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. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Exodus 20: 8-11
Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or your stranger who is within your gates. 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.
NOTE: To “remember” is to bring back something that one is familiar with, and had been previously done or experienced as opposed to introducing something entirely ‘new.’ It is quite probable that the Sabbath Day was honored and passed along to subsequent generations by the patriarchs from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob onward; perhaps even Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden observed it, too.
Deuteronomy 5: 12-15
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, 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. 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.
Isaiah 56: 6
Also the sons of the foreigner who joins 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. . .
Hebrews 4: 4-10
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 (Cp. Genesis 2: 2-3);” and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 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.” For if Joshua [Aramaic: “Yehoshua”] had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
Mark 2: 27
And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
NOTE: It must be remembered that the Sabbath did not originate with the Jews (Children of Israel) after they escaped Egyptian captivity but rather they were told to remember, observe, honor, and sanctify it. According the “Wikipedia,” the early Babylonians celebrated a “rest” every 7, 14, 21, and 28 days; the same as contained in the book of GENESIS. Coincidentally, it is believed that the Old Testament Scriptures started to be written during the Babylonian captivity. Also, some may argue that the ‘rest’ alluded to in HEBREWS doesn’t specifically command Sabbath Day observance, especially for Gentiles, but the context does refer back to the “Beginning,” which involves all humanity.
Malachi 4: 4
“Remember the Law [‘Torah’] of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments.”
Matthew 5: 17
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law [“Torah”] and the Prophets. I did not come to destroy [change or annul] but to fulfill.”
Jeremiah 6: 16
Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
Matthew 11: 29
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for souls.”
NOTE: It would seem that the ancient path where the good way is which leads to “rest” is somehow tied in to the commandments and statutes (including the “Ten Commandments”) which God gave Moses at Mount Horeb; and the Sabbath Day is part of that.
There are some Christians who believe that the Sabbath Day was replaced by the First Day of the week in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ [Yeshua Mashiyach] from the grave, but is this the case? This day, Sunday, in honor of the Sun god [“Sol”] is the one in which we worship the LORD and Creator who warned the Israelites about idolatry, honoring other gods and them worshipping other gods before or alongside Him. Some even refer to Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, but there is no rest [from any labor] done on this day; in fact it is treated just like any other one in the week, even though for a few hours believers attend worship services before continuing to do their own business later on. Be that as it may, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 14: 5-6a: One person esteems one day above another; esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the LORD; and he who does not observe the day, to the LORD he does not observe it.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
September 15, 2009
pbks@hotmail.com
