What's All This about the

Sabbath-New Moon

Controversy?

John Keyser, formerly with Triumph Prophetic Ministries,

has broken off to do his own "work," and has published

an article contending that everybody has the Sabbath Day

all wrong! He claims it is neither Saturday OR Sunday --

but changes every month, due to the New Moon.

Is this theory "for the birds" -- sheer "lunacy" and "moon

madness"? What is the TRUTH?

William F. Dankenbring

Insidious New Heresy Takes Root

As many of you may know, John Keyser -- formerly associated with Triumph Prophetic Ministries -- has printed a 27 page paper on what he claims is "Sabbath new truth." He claims that the Sabbath fluctuates -- changes -- every month to a different day of the week. Thus he claims, or speculates, with a few other unknown and untrustworthy individuals, whom he quotes, that the Jews as well as the rest of the world lost track of the week around 400 A.D. -- AFTER the time of Christ!

Is there any validity to this new thesis? Is it really "new truth," as he claims? Or is it sheer rubbish and hogwash?

Let's examine the most important aspects of this controversy, and see what the Scriptures themselves REALLY say on this subject! For as Jesus Christ said, "Thy Word is TRUTH" (John 17:17), and, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

Which Day IS the SABBATH?

According to John Keyser, all mankind, including the Jews, lost track of time in the fourth century after Christ, about the time of Emperor Constantine, and the persecution of the Jews by the Roman Empire. He claims even the Jews lost track of the weekly Sabbath, and at that time instituted a Sabbath which fell on every seventh h day, in a continuous weekly cycle, independent of any astronomical body.

Says Keyser, this was a departure from the original Sabbath. He claims that the Bible teaches the original Sabbath was governed by the MOON -- and the original week was dependent upon the phases of the MOON. Therefore, according to him, the new moons interrupted the weekly cycle every month, and "new moon" day was considered outside the weekly cycle and was not even counted! In 29 day months, he figures there was "one new moon day," but in 30 days months, he ascribes "two new moon days." Thus the remaining 28 days are divisible by 7 (4 x 7 = 28), and every seventh day, he says, is he Sabbath.

This reasoning, of course, makes the Sabbath to fall on a DIFFERENT DAY OF THE WEEK each successive month! Thus one month, the Sabbath would be on a Tuesday, for example, another month it would all on a Thursday, or a Friday, or a Sunday -- over the course of a year, it could fall on ANY day of the week!

Now, is this sound-minded scholarship, based on clear and plain evidence?

Or is this pure and unadulterated rubbish, straight from the mind of the devil?

To really address this issue, we must do one thing -- SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES OF TRUTH! For only in the Bible will we find the real TRUTH! For, as the apostle Paul wrote:

"Every Scripture is God-breathed -- given by His inspiration --

and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin,

for CORRECTION OF ERROR and discipline in obedience,

and for training in righteousness [that is, in holy living, in confor-

mity to God's will in thought, purpose and action], so that the

man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and

thoroughly equipped for every good work" (II Tim.3:16-17,

Amplified Bible).

To investigate this matter properly, therefore, let's see what the Word of GOD has to say about the origins of the Sabbath and weekly cycle -- and not the nonsense paraded in the notions of bigoted and biased men, heretics, and supposed "scholars" who aren't worth a dime a dozen!

When we get down to the real "nitty gritty," it only matters what GOD says, in His Word, and not the ramblings of malcontent men and their myths and heretical opinions!

Back to the Beginning

In the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read of the true origin of the WEEK! Notice!

"And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. . . . And God

called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was

evening, and there was morning, ONE DAY.

"And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky]

in the midst of the waters; and let it separate the waters [below]

from the waters [above]. . . . And God called the firmament Heavens.

And there was evening, and there was morning, a SECOND DAY.

"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into

one place (of standing), and let the dry land appear. And it was done.

God called the dry land Earth, and the accumulated waters He called

Seas. And God saw that this was good. . . . And God said, Let the earth

put forth (tender) vegetation, plants yielding seed, and the fruit trees

yielding fruit each according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon

the earth. And it was so. . . . And there was evening and there was

morning, A THIRD DAY.

"And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to

separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and tokens

[of God's provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years. . .

And there was evening and there was morning, a FOURTH DAY.

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly and swarm with

living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse

of the heavens. God created the great sea monsters and every living

creature that moves . . . And God saw that it was good -- suitable,

admirable -- and He approved it. . . . And there was evening and there

was morning, a FIFTH DAY.

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their

kinds, and domestic animals according to their kinds. . . . God said, Let Us

make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have complete

authority . . . over all of the earth . . . So God created man in His own image,

` in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created

them. . . . And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was

very good -- suitable, pleasant -- and He approved it completely. And there

was evening and there was morning, A SIXTH DAY" (Genesis 1:2-31).

Now perhaps some might regard me as simple-minded, but I see a clear consecutive counting here of SIX DAYS. Correct me if I'm wrong! There is one through six days mentioned here!

Now God's own Record, the book of Genesis, the Book of "Beginnings," for that is what the word "Genesis" means, goes on, in the next passage:

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

And ON THE SEVENTH DAY God ended His work which He had done,

and He RESTED on the seventh day from all His work which He had

done. And God blessed [spoke good of] the seventh day, set it apart as

HIS OWN, and HALLOWED IT, because on it God rested from all His

work which He had created and done" (Genesis 2:1-3, Amplified Bible).

Now let's get this, and get it straight -- straight from the Word of the living GOD! Here the "week" was created. It was based SOLELY on the days Good took to "create" the heavens and the earth -- SIX DAYS -- followed by a singular "Day of Rest" -- t he SEVENTH DAY -- THE SABBATH DAY!

In other words, the Word of God itself plainly tells us the WEEKLY CYCLE IS A SEVEN DAY CYCLE, which repeats itself every seven days! It is based on God's "number of perfection," or "completion," which is the number SEVEN!

There is not even the vaguest "hint" or slightest {"clue" here, in the book of Genesis, that God did not mean what He said -- that is, the week of the BIBLE, the Word of God, is simply the SEVEN DAY WEEK, which goes on without any interruption FOREVER!

Any other interpretation is sheer foolishness and putting one's own ideas INTO the Scriptures! And, Almighty God thunders at all those who would tamper with His plain word of truth --

"You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall

you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your

God which I command you" (Deuteronomy 4:2, Amplified Bible).

"Whatever I command you, be watchful to do it; you shall not add to

it or diminish it" (Deut.13:32).

Are we willing to humble ourselves before the plain Word of God, and obey Him?

Further Evidence from God's Word

In Exodus 16, where God reveals His true Sabbath to His people, He gives them manna for six days -- and then stops the manna on the Sabbath (Exo.16:4-5), to see "whether they will walk in my law, or no" (v.4).

The manna came for six days (v.26), "but on the SEVENTH DAY, which is the SABBATH, there shall be none" (v.26). "So the people rested on the seventh day" (v.30).

Notice, now! God revealed to His people when they left Egypt which day was the t rue seventh day of the weekly cycle. Perhaps they had lost this knowledge while they served as slaves in Egypt. Perhaps the Egyptians did not have a seven day week, and their calendar was much different.

Therefore, God had to reveal to His people once again the t rue says of t he week -- which was the first day, second day, third day, and on to the Sabbath Day! this He did with an astonishing MIRACLE of the MANNA!

In this manner, God showed His people exactly how the weekly cycle functioned, and which day was THE SABBATH!

THIS WAS A PLAIN AND SIMPLE WEEKLY CYCLE. Every seventh day, then, was the SABBATH! That is plainly what this Scripture is telling us.

Yet in his reconstruction (or destruction) of the week and Sabbath day sequence, Keyser utterly DESTROYS and demolishes GOD'S WEEKLY SABBATH, which occurs every seventh day, according to this plain Scripture! He claims, "Oh no! Wait a minute! You've got to insert the NEW MOON days or days every month!"

But where do you read any such thing in this plain commandment of the Lord?

In this passage of Scripture, God says, "Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may PROVE them, whether they will walk in My law or not" (Exo.16:4, AB).

Later God said to Moses, when some people defiantly went out to gather manna on the seventh day -- the Sabbath, "How long do you [people] refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?" (verse 18).

Clearly, this episode when Israel came out of Egypt shows us how to figure the week and weekly Sabbath. It is EVERY SEVENTH DAY! There is no hint, clue, or indication whatsoever that any "new moon" madness was also to be considered and calculated into the weekly cycle! That is sheer nonsense! If the new moons had to be considered, and factored in, don't you think God would have said so? If they were to change every month, isn't it strange that God left His people without any indication thereof in this seminal, foundational passage?

How could God even begin to expect His people to keep His Sabbaths properly, if you didn't even tell them they had to CHANGE IT every month, and keep the new moon days as NON-WEEK days, outside of the days of the week?

This passage in Exodus 16 explodes the theory of a changing Sabbath day every month! How so? Because it is the foundation Scripture showing us HOW AND WHEN to observe the Sabbath -- and it makes NO MENTION of any 'new moon" days to base the Sabbath upon!

So what do we see, here? Keyser's teaching destroys the weekly Sabbath sequence, as Exodus 16 reveals. It ignores this sequence, as God reveals it, and claims it is false. He inserts "new moon" days each month, which are not counted in the "week."

With sheer audacity, he has forsaken the right way, and under the influence of Satan the devil he does the bidding of Satan, and destroys God's weekly Sabbath, preserved by God's people, down through the centuries --as being every seventh day, just as Exodus 16 clearly implies!

Stop and think for a moment. IF there were any intervening "new moon" days, in calculating the weekly Sabbath day, don't you think God would have SAID SO, IN THIS PASSAGE, which tells us WHEN the Sabbath occurs?

Why, if Keyser were right, then God MISINFORMED His people

-- because He clearly implied the SABBATH would be EVERY

SEVENTH DAY -- and He told them nothing about, "Oh, by the

way, each month you will need to subtract the New Moon days

FROM the weekly cycle, and not count them!"

Are you, dear reader, going to swallow such nonsense?

Let's recapitulate, for a moment:

Genesis 1 clearly shows, David, that the week was established by GOD Himself, and was entirely INDEPENDENT of any and all astronomical or celestial phenomena. It was clearly delineated as the seventh day following six days, and so forth, for all perpetuity. The SEVENTH day is the Sabbath --PERIOD! Nowhere does the Bible say there are "intervening MOON DAYS which interrupt the seven day weekly cycle!

Exodus 16 also plainly shows the way to count the weekly cycle is every seven days -- with absolutely NO REGARD for any so-called "new moon days"!

This so-called "new truth," which has evidently picked up from some very questionable and dubious sources, is sheer RUBBISH! It is a cunningly devised "doctrine of demons" (I Tim.4:1-3). Any who fall for this seductive, slickly polished and packaged garbage are certainly NOT among God's true "elect" (Matt.24:24).

Proof #3 -- the Sabbath Command

Again, if there were to be "new moon" days to be figured into calculating the t rue Sabbath every month, then surely somewhere in His Word -- His instruction manual for all mankind -- God would have clearly stated this fact.

Then why is it to be found nowhere in Scripture?

If such were the case, then surely when God gave the Ten Commandments to His people Israel at Mount Sinai, and gave them His Sabbath commandment, He would have told them how to figure the Sabbath! Wouldn't He?

Let's notice God's own words in Exodus 20:8-11:

"[Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy [withdrawn

from common employment and dedicated to God]. SIX DAYS shall

you labor and do all your work. But the SEVENTH DAY IS A

SABBATH to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work,

you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant,

your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.

"For in SIX DAYS the Lord made heavens and earth, the sea, and all

` that is in them, and RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY. That is why

the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His

purposes]" (Exodus 20:8-11, Amplified).

Notice! God's Word here plainly says we are to work SIX days, and then REST on the Sabbath day -- a seven day cycle -- with absolutely NO MENTION OF ANY "MOON DAYS"!

This is the plainly given law of the Sabbath day. This is what God commanded on top of Mount Sinai, to all His people! Since there is no mention of any "new moon" days which interrupt the weekly cycle of seven, therefore we must discard such a theory as FALSE!

Proof #4 -- How to Figure the Sabbath

In Leviticus 23, God commands us how to count the feast day of Pentecost, or the "feast of Weeks," which falls 50 days from the day which begins the count. We read:

"And you shall count from the day after the sabbath [Passover

annual sabbath, or Nisan 15], from the day that you brought the

sheaf of the wave offering [the "omer"], SEVEN SABBATHS;

(SEVEN FULL WEEKS) SHALL THEY BE; COUNTING

FIFTY DAYS TO THE DAY AFTER THE SEVENTH SABBATH"

(Leviticus 23:15-16).

Now let's get this! In counting the "omer," we are to count "fifty days" -- which we are told is seven weeks, plus one day (Lev.23:15). Seven Sabbaths or weeks is stated to be complete (49 days), and the next day is stated to be the "fiftieth day" (v.16).

There is clearly NO NEW MOON DAYS interrupting this clear cycle of seven weeks (7 days each), equaling 49 days, followed by Pentecost! Adding in "new moon" days would have clearly destroyed this simple COUNTING, as God commanded!

Isn't this plain enough? Let's THINK about it, and not allow John Keyser's nonsense to trip us up! This passage telling us how to count the "omer" till Pentecost is FATAL to Keyser's new moon-Sabbath theory!

Notice also God's command in counting the weeks from the barley harvest's beginning until the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), as it is given in the book of Deuteronomy:

"You shall count SEVEN WEEKS [seven weeks of seven days each

equals 49 days]; begin to number the seven weeks from the time you

begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the

FEAST OF WEEKS to the Lord your God . . ." (Deut.16:9-10).

Deuteronomy 16 clearly states that seven weeks, of seven days each, were to be numbered -- with no mention of any intervening "new moon" days! Thus either God was miserably incompetent and a poor communicator, when He gave His commandments to Israel, and left a lot to be desired in His instructions -- or else Keyser's theory is so much sheer bunk -- hogwash -- fit only to slop the pagan hogs!

Which do you believe?

Proof from the Sabbath Year Cycle

Also, notice the same PATTERN in God's Word concerning the Sabbatical years, and the Jubilee years. Israel was to sow and plant for six years; and the seventh year was a LAND REST (Leviticus 25:3-4). Verse 8 says,

"And thou shalt number SEVEN SABBATHS OF YEARS unto

thee, SEVEN TIMES SEVEN YEARS; and the space of the seven

sabbaths of years shall be unto thee FORTY NINE YEARS"

(Lev.25:8).

Do we get it? Do we see what this means? Do we understand it?

Here is God's own pattern, with His own imprint. He Himself tells us how to number SABBATICAL YEARS, WHICH ARE PATTERNED ON THE WEEK ITSELF!

Just as the omer count is forty nine days (seven weeks of seven days), leading up to Pentecost, SO THE ANNUAL SABBATHS, which occur every seventh year, without any interruptions, also are seven times seven,, or forty nine YEARS, and the following year is THE JUBILEE YEAR -- the FIFTIETH YEAR (Lev.25:10-11).

Think about it! There is obviously NO ROOM FOR ANY "NEW MOON" YEARS IN THE SABBATH YEAR CYCLE, nor in the OMER CYCLE, nor are there any "new moon" days interrupting the WEEKLY SABBATH CYCLE!

John Keyser's so-called "new truth" is only Satan's newest tactic and device to attempt to DESTROY God's people. His teaching is sheer "loony tunes" -- sheer "lunacy." It is "moon madness"!

Remember, we READ in Exodus 20, where God gives His original Sabbath Commandment, where God says: "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the SEVENTH day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God . . . For in SIX days the Lord made heaven and earth . . . and rested the SEVENTH day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed IT" (Exo.20:9-11). The true Sabbath of God occurs EVERY SEVENTH DAY in a weekly cycle which began with the Act of Creation itself!

How plain! No "new moon" days to figure in! Simply count six, then observe the SEVENTH day -- in an ongoing, perpetual CYCLE! God's Word is PLAIN! It does not need rocket scientists or self-ordained "scholars" to interpret it for us! God never intended His Sabbath cycle to be "lost" -- and it never has been! God would never leave His true people in sheer ignorance of one of the basic, one of the very Ten Commandments, down through 1,500 years, to the present!

Time, among the Hebrews, has NEVER been lost! The knowledge of the weekly cycle has NEVER been lost!

New Moons and Sabbaths

In a vain attempt to "prove" the new moons influence the weekly Sabbath cycle, the claim has been made that Ezekiel 46 provides evidence to that effect. But does it?

Let's read this Scripture, and see what it really says! Notice it. In Ezekiel 46:1:

"Thus said 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" (v.1).

Clearly, the new moon day was NOT the same as the sabbath day -- they were two different days. This passage simply says that during the six work days of the week, this gate was to be closed, but opened on the weekly Sabbath. What is so difficult to understand about that?

The passage also states that the gate is to be open on the day of the new moon (the first day of each month). Notice, it does NOT say the "DAYS of the new moon," which Keyser insists occurs in many months! With his theory, some months begin with TWO CONSE- CUTIVE "DAYS" of the "New Moon"!

But think about this! NOWHERE in Scripture are we ever given the knowledge that there are EVER "two consecutive New Moon days" to begin a Biblical month!

Rather, all this passage in Ezekiel says is that the gate of the Temple, in the millennial reign of Christ the Messiah, will be shut on the six working days of the week, but opened on the Sabbath, and on the New Moon. The word "Sabbath" here can also refer to the annual holy days, which are also called "sabbaths" (see Lev.23:24, 32, 39). On the holy days the gate will be opened -- but shut on all other days!

Ezekiel, Sabbaths, and New Moons

Notice, another passage which discusses the weekly Sabbaths and New Moons. Some claim that this passage shows a "link" between Sabbaths and New Moons, thereby proving the Sabbaths are derived from the New Moons. Is this true? Notice what Ezekiel

says:

"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" (Ezek.46:3, KJV).

Clearly, Sabbaths and New Moons are two different things. Just because they are both mentioned in the same verse does not in any way prove the Sabbaths are derived from the New Moons! There is no mention that Sabbaths are based on a monthly lunar cycle, and therefore change every month, in this verse. Such a conclusion is reading into the text what simply is not there!

According to Keyser, this text demonstrates that the Sabbaths are dependent on the New Moons, which means that in one month they would fall on a Monday, the next month on a Wednesday, the next month on a Friday, or whatever -- the weekly Sabbath would fall on a different day of the week each succeeding month of the year.

The whole idea is preposterous -- has no proof whatsoever -- and smacks of Satanic influence and diabolical deception.

The point has been made that the fact that six working days occurs before the Sabbath means that the annual holy days of God would therefore fall on a weekly Sabbath as well -- thus there would always be six working days during the week, before either a new moon, or an annual Sabbath. This is used by some to "prove" that the annual sabbaths must fall on a weekly Sabbath -- otherwise there would not be "six working days" during that week.

This claim, however, proves nothing. The fact is, even with Keyser's new theory, the holy days of Shavuot (Pentecost) would still fall on a day other than a weekly Sabbath -- since it falls on Sivan 6. By his calendar, Sivan 1 would e a new moon day, and Sivan 2 would be the first day of the following week, making Sivan 6 fall on a Friday, every year. Likewise, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), which comes 10 days after Rosh Hashana (the new moon), would always fall on a Monday, by his calendar. This would clearly interrupt the "six days of work" leading up to the weekly Sabbath during those particular weeks!

Thus the fact that Ezekiel mentions 6 work days before the Sabbath does NOT prove the annual holy days also must fall on a weekly Sabbath!

All Ezekiel 46:1 shows us, therefore, is that the weekly Sabbaths and new moons are DIFFERENT! That is very clear. It certainly provides no proof whatsoever that the sabbaths are determined by the new moons! Merely being mentioned in the same verse together does not prove a connection -- but merely an association. In the book of Job we read where Satan the devil appears before God -- but that does not mean they are "connected"

in any way!

Others have pointed out that there are eleven places in the Scriptures -- 11 -- where the Sabbaths, New Moons, and annual Festivals of God are mentioned together. For example, see the following: I Chron.23:32; II Chron.2:4; 8:3; 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Neh.10;33; Isaiah 1:14; Ezekiel 45:17, 46:3; and Hosea 2:11. Count them -- yes, eleven places! Is this supposed to "prove" something?

Not that I know of! Merely mentioning certain things together may merely prove that they are loosely associated, or that they all derive from God, which is true. In looking these Scriptures up, I found one common denominator -- in every case they were all associated with the special burnt offerings God commanded on each of these days!

But does that in any manner "prove" that the Sabbath "hangs" from the New Moon, and must be calculated every month from that month's new moon? Again -- pure claptrap rubbish and nonsense!

By John Keyser's configuration, the new moon day would always fall eight days before a "sabbath day" -- which would suggest that it had to be a Sabbath as well -- except that he calls it a "non-day" and not part of the "week"! Talk about "weird," "strange," and "bizarre"! The whole idea is utterly grotesque! Keyser's teaching actually claims that the new moon days were NOT EVEN COUNTED, but were separate and apart from any weekly cycle -- sort of "intervening days," if you please!

Doesn't this smack of sheer folly and nonsense? WHERE in the Scriptures do we find such a thing? NOWHERE!

The Babylonian MYSTERIES

When we boil it all down, Keyser's own "proof" of the lunar-influenced week comes from bits and pieces of PAGAN BELIEFS and practices, hinted at by scholars who believe the pag