Experts and Lunar Sabbaths

Have you ever wondered what it takes to become the proverbial "expert" on a particular subject? I can't begin to count how many times I have watched a news segment and they have come out with someone who is an "expert" on whatever the subject matter is; OK today we will be talking of the mating habits of the flying fruit fish and how they effect the economy of motor sports, with author and expert John Smith who's latest book " Mating Habits Of the Flying Fruit Fish and How They Effect Motor Sports" has reached number 50 in the NY Times weird books and experts categories...

To be an expert on anything today seems to be a trivial thing to accomplish, produce a book or a college paper with crayon colored pictures and you now have become the resident expert.

Having been a pastor and ordained in two different denominations, I can tell you us ordained types like to be "experts" on biblical subjects. I have a friend who has studied Greek intensely.You want to know what a Greek word means in the NT just ask him he can go into great detail on Greek and the history behind it,now while I accept that  he is good at it, and his crayon pictures are remarkable, does it make him an "expert"? As for me my thing is Hebrew words and their meanings as well as the biblical history and beliefs of the Hebrew/ Jewish people, though my coloring leaves something to be desired,I love this kind of stuff and have been studying it for years  but does that make me an "expert"?

Well for at least a few minutes over the weekend it did, and this is sort of what this post is about. A friend , who pastors a church in Florida, contacted me about a group trying to influence some of his members into following what they call the " Lunar Sabbath." The theory is that the Sabbath is to be observed according to the lunar cycle rather then the weekly cycle and that they have "proof" of this being done by the ancient Israelites. Their "experts" wax long and eloquent of how everyone, Sunday keepers and Saturday keepers are all wrong and are actually worshipping Satan rather then G-D by keeping the weekly Sabbath. To say that there are so many holes and total absurdities in this theory would be a massive understatement. You would literally have to ignore and rewrite large parts of the Bible in order for this to be even remotely true. But if you ignore the actual facts and fine tune your tinfoil hat to pick up a signal from Venus  then you would have to go and correct the Jewish people who have been following G-D and His Torah for the past 4,000 years, including the Sabbath, and pray that they don't stone you for such absurdities.

So who would you believe in this case?  Someone who claims to have some sort of new light that the rest of humanity has missed for the last 5700 years or would you choose the Jewish people who just might know a thing or two about the Sabbath or even  me as a Gentile "expert" who , at least in this case , sticks to fact rather then fiction?  I have a better idea, how about study about it for yourselves! Why take my word for it or anyone else for that matter? I am human so I could be wrong.

One of the most frustrating things about being a pastor or a Rabbi of any kind, at least for me, has been having had people follow what I say, without ever actually reading it or researching for themselves. As long as I could put some text with it many people would just nod their heads in the appropriate places. I could be explaining to them how Santa Claus is the real reason for the war of Gog-Magog or Armageddon is caused by the tooth fairy and as long as I toss in a few bible quotes, that might be vaguely relevant,  many people will just nod their heads and accept what you say because that is much easier then actually thinking for yourself.

In light of all this, I have decided that I am not going to try and prove myself or my beliefs to anyone. This whole idea of the "Lunar Sabbath" has shown me that if you are really interested in learning what I believe, or any one else for that matter, then you will do the research for your selves. I will be happy to lay out the parameters that I used, but if you really want to know then you will take the time to find out.

One last thing to consider, in light of this Lunar Sabbath idea, people like Jim Jones and David Koresh had followers that didn't know what was in the scriptures, if you won't take the time to find out for yourself then just remember this; don't drink the koolaid.
Shalom