New Moon

(Num. 10:10, Lev. 23:24 and others)—the celebration of the new moon appears to have prevailed in the Old Testament. It was distinguished by a special offering (Num. 28:11-15); it was proclaimed and accompanied by the sound of the trumpet (Ps. 81:3). The days of the new moons, as joyful days, were celebrated with a gathering and offerings morning and evening in the temple (Is. 1:13 and others, 2 Kings 4:20, 24) and with feasting in the family (1 Sam. 20:1-5). On the days of the new moons fasting was set aside (Judith 8:6), and trade and public business ceased (Amos 8:5).

But the life and moral condition of the Jews often did not correspond at all to these festivals, any more than to the sabbaths and other feasts, and for this the prophets reproved them. “Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth,” says the prophet Isaiah in the name of the Lord; “they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them” (Is. 1:13-14). And the Apostle Paul writes that all these feasts had only a temporary significance, being but shadows of things to come, and that therefore, with the coming of Christ, they were to cease and give place to a higher order of things (Col. 2:16, Gal. 4:9-11, Heb. ch. 8 and others).