If you look at all of chapter 1 in Genesis, you'll see this sequence repeated for each day of Creation....evening and then a morning constitutes a "day". Now we in the Western world usually associate a day as a morning and then an evening, but if you study this out with other scriptures, you'll see that the Bible delineates a day as evening and morning....so someone is bound to ask..."what constitutes evening? For that we turn to Deuteronomy 16:6. So "even" or "evening" occurs "at the going down of the sun".

This explains why the Sabbath is described in these words, "It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, ...from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath." Leviticus 23:32. But when does the evening begin according to the Bible? "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils." Mark 1:32. Since the Pharisees taught that it was wrong to heal on the Sabbath, the people waited till the Sabbath (Mark 1:21) was over before bringing their sick to Yah'shua (Jesus). So they brought them "at even, when the sun did set."

In Nehemiah 13:19 we are given another description of the beginning of Sabbath. This definitely places the first moments of the Sabbath at sunset, when it is beginning to be dark. This tells us therefore, that the Sabbath begins on Friday evening when the sun goes down. But then we have the "morning" part of the day (remember "evening and a morning"...) so when does the "morning" part of the Sabbath end? It ends when the sun sets on the Sabbath day. Therefore a full Sabbath "day" starts Friday evening and ends Saturday evening and therefore consists of an "evening" and a "morning".

How to Keep the Sabbath Physically

We are to do no work on the sabbath (Exo.20:10; 31:14-15; 35:2, Lev.23:3, Deut.5:14, Jer.17:24).

Exodus 16:23 says one shouldn't prepare an elaborate meal on the Sabbath day....but should try to either have my meals ready (on Friday)...or at least fix very simple meals on the Sabbath.

Nehemiah 10:31; 13:15-17 says we shouldn't buy or sell on the Sabbath day. ( "victuals" mean food).

We should not do unnecessary traveling on the sabbath (Exodus 16:23).

Hebrews 10:25 says we should assemble ourselves together. Yah'shua said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mat.18:20).

Isaiah 58:13 says twice that we shouldn't do our own pleasure on Elohim's holy day (Do your own pleasure on the other 6 days).

How to Keep the Sabbath Mentally

Matthew 12:10-13, Mark 3:1-5, and Luke 13:10-17. So what do we see here? You can look as hard as you can for any Scripture in the whole Bible where Yahweh said it was unlawful to heal someone on the Sabbath day, you will not find it. So here we have an instance where the Pharisees and Sadducees added their own rules and regulations to the keeping of the Sabbath and Yah'shua showed the hypocrisy of their rule. In our day, I take this to mean that if I see a fellow human (or an animal even) in danger or hurt or something, it is perfectly fine to help that person or animal on the Sabbath day. Other similar examples might be doing medical missionary work, or attending a sick friend, etc.

John 5:8-13 Notice again that Yah'shua told the man to do something that was directly in conflict with the un-biblical rules and regulations that the Pharisees and Sadducees had set up. Notice also, that church people can get so worked up in details that they miss the whole point of what Yahweh wants for His people. If you think about it....all the rules and traditions that the Jews created to load down the Sabbath, show us again Satan's hatred of the Sabbath. In Yah'shua's day, the very institution that Elohim made for man's benefit and well-being was so trodden underfoot that it wasn't a blessing anymore...in fact, I well imagine that the Jews that tried to keep it according to the un-biblical Pharisee rules might have even looked upon the Sabbath with dread!! So as every week went by, they probably thought..."Oh no...here comes the Sabbath again where I can't do much of anything....." How sad....a day that should be joyous and full of peace became an endless round of ceremonies and rules and things to watch out for.

John 9:13-16 Now reason this through with me. Because the Pharisees had a false, un-biblical view of the Sabbath day, it actually caused them to reject the Son of Elohim at his first advent. Now these people were lost because of this. Do you suppose that in the last days, if you have a false, un-biblical view of the Sabbath day, OR if you have a false, un-biblical view of how it should be kept, it could cause you to reject or misunderstand the second coming of Yah'shua and be lost because of it?? This is something we should definitely think about and meditate upon.

Isaiah 58:12-14 Verse 12 is a study in itself...Yahweh's people in the end times will be building up the old waste places, and one of those waste places is the downtrodden Sabbath of the 4th Commandment. Notice how verse 13 is an IF statement, and verse 14 is the THEN statement. This is a conditional promise that Yahweh has for us.

Verse 13 tells us that we need to turn away our feet from trampling on the Sabbath. It also says twice that we shouldn't do our own pleasure on Yahweh's holy day. Do your own pleasure on the other 6 days. Verse 13 also says that we should call the Sabbath a delight....do we call the Sabbath a delight? When it gets toward the end of the week, are you anxious for the Sabbath to come? I know I am. It's my favorite day of the week because in my thoughts I can spend the whole day with Yah'shua.

Now I realize that we should have Yah'shua in our thoughts Sunday through Friday and I do, but not like on Sabbath. During the week I've got to think about what I'm doing at work and I try to keep a dialog going with Yahweh as I work....but on the Sabbath, I don't have to think about work at all.

Verse 14 then tells us what Yahweh will do for us if we honor His conditions. We will delight ourselves in the Yahweh, He will cause us to ride upon the high places of the earth and will feed us with the heritage of Jacob. These are biblical sayings for the experience of feeling joy, and peace, and being filled with love for Yahweh and His Son. I also believe that in this promise is the promise of prosperity. Now we may not be rich as the world views wealth...but we will be rich in Yahweh, which is wealth for eternity.

Exodus 31:13 The Sabbath is the only sign between Yahweh and His people. If you happen to believe that literal Jews are still Elohim's people, this promise will not apply to you. But if you happen to study it out and find that Christians are spiritual Israel (Romans 1:16; 2:28-29; 9:4-8; 10:12, 1 Corinthians 10:2-4, Galatians 3:16,26-29, Colossians 3:11), then this promise does indeed apply to you.

Also notice in Ezekiel 20:11-13 how the Sabbath relates to Yahweh and His people, and what happened when Yahweh's people polluted the Sabbath. Ezekiel 20:20 sums up our relationship to the Sabbath and thus to Yahweh.

Will we keep the Sabbath in Heaven?

This is a critical question that is answered very plainly in Isaiah 66:22-23. Now, when will this happen? 2 Peter 3:10-12 tells us plainly, and Peter uses the same words that Isaiah uses ("new heavens" and "new earth").

Therefore, it seems clear that after Yah'shua's 2nd coming when the Heavens and the Earth are made new, Isaiah tells us that we will still keep the Sabbath. This proves that we should be keeping the Sabbath down here if you walk through the following line of reasoning:

Why would Elohim create the Sabbath on the 7th day of creation, sanctify it and make it holy, then give it to the people of Israel again at Mt. Sinai on tables of stone, and then mysteriously take it away after the death and resurrection of Yah'shua, and somehow bring it back into existence after His 2nd coming?

The answer is that the Sabbath was not done away with at the cross, and if we wish to keep it in Heaven, we need to be keeping it down here on this earth. "May we seek His will in keeping it" is my prayer for you today.

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