Most people that know me have a understanding that I believe all the ten commandments are still God’s instructions for His people, the church, the body of Messiah. One of the ten commandments that is often misunderstood is the commandment to keep the seventh day holy. Here it is as written in our Bible.
Exodus 20:8-11
” Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,14 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 ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
There is a lot of misunderstanding of how to keep the Sabbath and when to keep it.
Many ask me if I really think it has to be kept on the seventh day?
The answer is yes, because it is the day that Yehovah set aside. He did not set aside another day. The verses say He made it HOLY, that means he set it aside as special, unique. It is the day He chose in the beginning and He never changes. So, yes, I believe it is the only day that the Sabbath can be observed, kept.
Another question I am asked, “Is do I really think we should not work, buy, or sell on the Sabbath day?”
Again, my answer is yes. If it is at all in my power to not do a JOB on the seventh day, then I should honor the commandment as it is written and given. And to honor it completely is to not cause someone else to work either.
So, then that brings up a million more questions.
What if I have to work on Saturday? What if I have an emergency? What if my boss requires me to work?
Here is my answer to all those questions that just jumped into your mind. Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Yehovah God in heaven made this set apart day for our benefit. Because He loves us and knows what is best for us. So, I do the best I can, and I don’t judge my fellow man.
We do not live in the Promised Land, we live in a land that does not walk according to the Ways of Our God and Savior. We live among the pagans.
Sabbath is a matter of the heart. It starts in the heart. The things we do with our body and mind on this day are a reflection of our heart.
So, my goal, my aim, each and every week is to keep the seventh day a special, sacred day of remembrance and rest in the great God who provides all I need physically, and spiritually no matter. I choose to keep it as sacred as I possibly can as a reminder to myself and others that My God is Holy and Sacred, He is not like any other gods. I want to always remember that He is Holy and and He calls me to be Holy as He is.
So, that is why I choose to not to work, buy, or sell on Sabbath.
1 Peter 1:13-25
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,24 because
“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”
Shalom and Blessings!
(if this post has got your mind wondering what the Bible says about the Sabbath, here is a great Bible study for you. It will take you through the entire Bible finding every reference to the Sabbath. Sabbath Study )
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I just love your blog posts! Our family is similar to yours — Christians, who keep Shabbat, Feasts, Levitical eating, etc., only much smaller (2 daughters). I so agree with your post, Amen! I just wanted to share in regards to your post a story from our home — Our oldest daughter (22) has a part-time job as a barista at our local health food store and her stipulation for them hiring her was that she would always have Shabbat off, which they have honored over the last 1.5 yrs, but recently the owner ran into a snag where the schedule was messed up and basically our daughter was the only one in town to work on one saturday (the owner was even out of the country at the time and texted her from Italy or someplace like that). Our daughter was torn in knowing what to do, so with a little family discussion, we decided that she could make the exception and work on that saturday, but all her income & tips for that particular day would go towards charity/ministry. It worked out perfectly as our daughter was wishing to help support another orphan child in an orphanage that we & her support, so this was somewhat of a confirmation that she should go ahead with the support of a second child. A blessing all around. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story, and you kind words.