The command / Law:

“Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as YHVH your God commanded you.”
(Deuteronomy 5:12)

What would it be called today?
What would this law look like lived out?
How does one keep this command / Law today?

10 / 06 / 07
(NASB used)

FIRST THOUGHTS:

Okay … not so fast. Read the verse above again, and truly answer the questions before you continue this study.

Even as my family has been practicing obedience to this command of God through our faith in His Son, this study has opened our eyes to just how much we have been satisfying our own flesh on the Sabbath. This study is NOT to condemn or judge anyone. My family and I, though, are making some changes in regards to our observance of Sabbath (The 4th commandment of the Ten Commandments … the day that God blessed and sanctified after the first six days of creation … the ONLY command that God said would be a sign between Himself and His children (“And also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am YHVH who sanctifies them.” Ezekiel 20:12) My friends, today I am going to concentrate on just how far we have to go to truly be like the Son of God. Please do not take me wrong, but even those who already observe the seventh day Sabbath like God says (like myself) may still be profaning His holy day. Some may have a checklist such as the following:

- on the seventh day (check)
- do no work (check)
- have a holy convocation (check)
- rest (check)

However, we can easily obey these without truly meeting with God or making the day holy. So this study is about attempting to allow the Spirit to control us instead of our sinful flesh. Continue reading Ezekiel 20 verse 13. Why was God so upset with our forefathers? “But the house of Israel rebelled against Me .. they rejected my ordinances … and My Sabbaths they greatly profaned …” Once we accept God’s deliverance through His Son, Jesus (Yeshua), we are covered by the blood of Christ and are children of the Most High God … but doesn’t it bother you when you find out what disappoints Him? When you find out what made Him angry in the past and then you find out that WE are doing the same thing? They were saved by faith too, but that doesn’t mean that they, or we, are permitted to continue to sin against God!

Let us start from the beginning and read about the very first Sabbath and see what God did:

“And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Gen 2:2-3)

BLESSED: To kneel, by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit). Its derived meaning is to bless someone or something. Brothers and sisters, God blessed the seventh day. He made this day the day to bless HIM and others.

SANCTIFIED: The Hebrew word “Qadash” means to be sacred, to be regarded as holy, to treat as holy, to seclude, set aside for use in the worship of God, withheld from ordinary or secular use, treated with special care as something which belongs to God. This day is to be different from ALL the other days. It is a day set aside specifically for the Lord to worship Him. It is all about HIM on this day. My friends, if we can’t give Him one day (at the least), then how are we going to spend eternity worshiping Him “24/7/365”?

Remember the check list above? I am guilty of keeping a check list like this. Although at face value I have been obeying the seventh day (no work, rest, and get together), my flesh has been in control regarding WHAT else I do on this day. I have made choices about what to do on this day based on my OWN desires. I have also allowed my flesh to turn my focus onto what I cannot do on this day. Instead, it should be a day in which I ask myself “what can I do to worship and honor the Lord, for it is HIS day”.

Let us read Isaiah 58:13-14. What we will find is a list that the Lord has put together that addresses this very issue about our flesh. If we are still allowing our flesh to do as it pleases, God does NOT have our hearts … especially on THIS day:

“If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on MY holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of YHVH honorable, and shall honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure, and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in YHVH, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

Did you see it? “Oh Lord, forgive me for desecrating your day by pleasing my flesh.” Friends, I am not going to list a bunch of things / activities that we were doing that had absolutely nothing to do with worshipping God. Oh, they were fun (and there is nothing wrong with fun in the flesh), but we have six other days to satisfy this “man within”. On the Sabbath, though, who is supposed to have fun? Our flesh or spirit? On the Sabbath it is time for my spirit to have fun, for my spirit Loooooooves searching for the face of God, singing to Him, worshipping Him, walking in His creation, blessing others, and this list goes on. Today is NOT a day for my flesh to rule!

God “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” … His Son “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” … Have we, His children / offspring “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” ? (The same day and way God the Father and His Son did):

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9-10)

Are we celebrating the Sabbath just like God did? He blessed and sanctified this day … the seventh day of Creation. Question: God is perfect, so did He make a mistake in choosing the 7th day? If He is perfect, then why would He change it later? In doing so (which He did not) wouldn’t that mean it wasn’t perfect on the 7th day? Let us stop making this day a burden by focusing on a list of what we can’t do. Instead, let us focus off of everyday common things, and on to worshipping and honoring God. THIS day is set apart and not to be used for common things!

Do these excuses sound familiar?

- “But my children need to have fun, and that is what matters.” (What are we truly teaching our children by allowing THEM to do as they please on God’s day?)
- “I finally have time to spend with my children / wife / friends. God would like that no matter what activities we do.” (Don’t assume what God would like and dislike. His Word is pretty clear that we are supposed to get together with them to worship God.)
- Many like to use this day as a “fun” day to do recreational activities (Just because it is fun, does not mean its worshipping God.) Oh, they may spend time in the Word, gather for an assembly and rest, but then they start the business of satisfying their own desires or the desires of their children. (This is sort of where my family was … I am sorry Lord)

One problem may be that we and our children may not truly know how to rest in the Lord and how to worship God. Again, we have six days for all that other stuff… God says to give Him one! As a way to accommodate all of what we desire to do with our children, souses, friends, or family, we may need to fit those activities into the six OTHER days of the week … instead of stealing time from the Lord.

Friends, on the Sabbath we are finally FREE from the world! We can put our phones down or even off;. Work and its stress is on hold. Husbands have time to help their wives so that they can enjoy this day, as well. We don’t have to worry about material things or our flesh anymore … We are FREE to worship God and search for His face, and rest. I cannot explain the delight and the true rest this is … to finally know what God is talking about!! “For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:10) and to “call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of YHVH honorable, and shall honor it.” (Isaiah 58:13)

“Lord, I am sorry that I have allowed my feet to do as they please on your Holy day. I am sorry that the words that I have spoken have been things regarding the world’s affairs. I am sorry that I have been desecrating YOUR day. Forgive me, Lord.”

LET GOD’S WORD SPEAK TO YOU, AS IT DID TO ME:

“For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; It is a Sabbath to YHVH in all your dwellings.” (Leviticus 23:3)

Again, the Sabbath remains today (the seventh day) as it did originally … observed just as His Son did. But let us read through to the ending of this passage in Hebrews … “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience.” (Heb.4:9-11)

Here is something to think about … is the day that we call Sabbath and what we DO on that day showing the world disobedience to God and that God will accept such behavior? Why would He? Well, many would say, because He is a forgiving God, of course. Isn’t that trampling and taking advantage of the blood that saves us? (Hebrews 10:29) Let us ALL start acting like the Son of God and bless the Sabbath and sanctify it. Set it apart from all the other days. My flesh may want to do all kinds of things, but on this day, my spirit is ruler of this body!!

Just something to think about … as we all may need to re-examine what we do on this holy day which belongs to God. We must stay moldable in the Maker’s hand … learning more each week of what pleases Him! We will be doing this forever with Him … and what a way to practice … by obeying the Sabbath.

The command / Law:

“On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you (Gather together for worship), and you shall humble your souls (Fast / deny yourself) and present an offering by fire to YHVH. You shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement on your behalf before YHVH your God. If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people. As for any person who does any work on this same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. (We must not say that “He doesn’t really mean that. Surely we won’t be cut off from among His people.” Funny, because that is exactly the tactic Satan used on Eve, “Surely He doesn’t mean that you will die for just eating that apple.”) You shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places (It is to be done forever no matter where we are). It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your Sabbath. (Confirmation that God ordains that a day begins and ends at sunset … evening to evening)”

(Leviticus 23:27-32)

What would it be called today?
What would this law look like lived out?
How does one keep this command / Law today?

09 / 22 / 07
(NIV used)

The Day of Atonement is today (09/22/07) and many are celebrating it out of faith. It is one of eight appointments God makes with His children. These days are not Jewish, nor are they only for those who lived before the Savior came. They are for Israel, God’s children, … us (Both Jew and Gentile who live by faith in His Salvation … Jesus / Yeshua).

We like to celebrate in order to remember what has happened to us. For example:

- We celebrate July 4th to remember our nation’s independence.
- We celebrate birthdays to remember when people were born into the world.
- We celebrate Memorial Day to remember those who have gone before us to gain our freedom.
- We celebrate Labor Day to …. Well, I suppose, to take another day off … You get the point.

We also like to practice things before they happen. For example:

- We do “dress rehearsals” before a wedding (to try to make it perfect)
- We practice before playing any games. (You know, “practice makes perfect”)
- Even in golf, many will go to driving ranges to make sure that once they get on the real course they do not make a fool of themselves in front of others.
- If leading a business meeting or giving a speech in school … we practice. We will even write down what we are going to say on a piece of paper and read and re-read it … over and over again … so that when the time comes we know what we are going to say.
- We even train for jobs and spend thousands of dollars on schooling so that we are ready for the “perfect job”.

Why do we celebrate so many worldly events that have happened, or practice for so many things that in the end, mean nothing, but refuse to celebrate and practice God’s appointments? Let us recap some of God’s appointments which many have missed. They can all be found in Leviticus 23.

- Passover: To remember what His Son did for us on the cross (1 Corinthians 5:7)
o The New Testament believers celebrated it (1 Corinthians 5:8), but Rome changed it to another day around 350 AD and called it Good Friday.
- Unleavened Bread: To remember that His Son was buried, died and confronted Satan. (Even Paul continued to celebrate it after the Messiah’s death and resurrection … Acts 20:6)
o Not celebrated by many of God’s children today.
- Firstfruit: To remember that His Son was the first to be raised imperishable. He is the first of many. (1 Corinthians 15:20)
o Again, the New Testament believers celebrated it, but Rome changed it to another day around 350 AD and called it Easter.
- Pentecost: To remember that His Son sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within ALL the children of God. (To deal with sin where it starts … in the heart). (Again, we find our brother Paul celebrating it after the Saviors resurrection … Acts 20:16)
o Although hard to believe, the giving of the Spirit is not celebrated by many of God’s children, as well.
- Trumpets: To practice for the return of His Son. Our forefathers in the New Testament celebrated it, and we should be too.
- Day of Atonement: This is today (This year it lands on 09/22/07). This is the day of judgment that has yet to occur. We are commanded to observe it (practice until it comes … then, possibly celebrate it to remember?). Although we have the blood of our Savior for our atonement, we still have to present the “ticket” to the “Conductor” (Stand before the one who created us). For those who are saved this day WILL be a Day of Redemption / Atonement. It still remains a solemn day, though, for it is on THIS day that we are to give an account of our lives to God. It is on THIS day that we ALL will truly realize who we really are before God.

ABOUT THE DAY OF ATONEMENT:

As we “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…” (Philippians 2:12), let us return to God and meet with Him on HIS appointed days. Let us realize that those in the New Testament WERE obeying God’s appointments. So in a way, all we are doing is correcting what man has destroyed over all these years with doctrines and traditions.

It is on this day (The Day of Atonement) that MANY will find out that their faith without obedience was dead … “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day (The Day of Atonement), ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Yes, this may be why God wants us to “humble our souls” (Fast) on this day … to humble ourselves, for it is NOT on our merits that we will enter Heaven, but on His Son’s. It is on this day that we stand before our maker and give an account of ALL that we have said and ALL that we have done in the flesh:

- “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)
- “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36) On what day? The Day of judgment for some, the day of Atonement / Redemption for God’s children!! What a humbling day this is, I tell my flesh to “sit down and be quiet” today (by fasting and contemplating life and eternity).

“… For we will ALL stand before God’s judgment seat.” (Romans 14:10) Can you see that this day has not yet come? Why are we not practicing it and obeying God?

It will be on THIS day that many will finally realize the Holiness of God; the awe of His being; The error of their thinking … Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) Yep … on the Day of Atonement, many will truly know and see.

Let me ask you, since the following is true, when do you think we have to give this account? “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) Hint: On THE day we stand before our Creator (The Day of Atonement), that is when we will give an account.

Let us think about who is holding God back from judging now … since He is ready: “But they will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:5) Hint: Most likely, it is on the Day of Atonement that we will have to give this account. Praise God for our Savior’s Spirit who is holding back this Judgment!! “For the secret power of lawLESSness is already at work; but the One who now holds it back will continue to do so till He is taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) Can you see the power of Law-LESS-ness today? Can you see that those who say “We do not have to obey God’s Laws” are actually part of the “lawlessness” that is already at work … even back then?

IN CLOSING …

Remember that Matthew 12:36 spoke of everyone having to give an account on “… the Day of Judgment …”? It is on the Day of “Judgment” that believers will stand with Ephesians 4:30 … “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” This day, for those who truly have His , will be a Day of Redemption / Atonement. It is on THIS day that we will be able to pass through the proverbial “metal detector” or have the “Spirit” ticket to board the plane to heaven. It is also on this day that many will be found without their ticket, the Spirit. Instead, they will realize that they sold their ticket for a lie. My friends, a sin is a sin, and sin is still based upon God’s Laws and everything that proceeds out of His mouth. “Everyone who sins breaks the Law; in fact, sin is law-LESS-ness.” (1 John 3:4)

Oh, do you want more proof that our forefathers (Those our Savior personally taught) continued to obey this Feast of the Lord? “Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast.” (Acts 27:9) Yep, you guessed it … today is “the Fast” that the New Testament believers were obeying. It was the ONLY day that we are commanded to fast, thus it is called, “The Fast”. My friends, what is being revealed in these last days is NOT a new denomination or a new teaching. It is a teaching that we had from the beginning but has been lost over time.

God makes appointments with us, yet many refuse to meet with God on HIS days. They are either too busy or have been brain-washed (like I was) into believing that we no longer have to obey God’s Laws. (As if God changed His mind.)

Just something to think about … before the real day is here.

Oh, by the way, the next of God’s appointment is this Thursday (09/27/07) – the final in His schedule of yearly appointments.

- Tabernacles: We are to be practicing being with God forever – to “tabernacle” with God!! Isn’t THIS what we are hoping for and have faith in? Then why are many not practicing it until it comes. (Out of faith, of course.) Again, we find many examples in the New Testament of this Feast being celebrated:

o John 7:37-38 (Tabernacles is an 8 day feast … the last day being the greatest!)
o Luke 2:7 talks about Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of three feasts where they had to pilgrimage to Jerusalem … thus: “there was no room in the inn.”
o 2 Corinthians 5:2-6 … yes, this is the day that this passage comes true and we will be clothed after being found faithful and obedient: “those who obey God’s commands AND hold to the testimony of Yeshua (Jesus).” (Revelation 12:17) Which side of the war will you be on?

Again, the final Tabernacle has not happened, but we are told in Zechariah 14:16-19 that we will be celebrating it in the end times … practicing it when He comes.