From One New Moon to Another

By David M.

A certain group called “Sabbatarians” (better called Saturnarians) for their studied and strict Saturday “keeping” like to recite Isaiah 66:22-23 as follows:

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says YHUH, so shall your seed and your name remain.  And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says YHUH.  Isaiah 66:22-23

This is read with much finality and great attention to the import of this subject not just for today but also in the “new earth,” meaning into the future. In other words, lest the impact be lost, “Sabbath will be kept in the new earth.” See how utterly important this fact is? Get the point? Then why not leave your Sunday church and join our Saturday one?

I know, I used to be just such a faithful Saturnarian (Saturday keeper) and had read this verse to my loyal Sunday keeping friends who were so foolish and could not even keep one of the commandments they professed.

One day, while reading it to some very close Sunday keeping friends in their car, Dorothy asked me what it meant, “from one new moon to another?” Had she not noticed that I did not mean for her to hear that part?

“Not that,” I said. “Did you notice the part about the Sabbath?” How could she have missed it?

She said she had, of course, but the two of them (moon and Sabbath) seemed to be together there for some reason, and she still wanted to know why and what it meant. Well, to tell the truth, I had no idea why the moon was there right in the middle of what I was teaching.

As a good Saturday keeper, I did my best to separate the two, the moon from the Sabbath, but it was no good; she couldn’t see the wisdom in it. Besides being a good friend, she was a typical Domingero (Spanish for Sunday keeper), so what could she possibly know to ask of an expert like me? Had Isaiah mentioned Sunday? That was the point and what I wanted to hear from her. Not some stupid question about the moon. And her point was that Isaiah did mention the moon. So we came to an impasse right there. Always something meaningless to impede your progress, and in this case, it was the moon of all things. Leave the moon out of it, and she would have probably soon joined my church with her husband.

I made a mental note to study it out and find out how to dispatch with the moon. Get it out of the picture next time. Before it intruded to ruin my progress (short of re-quoting what the Father said, taking out the offensive part).

It would have been much easier to get the point across if He had said it more simply, such as: “FROM SATURDAY TO SATURDAY.” Then, I could have written a paper with this as the title. Too bad.

Why did He have to throw in the moon?

Isaiah 66: 22-23 only works for Saturday keepers if they can get you to ignore half of it, the theme. The part about the moon and how much it meant to YHUH, who created it.

What, then, does it mean to our Father, if anything really, and what is He talking about in our verse?

Some people who don’t know better live from one Christmas to another, meaning from one high point in their life to another.  If they see their children from time to time, every month, for instance, this is what they live for, and they know when those times will be, and they are greatly anticipated. They can name them for you, just as the Father can and does in these two verses. Well, just like that, this is how YHUH looks toward the future—from one new moon to another (new moon)…. with anticipation. How could a loving Father not?

“FROM ONE NEW MOON TO ANOTHER!”

This is what He said, how He expressed it, His joy. So then, what will be so special about this event to bring about His joy? Why this instead of something else like Easter, etc? So many things He could have selected. But no, none of them. Because it is at these appointed times that He says:

“ALL FLESH SHALL COME TO WORSHIP BEFORE ME!”

This is better than Christmas and Easter or your birthday all put together. He is announcing that which, to His great heart, drives Him to think about and announce. Not as another thing to do. Not as a drudgery. But as a divine invitation to you. To celebrate with Him according to His timepiece in the shamayim (heavens).

More than anything else, He might have mentioned. More than on all the future weekdays, it is the New Moon Days, the Sabbaths, and Holy Feast Days of the future, when like at no other time, YHUH will be with His people! Or can you think of something greater, you who prefer to ignore or even assay to deny this in favor of celebrating some event not connected to Him in any way, except as you have to inject Him into it as if you could? Like presenting Christmas and Santa Claus as some sort of a benevolent and generous type of lesson about what they call their Creator, a way to teach children generosity.

This is the promised announcement, which includes His presence, both past and future. One that He has never broken and looks forward to Himself like no other celebration for all time and eternity. How can we not have the same enthusiasm over it as He? I am ashamed to have to ask that question, but given the circumstances of His people, given the reality of their ignorance and stiff-neckedness, it is an appropriate one. A question that, for now, must remain unanswered because His people lack the necessary information to answer it.

The religious leaders don’t want to think about it. If they could, they would take this, the embarrassing moon, out of Isaiah’s otherwise most valuable quote, given by the Father no less. As it is, when Isaiah 66 is used as a proof text for the Saturday Sabbath requirement, it is for one reason only.  What is hoped is that the reader will ignore the other half of the text in context, which is identifying the moon as the foremost beacon for worship. To discuss seriously with another with regard to the moon, “from one new moon to another,” to their mind would be the same as declaring “from one lunatic to another.”

But this is not the Father’s attitude. He is not ashamed of His creation. How could He be? Nor is He reticent about how He designed the Mazzeroth in the heavens (the wheel of constellations), defining the moon’s relation to the Sabbath day, which actually determines them, including Kadosh (Holy) Feast Days. But the embarrassed and scoffing religious do not look up or notice this—what He counts dear, what makes His heart glad. To them, it doesn’t compute; to follow the traditions of men is all in all.

Unless Isaiah is mistaken and has misquoted YHUH against His will, and unless YHUH is Himself embarrassed over the moon, then the adoring religious would have a reason for their embarrassment over creation as well. But YHUH isn’t embarrassed! And neither should mankind be embarrassed about it.

The day will come when the world will no longer be embarrassed either. It has to. For they with us will experience the immense joy of the Father as here expressed. He will exalt His creation and it will be honored for what it was made to be and to do. For it is said, “The shamayim (heavens) declare the majesty (glory) of Alahim . . . !” (Psalms 19:1). Which, like us, was intended to exalt Him. No longer a byword.  It will be the day when the arrogant mocking is no longer heard.

This paper should end with that last paragraph, but the reality is that it doesn’t. It can’t. Today, what people are most concerned about is their standing among their church brethren, and specifically their “witness.” Their “witness” must be protected with whatever it takes, as it relates to their reputation and the honor of their denominational doctrine.  In this mindset, the mere mention of the moon and, guess what? In the mind of the mocker, accepting the lunar Sabbath would bring shame upon his name and force him/her to leave the comfort of their church. What they have not noticed is that their church is already toast…for His purposes because they reject what He says connects the moon with the Sabbath.  They deny that which was pre-ordained to exist for His celebrations throughout all time and eternity.

It is in this context of “His creation, His new moon, His Sabbath, and His new earth” that your name and seed are mentioned. What? Yes, yours. Would you like “your seed and your name to remain?” If you can trust YHUH here, with regard to His calendar, it will. To “remain” along with your name is listed along with His creation: the moon and its Sabbaths. Unless, of course, that makes you uncomfortable. You can always object and “remain” satisfied believing the prevailing lie.