I would also like to add:
The lack of evidence it did not change, is evidence that the day is wrong arguement
and
The if you beleive with out proof your are lacking in faith arguement.
Should be avoided.
Statements like these are logic fallacies that serve only to insult the intelligence of proponents of the opposite veiw in an attempt to bring out an illicit response. Please respect each other.
Here is one proponent of a lost lunar Sabbath argument.
This is not my argument.
The Argument.
Historical evidence shows that by far the majority of ancient calendars began their year in the spring, at or near the time of the spring (vernal) equinox. The Israelites also used a luni-solar calendar and began their year in the spring. Both their annual feasts and the seventh-day Sabbath were calculated by the lunar-solar calendar that had been established by the Creator at the very beginning of the world.
The Lunar Sabbath in Scripture
The Creator's calendar is a vitally important tool for finding the true seventh-day Sabbath which contains the "seal of G-d." Sometimes called the mark of G-d, it is, more accurately, the seal of G-d: one's pledge of loyalty to the Creator. Scripture reveals that at Creation, both the sun and the moon were given to provide light as well as the means for marking the passage of time. The modern solar calendar does not use the moon for keeping time. Nor does the Hindu or the Muslim lunar calendar use the sun. Only the ancient lunar-solar calendar meets the criteria of using both the sun and the moon in its system of time-keeping.
Many people who keep the feast days listed in Leviticus 23 still observe a Saturday sabbath. They believe that the lunar-solar calendar was used only for the yearly feasts, but that Saturday of the modern solar calendar has come down in a continuous weekly cycle ever since Creation. But this is two different methods of time-keeping! Nowhere in Scripture are two separate and distinct systems of time-keeping mentioned. At Creation, one calendar was established and it required the use of both the sun and the moon.
And . . . [G-d] 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: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And . . . [G-d] made two great lights; . . . [And He] set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:14-18, KJV.)
Right in this passage, in the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, the principle is established that the two great lights were to be used for marking the time for worship and as a sign, or mark of loyalty to the Creator. The word translated "signs" comes from the Hebrew word ôwth, which means a sign or mark. "This word represents something by which a person or group is characteristically marked. . . . The word means 'sign' as a reminder of one's duty." (See #226, The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words.)
The Sabbath is the sign by which the Creator's people are marked and set apart as different from all others on earth. The Hebrew word that is translated "seasons" is even more revealing. It is the word mo'ed. It is the use of this word that reveals the true Sabbath of Creation is a lunar Sabbath. Mo'ed is the word used specifically to refer to the annual feasts.
Since the Jewish festivals occurred at regular intervals, this word becomes closely identified with them . . . Mo'ed is used in a broad sense for all religious assemblies. It was closely associated with the tabernacle itself . . . [G-d] met Israel there at specific times for the purpose of revealing His will. It is a common term for the worshiping assembly of . . . [G-d] people. (See #4150, "Lexical Aids to the Old Testament," Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, KJV.)
Far from presenting two different systems of time-keeping, Scripture presents only one: the lunar-solar calendar by which the annual feasts as well as the seventh-day Sabbath, a lunar Sabbath, are to be calculated. Leviticus 23 is a listing of the holy feasts of G-d. From the Spring Anniversaries to the Fall Feasts, Leviticus 23 delineates them all out. But the very first "feast" listed is the weekly feast: the seventh-day Sabbath.
And . . . [G-d] spoke unto Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of . . . [G-d], which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of . . . [G-d] in all your dwellings." (Leviticus 23:1-3)
From there, G-d went on to list the annual feasts (or mo'edim) but the very first feast He gave was the seventh-day Sabbath.
Lunar Sabbath: A holy day of rest, it is the seventh and last day of each week in a lunation. The weekly cycle restarts with the observation of the first visible crescent moon. Four complete weeks follow New Moon Day.
Psalm 104:19 is yet another witness from Scripture that the seventh-day Sabbath is to be calculated by the moon: "He appointed [created] the moon for seasons." The word here translated "seasons" is, again, mo'edim. The Biblical record is consistent: there is only one method of time-keeping presented in scripture. That is the lunar-solar calendar established by G-d Himself at Creation. This calendar establishes all of the times appointed for worship, the mo'edim. The only Sabbath in scripture is a lunar Sabbath.
The Lunar-Solar Calendar of Scripture
The lunar-solar calendar begins each month with the observance of the first visible crescent of the moon in the western sky after sunset. The very next day is called New Moon Day and it is numbered as the first of the month. (For use of the term "New Moon" in Scripture, see: I Samuel 20:5, 18 & 24; 2 Kings 4:23; Psalm 81:3; Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:1; and Amos 8:5.)
On the ancient calendar, the seventh-day Sabbath always falls on the same dates of every month. This is a feature of the lunar-solar calendar and the true lunar Sabbath.
On the Biblical lunar-solar calendar, each lunation (or lunar month) always begins with a New Moon day, which is in a class of worship day all by itself. Six work days follow on the second through seventh of the month. The seventh-day Sabbath always falls on the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd and the 29th of every lunar month. This is the reason it is called a lunar Sabbath.
Scripture itself supports this calendar configuration. Every time the seventh-day Sabbath is given a numbered date in the Bible, it always falls on the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd or the 29th of the month. Either the actual date itself is assigned or contextual dates and other details consistently allow for that extrapolation. For example, the story of the Exodus from Egypt contains specific dates and details for three months in a row, all of which have the seventh-day Sabbath falling on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th for each month! These calendar details were confirmed 40 years later at the time of Joshua and again at the crucifixion of the Saviour on Passover.
As mentioned previously, the lunar year is shorter than the solar year and without some means of anchoring the lunar months to the solar year, the seasons would float through the calendar. G-d's method of tying the lunar year to the longer solar year was a beautiful reminder that all their needs were provided for by the loving Creator. Instead of using the spring (or vernal) equinox, the Israelites were to use the ripened barley harvest. G-d sent the "early rain" in the fall for the seed to germinate, and then the "latter rain" was sent in the last month to bring the grain to full maturity. Without rain, there would be no harvest. Thus, the minds of the people were directed to the loving care of their Maker and their hearts filled with gratitude as they recognized His tender care for them.
The true New Year could not begin until after the old solar year had finished. Thus, every two to three years, an extra thirteenth month was intercalated into the year. This was called an embolismic year, because an entire additional month was added to bring the lunations back into alignment with the seasons. Ezekiel provides scriptural proof for the thirteenth month used in embolismic years.
The lunar-solar calendar of Creation is the most accurate method of time-keeping. It is elegant, precise. It is divinely designed time-keeping. Jeremiah 31:35 refers to G-d giving the "ordinances" (or laws) of the moon. The ordinances of divine time-keeping are so simple that the shepherd on the hillside can be as accurate by observation, as the astronomer in his observatory is by calculation. Even the count to Pentecost, which has long confused people because the two specifics of the count seem contradictory, can be accurately figured only by using the lunar-solar calendar.
Jews and the Lunar Sabbath
While it is true that the Jews today worship on a Saturday sabbath, this does not prove that it is the true Sabbath. They did not always worship on the Saturday sabbath. Jewish scholars are very clear that the original method of calendation was different from the modern calendar and that under intense persecution during the fourth century A.D., the Jews gave up their original lunar-solar calendar with its lunar Sabbath. Declaring the new month by observation of the new moon, and the new year by the arrival of spring, can only be done by the Sanhedrin. In the time of Hillell II [4th century C.E.], the last President of the Sanhedrin, the Romans prohibited this practice. Hillel II was therefore forced to institute his fixed calendar, thus in effect giving the Sanhedrin's advance approval to the calendars of all future years. ("The Jewish Calendar and Holidays (incl. Sabbath)": The Jewish Calendar; Changing the Calendar,
www.torah.org, emphasis supplied.)
Once the ancient lunar-solar calendar had been set aside, knowledge of the true lunar Sabbath was lost with the acceptance of the pagan Julian calendar.
Lunar Sabbath Lost
These stone fragments of an early Julian calendar clearly show an eight-day week. The Israelites did not use the Julian calendar for finding the seventh-day Sabbath. They used the original lunar-solar calendar of Creation to find the lunar Sabbath.
The calendar of the Roman Republic, like that of the Hebrew calendar, was also a lunar-solar calendar. In 45-46 B.C., Julius Cæsar reformed the original Roman calendar and, with the help of an Alexandrian astronomer, Sosigenes, created a new solar calendar with continuously cycling weeks: the Julian calendar. While the Julian calendar was in use at the time of the Messiah, the Israelites did not use it as the early Julian week was eight days long! The Israelites were still using their original lunar solar calendar and worshipping on the seventh day of its week.
From that time, until the fourth century, Israelites and apostolic Christians continued to use the Biblical calendar for their religious observances. With the rising power of the paganized Christians in Rome, this led to a centuries long battle over when to remember the death and resurrection of the Saviour. The Christians in Rome wished to celebrate the Messiah's resurrection on a day dedicated to the pagan goddess Easter. Apostolic Christians, on the other hand, wished to commemorate Yeshuas death on the original Passover.
The point of contention appeared deceptively simple: Passover versus Easter. The issues at stake, however, were immense. The only way to determine when Passover occurs is to use the Biblical luni-solar calendar, for only by observing the moon can one count to the 14th day following the first visible crescent. Because the seventh-day Sabbath was also calculated from the first visible crescent, a ruling in favor of Easter being observed on a Julian date would also affect the seventh-day Sabbath. (See Biblical Calendar Outlawed: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea.)
Calendars calculate time and at the Council of Nicæa it was decided to set aside Jewish calculation and adopt the pagan Julian calendar. This effectively destroyed knowledge of the lunar Sabbath and substituted the pagan Saturday Sabbath in its place. Jewish scholars admit this fact, too.
In a colorful description of the Council of Nicæa, Jewish scholar Heinrich Graetz wrote:
At the Council of Nice [sic] the last thread was snapped which connected Christianity to its parent stock. The festival of Easter had up till now been celebrated for the most part at the same time as the Jewish Passover, and indeed upon the days calculated and fixed by the Synhedrion [Sanhedrin] in Judæa for its celebration; but in future its observance was to be rendered altogether independent of the Jewish calendar . . . . (History of the Jews, published by the Jewish Publication Society of America, 1893, Vol. II, see pp. 563-564.)
The Council of Nicæa had the most profound, far reaching effect upon the truth of the lunar Sabbath. To this day Catholic scholars base the authority of the Catholic Church on this act of changing the Sabbath from the lunar Sabbath of the lunar-solar calendar to Sunday on the continuously cycling Julian week. The pagan Julian calendar, legislated into place, an entire counterfeit system of religion. Thus the true lunar Sabbath was buried under centuries of tradition and the assumption that the modern week has cycled continuously ever since Creation.
Repair the Breach: Restore the Lunar Sabbath
Isaiah 58 contains a beautiful prophecy of the work to be performed by the final generation. "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." (Isaiah 58:12)
The three angels' messages of Revelation 14 contain a call to worship on the true lunar Sabbath of Scripture.
This is the work of those who have pledged their allegiance to the Creator by worshipping Him on His true holy day, the lunar Sabbath. To repair the hole made in G-d's law, to clear away the rubbish of error and tradition, accumulated from centuries of assumption, is the great work committed to the people of the final generation. Revelation contains a three-fold warning, calling all to "Fear . . . [G-d], and give glory to him . . . and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (See Revelation 14:6-10.)
This subject is of the utmost importance to all now living. The true Sabbath is the mark of loyalty that distinguishes those who are willing to obey from those who cling to tradition and assumption. All should study the subject of the lunar Sabbath, the facts of calendar history that relate to the lunar Sabbath, and pertinent passages from the Bible. The Battle of Armageddon, like everything else in the long-running war between G-d and Lucifer, is fought on the battlefield of worship.
All who desire to honor their Creator will choose to worship Him on the day that He has blessed and set aside: the seventh day of the week on the lunar-solar calendar, the true lunar Sabbath.
