1 Biblical Proof for Two New Moon Days and Three Sabbaths in a Row Sermon Notes LUKE 6:1 HCSB 1. On a Sabbath, He passed through the grain-fields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 3 Yeshua answered them, Haven t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry 4 how he entered the house of the Almighty, and took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him. 5 Then He told them, The Son of Man is Master of the Sabbath. We have before us today a text that was controversial in its occurrence, and it remains controversial today. Perhaps the greatest controversy (at least in my mind) is the debate on Yeshua's view of the Sabbath day, the 4th commandment. Did he believe in keeping the Sabbath day set apart? That is a question that many people ask after reading a text like this. Now, in my mind... that's a silly question. Of course Yeshua kept the Sabbath day. If Yeshua was to be the antitypical, unblemished, sacrificial lamb of Yahweh, then he must be without transgression. Sabbath violation would equal a transgression of the law. I find it amazing that anyone who claims to be a Christian would even suggest that Yeshua broke the Sabbath. But, I'm not going to center in upon that so much today. There is so much else to chew on in these 5 verses. I wondered while studying and preparing to preach these verses how I was going to get to everything. Then it occurred to me, "Matthew, just slow down and take it one word and sentence at a time, there's no need to rush." I don't know if that was Yahweh speaking to me or not, but I'm inclined to believe that is the best way to tackle this text. Let's look at verse 1. I don't think we will get far from just explaining verse 1 today. LUKE 6:1 HCSB (which I don't believe gives the best English translation...) On a Sabbath, He passed through the grain-fields. His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Now in the HCSB, the first part of the verse just says "on a Sabbath." There is however a footnote in my HCSB that refers me to the bottom of the page, and it reads like this: "6:1 - Other mss. read a second-first sabbath; perhaps a special sabbath." So that lets us know that there is a manuscript variance here, and usually when there is a manuscript variant,
2 there also exists a variant in how English translations read. So how do other English translations read at Luke 6:1? Let's look at 12, mostly English translations. KJV - "on the second sabbath after the first" YLT - "on the second-first sabbath" WEB - "on the second sabbath after the first" Darby - "on the second-first sabbath" ASV - "on a sabbath" NKJV - "on the second Sabbath after the first" NASB - "on a certain Sabbath" Jerusalem - "now one Sabbath" JP Green - "on the second chief Sabbath" Douay Rheims - "on the second first Sabbath" RSV - "on a Sabbath" Latin Vulgate - "sabbato secundoprimo" (that sounds like something you'd order at Taco Bell) Mr. Albert Barnes (a Presbyterian commentator from the 1800's) says that a literal translation of the Gree would be "on the sabbath called second-first." Now, why do several translations mention this "second first" thing in describing this Sabbath? Well, if you look up this particular word in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance you will find it is G#1207: δευτεροπρωτος deuteroprotos dyoo-ter-op'-ro-tos from 1208 and 4413; second-first, i.e. (specially) a designation of the Sabbath immediately after the Paschal week (being the second after Passover day, and the first of the seven Sabbaths intervening before Pentecost): second... after the first. First off, let's look at the word itself: deuteroprotos. It's taken from #1208 (deutero) and #4413 (protos). Deutero is the Greek word for "second" in time, place, or rank. Like in the word Deuteronomy. Deutero equals "second" and "-nomy" at the end is from nomos which means "law." Deuteronomy means "second law" and is named such in Greek because it is the second giving of the law. Deuteronomy reiterates the 10 commandments that are first found in Exodus 20. Protos is the Greek word for "foremost" or chief in time, place, or rank. When you add the words together as a compound Greek word you get: deuteroprotos. This compound Greek word is only found in the book of Luke, and exists nowhere else in the entire Greek NT.
3 Furthermore, this word is not found in all of the Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke, but it is found in many of the manuscripts thus you see that several English versions of the Gospel of Luke attempt to translate it into the English language. Adam Clarke (a British Methodist theologian from the late 1700's and early 1800's) comments on its absence by saying this: "The word δευτεροπρωτω, the second first, is omitted by BL, four others, Syriac, later Arabic, all the Persic, Coptic, Ethiopic, and three of the Itala. A note in the margin of the later Syriac says, This is not in all copies. The above MSS. read the verse thus: It came to pass, that he walked through the corn fields on a Sabbath day. I suppose they omitted the above word, because they found it difficult to fix the meaning, which has been too much the case in other instances." I ran across a detailed essay on this word written by a Pastor named Jeremy Myers (who considers himself a lay-theologian). He writes: "Though by the standard rules of textual criticism the... word should be considered original, most critics favor removing the term because it is considered too difficult." He says this because the term IS found in many ancient Greek NT manuscripts including Codex Alexandrinus, dating to the 4th century A.D. Mr. Jeremy Myers continues by saying this: "The phrase has confounded scholars from as early as the fourth century A.D. (300's) when Jerome, in a letter to Nepotianus, confesses that he consulted his master St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and was unable to determine what the word meant." Jerome, by the way, was the fellow responsible for the Latin Vulgate, which is Latin translation of the Hebrew OT and Greek NT, that dates its beginnings to the 4th century A.D. It is generally conceded in the science of textual criticism (determining what belongs and doesn't belong in manuscripts of the NT) that the more difficult reading is the correct reading. This is because scribes that come later are more likely to change a manuscript reading to something easier to understand or remove a difficult reading altogether due to what they believed to be a lack of importance. So I believe, as do several learned theologians, that the word was there originally, but what does the word mean? What is meant by the "deuteroprotos or second-first Sabbath?" The most common view that is the one given by James Strong. He believes it is speaking of the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. You'll find this view in many commentaries on Luke. The second day of unleavened bread took place and takes place on the 16th day of Aviv. The Sabbath that comes next after that is what many commentators believe Luke to be speaking of. I think this view is a stretch. It centers in on the 2nd day of Unleavened bread which is a work day not a Sabbath. It just doesn't make much sense to me at all really. Others think it refers to the second Sabbath in the count to Pentecost. In other words "the second Sabbath after the first Sabbath" or the "second sabbath after the first" (KJV). In counting to Pentecost, we are instructed to count 7 Sabbaths complete, therefore we have
4 a first sabbath and a second sabbath in the count. The problem here is that the way it is worded in the KJV "the second Sabbath after the first" is an interpretation of the literal Greek "deuteroprotos." The literal reading is "second-first Sabbath" not "the second Sabbath after the first." The literal reading would lead us in the direction of both the words deutero and protos describing this particular Sabbath. There are several other theories, I think I read about 12 of them in all, but I'm not going to take the time to look at all of them in this lesson. You can do the studying if you choose. What I want to do for the remainder of this lesson is show you why I believe that the Sabbath being spoken about here is actually the New Moon Sabbath rather than the weekly Sabbath. I believe that the term "second first sabbath" is a reference to a particular New Moon. On the surface you may think that this is crazy, but all I ask is that you hear me out, and be a Berean (Acts 17:10-11) Receive the word you hear, and then examine the Scriptures yourself to see if it be so. According to my understanding of the New Moon, it comes around once every lunar month, is the beginning of every lunar month, and it is either celebrated for one or two days. Lunar months contain either 29 or 30 days. When a lunar month contains 29 days, I believe the next day is the New Moon feast. When a lunar month contains 30 days, I believe day 30 and the following day 1 are celebrated as a 2-day New Moon festival. Not 2 New Moons, One new moon that spans a 2 day period. The second day of the New Moon festival is the 1st or chief day of the new month. I believe we find case-law for this practice in 1 Samuel 20 where Jonathan and David are talking to one another concerning King Saul's attitude towards David. So we're going to look in detail at First Samuel 20, because I believe it is pertinent to understanding Luke 6:1-5. Let's begin with verses 1-5, and I'm using the KJV because it's more wooden or literal. 1Sa 20:1 And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 1Sa 20:2 And he said unto him, Elohim forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so. 1Sa 20:3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as Yahweh liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 1Sa 20:4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. 1Sa 20:5 And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I
5 should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. Here, David speaks to Jonathan about the new moon that is approaching. By the way, he proclaims it with confidence which shows that he was not waiting until someone visibly saw a crescent and then declare it, but that's another sermon. Notice also that in verse 5 David ties the new moon in with sitting down and eating with the King. This wasn't just an ordinary luncheon. This was a special meal that was planned on a special day - the new moon. That's the context. Tomorrow is the new moon, I won't fail to sit with the king at meat. However, David requests in a way to Jonathan that he go and hide in the field unto the third day at even. Why? Why does David mention the number 3 here? What in the world would prompt David to not say the 2nd day at even which would be the night after the meal? The first night would be the night that approached (and I believe the meal was eaten that evening) and then the next day would be the 2nd day with another evening. Why did David want to hide in the field until the third day at even? I believe there is a reason. I believe David not only knew ahead of time when the new moon would be, but he also knew that this particular month there would be 2 days celebrated at the new moon, making a total of 3 days counting the Sabbath that came before it. Let's move on to verses 6-12. David is still talking to Jonathan in verse 6. 1Sa 20:6 If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. 1Sa 20:7 If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. 1Sa 20:8 Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of Yahweh with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father? 1Sa 20:9 And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? 1Sa 20:10 Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly? 1Sa 20:11 And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. 1Sa 20:12 And Jonathan said unto David, O Yahweh Elohim of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee. Now, before moving along to the next few verses, notice the correlation between verses 5 and 12. 1Sa 20:5 - that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 1Sa 20:12 when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day
6 What this shows is that the day they were standing in was day 1. The morrow was day 2, and then the day after that was day 3. David asked Jonathan back in verse 5 to let him hide in the field until the third day at even. Let's move on. Verse 12 again. 1Sa 20:12 And Jonathan said unto David, O Yahweh Elohim of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee. 1Sa 20:13 Yahweh do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and Yahweh be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 1Sa 20:14 And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of Yahweh, that I die not: 1Sa 20:15 But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when Yahweh hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. 1Sa 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let Yahweh even require it at the hand of David's enemies. 1Sa 20:17 And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. 1Sa 20:18 Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. 1Sa 20:19 And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. So, Jonathan and David are making a pact or a covenant. David is worried for his life because of King Saul, remember verse 1. David would normally have a special dinner with the King on the new moon as verse 5 implies and as verse 18 implies. Notice in verse 18 after Jonathan says "tomorrow is the new moon" he then tells David "you will be missed because your seat will be empty." Jonathan is not talking about a mundane work day here. Then in verse 19 Jonathan again mentions these 3 days. This is the third time in the chapter that these 3 days are mentioned: verses 5, 12, and 19 all allude to the 3 days. Let's pick it up at verse 20. Jonathan says... 1Sa 20:20 And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. 1Sa 20:21 And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as Yahweh liveth. 1Sa 20:22 But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for Yahweh hath sent thee away. Jonathan comes up with a code here to let David know whether Saul intends to kill David or be at peace with David. Verse 23...
7 1Sa 20:23 And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, Yahweh be between thee and me for ever. 1Sa 20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. 1Sa 20:25 And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place was empty. 1Sa 20:26 Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. Here we read that David did just what he asked of Jonathan: he went and hid himself in the field. The new moon then came and king Saul sat down to eat. Let me interject here that I believe this was an evening meal. When Jonathan and David were saying tomorrow is the new moon, we have in our western, English mindset the next daylight period, but tomorrow to the Hebrews started the upcoming evening. Now David's seat was empty, but we read that Saul didn't say anything that day because he was thinking to himself that something happened to David that made him unclean. Notice carefully, once again, that this isn't just an ordinary meal. Saul thinks that David stayed away from THIS particular meal because of an uncleanness. Now whether or not we understand why ceremonial uncleanness would come in Saul's mind as the reason David wasn't there doesn't matter. What it shows is that this meal was more special that just a regular one because of it being the new moon. Let's move on to verse 27: 1Sa 20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? Now, here's where I believe a misunderstanding of the text comes about with most commentators. Most commentators believe that verse 27 speaks of a regular work day. They say the new moon is over with and everyone is back to work, thus it is the 2nd day of the lunar monthly cycle. I do not hold to that interpretation, not JUST because of this chapter, but also because of 1 Samuel 21 and Luke 6:1 where we began. If you will notice in verse 27 the words "which was" and "day" are italicized meaning they've been added to the English translation for what the translator believes to be a clarifying, but the words do not exist in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew text simply reads here "ha chodesh ha sheniy" literally translated into English as "the new moon the second" or "the month the second." The word chodesh can refer to the new moon day itself, or it can be used in the context of any given day of the month, days 1 through 30. Context and grammar should always be consulted when determining what the best understanding for chodesh is in any given text of Hebrew Scripture. This phrase "ha chodesh ha sheniy" is only found here in 1 Samuel 20 verses 27 and 34, and 1 Kings 6:1 and 1 Chronicles 27:4. That's it, 4 times. The context in both 1 Kings 6:1
8 and 1 Chronicles 27:4 show that the second month is in view. Each text speaks of the second month (as a whole) of a Biblical year. Out of all the Hebrew texts in Scripture that speak of the second day of the lunar monthly cycle, NONE of them read "ha chodesh ha sheniy." This is a unique Hebrew reading. Thus in this case I believe that what is being spoken of here is not the 2nd day of the lunar cycle (a regular working day), but rather the 2nd day of the new moon feast. This explains why Saul blew his top and wondered why David didn't come to eat yesterday (1st day of the new moon feast) or today (2nd day of the new moon feast). As the NASB reads in verse 27: "And it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon..." The NASB often translates chodesh as "month," but in this case they chose to translate chodesh as new moon because they believe that the new moon feast is still occurring. Now stay with me here, I know some of this is technical, and you can always go back and re-listen to the sermon or I can get you my notes. I said before that in Hebrew there exists only one word - chodesh - that either means new moon or month. Context and grammar show which one is in view in each text. However, in Greek there exists 2 words. One word for month - MANE - and another word for the special new moon - NEUMENIA. For example - NEUMENIA is used in Colossians 2:16 where we read let not man therefore judge you in eating or in drinking or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath. We know Paul is not speaking of just a month here because of the context, but also because he uses the specific Greek word that means only new moon and not month or any day within the lunar month. Other texts in the NT, like Revelation 22:2 use the Greek word mane (1 syllable), and clearly refer to the monthly period of time. This is very significant because in the writings of Josephus he recounts in his Antiquities of the Yehudim or Judahites the story of Jonathan and David in 1 Samuel. Josephus's writings were initially in Aramaic but were then translated by himself into Greek (he knew both languages). In Antiquities book 6(236) Josephus writes that: "But when he saw that he was not there the second day of the NEUMENIA either, he inquired of his son Jonathan why the son of Jesse did not come to supper and the feast, neither the day before nor that day." Josephus could have used the Greek word MANE which means month if he understood 1 Samuel 20:27 to be speaking of the 2nd day of the lunar monthly cycle. However, we know that Josephus did not understand the text that way, thus he used the Greek word that can ONLY mean new moon, and he understood that there was a second day of the new moon festival being kept, which was the chief day of the new month.
9 If you look this text up in the popular translation of Josephus by William Whiston you will find that it is translated into English by Whiston as "second day of the month," but that is an English error by Whiston. The Greek text of Josephus uses NEUMENIA there, the same Greek word used by Paul in Colossians 2:16. Whiston should have translated the word into English as new moon. These points coupled with 1 Samuel 20 are why many learned scholars actually do believe that there were 2 days celebrated at the new moon in 30 day months. One scholar name Solomon Gandz in his paper titled "The Origin of the Two New Moon Days" (from 1949) writes this: "...it appears clearly that according to the author of this chapter King Saul prior to 1,000 B.C.E. was in the habit of observing two new moon days. When he sat down on the first day to his festive meal his missed David but said nothing about it for he thought that David was absent on account of ritual uncleanness. But when David's seat remained unoccupied on the second new moon day Saul became suspicious and asked Jonathan for the reason of David's absence... And then we read further (in verse 34) that Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the new moon festival... There can be no doubt that ha chodesh ha sheniy has the same meaning as verse 27 and that both phrases refer to the second day of the new moon festival, on which a festive meal was given at the King's table and in which David was supposed to take part." Solomon Gandz describes it like this in his paper: "...the 30th day is always observed as the new moon day, but the difference between the defective and the full month is as follows: If the past month was defective, the 30th day is the first day of the new month; if the past month was full, the 30th day is still observed as the new moon day, inasmuch as part of it belongs to the new month, but it is counted as the completion, i.e. as the last day, of the past full month, whereas the 31st day is counted as the first day of the new month." In understanding the text like this it helps us realize why 3 days have been mentioned in 3 separate verses before we reached verse 27. Remember... let me hide in the field until the 3rd day at even... or, when thou hast stayed 3 days... Understanding and believing in lunar Sabbaths as we do helps here. Day 1 was the Sabbath, days 2 and 3 were the new moon festival. Let's continue reading though, because there's a lot more I'd like to show you here. Back to verse 27 again, properly translated. 1Sa 20:27 And it came to pass on the morrow, the second of the new moon, that David's place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day?
10 1Sa 20:28 And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: 1Sa 20:29 And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king's table. Here Jonathan is covering for David, by giving Saul the excuse David told Jonathan to use back in verse 6... and I believe Saul knew or realized that Jonathan was covering for David. 1Sa 20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? 1Sa 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. 1Sa 20:32 And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? 1Sa 20:33 And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. 1Sa 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second of the new moon: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame. Verse 34 contains the exact same phrase as verse 27: ha chodesh ha sheniy - the new moon the second. I believe that it does not speak of one of the 6 working days, but rather the second day of the new moon festival. Remember, not only does the context suggest this, but verses 27 and 34 of 1 Samuel 20 are peculiar to the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. What I mean is there is not any other Hebrew Scripture that speaks of a numbered day of the lunar month that reads as verses 27 and 34 in Hebrew - ha chodesh ha sheniy. I believe this is because the phrase is referring to the 2nd day of the new moon festival and not the 2nd numbered day of the lunar cycle. So... Jonathan gets up in anger and was in grief for David. What then happened? Look at verse 35. 1Sa 20:35 And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. Let me point out here in verse 35 that the 3rd day is upon us now in the text, it started the previous evening. David said he would hide in the field until the third day at evening (vs. 5), but never did Jonathan and David decide that Jonathan would show up at evening. Jonathan came, still on the 3rd day, but in the morning. There is a possibility that "third
11 day at even" means "between the evenings" like it sometimes does in texts about the Passover. That possibility exists. The key here is to recognize that they are still inside of the 2nd day of the new moon festival, which is the 3rd day from their talking in the early verses of 1 Samuel 20. The first meal was eaten the night after they talked, on the new moon, and the second meal was eaten the next night, on ha chodesh ha sheniy - the second of the new moon. Let's continue to verse 36. 1Sa 20:36 And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. 1Sa 20:37 And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 1Sa 20:38 And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 1Sa 20:39 But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 1Sa 20:40 And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. 1Sa 20:41 And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 1Sa 20:42 And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of Yahweh, saying, Yahweh be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. So Jonathan keeps his promise with the arrows and sends David away secretly and in peace, but Saul is still on a hunt for David's life. Because the chapter ends here we will be tempted to shut the Bible up and think, well that was a pretty intense account, but remember that chapter and verse subdivisions were not part of the original Hebrew Scriptures. 1 Samuel 21 begins after this, but the thought and story continue on, and it's still the new moon. Get this: When 1 Samuel 21 begins it is still taking place in the new moon. It's the second day of the new moon festival, but the first, or may I say the chief day of the new lunar cycle. Notice how this new moon is the second of one count and the first of another count. It is a second-first sabbath if you will. Let's read... 1Sa 21:1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? 1Sa 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. (David is lying here, but he is running for his life.) 1Sa 21:3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give me five loaves of bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 1Sa 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under
12 mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. (Hallowed bread = shewbread or bread of the presence) 1Sa 21:5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out (this is key; what does he mean by "these three days"??? remember 1Sam20:5,12,19 all mention 3 days), and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. (there is differences in how English translations translate verse 5 at the end, but the KJV most likely has the right idea when we read vs. 26) 1Sa 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Verse 6 is telling us that the bread given to David by the priest was the shewbread that had been removed from the table and replaced with new hot shewbread. Look at Leviticus 24:5-8. Le 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. Le 24:6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before Yahweh. Le 24:7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto Yahweh. Le 24:8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. Now, some people have made an attempt to disprove lunar Sabbaths by using this point and 1 Samuel 20 through 21. They reason that the second day meal of Saul and Jonathan took place on the 2nd day of the lunar monthly cycle. They then proceed to 1 Samuel 21 and show that David ate the shewbread on the Sabbath day according to 1 Samuel 21:6. Thus, in their minds, the second day of the month is the weekly Sabbath, and lunar Sabbaths are disproved. However, what is so difficult to see about this theory I'm proposing? The last Sabbath of the lunar month was taking place when Jonathan and David were talking in 1 Samuel 20:5. Towards the end of this Sabbath, the week old shewbread [which was unleavened according to Josephus, Antiquities 3(255)] was removed and replaced with hot shewbread. There were 12 cakes in all, and David showed up at the tabernacle only about a day and a half after the bread was removed. It's not a stretch to believe that the bread that had been removed had not been completely eaten by the priest or priests at the tabernacle. So, I've just shown a timeline that places David at the tabernacle, talking to Ahimelech on the new moon, or might I say the second-first or second-chief sabbath. Second because it's day 2 of the new moon feast. First or Chief because it's day 1 of the next lunar cycle.
13 Realize here that while the new moon is not THE sabbath, there is nothing wrong with calling the new moon A sabbath because it is separate and distinct from the 6 work days according to Ezekiel 46:1. So, I've shown why I believe David ate the shewbread on the second day of the new moon festival, which was the chief day or first day of the new lunar cycle. I believe this is why Yeshua brings up David in Luke 6:1-5. Let's close this lengthy, technical lesson (and we'll get more into the meaning of the text in our new moon meeting), but let's read the text in Luke again, translating deuteroprotos sabbaton as second-first or second-chief Sabbath (which is how JP Greens interlinear translates it). Lu 6:1 And it came to pass on the second chief sabbath [the second of the new moon], that he went through the grain fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of grain, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. Lu 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath DAYS? (the plural is important - there were 3 in a row) Lu 6:3 And Yeshua answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did (on the second chief sabbath OR second new moon), when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him; Lu 6:4 How he went into the house of Elohim, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? Lu 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. There is more to say about the meaning of these verses, but my intent in this lesson was to cover in detail which particular sabbath it was that Yeshua went through the grainfields. I honestly believe it was on the second chief new moon. It's called second because it's the second new moon day, and it's called chief because it begins a new month. Now I know I said we would close with that, but I have to show you one more text that I honestly believe points to 3 sabbaths in a row. Look at Acts 17:1-2. I know we've been conditioned to read this text through the lens of Saturday sabbatarianism, but look at it in light of the sermon tonight. Ac 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Judahites: Ac 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Is this text speaking of 1 Sabbath, then leaving for 6 work days, a 2nd Sabbath, then leaving for another 6 work days, and then a 3rd Sabbath? Or... does the text make more sense when we read of 3 consecutive sabbath days? Well... you be the judge for yourself, but I believe Paul went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Judahites on a sabbath and 2 day new moon or what we can call 3 sabbath days.
14 This also helps us understand texts like Amos 8:5 much better. When we read the greedy, sinful traders of the land asking: Am 8:5 When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? Am 8:6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The reason they could not sell on the new moon is because it was treated as a sabbath to some extent by the Israelites. It is true that a 2 day period (sabbath followed by new moon) would bring about such disgust from these traders, but how much more would a 3 day period would cause these traders to say these words in disgust. 3 sabbaths with no commerce would make them jittery. Imagine your town shutting down commerce for 3 days straight. There is so much more to get into concerning Luke 6:1-5 (and we will get into it), but I wanted to take some time to delve into this technicality, seeing that I'm teaching through Luke expositorily - verse by verse, and as we've seen tonight, sometimes word by word.