What is New Moon Day? Why is it significant? What is its relevance? All of these are questions that you might be asking yourself upon reading the title. You may also be asking yourself, why you should care. In this post I will attempt to answer these questions and show how New Moon Day can be of a great blessing and assistance in our lives.

What are New Moon Days?

Most people have never heard of the observance of New Moon days. You may vaguely know about the lunar cycle. You may look to the skies when everybody else on the road is driving like crazy people checking for a full moon, but most people are not keyed in enough to this timepiece that YHWH has given to us to help us meet His appointed times.

First of all, on the fourth day YHWH appointed the Sun and the Moon as lights to rule, or dominate, the day and night respectively.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Genesis 1: 14-16

There are some really cool things that these verses unearth. Especially when you delve deeper into the oldest texts and get closer to the original language in which they were written.

Let’s explore verse fourteen in the Hebrew/English Interlinear. Something that we can do courtesy of Biblehub.com .

The link in the paragraph above will take you to the interlinear translation of verse 14. A very interesting word in the Hebrew comes to us as simply “seasons” in the English. The Hebrew word is Moed, or in plural Moedim. What does this word mean?

moed: appointed time, place, or meeting Original Word: מוֹעֵד
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: moed
Phonetic Spelling: (mo-ade’)
Definition: appointed time, place, or meeting

Strong’s Concordance as cited through Biblehub.com

There’s an interesting recognition that follows the realization that the word for appointed times comes to us in the plural. Well, there are two things that we recognize that follow this revelation actually. The first is that the sun and the moon were given to us to help us find our appointed meeting times with YHWH. Secondly, there is more than one appointed time, or Shabbat.

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths [plural] ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

Exodus 30:13

3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths [plural]: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:3

31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths [plural], in the NEW MOONS, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord:

1 Chronicles 23:31

This last verse is a good one denoting Sabbaths because it mentions all three kinds of Sabbaths. The sabbaths are the weekly sabbaths. The set feasts are the annual sabbaths or high holy days of YHWH. The New Moons are the moonly sabbaths.

Wait! What? The New Moon Day is a Sabbath? It sure is!

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 [weekly] sabbath it shall be opened, and in the DAY of the NEW MOON it shall be opened.

Ezekiel 46:1

3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the Lord in the [weekly] sabbaths and in the NEW MOONS.

Ezekiel 46:3

These two verses in Ezekiel clearly equate New Moon Days as Sabbaths. If that is not enough, here is also an additional independent witness from another prophet, Amos

5 Saying, When will the NEW MOON be gone, that we may sell corn [buy and sell]? and the [weekly] sabbath, that we may set forth wheat [buy and sell], making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

Amos 8:5

Even the wicked merchants of Amos’ time knew that they should not pursue business on the weekly Sabbath or the New Moon Days. Why? For the cause that they were both Sabbaths.

What Happened on the First New Moon Day?

Since the creation week is both prophetic and represented in the first week of every moon cycle, those first few verses before the account of day one activities represent the actions of God on New Moon Day. Let’s examine them.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1: 1 – 2

There is an interesting thing that happens when you look into the Hebrew word that comes to us in our Bible as “created.” It means both to literally create and to choose.

bara’: choose

Original Word: בָּרָא
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: bara’
Phonetic Spelling: (baw-raw’)
Definition: to shape, create

Strong’s concordance through Biblehub.com

So, on this New Moon Day God chose or organized the creation that would proceed on the seven days thereafter. How can we discern this? From the wording at the end of verse 2 which actually has a double meaning. The Spirit of God moved upon the waters. The mind and will of God moved on this day, and organized or, in other words, chose the creation. Also, the mind and will of God moved upon the face of the waters. Symbolically, waters represent people. So, a counsel was held and God’s mind and will was revealed to the intelligences that He had organized.

We find this organization recorded, literally, in the Book of Abraham, in both of the preceding aspects. This agreement between the Book of Abraham and the Bible, as we have it, is a proof of its divine origin and inspiration. Let’s take a look at it.

1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.

Abraham 4: 1

Being a modalist, I attribute the plurality of God’s referenced here to the royal plural as opposed to actually denoting an actual plurality of deities. Here is a resource from a friend who has done some work on defining the majestic plural. The language of the first sentence actually makes it a royal plural as well. There is a singular reference to “the Lord” followed by the plural “let us go down.” This same pattern is followed in the next verse and the connection of the singular reference to “Spirit” with the plural of “Gods” is an even stronger showing of the majestic plural pattern.

2 And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.

Abraham 4:2

This is classic majestic plural construction. It should also be noted that the Father and the Son are both different modes of the same God and so this is a reference to the multiple personages that constitute God. This truth is born out in the following verses with regards to the nature of God.

For the Law was given after a carnal commandment, to the administration of death; but the gospel was after the power of an endless life through Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.

Inspired Version, John 1:18

This verse touches on a couple of truths when properly understood. The first is one I won’t go into much right now, but will revisit later. The Law of Moses and Torah are not the same. Here it is pointed out by speaking of a Law of Carnal Commandments (Law of Moses) that administers death (as primarily the two daily lambs) juxtaposed to a gospel (Torah w/ atonement) that leads to life eternal.

The second I will elaborate more on. Let’s begin by looking into the definition of the word bosom.

4. The breast, as inclosing the heart; or the interior of the breast, considered as the seat of the passions.

1828 Websters Dictionary

As you can see one of the definitions of the word bosom is the chest cavity which contains the heart and lungs.

The heart, when thinking like a Hebrew, is the seat of thought. This indicates that the Son was in the mind of God from before the foundations of the world. When one bears this in mind it provides a whole new level of meaning to John 1:1-2

1 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God,

2 Which was in the beginning with God

John 1:1-2

This now equates the personages of the Father and the Son and the mind which is the will of God (of which Torah is the written manifestation), which is the Holy Spirit (or Spirit of Revelation). These three constitute the one matchless, supreme being which is from all eternity to all eternity, and created all things. We find this backed up in the Book of Mormon.

1 And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

2 And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—

3 The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—

4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

5 And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.

Mosiah 15:1-5

And in Lectures on Faith.

2 There are two personages [exterior appearance] who constitute the great, matchless, governing and supreme power over all things—by whom all things were created and made, that are created and made, whether visible or invisible: whether in heaven, on earth, or in the earth, under the earth, or throughout the immensity of space—They are the Father and the Son: The Father being a personage [exterior appearance] of spirit, glory and power: possessing all perfection and fulness: The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage [exterior appearance] of tabernacle, made, or fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and likeness of man, or, rather, man was formed after his likeness, and in his image;—he is also the express image and likeness of the personage [exterior appearance] of the Father: possessing all the fulness of the Father, or, the same fulness with the Father; being begotten of him, and was ordained from before the foundation of the world to be a propitiation [appeasing] for the sins of all those who should believe on his name, and is called the Son because of the flesh—and descended in suffering below that which man can suffer, or, in other words, suffered greater sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be. But notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God, and remained without sin: Showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin. And also, that by him a righteous judgment might come upon all flesh, and that all who walk not in the law of God, may justly be condemned by the law, and have no excuse for their sins. And he being the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fulness of the glory of the Father—possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the Father and the Son, and these three are one, or in other words, these three constitute the great, matchless, governing and supreme power over all things: by whom all things were created and made, that were created and made: and these three constitute the Godhead, and are one: The Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power and fulness: Filling all in all—the Son being filled with the fulness of the Mind, glory and power, or, in other words, the Spirit, glory and power of the Father—possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom: sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father—a Mediator for man—being filled with the fulness of the Mind of the Father, or, in other words, the Spirit of the Father: which Spirit is shed forth upon all who believe on his name and keep his commandments: and all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all: being filled with the fulness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.

Lectures on Faith 5:2

With the nature of our Creator being touched upon, let us now return to the subject of the organizing that occurred on the first New Moon Day. This organization is mentioned in the Inspired version of the Bible in Genesis 2:5. This points to the great truth that all things were created spiritually before they were created physically.

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air;

Inspired version, Genesis 2:5

What we see in the bolded portion is that all things were created spiritually before they were created physically. What I am putting forward is that the Bible does describe the spiritual creation, or in other words, organization and choosing, that occurred on the NEW MOON DAY quite accurately.

All things were planned, or created spiritually, on New Moon Day, including the appointment of the Sun and Moon as markers of God’s appointed times or Sabbaths and the appointment of the Sabbath as the seventh day after the New Moon Day, thus fixing for all of time the eighth, fifteenth, twenty-second, and twenty-ninth days of the lunar cycle as weekly sabbaths to be observed religiously as a sign that we are God’s people.

12 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths [plural] ye shall keep: for it [keeping sabbaths] is a sign between me and you throughout your generations [believers throughout time]; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy [set apart] unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest [being with YHWH], holy [set apart] to the Lord [YHWH]: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations [believers throughout time], for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

Exodus 31: 12 – 17

Some of the definitions of generation actually indicate a family of believers.

5. A family; a race.

6. Progeny; offspring.

1828 Webster’s Dictionary

in the mindset of the Hebrew Progeny and offspring are not just children but also followers. In support of this:

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:44

Was Yeshua stating that the Pharisees are physically descended from Satan? No. He is stating that follow Satan and therefore, as his followers, are his children.

I will now draw particular attention to the plurality of Sabbaths mentioned in Exodus chapter 31 verse 13. This is because there are weekly, monthly, and annual sabbaths on YHWH’s calendar. Among these are the New Moon Day each Lunar Cycle, the High Holidays, and the weekly Sabbath.

The council wherein God reveals His mind and will to the intelligences that He has organized that is shown in Genesis 1: 2 is also recorded in the Book of Abraham.

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

Abraham 3: 22 – 28

Note that the intelligences, or Spirits, are organized not created, which is actually an acceptable variation on the Hebrew word bara’ which is the word used to denote creation.

bara’: choose

Original Word: בָּרָא
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: bara’
Phonetic Spelling: (baw-raw’)
Definition: to shape, create

Strong’s Concordance Hebrew: 1254 as referenced through Biblehub,com

Another witness exists to this truth and that can be found in the Doctrine and Covenants.

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

Doctrine and Covenants 93: 29

The intelligences, or Spirits, of men were not created or birthed but rather organized and given agency, by teaching them right from wrong, so that they could choose between becoming the sons of God or the followers of Satan.

31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light [Torah].

32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light [Torah] is under condemnation.

Doctrine and Covenants 93: 31 – 32

If you want some information regarding the connection between light and Torah, you can find it here.

All of these witnesses point to what occurred on the first New Moon Day.

How Do We Observe This Day?

As has been established earlier in this post, The New Moon Day is the moonly Sabbath and should be observed as a Sabbath. What is YeHoVaH’s statement regarding how we are to observe Sabbaths?

14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy [set apart] unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work [for gain] therein, that soul shall be cut off from among His [YHWH’s] people.

15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy [set apart] to the Lord [YHWH]: whosoever doeth any work [for gain] in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations [believers throughout time], for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

Exodus 31: 14 – 17

Do no servile work on this day, though the preparation of meals is acceptable.

13 And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.

Doctrine and Covenants 59: 13

Torah backs up this truth with regards to being allowed to cook and prepare our meals on the Sabbath.

16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

Exodus 12:16

Also the people baked unleavened bread on the Sabbath.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

Exodus 12:39

On top of these scripturally recorded facts there is no scripture in all of Torah that expressly forbids cooking. The forbidding of cooking among the supposedly Torah adherent is due to their interpretation of scripture, which we can safely be disregarded because this interpretation ignores scripturally recorded facts that disprove it.

For more information on The New Moon and the Luni-Solar Calendar go here.

What we learn from how God observed the first New Moon Day is that it is a day that we can approach the throne of God with confidence and receive our marching instructions for the upcoming moonth. I can testify to a great deal more clarity in my life when I take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I encourage each of you who reads this post to observe New Moon Day and put this idea to the test (see Acts 17). Let me know how it works for you. It is my sincerest desire to improve people’s relationships with God through the observance of His ancient and eternal ways. Let faith abound as evidenced by our works.