The Sabbath Day
Did He say ‘For the Jews’? No, He said it was for mankind, anyone who desires to
observe the Sabbath Day.
The word ‘man’ in this scripture is from the greek word, Anthropos,
which means, human beings, or mankind.
This was not an Old Testament comment either, but a comment made by Yahshua Himself,
when He was talking to the religious leaders of the day.
Yahweh has one, not two peoples in the earth. He is returning to a perfect bride,
made up of Jew and Gentile. Israel was always open to Gentiles, who have desired to
be a part of Israel. Read how the ‘strangers’ have always been
considered and included
by Yahweh and cared for by Him, and adopted into His Israel, His bride to be.
"Well, every day is a rest now!"
Yahshua’s activities on the Sabbath Day
Gentiles are called to be ‘partakers’ of the Olive tree and its root.
Rom 11:17 "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a
wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root
and fatness of the olive tree;"
Isaiah 56:2,6,7
“Blessed is the man…that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.”
“Also the sons of the stranger,
that join themselves to Yahweh…every one that
keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it,
and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer…for mine house shall
be called an house of prayer for all people.”
Things haven’t changed, Yahweh does not change. His laws and commandments
still stand, for all people who desire to be a part.
Yahweh set up the Sabbath day as a ceasing from work and labour day long ago.
He rested on and blessed the seventh day, and that blessing
has never been removed or changed onto any other day. Keeping His Commandment of
honouring the Sabbath day will bring a unique blessing into
our lives.
The following link is for those desiring to read about when and how the Sabbath was
inaugurated by Yahweh in His Covenant.
The inauguration of the Sabbath Day.
This is another argument against keeping Saturday
Sabbath. (Why do Gentiles insist
on having it their own way? Jewish people flood into Israel every year from all points
of the globe, and no-one ever disputes which day should
be kept as Sabbath!)
Every day being a Sabbath
is a popular
Christian doctrine. It means that no special day needs to be kept, as Yahshua has
procured a 'rest' for the
people of Yahweh because they have ceased
from their own works and now do His (if only...)
This is a daily rest some people propagate as a reason not to observe any particular day.
But we need to understand the context of this statement, and that this refers to the finished
work of Calvary, that it invalidates the self effort once needed to keep the
Commandments.
We now, in Yahshua, having sins forgiven and the holy Spirit
residing in us, so we no longer depend on 'our own works' but on His grace and power to
give us victory over sin, thus the 'rest' procured for us.
In Hebrews 4:2 Paul talks of the 'rest'
for the people of Elohim (God).
This word ‘rest’ means to ‘settle down,’ ‘to colonise’ ‘to repose down.’
It is a play on words. He is using their
understanding of the restfulness of Sabbath to make a point, not to invalidate
the Sabbath day!
Here, we have enlarged on this using Hebrews 4.
Not to instruct others not to observe the day which
He himself obviously kept! (For his activities on the Sabbath see: Acts 13:14:
Paul and Barnabas observed the Sabbath in the synagogue in Antioch. See also
Acts 16:13, Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4 )
The Greek here for rest (Strongs 2663) means the same as the Hebrew, (Strongs 4520)
meaning the repose in believing in Yahshua, that we no longer need to struggle,
fighting
against sin. He is able to cause us to live a righteous life because He has done the
work for us, and we can 'rest' in Him. Our 'good works' can avail nothing. The believer in
Yahshua no longer has to perform his own 'righteous works' but in depending on His
righteousness, and His holy
Spirit, is able to rest, leaning into that finished work. An ability to walk in
His righteousness, a new, 'resurrected' life in Him, and through the leading and strength and
power of the holy Spirit.
We are able to find this kind of rest in Yahshua, as we have indeed ‘ceased from our own
works.’ Paul, perhaps would be horrified if he thought he had misled
us on this point, to break the Commandment of Yahweh!
Yahshua kept the Sabbath, and He showed us what kinds of activities
were acceptable on that day.
He always made a point of teaching
by example. On the Sabbath day He visited and taught
in the Synagogues where the Law was being read and expounded, He also healed people and
explained to them about doing good on the Sabbath day.
The only qualification or comment He made about the Sabbath was to show people not to
be in bondage to the religious teachings of the day. For example, after healing the paralytic
man, He instructed him to 'take up your bed and walk...'
Joh 5:8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked:
and on the same day was the sabbath.
Joh 5:10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is
not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
To carry a bed then was obviously against Rabbinic
teaching of the day.
Yahshua cut across the dogma and 'religiosity' and man-made rules of
the Rabbis, and taught the purity of the Commandment.
Yahweh made the Sabbath day for man, and in healing and teaching people on this day
Yahshua qualified what this meant. Nowhere do we hear of Yahshua
disannulling the day. He encouraged His followers through example to continue to
honour the day, and after His death Miriam and the other
ladies honoured the day by ‘resting on the Sabbath’ before visiting the tomb.
"according to the Commandment" the writer added to make a point.
If Yahshua had desired to change the day or abolish it,
He did not get through to His dearest friends, did He? After His death His disciples
continued to observe the Sabbath and teach others both
Jews and Gentiles to do the same. See
Acts 13:42,44 and Acts 18:4
“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these
words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” “ And
the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of Yahweh”
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the
Greeks.”
In Matthew 24:20 Yahshua, warning the people about the coming destruction of Jerusalem
said that they should pray that their flight would not be
on the Sabbath day. Would He have said this if He had wanted to abolish it? I think not.
Also, He instructed and showed by example what was lawful on the Sabbath. He said,
‘The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day’ (Mk 3:4) and
He also said that it was alright to do good, to 'loosen our donkey,' visit friends and to heal
on the Sabbath day. (Mk 2:27, 2:28, 3:4, 4:31, Luke
4:31, 6:1, 14:1, )
If He had abolished the Sabbath day would He have qualified what was allowed?
Of course not.
In Luke 6:1 the writer (Luke) mentions that the Sabbath they walked through the corn
fields was the second Sabbath after the Feast of Passover.
If you look at the Greek words here in Strongs Concordance, you can see that Yahshua
is actually mentioning the Sabbath in relation to the Feast of Passover.
From G1208 and G4413; second first, that is, (specifically) a designation of the
Sabbath immediately after the Paschal week (being the second after Passover day,
and the first of the seven Sabbaths intervening before Pentecost): - second . . .
after the first.
) So, Yahshua not only kept Sabbath,
but the Feasts too. If He did not, then surely Luke would have
not mentioned it in this account.
Paul, who came later, observed the Sabbath.
He did not begin another group, worshipping on Sundays - although we know that they
sometimes did meet on Sundays, Act 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the
disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the
morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. -
Paul preached in the
synagogues on the Sabbath day just as he probably always had. He was a Rabbi, of no
mean standing...
(Acts 13:14)
He also advised others to go and listen to Moses being read and taught on the Sabbath day,
even Gentiles! (Acts 13:27 and 15:21)
We are not making a point here that
Gentiles should or should not keep the Sabbath, for surely this is for their own convictions
to answer, from what they read in the scriptures and also how the holy Spirit is dealing with
them in conviction and leading. We are simply sharing our findings from the Scriptures.
For the holy Spirit is sent to us all "to lead us into all truth."
Yahshua said,
"I keep My Father's Commandments..." Should we as His followers
do the same?
Incidentally, there is no scriptural evidence for changing the day from Saturday
(seventh day) to Sunday
(first day) whatsoever.
Read this link to see who changed the day and how.
Yahshua certainly
never changed it and neither did His disciples before or after the resurrection.
An 'uncomfortable?' saying of Yahshua in Matthew 5:19 could also be mentioned
here.
Mat 5:18-19 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men
so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
If you do decide to experience this Commandment in your own life, the scriptures
say, in Exodus 20, that you will enter into blessing. ‘Yahweh
blessed the Sabbath day…” You will, perhaps, as we have, find a unique
blessing in your life as you walk
in this, as in all truths.
And to finish, have a read of this paper by Marc Doyon.
Sabbath?
In his own words he says that "It is the result of an arduous and ongoing personal quest,
countless consultations with
Gentile and Messianic believers, Christian leaders
from most denominations, nonbelievers and people of all walks of life. All along the
process, drafts were submitted to them for advice, corrections,
opinions, comments and suggestions. Their input, negative or positive, was very valuable
to me since it forced me to look at their opinion from
every angle.