THE SABBATH - A MEMORIAL AND A PROMISE
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Denominations Acknowledge the Scriptural Sabbath Day

   Compiled here, are selected quotations from prominent religious leaders and religious publications of various denominations. What they have to say about the Sabbath and the origin of Sunday observance is enlightening.

Baptist: "Sabbath Day Was Not Sunday"

   "There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however...that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week.  Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian Fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, when adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!" —Dr. Edward Hiscox. author of The Baptist Manual.

Catholic: "No Such Law in the Bible"

   "From this same Catholic Church, you have accepted your Sunday, and that Sunday, as the Lord's day, which she has handed down as a tradition; and the entire Protestant world has accepted it as a tradition, for you have not an iota of Scripture to establish it. Therefore, that which you have accepted as your rule of faith, inadequate as it of course is, as well as your Sunday, you have accepted on the authority of the Roman Catholic Church." —D. B. Ray, The Papal Controversy, p. 179.

   "I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power, I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church." —T. Enright, CSSR. in a lecture in 1884.

   "Nowhere in the Bible do we find that [Yahshua] or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of [Yahweh] given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the Bible."— Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3,1947.

Lutheran: "They Err in Teaching Sunday Sabbath"

   "But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day and had to be kept by the children of Israel. In other words, they insist that Sunday is the divinely appointed New Testament Sabbath, and so they endeavor to enforce the Sabbatical observance of Sunday by so-called blue laws...These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect." —John Theodore Mueller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15-16.

Christian: "The Bible Sabbath Came Before the First Day of the Week"

   "The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just proceeding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath. There never was any change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change."—First Day Observance, pp. 17-18.

Methodist: "[Yahshua] Did Not Abolish the Moral Law"

   The moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He [Yahshua] did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken...Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of [Yahweh] and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other." —John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions, Vol. 1, No. 25.

   The Heavenly Father considered the Sabbath so important, so necessary for His human creation, that He kept it Himself. In fact, the crowning achievement in His creation of the vast universe–the last act He performed–was to rest on the seventh day.

   His example is unmistakable. The Fourth Commandment requiring Sabbath observance is as important as the nine other commandments in the royal law.

   But which day is the Sabbath and how it should be kept holy has been debated down through history. Why do the masses observe the first day of the week, while others hallow the seventh?

   The Fourth Commandment mandates, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Yahweh your Elohim: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it," Exodus 20:8-11.

  Through the ages, man has profaned the day Yahweh sanctified for rest. It was true even in the days when Isaiah was the religious leader of Israel. Yahweh told him to stand in the gates of Jerusalem and instruct the rulers and people in Sabbath keeping, and rebuke them for their Sabbath desecration, Isaiah 56:2-6; 58:13, 66:23.

   A century and a half later, the prophet Nehemiah asked the people, "What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our Elohim bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath," Nehemiah 13:17-18. He then put forth measures to ensure proper Sabbath keeping.

   When Yahweh gave the Ten Commandments (including the Fourth) to the Hebrew nation, He told them repeatedly, "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the posts of your house, and on your gates," Deuteronomy 6:7-9. The Scriptures record directives to keep the Sabbath. The people who have not made sufficient effort to protect the Sabbath have forgotten their Creator, and in doing so, have paid the penalty of their error.

   Never has the Sabbath been so strongly attacked, or so poorly defended, as today. While we are directed to teach Sabbath keeping to our children, we find instead that large numbers of parents are bringing up their children with no Sabbath instruction or example. They make the day a mere weekend holiday devoid of instruction in moral or religious living.

   Many children see their parents start out to work on Sabbath morning. Many others spend the day doing their dirtiest cleaning chores, attending sports activities or just having fun. Their children pass through the formative period of life seeing business, labor, and sports performed on the day that Yahweh created as holy. No wonder they do not understand the  meaning of the Sabbath. When grown, these people defend their right to do as they wish on this day, as they have seen and done all their lives.

The Sabbath Was Established at Creation

   Briefly stated, the authority for keeping the Sabbath is shown to us in Yahweh's own Sabbath rest at creation in Genesis; codified by the Fourth Commandment at Sinai; acknowledged by the Messiah Yahshua, and referred to continually throughout the entire Bible.

   The scriptural account of the creation shows that for each six days of work, a day of rest and worship is needed. In that first creation week, the "evening and morning" were the first day, which continued through the six days. Then, "He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He made. And Elohim blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which Elohim created and made," Genesis 2:2-3. The weekly cycle is defined only by the observance of one sacred day in seven. Seasons establish the year, while new moons fix the month, but no natural phenomenon determines the week. A sacred day in every seven is the only criterion setting off days into weeks. Yahweh created this cycle for a healthy physical and spiritual life—six days labor and one day of rest.

   The Sabbath was not intended for Jews only, nor is it "a yoke of bondage" as some claim. It was established at the creation of the world by the Creator Himself when He rested on the seventh day. To appreciate fully that the Fourth Commandment is to be observed today, we should notice the place the Ten Commandments occupy in the law of Yahweh for our guidance. First, they are directly from Yahweh. The law contained in the commandments is to be written upon the heart of man. Of extreme importance is the understanding that the Sabbath was not created at Sinai, but was only proclaimed, as were the other commandments and laws.

   Paul said that, without the law, there is no sin, Romans 7:7-8. The very definition of sin is given in 1 John 3:4, "...sin is the transgression of the law." Adam and Eve committed the first sin and so broke a law. Yahweh's laws have been in effect since Adam, including the Sabbath commandment.

   Paul wrote in Romans 5:12-14, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression...." ALL men have broken Yahweh's law, including those who lived before Moses presented to the people the two tablets of stone.

   Abraham, who lived long before Moses, observed all the commandments, statutes and judgments of Yahweh, Genesis 26:5. Numerous Scriptures in Genesis prove conclusively that the Ten Commandments were in force before they were written on stone at Sinai.

   The very fact that Yahweh gave us the Ten Commandments indicates the fundamental nature of the covenant He made with His people. The Ten Commandments are everlasting—precepts that will never change.

The Sacrificial System—Not the Sabbath—Set Aside

   The sacrifice of Yahshua upon the stake did not set aside the Ten Commandments, as some claim. The Old Testament animal sacrifices, which pointed to the Messiah—the Lamb without blemish, slain for all sins of the world—were set aside, but the Ten Commandments were not. Yahshua said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled," Matthew 5:17-18. "Do we then make void the law through faith? Yahweh forbid, yes, we establish the law," Romans 3:31.

   Yahshua's testimony and His example give us authority for the Sabbath. He acknowledged the Sabbath when He said, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath," and "The Son of Man is Master also of the Sabbath," Mark 2:27-28. He observed the day with sacred esteem. We read in Luke 4:16, "As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." This was spoken of Him when at Nazareth where He was reared. We do not find a single Scripture in which Yahshua denied the authority of the Sabbath or any Scripture which points to it as being set aside after His death.

   There is a difference between the ceremonial observances connected with the temple sacrifices, typifying the Messiah to come, and the Ten Commandments. The first were to pass away when the Messiah offered Himself, once for all. The epistle to the Hebrews makes plain what was to pass away and what did not pass away with the offering of Yahshua.

   Don't be deceived into thinking that the Ten Commandments were a part of the ceremonial law that ceased to be required when Yahshua gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins. There is no Scriptural basis whatever to prove that the Sabbath day, set apart by Yahweh, was ever changed from Saturday to Sunday; neither was it ever abolished.

Three Divisions of the Mosaic Law

   The Mosaic code has three important distinctions. The moral law contains the Ten Commandments and also contains specific instructions defining Yahweh's intended plan of worship. The ceremonial ordinances describe the specific sacrificial duties of the priests. The civil law describes a code of conduct in human relationships for Yahweh's people. The moral and civil laws are universal, containing eternal principles that will never change. The ceremonial law was only temporary, to show the people their need for a Savior. The blood of bulls and goats sacrificed from year to year could not cleanse away sins. The law, then, sets forth Yahweh's will for our conduct toward Him and toward our fellow man. The law defines the perfection for which we must strive.

More Prominent Admissions

   "They (the Catholics) refer to the Sabbath day as having been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) as it seems. Neither is there any example whereof they make more than concerning the changing of the Sabbath-day. Sunday is not celebrated in Christendom by [Yahweh's] command. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments." Augsburg Confession, Art. 28, p. 24.

   "In the New Law, the observance of the Lord's Day took the place of the observance of the Sabbath, not by virtue of the precept (Fourth Commandment) but by the institution of the church." Summa Theologicia, Art. 4, II. P. 1702.

   The emperor Constantine, a convert to Christianity, introduced the first civil legislation concerning Sunday in 321, when he decreed that all work should cease on Sunday, except that farmers could work if necessary. This law, aimed at providing time for worship, was followed later in the same century and in subsequent centuries by further restrictions on Sunday activities." Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., "Sunday," p. 672.

   "It is barely imaginable that first-day Sabbath observance commenced before the Jerusalem council (C.E. 49). Nor can we stop there. We must go on to maintain that first-day Sabbath observance cannot easily be understood as a phenomenon of the apostolic age and of apostolic authority at all." —M.B. Turner, From Sabbath to Lord's Day; A Biblical, Historical and Theological Investigation, p. 198.

   "It being expedient to overthrow superstition, the Jewish holiday was abolished and as a thing necessary to retain decency, order, and peace in the Church...the early Christians substituted what we call the Lord's Day for the Sabbath." —John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I, p. 343.

Search the Scriptures for Yourself

   Those who have come to a knowledge of the true Sabbath have had to grapple with many questions and overcome objections to keeping the seventh day of the week. For a world that largely keeps Sunday, it is difficult for many to understand those who keep the seventh-day Sabbath.

   Governments accept Sunday as a day of cessation from banking and commerce. Blue laws support Sunday keeping. Proclamations are even issued for holidays that were first adopted by mystery religion, such as Christmas and Easter.

   Only because of a deep, abiding conviction do most people overcome the objections and accept the true Bible Sabbath as the day to keep. Many people believe Sunday is the proper day of worship as ordained by Yahweh. They are ignorant of what the Holy Bible teaches regarding the Sabbath and are also ignorant of what some religious leaders, who observe Sunday, are preaching regarding Sunday.

   Scripture has much to say about ministers who teach violation of Yahweh's holy commandments. "Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them," Ezekiel 22:26.

   The Apostle John concluded, "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law," 1 John 3:4. John also told us, "He that says, I know Him, and keeps not His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him," 1 John 2:4.

   No one can force an understanding on another. Neither do we intend to force anything on you. Our aim is simply to give the facts, supported by Scriptural references and other documentation that the Sabbath is the seventh-day observance holy to Yahweh and that He will accept no other. We now challenge you and your minister to search the Bible and find Yahweh's truth. By humble fasting and prayer, the True Worshipper of Yahweh will, through His Holy Spirit, be guided into all truth.

Can You Find…

• One Scripture telling man to keep the first day of the week holy or to worship or rest on the first day of the week?

• One Scripture showing any of the apostles keeping the first day of the week as the Sabbath?

• One Scripture declaring that the seventh day is no longer Yahweh's Sabbath day?

• One Scripture that calls the seventh day the "Jewish" Sabbath or one that calls the first day the "Christian" Sabbath?

• One Scripture calling the first day a holy day?

• One Scripture that says the Sabbath was changed from the seventh to the first day of the week?

• One Scripture that says the Sabbath has been done away?

• One Scripture that tells us to keep the first day in honor of the resurrection of Yahshua?

• One Scripture authorizing someone to set aside the Fourth Commandment and observe any other day of the week?

• One Scripture promising blessings for observing Sunday as the Sabbath?

• One Scripture where an apostle taught us to keep the first day of the week as the Sabbath?

• One Scripture where punishment or cursing is threatened for not observing Sunday?

• One Scripture where Sunday is now appointed to be kept as the New Testament Sabbath or holy day?

Getting Down To Specifics—What To Do Or Not To Do

   The Sabbath is a respite from weekly labors, a chance to relax and gain much valued rest. We are to be free from our responsibilities of making a living on the seventh day. We are commanded to curtail our activities during this holy time of refreshing and spiritual renewal.

   We must take special caution not to do our own pleasure on this day or continue in our regular weekly pursuits. The pleasures of the world must be avoided. That includes sports events on the Sabbath.  It is a time to spend away from the world and to concentrate on Yahweh's goodness and His creation.  Scripture says it is a time we are not to speak our own words, meaning talk of mundane, worldly things. This is a time for spiritual rejuvenation in which we remember the creation of Yahweh and focus on His mighty power. It also represents that great Sabbath of rest when He will redeem His people for an eternity of joy and blessings.

"But What About Cooking on the Sabbath?"

   All involved cooking for the Sabbath should be done ahead of time. The making of pies, cakes, and breads can all be done beforehand and still be enjoyed on the Sabbath.  It is popular with many Sabbath keepers to partially cook a roast or other hot dish. Then, when the Sabbath comes, heat it in the oven for a tasty meal. Some wonder whether we should even warm meals during the Sabbath, citing Exodus 35. It is a personal preference if one does not wish to heat meals or even cook eggs. However, Exodus 35 is speaking primarily about abstaining from heating the smelting furnaces to melt metal for the tabernacle furnishings. As long as this was Yahweh's tabernacle, Israel reasoned, they could get the fires ready before the Sabbath had ended. However, Yahweh said they were not to do so, but keep the Sabbath holy and construct the tabernacle on a weekday.

   In Leviticus 6:13, we read about a fire that burned continuously. Someone had to tend it even on the Sabbath—an involved chore. Today, most houses have electricity, with food kept in a refrigerator. There is little difference between using electricity to keep food cool on the Sabbath and using electricity to warm it.  Again, if someone does not wish to heat food on the Sabbath, preferring cold sandwiches or cold food, that is strictly his prerogative. However, he should not condemn another who sees nothing wrong with heating his food for the Sabbath, for which there is no specific Scriptural restriction.

   The True Worshipper should also abstain from watching television or listening to the radio on the Sabbath, preferring to leave worldly pursuits for spiritual ones. However, there are a few occasions when certain programs may be beneficial. Special nature shows or animal programs are especially interesting for the family and the children. We read Bible stories to the younger children and help the older ones in study. (Write for, or take online, our free correspondence course, which can be understood by teens on up.  This is also an excellent home school resource for learning the truth of Yahweh’s Word.  The course provides a quiz after each lesson and an answer sheet which comes with the next lesson.)

   Let us refrain from worrying about the cares of our lives on this day; rather, we should keep our minds and thoughts on Yahweh as an act of worship, which takes mental discipline. 

A Time for Family Growth

   The Sabbath is a time to gather with brethren of like faith to remember Yahweh's goodness, to do good for others, and to have His laws bonded to us more firmly. It also is a time of family fellowship when a father and a mother instruct their children in the righteous ways of Yahweh.

   Children brought up respecting the Sabbath and Yahweh's laws are happier, better disciplined, and morally healthy. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it," Proverbs 22:6. How true!

   Enjoying Yahweh's creation—His flowers, grasses, and trees—all brings us back to the knowledge of His creative power. It is a time of spiritual and physical rejuvenation. An occasional Sabbath walk in nature brings out the joy of the Sabbath for young and old.

   Some wonder about Acts 1:12, speaking of a limited Sabbath's day journey. This is, in fact, a Jewish custom and has no real Biblical admonition. However, travel on the Sabbath usually should be minimal. Many must travel with their families to a Sabbath service to fellowship.

   When one is attempting to do Yahweh's will in this manner, it may be necessary to travel on the Sabbath to keep these days with other brethren.

Don't Make Others Work on the Sabbath

   According to Amos 8:5 and Nehemiah 13:15-19, a person of Yahweh should not do any business on the Sabbath.

   When you buy gasoline or food on the Sabbath, are you forcing someone else to work, (which would be a direct violation of the Fourth Commandment)?

   The True Worshipper will do all he can to complete all shopping, house cleaning, etc.  ahead of time. There are, however, some activities performed on the Sabbath that we have no control over. Usually the mail comes on the Sabbath. The power and gas company people normally have a minimal crew to keep lights on and heat in our homes on the weekends. 

   The point is, we should do as much as possible to ensure that others need not work on the Sabbath even as we rest. This would include calling a repairman (unless absolutely necessary) on the Sabbath, shopping, and eating in restaurants.  Scripture commands that we do not do our own pleasure on the Sabbath, which, when you think about it logically, may cause others to work. We must try to do our best in deciding what is necessary and what would be acceptable to Yahweh on His day of worship.

   While the Bible is not specific on do's and don'ts for the Sabbath—other than to rest, worship and study—we must always endeavor to keep the spirit of this holy day in any circumstance that may arise.  The purpose of the Sabbath is to draw nearer to Yahweh, and we can do that only by adhering to Bible principles and by abstaining from worldly pursuits.

The Sabbath Still in Force Today

   Many believe that the Fourth Commandment is "Jewish" and has been done away, but that the other nine commandments are still binding today. Some ministers tell you, "Don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery, but if you keep the Old Testament Jewish Sabbath you are denying Yahweh's grace and are trying to earn your salvation." We can't earn salvation, but we must qualify for it. We have shown that neither the Sabbath nor the nine other commandments are "Jewish." All are Yahweh's directions for all mankind, in all ages, observance of which qualifies us for salvation.

   If you will read the book of Hebrews, you will be amazed at how it applies to us today. In chapter three, the writer quotes Yahweh and draws an interesting analogy between the Israelite nation and True Worshippers today: "Harden not your hearts as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, 'They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My ways.' So I swore in My wrath. They shall not enter into My rest," 8-11. We are further warned, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living Elohim," verse 12. We are warned not to commit the same sins the Israelites committed under Moses.

   In Hebrews 4, we are told that, although we are living in hope for eternal life, we can fall short just as the Israelites did. In this chapter, we are given the things we are to do in order to enter into the "rest" Yahweh has prepared for us. "Let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the good news preached, as well as to them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as He said, 'As I have sworn in My wrath, if they shall enter into My rest': although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and Elohim did rest the seventh day from all His works," verses 1-4. Verse 4 is a direct quotation from Genesis 2:2 and reminds us that the Sabbath was made by Yahweh for ALL His people.

   If you have been told that the Sabbath commandment was not in the New Testament, you will be surprised by Hebrews 4:9-10. These verses make it clear that, if you want to inherit eternal life and enter into Yahweh's rest, you must cease from your work just as Yahweh did from His. "There remains therefore a rest [Greek—sabbathismos, "observance of the Sabbaths"] to the people of Yahweh. For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as Yahweh did from His."

   Do you grasp Yahweh's meaning in these verses? If we observe any day of rest other than prescribed in Yahweh's Word, we do not rest as Yahweh did!  Does this mean, then, that we are "earning our salvation" if we keep the Sabbath? In no way. Salvation is the gift of Yahweh, Ephesians 2:8, and there is nothing that we can do to earn it.  However, we can abuse and lose this free gift if we are not obedient to Yahweh.

   Grace does not do away with the soundness of obedience to the laws. In fact, the Apostle Paul explains that obedience is part of Yahweh's plan of salvation:  "For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah Yahshua unto good works, which Yahweh has before ordained that we should walk in them," Ephesians 2:10. These good works which have been "before ordained" refer to nothing other than Yahweh's holy commandments.  All through the centuries, there have been many True Worshippers who have remained true to the commandments. The Messiah kept Yahweh's commandments and He calls on His followers to keep those same commandments.  Yahweh has identified His true followers in this "end of the age" in the book of Revelation. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of Yahweh, and the faith of Yahshua," Revelation 14:12. Again in Revelation 12:17, we are told that Satan, who is angry at Yahweh's true followers, goes out "...to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of Yahweh, and have the testimony of Yahshua the Messiah."

Everyone Will One Day Keep the Sabbath Holy

   The Sabbath is a memorial—a perpetual covenant between True Worshippers and their Creator, Exodus 31:16. By observing any other day, we put ourselves outside the promise and blessings of Yahweh's day of rest.  The Sabbath shall be restored everywhere in the coming Kingdom of Yahweh, as noted in Isaiah 66:23, "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says Yahweh." The Sabbath has always been, is today and forever shall be set aside and sanctioned by Yahweh as His day of rest and communion between mankind and Himself.

   There is not a single verse in the entire Bible that declares that the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week—Saturday) has ever been done away or changed. The so-called "Lord's Day" has been handed to us by mother Babylon as "sun-day." Nowhere does the Bible say the first day of the week is holy or that Yahshua rose from the tomb on Sunday. Actually, He was put to death and buried on a Wednesday afternoon and He rose on Sabbath afternoon, just before sunset.  By His own mouth, Yahshua said that He was Master of the (seventh-day) Sabbath, Mark 2:27-28. He worshipped on the Sabbath, Luke 4:16. When He returns to earth, Yahshua will require all mankind to come and worship on the Sabbath.  The "creation" will no longer be given the license to pollute the Creator’s true day of worship.

   Yahshua is coming back to rule with a rod of iron, Revelation 2:27. If you are called to be a king and a priest (Revelation 1:6), do you think that you can rightfully assist the Messiah in enforcing the weekly Sabbath if you have not observed it yourself?  Only those who have kept Yahweh’s true Sabbath will be qualified to judge others in their observance of it.

   Those who practice paganism have kept "the venerable day of the sun" from time immemorial. Has Yahweh become so accustomed to their keeping of "sun-day" that He will change His mind and allow us this indulgence? Will He be pleased with our observance of days that Scripture says are an abomination? Your Bible says, "I am Yahweh, I change not," Malachi 3:6. If you are not keeping Yahweh's Sabbath, it is time to begin. Show the Eternal Creator that you are one of His true followers. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear Elohim and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man," Eccl. 12:13.

The Basics of Sabbath Obedience

   Many of us have been guilty of keeping Sunday as a day of worship. We have attended Sunday church services with others who observed the first day of the week. For many of us, it became a way of life, and we looked forward to Sunday as a break in the routine of living.

   When we realized that the seventh day of the week was the proper day to worship, we simply transferred our Sunday activities to Saturday. We were accustomed to going to services on Sunday morning and then doing whatever we desired in the afternoon. We could go and do whatever we wished on Sunday as long as we spent an hour at the church. But once we understood that keeping the Sabbath was different from observing the venerable day of the sun, we took a hard look at what Yahweh was saying about the Sabbath.

   As a holy time set apart by Yahweh, when does the Sabbath begin and end? How do we as human beings keep a special day set aside by the great Creator Who has said we are to keep a day holy that He Himself has made holy?

   Man, with all his carnal problems and transitory nature, can indeed draw nearer to his Creator by observing a special day and by following the way laid down for us by Yahweh. Leviticus 23:3 tells us that the Sabbath is a holy convocation. It is commanded that all people gather that day. Hebrews 10:25 warns New Testament people not to neglect to assemble as the end of the age approaches. Thereby we have fellowship with the Father and the Son as we gather in worship.

   Yahshua tells us in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was given for our good. The Sabbath was made so that we might be perfected spiritually and made more like Yahweh's Son as we study and worship on the seventh day. The Sabbath was not given to be a yoke of bondage.  It was designed for our physical renewal and to give us time to spiritually connect with our Creator. It is a blessing to mankind—not a burden!  A spiritual "renewing of our minds" can be achieved when we actually, physically, keep the Sabbath each week.

HalleluYah!

May Yahweh guide you in your search for truth. For more information, please request our smaller booklet entitled, "Sabbath Keepers--Are You Keeping ALL the Commandments?" or read it online here.