Lunar Sabbath - Scriptural Timekeeping - Olive Branch Ministries

I believe that in this current season Yahweh is and has been calling forth the descendants of the exiled tribes of the Northern Kingdom, known in scripture as Israel, or the house of Ephraim. This was prophesied in Ezekiel chapter 37, the valley of the dry bones. We are coming forth from every nation, race and tongue, just as stated in Revelation 5:9 “and didst purchase unto Elohim with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation”. While this scenario is fulfillment of end time prophesy, and therefore a good thing, it does cause some apprehension. Let me explain, as Father calls us forth from what we know, He calls us into what we do not understand, much like He did Abram when He told him in Genesis 12:1 “… go to the land that I will show thee.” In short what Yahweh said was take what you have, and leave that which you have become familiar with go into that which you do not know. Later in the Brit Chadasha, we learn that this is the basis of walking out our faith, being able to let go of what we know, and move into what we do not understand, trusting only in Yahweh. This example can also be seen in Joshua when he led the children of Israel into the promise, their inheritance. Joshua stated “we have never been this way before, and I do not know which way to go.” In both of these cases Yahweh was doing the “new thing”, yet it could not readily be perceived by man. Why? Because as people we develop preconceived ideas and images of the way things should be based solely on our traditions and life experiences.

The “new thing” requires us to move past what we know and understand into a place of faith. A place where we can only rely on Yahweh, not our understanding of things. In Isaiah 55:8, Yahweh tells us that “My ways are not your ways, and My thoughts are not your thoughts”, but we still don’t get it. We still try to put Yahweh into the box of our understanding. The result is that we take that which we know into our journey’s and convince ourselves that is what Yahweh must have meant. Abram is a good example of this. He took Lot along with him on his journey and, he decided that his heir must be born of Hagar instead of Sarah as Yahweh told him, and so on. This same pattern of behavior can be seen in the children of Israel at Sinai. After all that they had seen and experienced, after Yahweh moving them out of what they knew, they still built a pagan altar at the foot of the mountain. Why? Because that’s what they had learned in Egypt. In short, when faced with something they did not understand, they reverted to what they knew. In addition, they convinced themselves that they were doing the right thing, after all that was the tradition. Again when Judea came out of exile from Babylon, they brought Babylon with them, because that’s what they came to learn and understand. In short they brought with them pagan traditions, justified them, and believed them to be true because that was their understanding. In other words, they relied on their understanding of the situation just as the children of Israel did at Sinai, and just as Abram did with Lot and Sarai. Obviously that was NOT what Yahweh wanted. He wanted them to rely on Him, move in faith, and not on traditions based only on current understanding.

I will now pose a question. If we are indeed being called out, then why do we think that we are any different than Abram, the children of Israel, or Judea? The answer is we are not. As Yahweh calls us forth, we still bring Egypt and Babylon with us. Remember we are being called forth from every nation, tongue and tribe, AND tradition into the “new thing”. Yahshua condemn the Pharisee’s not for what they knew, but rather for holding traditions of men equal the Word of Yahweh. Why should our behavior bring forth anything less today? It doesn’t, if in fact we believe Malachi 3:6 where Yahweh states “I am Yahweh, I change not”. That means what was wrong for Abram, the Children of Israel, Judea, and the Pharisees, is STILL wrong for us today. What does all of this have to do with the current situation of Yahweh calling us forth? I believe that there are at least two main scenarios at work to bring forth confusion in the body; 1) as we come forth from every nation, tribe and tongue, we bring along with us certain minds sets and beliefs based on the traditions of these nations, tribes , and tongues. In our journey of discovering who Yahweh is, and what Torah means, all too often our current mind sets and tradition become filters that we process the truth through. The product of this process is often a skewed version of the truth. In other words, we have an understanding of the truth intermingled with tradition based on what we have learned, rather what Yahweh says. At this point it is important to recall the words of the prophet Jeremiah who stated in 16:19 “surely we have inherited lies from our fore fathers.” If we have been inadvertently taught lies, inadvertently not intentionally, then why do we hang on to them as if they were the truth? Further more, why do we base our current view of the truth on tradition rather than on scripture? What we, as kingdom people, should do is, seek the truth for simply the truth sake instead seeking it to support our current bases and traditions. Consider this, what if things are not as you have become to believe that they are? What then? 2) When people enter into unknown areas, typically they will look for examples that match their understanding of things. In short landmarks. As we come into the Hebrew movement, most often the example that is followed has been set by our brothers in Judea. Let me say here that being Hebrew DOES NOT MEAN that you are Jewish. Remember Israel had 12 sons, not just one. The word “Jew” is derived directly from the word “Judah” denoting clanship to the tribe of Judah. On the other hand, being Hebrew collectively describes all the 12 tribes and the converts. The word Hebrew is defined directly as “one who has crossed over” and the first mention of this word in scripture is a description of Abraham. Abraham, NOT one of Israel’s sons. These types of examples become role models in our life, not necessarily because they are the truth, but rather because they can provide historical evidence of the way things have been done, and we has people can hang on to that, after all we have been taught to lead by example. The flaw is not in the methodology, but rather in what we choose to set as an example. Yahshua was given to be our example, Yahshua is haTorah, the living word, and therefore never contradicting Torah, but rather walking it out in its fullness. So why do we seek man rather than Yahweh as an example, a role model, because that’s in our nature, our flesh, and we must overcome if indeed we want to follow Yahweh instead of camping by the river. That was one of the big lessons on the Exodus trail, follow Yahweh, the pillar of fire, and the cloud of smoke, when He moves, you move, when He stays still, you be still. Yet we are destined to repeat our circumstances, until we learn from them, and as people we haven’t learned much trough the centuries. Just like the ancient people, we still desire a man king just like everyone else instead of allowing Yahweh to be our king, our example. Instead we accept things to be true just because the “Jews” have done that way for years and the result is that in many ways our behavior mirrors that of the institution of the church that we have persecuted.

In our journey for the truth, how much truth do you really want? Do you want to settle for someone else’s version of the truth, or do you desire what Yahweh say’s. If you desire for the later, then I challenge you to search the scriptures for your self, and not simply settle for traditions. With all this in mind it is important to understand that Yahweh’s word is progressive, and what we have learned in our past through traditions, and all the hurts are stepping stones along the path, not destinations. For example, even though Abraham did miss the mark with Lot and Sarah, he learned from his mistakes and learned to listen to Yahweh and the progressive Word, not his own understanding. This is illustrated in the redemption story of Isaac. Yahweh told Abraham to take Isaac, your only son and offer him as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Abraham was obedient. He built an altar and in the moment before killing Isaac, Yahweh spoke the progressive word, and substituted a ram. What if Abraham didn’t heed the progressive word? What if he would of done what we all have done when we have not heeded the progressive word of the Father as we have proceeded unswervingly along our journeys, stating “after all Yahweh told me to do it this way”. It is important to understand that Yahweh is unchanging, yet His word is alive and progressive. While we need to be obedient, we never need to quit listening for the progressive word along our journeys. So what does all of this mean to us now and what does it have to do with the current situation of the body? I believe that it is only by seeking the truth for the truths sake, instead of supporting our traditions, and not necessarily trying to mimic the Jews, but rather gleaning truth where it can be found, that we can overcome much of the confusion in the body of the Messiah in this season, and thereby work towards unity instead of so much persecution among the brothers.

One area of much confusion and contention in the body is that of time keeping. The argument over what calendar is valid has brought much division and woundedness into the body, brother has rose up against brother, father against son, and mothers against daughters. While all of this is the fulfillment of Yahshua’s words, it brings much confusion into the body. Yahweh is not the author of confusion, yet the search for the truth does have its cost. On the home page of this site, I state that “in the pages that follow, you may hear some things that you have never heard before”, such is the case now as I try to bring some clarity to the calendar issue through the aid of the Ruach, the Holy Spirit, and it is my prayer that some healing come to the body through this effort. I will state at this point that I believe that Yahweh’s calendar is not based on our current Gregorian calendar, the “traditional” week. I do however believe that Sabbath is the 7th day, and Yahweh tells us how to calculate time in his word, not in the tradition of men. I know that this is a very controversial topic, but one that I believe to be vital in this season. My intent is not to bring division, but rather understanding. In the text that follows, I will post my scriptural findings to three papers previously posted on different websites. I hold these three men as brothers, and it is not my intention to harm them, but rather I will post my findings and not my personal feelings, when they are correct, I say so, yet when they are in error, I post what the scripture state and will let you decide. I believe that as brothers, we should celebrate our commonness and study out our differences and I invite you to send me your comments to office@sonsofzadok.com.

Before we proceed, let me share part of my story. I graduated from seminary form SMU, was ordained as an elder in the Methodist church, where I was a pastor for many years. While in that denomination I believed that Sunday was the Sabbath day, because that’s what believed the scriptures stated. Father called me out of the institution of the church, and I started holding Saturday as Sabbath, because that’s what I believed to be true, because that’s what the Jews did and I believed the scripture to back that up. Through my own private studies of the word, I started to find in consistencies in that theology. I know believe that the 7th day is Sabbath, and the month is set by the sighting of the first sliver of the new moon. I will stipulate at this point that there may be a fullness of this time keeping in scriptures that as of yet I still do not see, but may be existent nonetheless. I started this journey believing that Sunday was Sabbath, then Saturday, and now the 7th day. This is a good example of the progressive word of Yahweh. Remember that these beliefs were not destinations, but rather stepping stones. I ask at this point that you proceed with prayer.

Tom Blair