clear that Christ will come in
that great tribulation and the entire world will be aware of it.
It is also clear that the Church is
expected to be keeping the Sabbaths from the time of Christ until his return,
and those who teach otherwise are without excuse and will be counted least in
the Kingdom of Heaven. In the same way, any person purporting to be a minister
of God who teaches against the Sabbaths, New Moons and Holy Days is condemned
by God, and the same penalties apply. God and Christ expect obedience of us
now. God established a vineyard and left it to His tenants. They disobeyed Him,
and when he sent his son to collect what should have been his they killed him
and set about abusing each other. The Church is expected to be the loyal
servants tending the vineyard in obedience until the very end. The vineyard of
the Lord of Hosts is the whole House of Israel and Judah, his special plant (Isa.
5:7). We of the Church of God are the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, being
spiritual Israel.
The logic of the argument is correct, however one writer broke it up in an attempt to assert that the logic of the argument is flawed. The argument put forward that the ministry of Armstrong uses Isaiah 66:19-24 to assert that it refers to the future and not today stands proven by the very arguments recently advanced. The arguments are ongoing to the same effect.
If we can infer that the New Moons do not have to be kept now – in spite of the text of Isaiah 66 and the understanding and application of the Temple system and previous Churches of God – then we can indeed infer such an argument regarding the Sabbath, because they are all in the Law and the Testimony and were all kept by Israel until its dispersal, and were kept by the Churches of God over the ages.
The historical evidence that the New Moons were Festivals is also found in the Book of Judith 8:4-7. Judith was left a widow and she fasted over a period of 1260 days (a time, times and half a time) save on the Sabbaths, New Moons and what other holy days were observed in Israel (Knox). This was before the Assyrian captivity, although the name of the king is not known to history. The text, however, is further historical evidence that Israel and Judah kept the New Moons as Holy Days over the first and second Temple period. The work is not inspired but it is a valuable historical record. The Septuagint states that she did not fast from the eve of the Sabbath and all day on the Sabbath and from the eve of the New Moon and all day of the New Moons and the Feasts and solemn days of the House of Israel (Brenton tr.).
These same people were keeping the New Moons as Sabbaths when they translated the LXX and the Apocrypha in the second century BCE.
The New Moons have a specific place in the Plan of God and represent the steps to Salvation.
The sequence runs from Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Annual Feasts and Sabbath Years and Jubilee periods. Each has its part to play in the Plan of Salvation. Each is a command of God.
The people who do not understand the New Moons do not understand them because the do not understand the sequence of how God gave the Law to Moses, and how the nation of Israel was dealt with on the Mountain at Sinai over the six months until the New Moon of the Seventh month. God has used the New Moons to reveal His Plans through His servants the prophets. The New Year of the Third year of the Sabbath Cycle is used as a sequence of change in accordance with the Laws of God, which allow such use for the Third year of the cycle. All of these aspects are simply a great gap in the understanding of the twentieth-century ministry of the Churches of God.
The Sabbaths, New Moons and Holy Days are placed in that order within Scripture by the word of God and are the solemn assemblies of God, and are to be obeyed.
We might now examine the argument in another way in accordance with the rules of Logic:
Axiom 1: God does not change and is immutable. His acts of forgiveness are not changes and for that reason the sons of Jacob are not consumed (Mal. 3:6).
Axiom 2: Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
Axiom 3: God is Omniscient (in that He knows all true propositions). He declares the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:8-10). He alone is God and there is none like Him. Ditheism is thus impossible.
[8] "Remember this and consider, recall it to mind, you transgressors, [9] remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, [10] declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, `My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
Axiom 4: God gave His Laws and instructions through His servants the Prophets and the Bible records those instructions.
Axiom 5: Christ did not alter the Law but fulfilled the sacrifices once and for all. The Law of God stands while Heaven and Earth stand until ALL is fulfilled (Mat. 5:17-18). He nailed our bill of indebtedness (chierographon) under the Law to the stake (Col. 2:14). We comply with the perfect law of liberty written in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Jas. 1:25).
Premise 1: From Axiom 4, God gave a set of Laws to Israel that they shall keep Sabbaths, and New Moons and Feasts as listed in the Torah.
Premise 2: From the Bible record each Restoration of Israel and Judah involved and will involve the Restoration of the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts.
Conclusion 1: God requires His people to keep the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts.
Now the premises are true and the logic is valid therefore the conclusion is true.
Premise 3: Israel was instructed to keep the Sabbaths and New Moons. Amos 8:5 states that to be the case and castigates those who wish to trade immediately afterwards, thus affirming no trade was done on either day.
Premise 4: We have
it on the authority of at least two independent witnesses that Israel kept the
New Moons (as determined by the conjunction) as Sabbaths and did not trade on
the Sabbaths and New Moons right up until the destruction of the Temple. We
also know for an indisputable fact that they also kept the Jubilee system and
Sabbath Years (see the paper Distortion of God's Calendar in
Judah (No. 195B)).
Conclusion 2: Israel understood that God required them to keep the New Moons as Sabbaths and Feasts and keep the Land Sabbaths and the Jubilee Calendar, and they did so.
Premise 5: Christ and the Apostles and the Church kept the New Moons, Sabbaths and Feasts while the Temple stood, and not just in Jerusalem but also in Colossae (Col. 2:16).
Note to premise 5: The Church was railed at for keeping the New Moons, Sabbaths and Holy Days by the Roman Church and the writers under Gnostic influence. We know for a fact that the New Moons were kept as Sabbaths during the entire life of Christ and he was blameless. There is not one word in the Gospels where Christ is accused of not keeping the full spectrum of the New Moons, Sabbaths and Holy Days. However, they did attack him over a Sabbath for healing and taking food. The argument from silence is very persuasive but only if you know the facts of the Temple period. The term in Colossians cannot be held to imply that the Church was keeping Sabbath and the Feasts and not the New Moons. The three elements were held together and you cannot separate the New Moons from the others. It is dishonest to do so. The sense here is in how you are keeping them even though the word keep is implied in the text and not stated. They are still grouped as they are in the Law and the Testimony.
Premise 6: God, through Christ, requires the elect and all mankind on pain of death in the millennial system to keep the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts (Isa. 66:23ff.; Zech. 14:16-21).
Premise 7: The Churches of God over the ages, where possible, have always kept the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts and based their calendar on the conjunctions, and were recorded as doing that at the Reformation by impeccable sources (see the Sabbatarians in Transylvania, CCG Publishing, 1998).
Conclusion 3: The Church has understood that it was required to keep those Festivals.
Conclusion 4: The Church not doing so now is in error and has not restored all things.
Premise 8: God issues a set of Laws and holds people accountable to those Laws and punishes them for not keeping those Laws.
[Note to Premise 8: the penalty in the current era for all the disobedient – either in or out of the Church – is to be sent to the Second Resurrection.]
Premise 9: God will force ALL people on pain of death to obey His commands, especially regarding the calendar, using Jesus Christ at the Millennial Restoration (Isa. 66:22-24; Zech. 14:16-21).
Conclusion 5: From Axiom 1 and above, God requires His Laws to be obeyed by His servants.
Conclusion 5A: God’s true servants obey His Laws at all times.
Premise 10: Some of the Churches of God have not restored all things and disobey the Laws of God.
Premise 11: Some people do not speak according to the Law and the Testimony (8:20).
Conclusion 6: The people in disobedience cannot be true servants of God and there is no light in them to the extent they wrest the truth in unrighteousness (Isa. 8:20).
Premise 12: from Axiom 3: The One True God is Omniscient and foretells what is to be through His servants the prophets.
Premise 13: Scripture cannot be broken (Jn. 10:35).
Conclusion 7: God does not change His mind.
Conclusion 8: The extension of mercy on repentance does not impugn the Omniscience and Immutability of God.
Premise 14: God does not endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Premise 15: God expects the solemn assemblies to be kept in a spirit of holiness after God, in which we are created anew, in righteousness and holiness (cf. Isa. 1:10-16; Rom. 11:16-32; Eph. 4:24; 1Thes. 3:13; 4:7; 1Tim. 2:15; Tit. 2:3; Heb. 12:10,14).
Conclusion 9: God’s people have an obligation to hold all the assemblies listed in the Bible in holiness and righteousness in and through the Holy Spirit.
Premise 16: God has listed His days, which have been kept under the Temple system and in the diligent Churches of God.
Premise 17: Christ has said that he who diminishes the least
of the Commandments of God will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat. 5:19).
Matthew 5:19
Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and
teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Conclusion 10: Any person purporting to be a teacher of God that diminishes the least of the Law of God is least in the Kingdom of God and is withholding the truth in unrighteousness.
Premise 18: The Sanctification of the Temple began with the New Moon of Abib. This process was kept by Christ and in every Restoration Passover (see the paper The Seven Great Passovers of the Bible (No. 107)).
Premise 19: The elect are the Temple of God.
Conclusion 11: Therefore, the process of the sanctification of the Temple begins with the New Moon of Abib for the Servants of God – which Temple we are. For the Temple of God is to be Holy (1Cor. 3:17).
Premise 20: from Axioms 1, 2, 3, and 4 and the Conclusions 1 to 11 we see that God requires obedience and will enforce the New Moons, Sabbath and Feasts, as they were kept in the Temple period.
Premise 21: God will enforce them on pain of death in the Restoration.
Premise 22: Elijah will come to restore all things.
Conclusion 12: God requires the observance of the Sabbaths, New Moons and Feasts now within the Body of Christ, and from the restoration of Elijah the whole world will become accountable. Anyone who teaches otherwise is to be ignored as a false teacher.
God is quite clear that He punishes Israel for her idolatry, as we see in Hosea 2:1-23.
Hosea 2:1-23
[1] Say to your brother, "My people," and to your sister,
"She has obtained pity." [2] "Plead with your mother, plead --
for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband -- that she put away her
harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; [3] lest I
strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a
wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst. [4] Upon
her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry.
[5] For their mother has played the harlot; she that conceived them has acted
shamefully. For she said, `I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and
my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.' [6] Therefore I will hedge
up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot
find her paths. [7] She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them; and she
shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then she shall say, `I will go and
return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now.' [8] And
she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Ba'al. [9]
Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and
I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. [10]
Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall
rescue her out of my hand. [11] And I will put an end to all her mirth, her
feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. [12] And I
will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, `These are my
hire, which my lovers have given me.' I will make them a forest, and the beasts
of the field shall devour them. [13] And I will punish her for the feast days
of the Ba'als when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her ring
and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, says the LORD. [14]
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and
speak tenderly to her. [15] And there I will give her her vineyards, and make
the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days
of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. [16]
"And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, `My husband,' and no
longer will you call me, `My Ba'al.' [17] For I will remove the names of
the Ba'als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.
[18] And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of
the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I
will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie
down in safety. [19] And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you
to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. [20] I
will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD. [21]
"And in that day, says the LORD, I will answer the heavens and they shall
answer the earth; [22] and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the
oil, and they shall answer Jezreel; [23] and I will sow him for myself in the
land. And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, `You
are my people'; and he shall say `Thou art my God.'"
Verse 6 says that God will hedge up the way of idolatrous Israel with thorns and she will not find her path. Israel and Judah had been dealt with in Hosea Chapter 1. God gave them benefit even though they presented the silver and gold to Baal (Hos. 2:8). God causes Israel’s mirth to cease and discovers her lewdness. In causing her mirth to cease, it is done on the Feast days, her New Moons and her Sabbaths and all her solemn Feasts (Hos. 2:11). Thus the inability to understand and keep the Feasts, the New Moons and the Sabbaths of God is a sign of iniquity in the people of God and they are not allowed to keep the Feasts; and God destroys their vines and their figs and their abundance and brings poverty and disaster on her. It is then that God speaks to her in the wilderness and restores her to Him as His people.
Surely a child can see from this reference that it is a
disgrace that the people of God are not able to keep the Feasts, New Moons and
Sabbaths according to the correct Temple calendar. It is a public rebuke and
condemnation of the ministry of the Churches of God that such is the case in
these Last Days and the ministry will be punished for it. They speak for hire
(Mic. 3:11) and God will rebuke them. They are blind guides and those who
follow them will fall into a ditch, and indeed have already done so. The
whining self-justification of the ministry that argues that the New Moons do
not have to be kept condemns them as being rebuked of God and outside of His
grace. Their idolatry in not understanding the Nature of God goes hand in hand
with their sin. This is Eternal Life that you know the One True God and
Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17:3).
The Christian Churches of God have by unanimous resolution since their inception and of one accord followed the New Moons, the Sabbath and the Feasts of God according to the Temple Calendar, which is based on the conjunction, and they will stand before God to give an account of their actions, as will all others. They are all of one accord and all understand the requirements. They keep the entire Sanctification process as commanded by God and kept in the Temple by Christ and the Apostles. The New Year of Abib begins the Sanctification process. We are to get the Church ready from that day and then pray for those who do not understand that they might see and hear and turn and be saved.
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