About 'Lunar Sabbath'

I have finally found the time to read one of the books you had sent me, written by Troy Miller, where he lays out his theory about when God’s day begins. Besides, I browsed his website and read the materials posted there about how and why he celebrates God’s Sabbath.

At first I intended to give you as full and detailed analysis as possible of everything he writes in the book. However, from the first pages I found so many errors, distortions of the Word and plain insinuations on his part that it would take a book to analyze and disprove them all. I have not got the time for this, and it is not necessary. According to the laws of Logic, in order to make a correct conclusion one must have enough of necessary information from the correct premises (statements of facts). Therefore, I decided to limit my task to analyzing just a few facts in order to show you that Troy Miller is wrong (or deliberately deceitful) in the premises of his theory.

Before I began reading and testing his theory I asked Jesus to guide me into His truth, as I always do when I face controversial issues or opinions that disagree with a doctrine I have accepted earlier. Because it is not so important for me on which day to celebrate the Sabbath or when to count the beginning of a new day, as long as it is in accordance with His will. So I opened my mind and spirit to His guidance and put all my formerly accepted beliefs in this regard to a serious test.

I began to study chapter 1 of Genesis together with Troy Miller. What did I see in his writing? A fresh revelation into God’s truth? Alas, I saw a sad case of blindness (at best), or a deliberate juggling with facts and distortion of the meaning of God’s Word (at worst).

I am not saying that everything Troy writes is a lie. That would be too simple and naïve. When the devil wants to deceive a person, he uses the biblical truth, mixing in just a little lie. But this ‘a little’ changes and distorts the whole meaning of God’s word and can mislead the person who believes it. (As the proverbial spoonful of tar makes a barrel of honey inedible, so ‘a drop’ of lie mixed with God’s word can lead to a serious spiritual poisoning.) It is the tactics Satan used with Eve in Eden, to sow doubt in what God had said and why. And this same tactics brings him a rich harvest of deceived souls today.

I could simply tell you that I do not accept this theory of the Adventists, without any further deliberations, couldn’t I? Many do just that. But my goal is to help you and others (who are willing to heed) to see the falsity of this theory. That is why I am going to expose such devilish tricks in the ‘facts’ Troy Miller offers as proofs from the Bible.

First of all, Troy’s statement that the first day of Creation was the day of the moon conjunction (the invisible phase of the new moon) is a lie, because there was no moon, no sun and no stars in the Universe until day 4!

By the way, the phase of the moon, invisible to our eyes unaided by a telescope, lasts approximately 20 - 30 hours, sometimes as much as 36 hours. Depending on the time of conjunction of new moon and many other factors[1], the first faint crescent of the moon becomes visible no later than the evening of the third day! This means that, if this hypothetical theory were correct, the moon should have appeared in the sky on the second or third day of the week of Creation, not on the fourth day!

However, God did not make the moon, the sun and the stars on the first, the second or the third day, but on the fourth day of Creation! Just this one fact shows all the falsity of this theory of Troy Miller about the ‘lunar Sabbath’. If God indeed wanted us to keep His Sabbath by the moon phases, He would have done just that – make the moon, the sun and the stars all at once, right on the first day. But for some reason, He first made the light, and only three days later He made the lights. Have you ever considered why He did that? Perhaps it was for us to have the evidence proving His plan so that we should not fall for such demonic theories.

When God wants us to know His will, He makes it absolutely clear. Because He wanted us to keep the seventh day of week holy, He didn’t just say that He had sanctified it from creation. He Himself gave us an example of what to do (Gen.2:2-3). I hope you do not think that God had to rest after His works. And don’t you think He could have made everything in one moment? He who says the word, and it is done, - did not need six days to create all that exists. Nevertheless, He deliberately and purposefully did it, each day giving us the signs of His will, so that we would not be ensnared by the devil.

Moreover, if God wanted the seventh day to coincide with the moon phases, He would have made the moon cycle to last exactly 28 days. But it does not; it lasts about 29.5 days. Therefore, those who keep a ‘lunar Sabbath’ break the fourth commandment every month, because they ignore the 29^th and the 30^th days of each month as the days of the next seven-day period. Thus the first ‘lunar Sabbath’ of any month is not the seventh, but the 8^th or 9^th consecutive day! This fact also confirms that a so-called ‘lunar Sabbath’ has never been God’s will and plan.

Apparently, Troy Miller does not see any big sin in that he contradicts the obvious Commandment of God to work six days, but on the seventh day – to rest and dedicate our time to God. He simply insinuates that the ‘lunar Sabbath’ (not the seventh day) has been God’s will from the beginning. He doesn’t make this conclusion based on any serious biblical evidence. Instead, he proposes to consider as such some little mysteries of the Bible (for instance, a riddle: which of the seven days was the Sabbath during the siege of Jericho). Well, no matter which day was the Sabbath on that week (we cannot know it) it cannot change one of God’s Ten Commandments that He considered so important that He burned them out on the stone tablets with His own fiery finger!

Moses spoke by God’s inspiration (and wrote it down for our sake) that the mysteries of God belong to Him, but what He has revealed to us belongs to us and to our children. Is it right to pervert the obvious command, given to us in His Word for the sake of some false ‘revelations’ that contradict it? Can any true study of the Bible be done by means of adding to or taking away from its contents, or by distortion of its meaning? (I will get to the distortion of the meaning later.)

Let us also remember that in the book of Revelation Jesus advises us against seeking the ‘deep secrets’ (Rev.2:24, NIV), warning us about their satanic origin. Alas, the spirit of Jezebel – the spirit of false prophecy, confuses those who study the Bible with the major goal to penetrate the secrets of purely intellectual knowledge.

About distortions of meaning of the Bible’s words. I do not assert that Troy Miller perverts them deliberately. However, if he doesn’t do it consciously, how great is his blindness! Take for example his statement that the heaven, created by God in Gen.1:1 is the same heaven, spoken about in Gen.1:8; and that the earth in Gen.1:1 is the same as in Gen.1:10!

A spiritual babe should be able to see that in Gen.1:1 the Word speaks about creation of the Universe (the outer space, which we often call ‘heaven’ or ‘heavens’) and a planet called the Earth in a certain point of this space. Gen.1:8 clearly talks about creation of the lower layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, rich in oxygen, which separated “waters from waters” (the waters, which were covering the whole surface of the Earth from the stratospheric canopy of water vapor that enveloped it high above). And Gen.1:10 tells us that God ordered the waters covering the surface of the Earth to gather in one place (seas and oceans, including the underground ones). After that the dry land appeared! Is the dry land the same as the planet Earth? But we often call both by the same word ‘earth’. Moreover, other notions, such as field, soil, and ground – can also be expressed by this word ‘earth’! This doesn’t make them identical notions. As a linguist, you should be well aware of the polysemanticism[2] of words and not fall for such obvious falsifications and distortions!

Now a few words on when the day begins according to God’s plan. I will not go into discussion of how to translate the Hebrew word “ereb” and other words in different places in the Bible. We all know it (and I have already mentioned the polysemanticism of words, which needs to be taken into consideration). I will simply draw your attention to what God has shown in His Word.

How many times do we read this repeated phrase “the evening and the morning, day…” in chapter 1 of the book of Genesis? Six times, isn’t it? Do you really think that God inspired Moses to write down these words six times in one chapter without an important purpose? I see in this a clear indication that, according to His plan, a day (24 hours) begins with a dark period, after which a light period follows (called day-light period, or day). In this (like in everything else God does on a physical plane) I see His great wisdom and a clear parallel to the history of the spiritual development of humanity. Human history began with the ‘darkness’ of life in sin and self-will after the first transgression of man against God. The ‘sun of God’s Truth’ set, and soon the ‘night’ fell. The darkest time of the night is right before the sunrise. In the same way, in the history of humanity the night of Evil, which governs this world has been growing ever darker and has reached its pinnacle in our time. The sunrise of the New Day (the daylight period) will come when our Lord Jesus returns. Then the Day of His Rest will come – a thousand years of His rule on earth.

If the evidence of Gen.1 does not seem clear enough to you, do consider two parallel texts in Mark 1:21-34 (especially verse 32) and Luke 4:31-41. It is quite obvious from these two parallel texts that in the times of Jesus Jews knew perfectly well when one day ended (in this case, the Sabbath) and a new one began. It was the time of the sunset! It does not change from day to day, and has not changed since then! And no speculations about how he understands the meaning of the word ‘tomorrow’ (which is totally ungrounded, by the way) can persuade me that the Holy Scripture lies, but Mr. Troy Miller and Co. speak the truth!

I could go on analyzing many other texts, which Troy Miller tears out of their context, claiming that they prove his position on the beginning of God’s day. But, as I have said earlier, it would take too much time and space. The facts I have already discussed expose enough dishonesty of his ‘evidence’ and erroneousness of his ‘logic’.

There is, however, a very important issue, which I need to bring up: “Why is it happening?” And I have a ‘word’ (a message) from the Lord for you personally (and for other Adventists) in this regard. When I prayed about what to write in my answer for your benefit, the Lord gave me a text: John 5:39! Please, read and ponder on it before you continue to read my letter:

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me.”

This text expresses the core of your problem. You have been searching the Scriptures so diligently, trying to discover some hidden important knowledge, that you have lost sight of Jesus, though it is by His sacrifice that we all can receive salvation! And yet, the major goal of the Scriptures is to testify about Him!

Intellectual knowledge of all the secrets of the Bible cannot bring you salvation. You need to seek a close walk with the living Savior for that! He and He alone must be our main goal and the focus of our spiritual endeavors. May I remind you again the words of Paul, which I was moved to quote to you during your visit last winter: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1Cor.8:1). Think about it!

The reason why Troy Miller and others swallow the bait of such satanic false theories is their intellectual pride, which makes them seek after ‘deep secrets’. They want to be among the ‘initiated’ ones, among those who have grasped something that remains a mystery to all outside their ‘circle’.

Another problem of most Adventists (though I must say, they are not alone in this) is their religious pride and sectarian elitism. Because, truly, you do not search for good things you could learn from believers in other denominations. If you make contacts with others, it is with the sole purpose to recruit new followers for your church organization. You do not think you could learn anything spiritually good from non-Adventists! Admitting that, theoretically, you could be mistaken, you do not seek revelation-knowledge outside of your own circle of authors and leaders. Thus you prove that you do not consider other believers equal to yourselves in a spiritual sense. By this you demonstrate your sectarian arrogance.

This is much more serious than you can think. First of all, with such an attitude you all remain outside the major stream of work of the Holy Spirit. For, wherever arrogance and exclusivism gain ground, from there the Holy Spirit is driven away. Secondly, by this you show lack of God’s love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ. I am speaking about those of you who truly seek Christ. Unfortunately, the majority are the followers of Adventism, not of Christ!

So how then, are you different from the Orthodox or Catholic believers, who worship images, dead people’s bones and their prelates? You too, worship your own dead (Ellen White has become an idol you worship) and living Adventist leaders! And you follow them instead of Christ. The fact that you have believed such obvious instances of juggling and perversion of the Word to be true proves that you are blinded yourself. When a blind man leads the blind they are all doomed to fall into the pit! (Mt.15:14.)

One more important point regarding the issue of God’s Sabbath. You admitted it yourself that the Jews were keeping the true Sabbath in times of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles confirms that this knowledge was not lost in the 1st century AD. The apostles taught new believers from gentile nations to keep the true Sabbath. This can be easily verified by a diligent and unbiased study of the New Testament texts.[3] In chapter 7 of the book Our Sabbath Rest (by MM) you will also find recorded the results of an in-depth study of historical documents, which prove that this knowledge has never been lost in Christianity. Even during times of terrible persecution this knowledge was passed on to others and preserved by groups of true believers in different countries who kept the true Sabbath. Thus the knowledge got preserved till the time of Reformation, when God began a gradual restoration of Christ’s true teaching (which has reached its final phase in our times).

As for the changes of the Jewish calendar, made by a Jewish patriarch Hillel II in the 4^th century, they did not concern the Sabbath. You can read about it in the book by MM God’s Calendar Revealed to Man. If you would like to read this book, I can send you a copy in English, for it is not translated into Russian. The only problem is that you will not want to read it, just as you have not read any of the MM translations I gave you per your request. And all because of your religious sectarian pride! (Why read, since neither Malcolm, nor we are Adventists!!!)

Forgive me for mentioning this, but it is for your own good: When you visited me last winter, you several times repeated that it was obvious to you that my (our) ministry is led by God’s Spirit. But have you ever given a thought to the fact that the Lord showed me to translate the publications of MM, not any of the Adventist or other Christian writers? I have read many other Christian writers, and I have learned a lot from their books in a practical way. However, the Lord called me to translate MM publications, and He has been continuously guiding me in this work, showing me which books and in what order to translate. And the book Our Sabbath Rest was among the first ones I was prompted to translate. And this (as the Holy Spirit’s guidance) is for me a most important confirmation of the fact that the books of MM contain the true knowledge about God’s Sabbath.

By the way, I had a dream in 2005 in which God told me to teach others about the Sabbath as about something well known to me. Many believers in the Sunday-keeping sector do not have this understanding revealed to them yet. Those of them who would be willing to learn were shown as a few girls in a classroom where I was a teacher.

As for the Adventist church, all the dreams God has given me about it indicate worthless ‘works of flesh’, lack of spirituality, spiritual nakedness and the betrayal of Jesus for the sake of following their human idols.

The churches of the Sabbatarian sector do not need a new revelation about God’s true Sabbath or the beginning of God’s day. They have this knowledge, which other (so-called Spirit-led) churches do not have. The churches of the Sabbatarian sector today need to reject their sectarian arrogance and elitism, to embrace their brothers and sisters in Christ from the other sector with love and without prejudice, to accept from them what their brethren have learned best (to follow the guidance of God through the gifts of the Spirit) and to teach them about keeping God’s true Sabbath. (In this regard, you can find very useful another book of MM: Understanding the Mind of God - A Message to Sabbatarians.)

But most of all, all churches and all Christians need to seek a personal close relationship with Jesus, showing Him love not in words only, but in everyday living, trying to be faithful to Him, seeking to do His will, not that of the human leaders of their church organizations.

Do not ask me, ‘how’. Just trust me that the Lord knows the way to bring to salvation everyone who is deceived, as long as they are ready to humble their pride, to love sincerely and to learn from God. But those who are not willing to be humbled and learn from God will reject Him and His salvation. This is a disaster I pray we will all escape, including you and other Adventist believers.

Footnotes

1.		For a detailed explanation, please refer to *God’s Calendar Revealed to Man* from MM, chapter 2.
2.		Multiple meanings
3.		See the book *Our Sabbath Rest* for more details on the history of the Sabbath in this period.