The Sabbath of YAHWEH
THE SABBATH OF YAHWEH
Good News of the Kingdom
The Christ’s Assembly Worldwide
January 27th, 2008
The Most Foundational Reason for many churches using Sunday as the Sabbath is they believe Jesus died on Friday, and was in the grave during Sabbath, when there is no scripture for that whatsoever.
Let us pay careful attention to all the surrounding scriptures which paint a clear picture that He resurrected on the 7th Day of the Week, and that it would have been impossible for Him to have risen on the First Day of the week. Besides, no scripture says He rose on the 1st day, but it does say He was already missing while it was still dark at the end of the 7th day.
72 hours in the heart of the earth:
Mat 12:40 “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
“Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” would mean 72 hours. (Confirmation by Jesus is found in John 11:9: “are there not twelve hours in a day?” And twelve hours in a night = 24 hours.)
With these Biblical Presuppositions Jesus could not have died on Friday at 3PM because that would have meant He couldn’t raise for another 72 hours, which would have been Monday at 3PM. Besides, there is no scripture saying He died on Friday or the 6th Day of the week. It is only logical to use the Bible’s account to say He was crucified and died on that Wednesday.
Jesus was NOT Crucified on a Friday, but on the “Preparation of the Passover”. There are seven “High Sabbaths” every year, and the Passover always has a specific preparation day for the special ceremony which landed on Wednesday that year.
Just because the verses say it was a preparation day for “a Sabbath” doesn’t mean it was the weekly Sabbath. However, all the gospels do say it was the ANNUAL SABBATH CALLED PASSOVER.
Jhn 19:31 “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”
This verse doesn’t say it was the 6th day of the week. However, it does say in context that it was the preparation of Passover:
Jhn 19:14 “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!”
Where do these churches get it wrong calling this the Weekly Sabbath of Friday? If you read on you shall see it is an impossibility!
It can only make sense that Wednesday was the day of His crucifixion, at 3PM. He rose on the 7th Day Sabbath Day we know as Saturday at 3PM. The rest of the biblical accounts confirm His resurrection day was Sabbath, because they didn’t find Him in the empty tomb when it was even still Dark Sunday morning! If He was already gone before Sunday began, then this is more evidence He wasn’t crucified on Sabbath, and then already gone within 1 day. He had to stay in the grave three days AND three nights. They couldn’t find Him early in the wee hours of the morning, while it was still dark on Sunday because He had risen the previous day, on Sabbath, on schedule.
No verse in the scripture says that He arose ON the “first day”, but they all say He was already gone when they were there, BEFORE the First day had dawned!
Matthew 28:1 “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.”
Notice it says “in” the Sabbath, not “after”.
We know on God’s calendar the day starts at sundown, NOT AT MIDNIGHT. So in this passage it could actually mean that as it was starting*** to get dark Saturday Evening, that they went to the tomb and Christ was already gone. Since we know days start at Sundown according to the bible (from evening to evening: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath” (Lev. 23:32) “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Gen 1:15)). If the Sabbath was “dawning” that would normally mean it was evening.
The next normal argument from those beholden to the First day of the week is they come questioning whether we lost track of which day it was? With it they never produce any evidence along those lines. God’s word and history is the best determining factor on this situation.
There have always been a remnant of the Anglo Saxon Caucasian peoples keeping the Seventh day Saturday Sabbath. I personally have photograph copies of very accurate Celtic Calendars that date back before Christ. These were done in stone and preserved well. We know they never lost track of the 7 days of the week. Christ couldn’t have lost track of which day was the 7th day either if He was to keep the Sabbath day. If He and those in the 1st Century couldn’t lose track of it, neither could the rest. It can be found that people were more educated and advanced in earlier times in many ways more than now. Memorization played the most major role in learning, while today people are more relaxed with texts and never learn or hardly endeavor to remember what it says.
Exodus 31:12 “And YAHWEH spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am YAHWEH that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to YAHWEH: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days YAHWEH made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
See Lev 23, Deut 5:14, Exod 20:10-11 and notice it says it is not Israel’s Sabbath, but it is “The Sabbath(s) of YAHWEH”, as it says it is Holy unto YAHWEH and it’s a commandment for Israel throughout all their generations, FOR EVER. If you believe it was the 7th Day YAHWEH rested and not the first day then we also must acknowledge the Sabbath is only on the 7th day.
The Sabbath is a joy and delight. It is “made for man” made for our own good and betterment. Remember, none of God’s commandments have ever been grievous, but have all been called LIBERTY and true Freedom which we rejoice in as King David and Solomon related.
1John 5:3 “For this is the love of THE LORD, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.”
Another good note to make on this subject is we see in the book of acts alone that the disciples kept the Sabbath on the 7th day 84 times, and not one time was the First Day of the week called “Sabbath” anywhere in the New Testament Scripture.
A lot of churches use the one scripture where they broke bread on the first day as Paul was leaving for a mission; But what they don’t talk about is Acts 2:46, “they broke bread DAILY FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE”. We know the first century church kept the 7th day biblical Sabbath, and a small remnant always has. It wasn’t until the 3rd Century Constantine enforced the pagan rituals of the 1st day worship to the sun-god “sunday”. Even then God’s church continued keeping it by the thousands in every generation up until this present day. In every generation governments didn’t like anyone taking God’s word literal so every hundred years or so new laws were made to outlaw Sabbath Keeping, and even at one point the Pope declared a crusade against the Sabbath Keeping Waldensians of Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France. Thank God they prevailed as we owe our current King James Scriptures to the Waldensians.
It is easily shown from scripture that there are many Sabbaths PLURAL, and the only logical conclusion is the “Sabbath” that Jesus was crucified on was not, and could not have been the weekly Sabbath but one of the Annual Sabbaths. i.e.:
Lev 23:24 “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.”
This is talking about the Annual Sabbaths, not the weekly Sabbath.
All God’s feasts are called High Sabbaths and will for ever be called Sabbaths, even in the new heavens and new earth:
Isa 66:22-23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith THE LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 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, saith THE LORD.”
Even in the new heavens and new earth the Egyptians will be required to keep the feast of Tabernacles, and if they do not they will not get rain on their land. (see Zech 14). We today should also keep proper language in our dialogues concerning the Sabbaths of God.
Many churches have been greatly blessed for moving from the First Day “Sunday” to the 7th Day Biblical Sabbath “Saturday”. A viewpoint also on the issue of the Sabbath is in regards to blessings (Isa 58:13-14) “If you delight yourself in the Sabbath,… I will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth” Matt 5:19 “if you keep the least of my commandments and teach men to keep them you’ll be called great in the kingdom of heaven, but if you break the least of my commandments and teach men to break them you’ll be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.”
So it is about rewards and being more set free, not about your spiritual salvation of going to heaven. Our spiritual salvation is only accomplished by receiving the the blood penalty accomplished by our Savior Jesus Christ. Being Sanctified and growing in the spirit only is experienced by the extents we line up with the exact word of God.