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YAHWEH’S SABBATH When we read in the Scriptures, we see commands regarding the seventh-day Sabbath. But when we look around today at the churches of mainstream Christianity, they all observe Sunday. What happened? When did that change? Who changed it? Who had the authority? Is the change in days found in Scriptures? IN THE BEGINNING Genesis 2:2 – “And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” Verse 3 – And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because He rested from all His work on it, which Elohim had created to make.” From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume 4, page 3630 – “The sketch of creation in Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 closes with an impressive account of the hallowing of the seventh day, because on it God rested from all the work which He had made creatively. The word ‘Sabbath’ does not occur in the story; but it is recognized by Christians of every school that the author means to describe the Sabbath as primeval.” ISRAEL The first actual mention of the Sabbath is not until after Moses, through direction of Yahweh, led Israel out of captivity in Egypt. The people were on the move and had little food on hand. Yahweh was going to provide them with manna. It was something that could be eaten directly, or they could prepare it in other ways, such as baking or boiling. Yahweh was going to feed them, but He was going to test them at the same time. Exodus 16:4 – “And Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, I AM! Bread will rain from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather the matter of a day in its day, so that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.” The people were to gather manna each morning – enough for their family for that day. They were not to gather extra to have for the next day or to try to stock up. They quickly disobeyed. “Exodus 16:19 – “And Moses said to them, Do not let anyone leave from it until morning.” Verse 20 – “And they did not listen to Moses, and some left it until morning; and it became rotten with maggots, and stunk. And Moses was very angry against them.” Verse 21 – “And they gathered it in the morning, each one in the morning according to the mouth of his eating. And it melted in the heat of the sun.” But on the day before the Sabbath, the instructions were different. Exodus 16:22 – “And it came about on the sixth day, they gathered double bread, two omers for one. And all the leaders of the congregation came and reported to Moses.” Verse 23 – “And he said to them, That is what Yahweh said, Tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. What you will bake, bake. And boil what you will boil. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until the morning.” Verse 24 – “And they laid it up until the morning, as Moses commanded. And it did not stink and no maggot was in it.” Verse 25 – “And Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you will not find it in the field.” Verse 26 – “You shall gather it in six days, and on the seventh is a Sabbath; in it none shall be found.” Simple instructions, right? These people had just witnessed the plagues that fell on Egypt, including the death of Egypt’s first-born. They were safe and their lives and homes were protected. They had also been witness to the sea parting for their safe, dry passage and the destruction to Pharaoh’s army. They had tasted the bitter waters that Yahweh sweetened. Don’t you think they would have been ready to pay attention? But human nature has to do its own thing. Of course, some disobeyed. Exodus 16:27 – “And it happened on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and did not find any.”Verse 28 – “And Yahweh said to Moses, Until when do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? Verse 29 – “See because Yahweh has given the Sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two days of bread on the sixth day. Each one of you remain in his place. Do not let anyone go out from his place on the seventh day.” Verse 30 – “And the people rested on the seventh day.” The children of Israel walked on until they reached Mount Sinai. There Yahweh had them prepare to hear Him. He presented to them His covenant – and they agreed to it. They heard the conditions and accepted the terms. It included various laws and statutes, and the Sabbath was included. LAW Exodus 20:8 – “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Verse 9 – “Six days you shall labor and do all your work.” Verse 10 – “And the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your Elohim: you shall not do any work, you, and your son, and y our daughter, your male slave and your slave-girl, and your livestock, and your stranger who is in your gates.” Verse 11 – “For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all which is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; on account of this Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” The word “work” in verse 9 is Strong’s #4399, melakah . It means deputyship; employment (never servile) or work. It can also mean business or occupation. It involves what would be our usual routine the other six days of the week. It applies to all persons in your household or creatures under your control. Shortly after this, Yahweh added another point. The Sabbath became a sign or a signal to denote who and where Yahweh’s people were. Exodus 31:13 – “And you speak to the sons of Israel, saying, You shall surely keep my Sabbaths; for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations; to know that I am Yahweh your sanctifier.” Verse 14 – “And you shall keep the Sabbath for it is holy for you; the profaners of it surely shall be put to death; for everyone doing work in it, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of his people.” Verse 15 – “Work may be done on six days, and on the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahweh; everyone doing work on the Sabbath day surely shall be put to death.” Verse 16 – “And the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath to do the Sabbath for their generations; it is a never-ending covenant.” Verse 17 – “It is a sign forever between Me and the sons of Israel; for in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” What is meant by a sign? The word is Strong’s #226, owth . It is defined as a signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, or evidence. The weekly Sabbath is listed among the feast days of Yahweh. A “feast” is a Hebrew mowed , Strong’s #4150. It simply means an appointment; an appointed time; a festival; an assembly; or a season. Many are also referred to as a miqra, Strong’s #4744. That means a calling out; a rehearsal; a reading; a convocation. Leviticus 23:2 – “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them, The appointed seasons of Yahweh which you shall proclaim, holy gatherings, shall be these: These are my appointed seasons.” Verse 3 – “Work is to be done six days, and in the seventh day shall be a Sabbath of rest, a holy gathering; you shall do no work; it is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings.” The rest of Leviticus 23 goes on to list other times and days throughout the year that Yahweh has set aside. These are often referred to as “high” or “special” Sabbaths. (If you’d like more information on those, please see our article entitled “Yahweh’s Set-Apart Days”) Israel continued on, through forty years of wandering, and on into the land Yahweh had promised, expanding and growing. At times they were somewhat obedient. But then they would totally disobey and be punished. They would repent and turn to Yahweh; He would rescue them and then the process would start over. This happened repeatedly until Israel turned so far aside that Yahweh let them go. Can you figure out what one of the points of contention was? They broke all His laws, but the two most often mentioned were idolatry and the breaking of the Sabbaths. Ezekiel 20:10 – “So I made them leave from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.” Verse 11 – “And I gave them My statutes, and I made them know My judgments, which if a man does them, he will even live by t hem.” Verse 12 – “And I also gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh, who sets them apart.” Verse 13 – “But they house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My judgments; which if a man does them he will even live by them. And they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said, I will pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.” Yahweh decided to spare them. He made the same promises to their sons. But they rebelled, as did their fathers. It continued in cycles until He scattered them throughout the world. Ezekiel 22:8 – “You have despised My holy things, and have profaned My Sabbaths.” Verse 26 – “Her priests have violated My law and have profaned My holy things; they have not divided between the holy and the common; and between the unclean and the clean they have not taught; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” BETWEEN OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS From Sacred Origins of Profound Things, by Charles Panati, page 203 – “The Hebrews had long observed a seven-day week, of which the last day, Saturday or the Sabbath, was a holiday given over to rest – a reminder of God’s day of rest after completing His Creation. “By Jesus’ time, the Sabbath had been consecrated to the Hebrew Yahweh and was highly sacred, replete with restrictions as to what activities one could or could not engage in. A principal hallmark of Judaism was ‘keeping holy the Sabbath’.” From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume 4, page 2631 – “The prophets found fault with the worship on the Sabbath, because it was not spiritual or prompted by love and gratitude. The Sabbath is exalted by the great prophets who faced the crisis of the Babylonian exile as one of the most valuable institutions in Israelite life. Great promises are attached to faithful observance of the holy day, and confession is made of Israel’s unfaithfulness in profaning the Sabbath. “With the development of the synagogue the Sabbath became a day of worship and a study of the Law, as well as a day of cessation from all secular employment. “It was during the period between Ezra and the Christian era that the spirit of Jewish legalism flourished. Innumerable restrictions and rules were formulated for the conduct of life under the law. Great principles were lost to sight in the mass of petty details. Two entire treatises of the Mishnah, Shabbath and Erubhin , are devoted to the details of Sabbath observance. The subject is touched upon in other parts of the Mishnah; in the Gemara there are extended discussions, with citations of the often-divergent opinions of the rabbis. In the Mishnah (Shabbath, vii, 2) there are 39 classes of prohibited actions with regard to the Sabbath, and there is much hair-splitting in working out the details. The beginnings of this elaborate definition of actions permitted and actions forbidden are to be found in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era. The movement was at flood tide during our Lord’s earthy ministry and continued for centuries afterward, in spite of His frequent and vigorous protests. “The rabbis seemed to think that the Sabbath was an end in itself, an institution to which the pious Israelite must subject all his personal interests; in other words, that man was made for the Sabbath: man might suffer hardship, but the institution must be preserved inviolate. Jesus, on the contrary, taught that the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit. If there should arise a conflict between man’s needs and the letter of the law, man’s higher interests and needs must take precedence over the law of the Sabbath. There is no reason to think that Jesus meant to discredit the Sabbath as an institution. It was His custom to attend worship in the synagogue on the Sabbath.” From page 2633 – “From the testimony of Josephus it is clear that the Jews, as a nation, continued to observe the seventh day Sabbath until their overthrow, when Jerusalem was captured by Titus, 70 A.D. As colonies, and as individuals, scattered over the face of the earth, the Jews have preserved a knowledge of the original Sabbath, and the definite day until the present time.” Why should we be interested in what happened to ancient Israel? Exactly what does that have to do with us? Doesn’t that apply only to the Jews? Why should I personally keep the Sabbath? I Corinthians 10:11 – “And all these things happened to those as examples, and it was written for our warning, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” Romans 15:4 – “For whatever things were written before were written for our instruction, that through patience and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” THE TIME OF YAHSHUA The Pharisees must have had in mind the command against working on the Sabbath when they approached Yahshua (see Luke 6:1-5). He and His disciples were walking through grain fields when the disciples plucked a few heads of grain, rubbed off the husks and popped the grains in their mouths. Now was that really work by definition? They were not reaping several acres and carrying sheaves to thresh and then store. This would be no more work than if today we strolled through our vegetable garden, plucked a tomato, washed it and ate it. These men were hungry and had nothing on hand to eat. The kernels of grain could help satisfy them till a meal was made ready. Luke 4:16 – “And He came to Nazareth, where He was brought up. And He went in, as was His custom on the day of the Sabbaths, into the synagogue, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:31 – And He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And He was teaching them on the Sabbaths.” Yahshua was in regular attendance at the synagogues. No one was surprised to see Him there. He understood the laws regarding the Sabbath and the purpose of it. He reinforced those laws and said nothing about it being changed in the near future Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I came to annul the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to annul, but to fulfill.” Verse 18 – “Truly I say to you, Until the heavens and the earth pass away, in no way shall one iota or one tittle pass away from the law until all comes to pass.” Verse 19 – “Whosoever then shall break one of these commandments, the least, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever does and teaches them, this one shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.” By those statements, those laws could not have been “nailed to the cross”. Why not? Because the heavens and the earth did not pass away. That has never happened! Not yet, anyway. RESURRECTION OF YAHSHUA Some say that worship was changed from Sabbath to Sunday because the Messiah was resurrected on Sunday. From The Douay Catechism, by Henry Tuberville, page 143 – “Question: What is Sunday , or the Lord’s Day in general? “Answer: It is a day dedicated by the Apostles to the honour of the most holy Trinity, and in memory that Christ our Lord arose from the dead upon Sunday , sent down the holy Ghost on a Sunday .” Modern Christianity tells us that the Messiah died on Good Friday and was resurrected on Easter Sunday morning. Can that be possible? He told them how long He would be dead. Matthew 12:40 – “For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be in the earth of the earth three days and three nights.” Friday afternoon to Sunday morning is not three days and three nights. A grade school child can figure that out! This doesn’t say three days and nights – it specifies three days and three nights. It has been assumed that He died on Friday afternoon because of the rush to get the bodies buried due to the approaching Sabbath. Was that a weekly Sabbath? Or could it have been a high Sabbath? John 19:31 – “Since it was the preparation, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath – for great was the day of that Sabbath – they asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they be taken away.” In the King James, that verse says, “for that Sabbath was a high day”. A high day did not necessarily mean it was a weekly Sabbath: a high day can fall on any day of the week. So maybe it wasn’t a Friday after all? The word “preparation” is Strong’s #3904 – paraskeue . It means readiness or preparation. But in The New Englishman’s Greek Concordance and Lexicon, it says the word is found in only six places in scripture: Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42. Their definition is “preparation – in New Testament only, the Day of Preparation before a special sabbath.” A high day, not the weekly Sabbath! Was He resurrected at sunrise? At the time of Easter sunrise services? Matthew 28:1 – “After the sabbaths, at the dawning into the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” When did the Sabbath end? At sunset at the end of the seventh day of the week. Mark 16:2 – “And very early on the first day of the week, the sun having risen, they came to the tomb.” John 20:1 – “And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early, darkness yet being on the tomb, and she saw the stone had been removed from the tomb.” If she came early, still somewhat dark, just before sunrise and He was already gone – He could not have been resurrected at sunrise on Sunday! Let’s think backwards. He said He would be three days and three nights in the grave. That’s 72 hours. He died at three in the afternoon and was put in the tomb before sunset. If He were resurrected at the same time, and was already gone on Sunday morning, then He must have been resurrected late Sabbath afternoon! Now go back 72 hours. It would be Wednesday afternoon, wouldn’t it? Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon would be day one. Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon would be day two. Friday afternoon to Sabbath afternoon would be day three. The women found the tomb empty the next morning. Wednesday afternoon He was rushed to the tomb because a high day – the first day of the Days of Unleavens – was approaching at sunset. Sunset Wednesday to sunset Thursday the people observed the high day. On Friday, the women spent time preparing the spices to anoint His body and made their preparations for the weekly Sabbath. On the weekly Sabbath they rested and then went to the tomb the next morning. APOSTLES There is absolutely nothing in the Scriptures of the New Testament about the apostles changing their worship to a Sunday. They continued with the seventh-day Sabbath. Acts 13:14 – “But going through from Pergamos, they came to Antioch-Pisidia, and going into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbaths, they sat down.” Acts 13:42 – “But the Jews having gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.” Verse 44 – “And in the coming Sabbath, almost all the city was gathered to hear the word of Yahweh.” Acts 17:13 – “And on the day of the Sabbaths, we went outside the city beside a river, where it was customary for prayer to be made. And sitting down, we spoke to the women who came together there.” Apparently, there was not a synagogue or a church in that area. So the people used what was available to them. Acts 17:2 – “And according to Paul’s custom, he went in to them and reasoned with them from the Scriptures on three Sabbaths.” Acts 18:4 – “And he reasoned in the synagogues on every Sabbath persuading both Jews and Greeks.” If there had been a change, don’t you think Paul would have known? He had contact with the other apostles. Surely they would have told him, wouldn’t they? BREAKING OF BREAD Some groups teach that the apostles met together every Sunday and celebrated the “Lord’s Supper”. But is that what is in the Scriptures?
Acts 2:42 – “And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles, and in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Verse 46 – “And continuing steadfastly with one mind day by day in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they shared food in gladness and simplicity of heart.” From Cookbook of Foods from Bible Days, by Jean and Frank McKibbin, page 109 – “Bread has been literally sacred to most of the people of the Near East. This is why they break instead of cutting it. They feel that to cut bread is akin to cutting life itself. ‘Breaking’ of bread is universal in the Scriptures.” From Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 149 – “Breaking of bread – in Scriptural language to break bread is to partake of food.” From The New Testament in the Language of Today, by William F. Beck – It translates “breaking of bread from house to house” of Acts 2:46 as “They had their meals in their homes.” Luke 24:35 – “And they related the things in the highway, and how He was known to them in the breaking of the loaf.” From The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast by Jeff Smith, page 10 – “In Latin the term for ‘companion’ ( campanio ) refers to bread. Com (with) and panis (bread) means ‘The person with whom I break my bread. My companion.’ From this concept we gain insight into the New Testament phrase ‘He was known in the breaking of the Bread’.” Surely we can understand that. Don’t you become closer to people by sharing meals with them? You eat and you visit and you share. In the Middle Eastern countries, the sharing of food is a way of life. To refuse can be one of the most insulting things you could do. If a family lives in a tent in the wilderness area and a stranger comes by, they are obligated to feed the stranger. If it is an enemy, they can eat with their backs to him and not share their conversation, but they must still feed him. While traveling through Jordan, we received bread that had just come out of the ovens. These were not loaves as we know them. They were less than one inch thick, round and as large as a dinner plate. These loaves were not sliced but, following their custom, we broke off pieces to share. ROMAN AUTHORITY So what did happen? How did the change come about? If it is not in Scripture, where is the authority that made the change? From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume 4, page 2633— “According to church history the seventh-day Sabbath was observed by the early church, and no other day was observed as a Sabbath during the first two or three centuries. “Sunday was distinguished as a day of joy by the circumstances that men did not fast upon it, and that they prayed standing up and not kneeling, as Christ had now been raised from the dead. The festival of Sunday, like all the other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century, a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have been considered laboring on Sunday as a sin. “The Christians in the ancient church very soon distinguished the first day of the week, Sunday; however, not as a Sabbath, but as an assembly day of the church to study the Word of God together and to celebrate the ordinance one with another; without a shadow of a doubt this took place as early as the second century.” ( Geschichte des Sonntags , 60). “Gradually, however, as the first day of the week came into prominence as an added day, but finally by civil and ecclesiastical authority as a required observance. The first legislation on this subject was the famous law of Constantine, enacted 321 A.D. The acts of various councils during the fourth and fifth centuries established the observance of the first day of the week by ecclesiastical authority, and in the great apostasy which followed, the rival day obtained the ascendancy. During the centuries which followed, however, there were always witnesses for the true Sabbath, although under great persecution. And thus in various lands, the knowledge of the true Sabbath has been preserved.” From the text of Constantine’s Sunday Law of 321 A.D. – “On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and the people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them the second time.” Codex Justinianus , lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; translated in History of the Christian Church , Philip Schaff, D.D., (7-vol ed) Vol. III, page 380, New York, 1883.” From Rest Days, by Hulton Webster, page 122-123 – “This legislation by Constantine probably bore no relation to Christianity; it appears, on the contrary, that the emperor, in his capacity of Pontifex Maximus, was only adding the day of the Sun, the worship of which was then firmly established in the Roman Empire, to the other ferial days of the sacred calendar.” From page 270 – “What began, however, as a pagan ordinance, ended as a Christian regulation; and a long series of imperial decrees, during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, enjoined with increasing stringency abstinence from labour on Sunday.” From articles by Cardinal Gibbons in the Catholic Mirror, Sept 1893 – “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” Rome’s Challenge , page 21. From The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, by Peter Geiermann, page 50 –
“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? From From Sabbath to Sunday by Samuele Bacchiocchi, page 217 – “Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea (ca. A.D. 360) explicitly condemns the veneration of the Sabbath and enjoins working on such a day in order to show a special respect for Sunday: ‘Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, honouring rather the Lord’s day by resting, if possible, as Christians. However if any shall be found judaizing, let them be anathema from Christ’ (Mansi II, pp 569, 570).” From Halley’s Bible Handbook, by Henry H. Halley, page 760 – “Constantine and Sunday. He made the Christian day of Assembly, Sunday, a Rest Day; forbidding ordinary work; permitting Christian soldiers to attend church services.” Daniel’s prophecy speaks of symbolic beasts that will rule over the world. Can you see Constantine in this one? Daniel 7:25 – “And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and he intends to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time.” From the Internet website www.revealed.org/stultify.htm-- The following is a letter by Peter R. Tramer, editor of The Catholic Extension Magazine, dated May 22, 1934. It says in response to a question about the change in the Sabbath -- “Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts: “(1) That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man. “(2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church instituted by Christ, to teach and guide men through life, has the right to change the Ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept the change of the Sabbath to the 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. “(3) We also say that of all Protestants, the Seventh Day Adventists are the only group that reasons correctly and are consistent with their teachings. It is always somewhat laughable to see the Protestant Churches, in pulpit and legislature, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in the Bible.” TIME TO THINK Okay, so does it really make any difference? Yahweh established the day He set aside as holy. Nowhere in Scripture can we find that it has been changed – by Him or by Yahshua. Can any human (or church) change the set-apartness from one day to another? On what authority? If we follow the Catholic Church in the observance of Sunday, are we guilty of idolatry? They admit it was originally the day of the Sun. But also, by observing Sunday, would we be worshipping the Catholic Church rather than Yahweh? It’s certainly something to think about. Isaiah 56:1 – “So says Yahweh: Keep justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.” Verse 2 – “Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; keeping sabbath, from defiling it; and keeping his hand from doing every evil.” Verse 6 – “And the sons of the alien who join themselves on Yahweh to serve Him, and to love Yahweh’s name, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and takes hold of My covenant.” Verse 7 – “Even them I will bring to my holy mount and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifice shall be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” Isaiah 58:13 – “If you turn your foot away because of the sabbath, from doing what you please on My holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, glorified to the holiness of Yahweh; and shall glorify it, away from doing your own ways, from finding your own pleasure or speaking your word.” Verse 14 – “Then you shall delight yourself in Yahweh. And I will cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and make you eat with the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.” Maybe you don’t think it important to your salvation considering these are Old Testament Scriptures? We know that the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, so consider these last two Scriptures – in the New Testament. Revelation 14:12 – “Here is the patience of the saints: here are the ones keeping the commandments of Yahweh, and the faith of Yahshua.” Think it’s not that big a deal? Do you want to live for eternity in Yahweh’s kingdom; to enter into the city of New Jerusalem? Revelation 22:14 – “Blessed are the ones doing His commands, that their authority will be over the tree of life, and by the gates they may enter into the city.” |