Keeping the Sabbath
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e hear a lot about
“keeping the Sabbath,” Guarding the Sabbath, Honoring the Sabbath, Remembering
the Sabbath, Sanctifying the Sabbath, Resting, not working on the Sabbath, etc.
But we don’t hear
much about HOW to keep, guard, honor, remember, sanctify, etc. the Sabbath, and
how to properly rest on this day.
We old-timers tend
to forget, and NEW people, just learning, need to know. So, it is time to review
and remind ourselves of just HOW we are to do all these things, what to do, and
what not to do, on this most special of all days.
One of the meanings
of “Remember” in Strong’s concordance/dictionary, is to recognize, and think
on this Day.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
THE SABBATH:
Scripture States
that the Sabbath is a Sign Between Yahweh and His People
Exo 31:12-17 - 12
And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 13 Speak also to the children of Israel,
saying: Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me
and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh
who sanctifies you.
14 You shall keep
the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall
surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person
shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six
days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any
work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore
the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath
throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign
between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh
made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was
refreshed.
Eze 20:12-20 -12
Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me,
that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
13 Yet the house of
Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes;
they despised My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them; and
they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them
in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it
should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them
out. 15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I
would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and
honey, the glory of all lands,
16 because they
despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths;
for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless My eye spared them from
destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said to
their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers,
nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am
Yahweh your Mighty One: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20
hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you
may know that I am Yahweh your Mighty One.
Exo 20:8
Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
We are told to
remember the Sabbath. Maybe the reason why Yahweh chose the word “remember,”
instead of “keep,” is that He knew there would be a tendency to forget it.
In other words,
“Remember” implies that you might also forget.
In the same list,
along with the Sabbath, we learn other precepts, which include prohibitions
against murder, against adultery, against stealing, lying, etc. This is one way
forgetting the Sabbath is very dangerous – it leads to forgetting other things.
The very word, “remember”,
here in Exo 20:8, shows that the Sabbath was in existence even before Sinai. In
fact, it has been in existence since the beginning (Gen 2:1-3).
But, along the way,
it has been forgotten. One of the major influences on the Sabbath disappearing
from society occurred in 321 A.D., when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, changed
the day of rest and worship from Sabbath to Sunday, the venerable day of the
sun. Now, that is a short, simple statement of fact. But, it’s ironic that such
a small bit of history has had such a big effect. Constantine took the day that
our Creator decreed as hallowed and changed the day of rest and worship by his
own decree; hence, it is a
tradition and
commandment of man that is taught for
doctrine. Compare Mat 15:1-9…
Matt 15:1-9
1 Then the scribes
and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Yahshua, saying,
2 Why do Your
disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their
hands when they eat bread.
3 He answered and
said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of Yahweh because of
your tradition?
4 For Yahweh
commanded, saying, Honor your father and your mother; and, He who curses father
or mother, let him be put to death.
5 But you say,
Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received
from me is a gift to Yahweh --
6 then he need not
honor his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of Yahweh of no
effect by your tradition.
7 Hypocrites! Well
did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 These people draw
near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is
far from Me.
9 And in vain they
worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Some say that the
Sabbath command is Ceremonial, and thus different from the other nine. But is
it?
Let us look to the
Bible for our answer –
In the creation
week, man was created on the 6th day, and then the 7th day
was set apart as the Sabbath rest day. In Mark 2:27, Yahshua stated, “The
sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” This is proof that the
Sabbath is not merely a ceremonial observance for man. Rather, it is his
moral obligation. For if the opposite
were true (i.e., if man was made for the Sabbath, and not the Sabbath for man),
then man would have been made after
the Sabbath, and his sole purpose
would be to observe the Sabbath.
q
Where does Scripture
ever say that the Sabbath commandment is different from the other nine in the
type of law that it is?
q
Or, more
specifically, where does Scripture ever distinguish the Sabbath as “ceremonial”
and the other nine as moral?
q
Where does Scripture
give anybody the right to divide the commandments nine and one?
James 2:8-12
explains that if you break one of the commandments, you’re guilty of breaking
all of them. The 4th Commandment is no less a commandment than any of
the other nine! We should be able
to see that it is morally good
for us (physically, mentally, & spiritually) to cease from our labors, have a
special time to worship & concentrate on our Maker, and have a special time of
enjoying the fellowship, with like-minded people, which
strengthens our moral fiber,
all on the special day that Yahweh has given us.
So, Yahweh has given
man this special day on which to rest, recuperate, and worship his Creator, and
we are told to remember it. And remember that, “remember,”
implies that you might forget; so, be sure to remember.
We often talk about
the importance of the Sabbath, and
rightly so, but, we don’t often talk all that much about the different aspects
of how to keep it. As I said,
we are told to honor the Sabbath; to “guard” the Sabbath; to
keep the Sabbath; to observe the Sabbath, to rest on the
Sabbath, etc.
So let’s look at
some of the ways to do these things in a way that pleases Yahweh. Here
are some things TO DO, and some things NOT to do, on Yahweh’s special Day.
Gen 2:3, Then Elohim
blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from
all His work which the Mighty
One had created and made.
Exo 20:9, Six days
you shall labor and do all
your work.
So, we find that
all work is to be done on the
6 working days and that work is to be ceased from (i.e., rest) on the Sabbath
day.
As a new Believer
back in 1961, I did not understand the deep significance of, nor the importance
of the Sabbath. I continued my bus-driving job, which required me to work on the
Sabbath, for a few weeks until I was able to sign on a run that was off on
Sabbaths. I could have gotten off if I had been more diligent or more dedicated
at that point. But I didn’t have the “full repentance” I needed at that point.
This was something I
had to repent of, when I finally realized what I was doing.
Exo 20:10-11: 10 But
the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim. In it you shall do no
work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11 For in six days
Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and
hallowed it. (Hallowed means He set it apart for a Holy use).
Deu 5:12-15 - 12
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your Mighty One commanded
you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is
the Sabbath of Yahweh your Mighty One. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your
son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your
ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within
your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as
you. 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and Yahweh your Mighty One brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an
outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your Mighty One commanded you to keep the
Sabbath day.
We, too, have been
delivered from slavery – slavery to the WORLD, Babylon, Sodom, this whole evil
system we find ourselves living in today.
Being an employee or
an employer - owning your own business and having employees
Whether you are an
employee or an
employer, you must stick to
remembering the Sabbath day.
“The Sabbath time is
time off the clock.”
When you are an
employee, you don’t work – when you are an employer, remember that
your employees are your hired servants. The Sabbath commandment states that you
are
not to have your servants
working on the Sabbath. Close the business and let them off. Or get in another
business if that one requires you to be open.
Some Jewish
restaurant owners have a little ploy that they use every Friday evening before
sunset. They “sell” the business to a “Gentile” manager for a dollar, then
Saturday night, they “buy” it back for a dollar. Do you suppose that this
pleases their Creator?
Do Not be Unequally
Yoked Together with Unbelievers
Another factor to
keep in mind is to not be unequally yoked:
2 Cor 6:14-15 Do not
be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And
what accord has Messiah with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever?
Here are some
comments on that subject I made in the “Search the Scriptures” Newsletter (No.
98, Mar-Apr 2009 Ed.):
“This applies to a
union of a man or a woman in marriage, to a business partnership, to a religious
affiliation, or to any other partnership or relationship that involves a
converted and an unconverted partner. The unconverted one will sometimes make
unscriptural demands or requests of the other, or do things that are
unscriptural and expect the other to go along. We are no longer of this world or
its ways, once we repent and begin our new walk with Yahshua as our example.”
A PERSONAL
TESTIMONY: I made a bad loan to a man who had some mining equipment and was
reclaiming some old strip pits. The equipment was old and kept breaking down. He
was continually in need of more money. So, to try to salvage my investment, I
violated these unequally yoked Scriptures and went in as a partner by taking
over the management myself. I was “throwing good money after bad.” Long story
short, it all went bad. I have seen mixed marriages go bad, too. Either
the non-believer gets fed up, or the Believer gives up.
Do Not Buy or Sell on The Sabbath:
Neh 10:31 If the
peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath
day, we would not
buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; and we would forego the
seventh year’s produce and the exacting of every debt.
Also let’s read Neh
13:15-22: In those days I saw
people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves,
and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which
they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day
on which they were selling provisions.
16 Men of Tyre dwelt
there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the
Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the
nobles of Judah, and said to them, What evil thing is this that you do, by which
you profane the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our
Mighty One bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added
wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.
19 So it was, at the
gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded
the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the
Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens
would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all
kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.21 Then I warned them, and
said to them, Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I
will lay hands on you! From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.
22 And I commanded
the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and
guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my Mighty One,
concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!
Was this just
because they were bringing in their merchandise on the Sabbath? No, it was also
the selling of it. Notice Neh 13:15b.And I warned them about the day
on which they were selling provisions.
Automated Buying &
Selling & On-line purchases?:
So what about
automated transactions such as Internet shopping & vending machine transactions?
Is that OK, since, as some say, it would not be causing someone else to work on
the Sabbath? Here are two versions of Isaiah 58:13-14:
Isa 58:13-14 (TEV)
13 Yahweh says, If
you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that
day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking
idly on that day,
14 then you will
find the joy that comes from serving me. I will make you honored all over the
world, and you will enjoy the land I gave to your ancestor, Jacob. I, Yahweh,
have spoken.
Isa 58:13-14 (TLB)
13 If you keep the
Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the
Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as Yahweh’s holy day, and honoring Yahweh
in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasure nor talking idly-
14 then Yahweh will
be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share
of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. Yahweh has spoken.
So we are not to
engage in any type of business transactions, nor not seeking our own pleasure
(sports, games, shopping, movies, etc).
With these thoughts
in mind, let’s ponder two questions:
The Sabbath is a day
of worship and honor to our Creator as well as a day of rest. It is set apart
from the other, common days of the week and the other, common
activities of the week. It is holy.
Many times in life,
we find that we need to repent of something we have done or thought..
In considering
repentance, sometimes things can start small and grow bigger & bigger. You can
become numb to a sinful situation, all the while it may be snowballing. This is
dangerous, and it can leave you callous and unchanged.
One of the jobs of
Yahweh’s Spirit (also called the Comforter, the Helper, or the Counselor) is to
convict us of sin. See John 16:7-8:
John 16:7-8
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go
away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart,
I will send it to you. And when it has come, it will convict the world of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment.
Conviction
is being convinced of an error and compelled to admit the truth. When true
conviction of sin comes into a person’s knowledge, and his attitude is one of
sorrow for sin and a desire to turn from his sin, he is ready to repent.
As it is the job of
Yahweh’s Spirit to bring conviction of sin, we should be very careful not to
quench that Spirit
1 Thes 5:19 Do not
quench the Spirit. This is something we’ve probably all been guilty of at one
time or another.
Be aware that the
law shows us what sin is...Rom 7:7b “…I would not have known sin except through
the law…”
Not only do we need
to know the Law, but see what James said:
Jam 1:22-25 But be
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face
in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what
kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and
continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one
will be blessed in what he does.
When we compare our
lives with the Law, and something is out of kilter, it shows a need for change.
And we need to be very careful how we handle that. Not only does it
reflect on us personally, but it also reflects on Messiah…
It takes courage,
and determination to stand and do what we know to be right. We need to help each
other do those things – see Heb 3:12-15…
Heb 3:12-15 Beware,
brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living Mighty One; but exhort one another daily, while it is called
Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have
become partakers of Messiah if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
to the end, while it is said: Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden
your hearts as in the rebellion.
So, in closing,
let’s briefly reiterate these points:
don't work on
Sabbath
(Lev 23:3 KJV) "Six days shall work
be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation;
ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of YHWH in all your
dwellings."
Don't buy
or sell or do business on Sabbath (Neh. 13);
Do your preparing
on the 6th day so no cooking on Sabbath (Exo.16:5-23, Mark 15:42, and this one,
showing the difference between an annual High Day when food can be prepared, and
a weekly Sabbath, when it cannot: Exo.12:16).
Rest and rejoice
on Sabbath (Exo. 35:2 & 1 Chr 16:10 KJV)
"Glory ye in his Holy Name: let the heart of them rejoice
that seek YHWH."
Remember that we
live in a non-Sabbath-keeping world. Everyone accuses us of trying to be
“Jewish,” keeping that “old Jewish Sabbath.” In a way, it may seem odd that
Yahweh would place such special emphasis on one day in the week. In our world, t
may seem a complicated thing to understand and do. And yet, really, it is a
simple concept. It may not always be easy, but it is simple.
Will standing for
Yahweh always be easy or convenient? NO
Will standing for
Yahweh always make you popular? NO
Will Yahweh &
Yahshua be faithful friends & guardians when we stand? YES
Yahweh has given man
this special day on which to rest, recuperate, and worship his Creator. And He
tells us that it is a sign between Him and His people.
And remember that, “remember,” suggests that you might forget; so, be sure to remember. ~ Thank you ~
(Much of the
foregoing information is based on a sermon prepared by Elder Chuck Henry of the
Cisco, TX Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day, and presented at the Assembly
of Yahweh at Fort Smith, AR on Nov. 28, 2009. and Revised by Frank Brown
12-10-09) ~
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