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The Sabbath Day Part 7
I have decided to make this the seventh and final installment on this venture into the Sabbath. Seven teachings seemed like a good place to stop. I have many more topics I wish to discuss, and there are so many other good teachings out there on this issue. I do not wish to reinvent the wheel here. The whole idea of a religious move, based upon the scriptures and an eternal, omniscient God, seeking to justify the elimination of the day of rest given from the beginning is patently absurd. Mainline Christianity needs to simply 'fess up' to the FACT that it is a new religion started by the erroneous interpretations of Paul, having no ties at all with the archaic and primitive Old Testament. It needs to resign itself to the same pattern that other pseudo-Christian organizations have followed, and admit that Christianity could have never gotten it's feet off the ground had it not first condemned it's antecedent. That is, frankly, how all religions begin, for what need would there be for a new religion if there was nothing wrong with the old one. This is exactly how politics work. In the same vein as a politician seeking the Presidency, the new religion can only reasonably justify a new sabbath by first condemning the old one. This is how elections go, whether local or national. If the economy is going well, if our foreign policies are stable, and the populace is reasonably content, then how am I to be elected? By convincing the reasonably contented public that the economy is horrible, our foreign policy is all wrong, and you the public, are not really content. In other words I must condemn and villify the current situation. If you take the time to peruse the writings of the so-called early church fathers, you will see that in order to establish 'another' sabbath, they had to first condemn the old one. Instead of holding fast to the day that was already firmly sanctified by the One who created it, these great men concluded that the 'Christ' resurrected on the 8th day, so that seems like a good enough reason to change that which was sanctified. All this in spite of the fact that Y'shua did not rise on Sunday morning, but the tomb was found empty at that time. Not one single statement in all four gospels declares that Y'shua rose on the morning of the first day of the week. Now perhaps Jesus the Christ rose on Sunday morning, but Y'shua the Messiah did not. One of the first two things I learned about God is something I still hold fast to. He is our Creator. He knows exactly how we function inside and out. He loves us dearly,all of us, and He is no respecter of persons. With these two truths in mind, it seems logical and Biblical to me that if God created us and loves us all, that He would give the same rules and truths to all of us. It just seems like the fatherly thing to do. Having chosen to speak to His creation through His Word, it follows that He would give the rules at the beginning and not in the middle somewhere. Having created us, it stands to reason that He would know what is good for us and what is not. This Creator would know what should go in us and what should not. He would know how long to work this body and how long to rest it. Does this seem illogical so far? Now all of us would agree that the Sabbath is in the beginning. Let's see how many truths we do agree upon. B'reshiyth 2:1-3: Sabbath in the beginning "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Sh'mot 16:23: Sabbath before Sinai "And he said unto them, This is that which YHVH hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto YHVH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. Sh'mot 20:10-11: Sabbath after Sinai "But the seventh day is the sabbath of YHVH thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days YHVH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHVH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Nechemyah 9:14: Sabbath after Sinai and before the New Testament "And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:" Luke 4:16: Sabbath in the gospels "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Acts 13:42-44: Sabbath after His resurrection "And when the Yehudim were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Yehudim and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God." Yesha'yahu 66:23: Sabbath in the end times "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith YHVH." Now, let's see. We have His Sabbath in the beginning. we have His Sabbath all through the times of the patriarchs, in the wilderness with Mosheh, during the reigns of the kings and the dividing of Israel, during the rise of the Rabbis', during the reigns of the Ptolemy's, through the entire ministry of Y'shua, through the book of Acts and the writings of the apostles, and finally right in the middle of the end times. So let me get this straight. You're telling me that the early church fathers were teaching the Word of God when they concluded that His Sabbath ceased in between the last apostle and the return of Messiah. I am going close this subject by making a statement that will not be received by most. I believe that one of the biggest factors in the overall pitiful condition of the health of this nation is due to the general rejection by our dominant religion of the Sabbath of our Creator. I believe that YHVH knew just what He was doing when He said that we should work six and rest one. I believe there are reasons why He did not tell His human creation to work five and rest two, or work 4 and rest three, much less to work and rest none, only to be followed by a 2 week vacation designed to make up for all the missed days. I believe we will all find out in the end why God said this or commanded that. Those who have chosen to follow the teachings of their church or denomination instead of the Word of God WILL reap what they sow, for God's word will not return unto Him void. The results of observing the Sabbath will not be found in salvation, for that is obtained only by grace through faith. The results of observing HIS Sabbath is to join YHVH in a weekly celebration of His creation and to experience His refreshing presence. Shalom Alecheim!
