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Jabez,
A hearty “Amen!” to your most recent post. Spoken as a true disciple of our Lord and Savior!
-Tom
Travis, Positionally we are “seated with Christ Jesus in heavely places”, as believers. Yet we are clothed in corruptable flesh here and now. You wrote:
“The Messiah was perfected before Eph. 4:13, but in a spiritual sense His body will be perfected. Consider the believers are to come to the perfect man, being just like Messiah, and not sinning anymore at all, in word, or deed, as Eph. 4:13 shows will happen, before the next resurrection.
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: Eph. 4:13″
I should share with you up front that Eph 4:13 is couched by what preceeded it, as to ministries and their existence until the unity of the faith is achieved. Paul writes in other places about Christ being formed in you, in us, and that being a reality of a mature outlook indeed from his perfect heart of hearts (as to “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love”).
So, injecting Revl. 14 into a part of an Eph. 4 passage, as taken out of its context of meaning, and attempting a doctrine from connecting it to such is highly suspect, if not downright outright dangerous. It is not that we are not being perfected (per Heb 10:10), it is that it is not achieved on earth, but is pursued on earth (ibid, 10:19-25). Even if I somehow bought into your past sited Revelation passage as somehow being about all believers–which it clearly is not in its unique eschatology–jumping speculatively into the Revelation without other qualifications is unnecessary to walking with Jesus Christ in this life.
Jabez,
You wrote,
“The point was that I did not support what Bo wrote and attempted for ongoing dominance, for it has been pointed out over and over and over by so many here that he has used scripture out of contex over and over and over: as to its requirements. My concerns were about his scholarship, which is basically negligent of truth and grace”
Thanks for the kind words. Of course, your opinion as to my scholarship and errors are, just that, your opinion. But thank you anyway for speaking in “grace and truth” about me. Of course I do not think that you exercised either, but then again we are on opposite sides of an argument about what is the truth and what grace accomplishes.
The number of people that think that I am wrong, does not make me wrong. There were plenty of intellectuals and religious leaders that thought that Y’Shua was wrong.
The truth in the scripture will show me to be wrong or right. I certainly have quoted a few throughout the various forums on this site. The readers can make up their own minds as to whether I offer sound reasoning and accurate applications to the scripture I quote. Jabez’ judgment in the matter carries no weight as he is not the jury or judge…he is operating as a trial attorney trying to prove me wrong. He has chosen a side to defend.
But on a more scriptural note:
Messiah was without sin. He did not break even one of the littlest rules, commandments, laws or statutes of the scripture. If He would have transgressed YHWH’s law He would no longer be the spotless sin sacrifice that could take away our sins.
1 Peter 2
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
We are called to walk in His steps. His steps did not transgress the law. His steps were on the narrow path that leads to life. He did not transgress the Father’s rules. He did no sin. We are supposed to walk the way He walked.
He did not break the Heavenly Father’s rules in the scripture on any count. He remembered to keep the Sabbath holy just as the scripture stated. The religious leaders accused Him of breaking the Sabbath, but He did not.
Now, He did break the religious leaders’ man made rules that they added to the commandment of YHWH. He rebuked the religious leaders over and over for adding rules to YHWH’s perfect law. He said that their doctrines and traditions set aside the commandments of YHWH. He said that they put heavy burdens on peoples shoulders that were grievous to be born. But He never said that YHWH’s commandments were grievous.(Mat. 15:3,9; 23:4)
He said of the YHWH’s Torah, “Thy word is truth” and in the same breath He said, “Make them (His disciples) holy by Thy word.”(Jn.17:17) Yes, the truth came by Y’Shua Messiah. It was His Fathers word.(Jn. 1:17) He is the word made flesh. He lived it perfectly.
To be continued below.
Continued from above.
So YHWH’s word/law/Torah is not grievous. It is not a heavy burden. It is not a yoke that is hard to bear. The commandments of men are a heavy yoke.
Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
What was Y’Shua’s yoke that was light? What burden was He going to lift to give those that came to Him rest? It is actually twofold. The burden of sin and of the commandments and traditions of men. Sin is transgressing YHWH’s law. So he takes the burden of guilt off of those that come to Him and asks these ones to get into the yoke with Him. The intricacies that men added, and continue to add, to YHWH’s perfect law add up to a lot of weight.
His yoke is easy because it is a sinless yoke. His yoke does not have the weight of sin and doctrines of men. Doctrines of men, that add to the commandments of YHWH, are a heavy weight. They are sin. We are not add to or take away from YHWH’s word. It is already perfect. It does not need to be fixed. It is the perfect weight. Y’Shua walked in this perfect law of liberty.
The liberty of the unadulterated word of YHWH is an easy yoke…once you have had your guilt from breaking it removed. Now, one could think that YHWH’s torah was heavy if he was under the mis-impression that YHWH gave us rules that we were unable to follow. But YHWH said that the rules that He gave us were not to difficult for us…if they are on our hearts, that is, if we love them.
Deuteronomy 30
10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
If it is in our hearts instead of just rules on stone we can and will do it. If we “turn to YHWH with all our heart and soul” it is not to hard. YHWH wants His law/word to be in our hearts. He would like to write it there with no added rules of man. He needs to write it on a clean heart. So He offers us forgiveness. Here is the new covenant that YHWH has offered us.
To be continued below.
Continued from above.
Jeremiah 31
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
He offers to forgive us and write His law on our hearts. Not one or the other. Will we accept His whole offer? Or do we selfishly want only the forgiveness. We are supposed to yoke up with the Son of YHWH. We are not just spectators on the sideline. We are asked to work with Messiah…that is what a yoke is for…getting work done. So YHWH desires to write His law, that is perfect and has not changed, on our hearts instead of on stone or pages of your Bible. He wants you to love His words. They are for our benefit…at least that is what He says about them. The new covenant does not offer us a different law, but it is to be written in a different place.
Deuteronomy 30
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Deuteronomy 5
29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
O that we had this heart in us! O that we could stop being deceived into thinking that YHWH’s perfect law is a burden. If it is written on our hearts, it is not a burden. If we love Him, His commandments are not grievous.
1 John 5
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
None of this is about keeping commandments to get saved or doing works to be counted righteous. It is about growing up and taking the responsibility of getting in the yoke with Y’Shua. It is about accepting the terms of the new covenant. It is about real love for YHWH and his word.
It is about renewing our minds in the pure word instead of doctrines of men that blind us to the truth of YHWH’s law being righteous, just and good…as Paul declares.(Rom. 7:12) It is about walking in the Spirit of YHWH, which causes us to fulfill the law. (Rom. 8:4) It is about renewing our carnal minds so that they can be subject to YHWH’s law (Rom. 8:7) It is about working our own salvation as we are instructed to do. (Phil. 2:12)
It is about walking as our Messiah walked…in the works that were before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph.2:10) It is about being great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mat. 5:19) It is about having faith that is better than the demons. (Jam. 2:19) It is about loving YHWH with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. (Deut. 6:4-6; Mar. 12:29-30)
Whatever is in our hearts will come out. YHWH’s Torah is one thing that is supposed to be there. If it is not there, we will surely break His commandments. If it is there we are in the new covenant.
Shalom
correction in my last positing last paragraph.
Sited=cited.
Ruth,
That is fine if you feel led to keep the Sabbath. I do not judge others who keep it. I just know that the Sabbath has nothing to do with Salvation. That was my point.
Remember it is not what we do but who we are.
Children of the most High.
Blessing upon you Ruth.
Jabez,
You do not have to be perfect. Is this pride? We understood what you said.
I could use a good proofreader myself. O well, the mistakes I make, and there are many, serve to remind me that YHWH uses the foolish things to confound the wise. It is a good thing that He is a redeeming Elohim.
Shalom
Bo, What I recently posted of Hebrews 10 and holiness in fact addresses any and all you have written.
Ruth, I would suggest that reading what Paul wrote as to observances and days is in order for a New Covenant believer.
As a Messianic Jew I happen to choose to assemble a Minyan on Friday evenings after sundown, currently as a contemplative assembly solely to pray for Israel, but my essential fellowship with other Christians happens at a Sunday church service–both meetings are embraced by my own choice under the Law of Liberty in the Messiah, largely I observe rest on Sunday, the Lord’s Day as a matter of personal choice for honoring the Lord.
Isaiah is indeed the most central Jerusalem holiness relevant book about the coming and past visitation King’s establishments, but, as with all prophecy it can be interpreted in all historically related arising contexts of truth, where so. Using it as a proof text for keeping the Sabbath, if you are personally applying it as a “foreigner”, requires you to now hold to such by an actual Biblical calendar reference for observance (as the Lord established the Sabbath as such “from the book of beginnings”). FYI there will be different days of the originally Biblically referenced calendar as to weeks synchronicity with the old requirement than is established by our present international calendar. In other words the current calendar’s seveth day is not the Biblically established seventh day–one will be only rarely in sync with that day’s observance, as such. Even then, with the date line, who can be sure which Saturday by the absolute reference of a Genesis seventh day would be God’s original day of observation of rest, where so?
Paul was generous in understanding and conveying to us what he stated about a day, or days and observance of honoring the Lord. God bless.
106. About being perfect in attempted writing. It is not my goal, accuracy is. It is good scholarship, where so, not pride.
Jabez,
Humble scholarship is good scholarship. Rereading your posts umpteen times to be sure you got it perfect and then posting the correct spelling and such that does not change the meaning intended, is a bit obsessive and distracting. You are accurate enough.
Shalom
Jabez,
I challenge you to prove that the 7th day is not accurate according to history. I’ve done much reading on this and have found that the days of the week have not been mixed up. Sabbath keepers can be assured that they are keeping Sabbath in truth. Where do you get your information as to the days of the week being off?
Shalom
Jabez,
There are people,including me from time to time, that have lost track of the day of the week. Whole societies, esp. the Jewish one that predicates it’s obedience to YHWH on being correct in this matter, do not. Y’Shua, only 2000 years ago kept the Sabbath on the correct day. Do you really think that the day of the week has been lost since then? There are many cultures and countries that have kept their own calendar throughout this span of time. A simple correlation is all that is necessary to establish the correct day of the week. And all is not even taking into account the very accurate records of eclipses and other astronomical events throughout history.
Shalom
Ruth — You said, I don’t think that means that we are beyond being deceived, however, by possible spiritual manifestations.
————————————
I say, I am aware that people can be decieved by spiritual manifestations, but I am talking specifically about when someone is led by the Spirit to do and/or say something that is not something that is a deception, it is correct, because they are led by the Spirit to do something.
Ruth — You mentioned Isaiah 56, and I agree with you, it is a part of remembering the Torah of Mosheh/Moses, and it is a blessing when someone is led to do it, and in the way someone is led to do it by the Spirit, this specifically happens during the end times, people will be led and are led already more so to do the Torah of Moses more so.
My issue is that people don’t correctly interpret how to deal with other people that don’t understand there is blessing in the shadow, because there is blessing in the shadow only when the body(Messiah) wants there to be blessing in the shadow, the other times that He doesn’t chose the shadow there is not blessing in it by doing it.
It is very similiar to the idea of Peter and His shadow in Acts, Peter is more important than His shadow, likewise Yeshua the Messiah is more important than His shadow, yet Peter & Messiah sometimes provide blessing through the shadow of them, other times this is not so.
Like I explained the shadow is not what provides the blessing, rather Imanuel(El/God with us) provides the blessing, and sometimes He provides the blessing using the shadow, and other times doesn’t use the shadow, it all depends on how, & when He choses to use the shadow of Sabbath, New Moon, Feast days, ect.
Jabez — What I am saying is Messiah was perfected, but in a spiritual sense His body(His church) still needs perfection. Now certainly His body was perfected, but there is a spiritual understanding to His body also.
That scr. means what it says, and says what it means, believers are supposed to come to the perfect man, meaning being just like Messiah, following Him completely, this means they to will not sin anymore, just like the Messiah never sinned, and doesn’t sin, likewise Messiah said that we are supposed to be perfect as our Father, it is a command that mean through Messiah living His life through us, it can, and will be done, if we fight the good fight of faith(trust, belief) correctly.
COPY:
Volume 7, Issue 3
Did Jesus Break the Sabbath?
By Rod Reynolds
Did Jesus Christ show His followers that the Ten Commandments were not the standard for Christian life? Did He abolish the Law, or did He—in word and deed—demonstrate its true meaning for Christians today?
Practically anyone who has been exposed to Christianity knows that Jesus Christ grew up in an environment steeped in Old Testament scriptures; He knew them, quoted them and lived by them.
Or did He? Some believe that Jesus kept the law so that others after Him would no longer need to. Others say that He revealed new meaning through old laws. Many, however, believe that Jesus made a “break” with the old Law, and in breaking the law established a new pattern of living for His followers.
Nowadays, even many who call themselves friends of Jesus say that He broke the law. Originally, however—during His lifetime on earth—it was His enemies who made that accusation.
Because Jesus performed miracles of healing on the Sabbath, some Pharisees accused Him of breaking the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:2, John 9:14–16). John records that Jesus performed a healing during one of the festivals in Jerusalem. John’s gospel records what happened next, when Jesus confronted His accusers: “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:17–18). From this, many assume that the Pharisees’ accusation—that Jesus broke the Sabbath—was correct, and that Christians as a result are free to do so.
Scripture also records that Jesus’ disciples were walking through a field on the Sabbath when they plucked and ate heads of grain. Seeing this, some Pharisees asked them: “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” (Luke 6:2). Many accept that the Pharisees’ accusation is correct, and that by their actions Jesus and His disciples did not keep the Sabbath.
To understand what is at issue in these accounts, it is helpful to understand something of the rabbinical tradition that lay behind the Sabbath-breaking charges leveled against Jesus and His disciples. The Pharisaic tradition, by Jesus’ day, had developed into an array of petty rules having to do with the minutiae of the law. It focused on physical works that had little to do with the spirit and intent of the law—and which, in fact, often violated the law (Matthew 15:1–9; Mark 7:1–13; John 7:19; Galatians 6:13).
The scribes among the Pharisees created and transmitted the Pharisaic rabbinical traditions. The body of traditional law that they formulated, called the Halakah (preserved in the Mishnah), is extra-biblical. Although authoritative for Jews who follow Pharisaic tradition, much of the Halakah is not directly supported by Scripture, but is intended as a “hedge” about the law, to prevent any possibility of its being broken.
Ironically, in an attempt to ensure their law-keeping by putting a “hedge” about the law, the Pharisees were breaking the law, for God had said: “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2; also 12:32). By adding the weight of their tradition to the law of God, they bound “heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4).
The Pharisees placed the authority of their traditions above that of Scripture itself, thus going against the word of God. Scripture scholar Joachim Jeremias affirms that for the Pharisees, the oral tradition was “above the Torah,” and that the esoteric writings containing scribal teachings were regarded as inspired and surpassing the canonical books “in value and sanctity” (Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, pp. 236, 238–239). Alfred Edersheim also points out that traditional law was of “even greater obligation than Scripture itself” (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Book I, 1.98).
What was the nature of these traditional ordinances? “The Halakah indicated with the most minute and painful punctiliousness [attention to detail] every legal ordinance as to outward observance.… But beyond this it left the inner man, the spring of actions, untouched.” Echoing what Jesus said (Mark 7:5–13), Edersheim continues: “Israel had made void the Law by its traditions. Under a load of outward ordinances and observances its spirit had been crushed” (Book I, 1.106, 1.108).
The sometimes-absurd contradictions within Pharisaic law are especially apparent in the rules of Sabbath observance. Edersheim writes: “On no other subject is Rabbinic teaching more painfully minute and more manifestly incongruous to its professed object.” Edersheim charges the scribes with “terribly exaggerated views on the Sabbath” and “endless burdensome rules with which they encumbered everything connected with its sanctity” (ibid., Book II, 2.52, 2.53). “In not less than twenty-four chapters [of the Mishna], matters are seriously discussed [regarding Sabbath observance] as of vital religious importance, which one would scarcely imagine a sane intellect would seriously entertain.” Yet “in all these wearisome details there is not a single trace of anything spiritual—not a word even to suggest higher thoughts on God’s holy day and its observance” (ibid., 2.778–779).
For example, the law included detailed regulations regarding what constituted a “burden” that could not be carried on the Sabbath; for example, pieces of paper, horses hairs, wax, a piece of broken earthenware or animal food. Generally a burden was anything as heavy as a dried fig, or a quantity sufficient to be of any practical use (e.g. a scrap of paper large enough to be converted into a note or a wrapper). It prescribed what might or might not be saved if one’s house caught on fire. Only those clothes that were absolutely necessary could be saved. But one could put on a dress, save it, then go back and put on another. One could not ask a Gentile to extinguish the flames. But if he did so voluntarily, he should not be hindered. One could eat food on the Sabbath lawfully only if it had been specifically prepared for the Sabbath on a weekday. If a laying hen laid an egg on the Sabbath, it could not be eaten. But if the hen had been kept for fattening and not laying, the egg could be eaten, since it would be considered a part of the hen that had fallen off! These regulations considered studying the Mishna on the Sabbath more important than studying the Bible. The Hagiographa (the Old Testament “Writings”) were not to be read on the Sabbath except in the evening. And there are many other similar examples.
Of special interest to us are the laws regarding harvesting and healing on the Sabbath. Even the slightest activity involving picking grain—removing the husks, rubbing the heads, cleaning or bruising the ears or throwing them up in the hand—was forbidden. Yet if a man wanted to move a sheaf on his field, he had only to lay a spoon on it; then, in order to remove the spoon, he might also remove the sheaf on which it lay!
It should be noted that, unlike the Pharisees (whose numbers were relatively few), most Jews of Jesus’ day paid little attention to these petty rules.
When the Pharisees complained about Jesus’ disciples plucking and eating heads of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus (as He often did) was able to point out the contradictions in Pharisaic law. Jesus noted how David and his followers, famished and fleeing for their lives, ate the shewbread when no other food was available, though it was normally only for the priests to eat (Matthew 12:3–4; Mark 2:25–26; Luke 6:3–4; 1 Samuel 21:1–6). Even the Pharisaic law agreed with the original written law on this point, vindicating what David chose to do when his life was in danger (Edersheim, Book II, 2.58). Jesus simply said: “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:6–8).
Of course, the Sabbath commandment is in a separate category from the sacrificial ordinances. Yet since Jewish law permitted the feeding and watering of animals on the Sabbath to relieve unnecessary suffering, this principle would logically and naturally extend to human beings—in this case, Jesus’ disciples—who were partaking of the only food readily available at that time.
This controversy would never have been possible were it not for the Pharisees’ exaggerated views about actions forbidden or allowed on the Sabbath. The priests in the Temple worked on the Sabbath, yet were guiltless (Matthew 12:5). The scribes knew this, but apparently did not clearly understand why it was so. Somehow, they missed the point that God instituted the Sabbath not only to give human beings rest from physical labors, but also to give them a time to devote to God by doing His works and serving Him. The disciples’ actions were “clearly not a breach of the Biblical, but of the Rabbinic Law” (Edersheim, Book II, 2.56). Jesus said that the Pharisees, not understanding the law, had “condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). Clearly, the disciples were falsely accused, and were not guilty of breaking the Sabbath as charged.
Since healing might entail work, Pharisaic law permitted it on the Sabbath only if necessary to save life or prevent death. Thus a plaster might be applied to a wound if the object was to prevent it from getting worse, but not to heal it. Yet, contrarily, a splinter might be removed from the eye, or a thorn from the body, though no immediate danger to life was perceived. Furthermore, an animal might be removed from a pit, or taken to water, on the Sabbath.
When the Pharisees accused Jesus of violating the law by healing on the Sabbath, He again was able to reveal their hypocrisy by using their own contradictory rules. First, we will examine Jesus’ acknowledgement that He had been working. The Sabbath law is, in part: “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” (Exodus 20:9–10). Notice that the work forbidden by the Sabbath law is “your work.” The law does not forbid works of service towards God. Indeed, the very reason we are commanded to cease from our own works on the Sabbath is so we may devote the time to the work of honoring and serving God; that we may “turn your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words” (Isaiah 58:13). Here it is clear that it is our own works—the course of our everyday business—that we are to avoid on the Sabbath. On the other hand, we are to honor God on the Sabbath. Giving honor to God often entails work—”good works.”
A careful reading of Scripture reveals that we are to cease and rest from common or profane work on the Sabbath, so that the time may be devoted to God’s holy purpose. But implicit in the Sabbath command is that we do the work necessary to fulfill the spiritual aim and meaning of the Sabbath. On the first Sabbath, God rested from His work of physical creation, but He did the work of creating the Sabbath, blessing and sanctifying it (Genesis 2:2–3; Mark 2:27). The weekly Sabbaths and the annual Sabbaths were proclaimed to be “holy convocations”—commanded assemblies for the purpose of gathering to hear God’s word taught, and for congregational worship (Leviticus 23:2, 4). This includes the “work” required to travel to the place of assembly, and to listen, learn and participate in the worship service. Those commissioned to teach did the work of reading and explaining God’s word. On such occasions, people customarily did the work of eating and drinking, sharing and rejoicing in the holy day and in the truth of God’s word (Nehemiah 8:1–12). Other work implicit in the command was done, too: even on the most solemn day of the year—the Day of Atonement—the priests did the work of slaying animals and offering sacrifices before God, according to the requirements of the law (Leviticus 16).
The work of honoring and worshiping God is not forbidden on the Sabbath. Indeed, it is the object of the Sabbath. That is why the priests could work on the Sabbath and not be guilty. Their work was a necessary part of the congregational Sabbath duty of honoring and serving God. It was, in that sense, not their work but God’s work that was being done. On a Sabbath day early in His ministry, Jesus announced in summary form the work He had been sent to perform. His work was preaching the gospel, healing [both physically and spiritually] and liberating from oppression (Luke 4:18–19). The works Jesus did were not His works, but God’s works, which He had been sent to perform (John 4:34; 9:4; 17:4). Healing was an integral part of Christ’s ministry. In perfect harmony with what the Sabbath rest pictures—and with the gospel message—Jesus’ healings typified the physical and spiritual healings that Christ will perform during the Millennium, when the Kingdom of God is established on the earth (see Isaiah 35:5–6, 57:16–20; Jeremiah 30:10, 17; Ezekiel 47:8–10).
When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He was not breaking the Sabbath, but fulfilling it, because one is not at rest when afflicted, oppressed and bound by disease or infirmity. As many scriptures show, God delights in redeeming and restoring the afflicted, and giving them the rest exemplified by His Sabbath. God “hears the cry of the afflicted. When he gives quietness [rest], who then can make trouble?” (Job 34:28–29). Bound by their false traditions, the Pharisees did try to make trouble for the Messiah, condemning Him for giving those whom He healed rest from their afflictions.
Instead, they should have offered praise. Speaking of ones afflicted and at death’s door, the psalmist wrote: “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing” (Psalm 107:19–22).
Jesus answered those who accused him of breaking the Sabbath: “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:23–24).
As we have seen, when John wrote that Jesus “broke the Sabbath” (John 5:18), he was describing Jesus’ actions from the Pharisees’ perspective (compare 9:14–16). Those who say Jesus did actually break the Sabbath are agreeing with Christ’s enemies—His accusers—that Jesus’ miraculous works of healing were a breach of the Sabbath law. They are agreeing with Jesus’ accusers that He was a Sabbath-breaker. To be consistent, they must also agree with the Pharisees when they said of Christ: “We know that this man is a sinner” (v. 24). The blind man who had been healed knew better than that, saying that “we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him” (v. 31).
When Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He was not violating the law of God. By His actions, He demonstrated the true application of God’s laws—rather than Pharisaic traditions—that “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12). The “law” that Jesus violated was a man-made rule that was itself against the principles of God’s law.
Remember: Had Jesus Christ actually broken the Sabbath, He would have been sinning. But the Scripture says that He “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22). Had He sinned, He could not be our Savior. But He, being undefiled and separate from sinners, offered Himself without spot and without blemish to God for our redemption (Hebrews 7:26; 9:14; 1 Peter 1:18–19). No, Jesus did not break the Sabbath. He spent the Sabbath preaching, teaching, healing, honoring God and doing the good work of His ministry—the work of God.
The record of Scripture is that Jesus kept the Sabbath faithfully, as God intended it to be kept. In doing so, He set us an example. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).
___________________________________________
Still debating this. You can write or say what you want to Ruth. Our Savior does not require us to keep the Sabbath.
Wow, why isn’t the Spirit in truth in everyone?
Key word being “Required”
Pardon me….Key words being “Not Required”
The Messiah didn’t keep the strict letter of Torah, he kept the leading of the Spirit, and did as the Father led, Messiah considered all the Torah, and prophets, that is why sometimes He did things against Torah, and sometimes did Torah. His life is one of being before the Torah, and prophets, and His life is one of being the Interpreter of the Torah and prophets, and He is the one that establishes the Torah, and prophets in His way and time. The Messiah Eloheem/God gives all true righteous commands.
Debbie,
I believe the same way you do about this and there is not much more that rubs against me the wrong way than when someone tries to tell me or others we need to obey the letter of the law but…
Wow, why isn’t the Spirit in truth in everyone?
That’s a little strong! I would say we all have areas in our lives that aren’t fully understanding of truth, ya know? 🙂
Perfect Jesus kept the Law perfectly so that when the Father looks upon true believers, the perfect life of the perfect Lamb is imputed to us – wretched sinners with no hope of keeping the Law anywhere near perfectly.
Travis,
As written, taking parts of passages totally out of context and attempting to construct doctrine is problematic. You took Eph. 4 to emphasize something not emphasized as you have presented it to be. Then in using Revl. 14, first section, your notion goes way off the context you severed from its former passage. And so, in joining the two where such is not contextually, historically, or linguistically connected we are left in outer space, with another notion of perfection than scripture permits. Even the 144,000 are “redemmed from the earth”, and learn a unique song for them. Who does the redemption of these, “purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb,” not to the wider redemption picture of the numberless other group who has washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb for a continued testimony among the Nations? Think about it, who were the firstfruits of the faith of the Way? Where did they live, from where were they sent forth?
What is the point of reinterpreting some notion of perfection and projecting it on all believers if it is not supported by the wider text and eschatology involved (where Eph 4 is discussing a mature unity) and correlating this with the eschatology of Rev 14? Where is this possible because in that book’s 7:2 &3 the protection of the Jerusalem group is presented as a seal on their foreheads, not for all beliver’s foreheads.
Just prior to the verse you cited, in the Revl. they are of Mt. Zion, Jerusalem, as presented to the Messiah’s throne and learn a unique song from Him only they are permitted to learn.
Does Rom. 3:23 depict such as sinless on earth at any time, if it is the truth? It seems primarily important that they do not receive the false Messiah or Beast as the One chosen of God to maintain their testimony of Jesus there and then in relationship to the seat of Jewish devotion as Messiah. How then is the hour of judgment” escaped for anyone, anywhere? By maintaining the authentic testimony of Jesus Christ, not by being literally as he was so presented as the firstfruit from among the dead in paying the price he was chosen to pay.
The next Angel in the section here brings the authentic gospel to the tribes and Nations, not to these virgins. The consequences of that are carried beyond these firstfruits. In Revl. 21 we have the eternal city coming down from heaven with the gates of the 12 tribes (of the 144,000), and the foundations of the Apostles word given to the Nations. It is simply symbolic enough to trace it through the entire Revelation.
In contrast, the later chapter mentioned Angel vv. 9-11 offers condemnation of the one who rejects the gospel of Jesus (carried to all nations in vv. 6 & 7), and worships the beast (of chptr. 13). Vs. 12, the blessing of eternal life comes because of anyone’s faithfulness related to their faith. Only from vs. 13 forward is the promise of redemption completed to all believers beyond this immediate firstfruits scenario. We are not these referenced virgins ahead; they are those already so elected, as a remnant of the people of Israel in Zion.
As John states in his first letter, if I say I have no sin, I lie and the truth is not in me….[later he states about pattern sin] if I continue in sin I am none of his. Both remain true.
re: #111. The Biblical calendar vs. the present Roman international calendar. If you want the plain answer just look up the days of the year totals, and the leap year provisions for both, simply being therefore not synchronous. And, the whole system of time zones and the international date line too presents new relevant information not easily correlated with the predivision of the continents beginning Sabbath. Even those under the Sinai Covenant did not follow the present calendar to obey the law of Moses. I am a Geographical Information Systems Specialist, so educated as certified FYI.
Bo, and all literalists (who err in literal applications by paradox and fact),
I refer you to one consideration of the literalness of the problem of following the Sabbath under the present international calendar. See http://www.abdicate.net/cal.aspx. This is just one exploration of the difficulties involved.
Comparing the Hebrew Lunar Biblcal calendar vs. the Roman Christian calendar, or its present day evolutions, it is evident that the weekly cycle of both calendars are simply not identical. It is important to comprehend what is the New Moon of the Lunar Biblical calendar in charting days of the weeks throughout history. Where plus or minus every 19 years the international calendar days coincide with the Biblical Holy Days, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that the original seventh day rest is lost in the translation of calendar to calendar realities.
Travis, our Messiah rejected the Oral Law of the Pharisees.
Jabez, Moses in his anger at the doings of the crowd threw the first tablets of stone he had received, dashing them to pieces; the LORD provided him with a fresh copy.
Debbie, although the apostles decided that Gentiles could be exempt from certain aspects of the Law, except for the ones which Dave correctly mentions in Post #4, this was never meant to be construed to mean that Gentiles couldn’t or shouldn’t keep the Sabbath.
But it is a matter of conscience and the leading of the Spirit. I do agree that it’s not necessary for Salvation.
Are we wise to uphold all ten of the Commandments? I believe so. I believe they are foundational to the moral fiber of our nation, and that any country would be wise to hold fast to them. I know, too, that there is blessing in finding delight in the Sabbath, as is also confirmed in Isaiah 58.
God calls everyone to Him, because its His will that no one perish. We will feel that calling and leading in individual ways, to be sure. Just please understand that I am not advocating Jew or Gentile keep the Sabbath in the manner after the Pharisees in Jesus’ time.
I’m hoping you’ll read through Rod Reynold’s article about what it meant to follow the “Law” per the Pharisees, because this is really what Jesus objected to.
Jabez,
Wow Jabez! I didn’t know that you had knowledge of this sort!
I have some friends who are literalists like the ones on this board (re: the Sabbath and Holidays and of course the Torah laws of kosher etc.) so this is a fascinating subject for me!
So just to make sure I read you right: there is no guarantee that our present Saturday is the same day as the Sabbath from the OT period (ie, such that you could count the days from, say, a Sabbath in King David’s time to this coming weekend, divide by seven, and you will not come out with a whole number) – is this right? In other words, if I understand correctly, King David’s Sabbath (or Moses’, or Noah’s, or Adam’s) might equate to our Tuesday (or Wednesday, or Thursday, etc)?
I’ve wondered about this before when thinking about Sabbath literalists (“what if the calendars and keeping of weeks aren’t the same – then the original Hebrew Sabbath might not actually be Saturday” and such thoughts), but I never took the time to look into it – so now that you’ve brought it up (not to mention that it’s your specialty) I thought I shouldn’t miss my chance to clarify!
Thanks so much, and keep up the good (and informative) posts!
Tom
Whether the exact seventh day from the days of creation forward has become uncertain over time IS the ‘literalist’ position!
Think about it. The seven days of the week are known and accepted throughout the world. By major world agreement, we all know when Saturday falls. This argument is like saying, we can’t by mutual agreement meet at the station on Friday at 9 a.m. because we’re not really sure when that is anymore, therefore we can’t meet at all.
THAT type of thinking is to completely miss the point of Sabbath keeping! It is truly a masterful example of the hair-splitting, gnat-straining, binding knots which Pharisaical thinking can yet produce in modern times…
A gentle word of correction, Ruth:
Those of us who regard every day as sacred (esteems all days alike) do so in honor of the Lord. What Jabez (I assume, I can’t speak for him) and I by my question are pointing out is that those here who seek to bind us captive to a certain day of the week do so, not only on unscriptural grounds, but also on unreasonable and unhistorical grounds because they insist “it MUST be THIS day!!!” And on what basis do they claim a certain day? “BECAUSE IT IS THE SABBATH OF GOD, SET FORTH BY HIM”. But if we can’t know if the original Sabbath was on a Saturday, a Monday, a Wednesday, or another, what right do Bo and others like him have to dogmatically claim Saturday as the day and bind us to it?
Let me explain:
Maybe I want my Sabbath to be on Tuesday. Bo (sorry man, your name just comes to mind, nothing personal) says, “NO! Saturday is the Sabbath; you must observe it THEN!!”
Okay… but on what grounds does Bo claim Saturday? Certainly not by our knowledge of the calendar is the way I have taken what Jabez said is right (and I might not be). If we can’t know what day the OT Sabbath was corresponding to our modern calendar, then maybe I’m right and the Sabbath is on Tuesday. Neither of us can know, so neither of us has any business being dogmatic about our choice of day, binding one another to a specific day of the week from a historical perspective…
…let alone a Biblical perspective which condemns such actions of binding.
Jabez and Tom,
Count 1 through 7 over and over and over. Every seventh day is Sabbath. The moon has nothing to do with counting. The the 365.25 day year has nothing to do with Sabbath. The Sabbath falls on different days of the month and different days of the year all through time.
OK now lets count together, One, Two Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven. Very good class. Now let’s try that again.
There are no lost days of the week. We know that Messiah did not break the law. We know that He kept the Sabbath and called it so while He was in the flesh. If anyone knew when Sabbath was…He did. The Jews had evidently kept track of the days of the week correctly, as he made no correction on when they were keeping Sabbath. He certainly did not like the added commandments of men though.
You rocket scientists may not know how to count but the Jewish people evidently could and still can.
Shalom
Shalom
If a person desires to keep the seventh-day Sabbath, Tom, in the spirit in which it was intended, to be a day set apart for honoring God, they will not seek for reasons to claim it can’t be kept, especially on the basis you’ve described, but will focus on the essential features of Sabbath worship — the deeper reasons for keeping it.
One of the features of Sabbath keeping is that is on the seventh, as opposed to any other day of the week, because God chose to inaugurate it in that way. False deities had their days of worship; God wanted to single out a People for His name, and also hallowed a particular Day for His name. It was important to Him.
I don’t want to repeat myself, but (again) I am not claiming it necessary for Salvation. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind, indeed, because the way we worship God truly is privately in the depths of our being. Nevertheless, God has made His desire known — that we set apart a particular day in which we do not follow after our own ways, but diligently seek Him with all our hearts. His desire is a beautiful concept which Jesus upheld, clearing away the detritus of years of burdensome additions by the Scribes and Pharisees, making His law easy; making His burden light.
I am not seeking to bind anyone! But the position that keeping the Sabbath is “legalistic and binding” and we’ve been “set free” from this onerous Law is…simply not true. Again, the Pharisees had made the Sabbath onerous by THEIR additions to the Law. (Please read Rod Reynold’s article which I posted earlier — it clears up the wide misconception that it was “the Law” that was the problem — no, it was the traditions of the elders, the “Oral Law” which Jesus opposed and which we’re free from.) Jesus, the apostles, (including Paul), all affirm and uphold the virtue of keeping the Commandments in spirit and deed. Paul takes great pains to make sure he is not misunderstood on that point.
If you choose to honor God on Tuesday, that is a matter between you and God. If I choose the Sabbath Day, that is a matter between me and God. I am arguing for it, yes, because God Himself created that special day, not I.
“Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” I am. I am not your judge, you are not mine. If you are convinced that the Sabbath is superfluous to you, you do so before your one and only judge, Who alone can gainsay you. If you call the Sabbath a “delight”, again, you do so before your one and only judge.
I just want to reiterate that my last two comments should not be taken to be accurate reflections of Jabez’s own statements, as every chance in the world exists that I have misunderstood (as I do frequently) what he was presenting. In other words, if I interpreted him in error, please do not ascribe my error to him.
Jabez,
I got this quote from the site you linked us to.
“Throughout, the SDN and Jewish calendars remained constant as far as history can tell.”
Note: SDN stands for “Serial Day Number”
Shalom
Here you go guys. Read this article and see if you still think that time has been lost.
I just found this and do not endorse the doctrines or ideas or practices of whoever wrote this article, but there may be a nugget of truth about whether we can know if the Sabbath is still on Sabbath.
Shalom
Goodnight, fellow Believers.
(:
oops!
Here is the link I was supposed to cut and paste:
http://www.thercg.org/books/tshtbl.html
The complexities of calendar conversion are multiple. A most complete article is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar.
There was the original Genesis conveyance, and much effort to work the lunar month and different month lengths accordingly into the Jewish nation’s observances and rhythms.
What happened over time certainly gives credence to Christians in our scientific method era of acute astronomical technology, with increased vision of the solar system and moon’s affects to worship as they have evolved to on Sunday. There is no current basis for the current international calendars’ weeks to correlate with the Biblical, or Hebrew calendars weeks, as especially set by the Lunar appearance cycles for months’ beginnings.
Here is the opening quote:
““In spite of all of our dickerings with the calendar, it is patent that the human race never lost the septenary [seven-day] sequence of week days and that the Sabbath of these latter times comes down to us from Adam, through the ages, without a single lapse.”
Dr. Totten of New Haven, Connecticut—Professor of Astronomy, Yale University
(www.tagnet.org/llt/science.htm)”
Shalom
And, Gideon’s obedience changed the day cycle as well.
Ruth,
I appreciate your heart on the comments about the sabbath. Whether or not it is important on the seventh day is part of the discussion here, but i really like how you got to the heart of the matter and expressed why you like to keep it.
But, here you go, just to make Tom and others of collaboration regain comfort with being somehow encamped together. Here is a quotation from the article directed, which leaves the Ivy League Astronomer embarassed.
“The Hebrew calendar year is longer by about 6 minutes and 25+25/57 seconds than the present-day mean solar year, so that every 224 years, the Hebrew calendar will fall a full day behind the modern solar year, and about every 231 years it will fall a full day behind the Gregorian calendar year”.
What seems to be just about counting days is indeed calendar relevant, as to the Biblical calendar differing indeed from the days of the present calendar in originations.
But, here you go, just to make Tom and others of collaboration regain comfort with being somehow encamped together. Here is a quotation from the article directed, which leaves the Ivy League Astronomer embarassed.
“The Hebrew calendar year is longer by about 6 minutes and 25+25/57 seconds than the present-day mean solar year, so that every 224 years, the Hebrew calendar will fall a full day behind the modern solar year, and about every 231 years it will fall a full day behind the Gregorian calendar year”.
What seems to be just about counting days is indeed calendar relevant, as to the Biblical calendar differing indeed from the days of the present calendar in originations. The above information is cited for the literalists.
Recall too, that even though I observe present calendar Shabbat worship, and Lord’s Day worship and rest, this is for me and my household. I uphold what others have cited, and I early, about the freedom of choice a believer has as to which day or days one or a family chooses (Rom 14). It is not forbidden to practice worship on Sabbath or observe the Book/Land/People specific calendar observances for honor of the Lord at all.
I am specifically touched at home by my Norwegian wife’s traditions around her Nation’s Advent calendar observances, with candles as symbols of the born and ruling Christ/Messiah. I have observed many brothers and sisters in her land of origin with warm hearts honoring the Lord on such meaningful occasions as they observe with awe of Him, the chosen One. It is the heart which believes and the mouth which confesses unto salvation. There is no shame in believing in and honoring Jesus.
The reason why most Christian go to church on Sunday and not the Sabbath is because of Pentecost.
The book of Acts teaches us that they had church daily. So, again I stated in an earlier post. When you have the Holy Spirit living in you. The Spirit of Truth living in you, you praise and worship the Lord daily. Not just once per week.
Maybe that is why the Lord has not put on my heart to celebrate the Sabbath is because I thank Him on a daily basis for the cross, I thank the Lord and praise the Lord multiple times per day. Again everyday is a Sabbath day for me. The Lord knows that too.
I guess everyone has a different walk with the Lord. But I know I am not sinning when I do not take part on the Sabbath Jewish day.
My redeemer lives. Praise your Holy name Lord. We honor you, we worship you. We love you so much. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for your faithfulness to us. Fill us all with your presence, bless us and use us for your Kingdom. Lets us tell the lost about you. Use us Lord.
Again, I do not judge anyone for taking part in the Sabbath Day.
I just want to let you all know as of last year I bought a MENORAH and I am bless by it. I felt led by the Lord to have this experience. I am looking forward to the lightings of the MENORAH this year too.
I went to a Shabbat before. I was blessed too.
Jabez,
It does not matter if one calendar has 365 days in a year and another has say 354, because today is Tuesday on both calendars. When each calendar goes form the last day of the year to the first it ends on say a Monday and the next year starts on Tuesday. The days of the week just keep going and going 1 through 7.
That any particular calendar is off compared to another has only to do with their relationship as concerning the yearly dates involved. The days of the week just keep going and going.
Long days do not change the calendar as the scriptural day is form dusk to dusk. If there are more hours of daylight, it does not change the day of the week of even the scriptural calendar day.
In looking back in time there may be an astronomical problem for us to determine where the heavenly bodies were on any particular day, but the day is still a day no matter how long it happens to be.
Here are some quotes to show the constancy of the days of the week form the beginning.
“The week of seven days has been in use ever since the days of the Mosaic dispensation, and we have no reason for supposing that any irregularities have existed in the succession of weeks and their days from that time to the present” (Dr. W.W. Campbell, Statement. [Dr. Campbell was Director of Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, California.]).
“The week is a period of seven days…It has been employed from time immemorial in almost all Eastern countries” (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, Vol. 4, p. 988, article, “Calendar”).
“The continuity of the week has crossed the centuries and all known calendars, still intact” (Professor D. Eginitis, Statement [Dr. Eginitis was Director of the Observatory of Athens, Greece.]).
“As far as I know, in the various changes of the Calendar there has been no change in the seven day rota of the week, which has come down from very early times” (F.W. Dyson, personal letter, dated March 4, 1932. [Dr. Dyson was Astronomer Royal, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London.]).
“There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected in any way the cycle of the week” (James Robertson, personal letter, dated March 12, 1932. [Dr. Robertson was Director of the American Ephemeris, Navy Dept., U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D.C.]).
“It is a strange fact that even today there is a great deal of confusion concerning the question of so-called ‘lost time.’ Alterations that have been made to the calendar in the past have left the impression that time has actually been lost. In point of fact, of course, these adjustments were made to bring the calendar into closer agreement with the natural [solar] year. Now, unfortunately, this supposed ‘lost time’ is still being used to throw doubt upon the unbroken cycle of the Seventh-day Sabbath that God inaugurated at the Creation. I am glad I can add the witness of my scientific training to the irrevocable nature of the weekly cycle.
“Having been time computer at Greenwich [England Observatory] for many years, I can testify that all our days are in God’s absolute control—relentlessly measured by the daily rotation of the earth on its axis. This daily period of rotation does not vary one-thousandth part of a second in thousands of years. Also, the year is a very definite number of days. Consequently, it can be said that not a day has been lost since Creation, and all the calendar changes notwithstanding, there has been no break in the weekly cycle” (Frank Jeffries, Statement [Dr. Jeffries was Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and Research Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England.]).
Shalom
Debbie Fraser,
Do you understand that Pentecost is a Scriptural Holy Day, and that YHWH calls it one of His appointments with us? Do you understand that it always falls on the first day of the week? Do you understand that Passover, First Fruits, and Pentecost are all called YHWH’s feasts?
Did you know that Y’Shua our Messiah fulfilled these feasts on the exact day by dieing on Passover, ascending on First Fruits, and pouring out the Spirit on Pentecost? The day of the week has nothing whatever to do with it, other than that the latter two feasts always fall on the first day of the week. So the first day of the week has not been sanctioned by YHWH, but His feasts (appointed times) have been. The holy days listed above are YHWH’s spring feasts.
There are also fall feasts of YHWH. These are going to be fulfilled by our Messiah at His second coming. Just like He fulfilled the spring feasts, it looks like He will fulfill the fall ones on the exact day. Paul, in writing about the second coming talks about shouting and trumpet blowing. He says that the Thessalonians were not ignorant of YHWH’s appointed times. The feast of trumpets is the next feast that Y’Shua will fulfill, by coming to take His spotless bride.
He paid the bride price on Passover, went to prepare a place for her on First Fruits, and the bride entered into covenant with Him on Pentecost. The wedding procession begins on Trumpets and culminates on the feast of Tabernacles.
Yes, we should worship every day of the week. The people of YHWH always did. Sabbath is not about a one day a week worship service. It is about being set free. We have been given permission to rest from our physical labors just like our Father rested from His. We have been called to a family meal with Him on every Sabbath. We have been told by our loving Father, “Don’t forget to come and spend the day relaxing and with me on Sabbath.” We have been asked to honor our Heavenly Father by imitating Him on this day.
We know that YHWH gave His blessing to the Sabbath. We know that He set it apart from the other days of the week. We know that once blessings have been given they cannot be taken back and given to another. We know that YHWH says that He will provide for us. Resting on Sabbath is a sign that we believe this to be true. We do not live by bread alone.
I listed most of the annual feast days (appointed times) of YHWH above. The weekly Sabbath is also called a feast of YHWH. A weekly appointment with us. Why do people not want to keep the appointments that YHWH has set? Why do they change the feasts to different days? Why do they invent their own feast days, or rather adopt pagan feast days and proclaim that they are somehow sanctified?
To obey is better than sacrifice. Do we really want to please YHWH? Do we really want to honor Him? How about keeping His appointments? He calls all His appointments, Sabbaths.
Leviticus 19
2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
He is Holy and wants us to be. He plainly states that these two things are about being Holy. Interesting that these are the only 2 of the 10 commandments that do not have a moral implication to them. Interesting that the first three are obviously about loving YHWH with our whole being and the last 5 are about loving our neighbors as ourselves. These two are the proof of holiness. I am betting that most people agree that we should honor our parents. But there is a Heavenly parent that should be honored also. He asks us to honor His creativeness, and power by keeping His Sabbaths, plural. He asks that we honor His holiness by keeping them too.
He asks that we remember that He is the one that freed us by keeping the weekly Sabbath. He asks us to remember Him as our Redeemer and Bridegroom on the annual sabbaths. Paul did, even after he was saved. John did, and so did many generations of elders after him.
I personally would think that I was doing the equivalent of slapping my Creator and my Bridegroom in the face, if I refused to keep His appointments with me. He made this whole beautiful world and allows me to live in it. He provides everything I need all week long and asks for a specific day to commemorate His provision. He has redeemed me and is coming to marry me. Not celebrating the anniversaries of His love for me would be pretty snobby and dishonoring, if you ask me. A little gratitude goes a lone way.
Shalom