Why I Keep the Seventh Day Sabbath Posted on November 22, 2013 by Christina K Yep — I keep the seventh day Sabbath. It has nothing to do with denomination - it has everything to do with Who I worship and what He desires. Here are the reasons why I keep – guard and observe – the 7th day Sabbath. Reason #1: My Creator did “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.” – Genesis 2:1-3 Our Father, our Creator, set the pattern, the example, the principle for us. A time to cease from work, a time to review, acknowledge, celebrate the beauty of the creation that He pronounced “good”. It belongs to Him from the very beginning. The 7th day Sabbath honors, remembers, Elohim {God}, YHVH, as our Creator. He blessed the 7th day and declared it holy, set apart to Himself. The Sabbath distinguishes YHVH from false gods. It identifies WHO we worship… The Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Reason #2: It was reaffirmed in the Ten Commandments “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of {YHVH} יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any 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. For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore {YHVH} יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.” – Exodus 20:8-11 (Deuteronomy. 5:12, too) The 7th day is the sabbath of YHVH, not the Jews… but of YHVH. The cattle were not Jewish, neither were the strangers, yet, He commands them all to remember the Sabbath. “Guard the Sabbath day, to set it apart, as {YHVH} יהוה your Elohim commanded you. Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, so that your male servant and your female servant rest as you do. And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Mitsrayim {Egypt}, and that יהוה your Elohim brought you out from there by a strong hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore יהוה your Elohim commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. ” – Deuteronomy 5:12-15 The Sabbath reminds of the Exodus from Egypt, which is an example and picture of His salvation. Reason #3: Blessed “Jew”, “NON-Jew”, stranger alike… is blessed in keeping this command. “Thus said {YHVH} יהוה, “Guard right-ruling, and do righteousness, for near is My deliverance to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it, guarding the Sabbath lest he profane it, and guarding his hand from doing any evil… … Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to {YHVH} יהוה, to serve Him, and to love the Name of {YHVH} יהוה, to be His servants, all who guard the Sabbath, and not profane it, and hold fast to My covenant” – Isaiah 56:1-2, 6 “If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ‘a delight,’ the set-apart day of {YHVH} יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in {YHVH} יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Yaʽaqoḇ your father. For the mouth of {YHVH} יהוה has spoken!” – Isaiah 58:13-14 It’s supposed to be a delight. It is His set apart day… esteemed/honored. Reason #4: It will be observed in the time to come “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make stand before Me, declares {YHVH} יהוה, so your seed and your name shall stand. And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares {YHVH} יהוה. ” – Isaiah 66:22-23 Sabbath observance in the new heaven and earth… … in the beginning… and in the end… what happened to in between? Reason #5: It is a sign between Him and His people “I am {YHVH} יהוה your Elohim. Walk in My laws, and guard My right-rulings, and do them. And set apart My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am יהוה your Elohim.” – Ezekiel 20:19-20 It is HIS Sabbath, not any particular people’s. It is a sign between Him and His people, that they/we will know HE is our God. He ordained it, blessed it, set it apart, set the pattern for it, commanded it, reminded of it, called it His, and blesses those that keep it. ————————————————– For those who are believers in His Son? He came to do the Father’s will… “{Yeshua} יהושע said to them, “My food is to do the desire {will} of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” ~ John 4:34 Reason #6: The Son – The Messiah – kept the Sabbath. “And He came to Natsareth {Nazareth}, where He had been brought up. And according to His practice, He went into the congregation on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” - Luke 4:16 “And they went into Kephar Naḥum {Capernaum}, and immediately on the Sabbath He went into the congregation and taught.” – Mark 1:21 “And Sabbath having come, He began to teach in the congregation.” – Mark 6:2a Not only did He keep the Sabbath but He is Master of the Sabbath… “And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Aḏam is also Master of the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:27-28 He was our example…walk as He walked… “The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.” – 1 John 2:6 ——————————————– And what of his disciples, apostles? They observed it… Reason #7: His disciples observed it “But passing through from Perge, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the congregation on the Sabbath day and sat down.” – Acts 13:14 “And when the Yehuḏim {Jews} went out of the congregation, the gentiles begged to have these words spoken to them the next Sabbath… … And on the next Sabbath almost all the city came together to hear the Word of Elohim.” – Acts 13:42,44 “And on the Sabbath day we went outside the city by a river, where there used to be prayer.” – Acts 16:13a “And according to his practice, Sha’ul {Paul}went in unto them, and for three Sabbaths was reasoning with them from the Scriptures” – Acts 17:2 “And he was reasoning in the congregation every Sabbath, and won over both Yehuḏim and Greeks.“ – Acts 18:4 ———————————————— Yeshua {the Messiah} said… “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens.” – Matthew 5:17-19 John tells us… “By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and guard His commands. For this is the love for Elohim, that we guard His commands, and His commands are not heavy” – 1 John 5:2-3 I love Him. Enough to obey. Enough to observe. Enough to honor. Enough to identify. It is not grievous. It is a delight!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 12:40:36 +0000