Tag: fourth commandment

The Significance of Sabbath Observance Today

The Significance of Sabbath Observance Today

i have thought about this series for some time. How do i share my understanding in a way that leads you, the reader, into curiosity? To inspire a deeper look into Scripture. To light a fire within you to be like the people of Berea. Who received with joy, the words being taught to them. But then went and searched the Scriptures to see whether or not it was true. There are plenty of posts you can go over in which i will have touched on these ideas presented here. Although, not so succinctly as i will try in this series of posts. i will present the options and then give my ‘why’s’ trying to be fair to both sides in the end. These are the topics i will present over the next few days. Yahoshua or Jesus (see post); Rabbi or Teacher (see post); Adonai Elohim or Lord God (see post); Feast Days or Holidays (see post); Sabbath or Sunday (Current Post). It has been my goal to persuade you to begin to evaluate your ‘why’s’. To ask the question of yourself, “Am I using mans justification or Elohim’s Word, to determine my beliefs?” Let’s wrap this series up.

Sabbath or Sunday:
In my last post i went over the idea of Feast Days or Holidays. Presenting the idea of the significance of Elohim’s Feasts. In the description of the Feast Days in Leviticus you will find the Sabbath Day. In fact it leads the way. Leviticus 23 begins — Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelite’s and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of Yahweh that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to Yahweh.

The Sabbath wasn’t new to Israel. The Creator of the Universe in the beginning said, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day Elohim had finished the work He had been doing. So on that day He rested from all His work. Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.” From the beginning of time Adonai was demonstrating the necessity of rest. He designed it as a day of reflection, a day to gather, a day to feast. You begin with a gathering in which you feast together with those in your family and community of faith. You commemorate the very first Sabbath each week at the end of six days of labor. Reflecting on the goodness of Elohim.

The Sabbath Day wasn’t just demonstrated to us by Yahweh Himself, He instructed us to observe it. In the passage above from Genesis 2 and in the Ten Commandments given at Mt Sinai. Exodus says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your Elohim, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.” This is the fourth commandment. It is the most detailed of all the commandments given to Moses on Mt Sinai.

The Sabbath Day was important to Yahweh. He demonstrated it and commanded it. He held Israel to a standard regarding it. Isaiah writes, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of Yahweh honorable; and if you honor it, not doing your own ways, or finding your own pleasure, or speaking your own words, then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.“. (Isaiah 58:13-14) It was a covenant sign between Yahweh and His people. Exodus 31:13-17 — “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘You shall be careful to keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you… You are to observe the Sabbath, for it is a holy day to you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death… It is a permanent sign, a covenant forever“.

There is no passage of Scripture that changes or modifies the Sabbath in any way. No reputable scholar will argue this point. Yahoshua said, “I am Adon (Master) of the Sabbath.” He kept the Sabbath, attending synagogue faithfully on the Sabbath. While His body lay lifeless in a tomb. One could say that both metaphorically and physically Yahoshua rested on the Sabbath. The Apostles all kept the Sabbath. Throughout the book of Acts we read about Sabbath observance. So where does the modern tradition of Sunday observance come in? What verse changes the day? The answer is none. Not one single verse. It is impossible to argue the other side because it doesn’t exist. The only place that references a change to the Sabbath Commandment is the Catechism of the Catholic Church Article 3.

Unfortunately, in their own Catechism they incorrectly number the commandments calling the Sabbath Commandment number three instead of four. Presumably, to allow for their engraved images. They take great delight in their ability to change times and seasons. This action is expressly forbidden in Scripture. It is also warned against. Found in both Deuteronomy (4:2) and Revelation (22:18-19). The act of changing times and seasons is written of as being from the spirit of Anti-Christ. Daniel 7:25 says, “He will speak words against the Most High and try to exhaust the holy ones of the Most High. He will attempt to alter the seasons and the Torah; and [the holy ones] will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.”

The Sabbath is a blessing! It is not too difficult to do. Science has shown that resting as prescribed by the Sabbath command is extremely beneficial to good health. In all areas of our lives, physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. It was demonstrated by Elohim, observed by Yahoshua and His disciples. We are instructed to be like Yahoshua. Paul writes, “Imitate me as I imitate Messiah.” I believe that not observing the Sabbath day puts us at odds with Elohim. Scripture indicates it is a sign for all generations. It also says it is for the foreigner. It is for the servant. So one cannot say it was only for Israel. So what will you do? Will you obey mans tradition or Elohim’s Word?

This is the Way of the Rabbi,
You are loved,
cj

Remember . . . (Addendum)

Every Wind of Doctrine p6.3 Remember the Sabbath Day

Here is my current conclusion on ‘Remember the Sabbath Day.’ i will begin my conclusion with two quotes one from John Wesley, and this one from a Mr. John William De La Flechere, this quote recorded in a memoir written by John Wesley from the late 1700. “Our national depravity turns greatly on these two hinges, the profanation of the Lord’s day, and the neglect of the education of children.” He later states, “. . . well be a warning to us, to consider a religious observation of the Lord’s day as the best preservative of virtue and religion, and the neglect and profanation of it as the greatest inlet to vice and wickedness.”

John Wesley himself says, regarding the Scripture, “Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy.” He writes, “Have you forgotten who spoke these words? Or do you set Him at defiance? Do you bid Him do His worst? Have a care. You are not stronger than He. ‘Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth; but woe unto the man that contendeth with his Maker. He sitteth on the circle of the heavens; and the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers before Him!’” Later he writes, “Shall a man then rob God? And art thou the man? Consider, think what thou art doing! Is it not God who giveth thee all thou hast? Every day thou livest, is it not His gift? And wilt thou give Him none? Nay, wilt thou deny Him what is His own already? He will not, He cannot, quit His claim. This day is God’s. It was so from the beginning. It will be so to the end of the world. This He cannot give to another. O ‘render unto God the things that are God’s,’ now; ‘Today, while it is called today!’” Let me conclude Wesley’s portion of my post with this; “The Lord hallowed the Sabbath day, but he hath also blessed it. So that you are an enemy to yourself. You throw away your own blessing, if you neglect to ‘Keep this day holy.’ It is a day of special grace.” [From his sermon: A Word to a Sabbath-Breaker]

In all of my study and research on the Sabbath day it is safe to conclude these historic truths. The theological shift within the Christian churches observance from Saturday to Sunday began in the late first century to late second century. Historically it is linked to the first day of the week, Sunday, because the tomb of our blessed Messiah was discovered empty on the morning of. The Roman Catholic Church formalized this change at the Council of Laodicea (circa 363-364 AD) In the decree it is expressly written along with many other degrading statements toward the Jewish community, “Christians should work on Saturday but rest on Sundays.” Did they forget that the Messiah was an Israelite? That all of Scripture is written around the Hebrew people. That the promise of the coming Messiah would one day sit on the throne as King of Israel? These changes are based on assumed Papal authority of which there is non and the Protestants continued adherence only furthers this delusional belief.

The shift was gradual historically. And overtime we can see that we have drifted from Elohim. As did the people of Israel. In fact any honest reading of the Scriptures will reveal that much of Israels struggles were due to their drift from the Sabbath day. Which lead only to other areas of life becoming lukewarm, until eventually they were sent into exile. The shift away from YHWY was within a generation! Look what happen within a generation of Messiah Yahoshua’s resurrection, we began a slow slip from the Way by profaning the Sabbath. Now the Church has come to believe in a hyper grace movement that leaves out the very real nature of Elohim. His desire, His will, His governance. If the Sabbath day is to be observed in Heaven, doesn’t that mean that it should be observed here on earth? “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” These are the words of Yahoshua when asked by His disciples, “Teach us to pray?” But no we only say the words but for the majority of believers today they will claim their right to lawlessness based on hyper grace and misunderstanding Paul as Peter writes, “He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16)

It is therefore my understanding and now solid belief that we are to observe the Sabbath day and to keep it holy. It is for all people established at creation, set forth in the Ten Commandments, given to all people who would join to Israel. Yahoshua, is the Messiah of Israel and the nations, He will return as King of Israel in Jerusalem where we will make a pilgrimage three times a year throughout the millennium reign of Messiah here on earth. Any other day, any other belief, is, by the Word, the working of the lawless one who seeks to deceive humanity into worshiping him by worshipping themselves and placing the traditions of man above the very Word of Elohim.

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy.

You are loved,
cj

Remember . . . (2/2)

Every Wind of Doctrine p6.2 Remember the Sabbath Day

Saint Augustine, Book VIII Chapter 12, 2/3 down the first paragraph begin: “Somehow I flung myself down beneath a fig tree and gave way to the tears which now streamed from my eyes, the sacrifice that is acceptable to you. I had much to say to you, my God, not in these very words but in this strain: ‘Lord, will you never be content?’ (Psalm 6:3) ‘Must we always taste your vengeance? Forget the long record of our sins.’ (Psalm 79:5, 8) For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept crying ‘How long shall I go on saying “tomorrow, tomorrow”? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?’”

To which i thought as i read Augustine’s words; The heart felt plea of a man broken and seeking truth, wanting truth, desiring a life lived that pleases Elohim, our Father, through Yahoshua, His Son, the ONLY PATH, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. This is the broken and contrite spirit that Adonai desires, for it is in our emptiness that we are able to be filled. Remember, on this journey of life as we seek The Way, He has said, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of Elohim rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) “‘Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your Elohim.” (Micah 6:7, 8)

Augustine continues: “I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the refrain ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. At this I looked up, thinking hard whether there was any find of game in which children used to chant words like these, but I could not remember ever hearing the before. I stemmed by flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall. For I had heard the story of Antony, and I remembered how he had happened to go into a church while the Gospel was being read and had taken it as a counsel addressed to himself when he heard the words ‘Go home and sell all that belongs to you. Give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me.’ (Matthew 19:21) By this divine pronouncement he had at once been converted to you.”

The more i read his words the more i resonate with them, with his heart, and emotion. i recall a time in a prayer chapel in which i had an encounter that cannot be easily explained yet is as simple to understand as ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. To which i did and in no less enthusiasm as Augustine pens, my life from that moment forward would have new meaning, new purpose, and new challenges. Yet all The Way my Savior leads me. So what did Augustine read that so impacted his life?

Augustine continues: “. . . continuing Paul’s Epistles. I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell: ‘Not in revealing and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not it quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ [Adonai Yahoshua Messiah]; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites.’ (Romans 13:13, 14) I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.”

Augustine held to an eighth day sabbath or first of the week. He writes however, on the importance of observing the Sabbath-Day by stating: “Well, then, is it owing to the one precept about the Sabbath-Day, which is included in it, that the Decalogue is called ‘the letter that killeth?’ Because, forsooth, every man that still observes that day in its literal appointment is carnally wise, but to be carnally wise is nothing else than death? And must the other nine commandments, which are rightly observed in their literal form, not be regarded as belonging to the law of works by which none is justified, but to the law of faith whereby the just man lives? Who can possibly entertain so abused an opinion as to suppose that ‘the ministration of death, written and engraved in stone,’ is not said equally of all the Ten Commandments, but only of the solitary one touching the Sabbath-Day? (Written in his reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book VI-2)

So many throughout history have qualified the importance of ‘Remembering’ the Sabbath day as important as following any of the Ten Commandments. It really isn’t until more recently that the Sabbath day has become even a reproach to the Sunday morning followers of Jesus. The notion that any day is Sabbath now in Jesus is another cancer on the modern church. Although, many giants of the faith have made this statement they still adhered to a Sabbath day routine, which attempted to maintain the solemnity of the Sabbath itself. As i have ventured in my reading of Scripture the Sabbath day has jumped off the page because over and over again it was the most outward sign of being in covenant with Yahweh. You don’t wear your circumcision on the outside, no one see’s that but Elohim and your wife, but a Sabbath day is seen by all.

Calendar’s through time have changed but the people of Elohim (the Hebrew Nation known as Israel) have kept the seventh day. There are sects to this day that follow a new moon sabbath count for days, weeks, months and years. Yet the majority of the followers of The Way, have observed the present day calendar as a symbol, that although they live in the world, they are not part of the world. And as one must live within the society of exile they partake in a manner that gives Elohim the glory above local traditions of man. Hence my reason for observing a Saturday Sabbath over a Sunday one. For if it were so, it would be Sabbath for all children of Elohim.

A commandment so important that it is an eternal outward sign, like a wedding ring, of the covenant, and is highlighted out of the Ten with the word Remember, which means, ‘to mention, to record, to make a memorial, make remembrance, to be brought to remembrance, brought to mind;’ should make one pause as to how they are doing just that. How are you “Remember[ing] the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Is it just a thought, a nice idea, a fulfilled sign?

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days Yahweh mad the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in the, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

How does one ensure even his servant isn’t working? After Sunday service, he runs to the store. He might stop at the diner for lunch and then tip poorly. How can you say one ought to be in Church to hear the Word and be Saved? Yet, you still require them to serve you after not hearing a Word that was said from the pulpit. For too long now, the modern church has had an anti-christ spirit regarding the Sabbath day. I think, given the times we are now in, it is time to repent. We should do our best to REMEMBER the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

You are loved,
cj

Remember . . . (2/2)

Every Wind of Doctrine p6.2 Remember the Sabbath Day

Saint Augustine, Book VIII Chapter 12, 2/3 down the first paragraph begin: “Somehow I flung myself down beneath a fig tree and gave way to the tears which now streamed from my eyes, the sacrifice that is acceptable to you. I had much to say to you, my God, not in these very words but in this strain: ‘Lord, will you never be content?’ (Psalm 6:3) ‘Must we always taste your vengeance? Forget the long record of our sins.’ (Psalm 79:5, 8) For I felt that I was still the captive of my sins, and in my misery I kept crying ‘How long shall I go on saying “tomorrow, tomorrow”? Why not now? Why not make an end of my ugly sins at this moment?’”

To which i thought as i read Augustine’s words; The heart felt plea of a man broken and seeking truth, wanting truth, desiring a life lived that pleases Elohim, our Father, through Yahoshua, His Son, the ONLY PATH, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. This is the broken and contrite spirit that Adonai desires, for it is in our emptiness that we are able to be filled. Remember, on this journey of life as we seek The Way, He has said, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of Elohim rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) “‘Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does Yahweh require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your Elohim.” (Micah 6:7, 8)

Augustine continues: “I was asking myself these questions, weeping all the while with the most bitter sorrow in my heart, when all at once I heard the singsong voice of a child in a nearby house. Whether it was the voice of a boy or a girl I cannot say, but again and again it repeated the refrain ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. At this I looked up, thinking hard whether there was any kind of game in which children used to chant words like these, but I could not remember ever hearing them before. I stemmed by flood of tears and stood up, telling myself that this could only be a divine command to open my book of Scripture and read the first passage on which my eyes should fall. For I had heard the story of Antony, and I remembered how he had happened to go into a church while the Gospel was being read and had taken it as a counsel addressed to himself when he heard the words ‘Go home and sell all that belongs to you. Give it to the poor, and so the treasure you have shall be in heaven; then come back and follow me.’ (Matthew 19:21) By this divine pronouncement he had at once been converted to you.”

The more i read his words the more i resonate with them, with his heart, and emotion. i recall a time in a prayer chapel in which i had an encounter that cannot be easily explained yet is as simple to understand as ‘Take it and read, take it and read’. To which i did and in no less enthusiasm as Augustine pens, my life from that moment forward would have new meaning, new purpose, and new challenges. Yet all The Way my Savior leads me. So what did Augustine read that so impacted his life?

Augustine continues: “. . . continuing Paul’s Epistles. I seized it and opened it, and in silence I read the first passage on which my eyes fell: ‘Not in reveling and drunkenness, not in lust and wantonness, not it quarrels and rivalries. Rather, arm yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ [Adonai Yahoshua Messiah]; spend no more thought on nature and nature’s appetites.’ (Romans 13:13, 14) I had no wish to read more and no need to do so. For in an instant, as I came to the end of the sentence, it was as though the light of confidence flooded into my heart and all the darkness of doubt was dispelled.”

Augustine held to an eighth day sabbath or first of the week. He writes however, on the importance of observing the Sabbath-Day by stating: “Well, then, is it owing to the one precept about the Sabbath-Day, which is included in it, that the Decalogue is called ‘the letter that killeth?’ Because, forsooth, every man that still observes that day in its literal appointment is carnally wise, but to be carnally wise is nothing else than death? And must the other nine commandments, which are rightly observed in their literal form, not be regarded as belonging to the law of works by which none is justified, but to the law of faith whereby the just man lives? Who can possibly entertain so abused an opinion as to suppose that ‘the ministration of death, written and engraved in stone,’ is not said equally of all the Ten Commandments, but only of the solitary one touching the Sabbath-Day? (Written in his reply to Faustus the Manichaean, Book VI-2)

So many throughout history have qualified the importance of ‘Remembering’ the Sabbath day as important as following any of the Ten Commandments. It really isn’t until more recently that the Sabbath day has become even a reproach to the Sunday morning followers of Jesus. The notion that any day is Sabbath now in Jesus is another cancer on the modern church. Although, many giants of the faith have made this statement they still adhered to a Sabbath day routine, which attempted to maintain the solemnity of the Sabbath itself. As i have ventured in my reading of Scripture the Sabbath day has jumped off the page because over and over again it was the most outward sign of being in covenant with Yahweh. You don’t wear your circumcision on the outside, no one see’s that but Elohim and your wife, but a Sabbath day is seen by all.

Calendar’s through time have changed but the people of Elohim (the Hebrew Nation known as Israel) have kept the seventh day. There are sects to this day that follow a new moon sabbath count for days, weeks, months and years. Yet the majority of the followers of The Way, have observed the present day calendar as a symbol that although they live in the world they are not part of the world. And as one must live within the society of exile they partake in a manner that gives Elohim the glory above local traditions of man. Hence my reason for observing a Saturday Sabbath over a Sunday one for if it were so, it would be Sabbath for all children of Elohim.

A commandment so important that it is an eternal outward sign, like a wedding ring, of the covenant, and is highlighted out of the Ten with the word Remember, which means, ‘to mention, to record, to make a memorial, make remembrance, to be brought to remembrance, brought to mind;’ should make one pause as to how they are doing just that. How are you “Remember[ing] the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Is it just a thought, a nice idea, a fulfilled sign?

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

How does one make sure that even his servant isn’t working if after Sunday service he runs to the store, or stops at the diner for lunch and then tips poorly? How can you say, one ought to be in Church to hear the Word and be Saved and yet still require them to serve you after not hearing a Word that was said from the pulpit? For too long now the modern church has had an anti-christ spirit when it comes to the Sabbath day and i think given the times we are now in it is time to repent and do our best to REMEMBER the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

You are loved,
cj

Remember . . . (1/2)

Every Wind of Doctrine p6.1 Remember the Sabbath Day

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day Elohim finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So Elohim blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it Elohim rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” Genesis 2:1-3

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your Elohim. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

The Catholic Mirror September 9, 1893– “We deem it necessary to be perfectly clear on this point — The Bible — the Old Testament — confirmed by the living tradition tradition of weekly practice for 3383 years by the chosen people of God, teaches, then, with absolute certainty, that God had, Himself, named the day ‘To be kept holy to Him’ – that the day was Saturday, and that any violation of that command was punishable with death.”

Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine Third Edition — Question: Which is the Sabbath day? Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea, transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

Don’t you find it interesting that the one commandment that specifically states, “REMEMBER” is the very commandment that has been abandoned by the majority of professing believers in Jesus? Some will say every day is Sabbath in Jesus. Others still not of Catholic faith directly but indirectly as they follow many of its traditions hold to a Sunday Sabbath. John Wesley, although he observed Sunday, said, “But, the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he [Christ] did not take away. It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken . . . Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.” There are various opinions on why Wesley spoke so highly of the Sabbath but yet observed Sunday. But by the boldness of his statement one would think we ought to honor the true Sabbath. What is the true Sabbath? Well, as quoted above for 3383 years (roughly 3514 years now) the chosen people of Elohim have observed Saturday or its equivalent as the Sabbath Day.

Throughout history there have been calendars with 10, 12, and 13 months. Some of the earliest were the Sumerian calendar, followed by the Egyptian, Assyrian and Elamite calendars and more recently switched from a the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. In these various calendars, months have different names, days are labeled differently as well, but with the exception of the Egyptian calendar (and a few localized regional calendars) they had one thing in common, they were based on 7 day periods. It’s almost as if all things had a common origin. Perhaps they did— “IN the Beginning Elohim created…and on the seventh day He rested.”

Clovis G. Chappell, another Methodist, in his —Ten Rules for Living— wrote, “The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first.”
Dwight L. Moody in his writing, Weighed and Wanting, wrote— “The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word ‘remember,’ showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tablets of stone at Sinai. How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding?”

i write this for your consideration, for you to begin to ask the question and to be a Berean and search the whole of Elohim’s Word for the answer. What does Elohim have to say about the Sabbath? Yahoshua, said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law [Torah = Instruction] until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-19

So what is the spirit behind the change? There is an answer found in Scripture. Daniel writes, “He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.” 9Daniel 7:25) This is the working of the Lawless one, the son of perdition, the anti-Messiah. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 warns, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore Elohim sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Josephus, a Jewish historian, Priest, and member of the Pharisees, born roughly four years after the death and resurrection of Yahoshua had a unique perspective of the early believers and the sect of Judaism known as the Nazarenes. In Josephus’s discourse concerning Hades, he writes, “And now, if you Gentiles will be persuaded by these motives, and leave your vain imaginations about your pedigrees, and gaining of riches and philosophy, and will not spend your time about subtleties of words, and hereby lead your minds into error, and if you will apply your ears to the hearing of the inspired prophets, [the prophets being referred to here is those of the Torah and the Tanakh] the interpreters, both of God and of His Word, and will believe in God, you shall both be partakers of these things, and obtain the good things that are to come, you shall see the ascent into the immense heaven plainly, and that kingdom which is there; for what God hath now concealed in silence (will be then made manifest) what neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

In my next post we will look at Saint Augustine and look at a passage from his journal, Saint Augustine Confessions. i would write it here but this post is already too long. Let me leave you with this, ask yourself this question, if you ask someone to remember something that requires an action, when you say “remember” what is your expectation?

You are loved,
cj