Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.

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1 A Lunar Shabbat? There are some people, who believe that Shabbat must be determined by the cycle of the moon. They teach that not only does the new moon determine the beginning of a month, but that it also establishes an origin point, from which a seven day count begins to determine Shabbat. Each Shabbat corresponds to the different phases of the lunar cycle and falls on a specific day of each month in a repetitive cycle. Are we instructed to use the moon to reckon the Shabbat? Does the moon establish a point every month, from which the Shabbat is to be determined? At the time YHVH began restoring the earth, everything was in chaos and confusion. The first thing that YHVH did was to restore order. He brought light into the darkness to cause a separation, a restoration of order. For the first three days there were no luminous bodies above to provide any regulation of time, yet time did exist and there was a time cycle, because YHVH called the passage of evening and morning a day. The counting of the days began from the time that YHVH began to restore order. He did not place the sun and the moon until the fourth day. When the sun and moon had been placed, then YHVH revealed their purpose. Genesis 1: And Elohim said, Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. And it came to be so. 16 And Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good. The purpose of the sun was to be dominant over the day, the moon and stars were to be dominant over the night. It is the sun then that is to mark the days. The full twenty-four hour cycle is a complete day consisting of light (daylight) and darkness (night). YHVH established a seven-day cycle that makes up a week. Seven days are counted and at the end of the seventh day, the weekly cycle is complete and begins again. Genesis 2:1-3 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. 2 And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And

2 Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made. Elohim created and put into place all that He purposed. He placed everything in creation as it pleased Him and according to His plan and then He rested. He set the seventh day apart and made it special. He put His blessing, His seal of approval on that day. It represented the completion of the physical creation phase of Elohim and He ceased from His work it was the completion of the cycle of seven days. So here we see a straight count out, of seven days, from the point where Elohim began to create and set things in place. What set the origin, or beginning point of the seven day count? The day that Elohim began to create! There was no moon at this point; the sun and moon were not placed until the fourth day. Everything was set into place during the six days of work and the seventh day completed the cycle. It is a straight count of seven days to reach Shabbat. It is a cycle of days to reach Shabbat, NOT new moons! Where in scripture are we told to establish Shabbat from the moon? When Yisrael came out of Mitsrayim (Egypt), they did not know how to keep Shabbat. They needed to be taught everything, so that they would be acceptable to Elohim. He used physical things to teach them; there were actions they had to put into practice, that taught them and kept them in remembrance of YHVH s Word. YHVH taught them about Shabbat before they ever arrived at Sinai. Shabbat had been in place during the time of creation and YHVH wanted them to start keeping Shabbat even before He gave them Torah why? Because it is a SIGN between YHVH and His people, His called and set-apart ones! YHVH instructed them how to keep Shabbat by using the manna that He sent to feed them. He gave them specific instructions for gathering the manna and to gather extra on the sixth day to prepare for Shabbat. If they tried to keep any of the manna overnight on the six working days, it bred worms and gave off an odor. YHVH was teaching them to be dependent upon Him every day for their sustenance and life. The physical act of gathering for six days and then resting on the seventh taught them the seven-day cycle. Exodus 16: And it came to be, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Mosheh. 23 And he said to them, This is what יהוה has said, Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set-apart to.יהוה That which you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning. 24 And they laid it up till morning, as Mosheh commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm was in it. 25 And Mosheh said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to,יהוה today you do not find it in

3 the field. 26 Gather it six days, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there is none. This is Yisrael s introduction to observing Shabbat, if there were any special methods of determining when to observe Shabbat, other than the seven-day count, they would have been given to them right here! Exodus 16: And it came to be that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And יהוה said to Mosheh, How long shall you refuse to guard My commands and My Torot? 29 See, because יהוה has given you the Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for two days on the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place, do not let anyone go out of his place on the seventh day. They cycle of seven is a thread that is consistent throughout scripture. It is YHVH s number of completion and perfection. It can be found in the cycle of Shabbat, the Appointed Times and in other specific instructions that YHVH gave to Yisrael. Following a lunar Shabbat presents a problem with the number of days in the lunar cycle. A lunar cycle is approximately 29.5 days what do you do with the extra days in a month? Following the cycle of a lunar Shabbat, there are 4 weeks of 28 days what happens to the days left over? It does not matter what sort of method you come up with to deal with those days, whether you declare them New Moon Days, or something else, it still interrupts the straight seven-day count given as the example from the beginning and as taught to Yisrael following their departure from Egypt. Leviticus 23: And from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. 16 Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath you.יהוה count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to In the instructions for determining when to observe Shavuot, we are told to count fifty days. That is a straight, uninterrupted count of fifty days. Since this count must occur over a period of two different months, how do you account for the extra days caused by following the lunar Shabbat? If those days are no included in the count, then you arrive at an incorrect day to observe Shavuot. Leviticus 25:1-4 1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak to the children of Yisra ĕl, and say to them, When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to.יהוה 3 Six years you sow your field,

4 and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit, 4 but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to.יהוה Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard. Yisrael was also instructed to keep a land Shabbat. It follows the same example of the weekly Shabbat, only it is determined by years instead of days. For six years they could work the land, but on the seventh year, it had to be rested a Shabbat for the land determined by an uninterrupted straight count of seven years. If any years were not accounted for the Shabbat would not occur at the correct time. In fact, Yisrael was punished for not observing the land Shabbat. Leviticus 25: And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years. And the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9 You shall then sound a ram s horn to pass through on the tenth day of the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement cause a ram s horn to pass through all your land. 10 And you shall set the fiftieth year apart, and proclaim release throughout all the land to all its inhabitants, it is a Jubilee for you. And each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you return to his clan. 11 The fiftieth year is a Jubilee to you. Do not sow, nor reap what grows of its own, nor gather from its unpruned vine. The Jubilee is another example that parallels the count of Shavuot. The Jubilee was determined by counting cycles of years, each cycle amounting to seven years again, a straight uninterrupted count of sevens of years to reach the Jubilee. If there were any years unaccounted for, or not reckoned in the count the Jubilee would not occur at the correct time. By following this line of reckoning the Shabbat by the moon, Shabbat ends up on a different day each month. That within itself is a testament to the cycle being interrupted. It does not matter what the name of the day is, but what DOES matter is that it occurs on a regular cycle of seven. Everything that YHVH does and has established, follows an ordered progression and cycle. YHVH is NOT the author of confusion! Shabbat is very significant and ALWAYS points us back to YHVH. It is a sign and marks us as belonging to Him. Exodus 31: And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, 13 And you, speak to the children of Yisra ĕl, saying, My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I,,יהוה am setting you apart. 14 And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days work is done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to

5 Everyone doing work on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to.יהוה death. 16 And the children of Yisra ĕl shall guard the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. 17 Between Me and the children of Yisra ĕl it is a sign forever. For in six days made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and יהוה was refreshed. It is no surprise that the Shabbat has been attacked over and over again. Yisrael was severely punished for not observing the Shabbat and it was one of the reasons that they went into captivity. If we reject YHVH, He WILL reject us. There have been many attempts throughout history to erase and remove the Shabbat. Ironically, the Christian church has worked very hard to stamp out Shabbat, even to the point of changing the day that is to be observed from the seventh to the first day of the weekly cycle. Their efforts only serve to prove the validity of the seventh day as THE TRUE Shabbat that YHVH put into place from the beginning! Although historical records exist that verify visual sighting of the moon was in use as the method for determining the beginning of each month, there are no records to verify the same method was used to determine the first day of the week. In many cultures and countries that do not even acknowledge or observe the Shabbat, the seventh day is still known as Shabbat. Despite all the efforts to remove and erase the seventh day from sight, it has persisted and has been preserved for all who choose to obey and follow YHVH. Exodus 20: Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. 9 Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart. Shabbat is a commemoration of what YHVH did and all that He put into place. YHVH completed everything that He had planned in six days and rested on the seventh. Shabbat HAS to be a cycle of seven uninterrupted days, NO days can be added or subtracted from the seven-day cycle and count. There is a harmony to creation, YHVH put everything into place precisely and for a reason. Man was then given dominion over what YHVH had created. The Shabbat, the Appointed Times, the land Shabbat, the Jubilee, all played a part in the harmonious cycle that YHVH put into place at the start. That harmony has been upset and creation suffers because of it. Man also has a place and a part in the harmony of what YHVH put here. It is man that has upset the harmonious cycle of the creation. We are blessed when we

6 keep Shabbat at the correct time. We are blessed when we keep all of the appointments that YHVH has put into place and the creation is blessed also. There have always been blessings attached to being obedient to YHVH and His Word. The Shabbat is a sign forever, eternally we MUST take care to observe it at the proper time and in the way that we have been instructed by YHVH. It is ONLY the day that He blessed, He sanctified and that He put into place that He will recognize as the true Shabbat that was put into place from the beginning. Psalms 136:7-9 7 To Him who made great lights, For His kindness is everlasting; 8 The sun to rule by day, For His kindness is everlasting; 9 The moon and stars to rule by night, For His kindness is everlasting. There is only one TRUE Shabbat and only one TRUE day in which we can observe and receive the blessings of Shabbat. YHVH will NOT accept anything else other then what He has put into place and our obedience to Him.