Written by Ángel Manuel Rodríguez
I’ve been told that the biblical Sabbath was a lunar Sabbath fixed by the moon, rather than a specific day of the week independent of the moon or the sun. What do you think?
Any biblical evidence to support this proposal is lacking. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable honoring the issue by addressing it here. But apparently I should say something about it. If the time for the Sabbath was determined by the moon, then the Sabbath will have to be observed at different days during the month and not on the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath could be any day of the week, based on the time of the new moon. Let me say a few things about this matter.
1. The Israelite Calendar: The Israelite calendar was lunisolar, that is to say time was measured on the basis of the new moon (the rotation of the moon around the earth) and also the sun (the rotation of the earth around the sun). A lunar calendar of 12 months is about 11 days shorter than the solar calendar, which is approximately 365 days. In the ancient world this was solved by adding an extra month seven times in 19 years. In the Bible the moon calendar was used to fix the time for the festivals—for instance, 14 days after the new moon came Passover (Num. 28:16). Apparently some people are arguing that the Sabbath itself was to be observed seven days after the first day of the month.
2. The Sabbath and the Moon: At the beginning of the twentieth century the connection between the Sabbath and the moon was proposed and defended by a number of critical scholars. They rejected the biblical origin of the Sabbath and suggested that its origin was related to several “evil days” in the Babylonian calendar, including the day of the full moon, during which people rested. Those days occurred in a sequence of about seven days. Further study indicated that the so-called “evil days” were not a sequence of seven days; they were the first, seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days of the month. That theory has since been abandoned.
3. Genesis 1 and the Sabbath:The origin of the biblical Sabbath is definitely connected with the creation week. It was instituted by God three days after the creation of the moon (Gen. 1:14; 2:2), not the seventh day after the first day of the month. It was to function independent of the month on a specific sequence of days unconnected from the moon and the sun, but uniquely grounded in God’s power to rule over time. The seventhness of the Sabbath is related to the passing of time, from the beginning of God’s creating activity on Planet Earth to its close. This is indeed a unique divine act, a fragmentation of time in a sequence of seven days exclusively fixed and governed by God Himself.
4. Sabbath and Festivals: A lunar Sabbath would imply that the Sabbath is part of the Israelite festivals, but that is not the case. The seventh-day Sabbath was instituted long before the festivals were given to the Israelites. The Hebrew term translated “feasts, festivals,” is môcadîm, and it means “fixed/appointed time, meetings.” It refers to different activities that were not necessarily dated by the lunar calendar (e.g., Jer. 8:17; Hosea 2:9). Even if one were to argue that the term applies to the Sabbath, it does not follow that the time for the Sabbath was fixed by the moon (cf. Lev. 23:2). Besides, the Bible makes clear that the Sabbath is to be differentiated from the festivals (Lev. 23:37, 38).
Finally, the Sabbath rest was different from the rest required during the ceremonial Sabbaths. Leviticus 23:3 states that during the Sabbath the Israelites were “not to do any work.” But during the time of the sacred assembly the people were commanded to “do no regular work” (23:8, 21, 25, 35, 36, NIV). This indicates that there was a type of work they were allowed to do during the festivals that was forbidden during the Sabbath.
Although the intentions of those promoting the lunar Sabbath may be good, they have to be aware of the fact that they are unintentionally introducing and promoting a sabbath rest that is different from the biblical seventh-day Sabbath rest.
"Mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, Biblia ilisema kwamba Sabato ilikuwa ""Sabato ya mwezi iliyowekwa na mwezi, badala ya siku maalum ya wiki isiyo na uhusiano wowote na mwezi au jua.""" Unafikiri ni nini? Hakuna uthibitisho wowote wa Kibiblia unaounga mkono nadharia hiyo. Kwa hiyo, nahisi ni vibaya kuheshimu suala hilo kwa kulizungumzia hapa. Lakini inaonekana kwamba ninapaswa kusema jambo fulani kuhusu jambo hilo. Ikiwa wakati wa Sabato ulipangwa na mwezi, basi Sabato inapaswa kuchukuliwa siku tofauti katika mwezi na sio siku ya saba ya wiki. Sabato inaweza kuwa siku yoyote ya juma, kulingana na wakati wa mwezi mpya. Acha niseme mambo machache kuhusu jambo hili. 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Kalenda ya Israeli ilikuwa ya mwezi na jua, yaani, wakati ulipimwa kwa msingi wa mwezi mpya (mzunguko wa mwezi kuzunguka dunia) na pia jua (mzunguko wa dunia kuzunguka jua). Kalenda ya mwezi ya miezi 12 ni fupi kwa siku 11 kuliko kalenda ya jua, ambayo ni karibu siku 365. Katika nyakati za kale, watu walifanya hivyo kwa kuongeza mwezi mmoja mara saba katika miaka 19. Katika Biblia kalenda ya mwezi ilitumiwa kuamua wakati wa sherehe - kwa mfano, siku 14 baada ya mwezi mpya Pasaka ilikuja (Hesabu 14:2). 28:16) Je, unajua jambo hilo? "Kwa mfano, kuna watu wanaodai kwamba Sabato ilitakiwa ""kuadhimishwa siku saba baada ya siku ya kwanza ya mwezi.""" 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Sabato na Mwezi: Mwanzoni mwa karne ya ishirini uhusiano kati ya Sabato na mwezi ulipendekezwa na kutetewa na wasomi kadhaa wakosoaji. Walikataa asili ya Kibiblia ya Sabato na wakadokeza kwamba asili yake ilihusiana na "siku kadhaa mbaya" katika kalenda ya Kibabiloni, kutia ndani siku ya mwezi kamili, ambapo watu walipumzika. Siku hizo zilitukia kwa mfululizo wa siku saba hivi. "Utafiti zaidi ulionyesha kwamba zile ""siku mbaya"" hazikuwa mfululizo wa siku saba; zilikuwa siku ya kwanza, ya saba, ya kumi na nne, ya kumi na tisa, ya ishirini na moja, na ya ishirini na nane ya mwezi." Tangu wakati huo nadharia hiyo imeachwa. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Mwanzo 1 na Sabato: Asili ya Sabato ya Kibiblia ni dhahiri kushikamana na wiki ya uumbaji. Mungu alianzisha siku tatu baada ya kuumbwa kwa mwezi (Mwanzo 1:14; 2: 2), sio siku ya saba baada ya siku ya kwanza ya mwezi. Ilikuwa na kazi ya kujitegemea ya mwezi juu ya mfululizo maalum wa siku unconnected kutoka mwezi na jua, lakini kipekee msingi katika nguvu ya Mungu kutawala juu ya muda. Sabato ya saba inahusiana na kupita kwa wakati, kuanzia mwanzo wa kazi ya Mungu ya kuumba kwenye sayari ya Dunia hadi mwisho wake. Hii ni kitendo cha kipekee cha kimungu, sehemu ya muda katika mfululizo wa siku saba zilizowekwa na kutawaliwa na Mungu Mwenyewe. 4. Uwe na uhakika Sabato na Sherehe: Sabato ya mwezi ingemaanisha kwamba Sabato ni sehemu ya sherehe za Waisraeli, lakini sivyo ilivyo. Sabato ya siku ya saba ilianzishwa muda mrefu kabla ya Waisraeli kupewa sherehe. Neno la Kiebrania linalotafsiriwa "karamu, sherehe" ni môcadîm, na linamaanisha "wakati uliowekwa, mikutano". Linarejelea shughuli tofauti-tofauti ambazo hazikuwa lazima ziwe na tarehe kulingana na kalenda ya mwezi (kwa mfano, Yer. 8:17; Hosea 2:9). Hata kama mtu angedai kwamba neno hilo linatumika kwa Sabato, hilo halimaanishi kwamba wakati wa Sabato uliwekwa na mwezi (taz. Walawi. 23:2) Ni nini kilichotokea? Kwa kuongezea, Biblia inaonyesha wazi kwamba Sabato inapaswa kutofautishwa na sikukuu (Mwa. 23:37, 38) Kwa nini? Mwishowe, pumziko la Sabato lilikuwa tofauti na pumziko lililohitajika wakati wa Sabato za sherehe. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika Mambo ya Walawi 23:3: ""Wakati wa Sabato Waisraeli hawakupaswa kufanya kazi yoyote."" - Mithali 23:28, 21; 25:35, 36; Zaburi 37:9, 10." Hii inaonyesha kwamba kulikuwa na aina ya kazi ambayo waliruhusiwa kufanya wakati wa sherehe ambazo zilikuwa zimepigwa marufuku wakati wa Sabato. Ingawa nia ya wale wanaotetea Sabato ya mwezi inaweza kuwa nzuri, wanapaswa kuwa na ufahamu wa ukweli kwamba wao ni bila kukusudia kuanzisha na kukuza mapumziko ya Sabato ambayo ni tofauti na biblia ya siku ya saba ya mapumziko.