THE GLORY OF THE SABBATH

THE GLORY OF THE SABBATH
By Rabbi Dr. David M. Hargis

For much of my life I lived in an environment that hailed Sunday as the “Lord’s Day” and as the “Christian Sabbath”. It was all I knew at one time, and my goodly grandfather tried his earnest to establish Sunday as a holy day, forbidding playing and reading the funny papers (this was before the days of television) in his home. However, it just didn’t stick with any of the family. Perhaps through the Most High's mercy, because we were assimilated Jews and His restoration was coming for us. In any case, Sunday never seemed like a holy day to us. It was special only because we got all dressed up and made a big thing about going to church. Otherwise, as a child I remember Sunday as basically a boring day.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed worshipping from my earliest childhood, but I found that I enjoyed fellowship with the Most High practically the same every day. Sunday was not a day when there was more of His presence in my life than any other day. When I grew up and answered the call to ministry and higher education, I became informed about all the supposed reasons why the seventh day Sabbath had been changed to Sunday. I tried to accept the party line. It was no use. In twenty years of protestant ministry I never spoke a word of sermon on the validity of Sunday as the Sabbath. I just didn’t believe it in my heart of hearts. Very early in my ministry I came to accept by faith that the Creator of the Universe never changes, as His Word declares (Malachi 3:6). This doctrine overarches everything about the work of our Creator.

Ultimately, I realized that it is His Word that not only created all things, but also is permanently active to hold all things together (Col 1:16-17). Everything from the time of creation is bound together and continues by His will. If Sabbath would not be then all would not be. The creation of the Sabbath (Hebrew: Shabbat) on the seventh day is completely bound together with the creation of the sun, moon, stars, vegetation, animals and mankind. The cancellation of the Sabbath would call the faithfulness of G_d into question. The belief in Sabbath annulment questions the faithfulness of G_d.

With material creation G_d created time, and time was to be something that especially belonged to Him. Through making the seventh day of creation a day of rest from His labors, and a day given to mankind as a gift of rest, G_d was placing the marker of time. He was setting forth the holiness of time. Holy is defined as separate, unusual, unique and special. The celestial bodies of the Sun and Moon mark the physicality of time, but the Shabbat establishes G_d’s holiness in time, meaning His unique control of time. The Shabbat also gives mankind the special gift of being allowed to join in that holiness with G_d by resting, even as He rested the seventh day. Animals do not share in the possibility of Shabbat rest. So, only mankind is given the hope of fellowship with G_d in His very nature, because G_d gave His Holy Day for mankind alone to know and enjoy.

What I have just shared is the tip of the iceberg. Yet, it is enough for anyone to know without a doubt that neither Sunday, nor any other day, may become the Sabbath. First of all, for something to replace the Shabbat it must perform in the fashion of the thing it replaces. It must at least know what it is replacing. Think of a baseball team that decides to replace a pitcher for another. The team will not go out and put a football quarterback in that spot. Rather the team will replace a pitcher with another pitcher, one who knows how to pitch a baseball. Would not Sunday observance need to have the qualities of the day it replaces if it is to replace Shabbat? Why is it that Sunday is not taught to have any qualities of Shabbat? Why is Sunday not honored by most of those who say they observe it?

But the main question is, "Why is the seventh day Sabbath not observed or honored by most believers?"

LIE #1: WE DO NOT NEED A SABBATH REST ANYMORE

Some say we do not need a Sabbath rest anymore. That is untrue because our bodies yet need rest, but even if that was so, the Shabbat is not based on our need, for G_d did not rest because He was tired, but rather to appreciate His work. Does the Creator no longer want to have His creation appreciated? The fact is Hebrews 4:9 says, “There remains the Sabbath for the people of G_d.”

Messiah said that He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mat 12:8). Now since He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and He is the G_d of the living and not of the dead, then quite naturally the Shabbat remains today. One might also postulate that if G_d does not keep His promise concerning the Sabbath creation, then it would be prudent for us all to worry each morning as to whether or not the Sun will rise.

I hear someone saying, “But the Sabbath was made for man”. Well said! Therefore the Most High has given you a gift from Himself, actually a part of His own holiness. Oh, and don’t forget, “The gifts and callings of G_d are without return” (Rom 11:29). So your statement only proves the continuation of the Shabbat. Then another will say, “Well, if the Sabbath is a gift, then I can do with it what I want.” I would say to that person, “You would be wise not to throw any of G_d’s gifts in the trash! Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” How many times have you done something for someone you love, even if you did not view it with favor? Why would anyone who loves G_d NOT want to do what He loves?

LIE #2: MESSIAH BROKE THE SHABBAT

For too long people have been deceived into thinking that Messiah Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth) broke the Sabbath in order to show us we were free from the Sabbath. The entire concept of Messiah breaking the Sabbath is a blasphemy and an affront to the Most High. It is born out of ignorance and rebellion.

Why would anyone want to be “free” from a gift of G_d? Actually, Messiah affirmed the Shabbat with the things that He did and only performed those deeds that were permissible on the Shabbat. His critics came against Him with their current traditions for Shabbat keeping, which were not commanded in the Torah. They were traditions of men, not commandments of G_d. Messiah Yeshua healed on the Shabbat because healing is a form of being freed from labor, which is central to the Shabbat. Also, Messiah Yeshua never committed sin. He never broke the Torah (Teaching, mistranslated as Law), which, by the way, was His own, the thing which He wrote Himself!

LIE #3: MESSIAH CANCELLED SHABBAT BY FULFILLING TORAH

Messiah Yeshua said, “Think NOT that I have come to destroy the Torah. RATHER, I have come to fulfill it” (Mat 5:17). Here we learn that fulfilling the Torah cannot mean canceling it out or overturning it. To argue that fulfilling means cancellation is faulty reasoning. Thinking so illogically can only mean one is either under some kind of deceiving enchantment or a fool, devoid of all reason. Many seem to have no ability to see Messiah’s statement for what it plainly says. Our Messiah was clear: fulfilling has nothing to do with destroying or annulling, and in truth fulfilling is the opposite of annulment. Fulfilling means to complete or make whole; to bring to the full; to provide what was lacking. Messiah Yeshua came to make sure the Torah had all the necessary elements in it, especially the principal thing: His death and resurrection.

Why would Messiah take away the Shabbat by His death and resurrection? How would that correlate? No one has ever given me a common sense answer. Surely Messiah has provided us with a spiritual rest from sin; a kind of Sabbath rest within the soul. However, that in no way removes the seventh day Shabbat. The Shabbat was given before sin came into the world, so it is not a type of rest from sin. Did G_d rest on the seventh day from His sin? To put forth the seventh day Sabbath as a type of rest from sin progresses towards blasphemy, because it implies G_d needed rest from sin, since He rested then. Of course, the New Testament nowhere implies such. It is a feeble excuse perpetrated by unreasonable minds.

LIE #4: WE CAN CHOOSE ANY DAY TO MAKE OUR SABBATH

The Shabbat is rest from the labor of creative processes. G_d stopped creating on the Sabbath, so we stop also. When our mind and hands have stopped creating we have time and ability to appreciate what has been created, especially by the Creator. Only then are we are experiencing something He experienced. Since He is holy, then the experience of His Shabbat is holy. As we experience His Holy Day, then we are holy also.

The only regular day of the week the Most High ever made holy is the seventh day. Only He can decide what day is holy. No matter how hard we try we cannot make a day holy, because holiness is not dependent on our actions. Holiness is solely dependent on His determination. Many believers have thought to make certain religious days holy by the force of their celebration on that day. Such is arrogance and ignorance. There is not one place in the Bible where anything is holy, except that called holy by the mouth of the “I AM.” Therefore, no person can choose any day they wish to celebrate the Shabbat, because only the seventh day is holy. Celebration of Sabbath rest on any other day is totally void.

HOW SHOULD WE CELEBRATE SHABBAT?

1. Shabbat was meant to be a celebration of rest. It should be joyful and fun, while totally respectful and thoughtful of the Most High. It should not be a feast for getting selfish desires. Children should know that G_d loves their playfulness, but it should be balanced. There should not be fasting on Shabbat unless it is an extended fast which goes longer than a week.
2. There is to be no regular mundane work on the Shabbat, especially building or creating with the hands. Spiritual work, emergency work, healing work, protective work, feeding, priestly work and guarding (military and police) are all allowed exceptions. G_d wants us to use our common sense. He also knows that in a non-Shabbat honoring world people will be required by employers to work on Shabbat. The Sabbath keeper should make every effort not to work on the seventh day by being kindly communicative with employers about their wishes and/or looking for an alternative vocation. If a person cannot avoid regular work on Shabbat, they definitely should be seeking the Most High for a remedy as they depart their workday.
3. Other kinds of work that are not in the Spirit of Shabbat: building a fire, doing commerce (except that which is necessary according to the above exceptions), seeking out worldly entertainment, and doing any activity that causes a fuss, a ruckus or disrespectfully loud noises.
4. On Shabbat there should be praying, praising, worshiping, reading Holy Scripture, singing unto the L_RD, even dancing unto the L_RD, and talking to others about the L_RD and His Word, that is, whatever honors the Most High.
5. Remember, the seventh day is sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, because “the evening and the morning” separated each day, not sunrise or 12:00 midnight. In many observant homes and synagogues two candles are lighted with prayer to mark the beginning and help establish the celebration. A Hebrew/Jewish calendar will give the time when each Shabbat begins. For computers we suggest the Hebrew Calendar available at www.calendar-maven.com .

THE REWARD OF SHABBAT

Isaiah 58 has been an inspiration to many Believers, but it is interesting how the last verses have been ignored.

"'If you keep your feet from breaking the Shabbat and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Shabbat a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will delight (oneg) yourself in the I AM, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.' The mouth of the I AM has spoken." Isaiah 58:13,14.

Notice that according to the Prophet, the Lord's holy day is the seventh day Shabbat. Now connect the above with: "Delight yourself in the L_RD (YHVH) and he will give you the desires of your heart," Psalm 37:4.

Everyone wants to know how to get the Most High to give them the desires of their heart. Delight in the L_RD seems easy enough! There have been many fanciful interpretations of what it means to delight in the L_RD, but only one revelation of what this means is found in the Scriptures.

"Delight" here in Psalm 37:4 is the Hebrew word oneg, which is defined "to treat as a delicacy." There are very few places in the Scriptures were the word oneg is used. Yet, because it is a rarity, it will help us solve a mystery. There is one place, and only one, where it tells us exactly how to delight in the L_RD, even using the word oneg. 

Here is the secret. The only place where we are told by G_d what delighting in Him is, is in Isaiah 58:13, 14. Any other interpretation for "delight yourself in the L_RD" is useless speculation and the imagination of men. The only way anyone can delight in the L_RD is to honor and obey the seventh day Sabbath. The reward for doing this is "to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance" of Jacob. It is sealed as a promise from "the mouth of the L_RD." Also, as it says in Psalms 37:4, the only way anyone is promised to receive the "desires of your heart" is by delighting in the L_RD. In other words, if you make His Sabbath a delight, oneg, a delicacy in your life, you will receive your heart's desires.

It would seem that all people truly devoted to the Creator of the Shabbat would make haste to honor the Shabbat at all costs, what with the great payoff it carries! It would benefit anyone having a difficult time "riding high" in G_d's favor to examine closely the practice of the Sabbath. Test it by getting this part of your life in line with G_d's will, then see what will happen. I think you will be greatly pleased.

It's Jewish
Uriah Smith (circa mid to late 1800's)
[Some words have been changed without changing the context or meaning.]

When we present G-d's holy law,
And arguments from scripture draw,
Objectors say, to pick a flaw,
'It's Jewish.'

Though at the first Most High blessed
And sanctified His day of rest,
The same belief is still expressed,
'It's Jewish.'

Though with the world this rest began,
And thence through all Scriptures ran,
And Yeshua said "'twas made for man"--
'It's Jewish.'

Though not with Jewish rites,
which passed,
But with the moral law 'twas classed,
Which must exist while time shall last,
'It's Jewish.'

If from the Bible we present
The Sabbath's meaning and intent,
This answers every argument--
'It's Jewish.'

Though the disciples, Luke and Paul,
Continue still this rest to call
The 'Sabbath day', this answers all:
'It's Jewish.'

The good news teacher's plain expression,
That " Sin is of the law's transgression,"
Seems not to make the least impression--
'It's Jewish.'

They love the rest of man's invention,
But if the L-RD's day we mention,
This puts an end to all contention:
'It's Jewish.'

O ye who thus G-D's day abuse,
Simply because 'twas kept by Jews,
The Saviour, too, you must refuse,
He's Jewish.

The Scriptures, then, we may expect
For the same reason you'll reject;
For if you will but recollect,
They're Jewish.

Thus the apostles, too, must fall;
For Andrew, Peter, James, and Paul,
Thomas, Matthew, John, and all
Were Jewish.

So to your helpless state resign
Yourself in wretchedness to pine;
Salvation, surely you'll decline,
It's Jewish.

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