CURRENT MOON lunar phases

Since, we know to keep the Holy Days, and the Bible says to keep them on the certain days of the month, according to the original calendar, then the next question is: When is the first day of the month? And How do we know when the Holy days are? Do we just take for granted what it says on the internet? Do we just take for granted what some organization publishes? The Bible says to prove all things. Most people, including myself, have been keeping the Holy Days according to what is published by the church organizations having proved in the Bible that we are to keep the Holy Days but without question to WHEN they are. The organizations go by what the Roman Calendar says is the New Moon. However, the Calendar and modern scientist definition of New Moon is "No Moon" or "dark moon"! However, In Biblical times they did not have our modern "improved" way of telling time. In those days they would send appointed servants into the fields to observe Gods created Calendar, the Moon. It would require 2 or 3 Witnesses observing (actually seeing) the New Moon, that is a "New Moon", not "No Moon", then it would be proclaimed to the people that the new month has begun. This is how Jesus and all the Apostles and Prophets knew when to keep the Feast and Holy Days! Not by a dark moon conjunction! According to the Bible, we should assemble on the New Moons. These are not Sabbaths, days of rest nor High Holy Days. The purpose is to worship God more often, fellowship with the brethren more often and be able to know what month it is and what time of month it is so that we can know when to keep the Feast and Holy Days.

Num 10:10 Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

1Ch 23:31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD:

Ezr 3:5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.

Neh 10:33 For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.

Eze 46:1 Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.

Eze 46:3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.

Psa 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

Isa. 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians is often used to try to disprove the Sabbath and Holy Days. But it is talking to the church that is keeping these days! It is saying for the church to not let others judge us for keeping these days. The apostles and disciplines continued to keep the Holy Days and Sabbaths after Jesus ascended into Heaven!
Act 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Act 12:3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Act 20:16 For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia: for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

1Co 16:8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.

Prophecy of everyone keeping the Feast of Tabernacles AFTER the return of Jesus to set up his Kingdom on this earth:
Zec 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
:7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
:10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
:15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
:20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Church of God arguments against the New Moons and the answers :

Argument: Herbert Armstrong had thoroughly looked into this subject as far back as 1940.
Answer: Mr. Armstrong was a great man who God used in many ways. But we should not limit ourselves to his research and understandings. The Bible gives indications of renewed understandings in this end time era.

Argument: Common sense shows that a visible crescent is simply NOT POSSIBLE as a measure of the commencement of the new month. A visible crescent, by definition, has to be VISIBLE -- it has got to be SEEN.
Answer: Whether the crescent is seen or not due to clouds, rain, horizon, location, etc., the crescent moon is still there. It still exist and still starts the new month and can be calculated as well as reported.

Argument: Historians will explain how witnesses had to appear before the Sanhedrin in ancient times to confirm that they had seen the new crescent -- at which point the Jewish leaders would allegedly make the new month "official". Well, that might be very convenient for those Jews living in Palestine -- but makes life rather tricky for those Jews living in Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Spain and so on! Without the benefit of telephones, faxes and e-mail -- how are they supposed to know when a new month has begun? Bonfires, and fast horseback riders, have been suggested, but come on -- if you are over 2,000 miles away from Jerusalem, you probably wouldn't find out for a week or longer! It is totally impractical! It couldn't work.
Answer: Yes the Lord provided a way in ancient times for the crescent moon or new moon or new month to be reported by the witnesses and Sanhedrin. Today, the Lord does provide the telephones, computers, more witnesses, etc. Regardless of your location and what is available to you, there is a way to calculate to new moon as each month has about the same number of days. It's not like one month has 15 days, another 3, another 60. Of course a person may become a day off but then again we still can try and the Lord will understand.

Argument: What about the early Church of God in the USA back in the 1600's? How could they determine when the visible crescent had appeared over Jerusalem?
Answer: They could still determine the visible crescent over their location. It does not have to be over Jerusalem, at least until Jesus comes back.

Argument: The new crescent is not normally visible until the Sun is below the horizon and so it is desirable to take into account the altitude of the Moon during twilight. The chances of seeing the new crescent depend slightly on the distance of the Moon from the earth, being greatest when the Moon is closest (i.e. at perigee). The local conditions, especially the height of the observer above sea level and the character of the surrounding surface, are important, and even when the sky is free from cloud there can be considerable variations in clarity of the atmosphere from day to day.
Answer: Whether you see the moon or not, it's still there. If a person was to keep the new moon every month and every year, they would eventually be able to know when to expect it.

Argument: There is no biblical direction to keep the new moons.
Answer: See all the above listed bible verses.

Argument: They are not Holy Days or Sabbaths.
Answer: That still does not remove them from the list of days to be kept.

Argument: Not listed in Lev. 23
Answer: Still listed in the Bible.

Argument: Only one scripture in the New Testament.
Answer: There is still that one scripture in the New Testament that relates Sabbaths, new moons and Holy days together, in fact the new moons are mentioned in the middle between the two, you cannot separate them and say that you must keep sabbaths but not new moons, it's the new moons that direct you WHEN to keep the sabbaths/holy days. Also there is prophecy of it being kept after the return of Jesus Christ (Isa. 66:23).

Argument: The Bible does not say what is a new moon.
Answer: Nature teaches us that when the moon begins, it is new.

Argument: Although there is prophecy of the new moons being kept after Jesus return, there is no indication they are to be kept today since we do not have the sacrifices and Levitical priesthood.
Answer: ALL days HE said to KEEP are still in force. He never did away with them. If we Did Keep them in the past and Will Keep them in the future, then we should keep them in between. It's interesting that we don't use this same argument with any other commanded assembly.

Suggested Reading

Disclaimer and Warning:
I put these suggested links here because they are right about the Calendar New Moons. Any other page may be wrong and I do not endorse the entire sites. I have chosen to give them here for the New Moons subject only.
New Moon/Year March 20, 2007

Abib- Barley Harvest Information

http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/new_moons.pdf

http://www.karaite-korner.org/new_moon.shtml

Admissions on the Calculated Rabbinical Calendar including quotations from HWA and others! A Must Read!

Now a very few people will say that the spring and fall equinox also play a role in determining when to keep the feast days. This is NOT true. Here are some websites to help you prove that the equinoxes are not determining factors in the Feast days.
article at Israel of God website
Article by Brian Convery at http://steve.bruns.com/brianconvery.html and http://steve.bruns.com
Abid F&Q article at Karaite-Korner.org

Now, In addition to this renewed understanding and revealed revelation about the New Moons, God has also now revealed to us that the days do NOT start at evening! Please see our new article on When does the day begin.

Holy Day Dates

Each Holy Day starts at daybreak morning. All subject to change according to actual New Moon events. Check back for updates.

2008

New Moon Jan.9
New Moon Feb.8
Purim Feb. 21-23 (not a commanded Holy Day but a good day to observe)
True Purim Feb. 23 Possible date to watch
Click to see Fulfillment
New Moon March 8
Possible date to watch for prophecy March 14
Click to see Fulfillment
Another Purim March 21-23 (not commanded) (Possible date to watch for *prophecy)
Click to see fulfillment of March 21
New Moon April 7
April 8th (Tue.) Start of the 1st month and New year.
April 20th (Sun.) Passover of the Lord (Partaking is observed at even)
April 21st (Mon.) First day of Unleavened Bread
April 21st (Mon.) Night to be Much Observed, that evening during the 1st of Unleavened.
April 27th (Sun.) Start of counting 50 days to Pentecost
April 27th (Sun.) Last day of Unleavened Bread
Jun 15th (Sun.) Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks or Firstfruits)
***Watch the time between July and Tabernacles for possible major events!******
July 4 (Fri.) New Moon
Aug. 2 (Sat.) New Moon
Sept. 1 (Mon.) New Moon
Sept. 30 or Oct 1st (Tues or Wed.) PENDING SIGHTING: New Moon and Feast of Trumpets / Day of Shouting
Oct 9 or 10th (Thurs. or Fri.) Feast of Atonement (Start fasting on the 9th at even and fast until daybreak on the 11th)
Oct 14 or 15th (Tues. or Wed.) First day of Feast of Tabernacles (or Ingathering or Sukkot)
Oct. 21 or 22nd (Tues. or Wed.) Feast of the Great Last Day (Most likely until daybreak on the 23rd)
Oct. 30 or 31 New Moon :Pending Sighting
Nov. 29 New Moon
Dec. 28 or 29 New Moon Pending Sighting
Jan. 27, 2009 Tuesday, New Moon

2007 according to crescent new moon understandings but BEFORE we understood that the days begin at daybreak and NOT at even.

Passover April 3
1st Day Unleavened Bread April 4
7th Day Unleavened Bread April 10
Pentecost May 27
Feast of Trumpets Sept. 14
Day of Atonement Sept 23
Feast of Tabernacles Sept. 28-Oct4 (first night services evening of sept 27)
Last Great Day Oct. 5
New Moon Nov.11
New Moon Dec. 11

2009 New Moons Possible dates:
Jan. 27, Feb. 26, March 27 and New Year, April 26, May 25, June 24, July 23, Aug. 22, Sept. 20, Oct. 20, Nov. 18, Dec. 18

2010 Possible New Moons:
Jan. 16, Feb. 15, march 17, April 15, May 15, June 13, July 13, Aug. 11, Sept. 10, Oct. 9, Nov. 7, Dec. 7

2011 Possible New Moons:
Jan. 5, Feb. 4, March 6, April 4, May 4, June 3, July 2, Aug. 1, Sept. 29, Oct. 28, Nov. 26, Dec. 26

2012 Possible New Moons:
Jan. 24, Feb. 23, March 23, April 22, May 22, June 21, July 21, Aug. 19, Sept. 17, Oct. 17, Nov. 15, Dec. 14

2013 Possible New Moons:
Jan. 12, Feb. 11, March 13, April 11, May 11, June 10...........

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