Shabbat
As I watched, the TV Preacher
told the congregation that the Sabbath is part of the Law. And, that is true to
a limited extent. It is the fourth Commandment.
However, Shabbat, the Sabbath
is also the last thing Christ Jesus Created during the 7 days of Creation! Sabbat was the only part of creation that was sanctified!
Gen 2:1-3
1 Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And
God blessed the seventh day,
and sanctified it: because that in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made.
God the Father, through Christ Jesus the Son,
created the days as well as the sun, moon, plants, animals and man during that
week of creation.
Creation superseded the
giving of the Law and thus, while being included within the Law it is not bound
by the Law.
Giraffes are also part of
Creation but if you believe in Giraffes you are not “under the Law.” Believing
in Shabbat does not make anyone a legalist.
Many reject the Sabbath and
yet cling to the tithe! The Sabbath pre-dates the tithe!
God created Shabbat as His
day of rest. That is one point that most overlook. God the Son created the
actual days. The difference between the six days and the Shabbat is that God
blessed Shabbat, but not the other days! Shabbat is the only day that actually
has a name. It was named by God Himself.
Shabbat was not created as a
day of worship, although the Ten appoints it as such. Shabbat was created as a
day of rest.
Sunday is not the Lord’s Day,
nor is it the Sabbath! Those are facts!
The Sabbath was created! It was not appointed as an afterthought!
When I first wrote this
article it caused a bit of a stir, so let’s go to plan “B” for blessed (Heb bārak-בָּרַךְ). When God created the Sabbath He blessed it (Genesis
2:3). God never “un-blessed” Shabbat!
Observing the Sabbath is
thought of as being legalistic, but is it? If you do not murder, steal, lie, or commit adultery, that will
bring you in line with the ten Commandments, by not
doing those things are you being legalistic?
Of course not!
Legalism is following some
rule or regulation that you assume will save you, but salvation is strictly by
grace through faith plus nothing!
To many, legalism is
worshipping on the Sabbath. But, what does the New Testament say?
Col 2:16-17
16 Let no man therefore
judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday,
or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which
are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
No matter which day on which
you worship it is a shadow of the great Shabbat to come! Worshipping on the
current Sabbath, or Sunday, or Thursday afternoon is a just a shadow!
We are neither saved nor lost
due to a certain day of the week!
None of us is saved because
we do something to deserve it!
Now, back to our Sabbath
study!
Matt 28:1 In the end of “the Sabbath” (Gr. Sabbatoon-Sabbatwn), as it began to
dawn toward “the first day of the week” (Gr. Sabbatoon-Sabbatwn), came Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
(KJV)
As you notice, I added
quotation marks and the exact
Greek word translated in the quotation marks.
You will also notice that in both cases, the Greek word in exactly the
same while the English translation differs.
Why did the translators use
differing translations for the same Greek word in the same sentence?
I don’t know.
In translating the Greek New
Testament into English, the translators used a false translation when
translating “the first day of the week.” In each and every occurrence of that
phrase in the Greek New Testament we see that it is based on a mistranslation
of the Greek word sabbatoon-sabbatwn
(Englishman’s Lexicon spelling). They may
have been told that Sabbatoon means a week or one of
the seven. That is false! Seven/seventh in Greek is hepta.
In Greek, εβδομάδα-hebdomada is the
word for week!
Where did that false
translation come from?
I don’t have the slightest
idea!
I assume it was due to
anti-Semitic prejudice, and political motives.
But, that is a guess. Perhaps the
translators were just too stupid to know what they were doing.
Many Christians hold the KJV translators
in high esteem. I am one of them!
Most Christians
worship/attend Church on the “Christian Sabbath.” That Sabbath is neither found nor hinted at
in the Bible.
Instead of Sunday (the first
day of the week), Matthew 28:1 speaks of the first Sabbath leading to
Pentecost, and the birth of the Church.
If early Christians were not so anti-Semitic the history of the Church
would have been much different.
Each and every time the
English New Testament speaks of the first day of the week, the Greek text
speaks of a Sabbath. There are no
exceptions!
Many try to say that the
Sabbath is invalid due to grace. Do you
feel that it is valid to commit murder because of grace? How about stealing is that commandment
invalid due to grace?
Is having other Gods now valid because of grace? Of course not! According to the majority, only the forth
commandment is not invalid due to grace.
And in the midst of teaching
grace, Paul said, “the commandment holy and just and good” (Rom 7:12/NKJV).
He also said, “the law is spiritual” (Rom 7:14/NKJV). Christ Jesus said, “For assuredly, I say to
you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means
pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matt 5:18/NKJV). Has heaven and earth passed away? Has all been fulfilled? No!
Now, what is the
Sabbath? Is it a day of rest or a day of
worship?
Exod 20:8-11
8 "Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor
and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your
female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your
gates.
11 For in six days the LORD
made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested
the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
(NKJV)
Mark 2:27
And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath. (NKJV)
We are to worship God in all
that we do. And, we are to rest on the
Sabbath.
Matt 12:5
“Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple
profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?” (NKJV)
If we are to honor God on the
Sabbath, we will do what He said to do on the Sabbath.
How did we end up have Church
meetings on Sunday?
Emperor Constantine order it under penalty of death, and so the vast majority of
Churches did as he ordered.
You may worship Christ on
Thursday afternoon at 2:44 PM! Worship
is worship!
However, the Sabbath is
special!
But some say, haven’t we lost
track of the days of the week sometime ago in history?
Do you think that Christ
Jesus, the agent of creation did not know which day was His last day of
creation?
Shabbat is Shabbat!
Have a blessed Sabbath!