Restoration of the Seventh Day Sabbath

 

The 7th Day.  Gen.2:2-3.  On the seventh day Yahweh ended his work and rested.  He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.  The Sabbath begins as the sun sets on Friday and ends when the sun sets on Saturday.  Lev.23:32 (from evening unto evening shall you celebrate your Sabbath).

Fourth Commandment.  Exod.20:8-11. Remember the Sabbath Day.  After creation, it is the day that Yahweh rested, blessed and hallowed/sanctified.  You have six days to do all your work, but you rest on the seventh day.  No work for you, your children, your employees, your resources and your visitors.

Sign of Sanctification.  Exod.31:13, 16.  The Sabbath is a perpetual memorial of our sanctification.  We know who set us apart and why.

Holy Convocation.  Lev.23:3.  The Sabbath Day is not only a day of rest; it is a holy convocation in all your dwellings.

Our Heritage.  Isa.58:13-14.  The Sabbath Day is our heritage.  We are instructed to “turn away our foot” from our personal pursuits/pleasures on this holy day.  Or, simply put, we are instructed to do the things that please Yahweh, not self.  We delight to do Yahweh’s will.  We call the Sabbath a delight, not a burden or an inconvenience.  The Seventh Day Sabbath is set apart for honor to honor Yahweh by not doing my own thing, or seeking my own pleasures or speaking my own words.  If I delightfully honor Yahweh on this day of holy convocation, then Yahweh promises to place me above all circumstances and he will feed me with the heritage of Israel/Jacob – he will lead me, he will feed me/instruct me and he will keep me.  Deut.32:9-14.  If the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it, you better believe he will do it!

BUT It’s Not Just for the “Jew.”  Isa.56:1-6. If you keep the Sabbath, choose the things that please Yah, and take hold of his covenant, Yahweh will give you an everlasting name, one better than being called his son or his daughter.  His house is a house of prayer for all people.  The advantage to the Hebrew Israelite is that Yahweh entrusted us with his holy torah/oracles (i.e., his commandments, statutes and judgments).  Rom.3:1-4.  You are called to be a light to the world meaning you are to give the other nations understanding of how to live in accordance with Yahweh’s laws, statutes and judgments.  In other words, your light draws others to Yah, which includes drawing them to his name, his Sabbath and his commandments.  Matt.5:14, 16.

No Buying or Selling.  Neh.10:31, 13:15-22.  We are instructed to refrain from buying or selling.  But what if my ox is in the mire?  This refers to the scripture where Yahshua asks who would not assist his ox if it fell into a pit on the Sabbath day?  Thus, reminding us that it is lawful to do “good” on the Sabbath day.  Luke 14:1-6; Matt.12:1-13.

No Burdens.  Jer.17:21.  We are instructed to not bear any burdens on the Sabbath Day.  We are further instructed not to bring them into the gates of Jerusalem or to carry them out of our houses.  This is an instruction in “PEACE within and PEACE without.”  If you can consciously clear your mind on the Sabbath Day of your “burdens,” you will be more aware during the week and you will discern between the work you are called to do and the work that you “decided” to do.

The Open Gate.  Ezek.46:1.  We are told in the scriptures that the East Gate of the Inner Court shall be open on the Sabbath day and the new moon.  In other words, this is a time of intercessory but do not carry your burdens into the gates of Jerusalem.

Spirit of the Sabbath Day.  Matt.12:8; Mark 2:27.  The Sabbath was made for man.  Yahshua is the son of man and is therefore Master of the Sabbath Day – not a slave to it.  The Spirit of Sabbath balances the premise that is lawful to do well on the Sabbath with the command that we pray that our flight not be on the Sabbath day.  Yahweh set aside the Sabbath day for us to celebrate our relationship with him, free of distractions (responsibilities of work, burdens of mind).  He revives our soul, he lifts us up, and he gives us the strength to make it through another six days.  The Spirit of the Sabbath says “slow down, take a break, remember your relationship with me.”  Matt.12:12; 24:20.

Yahshua’s Custom.  Luke 4:16.  While he walked the earth, as the personification of the word, it was Yahshua’s custom to go in the synagogue on the Sabbath to attend worship services.   Luke 4:31, Mark 6:2.  He also taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  We are instructed that “as he is, so are we in this world.”  I John 4:17.

Not Done Away With.  Acts 17:2 & 13:14.  For those who believe that the Sabbath was done away with after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah, we note that as Yahshua’s custom was, the Apostle Paul also worshipped and taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath day –  1.) Acts 18:4 (persuading Jews and Greeks); 2.) Acts 13:27 (noting the prophetic word is read in the synagogue every Sabbath day); 3.) Acts 13:42, 44 (noting that Jews, Gentiles, and an entire city came to hear the word preached on Sabbath day); and 4.) Acts 16:13 (speaking to the women by the seaside in Philippi, Macedonia on the Sabbath “where prayers were wont to be made”).

Sunday: First Day Worship.  To those Protestants who accept the Bible as their guide, consider this quote from The Catholic Extension Magazine:

We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith.  Besides the Bible we have the living Church, as a rule to guide us.  We say, this Church, instituted by the [Messiah], to teach and guide men through life, has the right to change the Ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday.  We frankly say, “yes,” the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday Abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages, and a thousand other laws.

The Catholic Extension Magazine, May 22, 1954 (under the blessing of Pope Pius XII).  Here, the Catholic Church boldly takes responsibility for changing the Sabbath day worship from the 7th day (Saturday) to the 1st day (Sunday).  The Catholic Church arrogantly proclaims that Yahshua is not the author and finisher of its faith.  Consequently, any commandments, statutes, judgments or prophetic testimony {of Yahshua the Messiah, who boldly proclaims that he is his word}, that the Church disagrees with, it has the right to change.  Even Yahshua himself proclaimed that we should not even think that he came “to destroy the law or the prophets/[prophecy].”  Instead, he boldly proclaims that he came to fulfill it.  Matt.5:17.  And if he said he did not come to change it, neither should we.  Herein lies the answer to the age-old question “who changed the order?”