Few people notice accurately the chiastic structure
found in Bereishit 1:14-19.
I will use color to show what that structure is.
The structure will reveal what phrases go together.
14 And Elohim
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 Elohim
made two great lights;
the
greater light to rule the day, and
the lesser light to rule the night:
he made the stars also.
17 And
Elohim set them in the
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over
the night, and
to divide the light from the darkness:
and
Elohim saw that it was
good.
19 And the evening and the
morning were the fourth day.
Notice how the colors go together:
The
color red shows that days and years are solar
events: spring is like morning, summer daylight,
fall evening, and winter night
The
color blue shows that 'signs' (Otot)
and 'seasons' (moedim, appointed times) are lunar events;
The
color green shows that days and nights are divided
by two or three stars, according to the law
of two or three witnesses.
That is, when two or three
witnesses confirm the sighting of two or three stars
following sunset, it is the official onset of a
new day. This is relevent
in sighting the new moon crescents because often
when seen in the erev
concluding the 30th day of the previous month, the
crescent will be seen either before or after the
sighting of three stars. If before, the end of day
1 of new month is being witnessed and the previous
month was but 29 days. If after three stars, it
is the beginning of the first day of the coming
month and the previous month had 30 days.
Recall that there is a structure
called chiasm in the verses. This
is reminiscent of when YHWH confronted Adam and
Eve in the Garden after their transgression. Firts
He addressed Adam, who promptly blamed Eve; then
Eve in turn blamed the serpent. That order is 1,
2, 3, or A, B, C or any other way one cares to label
it. Above we chose Green, Blue, Red.
When YHWH pronounced judgments, He reversed the
order and addressed the serpent, then the woman,
then the man. 3, 2, 1, or C, B, A. We see such a pattern above that starts
out green, blue, red; then it is reversed to red,
blue, green in verses 16 and 18. The brown phrases
go together also, but the example is simplified
to show the STRUCTURE underlying the text.
The next point is that Yeshua
has established for us a most important principle
of exegesis, one that he himself uses to get his
understanding the Scriptures.
Yochanan 10:34 34 Yeshua answered them, "Is it
not written in your Torah, 'I said You
are Elohim'? 35 If he called them Elohim
to whom the word of Elohim
came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
The Scriptures cannot be
broken is the prinicple, and along with other principles such as the law
of two or three witnesses that is used to
determine the truth, these are used to develop a
correct understanding of what scripture is teaching
us.
This principle is based on
the belief that while many men wrote the Scriptures,
including the scriptures of haBrit
haChadasha, it is
none other than haRuach haKodesh (the
Holy Spirit) who has authored the entirety
of the Scriptures. This is the principle of the
divine inspiration of the Scriptures. These
principles cannot be violated in the interpretations
people are want to give; doing so leads to error,
bad doctrine, and false teaching.
Now that we know the Scriptures
cannot be broken, let's take a look at
Ps. 104:19 He made the moon for moedim,
the sun knows its going
down.
This verse confirms the the
lesser light of Genesis 1:14, 16, and 18 is the
moon, and that it has a role in determining moedim
(appointed times).
The question for us now becomes,
"Well, what are the appointed times?"
Scripture gives us the answer for this in Leviticus,
chapter 23.
Vayiqra 23:1 And YHWH spake to Moshe, saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel,
and say to them, concerning the moedim
of YHWH, which you shall proclaim to be set-apart
assemblies, even these are My moedim. 3 Six days
shall work be done: but the day of the seven is
a Sabbaths of rest, a called out set-apart assembly;
you shall do no work therein :
it is sabbath unto YHWH
in all your sabbathings. 4 These are the moedim
of YHWH, even set-apart assemblies, which you shall
proclaim in their moedim.
Here we see that Sabbath is
referred to as the first in the list of appointed
times, of which Genesis tells us are determined
by the lesser light, the moon, and which Ps. 104:19
confrims; and the Scriptures
cannot be broken. Shabbat is a moed.
What about 'signs'? We now turn to the book of Exodus.
Shemot 31:13 Speak you also to the sons
of Israel,
saying, "Awmein My
sabbaths shall you observe: for it is a sign between
Me and you throughout your generations; that
you may know that I am YHWH who does sanctify you."
14 You shall observe Sabbath therefore; for it is
holy to you: every one that defiles it shall surely
be put to death: for whosoever does 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 a sabbath of rest, holy to YHWH: whosoever
does any work in day of the sabbath,
he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the
sons of Israel
shall keep sabbath, to
observe sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual
covenant 17 It is a sign between me and the sons
of Israel
forever: for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth,
and on the day of the seven he rested, and was refreshed."
Here in this very literal
translation it is seen that not only is Sabbath
an appointed time (moed)
but it is also a sign (Ot).
Signs and Appointed
times are rule by the moon as we have
previously seen. Shabbat is both an OT and a
MOED according to the Scriptures that cannot
be broken. One thing is certain, is that the Sabbath
of tradition is not ruled by the moon.
Without saying how to count,
this apologetic response provides with the necessity
of counting according to the Scriptures and it is
clear, the traditional timekeeping has made the
commandment of YHWH of none effect.
Matthew 15:5 But
you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by
whatsoever you mightest
be profited by me; 6 And
honor not his father or his mother, he shall be
free. Thus you have made the commandment of Elohim
of none effect by your tradition
And the Scriptures cannot
be broken.