Which Day is for You?

By

Thom Milnor

You have a choice, Saturday, Sunday, lunar based seventh day Sabbath, solar based seventh day Sabbath, Which do you choose as your Sabbath?  If you believe you are observing the right day, chances are, you are not! Because of Satan'e deceptions, it is very possible you are observing the wrong day. Not only is it possible, it's more likely than not that you are. That being the case, perhaps it would behoove you to continue reading this article. After all, except for your very salvation, what else do you have to lose other than a few minutes of your time? If I do not prove the case for remembering the correct seventh day Sabbath as revealed by El, then by all means, continue on with whatever day you choose. If on the other hand, ample proof is provided here as to which day is the true Sabbath, than perhaps you may wish to reconsider your original choice.

So let’s begin with a few basic scriptures inspired by El and not the deceptive traditions perpetuated by Satan and his false teachers.

Genesis 2:1 And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] And on the seventh day Yahua finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. [3] And Yahua blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it (made it holy); because that in it He rested from all his work which Yahua had created and made. Our first fact is that Yahua rested on the seventh day from all His work, blessed it, and made it holy. This was done long before there was a man devised calendar or tradition.

Sabbath means: to rest. So Yahua from the very beginning ordained the seventh day as a day of rest. He blessed that twenty-four hour period of time and proclaimed it holy. Notice, Yahua finished all His work in six days but He did not finish creating at the end of that sixth day. He was still to create yet one more day, His holy day of rest.. A day of rest based on His reckoning of time, not on man's tradition.

Let us look at Exodus 20 where Moses was given the Sabbath command.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shall you labor, and do all your work (we are to do exactly as Yahua did back in Genesis 2:1-3. We are to rest from all of our work, rest from that which we do to gain our sustenance.); [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahua your Elohim: in it you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the stranger that is within your gates [11] for in six days Yahua made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: Therefore Yahua blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

the Book of Jasher shows when the Sabbath date was established  It says that in the 12th Solar Month, on the 23rd day of the month (which was the 6th Day of the week), Moses anointed Aaron and his sons as Priests and taught them how they were to perform their Priestly duties beginning that evening on the 24th Day (which was the 7th Day Sabbath), and part of their duties were to ensure that the lamps in the Tent were lit and that incense was burned from evening to morning:

Exodus 30:8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at Evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before YHWH throughout your generations.

Exodus 27:21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from Evening to Morning before YHWH. It shall be a statute for ever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

Now, after the Sabbath was over, Aaron and his sons were told to remain at the Tent for the next Seven Days to be Consecrated as Priests, and after the Seventh Day, on the Eighth Day (which was the First Day of the 1st Month - New Year's Day), Moses erected a sanctuary for Worship on this very day:

Jasher 83:1-4 1 And in the twelfth month, in the twenty-third day of the month, Moses took Aaron and his sons, and he dressed them in their garments, and anointed them and did unto them as the Lord had commanded him, and Moses brought up all the offerings which the Lord had on that day commanded him. 2 Moses Afterward took Aaron and his sons and said to them, For seven days shall you remain at the door of the tabernacle, for thus am I commanded. 3 And Aaron and his sons did all that the Lord had commanded them through Moses, and they remained for seven days at the door of the tabernacle. 4 And on the Eighth Day, being the First Day of the First Month, in the second year from the Israelites' departure from Egypt, Moses erected the sanctuary, and Moses put up all the furniture of the tabernacle and all the furniture of the sanctuary, and he did all that the Lord had commanded him.

Here you can see, that Moses had prepared Aaron and his sons on the 23rd day of the month, for their evening duties of the Seventh Day, (which was the 24th day of the Twelfth Month). Aaron and his sons were told to stay at the Tent for the next Seven Days, and "After" the Seventh Day Sabbath ended, the Eighth Day was the First Day of the First Month (the New Year), where Moses prepared for that days Worship services. So, we can see here that the 24th day and the 31st day of the 12th Month were Sabbaths.
 

This commandment DOES NOT SAY THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE JEWS! For at that time, there were not just Jews, back then, it was the entire nation of Israel. All of the tribes of Israel including Judah for whom the Jews are named. What the command does say Though, is, “Remember the Sabbath day”. Remember it for what? Remember it as a reminder of the creation week. Remember it as the day that Yahua set apart as holy time. This rememberance allows us to routinely keep El's greatness continuously in our thoughts and hearts.

Sinning, rebellious mankind, by failing to keep El’s appointed Sabbaths, forgets that the great Sovereign Yahua created the heavens and the earth and all the inhabitants thereof. That He gives them every breath of air they take and every beat of their hearts. That He has the power over every minute of our human lives and He is the only way to eternal life. Is this then a salvation issue? You can bet your eternal life that it is.

 The Sabbath is a perpetual ordinance between Yahua and His people. Let’s prove this with scripture:

Exodus 31:12 And Yahua spoke to Moses, saying, [13] Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, You must keep my Sabbaths: (Now please understand this, emphasis mine) FOR IT IS A SIGN BETWEEN ME AND YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS; (In other words, it is a sign between El and His people forever! Why?) that you may know that I am Yahua who sanctifies you. (sets apart for a sacred purpose).

The question now becomes, by whose reckoning, by whose calendar, is man to keep the seventh day Sabbath? Do we use man’s calendar and reckoning of time, or do we use Yahua’s? Most people are not aware of it but Yahua did give us a perfectly simple calendar even before the flood.

Before we get into the calendar issue, let us first look at how the Sabbath is determined by other groups:  

Let's first look at Sunday as a Sabbath day. The only claimed authority for Sunday keeping is that of the Roman Catholic Church. This was brought about in the second and third centuries after the time of Yahushuah the Messiah. It’s somewhat puzzling that if Protestants are so accepting of Papal authority, then why don’t they just convert to Catholicism? After all, according to the Roman church, theirs is the “True Church”? On the other hand, if they claim not to accept the authority of the Catholic Church as their authority, then what do they accept? Do they accept the Bible as the true word of El, Do they believe that every word of the Tanakh (Old Testament) is divinely inspired? If so then perhaps they need to rethink their position on many things, not just the Sabbath issue. For instance, Yahua’s appointed Feasts, Passover; The first and last day of the Days of Unleavened Bread; Pentecost (i.e., Feast of Weeks, or Feast of Firstfruits); The Feast of Trumpets; The Day of Atonement; The Feast of Tabernacles; and the Last Great Day. These Feasts illustrate the entire plan of El and are to be remembered year after year and yet, professing Christians have not the vaguest idea of their meaning or their significance. What a tragedy! Instead of honoring and glorifying El, they use pagan names for their creator and Savior, they celebrate Pagan traditions such as New Year’s; Valentine’s day; Lent; Easter; Halloween; and Christmas; including the totally false notion that they are going to heaven when they die as well as the doctrine of the trinity. All of these traditions and teachings are abominations to the Great Sovereign Yahua.

Do you know why Chrstians keep Sunday instead of Yahua's true Sabbath? Is it perhaps because they fear being branded Jewish? Not to say that the Jews are keeping it correctly either, and not to mention the money they would give up by not working on the Sabbath for few Christians have a problem with working on the sabbath. And they completely fail to understand that the Sabbath isn’t Jewish. It was a command for all the tribes of Israel not just to Judah (Jacob’s son for whom the Jews are named).

You will not find the words “Saturday or Sunday” anywhere in the Holy Scriptures. Those terms are totally pagan. Yahua did not name days, He numbered them. The only names relative to time in scripture are Abib and Adar. We will get to them later in the next section.

Though Sunday is never mentioned by name in scripture, “the first day of the week” is mentioned in eight specific places. All of them are in the New Testament which was written many years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Yahushuah. Nor does it hold that this is referring to the first day of the week as we know it today based on the Gregorian calendar. Certainly any established Sunday keeping practice of the early church would have been thoroughly entrenched after so long a time. But it wasn’t. History records that in 321 AD Emperor Constantine abolished the previous eight day Roman week and established the modern Roman seven day week that is continued to be observed to this day. This week was based on the then known seven "planets": Sun, Mercury, Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.So let’s look at those eight scriptures for they are what Christians use to rationalize their belief for Sunday keeping which they call “The Lord’s Day”, which differs from "The Day of the Lord".

Matthew 28:1 "Now late on the Sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Miriam Magdalene and the other Miriam to see the sepulcher". This scripture says nothing about a church meeting, a day of worship, a special assembly, or anything special about the first day of the week. What it does say is "late on the Sabbath day, as it was at the dawn toward the first day of the week". A sunrise start of the new day? This was based on El's reckoning of time, not the Roman's eight day week which was in existance at that time. There is no authority here for Sunday observance because one, there was no Sunday, and two, with an eight day week in use by the Romans, who would know what day it was other than the first day of Yahua's week. This same reasoning applies to all of the following scriptures as well.

Before getting into the rest of the eight scriptures, let us first clarify which day Yahushua observed as the weekly Sabbath by a question poised to Dr. Timothy Sakach on his Innertech.com website.

The Question was: “If Yahushua was the creator of the calendar revealed to Enoch by the messenger Uriel, why during His three and a half year ministry did He Himself keep the Sabbaths and holy days of the Jews, nor why did He at anytime not make mention that they were keeping unclean days?”

Dr Sakach's  reply: "First, did Yahushua really keep the Jewish feasts? At one time (John 7) he was asked by His brothers why he didn’t go up to the feast and make Himself known to the disciples (people who listened to him.) His reply was that His time had not come, but their time was “anytime.” Then after a few days He did go. This is consistent with the difference between the Babylonian lunar calendar and the Enoch Calendar. When constructing the Enoch Calendar, I decided to add “new moons” to show how they aligned with the Enoch Calendar. They appeared to be random (“anytime”), but there was an occasional time when there was an alignment with either the first day of the first month or the first day of the seventh month — but never in the same year. These alignments were rare and often many years before they happened again. During Yahushua's time, only one alignment was needed, and that was in one year on the first day of the first month. This would put both the Jewish Passover and the Passover on Enoch’s calendar on the 14th day followed, of course, by the Feast of Unleavened Bread starting on the 15th day.

As far as mentioning to them about clean days, he did make mention of their uncleanness in Matthew 23 and in other places. They were always unclean, but they were also blind. Besides they had the prophets, like Malachi who had spoken to them about this. Nothing more needed to be said."

Continuing now with the remaining scriptures:

Mark 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb near sunrise. Very likely at first light, at dawn, (“BOQER”, (#1242), “morning, break of day, end of night”,) again, a sunrise start of a new day? Every comment that applied to Matthew 28:1 above, applies to this scripture as well as it is the identical occasion. But bear in mind it says, “near sunrise”. It does not say before or after the sun had risen, just near. This is a very important but much overlooked detail.

 

 Mark 16:9 Now when he (Yahushuah) had been raised, early on the first day of the week he appeared first to Miriam Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. This scripture does not say that Yahushuah was raised early on the first day of the week. It says, “Now when He had been raised, (comma) early on the first day of the week (no comma) he appeared first to Miriam Magdalene”. Don’t be fooled on this one. It is very clear from all scriptures on the subject of the resurrection that Yahushuah had already risen as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. But He appeared to Miriam Magdalene early on the first day. Placing the comma after the word raised completely clarifies the thought.You can be certain that Yahushuah had risen at some time near the end of the Sabbath day. But again, nothing in this scripture sets apart the first day of the week as a day for a holy purpose or a command for Chrstians to observe it. And it most certainly does not say the first day of the week back then was "Sunday".

Luke 24:1 Before reading Luke 24:1, let’s back up one verse to the preceding chapter and verse: Luke 23:56 “And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment”. Now let’s look at Luke 24:1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. Luke probably wrote the book of Acts between 59 and 61 A.D., almost 30 years after the resurrection. In all likelihood he would have written his gospel account at about the same time. Why did Luke casually mention these women preparing their spices and resting on the Sabbath day and say absolutely nothing about something so important as the changing of the seventh day Sabbath to a first day of the week observance? Surely after nearly 30 years, this would have been in play!

John 20:1 Now on the first day of the week comes Miriam Magdalene early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and sees the stone taken away from the tomb.  

So far, there is no religious element to the events of the first day, but what about this one?

John 20:19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, (no sunset start of the day here. It was already evening and it was still the first day of the week.) and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Yahushuah came and stood In the middle, and says to them, Peace be upon you. The disciples were assembled, true! But does this make it a religious assembly? Absolutely not! A careful and honest study of the gospel accounts proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they all forsook Yahushuah and fled. None of the disciples really expected to see him again. Peter even cursed and denied his name. The purpose of this assembly was “for fear of the Jews”, not for that of a religious assembly. And why would they be afraid? Because the Jews had already murdered their mentor and leader! They feared their own deaths would surely follow! When Yahushua appeared to them, it was a shocking and unexpected event.

Now we move to another first day of the week having nothing to do with the day following the resurrection:

Acts 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when we had gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the next day; and prolonged his speech until midnight. To break bread merely means to sit down for a meal which may consist of one or any number of courses. So than, was this a  Sunday “Sabbath worship service”? Absolutely not! It certainly was a meeting in which Paul was speaking concerning Yahushua, for it plainly says, "Paul discoursed with them.” And it factually was on the first day of the week. But notice the rest of the verse: “intending to depart the next day”. In other words, Paul was probably going to depart the next morning, the daylight part of the next day, the second day of the week. The point being, this meeting was not a worship service on the first day of the week.

Back to the “break bread” part of this verse for just a moment. This was a common expression which meant to sit down to a meal. It had nothing whatsoever to do with “communion”. For proof, let’s look at Acts 2:46 And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and BREAKING BREAD AT HOME (emphasis mine), they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart. Just another example that “breaking bread” merely means sitting down to a meal and has nothing to do with a religious occasion for they did this "day by day". Up until the time of our own Civil War, it was still quite common for families to say they “broke bread together". Meaning, they enjoyed a meal together.

1 Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collection be made when I come. Now this should be self-evident that Paul is instructing these believers to go out and work the fields on the “first day of the week” to gather up what El had prospered them. In other words, WORK! LABOR! Something absolutely forbidden to do on the Sabbath and something Paul would never ask or allow them to do! This had nothing to do with tithing on the Sabbath as you might have been led to believe. Nor does it have anything to do with a holy assembly. The context of Paul’s request is found in this entire 16^th chapter as well as the 15^th chapter of Romans. It had to do solely with a drought that had afflicted many of the brethren in the Judaean region and to the saints to whom Paul would deliver those life saving provisions in Jerusalem.

The preceding are the eight places in scripture where the “first day of the week” is mentioned. There is not one hint or indication that the first day of the week was viewed by the early believers as anything other than a common workday. And furthermore, The first day of the week is nowhere in scripture set apart as holy or designated as “The Lord’s Day”. And there is no where to be found that it was on the day known today as "Sunday".

So then, what day is “The Lord’s Day” if not today's Sunday?

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on Yahua’s day (Lord’s Day in the King James and other versions) and I heard behind me a great voice, Version after version of the Bible proves that what John was referring to was his being transported forward into time so that what he saw in his Apocalyptic vision was the entire panorama of events from the beginning of the Great Tribulation until the end of the day of Yahua (this day spoken about in Rev 1:10, is not the Sabbath and should not be confused with the Sabbath. This is talking about the time of the coming wrath El will inflict on sinning mankind). This reference had nothing whatsoever to do with a church meeting or religious occasion. Other versions of the Bible show the verse should be paraphrased, “I found myself projected forward into the great and terrible day of the Lord by the spirit”. It is a total distortion of scripture to imply that John was referring to anything other than that time yet future of El’s wrath upon this sinning world. Furthermore, there is no mention of “the first day of the week,” or of “Sunday” in that verse.

So what day is Yahushuah Master?

Mark 2:27-28 And he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: [28] so that the Son of man is Master even of the Sabbath. Do you see it written anywhere in scripture that Yahushua is Master of “the first day of the week”? The scripture says “the Sabbath was made”. It was made by Yahua in the wilderness after the Israelites had been released from their Egyptian bondage. It was on the seventh day not the first. No church, and certainly no man, has now, or ever will have, the authority to change Yahua's Sabbath command for He said that the Sabbath was "a sign between me and you throughout your generations". in other words, FOREVER!  Notice also it said above, "the Sabbath was made for man”. It does not say that the Sabbath was made for the Jews. Therefore, reject those false teachings that claim the Sabbath is Jewish. It is not! Forget also those false teachings that the Sabbath is either a weekly cycle of Saturday or Sunday, it is not! The Sabbath must now be either lunar based or solar based.

Let's look at how the world came to accept this false Sunday doctrine as the Lord’s Day? To get the answer we will look at some excerpts from the “APOSTOLIC LETTER DIES DOMINI” written by Pope John Paul II:

Excerpts From the Introduction   “To the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful of the Catholic Church on Keeping the L-rd’s Day Holy”

“The Lord’s Day as Sunday was called from APOSTOLIC TIMES" (That's an outright lie with the emphasis here mine. We have already proven from scripture that that is not true. Sunday worship did not come about until the second or third century)

Here is a quote from the Pope: “Rightly, then, the Psalmist’s cry is applied to Sunday": This is what the Psalm actually says: ‘This is the day which the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it’ (PS 118:24). This Psalm says nothing about this being the first day of the week or a day named Sunday. The Pope explains this reasoning based on the false doctrine that Yahushuah was resurrected at sunrise, which again, was proven not to be the case for we know it was still dark and Yahushuah had already risen. But this gets into the whole Easter thing which is a paper for a later date discrediting that false doctrine.

Excerpts From Chapter 1

In this chapter, the Pope goes to great length to accurately explain how Yahua created the seventh day Sabbath and then every here and there casually makes statements like this: “In the first place, therefore, SUNDAY is the day of rest because it is the DAY BLESSED BY GOD AND MADE HOLY (emphasis mine) by him, set apart from the other days to be, among all of them, ‘the Lord’s Day”. Do you see something very wrong with that papal statement? If by some far outside chance you missed it, let me clarify it for you. Yahua blessed the seventh day and made it holy, not the first day, Sunday. Just a few lines before making that statement, the Pope accurately quoted Genesis 2:3 “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy”. Who is deceiving who here?

Just two paragraphs later, he says, “Therefore, if God ‘sanctifies’ the seventh day with a special blessing and makes it ‘his day’ par excellence, this must be understood within the deep dynamics of the dialogue of the covenant, indeed the dialogue of ‘marriage”. If this be so, why do they keep the first day?

This letter goes on and on for 26 pages of rationalizing as to why the Sabbath was changed from the seventh day to the first (Sunday) of the Gregorian calendar. And it all hangs on the false premise that Yahushua was resurrected at sunrise on the first day of the week which is not supported by one single scripture.

So, Is Yahua’s Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday? Is it lunar or solar based? Does it start at sunset, sunrise, or at midnight? Before we answer those questions, we must first understand a few basics.

When Yahua made holy the seventh day at creation He did not name the days, weeks, and months, He numbered them. Naming them is a tradition of man, not of El. In setting times He used the luminaries. Yahua is consistent, He never changes, so if any changes were made to His reckoning of time and seasons, it was done so by man, not by Yahua. There are only two times that names are used in the Bible for times and they are months not days. One is “ABIB”, and even this is not the name of a month, but rather a stage of ripeness of barley. It is stating the month when ABIB, or ripeness occurs. The other is in Ezra 6:15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month “ADAR”, which was the sixth year of the reign  of Darius the king. Tradition holds that the current names adopted by the Jews were installed by Ezra on Judah’s return from Babylonian captivity. During that captivity, the Jews adopted many of the Babylonian traditions as their own including adoption of the babylonian lunar based calendar and the practice of starting the day at sunset and ending it at the next sunset 24 hours later. This Jewish sunset tradition will also be covered later.

Sabbath days according to Yahua.

Yahua is extremely particular. He wants things done in His time and in His way, precisely as He directs. Sabbaths are appointments for His children to meet with Him. They are specific times that He sets, not the times that we set.

Exodus 31:12 Yahua said to Moses, (13) Tell the Israelites, (All of the Israelites, not just the Jews) Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahua who sanctifies you.

Exodus 31:16 (Yahua still speaking to Moses) And the Israelites must keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations (even until this very day) as a perpetual covenant.  

Isaiah 58:13 You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you want on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat Yahua’s holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.

We have looked at how Sunday keeping Christians rationalize their doctrine, let's now look at some of the other groups:

Tens of thousands of other Christians and millions of Jews keep Saturday as their Sabbath. And yes it is the seventh day, but that seventh day is based on the Gregorian calendar, not on the heavenly luminaries as prescribed by Yahua. So Saturday can also be quickly ruled out as Yahua’s true Sabbath. That leaves us with two other possibilities, Lunar based Sabbath keeping, and solar based Sabbath keeping

With lunar based Sabbaths, Yahua’s new year begins with the new moon in the spring,  That would be sometime in March according to the Gregorian calendar when the barley is Abib. From this new moon (When the first sliver of the crescent is sighted), the count to the first Sabbath day begins. The new moon is a day of worship, but not a Sabbath. The count of six working days starts the next day after the new moon, so the new moon is the first day of the new year and the first day of each new month. Starting from the day after the new moon sighting, the second day, there are six working days and then, the 8^th day is the first Sabbath. The following Sabbaths would then be the 15^th, 22^nd, and 29^th days of each month, each month being a month of either 29 or 30 days. These Sabbaths have nothing to do with the named days of the week or the Gregorian calendar. Keeping track of these Sabbaths is quite a task and many intercalary considerations must be included since the yearly cycle is only 354 days.

Following are some scriptures used to support the lunar Sabbath.

Ezekiel 46:1 In this manner says the Sovereign Yahua: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and the day of the new moon (2320) it shall be opened….(3) And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate  before Yahua on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

(2320) Cho desh kho’-desh: from 2318 ; the new moon; a month; - month

Wherever you read “new moon”, you could be reading it as  ”new month” since the Hebrew word Chodesh is synonymous for either moon or month..

Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon (new month) to another, and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me, says Yahua.

Man has had many different calendars. Their purpose has always remained the same, to regulate the yearly cycle of the earth and break it down into subdivisions of months, weeks, and days. Anciently their calendars, just as Yahua’s reckoning of time, relied on the movements of the heavenly bodies. Other than lunar or solar based Sabbaths, that is no longer the case.

A closer look at Yahua’s reckoning of time

 Genesis 1:14 Yahua said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years.”

Psalm 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knows his going down.

The sun and moon are not there merely to divide the day from the night. They were put there specifically to declare Yahua’s sacred appointments and seasons. These heavenly lights serve as beacons to draw us to His appointments.

With the solar based calendar, the only calendar actually revealed as a calendar in scripture, Yahua’s new year is based on the Vernal Equinox when it occurs at Jerusalem. The first day of the New Year is always March 17th. This calendar was revealed to Enoch by the set-apart messenger Uriel in Enoch's "Book of the Courses and the Luminaries". These instructions are repeated in the Book of Jubilees as the perfect method for counting the days, months, and years. Unfortunately for convenience sake, man has elected to change what El had revealed to Enoch to suit his own ways. El's reckoning is described in both Enoch's book of Luminaries and in chapter 6 of the Book of Jubilees. For the sake of simplicity the Book of Jubilees will be used here as an illustration. El's reckoning is based on four quarters of 91 days each. Each quarter having two months of 30 days and the third month of each quarter having of 31 days. Each quarter has 13 weeks.  Each year has 52 weeks for a total of 364 days. The extra 1.242 days matters little as the year resets at the Vernal Equinox. Which by the way, also accounts for how the Israelites could march around the walls of Jericho for seven days without having to do so on a Sabbath day.

Jubilees 6:1 And on the new moon (or the first day of the new month) of the third month he (speaking about Noah) went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain...... (17) For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month (the third month) once a year, to renew the covenant every year. (18) And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years [1309-1659 A.M.]: and Noah and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noah's death, and from the day of Noah's death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and they eat blood. (19) But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain. (20) And do thou command the children of Israel to observe this festival in all their generations for a commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall celebrate the festival. (21) For it is the feast of weeks and the feast of first fruits: this feast is twofold and of a double nature: according to what is written and engraven concerning it, celebrate it. (22) For I have written in the book of the first law, in that which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day in the year, and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of Israel should remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations in this month, one day in every year. (23) And on the new moon (or the first day of the new month) of the first month, and on the new moon (first day) of the fourth month, and on the new moon (first day) of the seventh month, and on the new moon (first day) of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained as a testimony for ever. (24) And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever, so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. (25) And on the new moon (first day) of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened (the ark) and saw the earth. (26) And on the new moon (first day) of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed. And on the new moon (first day) of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them. (27) And on the new moon (first day) of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noah was glad. (28) And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial for ever, and thus are they ordained. (29) And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each (quarter) had thirteen weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth. (30) And all the days of the commandment will be two and fifty weeks of days, and (these will make) the entire year complete. (this is not possible with a 354 day year by a lunar reckonimg) Thus it is engraven and ordained on the heavenly tablets. (31) And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single year or from year to year. (32) And command thou the children of Israel that they observe the years according to this reckoning- three hundred and sixty-four days, and (these) will constitute a complete year, and they will not disturb its time from its days and from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them according to their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor disturb any feasts. (33) But if they do neglect and do not observe them according to His commandment, then they will disturb all their seasons and the years will be dislodged from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons and the years will be dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances. (34) And all the children of Israel will forget and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons (first day of the month), and seasons, and sabbaths and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years. (35) For I know and from henceforth will I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lies) written before me, and on the heavenly tablets the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the covenant and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after their error and after their ignorance. 

(36) FOR THERE WILL BE THOSE WHO WILL ASSUREDLY MAKE OBSERVATIONS OF THE MOON HOW (it) DISTURBS THE SEASONS AND COMES IN FROM YEAR TO YEAR TEN DAYS TOO SOON. This is what happens when the lunar calendar is used. It's year has only 354 days in it, not the 364 days as per the calendar revealed to Enoch.. 

(37) For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and sabbaths and feasts and jubilees. (38) For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons (First day of the month) and seasons and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh. 

Here than is what we know from Both the books of Jubilees and Enoch's Book of the Courses of the Luminaries:

* The first day of the New Year is the day of the Vernal (or spring) Equinox.
* A complete year is 364 days (the last day of the year, the 1.25 part of a 365.25 day year is not counted as a day) 
* A complete year has 4 quarters each having 3 months of 91 days.
* The first 2 months of each quarter has 30 days, the third month of each quarter has 31 days.
* Each quarter has 13 weeks.
* A complete year has 52 weeks.
Note: The 31st day of those months having 31 days are not counted when a 360 day year is counted in prophecy. 

Returning again to scripture:

Ezekiel 46:1 In this manner says the Sovereign Yahua: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and the day of the new moon (or, first day of the month) it shall be opened….(3) And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate  before Yahua on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. (First day of each new month)

Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon (first day of the month) to another, and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me, says Yahua.

The question is, does Yahua care whether or not we keep Saturday, Sunday, lunar, or solar as long as we keep one day in seven to worship Him? Or, should we keep holy the time that he appointed? There is no evidence that Yahua's appointed Sabbath is on the same day every week, year after year (i.e. Saturday or Sunday. More confusing still is the lunar Sabbath as its worship day changes every month with each new moon, that being the first sighting of the crescents sliver).

When Israel was in Egyptian slavery for 400 years they did not keep Yahua’s appointed Sabbaths as the Sabbath command had not yet been given. The Sabbath was kept in heaven but not kept by man until instituted by Aaron after the Israelites were freed from their bondage. So let us here review when that command came to be:

But you say, they were together as a nation, and Yahua was providing for them. We on the other hand are a scattered people and unless we are retired, self employed, or somehow self sufficient, must work for employers who may not tolerate our taking off on week days. How do we keep Yahua’s commanded Sabbaths in today’s secular world? This is a time when one must step out in faith. The Sabbath command is a test command so "that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not." by following the traditions of men we lose sight of the truth. “But  in vain they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men” (Matt 15:9). Would it not be better to “Enter you in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many are they that enter through it. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leads to life, and few are they that find it.” (Matt 7:13-14)

El’s Sabbaths are Torah based, not cyclical such as every Saturday (Jews and Messianics) or Sunday (Christians). Those days are based on Jewish and Christian traditions not on scripture. So now you have knowledge of the true Sabbaths, it is now up to you as to what you are going to do with this knowledge. There is yet one more matter to cover, and that is, when does Yahua’s days actually begin and end?

Most all of the information I am about to present is from David Pollina’s well researched book, “Reuniting the Covenant”. I do not agree with his lunar Sabbath position but I do believe he makes a valid argument about when the day begins and ends. The book can be ordered at www.tushiyah.org If for some reason you cannot afford to purchase the book for the small sum asked to cover expenses, Mr. Pollina will give it to you for free.

Mr. Pollina asserts and offers convincing proof that the beginning and ending of the 24 hour period we call “a day” begins at sunrise, not at sunset or midnight. Modern society places that time at midnight. Jews and Messianics place their biblical day from sunset to sunset. Scriptural proof for this however is extremely weak, the custom resting on tradition and interpretation forced from tradition.

Mr. Pollina explains in his book that there are four basic words which recur regularly in the Tanakh (Old Testament) to describe the 24 hour cycle. A Foundational understanding of their meaning, and applying that understanding consistently, is the first step in discerning what scripture refers to as the 24-hour period called the “day”.

‘YOWM’, (#3117), “daylight, 24 hour, a working day”,  comes from a root meaning “to be hot”. As mentioned, this can refer either to daylight or to a 24-hour period called the “day”.          

“LAYIL’ (#3915), “night as opposed to day”, comes from a root meaning “to fold back”.  This is the period of darkness.

“EREB’ (#6153), “even, eventide, evening, mingling”,  comes from ‘ARAB’, (#6150), “to grow dark, covering with a texture”.

“BOQER”, (#1242), “morning, break of day, end of night”,  comes from ‘BAQAR’, (#1239),  “to seek, look”.

“In a simple, ancient understanding of the natural order, the ‘day’, YOWM, was hot, and the ‘night’, LAYIL, appeared to have a covering pulled over the sky. The YOWM is ruled by the sun, and the LAYIL is ruled by the moon (Genesis 1:16). Between these sections come two periods of transition; where YOWM fades into LAYIL, and where LAYIL, gives way to YOWM. These transitions are called EREB and BOQER (dusk and dawn). EREB is properly the time after sunset and before darkness. BOQER, the morning transition, is the time between first light and sunrise”.

"Placement of a dividing line for the 24-hour “day” remains an important question, as it will determine which date on the calendar any particular time period begins. Bear in mind, EREB means the same thing every place it is used; it is a specific term referring to the period between sunset and darkness."

Genesis 1:5 is the backbone proof verse that Jews use to support a “sunset to sunset” day. It says, “Elohim called the light day and the darkness night. There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

“Right there in the beginning of the Bible, Yahua declares that each evening (first) and morning (second) makes one ‘day’. Or, does He? When the KJV was translated in the early seventeenth century, it was well known that the Jews  regarded the day as sunset to sunset. This presupposition is evident in the translation of the text, assuming that sunset days are meant, even though it really says something completely different”.

If you take verse 5 out of context and ignore the preceding verses 3, 4 and the first part of 5 you could conclude a sunset start of a day. But let’s look carefully at what was said. (3) Elohim said, Let there be light. And there was light! (4) Elohim saw that the light was good, so Elohim separated the light from the darkness. (5) Elohim called the light day and the darkness night. Putting these verses in sequential context would mean the 24-hour day is really from sunrise to sunrise.

The sunset view forces meaning into the words which they do not inherently contain. If the day started at sunset and ended with the following sunset making it the first day, then the first day of creation started in darkness, and ended with the creation of light, this is textually unsustainable. It is much more likely to indicate a progression of events – creation of light (daytime) followed by dusk, then night, and then dawn. Under this view, the day BEGINS AT SUNRISE.

Another scripture the Jews and Messianics use to support a sunset to sunset day relates to the Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 23:27 The tenth day (YOWM) of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves and present a gift to Yahua. (28) You must not do any work on this particular day, because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves before Yahua your Elohim. (29)  Indeed, any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people. (30) As for any person who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate that person from the midst of his people! (31) You must not do any work. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all places where you live. (32) It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on ­the ninth day (YOWM) of the month in the evening (EREB), from evening (EREB) until evening (EREB) you must observe your Sabbath.

“The second proof text for “sunset” days focuses on the last verse of that passage, “from EREB to EREB”, but not only does the sunset day interpretation not fit the context of the passage, it ASSUMES TO APPLY this reckoning beyond the referenced Day of Atonement. Just because this particular High Sabbath is to be observed from EREB to EREB, it does not necessarily follow that every Sabbath, much less every day, will be in such a pattern”.

Here though is why a sunset day does not fit the context of the passage: The EREB (dusk, after the sun sets) of the ninth day would be followed by the LAYIL (darkness) of the ninth day followed by the BOQER (dawn) of the ninth day, and humbling would be taking place on the YOWM (daylight) of the ninth day, not on the tenth day as instructed in the opening verse 27. Go back and reread that opening verse for yourself.

“On the other hand, with the days beginning at sunrise, the EREB of the ninth day comes after the sunset of the ninth day, and the instruction paraphrased reads, ‘fast from sunset on the 9^th, overnight, through the daylight of the 10^th, up until sunset on the 10^th’. This is totally in agreement with the rest of the passage as it makes sense to start abstaining from food on the night of the 9^th, thus entering into the daytime, the start of the 10^th on an empty stomach, and remaining so through to sunset…..This is a special instruction for one special day and can not be properly taken out of context. The passage actually provides a strong proof for the sunrise model”.

There are many other examples and explanations that David Pollina cites in his book that add credibility for a sunrise start of the day that are excellent points. So again, consider obtaining a copy of the book, "Reuniting the Covenant", before passing judgment on this subject, read his book. It can be ordered at: http://www.tushiyah.org/.  Then make your own decision as to when you should start your Sabbth observance.