New Moon Sighting Witnesses
Originally Written: 2020-10-17
This is not a comprehensive study, but rather is a quick summary of my view on this issue until time permits a longer study to be written. I do have a Biblical Calendar Study and a New Moon Day Study also (both linked from the Biblical Calendar page), but I have not yet had time to add these to the Studies section of this site. This study is more about the specific question of which witnesses I accept for New Moon sightings to establish that a New Biblical Month has begun.
If you are NEW to keeping the Biblical calendar, you should first read the Biblical Calendar Study to get a grasp on the basics, otherwise this study may seem a bit advanced or unclear what it is talking about. When we say "sighting" in this study, we're referring to the process where witnesses go outside after the 29th and 30th days of each Biblical Month shortly after sunset and look in the western sky to sight the first visible crescent of the moon which occurs after conjunction. When this first visible crescent is sighted by two witnesses in one location, that establishes that evening, night, and the following daylight as the first 24-hour Biblical day of the month (since days start in the evening in the Bible). Again, IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS, please read the Biblical Calendar Study FIRST, otherwise this study will seem too advanced and confusing or detailed. This is more of a sub-topic within the topic of the Biblical Calendar itself.
When I first came into the understanding that we should be observing the Biblical Calendar, I noticed most people went by the "local sighting" doctrine which teaches that you just look for the New Moon in your local area and go by whatever you see locally. Within that doctrine also exists, for most people, a recognition of accepting sightings from others to the east of them as well (although I don't think most of those going by "local sighting" accept sightings to the west of them). I decided, rather, to go with the "Yisra'el Sighting Only" doctrine, however, and for years I only accepted sightings reported by people out of the geographical location within the land of Yisra'el. However, back in 2013 or 2014 (I can't remember for certain, but I think it was one of those years), I felt a need to re-study this after questions in my mind arose, and I found a study at ForHisName.com which said something that made me start questioning my view. What was said that got me thinking was mainly where they said they accept sightings from ANYWHERE in the world and they focused more on the idea of if a witness is credible or not, and also pointed out the fact that when the Yisra'elites were in Egypt or the wilderness, the sightings from those locations would have been used by them, but the main idea that stuck out to me was this "new idea" in my mind of possibly accepting sightings from ANYWHERE in the world - as long as the witness is a valid witness.
I had considered the "local sighting only" doctrine, and the "Yisra'el sighting only" doctrine, but I had never considered the idea of accepting sightings from any geographical location. When I thought about it more, and found John 8:17 which says, "It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.", I began to really consider the concept of and principle of "witnesses". The Torah has an underlying principle we see throughout which shows that in situations of establishing something, we are to accept credible witnesses. To NOT accept a witness, shouldn't we have a basis in Torah? And if we don't have a basis found in the Torah to reject a witness, and if two people are telling us they saw the first crescent of the New Moon, and we have no evidence to contradict it, I began to ask myself this question (which I hope you ask too): On what basis can we reject a witness as being valid? Ask yourself that question and think about it for a moment: Can you think of anything in the Torah itself which dictates a witness must be located in the geographical location of Yisra'el for them to be considered an acceptable witness? I cannot think of anything. Otherwise, how could their sightings in the wilderness when they were outside of the land of Yisra'el before they inherited the land be considered valid?
Regardless of the time in the wilderness, even without that, shouldn't we have a real basis, from the Torah, to discount a witness - to not count them as valid? Yes, Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2 say the law will go forth out of Tsiyon/Zion and the Word of YHWH (Yahuweh/Yahweh) from Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) - that's true! The law WILL go forth! But WHAT does that law say? Doesn't the law which will go forth require that we ACCEPT witnesses outside of Yisra'el?
If you were in Ancient Yisra'el and it was the night of the New Moon, and two fellow Yisra'elites came from across the Yisra'el border, from a neighboring country, and they traveled into Yisra'el that night from a neighboring country, and they reported to their brethren in the land that, although there were clouds in Yisra'el, a few hours ago they had seen the New Moon that same night, wouldn't the Torah require that they accept the sighting even though it was done in a neighboring country? On what basis could they deny the sighting and consider it invalid? There is nothing in the Torah requiring that they reject witnesses who sight the New Moon based upon geographic location. Therefore, even in that scenario, even the people IN ISRAEL would be required to accept the New Moon sighting that their brethren had done outside of the land, and the law would go forth from Tsiyon/Zion that the New Moon Day had been established by two witnesses.
So yes - the law would go forth out of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) declaring the New Moon Day would start that night based upon the sighting from those two Yisra'elites, because NOTHING IN THE LAW prohibits sightings from being done outside of the geographical location of Israel. So the law would go forth, right? But what does the law say? The law that goes forth would say to ACCEPT THOSE WITNESSES because they are valid and reliable. The "law going forth from Yerushalayim" is NOT a basis from which we dictate the law prohibits witnesses in a different geographical location - that simply means that it is from Yerushalayim that the ruling is proclaimed to the rest of the nation/world/etc., because Yerushalayim is the capital of Yisra'el (Israel) and when Yahushua rules the world in the future, it is from there that He will rule and reign and declare the law. The witnesses of the New Moon Sightings, REGARDLESS OF THEIR LOCATION, would probably report their sightings to Yerushalayim and then when it is established the witnesses are reliable and the New Moon was seen, it would be declared from Yerushalayim, from Tsiyon/Zion that the New Moon Day has been established - and that law would go forth.
So yes - the law goes forth from Yerushalayim - but WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? Does it say ANYTHING about rejecting two witnesses simply because they are not in the geographical location of Yisra'el? I find nothing in the Torah with such a requirement. So it is on the basis of the Torah principle of "Accepting Credible Witnesses" that I now accept sightings from any geographical location in the world.
It is also upon that principle, that I no longer accept sightings from websites or people I don't know who I can't interview. I found out, the hard way, that websites are NOT always reliable. One website that had the name "Yahweh" in it reported a sighting that was in a location where the moon charts said it should have been impossible. I accepted their sighting on the basis of "witnesses" only to find out from another website a few days later that the people were actually possibly from ANOTHER RELIGION and they also used BINOCULARS to find the New Moon. The website with the name "Yahweh" made it seem like it was only BELIEVERS in Yahushua reporting, and that they only accepted "Naked Eye Sightings", but I found out the hard way that must have not been accurate.
The problem is this: Websites out there mean to do good by collecting New Moon sightings, but they are NOT always doing due diligence by interviewing people who report sightings on the phone and asking them specific questions to really know who they are and what they believe and if they ever, at all, used binoculars to find the New Moon before sighting it with the naked eye. THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. So I resolved after that incident to NOT accept mystery sightings from websites even if the website is from believers and claims to only accept naked eye sightings, because the reality is some of them do NOT interview the people making the report and so their sources to me are questionable now.
After I found out someone (possibly from another religion) who used binoculars somehow got their "not-so-naked-eye New Moon sighting" on a website that had the name "Yahweh" in it, I began collecting my own New Moon sightings ONLY from people I could interview if I wanted to on the phone and ask questions to. I do not accept a sighting from anyone I cannot talk to on the phone and get to know and ask specific questions to about the details of them looking for the New Moon. I make it very clear to the people who I get sightings from that binoculars CANNOT be used to find the New Moon.
Furthermore, and I am sorry to disappoint those of you who go by Yisra'el-only sighting as I use to, but here is the truth: I found out from speaking with a believer in Yisra'el on the phone that, according to them, it seems the standard adopted by them and most in the land of Yisra'el for "Naked Eye Sightings" CAN include sightings where binoculars were used FIRST to find the New Moon in the sky, as long as it was also visible afterwards with the naked eye. As long as they can ALSO view it with the naked eye, they are OK with using binoculars FIRST to sight it. To me, I'm not sure that's permissible.
So that actually means I couldn't accept the witness of those in Yisra'el either since they gave me the impression that this practice of using binoculars on questionable nights is widespread, and yet they are still considered naked-eye sightings when reported. If it is hazy or the visibility makes it harder to see the first crescent of the New Moon, in those situations some people in the land of Yisra'el believe it is OK to first use binoculars to find the New Moon's location in the sky, and then if they can see it with the naked eye also, they still call that a "naked eye sighting" even though binoculars were used! I WAS AND AM SHOCKED! I don't know if I'll ever understand that! If you had to use anything that increases your vision beyond 20/15 or 20/20 normal human vision, I fail to see how that's a purely "naked-eye" sighting! I am OK with people using glasses to correct vision to what is normal, but anything that goes beyond what normal human vision is, or can be, seems questionable as to if that should be permitted in the process of finding the New Moon in the sky. I would have never guessed that a person who uses binoculars first to find the New Moon could call their sighting a naked-eye sighting just because they see it afterwards with the naked eye. But since finding this out, I now realize that unless I could actually talk to the person and ask them: "Did anybody with you use binoculars at all in the process of locating the New Moon in the sky?" If you can't talk to them and ask them that, then you really don't know if they used binoculars or not when doing their "naked eye" reported sightings.
When people submit something through a form on a website or via email, they might not really read the requirements for new moon reports posted on that website either. They might accidentally, due to ignorance, imply one thing when the reality is another. People who collect New Moon sightings have to do some quality checking and questioning of our sources for New Moon sightings. We should NOT accept sightings from people we don't really know without interviewing them first.
This is all troubling to me and is why I just go by two witnesses in one location anywhere in the world now, as long as I can speak to them on the phone, ask them questions, and make sure we are in agreement to not use binoculars or any other magnification beyond normal human vision to find where the New Moon is in the sky, and that they are really believers.
If you were in the land of Yisra'el, and two brothers crossed the border and saw the New Moon on another hilltop across the border, and came back and reported it to you that night, would you reject their sighting? I can't say I would anymore. Geographic location is not a requirement, as far as I can see, in the Torah. If it is, I hope YHWH shows me, because I'm not trying to disregard His law or go out on my own here, I'm just trying to respect the principle of witnesses - that the witness of two men is true (John 8:17).
Obviously there has to be a cut-off time where you either declare a day or don't declare a day. You can't wait all night. But I think waiting until halfway between sunset and sunrise is reasonable. So if someone three hours West of me sees the New Moon, although I don't, or if it's impossible in my area, since we have modern day technology to spread the news quicker, I accept sightings even that far West of me if not further because I have no basis upon which I can say to my brethren West of me, "No your sighting is invalid." I feel now that I would have to have a basis in the Torah to disregard a sighting. If I can't verify the sighting is correct or done without binoculars by interviewing them, to me that's a basis to reject a sighting. But geographic location? I can't say that alone is a basis to reject a sighting. I don't claim perfection in this area and I consider the possibility I'm wrong, but this is a brief summary of how I view this issue. If you believe this is wrong, please pray for my eyes to be opened because I sincerely am open to keeping the feasts whenever is correct, but this is what seems correct to me at this time.
Additionally, in addition to not using binoculars before two witnesses see the new moon with the naked eye together in one location, we also should not use cameras either before the two witnesses see the new moon with the naked eye. A picture is not a witness because cameras affect zoom, magnification, and lighting, etc.. So a picture is not a "witness"; it is evidence, but it is not a person saying, "I saw the new moon with normal human vision with no optical aids." We need two PEOPLE to witness the new moon together in person in one location to verify with each other they are both looking in the same location seeing the same thing, and that there is no confusion with one person accidentally mistaking a glare or reflection of something else or light shining on a cloud accidentally mistaken for the new moon. That's why the two witnesses need to be in one location at one time and neither of them can use binoculars, cameras, or any other things similar at all before two people FIRST see the new moon with the naked eye. I am OK with glasses correcting vision to normal, but that's it. After they both see it with the naked eye, then someone can take a picture, but nobody should look through a camera or take pictures before two people first confirm they see it because that invalidates the sighting.
One last note: Some would say for unity we should wait till Yisra'el sees the New Moon if they don't see it that night. But how come we wait a day instead of the people East of us doing it a day earlier? We can arrive at unity two ways: 1) We wait a day even though we see the New Moon in front of us, or 2) The people East of us can observe it "a day early" when we do. Either way, you end up being in unity. So, for those who believe we should wait a day so that we're all in unity, what can you share that would show why those East of us can't do it a day early instead to arrive at unity? Because I have a problem now - if I look up in the sky and see the New Moon - how can I act like it's not the New Moon day if I and another witness see it together? How, and on what basis, is our witness disregarded as invalid? If we wait a day, it's essentially making it a moot point for anyone to go look for the New Moon, since our sighting will never be the basis upon which a month would be started. In plain English: If me and another witness seeing the New Moon doesn't mean the month has started that evening, then we are wasting our time to even go look. To me that's now strange - to think that me and another witness would see the New Moon yet our sighting is invalid for establishing the new month has begun at that point in time because of our location. So why can't the unity come from those who are further East doing it a day earlier than they would have sighted it? That seems like a route to unity also, and from my perspective makes more sense. But maybe my perspective is wrong. I'm just sharing my thoughts. Ultimately, I am open to changing if more truth is revealed to me. I'm only wanting to do what's right, not claiming I know I'm right for certain; just sharing why I do what I do and view things how I do currently. May YHWH have mercy upon me and upon us all!
Further things not discussed in this study, or last thoughts, include the following:
- Could smoke signals or shofar blasts be used to spread the news about New Moon sightings around the world quickly without modern day technology?
- When Yahushua rules the world, will the continents be reunited as they once probably were before they were divided in Genesis 10:25?
- If the continents are reunited during the 1,000 year reign of Yahushua, that would permit it to be easier for news of New Moon sightings to spread throughout the world more easily and some of the challenges we think of today would not be an issue.
- How can I go by Israel sighting only when the people in Israel are using binoculars to find the New Moon on hard-to-see nights, if I believe that invalidates their sighting?
- Who do you personally know in Israel from which we can get REAL, verifiable, naked-eye sightings that we can talk to and question to ensure they don't EVER, under any circumstances, use binoculars to find the New Moon in the sky first?
- Referring believers to NON-BELIEVERS for sightings might result in believers ending up turning away from the faith. You might shake your head in disagreement, but this is a real threat and some have already been influenced negatively by non-believers or walked away from the faith. Be CAREFUL who you refer other believers to for information! You might be strong in your faith, but some people are more easily influenced and impressionable, and if you refer them to an unbeliever's website for New Moon sightings or other information, it may be a negative influence on them more than what you realized it could be.