Netzarim, Original followers of Yeshua & His 12

The True Sabbath Day

The True Sabbath Day

Ezekiel 20: 11 I gave them my laws and showed them my rulings; if a person obeys them, he will have life through them. 12 I gave them my shabbats as a sign between me and them, so that they would know that I, ADONAI, am the one who makes them holy.

Isaiah 66: 23 And it shall be that from one New Moon to another New Moon and from one Sabbath to another Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord.

Isaiah 58: 13 If you hold back your foot on Shabbat from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call Shabbat a delight, ADONAI'S holy day, worth honoring; then honor it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them. If you do, you will find delight in ADONAI - I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Ya'akov, for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken."

Quick question:

Where in the Scriptures does Yahweh tell us to ignore the original, seventh day Sabbath - the day He Himself blessed and made holy (Gen 2:1-2)?

Answer: You won't find anything in the Scriptures that references the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday. Some argue that it's because "Jesus rose on a Sunday" - but you need to ask yourself: Why would that, in itself, change the seventh-day Sabbath that God ordained "in the beginning"? (First of all, please see our article which proves that Jesus did NOT rise on a Sunday!) Some argue that Constantine was responsible for changing the Sabbath because he hated the Jews.

No matter who instituted Sunday worship, in Yeshua's time, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the seventh day - which, on our Gregorian calendars falls on Saturday), and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday (1st day) meetings were being held there by those early Christians: The Gentiles were willing to wait an entire week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for worship on a Sunday. Acts 13:42-44 tells us that, on the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting.

Some insist that Acts 20:7 reveals Sunday worship, but this is not true. Fact is, Jewish believers in Yeshua continued meeting at synagogue (or the Temple) for Sabbath. Common practice would be havdallah - meeting in homes after sundown on Saturday to continue discussions and praise from the Sabbath, which explains Paul "preaching until midnight" in Acts 20:7. The first day of the week for Jews (like Paul) began at sundown at the end of the Sabbath - Saturday evening - not "Sunday."

Furthermore, the fact is, neither the Father nor the Son has ever claimed the first day as His own in any higher sense than He has each or any of the other laboring days. Neither of them has ever placed any blessing upon it, or attached any sanctity to it. The Bible tells us God expressly reserved the seventh day to Himself, placing His blessing upon it, and claimed it as His holy day. (Genesis 2:1-3.) Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sin of the sixth day of the week, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23. (Please see Sabbath Truth and The True Sabbath Day.)

BOTTOM LINE: You can worship any day you want; but YHWH's Sabbath - His commanded day of rest - always was and will continue to be the Seventh Day! That is, after all, what sets us apart from the rest of the world! No "religion" including Christianity, can claim they have the right to change YHWH's Sabbaths/Feasts - His Appointed Times. After all, it's the "anti-christ" who does these things:

Daniel 7: 25 He will speak words against the Most High and try to exhaust the holy ones of the Most High. (The "holy ones" are those who obey His Torah!) He will attempt to alter the seasons and the law; and [the holy ones] will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

Please think very hard about that, and then continue reading the rest of this article....

The seventh day of the week, the day known as Saturday on our Gregorian calendars, is the Sabbath day of YAHWEH the Almighty God of Israel. It was ordained of God as a day of physical rest for all mankind, and the obligation to observe it arises from:

Yahweh's own example
His act of blessing the seventh day
His explicit command to keep it holy.

The word Sabbath implies rest, peace, tranquillity and refreshment. And who will doubt but that in this turbulent and confused world every soul on Earth is in need of spiritual rest and refreshment. Consequently, those who faithfully remember the Sabbath of the Most High and draw apart from the world each weekend to worship Him on His holy day, will receive the spiritual blessings promised in His Holy Word; blessings that will find full scope in the ages to come.

The seventh day Sabbath according to the Bible, was blessed, sanctified and set apart for sacred use by the God of Israel at the creation of the world, and on that memorable occasion it was first observed by the Lord Himself. (Genesis 2:2-3)
Man is required by divine law to keep holy the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath command is one of the Ten Commandments, a law which is not only scheduled to outlast this universe but which every soul on Earth is obliged to observe. Therefore as long as heaven and earth shall last, the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath day. Disobedience of Yahweh's law, of which the Sabbath commandment is merely a part, is sin. These unequivocal facts cannot be rejected without serious consequences. (Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 5:17-19, 1 John 3:4)
Sabbath desecration is strongly condemned by the true prophets of God and their inspired messages have been recorded in the Scriptures for the benefit of succeeding generations of readers from every nation under heaven. Dare we ignore their warnings? (Ezekiel 20:19-24, Ezekiel 22:8,26,31, Jeremiah 17:27)
In recognition of the Sabbath commandment, Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) and all His aspostles and disciples kept holy the seventh day of the week and the Scriptures testify to the fact that it was his custom to do so. (Luke 4:16, Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4))
In addition to the above, new converts, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the Saturday Sabbath, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday meetings were being held there by those early Christians. In other words, the Gentiles were willing to wait a full week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting. Why? Because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for divine worship on a Sunday, but would instead be available for discussion again on the next Sabbath. On the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting. (Acts 13:42-44)
In his prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Master advised his followers to pray that their flight from the city "be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." This passage is also strong proof that Yeshua had absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing away with the Sabbath commandment at the cross. On the contrary it shows his high regard for the Sabbath day in that he advised his followers - who were mostly Jews - to even go to the extent of praying to God about it, that He would make it possible for them to keep the Sabbath day some 40 years after the crucifixion! (Matthew 24:20, also Exodus 20:12&20, Isaiah 66:22-23)
The Sabbath rest is a token or sample of the divine Rest of God which the Most High is eagerly looking forward to. Many believers are going to be excluded from that divine rest because of their deliberate and persistent disobedience of the Sabbath commandment. (Psalm 95:10-11, Hebrews 4:9-11)

Ezekiel 20:11-12

"And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them."
In addition to the weekly Sabbath day, Yahweh has commanded believers to keep His seven annual Sabbaths