Understanding Sabbath - Restoring our Jewish roots

From Tood D. Bennett´s Book "The Sabbath"

In the beginning

Genesis 2:2-3
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Quadosh : holy, to set apart.

The first thing that YHWH set apart to be holy was the first Sabbath.
During the first week of creation, YHWH also gave three blessings; He blessed the birds and the sea creatures on the fifth day, he blessed man, both male and female, on the sixth day; and he blessed the seventh day, the Sabbath.
Therefore, not only the Sabbath was set apart, but it was also blessed and Sabbath existed from the very beginning of creation.

The fourth commandments

Exodus 20:8-11
8 “ Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:12

12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.

• The ten commandments were given to the multitude of Israel, because Israel is the redeemed child or people of YHWH regardless of ethnic origin.
• Accordingly, all were expected to obey, not just the individuals who descended from the 12 tribes of Israel.
• If we look at the scriptures, there was not any separate camp for the foreigners. Everyone supposed to fit with the 12 tribes!!
• Nothing has changed in this regard and if you are one of the redeemed , whether a physical descendant of Israel or a foreigner who has joined the Kingdom according to the good news of the Messiah, then you need to obey the commandments including the Sabbath.
• The fact that the 4th commandment start with “remember” indicates that it existed before Sinai: before the ten commandments were given to the mixed multitude that come out of the land of Mitsrayim(Egypt).

A day for all creation

The Sabbath belongs to no man or religion but the creator wants His creation to observe His Sabbath.
• The Sabbath belongs to the native Israelites as well the foreigners that sojourn and joined them known as “ger” in Hebrew. In other word, anyone intended to dwell with YHWH in His kingdom needed to observe Shabbat.
• If the Shabbat applies to animals, it most certainly applied to strangers and foreigners, who are men and woman originally made in the image of Elohim.

Genesis 1:27
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

The prophet Isaiah emphasizes this very important fact when he declares great blessings to :
6 “ Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
Isaiah 56:6
In the scripture the foreigners is the word “nakar” which refers to one who was stranger to the ways of YHWH, often called heathen or gentiles. Thus anyone who is foreigner to YHWH that does not follow his commandments may repent, and turn to Him. when doing so they join with Him which involves guarding the Sabbath and holding fast His covenant.

An appointed time?

Leviticus 23.1-4.

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 ‘these are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

• The moadi or the appointed time are set apart gathering prescribed by YHWH. He called them His.
• Often the people were called together by silver trumpets:

Number 10:1-2,10
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.
10 Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be a memorial for you before your God: I am the LORD your God.”

The word convocation comes from the Hebrew word miqra. It is a set apart assembly or gathering together: it can also mean rehersal. Quite often the word convocation appears in the scriptures, it is preceded by “set apart”. Hence set apart covocation: “quadosh miqra”.
• Sabbath is weekly covoncation.
• Scriptures about the moadim and Sabbath.

• 1 chronicles 23:30-31
30 to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; 31 and at every presentation of a burnt offering to the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the New Moons and on the set feasts, by number according to the ordinance governing them, regularly before the LORD


• 2chronicles 2:4
4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

• 2 chronicle 8.12-14
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded.

• 2 chronicle 31:2-3
2 And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp[a] of the LORD. 3 The king also appointed a portion of his possessions for the burnt offerings: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the Law of the LORD.

• Nehemiah 10:32-33
32 Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to exact from ourselves yearly one-third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: 33 for the showbread, for the regular grain offering, for the regular burnt offering of the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the set feasts; for the holy things, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.



• Isaiah 1:13-14
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.

• Ezekiel 44:24
In controversy they shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths.

Lamentations 2:6
6 He has done violence to His tabernacle,
As if it werea garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The LORD has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.

The new moon, otherwise known as “Rosh chodesh”, the head of the month is an important convocation which permeates all of the moadim, it is not accurate all of the moadim, it is not accurate to place it in the same category as one of the festivals. This in no way diminishes the importance of the Sabbath.


Sign

The Sabbath is a sign.
Exodus 31:12-17
12 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

Ezekiel 20:12
12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Ezekiel 20:20
20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

• The Sabbath is supposed to be holy, it is to be set apart to YHWH. In other words, it is His day and anyone who follows Him will observe it as a set apart day.
• The act of observance makes a sign or rather a “distinguishing mark” that those who observe the day are set apart to YHWH.
• The Hebrew word sign is “owt” which means “a mark or a proof”.
• The word owt or sign used is the same word used to describe the rainbow as a sign of the covenant made with Noah and all creation. It is also the same word to describe circumcision as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant which applies to all of His seed.


Galatians 3.29
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The owt of the covenant or sign of the rainbow and the circumcision were meant to be seen and testify of the covenants. Likewise, the Sabbath is meant to be a visible sign of the covenant that YHWH made with His redeemed.
The children of Israel represented the set apart assembly of the set apart assembly of YHWH on the earth at that time and the Sabbath was given.
• The Sabbath is a sign for any and all who believe the promises of the creator and obey His commandments.

• YHWH does not have one plan of redemption for the “jews” and a different plan of redemption for “the Christian Church”. He only has One body, one Set Apart Assembly, one Yisra´el

• Much of Christianity through dispensational influences, has separated from these patriarchs of the faith, mistakenly believing that grace has somehow abolished or changed the relationship that YHWH has with those who serve and obey him. While He has provided for a perfect atonement through the blood of the Messiah, a method prescribed by the Torah, He still expects His followers to obey Him.

The messiah did not come to abolish any part of the Torah or the prophets; rather he came to fill them up with meaning.

Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.


What was accomplished by His death and reserection was not an abolition of His Torah but a demonstration of His grace by providing us with the forgiveness and cleansing which we need as the result of our transgression of the Torah.
He has made provision for Us through His covenant and if you want to take hold of the covenant which provides redemption then you had better have the sign of the covenant in your life.

An Everlasting covenant

• The scripture describe the Sabbath as more than just a sign, it is a covenant.

(shemot)Exodus 31:16-17
16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

• The Hebrew word for covenant is “brit” and the Hebrew word for lasting and perpetual is “olaw” and means: “eternity, forever, without end.” The meaning could not be any clearer- the Sabbath is a covenant which is here to stay.
• Again, it was a covenant made with Yisra´el because they were the people who were set apart to YHWH when the command was given. They were also a mixed multitude consisting of many tribes and tongues which all fell under the umbrella of the twelve tribes of Yisra´el. The scriptures do not recount any covenants made with a group of people called Christians. In fact, there are no covenants in any of the scriptures made with Christianity or “the Church” but rather with the house of Yisra´el and the house of Yahudah.

(Yirmeyahu) Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,[a] says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Keeping the Sabbath

The Sabbath begins after sunset on what we commonly refer to as Friday evening: more accurately called erev Shabbat. It continues until the following sunset.
In truth there are few commandments regarding the Sabbath which are found in the scriptures.
Sabbath Regulations
Exodus 35:1-3
1 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

The prohibition against work is fairly straightforward. Work would generally include any activity which is intended to make money or which is intended to make money or which requires physical or mental exertion unrelated to YHWH. There is no master list of prohibited activities and if you try to compile one you are missing the point which is simply: rest and communion with YHWH. Therefore each person must prayerfully consider their obedience to this commandment.
The prohibition against kindling a fire was directly related to cooking, a task which involved collecting wood, preparing the food, cooking the food and cleaning up afterward. If women had to prepare meals on the Sabbath then they would not able to rest. This is why YHWH instructed the children of Israel to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day so they would have enough for the Sabbath, thus avoiding the need to cook.

Exodus 16:21-30
21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’” 24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? 29 See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Using that passage as an example, if you are a child of Elohim you should gather, purchase and cook your food ahead of time so that you can rest on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is not just a day to abstain from cooking but all labor including our jobs, washing our cars, mowing our lawns and the like. It is good time to avoid things which are common. In order to remember that it is a special day. It is set apart and so we need to that it as set apart.
Is being transacted when people are supposed to be resting. You can shop on the other six days but the Sabbath is His.
An example of this issue is addressed in the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah 13:15:22
In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice. 21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

• There are few things going on in that passage. First it is clear that the kingdom of Yahudah was sent into the Babylonian exile due to the fact that they profaned the Sabbath. Secomd, the children of Yahudah were treading winepresses and bringing sheaves, wines, grapes and figs along with other burdens into Yahurushalayim on the Sabbath.
• This sounds like it is taking place during the harvest which would occur around the feast of Succot.
• Even though it is harvest time, you are still prohibited from working and making your animal work.
• It is prohibited to do a normal work on Sabbath.
• Further more the men of Tsor or known as Tyre, came from Phoenicia which was largely a fishing community. The come to the city to sell but unfortunately it is a distraction for the people of Yahrushalayim. They end up buying and lost the purpose and meaning of the Sabbath rest of God.
So it appears that buying and selling results in profaning YHWH´s Sabbath, a day He wants us to remember and keep set apart. Going to restaurants, shopping malls and grocery stores is no way to keep the Sabbath set apart to YHWH. If you are doing what you want to do, instead of what He wants you to do, on His day you are missing the point and the blessing.

YHWH also commanded rest for the land of Yisra´el properly referred to as Eretz Yisra´el.

Leviticus 25:1-7
The Sabbath of the Seventh Year
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. 6 And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7 for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.

• When the children of Yisra´el entered into the Promised Land, it was supposed to be set apart to YHWH by the observance of a Sabbath. Just as the inhabitant of the nation, including the animals, were to rest every seventh day of each week, so the land which they inhabited was to rest every seven years. Six years they were to sow the field and cut the vineyard.


Exodus 23.10-11
10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

• Just as the inhabitants of the nation, including animals, were to rest every seventh day of each week, so the land which they inhabited was to rest every seven years. In this year the land was neither to be tilled nor reaped. It was their failure to give the land its rest which resulted in the exile of Yisra´el from the land

2 chronicle 36:20-21
20 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

One way or another, the word of YHWH will be fulfilled. If we do not obey willingly then YHWH will affect His will.
• He specifically told the Yisra´elites that if they did not obey then He would scatter them so that the land would enjoy its Sabbath rest. The Yisra´elites has experienced this truth many times throughout history and we are all supposed to learn from those mistakes, not repeat them.
Sadly, the nation of Yisra´el is not currently giving the land a Sabbath rest.
One day when the planet is under the authority and rule of messiah, I suspect that the whole earth will observe a much needed Sabbath rest and they will look to the Messiah for His guidance on how to observe the Sabbath.


Messiah and the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is clearly a special day which is demonstrated by the fact that Yahushua was resurrected on the a Sabbath, not Easter Sunday which is and always has been a day for pagan celebrations.
Yahushua also spent a great deal of time prior to His resurrection and ascension teaching on the subject of the Sabbath. Because this is such an important to the father, Yahushua spent much time distinguishing between the traditions of men and proper observance of the Sabbath. He never taught that we should not obey the Sabbath, nor did he ever indicate that he was going to change the Sabbath. In fact, he always observe the Sabbath, just not the way the Pharisees thought he should.

In order to understand the teachings of Yahushua on this subject, it is important to remember the purpose of the Sabbath.
It is a set apart day, a day of rest and refreshing primarily: both physically and spiritually.
Traditionally, Yisra´elites who lived in Yahrushalayim would go to the House of YHWH while those ouside Yahrushalayim would gather together in what has commonly been called a “Synagogue.”
The act of assembling is certainly appropriate, although there is nothing wrong with a family remaining home, resting, congregating, worshiping and studying without going anywhere.
The main thing is to make certain that you get rest and that your main focus is on the YHWH.
There is nothing wrong with congregating on any day, so long as you properly observe the Sabbath on the correct day, the seventh day.

The Messiah always observed the Sabbath ,

Luke 4:16
16 So 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 to read.

• He healed on the Sabbath.
Luke 13:14
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.

• He taught on the Sabbath.

Mark 1:21
21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
• He gave instruction on how to observe properly the Sabbath.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-7, 9-14(Luke 6:1-5)
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even[b] of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath

9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

The disciples were not violating the Torah by plucking grain to eat but their actions were prohibited according to the Pharisaic tradition. The Pharisees were so caught up in their own man- made traditions, customs and interpretations that they become more concerned with their own rules than with the Torah.
• Another interesting part of this passage is when Yahushua refers to Himself as “Master of the Sabbath” which some translate as “Lord of the Sabbath”. by claiming to be “Master of the Sabbath” Yahushua is actually acknowledging and confirming the perpetual relevamce of the Sabbath. If the Sabbath were unimportant or abolished then He would have been declaring Himself “Master of nothing”. This was abviously not His intent, rather Yahushua was declaring that he is the one who determines what is proper and improper to do on the Sabbath. He is proclaiming His authority because this day belongs to YHWH. If he has the power to control the Sabbath then He is Sovereign.
• Yahushua is Master of the Sabbath: he was born during the Sabbath day, He will return during the Sabbath month, he was resurrected on the Sabbath day, He will return during the Sabbath month and He will reign over the Sabbath millennium.

A prophet generally came to warn and direct people ways which usually were rooted in the leadership. If people repented YHWH would usually restore them although his pperfect justice required punishement. Often times, the leaders who had established themselves through deception and falsehood, relied upon those lies to preserve and maintain their power. Repentance would mean a restoration of truth and loss of position, prestige and wealth etc… many times they would simply kill the prophet in an attempt to shut them.
Therefore, Yahushua was stating that the religious leaders and their fathers have been warned. Their fathers killed the prophets and the present day leaders were reaffirming those actions by building their tombs. Neither has the desire to know the truth. Instead folloing the Torah, which was equally applied to men, they preferred to create and enforce their own rules which empowered them. Instead leading people to YHWH, they crushing people.



Luke 11:46-52
46 And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

• A clear example of this conflict between the commandments of men and the commandments of YHWH can be seen when Yahushua the invalid on the Sabbath.

John 5:8-11
8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’”

• Yahushua healed a man and specifically told him to pick his mat and walk. The Torah doesn´t prohibit people a person from picking up their mat and walking, especially when they have just been miraculously healed by the Messiah. It was only the tradition of men which could possibly forbid such a thing.

Luke 6:6-11
6 Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”[b] 10 And when He had looked around at them all, He said to the man,[c] “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.[d] 11 But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

• The religious leaders were so blinded by their own unhealthy legalistic mindset that they failed to recognize or appreciate the miracles which were occurring before their eyes. Instead they were condemning the Messiah for healing on this special day.
• The Sabbath which YHWH created for good was meant to be an easy commandement for His people to bear. Sadly, it had been turned into heavy weight around men´s necks by the religious leaders.
Acts 15:10
10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

• The Sabbath was meant to give needed rest and refreshing to YHWH´s creation and what better time to heal His people than on this blessed, set apart day.

Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

• This rest that He was promising was the rest that be found through Sabbath.
• He was telling people to through their ordinances and traditions and let Him guide and instruct them through His Torah to true Sabbath observance. He made this statement on a Sabbath and immediately prior to His most significant teachings on the Sabbath.
1. Matt 12:1-13
2. Luke 6:1-10.

• If the messiah is our Master then it would only make sense that we would keep the Sabbath as he instructed.

Early believers and the Sabbath.


Yahushua always revered the Torah and he always observe the Sabbath. If there is anyone in history who ynderstood the teachings of Yahushua as they releate to the Sabbath I would suppose that it will be the original disciples who followed Yahushua and heard His teachings. Those disciples continued to observe the Sabbath after his death and resurrection.
• The early disciples of Yahushua were all yisra´elites for many years. They were called Nazarenes, natsarim or simply “followers of the way”. They observe the Torah and specifically the Sabbath.

Like 23:56
Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

• Gentile converts were no different than the native Yisra´elites. They were expected to go to Synagogue on the Sabbath and learn the Torah along with the Hebrew believers.

Acts 15:19-21
19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality,[d]from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

• We should admit that modern day Christianity is in error and restoring the truth concerning the Sabbath, theologians have created new doctrines and interpretations to patch up and prop up the false teachings inherited from their predecessors. This has been going on for centuries and we hear the cry of prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 16:19
19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“ Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”

• Christians truly have inherited lies concerning the Sabbath.

Paul and the Sabbath.
Christianity often looks to the writings of Shaul to justify there beliefs which lead the rejection of the Torah. Sadly, the writings of Shaul are often mistranslated or twisted in order to support these false doctrines. The raison being that his letters are often complicated and difficult to understand, particularly if they are not viewed in the proper cultural and scriptural context. They cannot be understood, particularly unless a person has a solid understanding of the Tanakh.
• Even Kepha(Peter) proclaimed:

2 Peter 3:14-16
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

Let us begin with a fundamental passage that Shaul wrote in the Epistle to the Hebrew regarding the Sabbath.

Hebrew 4:9
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Shabbat means Shabbat, it does not mean rest. While rest is one of the things intended to occur on the Sabbath, the meaning are not interchangeable. The Sabbath always was and remains the seventh day to of the week, currently known as Saturday, or Saturn’s day on the Roman
pagan calendar. The Romans dedicated this day to one of their deities and the modern has continued that pagan custom. The word for rest in the Greek is katapausis which is used in many of the surrounding portions in Hebrews (Ibrim) and in those cases it is properly translated as “rest”.
• The exclusion of the word Shabbat from most translation is critical error. Let us now look at the entire quote from Shaul, in context, to see if we can determine the message that he is trying to convey.

1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them,[a] not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

Hebrews 4:1-11
“ So I swore in My wrath,
‘ They shall not enter My rest,’”[b]
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;[c] 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”[d]
6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:
“ Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”[e]
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

• The text is clear, we are to enter into the Sabbath rest just as Elohim rested. Believers are to be obedient to the commandmwnt in contrast to those who did not enter in because of disobedience. Shaul is renforcing the commandement concerning the Sabbath and is not teaching anything contrary to the Torah.
• God emphasize also that the creation week which emphasizes the point that the Sabbath began at creation, not in Sinai.

1 Corinthians 16:1-3
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: 2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3 And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.

• The scriptural day start at sundown.
• The Sabbath start at sundown after the sixth day(Friday evening) and ends at sundown the following day(Saturday evening)
• You are not suppose to conduct business during the Sabbath and some Yisra´elites would not even carry money on Sabbath. They were waiting until Sabbath was over and the first day of the week began in order to take care of their finances. They are not handling money during Sabbath.

Romans 14:1-6
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;[a] and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

• Paul is addressing believers who considered to be under lucky, or unlucky stars according to the astrological calendar; or to the pagan holidays dedicated to the numerous gods within the roman pantheon…
• Certain (Jewish and gentile) Hellenistic circles practiced a religiously based vegetarianism combined with abstinence from wine, and a belief in astrology connected with a fear of demons which made some days lucky and other days unlucky. Paul’s argument here is influenced on the one hand by Hellenistic Jewish ideas associate’s religious dietary habits with the observance of holy days.
• Paul was dealing with some specific issues that had arisen within the Assembly in Rome, a society which surrounded with pagan worship.
• He was addressing an issue regarding observances and practices which fell outside of the Torah and derived from the Roman culture, not the Sabbath which is clearly proscribed by the scriptures. He prefaced the discussion by referring to the issues as “disputable matters”. The Sabbath is clearly not a disputable matter, it was literally “etched in stone”

In Galatians, we see a similar misinterpretation.

Galatians 4:8-11
8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

Shaul is writing to gentile’s pagan converts, not Hebrew believers. It is clear that the “weak and beggarly elements” that shaul is referring to are the pagan days, months, seasons and years relating to the false god that they once served. This passage has nothing to do with the Sabbath.

• One passage which specifically refers to the Sabbath but is subject to poor translation.

Colossians 2:16-17
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

This passage appears to say that we are not to judge others on their “Christian liberty”. The implication is that the festival(appointed times), the new moon and the Sabbath are not important anymore, because they are only shadows and the real substance is Christ(Messiah). That is erroneous interpretation.
Now the meaning is crystal clear. Since all of these matter are a shadow of things to come and are all spiritual in nature, do not let anyone outside the Body of Messiah judge in these matters, because only the body of messiah is in a position to properly understand and judge concerning those things.
• When they began observing the Torah, they set themselves apart from the rest of their society by observing scriptural commandments and abstaining from pagan practices. So then this statement from Paul is to encourage them to observe Sabbath and new moon,…
• Contrsry to popular belief, Shaul never taught against the torah or the Sabbath. In fact, he was a Torah observant Hebrew who always observed the Sabbath.
• Let us examine scripture passage which support this:

Acts 13:13-14
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Acts 13:42-44

Acts 16:13

Acts 17:2

Acts 18:4