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When is The Biblical
First Day of Each Month?
God created the sun and
the moon as signs. The
sun was created to give
light by day, while the
moon was created to give
light by night (Jer.
31:35). God’s Word tells
us that the moon was
also created to allow us
to know the first day of
each month, which in
turn helps us to
calculate and keep God’s
Feasts on the correct
day. Notice:
“He appointed the moon
for seasonsH4150
(feasts)…”
(Ps. 104.19).
The Bible discusses the
day of the new moon (1
Sam. 20:5; 2 Kgs. 4:23;
Ps. 81:3; Eze. 46:1; Eze.
46:6 etc). It is
extremely important to
know exactly when the
day of the new moon is
because a new moon day
marks the first day of a
month. It is the
biblically correct first
day of month that helps
us to know the correct
days to observe the
Feasts which are
outlined in Leviticus
23.
The obvious question we
must ask ourselves is:
when is the
biblically correct first
day of the month?
(i.e. when is the
biblical new moon day)?
Those who follow God’s
Feast days as outlined
in Leviticus 23 look to
the heavenly signs (i.e.
the sun and moon) to
determine the beginning
of a month. However,
there is clear
disagreement within
these groups of people
as to when exactly a
month starts: some say
it is when the sun and
moon are in conjunction,
others say that it is
when the first sliver of
the moon is sighted. The
latter use Deut. 16:1 as
proof to wait and
visually watch for the
first sliver of the moon
to mark the first day of
the month. Is this
correct? What does the
Bible tell us? We must
understand! Notice:
“Observe
H8104
the month of Abib, and
keep the Passover…”
(Deut. 16:1).
The word “observe” is
translated from the
Hebrew word “shamar”
(number 8104 in
Strong’s). Strong’s
gives the following
definition for this
word:
“to hedge about…that is
guard; generally to
protect, attend
to…beware, be
circumspect, take heed
(to self), keep(er),
mark, look narrowly,
observe, preserve,
regards, …wait (for),
watch(man)”.
Evidently, the word
translated into the
English language as
“observe” does not
always mean to visually
watch for something, so
it would be careless and
dangerous to assume that
we must wait to watch
for the first crescent
of the moon to determine
the first day of the
month. If the first
crescent of the moon
determines the first day
of each month, there
would certainly be more
Biblical proof as
support. In reality, one
word (“observe”, Deut.
16:1) which could be
translated a number of
ways offers no concrete
evidence that we are to
look for the first
crescent of the moon to
determine the beginning
of a month. The Hebrew
word “shamar” (Strong’s
8104) is translated as
“observe” in Deut. 16:1,
however we have seen
that it does not always
mean to visually watch
for something. This
should give us clear
indication that Deut.
16:1 is not necessarily
telling us to see the
first sliver of the
moon. Notice the
different ways this word
(Strong’s 8104) is
translated and used in
the Bible:
“And the LORD God took
the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden
to dress it and to
keepH8104
it” (Gen. 2:15).
“And Pharaoh said unto
him, Get thee from me,
take heedH8104
to thyself, see my face
no more; for in that day
thou seest my face thou
shalt die” (Ex. 10:28).
“Ye shall therefore
keepH8104
my statutes and my
judgments, and shall not
commit any of these
abominations; neither
any of your own nation,
nor any stranger that
sojourneth among you”
(Lev. 18:26).
“Command the children of
Israel, and say unto
them, My offering, and
my bread for my
sacrifices made by fire,
for a sweet savour unto
me, shall ye observeH8104
to offer unto me in
their due season” (Num.
28:2).
“KeepH8104
the sabbath day to
sanctify it, as the LORD
thy God hath commanded
thee” (Deut. 5:12).
“And did not he make
one? Yet had he the
residue of the spirit.
And wherefore one? That
he might seek a godly
seed. Therefore take
heedH8104
to your spirit, and let
none deal treacherously
against the wife of his
youth. For the LORD, the
God of Israel, saith
that he hateth putting
away: for one covereth
violence with his
garment, saith the LORD
of hosts: therefore take
heedH8104
to your spirit, that ye
deal not treacherously”
(Mal. 2:15-16).
There is no
scripture in the whole
of the Bible that tells
us that we need to
“see” the first
sliver of the moon to
determine the day of the
new moon. Keeping this
vital point in mind,
together with the way in
which the word “shamar”
is translated and used
in the above verses,
none should assume that
we must see the
first sliver of the moon
to determine a new moon
day!
Notice further! Deut.
16:1 states:
“Observe the monthH2320
of Abib…”.
The word “month” is
translated from the
Hebrew word “chodesh”
(Strong’s 2320).
Strong’s gives the
following definition for
this word:
Strong’s 2320
“From H2318; the new
moon; by implication a
month: month(ly), new
moon”.
The Hebrew word
“chodesh” comes from
Strong’s 2318 which
means:
“…to be new;
causatively to rebuild:
renew, repair”.
Let us understand!
“Conjunction” of the
moon and the sun is when
these two heavenly
bodies are in line with
each other, which means
the moon is covered by
the sun from the earth’s
position, and therefore
cannot be seen from the
earth. This marks the
end of the moon’s
rotational cycle.
Immediately after
conjunction, the moon
begins to rebuild
even though it cannot be
seen at that
particular time.
In other words, as soon
as the moon crosses the
path of the sun, the
moon begins to renew and
rebuild itself. We will
state this again: the
new moon begins to
rebuild immediately
after conjunction. The
new moon begins as soon
as the old moon ends.
This means that by the
time the first sliver of
the moon is visible from
the earth, the moon is
already a day or two
old! By the time the
sliver of the moon can
be seen, it would have
already rebuilt itself
to the size of the first
sliver.
Since the moon begins to
rebuild immediately
after conjunction, the
new moon day falls on
the first morning
following conjunction.
Therefore the first
morning after
conjunction marks the
first day of the month!
Significantly, the
first morning following
conjunction is the
only day when the
moon rises within
minutes of sunrise.
Another important point
to note, which gives
further evidence that
the moment after
conjunction the new moon
begins to rebuild, is
that the moon becomes
“full” half way through
the lunar cycle. In fact
when a Feast falls on
the 15th of
the month on God’s
calender, (i.e. first
day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread [Lev.
23:6] and the first day
of the Feast of
Tabernacles [Lev.
23:39]), the moon is
always full. Notice
the following scripture:
“Blow up the trumpet in
the new moon, in the
time appointed
H3677,
on our solemn feast day”
(Ps. 81:3).
The phrase “in the time
appointed” is translated
from the Hebrew word
“kesekeseh” and could
also be translated as
“the full moon, that is
the festival” (Strong’s
3677). This confirms
that on the 15th
day of the month, the
moon is full. Not only
is this biblically
accurate, but it is also
scientifically accurate
because the amount of
time for the moon to wax
to its fullness takes
the same amount of time
as it takes to wane from
its fullness to
conjunction. In other
words, during the
lunation period of 29.5
days, there is an equal
time either side of the
full moon. Those who
wait to see the
first sliver of the moon
do not keep the first
day of Unleavened Bread
and the first day of the
Feast of Tabernacles
(both on the 15th
of the month) on a day
when there is a full
moon as discussed in
scripture. This in
itself should be enough
proof that you should
not wait to see
the first sliver of the
moon to mark the first
day of the month.
August 2011
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