The Lunar Sabbath Deception

Transcription

1 I do not know Lex Meyer, but I like the concept of his website entitled: UnlearnTheLies.com. I so wish he had stuck to revealing the many lies that can be found among the doctrines of the body of believers, but, alas, he has stepped into my area of expertise and it would be negligence on my part if I did not take the time to point out that in this instance (and perhaps others--i have not read his entire site) it is Bro. Meyer who needs to unlearn the lies regarding the seventh-day Sabbath of Scripture. There has never been a successful argument brought against the Creation Calendar. I have not yet read a single word of Bro. Meyer's presentation against the Lunar Sabbath, but I can assure you that he will present little more than his tradition and a few pieces of evidence that will have been taken out of context or twisted to fit his own calendar model. I have nothing against Bro. Meyer, but his readers deserve better. Anyone who claims to have a message from the Almighty had better not go against Him. Meyer has done just that, and it will be painfully evident to you by the time this rebuttal is complete. In this case, I am asking Bro. Meyer's readers to unlearn what is untrue, and in doing so, you will discover that Bro. Meyer has either willfully or unintentionally deceived you. How that makes you feel is between you and him. I have not changed one jot or tittle of his document found here: My comments will be in green with a little red and a little blue. Completed The Lunar Sabbath Deception By Lex Meyer There is a new source of confusion among believers about when we should keep the Sabbath. [Interrupting the paragraph: New to Bro. Meyer, perhaps, but the Lunar Sabbath is not new. I am about to show you that it has been around since Creation, but I confess that this message started gaining ground in the USA in the early 1990's, but has been observed by someone, somewhere on the earth in every generation. If not, then YHWH is not returning to this earth. For the record, every place in Scripture that mentions it, YHWH is returning to gather first a remnant of Israel, then all of Israel. This includes Israelites born and those adopted or grafted in. Please recognize how important the ordinances of the moon are to the Creator and the relationship between the moon and the nation of Israel... Thus saith YHWH, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; YHWH of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith YHWH, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Jeremiah 31:35-36 Do you get that? If the ordinances of the moon cease to be observed, then Israel will cease being Yah's chosen nation. Since prophecy demands that Israel is going to be saved, then someone, somewhere on earth has observed the ordinances of the moon in every generation. And just what is the ordinances of the moon? I'm glad you asked. Pay close attention because the details I am about to share with you regarding this issue have been largely ignored or poopooed by Bro. Meyer.] 1

2 Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Messianic believers all agree that Sunday is NOT the Biblical Sabbath. There is no dispute about this among preachers, scholars, historians, or theologians. It is a well documented fact that Sunday church was instituted by the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church 300 years after Yeshua ascended. We know for a fact that Sunday is not, and never has been the Sabbath. And here is the first example of Bro. Meyer ignoring evidence. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that this was probably not done intentionally. But if done in ignorance, what else is Meyer ignoring and not sharing with his readers? Spiritual leaders should not ignore evidence. Ignorant spiritual leaders are not spiritual. In A.D. 321, Constantine venerated the day of the sun. Most recognize that this is when sunday worship entered into the "christian" movement. What few recognize is what else happened to the calendar adopted by Rome in the 4th century. To assume that Israel observed the pagan seven day planetary week in the first century when Rome themselves did not is sheer lunacy. Rome did not officially adopt the seven day planetary week until A.D. 321 when Emperor Constantine became a christian. At that time, saturn s day was the 1st day of the seven day planetary week, not the 7th. Below is a sketch of the planetary week, circa 100 B.C. saturn s day, sun s day, moon s day, mars day, mercury s day, jupiter s day, venus day Rome ruled the world in the first century B.C., thus the Roman numerals, but this is not a Roman calendar. This is the pagan seven day planetary week as it existed from about 600 B.C., until A.D. 321 when Constantine venerated the day of the sun. Constantine worshiped Mithra, the Persian version of the sun god. He did not want the day of the sun taking a back seat to saturn, so when he venerated the day of the sun all he did was bump satyrday from the coveted #1 position in the week all the way to the seventh day, which was vacated by all the other days moving up one position in the weekly cycle, permitting the sun s day to hold the preeminent position. The sketch above came from this clay calendar tablet (below). 2

3 the Scriptural Sabbath? You see, the dirty little secret is out. Satyrday was not the seventh day of the week anywhere on the planet until A.D. 321, and then by virtue of Constantine, not the Creator Almighty, so it certainly was NOT the Sabbath of Israel at any time in earth s history. Indeed, sunday has never rightly been called the seventh day of the week, but satyrday, the day Bro. Meyer WISHES to call the seventh day of the week has only been the seventh day of the week since A.D.321. Satyrday is a day created, named and found exclusively on a pagan calendar. How is it then Additionally, Rome did not have a seven day week in the first century. Their 8 day market week is presented below In the first century, Rome observed an 8 (EIGHT) day market calendar week. The days were identified as A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H. Above is an actual representation of a first century Roman calendar. At that time, the months of january, april, the equivalent of the 6 th month (june), sextember (august), september, november and december each had 29 days instead of 30 or 31 days that they consist of now. Also, there was a 13 th month (intercalary) added periodically. So, what are you trying to say, Bro. Meyer? Was Israel using the Roman 8 day market calendar week (A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H) or the pagan 7 day planetary week in the first century? If something else, are you going to produce any evidence to support your conclusion? 3

4 However, there is a new theory about the Sabbath that is gaining popularity among Sabbath keeping believers that is causing them to question if we are truly keeping the Biblical Sabbath as commanded by God. This theory has caused much confusion and division among Sabbath keepers, and is a subject that needs to be addressed to avoid any further confusion. I agree. Talking about the facts, not the assumptions and traditions of men, is vital to any discussion of truth. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, let's see if Lex Meyer offers any evidence or if it is merely the generally assumed traditions of the churches. Please pay attention because I am very easily going to dismantle the conclusions of Bro. Meyer with something called hard "evidence". And it is not confusing, there is always harmony in the truth. What is the Lunar Sabbath? The Lunar Sabbath theory suggests that the weekly cycle resets each month based on the new moon, and ignores the current weekly uninterrupted 7 day cycle. [True.] They argue that the Sabbath will always fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th day of every lunar month. [True.] They selected these dates because they saw that the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles begin on the 15th and end on the 21st, and the Bible says that those days are to be treated as days of rest (like a Sabbath). [WE selected these dates? Oh, now that's funny. Lex Meyer does err, not knowing the Scriptures. There are over 20 examples in Scripture that gives a date for the Sabbath or enough information to triangulate one. In every case, these dates are the 8th, 15th, 22nd or 29th days of the month. Without exception. Please examine the following study: However, the Sabbath theory people claim that the 15th and 21st are always Sabbath days, so they build their calendar around those two dates, and force their theory to fit that premise. (There is also a small minority who teach that the lunar Sabbath falls on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of the month.) The study link above proves that Lunar Sabbatarians are not forcing anything. We have over 20 witnesses that date the weekly Sabbaths to the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month. This is strong enough evidence to acquit Lunar Sabbath keepers in any court of law. To make their case even stronger, there is not a single weekly Sabbath in Scripture that falls on any other dates of the month. Not one. Those who consider the weekly Sabbaths to fall on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th of the month have simply not done their homework. I admit, these folks exist, but they do err and they are in the vast minority in the Lunar Sabbath keeping movement. They arrive at this conclusion by leaning on the arm of flesh. If the Sabbath is the 7th day of the month, then the first day of the month is also the first day of the week, and New Moon days are not included in the week. I'm guessing that Bro. Meyer will bring this out later, so I will address it when he brings it up. The other fly in the ointment with this particular lunar calendar model is that the Passover is Abb 14, and Passover is always a preparation day for the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread (Abib 15). See Leviticus 23:5-11. This theory would be great if there were only 28 days in a lunar cycle, however, we know for a fact that the moon is on a day cycle (29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes). This means we will always have more than 28 days in a lunar month, which makes this theory very problematic. 4

5 How so? Problematic in that Meyer already cannot line up the events in Scripture using the Gregorian calendar--now to add a calendar model that he does not understand? Ok, in this sense, that is problematic. But the problems Meyer brings to the table here go away when something called "evidence" is examined. For the record, those who observe the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th days of the lunar months as the Sabbath do not assume that the months are only 28 days long, they recognize the 29.5 day lunar cycle which produces 29 and 30 day lunar months. They don't "need" a 28 day cycle to prove their position. All Lunar Sabbath keepers recognize the fact that lunar months are longer than 28 days. In truth, if the lunar months were only 28 days long, that would destroy the Lunar Sabbath as presented in Scripture. There are 4 seven day weeks every lunar cycle, for a total of 28 days. But in Scripture, there are New Moon days included in the month that are NEVER included in the week. In case Bro. Meyer does not bring up the New Moon days, let me present this evidence here and now... See short study: The Torah proves that the lunar months were originally 30 days in length. There were 28 weekdays and 2 days of New Moon celebration every month. In Scripture, the months ALL used to be 30 days in length, for a total of a 360 lunar/solar year. The luni-solar year was originally 360 days long. Twelve 30 day months = 360 day year. Here is the evidence for this. Genesis 7:11 says that the flood began on the 17th day of the second month. Genesis 8:4 says the water prevailed upon the face of the earth until the 17th day of the seventh month. That is 5 months. Genesis 7:24 and 8:3 say that the water prevailed upon the earth for 150 days. 150 divided by 5 = 30. So there were 5 consecutive 30 day months in Scripture, which is not possible with the current relationship between the earth and moon. So, we have solid Scriptural proof that the original months were all 30 days in length. The lunar cycle is now 29.5 days long, which equates to some months being 29 days long, some being 30 days long as there is no such thing as a half day. Meyer does not prove what he means by "problematic", so let me take the opportunity to prove to you, the reader, that there is no problem at all with the lunar cycle supporting the Lunar Sabbaths. Here is what a Lunar month looks like, and I will use this SAME calendar model in answer to every claim Bro. Meyer brings against the Lunar Sabbath. New Moon First Week Second Week Third Week 5 Fourth Week Fifth Week Sixth Week Seventh Week (30) Since Scripture proves that the New Moon days are not included in the week, that they are a third category of day, they are put in a column of their own. The number thirty is in parentheses because if the month is only 29 days long, then day 29 is followed by day 1.

6 When looking at the lunar sabbath evidence, at first it sounds like it might actually be correct, and many sincere believers have been misled into following this pattern for their Sabbath observance. However, when we compare the Lunar Sabbath calendar with Scripture, we will quickly see that it does not line up with the Biblical Sabbath. I certainly hope that Bro. Meyer is going to back this up with his evidence and not merely SAY it. That would be bad. Only those who sow discord among the brethren say things that cannot be substantiated or present concepts without presenting evidence. Let's see what (if anything) he offers to support his claim. Consider this. Whom do you think is misleading others? The one saying that the Sabbath is only found embedded in a pagan/papal calendar or one saying that it is found in nature, right where the Creator put it during Creation week? Genesis 1:14 says that the two great lights would be for signs, seasons, days and years. Thus the calendar of Yah is in the heavens. Exodus 31:13, Ezekiel 20:12, and 20:20 all say that the Sabbath is a sign, using the SAME Hebrew word found in Genesis 1:14 (owth), meaning signal or beacon. Psalm 104:19 says that the moon will regulate the seasons (Hebrew word mo edim-- appointed times, set feasts). Leviticus 23:1-3 shows the weekly Sabbath to be the first feast (Hebrew word mo edim--appointed times, set feasts). This alone is enough to prove that the Sabbath is regulated by the moon, but it does not answer every possible question as to HOW or WHY that might take place. Ours is not to ask WHY. Either do (obey) or do not. Rather than ask why, go outside and look in the heavens at the hands of the clock established at Creation and watch for patterns. It won't take long to figure it out. But sitting at a desk hunched over a computer is not going to reveal the wonders of the firmament. In fact, if Bro. Meyer has not done this, he really has NOTHING to say against the Creation Calendar because the Hebrew comes right out and SAYS that the Sabbath (the first mo'edim listed in Leviticus 23) is regulated by the moon. The following is an example of what the Lunar Sabbath schedule would look like each month. One thing to make note of is that the 1st day and the 30th day of the month are neither work days or Sabbath days, but are treated as transition days or non-days, which should already send up red flags in our mind as we examine this calendar. I was told by one lunar sabbath keeper that only when the moon is visible is it considered a day [a week day], so when the moon is hidden or dark, they are neither work days nor sabbath days, but are simply considered non-days or reset days. No, they are considered New Moon days. OK, here Bro. Meyer addresses the New Moon days a bit. Good. Not very well presented, but he is at least addressing the subject. Transition day is an appropriate term, "non-day" is not. New Moon days ARE days of the month, they ARE days in the sun, they ARE days of the year, they are just NOT days of the week. A red flag should go up when something is said or presented that contradicts what is in Scripture. Sorry, but there is not a single New Moon day that is included in the week in Scripture. See the study linked on p. 5. Forcing a New Moon to be a week day will cause problems and confusion. Throwing up a red flag here shows that Bro. Meyer does err, not knowing the Scriptures. 6

7 Modern feast keepers, Jews and uneducated masses assume that New Moon days can be found anywhere in the week because the months of the Gregorian calendar are not lunar, thus the astronomical New Moon can and does fall anywhere in the pagan/papal months. But Gregorian months are not the topic of this discussion here. Let's see how Bro. Meyer does... Lunar Month What can I say? He did pretty good laying out the lunar month. In fact, it looks exactly like the months laid out in several of my studies found at and similar to the revised calendar model I presented on p. 5 above. There are three specific weeks that are given to us in the Bible that will easily show the error in the Lunar Sabbath calendar. [This ought to be good.] God established the Sabbath during Creation week to provide us with a pattern, then He reminded us of this pattern when He established the Manna Week cycle, and the pattern was again reiterated during Crucifixion week when the Messiah was buried for 3 days before his resurrection. These three Biblical weeks provide more than enough evidence to disprove the claims that are being made about the Lunar Sabbath being the true Sabbath. OK. These are the three that I expected, and these three that will prove a perfect alignment with the Lunar Sabbath of Scripture. As an aside, "Messiah" was not buried for 3 days before his resurrection. If he is supposed to be the prophetic fulfillment of the passover lamb, then the event surrounding the crucifixion must line up with the instructions in Torah. Please consider the following if you wish to consider ALL the evidence regarding the time between the death and resurrection of the man from Galilee. Where does it say Yeshua would be in the grave for 3 days (and 3 nights)? 7

8 Heart of the earth means the land of Israel. Please understand that Scripture is its own dictionary and the FIRST time this phrase is used is in Genesis 48:16. Matthew was writing his gospel to Israelites so he wrote in terms that they would readily recognize. In the heart of is very much a Hebrew idiom or expression, a figure of speech. This phrase is found several times throughout the Old Testament, which was the only Scripture extant at the time Matthew wrote. Let s examine some of them. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth, Genesis 48:16. See also Exodus 8:22, Psalm 74:12, and Daniel 4:10 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. Deuteronomy 4:36 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. Proverbs 30:18-19 Midst of the earth and heart of the earth are the same thing. Heart of the earth is a Hebrew idiom used in both the OT and the NT and it is never used to mean grave. If Yeshua had wanted to say he was going to be in the "grave" for 3 days and 3 nights, he had plenty of words and expressions to choose from: grave, sheol, hell, the pit, gehenna, tartarus, the abyss, hades, etc. Granted, some of those are Greek, not Hebrew/Aramaic, but the Greek translators did not use the Greek equivalent for grave either. He is saying that he will be in the middle of Israel for three days and three nights. What exactly is meant by this is open to debate, but what cannot be successfully argued is that this phrase means grave when it literally means something on the surface of the earth, not 6 feet under (so to speak). How can we know? Do any of the above passages in any way indicate a location beneath the surface of the earth or sea? Is a ship that is in the heart of the ocean on the surface or has it sunk to the bottom? Was the heavenly voice heard from underneath the fire or out of the middle of it? Many (including me at one point) thought that the sign of Jonah meant the time he spent in the belly of the great fish. And if you only read Matthew's account, this is easy to think. But stopping there will show our lack of studiousness. Read Luke's account. If you compare Matthew 12 to Luke 11:29-32, the sign of Jonah is about the message Jonah gave the Ninevites, not the interesting journey Jonah endured getting to Ninevah. Evidence: What was the only sign Jonah gave the Ninevites? It was "repent or die." The Ninevites had no knowledge of Jonah s interesting ride to the shore. In case you have never considered this, Ninevah is about 300 miles from the shore where Jonah was vomited out on the beach. Do you suppose that it was one of Darwin s fish that had sprouted legs permitting this great fish to walk on to Ninevah? There is no evidence that Jonah gave this testimony in Ninevah, so the Ninevites had no knowledge of it. So how could it be a sign for the Ninevites if they knew nothing of it? 8

9 What was the ONLY sign Yeshua gave to the scribes and Pharisees? The same one Jonah gave Ninevah. Repent or die. There is always perfect harmony in the truth. In order to have Yeshua in the tomb for three full days and be resurrected on a Sunday some say that Passover must have been on a Wednesday. Even then the resurrection is forced to take place minutes after sundown on the Sabbath (from sunset on the 14th to sunset on the 17th) when Scripture said it took place shortly before dawn on the first day of the week. (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1 and John 20:1) This segment of their calendar looks like this: Interestingly, if you were to count backward by seven using today s calendar, Passover was on what we now call tuesday (if 31 A.D. is the crucifixion year), not friday or wednesday. Look at the calendar model above. Let s assume for a moment that the remark about the sign of Jonah WAS Prophetic, the prophecy was for 3 s and 3 Nights (in that order). Order is everything in a prophecy. That is one way to determine if it was a false prophecy or a false fulfillment. If he was buried at even (at sunset) on the 14th, then he was in the tomb for 3 nights and 3 days, not 3 day and 3 nights. Which would be a false fulfillment, right? And in order for him to be the wavesheaf, he would have had to be resurrected right at dawn, the morrow after the Sabbath. Yet by forcing a 3 day/3 night prophecy onto this passage (and applying it to a calendar) he would have been raised at sunset on the 17th, the seventh day, not at dawn the first day: 14th n, 15th d/n, 16th d/n, 17th d -- that's 3 nights and 3 days. And according to the NT record, he was resurrected on the first day of the week, not the seventh (see passages above). Understanding the weekend of the crucifixion in this manner creates another very critical problem. See the first calendar model above. It is correctly said that the Sabbath that occurred after Passover was the first day of Unleavened Bread (Abib 15). The problem is that this forces the 17th of Abib to be some spurious weekly Sabbath after which would follow resurrection Sunday (the 18th as presented here). Now, count backward seven days from the 17th. Do you know what the 10th day of Abib was for? Every year, on the 10th day of Abib, Israel was commanded to go into the field and select the Passover lamb and set it aside. Folks who did not have livestock went to the temple and purchased a sacrifice. There are no instructions to postpone the purchase or to make the purchase a day early if the 10th just happened to fall on the Sabbath. Isn't that odd? You cannot say that this was Holy Work or a Holy Purchase because these were common men, not the priests. There is no such thing as a Set-Apart (holy) purchase. Commerce is commerce. Those who force Passover (Abib 14) to fall on a wednesday have a problem. See again the calendar model on the previous page. If the 17th was a Sabbath, so was the 10th. The 17th is nowhere called a Sabbath, but the 10th IS a commanded work day, see Exodus 12:3-6. If you will read Leviticus 23 you will find that the Passover is the 14th of Abib, the Sabbath is the following day, the 15th so the morning AFTER the Sabbath is the 16th. Unless I've missed something somewhere, it is always best to make things line up with Torah. The resurrection took place on the 16th in the NT if the OT is to be believed. What is NOT to be believed is that the phrase in the heart of the earth has anything to do with a grave/tomb. 9

10 The day after Passover in the year of the crucifixion was most certainly the weekly Sabbath, see Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54-56, John 19:31. Now, let s put the Abib 14 back where it belongs as preparation day for the Sabbath (see below) and add the false prophecy of 3 days and 3 nights IN THE TOMB, and now Yeshua would have been raised at sunset on the 17th, the second day of the week, not the first day at dawn. There is nothing about the statement in Matthew 12 that is prophetic or that found fulfillment at the crucifixion There are many places where the man from Galilee said he would rise on the third day. Third day and 3 days and 3 nights are two different things. Let me explain. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. If the text said it had only rained for 40 days, that would mean it stopped raining at night, raining only during daylight hours. That s why the flood account reads as it does, specifically mentioning day AND night. Third day means exactly that. We have an example in Exodus 19:11. And YHWH said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, And be ready against the third day: for the third day YHWH will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. Exodus 19:10-11 Look at the context (verse 10). Today, tomorrow and the third day comprises the three days in question. There are MANY places in the 4 gospels where the man from Galilee says he will rise on the third day. Only one where he says in three days he would rise (John 2:19), and in this account he distinctly does not add three nights to his statement. In the context of how days are counted, he was killed on the 14th, rested on the 15th, and raised on the third day (the 16th). The accounts in Matthew 12 and Luke 11 taken together say nothing about him being in the grave for any amount of time. There isn t anything in either passage that resembles the grave nor is there a word/phrase that means grave in either passage. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20 A couple of things: 1. Leviticus 23:4-14 gives the timeline for this particular event. If it is prophetic, then antitype has to line up with it to the letter. Leviticus 23 is Torah. In this passage, Abib 14 is passover, the next day is the Sabbath of unleavened Bread, and the morrow after the Sabbath (Abib 16) is wavesheaf. If you want a historical reference for this, is Josephus acceptable? In The Antiquities of the Jews, Chapter 10, section 5, he has this to say about the Passover season: 10

11 (248) In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of the year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries (for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians, and law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover; and so we do celebrate this Passover in companies, leaving nothing of what we sacrifice till the day following. (249) The feast of unleavened bread succeeds that of the Passover, and falls on the fifteenth day of the month and continued seven days, wherein they feed on unleavened bread (250) But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day, they do not touch them.. (251) They take a handful of ears, and dry them, then beat them small and purge the barley from the bran; they then bring one tenth deal to the altar, to Elohim; and, casting one handful of it upon the fire they leaven the rest for use of the priest; and after this it is that they may publicly or privately reap their harvest. Josephus is explaining to the Gentile nations how the barley could be harvested on the 16th, and says exactly what Leviticus 23 says about the feast of Passover, Unleavened Bread and wavesheaf. 2. If you are going to apply the timeline of Leviticus 23 to the crucifixion, than you are obliged (dare I say, forced) to stay within the parameters of the text. That means you have the 14th, 15th, and 16th to work with. If it speaks not according to this word, there is no light in it. Creation Week When studying the Sabbath, the best place to start is in the Beginning, when God established the Sabbath. [Agreed. Where does it say in Genesis 1 that satyrday is the Sabbath or that the Sabbath is every seventh day in an unbroken cycle?] It is important to notice that the Sun, Moon, and Stars were not even created until the 4th day, so we are already running into some problems with this theory that the Sabbath is based on the moon phases. However, as we examine it even closer, we see that God rested on the 7th day, but the Lunar Sabbath calendar says the 8th day of the month is the Sabbath. God would have had to skip day 1, and began creating on day 2 for this to work according to the Lunar Sabbath theory. Again, Bro. Meyer presents the tradition of men as his evidence. Sun, moon and stars not created on day 4: Moses used two different words in the creation account. One means created from scratch (H#1254, Bara), the other doesn't. Created from scratch (bara) is found in Genesis 1:1, an example of the other is found in verse 16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Genesis 1:

12 This word made (Strong s H# 6213) is used several times during the creation week. This is the Hebrew word asah, (ah-saw). It means made from something, or advanced upon or appointed. The Hebrew word made would be used in this sentence; I made (asah) my bed this morning. The bed was not created from scratch this morning; it was already there, it was only advanced upon and made ready for use the next night. For example: He appointed (asah) the moon for seasons Psalm 104:19. Here David very nearly quotes Genesis 1:14, only he s very specific about the role of the moon. Seasons here in Psalm 104:19 is the same Hebrew word found in Genesis 1:14; mo edim, appointed times or set feasts. If I "made" you a general in my army, does that mean you did not exist until I pinned the stars on your lapel? No, it means I advanced upon or appointed you as a general in my army. You existed prior to your appointment. And the simple fact of the matter is that there were THREE days named before the 4th day of Creation. If you don't know what the means, read on... I was taught the same thing Bro. Meyer presented above, but I learned it is not true. Time began on earth in Genesis 1:1-2. If the time pieces were not created until the 4th day this does not make any sense. I offered the excuse that the moon was created 4 days old, but this flies in the face of the fact that there were 3 days of the week BEFORE the 4th day of Creation week, and the only light in the heavens that can regulate a day on earth is the sun. Read Genesis 1:5. The light was called day, the darkness was called night. What light seen from earth causes day and night? The sun. If the sun was merely LIT on the first day of the week, when was it created? Answer: Genesis 1:1-2, when YHWH created heaven AND earth. The clock of earth would have been created the moment earth was created, not the minute hand created one day and the hour hand created several days later. Time is time. It began on earth in Genesis 1:1. The sun was counting days from the first day of Creation Week, and if the sun was lit on the first work day, then the moon was created at the same time the sun was. It does not matter whether you agree with me or recognize this, it does not change the fact that the sun, moon and stars were created at the same time the earth was created. YHWH took the next several days to move things around, getting them how He wanted things. Full study at: Here is a calendar that illustrates the error of the Lunar Sabbath according to the Biblical record of creation week. Lunar Creation Week 1 Light 2 Heaven 3 Land, Plants 4 Moon 5 Fish, Birds 6 7 Animals, Man Sabbath 8 Lunar Sabbath

13 Since the moon was not created until the middle of the week, we can safely assume that the first Sabbath was not based on the moon. Hmm. Why do you have back to back Sabbaths in your calendar model above, and Bro. Meyer, where is the New Moon, the segment of time when heaven and earth were created? In fact, you have the very first creation event being light, and Genesis 1:1-2 proves otherwise. Heaven and earth were created first, and this creation event was a time consuming event that is NOT numbered in the work week. If the second month after Creation began with a New Moon and the last lunar month began with a New Moon, what do you suppose the FIRST month of earth's history began with? Answer: New Moon. And yet, Meyer does not provide one in his calendar model. Thinking truth-seekers simply must ask why this is so, and react accordingly. The reaction most seekers will have is to disregard the writings (rantings) of Lex Meyer, not his intended reaction I am certain. If a teacher cannot provide evidence for his conclusions or ignores evidence that is contrary to his conclusions, how is he qualified to teach? Bro. Meyer, read Isaiah 66: The Sabbath was observed established at Creation, was observed by the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and disciples and will be observed in the new earth. You are wise enough to understand that because of all this, the Sabbath should still be observed today, right? Please also understand that the New Moon was established at Creation, observed by the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and disciples and will be observed in the new earth. Do you believe that New Moon should still be observed today? If not, why not? If so, why did you not include the New Moon in your calendar model above? If you consider day one in your calendar above to be the New Moon, why is it included as the first day in the work week, contrary to Scripture? Below is a calendar that illustrates what the Bible actually says about creation week. Biblical Creation Week 1 Light 2 Heaven 3 Land, Plants 4 Moon 5 Fish, Birds 6 Animals, Man 7 Sabbath

14 Really? Light was the first thing created in Genesis 1? Bro. Meyer, is this your final answer...? I only ask because my Scripture has the creation of heaven and earth before the creation of light. Looks like this (as will the answer to every other challenge to the Creation Calendar)... New Moon (Genesis 1:1-2) 1 of week (Gen. 1:3-5) 2 of week (Genesis 1:6-8) 3 of week (Gen. 1:9-13) 4 of week (Gen. 1:14-19) 5 of week (Gen. 1:20-23) 6 of week (Gen. 1:24-31) 7 th day Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3) Heaven and earth Light Firmament Land, plants Ordinance of sun & moon Animals Man Sabbath (30) Manna Week In all reality, Creation week has already given us good reason to doubt this Lunar Sabbath theory, but lets continue to see if there is more solid evidence to prove its error. Really? Don't make me laugh. As I said, Bro. Meyer "will present little more than his tradition and a few pieces of evidence that will have been taken out of context or twisted to fit his own calendar model." Do you remember when I said this? Page one, middle of second paragraph. Considering the evidence that he has completely ignored in order to present his flawed, traditional calendar model, I would say my assessment has been spot on. He's not presenting the Scriptural calendar, he's supporting the pagan/papal calendar. And truth seekers, what does this make you want to do? After God led the people out of Egypt, He wanted to remind them of His Sabbath, and he established a pattern that was to guide their Sabbath observance for the next 40 years as they lived in the wilderness. God established this pattern by supplying manna for 6 days, then no manna on the 7th day. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none. (Exodus 16:26) This is a ONE WEEK sample that Bro. Meyer is extrapolating through the next 40 years. This is not a bad thing UNLESS you are excluding a vital bit of information: New Moon. Meyer ignores New Moon, he ignores that it is never once included in a work week in Scripture but has been part of every single month in earth's history. He ignores that New Moon interrupts the progression of weeks every single month of the year. And he does so with a smile on his face. Does that bother anyone besides me? 14

15 We are also told that on the 6th day there was extra manna for the people to store up and eat on the Sabbath. See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. (Exodus 16:29) This was the pattern that would solidify Israel s Sabbath observance for the next 40 years and beyond. Indeed, but a one week sample does not a month make, much less 40 years. New Moons were established at Creation, were commanded to be observed with special sacrifices, and were NEVER included in the work week. How does this sample prove Bro. Meyer's point? It doesn't. He expects to prove his point by ignoring the parts of Scripture that contradict his conclusion. Shame on him. Worse, he smugly expects you to believe and accept his conclusion without question. If you do, shame on you. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (Exodus 16:35) Now, lets examine how the Lunar Sabbath theory compares to the Biblical record concerning the pattern of manna that God provided each week. We know that God began giving them manna on the 16th day of the second month, because the people were complaining about having no food on the 15th day. True. At least he begins the manna count on the correct date. And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. (Exodus 16:1-2) Let's see if his calendar lines up with ours. The days in question in the text are highlighted in yellow. One portion of manna (x1) and two portions (x2) are presented below... x1 x1 x1 x1 x1 x2 Sabbath (30) Please note that the Sabbaths fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of this month. 15

16 If we look at the Lunar Sabbath calendar for two consecutive months according to the instructions regarding the giving of manna, we should immediately start to ask questions about the 1st and 30th days of the month. Should these days be treated as work days or Sabbath days? [Neither, they are New Moon days.] Was manna provided on the 1st and 30th of each month? [Neither YHWH nor Scripture says. Where Scripture is silent, silence is golden. By inferring what he thinks should be is adding to Torah. Deuteronomy 4:2] Was there an expectation that 4 days of manna would be stored up on the 28th day of the month? [Is this stated or implied anywhere in Scripture? No. Manna was a weekly phenomena, assuming what happened on days that fall outside of the week is an exercise in futility unless we are told how it went down. We were not told.] Were those days meant to be fasting days? [Interesting Meyer should guess this. It is the ONLY reasonable assumption one can make considering that New Moon days are not week days, and what was actually revealed to us in the text.] Satyrday Sabbatarians have tried to use the story of the manna as proof that the Lunar Sabbath is a false teaching. They say the narrative in Exodus 16 offers no instruction for Israel to pick up manna (or not) on New Moon during their 40 years in the wilderness. These same folks admit that the new moons were observed, but because there is no mention of them in conjunction with the falling of the manna, they say that this proves that the seven day weeks are not interrupted by the new moon days and therefore, manna MUST have fallen on the new moon days. In the same breath, these same well meaning folks insist that the days of the week go uninterrupted all the way back to Creation, and with no evidence other than the present Gregorian calendar and their tradition, say that Satyrday IS that seventh day. Let me propose that this is not the case for several reasons. (1) When Israel was obedient, they always observed the same lunar-solar calendar established in Genesis 1. (2) With this calendar, the days of new moon are described as a third category of day in Ezekiel 46:1, II Kings 4:23, Isaiah 66:23 and Amos 8:5. Since new moon is a 3rd category of day (neither a work day nor Sabbath) elsewhere in Scripture, then it was a 3rd category of day during Israel s wilderness sojourn. (3) By insisting that Israel gathered manna on new moon days during their wilderness sojourn, they are adding to Torah, in violation of Deuteronomy 4:2. Scripture does not say whether Israel gathered or ate manna on new moon days, so they can only speculate. (4) Satyrday is only the seventh day of the week by virtue of Emperor Constantine. In 321 A.D., he venerated the day of the sun which moved satyrday from its coveted position as the first day of the week to the seventh day of the week. Historically, Israel fasted on new moon days. Says Hutton Webster, the establishment of a periodic week ending in a Sabbath observed every seventh day was doubtless responsible for the gradual obsolescence of the new moon festival as a period of general abstinence, since with continuous weeks the new-moon day and the Sabbath would from time to time coincide (Rest s., p. 255). Each new moon was celebrated with a fast (Jewish Family Celebrations, p. 35). 16

17 And we also find the following: the sacred festival of the new moon, which the people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting, on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined... (Philo, Book 26, XXX, 159). I find it interesting that science has shown that fasting once a month is great for your health. Satyrday Sabbath keepers who have knowledge of the health message should jump up and shout, but they won t because they must also admit defeat regarding the manna issue. The land Sabbaths were important enough to the Father to cause Israel to go into captivity for 70 years in Babylon for NOT observing them. These land Sabbaths were also in 7 year sequences (like the days of weeks). Israel could sow and reap for the 6 years, but on the land Sabbath, they were to abstain. The Father caused a triple portion of produce to be harvested on the 6 th year to provide food for Israel during the 6 th year, the 7 th year (land Sabbath) and the first year of the subsequent 7 year sequence, since there was no sowing/reaping during the 7 th year land Sabbath. Also, there was neither sowing, nor reaping during the year of Jubilee. So the 48 th year of the Jubilee cycle had to provide produce for FOUR years (the 48 th, 49 th, 50 th and the first year of the subsequent Jubilee cycle). My point: Just because there is nothing said about eating manna on new moon days during the 40 year wilderness sojourn does not prove anything. This in no wise disproves the Creation Calendar. Actually, the Jubilee cycle proves just the opposite. The day(s) of new moon interrupt(s) the weeks, and the 50 th year interrupts the seven 7 year counts, it cannot double as the first year of the following Jubilee cycle because you can sow and reap on the first year of each land Sabbath, Leviticus 25:3. Israel apparently fasted on new moon, and in similar fashion, no one could sow and reap during the 50 th year of Jubilee, Leviticus 25:11. New moon days are a third category of day; the year of Jubilee is a third category of year. It is neither one of the six year of sowing/reaping, nor is it a 7 th year land Sabbath. In looking ahead, Bro. Meyer shows his interpretation of a couple of months in a row, the second and third months after the exodus, and by withholding evidence, assumes that his calendar model disproves the lunar Sabbath. Little does he know that the first three months after the exodus actually prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Sabbaths fall on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the month. But he'd rather twist the evidence to support his own conclusion, his own private interpretation rather than reveal the truth to his readers. Why this is so is between him and YHWH... Exodus 12, 16 and 19 reveal that the Sabbaths fell on the 15 th of the month for three consecutive months. Exodus 12 reveals that Israel was released from bondage on Abib 15, the 15th day of the first month. It is not called a Sabbath in Exodus 12, but later Scripture does reveal the nature of this day. Leviticus 23:4-8 shows us that Passover (Abib 14) is preparation day for Abib 15, the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread. Some say that Abib 21 is also a Sabbath, but this is not the case. The evidence is that the 15th of the first month is the weekly Sabbath; Scripture is not saying that the 21st is an annual Sabbath at all. Consider the following. The first day of the feast and the seventh day [of the week in context] are one and the same. The 21st is the 6th day of the week and of course the 7th day of a seven day feast, but. 17

18 the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is also spoken of in Exodus 13:6 and is called a Chag (H2282) which is used 62 times in Scripture and is only used to refer to the pilgrimage feast days (found in Exodus 23:14-17), in this case, Abib 15. It is not referring to the last day of the feast, rather the first. This Chag can only be the 15th of Abib. See also Deuteronomy 5:12-15 and Leviticus 23:6-8. The Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20 is linked to Creation week. The 4th commandment listed in Deuteronomy 5 is linked to the deliverance of Israel. That date was the 15th of Abib. I submit to you that this seventh day is Abib 15, and it is not only an annual Sabbath, but a weekly Sabbath as well. There are no back to back Sabbaths in Scripture. The 15 th is without question a Sabbath, meaning that the 22 nd of the first month is also a Sabbath. If the 21 st is an annual Sabbath, there would be two Sabbaths back to back, and there would be no preparation day for the second Sabbath of the two. Common sense, right? Exodus 16 is the first place where the word Sabbath is used in Scripture. In the first verse, YHWH is speaking to Moses and Aaron on the 15th day of the 2nd month and gives them what turns out to be a simple math equation. From day 15 add 6 days of manna = 21. Next day (22nd) is the Sabbath. x1 x1 x1 x1 x1 x2 Sabbath (30) Israel was to collect one portion of manna from the 16 th to the 20 th and a double portion on the 21 st because the morrow was the Sabbath. If the 22nd is a Sabbath, so is the 15 th (as well as the 8 th and the 29 th. The first day of the month is new moon day, not a Sabbath. Exodus 19:1 also proves that the children of Israel arrived at Sinai on the 16 th day of the third month. Please read the context. Moses indicates that the children of Israel rested at Rephidim the 15 th of the third month. The root word for Rephidim means rest and this passage says that they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai the same day of this month that they left the land of Egypt (two months earlier). If you ll remember, Israel got as far as Succoth the 15 th, and actually left Egypt the on the 16 th. See Numbers 33:3-6. So Israel arrived at Sinai on the 16 th and Moses was immediately summoned up the mount. YHWH told Moses to go back down the mountain and to tell the people to consecrate themselves for on the third day of the week (the 18 th ) He would come down on the mount in a cloud, Exodus 19: If the 18 th is the third day, then the 16 th is the first day, meaning that they were resting in Rephidim on the Sabbath, the 15 th, which is the weekly Sabbath. 18