A New Moon in Scripture is when the light of the moon appears for the first time after having gone dark. This "first light" of the moon usually occurs 1-3 days after the scientific New Moon/dark moon conjunction.
At least in the United States, the first light of the moon appears near the western horizon about 15 minutes after sundown. The exact day it appears can be guessed at but it takes an observation of the sky to confirm its appearance. Something that the people of Yahuah of old would have been able to do without the reliance of the internet.
In my previous understanding, I often found myself questioning and investigating how I can sight the covered and dark moon with the naked eye. To determine the beginning of a new month, I had to rely on information from the internet. While I could determine the approximate time of the month looking at the moon, I never had a means of determining the precise moment of the New Moon's arrival without the aid of the internet. Our forefathers did not have the internet for their festival observances so how did they know when a New Month began?
I had tried several times to sight the dark moon using Sky Walk 2, an app that would pinpoint the location of the moon in the sky, at any given moment using an augmented reality function. I never could. Even after the sun had set and with the moon still in the sky, I could not see the moon with my naked eye during its "New Moon" conjunction. A learned brother that I once studied the moon with, who held the same belief regarding the moon, confessed to me that he also could not sight it despite several efforts.
Besides the confusion due to the "new moon" term, I previously held the position of a dark moon counting as the New Moon due to this verse: Psalms 81:3 "Blow a shophar in the New Moon, in the covering for the day of our festival." (The Scriptures ISR)
I was previously convinced that this was talking about the 'festival of Trumpets' aka Yum Tharuaah. I thought that the 'covering' mentioned in the verse above was talking about the moon being covered but eventually found that the festival referenced is the one for Passover/Unleavened Bread. Isolating the sole verse gave me one impression but the context of the entire passage highlighted something else entirely.
One should know that although it is written in the collective work called "Psalms" today and while many writings in it were accomplished by 'King David', this passage was written by a man under him named Asaph, a descendant of Luy/"Levi" and even dubbed a prophet in Scripture.
In its entirety:
Psalms 81
1 Shout for joy to Elohim our strength; Raise a shout to the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ.
2 Lift up a song and beat the tambourine, The pleasant lyre and with the harp.
3 Blow a shophar in the New Moon, in the covering for the day of our festival.
4 For this is a law a for Yisra’ĕl, And a right-ruling of the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ.
5 He appointed it in Yehosĕph for a witness, When He went throughout the land of Mitsrayim; I heard a language that I did not know.
6 He says, “I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 “You called in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you in the covering of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meriḇah." Selah. (The Scriptures ISR)
The Hebrew root-word for "shout" in verse 1 is the same root-word for the name of the festival of Trumpets and there is a mentioning of a blowing of the shuphar in verse 3 in a New Moon. The trouble is that there is much else in this passage that doesn't fit a description of Tharuaah and more of a description of the first feast of Unleavened Bread recorded in Exodus chps. 12-15.
I've highlighted some of the key words in blue. The reason for shouting to joy to Alhym YHUH is revealed in Exodus 15:1 "Then Mosheh and the children of Yisra’ĕl sang this song to יהוה, and spoke, saying, “I sing to יהוה, for He is highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!" This event was such a momentous deal that Mashah and Yshral sang a song memorialized in the Scriptures. See Exodus 15:20 "And Miryam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, took the timbrel in her hand. And all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." (A timbrel and tambourine are the same thing.)
Which New Moon is a shophar supposed to be blown in? See Exodus 12:2; "This new moon is the beginning of new moons for you, it is the first new moon of the year for you." We will revisit this chapter shortly. Why blow a 'shophar' in the first place? See Numbers 10:10: And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and the beginning of your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your ascending offerings and over your slaughterings of peace offerings. And they shall be a remembrance for you before your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim."
Now, back to Psalms 81; the word for covering in 81:3 is the same word used in Exodus 15:4-5 & 9-10; "He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea, and his chosen officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds. The depths covered them, they went down to the bottom like a stone." "The enemy said, ‘I pursue, I overtake, I divide the spoil, my being is satisfied on them. I draw out my sword, my hand destroys them.’ You did blow with Your wind, the sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters."
Which New Moon is a shophar supposed to be blown in? See Exodus 12:2; "This new moon is the beginning of new moons for you, it is the first new moon of the year for you." We will revisit this chapter shortly. Why blow a 'shophar' in the first place? See Numbers 10:10: And in the day of your gladness, and in your appointed times, and the beginning of your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your ascending offerings and over your slaughterings of peace offerings. And they shall be a remembrance for you before your Elohim. I am יהוה your Elohim."
Now, back to Psalms 81; the word for covering in 81:3 is the same word used in Exodus 15:4-5 & 9-10; "He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea, and his chosen officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds. The depths covered them, they went down to the bottom like a stone." "The enemy said, ‘I pursue, I overtake, I divide the spoil, my being is satisfied on them. I draw out my sword, my hand destroys them.’ You did blow with Your wind, the sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters."
This song that Mashah leads is sung after the events of the final plague hitting Egypt/Mtsrym. There was certainly a festival that was appointed as a law and right-ruling as Yahusaph a.k.a. the children of Yshral were in Mtsrym and it WAS NOT Tharuaah/Festival of Trumpets.
Exodus 12:11-15 "And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Pĕsaḥ of יהוה. And I shall pass through the land of Mitsrayim on that night, and shall strike all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim, both man and beast. And on all the mighty ones of Mitsrayim I shall execute judgment. I am יהוה. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I shall pass over you, and let the plague not come on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Mitsrayim. And this day shall become to you a remembrance. And you shall celebrate it as a festival to יהוה throughout your generations – celebrate it as a festival, an everlasting law. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Indeed on the first day you cause leaven to cease from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that being shall be cut off from Yisra’ĕl."
Exodus 12:17 "And you shall guard the Festival of Matzot, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law."
Exodus 12:24 "And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever."
Exodus 13:3-4 "And Mosheh said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. For by strength of hand יהוה brought you out of this place, and whatever is leavened shall not be eaten.
Today you are going out, in the new moon Aḇiḇ."
Exodus 12:17 "And you shall guard the Festival of Matzot, for on this same day I brought your divisions out of the land of Mitsrayim. And you shall guard this day throughout your generations, an everlasting law."
Exodus 12:24 "And you shall guard this word as a law for you and your sons, forever."
Exodus 13:3-4 "And Mosheh said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. For by strength of hand יהוה brought you out of this place, and whatever is leavened shall not be eaten.
Today you are going out, in the new moon Aḇiḇ."
With the above verse we see the freedom granted to Yshral by Yahuah in this event, answering the distress call made by the Yshraly people in Exodus 2:23-25: And it came to be after these many days that the sovereign of Mitsrayim died. And the children of Yisra’ĕl groaned because of the slavery, and they cried out. And their cry came up to Elohim because of the slavery. And Elohim heard their groaning, and Elohim remembered His covenant with Aḇraham, with Yitsḥaq, and with Yaʽaqoḇ. And Elohim looked on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and Elohim knew!"
Yahuah answers the people in the covering of thunder, not in the 7th month, but shortly after their leaving Mtsrym. This and the events of 'Meribah' are not in the 7th month, when Tharuaah is, but only shortly after Yshral leaves Mtsrym.
Exodus 19:1 reads "In the third new moon after the children of Yisra’ĕl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai." And later in that chapter see Exodus 19:16-17 "And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And a voice of a shophar was very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Mosheh brought the people out of the camp to meet with Elohim, and they stood at the foot of the mountain."
The event of Meribah can be looked up at Exodus chp. 17. Chapter 16 gives some additional context regarding the time frame.
Exo. 17:7 "And he called the name of the place Massah and Meriḇah, because of the ‘strife' of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and because they ‘tried’ יהוה, saying, “Is יהוה in our midst or not?”
Exo. 16:1 "And they set out from Ělim, and all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Ělim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second new moon after their going out of the land of Mitsrayim."
Considering all of the context of when and what Psalms 81 is referring to, I can see events that happen in Abyb, the first month, through to the third month. Nothing at all relating to Tharuaah which is on the first day of the SEVENTH MONTH.
Psalms 81 does NOT give a command to observe a dark moon or "covered" moon on the festival of Trumpets as I previously misunderstood.
Yahuah answers the people in the covering of thunder, not in the 7th month, but shortly after their leaving Mtsrym. This and the events of 'Meribah' are not in the 7th month, when Tharuaah is, but only shortly after Yshral leaves Mtsrym.
Exodus 19:1 reads "In the third new moon after the children of Yisra’ĕl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai." And later in that chapter see Exodus 19:16-17 "And it came to be, on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain. And a voice of a shophar was very strong, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Mosheh brought the people out of the camp to meet with Elohim, and they stood at the foot of the mountain."
The event of Meribah can be looked up at Exodus chp. 17. Chapter 16 gives some additional context regarding the time frame.
Exo. 17:7 "And he called the name of the place Massah and Meriḇah, because of the ‘strife' of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and because they ‘tried’ יהוה, saying, “Is יהוה in our midst or not?”
Exo. 16:1 "And they set out from Ělim, and all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Ělim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second new moon after their going out of the land of Mitsrayim."
Considering all of the context of when and what Psalms 81 is referring to, I can see events that happen in Abyb, the first month, through to the third month. Nothing at all relating to Tharuaah which is on the first day of the SEVENTH MONTH.
Psalms 81 does NOT give a command to observe a dark moon or "covered" moon on the festival of Trumpets as I previously misunderstood.
I now believe that the first light of the moon marks the beginning of a Scriptural month. Without the above passage as my Scriptural foundation, I resumed my previous searching and recalled someone posing the rhetorical question of how a dark moon could mark a New Month if it couldn't be seen without the naked eye of the people of times past?
Months later and I have found more evidence that the first light of the moon determines the beginning of a Scriptural month than I did a dark moon marking this event. Here are a couple of witnesses on the matter:
There is one Scriptural witness of renown that plainly lays out the details of the lunar cycle removing any confusion on this matter. The trouble is that this writing, although accepted as canon depending on what part of the world you're in, is not considered canon by the powers that put together the most common versions of the Scriptures readily available to people in America. I am someone who grew up in America and can attest to this. Despite this writing being quoted in that common canon of 66 books, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and accepted as canon in other parts of the world, the book of Enoch is where any doubt regarding the moon's cycle can be removed.
This is from the Halleluyah Scriptures version of Enoch; chapter 78, verses 10-14:
"And Uri'el showed me another law: when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun. During all the period during which the moon is growing in her light, she is transferring it to herself when opposite to the sun. During fourteen days her light is accomplished in the shamayim, and when she is illuminated throughout, her light is accomplished full in the shamayim. And on the first day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes full moon exactly on the day when the sun goes down in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the moon shines the whole night through till the sun rises over against her and the moon is seen over against the sun. On the side where the light of the moon comes forth, there again she diminishes till all the light vanishes and all the days of the month are at an end, and her circumference is empty, void of light.
I've added emphasis to highlight where we can plainly see that a Scriptural definition of a New Moon is the first day of a month when "light rises upon her." And in case we are unclear, when the moon's circumference is "empty, void of light" we know that "all the days of the month are at an end."
Here's another witness of the moon's first light marking the beginning of a Scriptural month. An Abry man named Philo Judaeus was a famous philosopher who lived during the same time as Yahusha Mashyach. Among his many writings, he recounts the practices of his people. He even goes on to record evidence of when a New Month began. Spoiler: it is with the first light of the moon just AFTER the "dark moon" conjunction. This can be found in a translated collection of his called The Works of Philo in the section dubbed "The Special Laws, II".
Here are the key excerpts:
-XI. (41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.
The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day.
The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath.
The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
-THE THIRD FESTIVAL
XXVI. (140) Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning, whether of number or of time, is honourable. Secondly, because at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven destitute of light. (141) Thirdly, because at that period the more powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary assistance to the less important and weaker body; for, at the time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then she displays her own beauty to the beholders.There is one Scriptural witness of renown that plainly lays out the details of the lunar cycle removing any confusion on this matter. The trouble is that this writing, although accepted as canon depending on what part of the world you're in, is not considered canon by the powers that put together the most common versions of the Scriptures readily available to people in America. I am someone who grew up in America and can attest to this. Despite this writing being quoted in that common canon of 66 books, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and accepted as canon in other parts of the world, the book of Enoch is where any doubt regarding the moon's cycle can be removed.
This is from the Halleluyah Scriptures version of Enoch; chapter 78, verses 10-14:
"And Uri'el showed me another law: when light is transferred to the moon, and on which side it is transferred to her by the sun. During all the period during which the moon is growing in her light, she is transferring it to herself when opposite to the sun. During fourteen days her light is accomplished in the shamayim, and when she is illuminated throughout, her light is accomplished full in the shamayim. And on the first day she is called the new moon, for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes full moon exactly on the day when the sun goes down in the west, and from the east she rises at night, and the moon shines the whole night through till the sun rises over against her and the moon is seen over against the sun. On the side where the light of the moon comes forth, there again she diminishes till all the light vanishes and all the days of the month are at an end, and her circumference is empty, void of light.
I've added emphasis to highlight where we can plainly see that a Scriptural definition of a New Moon is the first day of a month when "light rises upon her." And in case we are unclear, when the moon's circumference is "empty, void of light" we know that "all the days of the month are at an end."
Here's another witness of the moon's first light marking the beginning of a Scriptural month. An Abry man named Philo Judaeus was a famous philosopher who lived during the same time as Yahusha Mashyach. Among his many writings, he recounts the practices of his people. He even goes on to record evidence of when a New Month began. Spoiler: it is with the first light of the moon just AFTER the "dark moon" conjunction. This can be found in a translated collection of his called The Works of Philo in the section dubbed "The Special Laws, II".
Here are the key excerpts:
-XI. (41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.
The first is that which any one will perhaps be astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day.
The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews in their native language call the sabbath.
The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
-THE THIRD FESTIVAL
Considering the above, this is why I now believe that a Scriptural month begins with the moon's first light. I am sorry to any of you who erred in the past because of me, but praises to YaHUaH that I have the breath of life to repent and share more evidence of what I believe to be the truth.
ברוך הבא בשם יהוה
Happy is the one who comes in the Name of Yahuah!
In Yahusha's Name, may you endure in more truth, more righteousness, more set-apartness as Yahusha is coming soon!
ֿ
"He (יהוה) made the moon for appointed times; the sun knows its going down." (Psalms 104:19)
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