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Concerning the Sabbath

Concerning the Sabbath

Copyright ©February 6, 2001 Saar Shalom Center

What is the non-Israeli Saint’s relationship to the Sabbath? What is the Israeli’s relationship to the Sabbath when the Temple is not functioning? I will explore these issues by using every Biblical text translated Sabbath or Sabbaths. Only pertinent texts will be considered.

1.  The Basic Sabbath Command

Exodus 16:23 And he said to them, “This is what Yehovah has said: ‘To-morrow is the rest, the holy sabbath, of Yehovah. Bake what ye will bake, and cook what ye will cook; and lay up for yourselves all that remains over to be kept for the morning.'” And they laid it up for the morning as Moses had commanded. And it did not stink, neither was there any worm in it. And Moses said, “Eat it today. For today is sabbath to Yehovah. Today ye shall not find it in the field. Six days shall ye gather it. And on the seventh day is sabbath—on it there shall be none.” And it came to pass on the seventh day that there went out from the people to gather, and they found none. And Yehovah said to Moses, “How long do ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for Yehovah hath given you the sabbath; therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread for two days. Abide every man in his place. No man is to go from his place on the seventh day.” And the people rested on the seventh day.

The Sabbath was identified by no manna to collect. The Israelis were commanded to stay in their tents, cook what they were going to cook, and not do manna gathering. This text pertained to the Israelis during the time of the manna, and cannot be applied to other times and periods without manna.

2. The Ten-Commandment Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day to sanctify it. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. And the seventh day is the sabbath of Yehovah thy God. Thou shalt not do any work–thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy bondman, nor thy handmaid, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days Yehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yehovah blessed the sabbath day and sanctify him.

This text involves the following:

·   Sanctify the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the property of Yehovah, for the purpose of ceasing from one’s labour (the word Sabbath means cease). Every individual Israeli must do this.

·   Work six days. No shorter work week was given to the Israelis. (Anyone who could not work would not be in violation of the ceasing of the Sabbath.)

·   Slaves, servants and work animals must cease from labor. Every common branch of Judaism permits hired workers to do labour for the Jewish community on the Sabbath in defiance of the above command.

·   The Israelis must rest because Yehovah rested. The Israelis must reflect this within their own gates. This is not pertinent to gentiles. Israelis who obtained properties on the other side of the Jordan were commanded to observe the same ceasing.

The gender of the pronoun referring to the Sabbath is masculine, but the word for Sabbath is feminine. The Sabbath must have a wider significance.

3. The Sabbath As a Sign Between Yehovah and the Children of Israel

Exodus 31:13 And thou, speak thou unto the children of Israel, saying, “Surely my Sabbaths shall ye guard. For he is a sign between me and you throughout your generations to know that I, Yehovah, am your sanctifier. And ye shall guard the Sabbath. For he is holy to you. The profaner of her dying shall die. For all who do in her errands, and that being shall be cut off from the midst of her people. Six days shall errands be done. And on the seventh day is the sabbath of Sabbath(s), holy to Yehovah. Every errand-maker on the sabbath day dying shall die. And the children of Israel shall guard the sabbath to do the sabbath to their generations, a covenant of hidden-time. Between me and between the children of Israel, a sign is he to the hiding. For six days Yehovah made the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day he ceased and was ‘re-beinged.'”

The Sabbath must be guarded and watched, making sure that nothing violates.

The word Shabbat (Sabbath) is feminine, yet the Hebrew regularly refers to it as masculine, and like a person. In traditional Judaism, the Sabbath is called a queen and is hailed in as the sun sets. This violates the regular spelling of the masculine pronoun. The Massorites (who placed the pronunciation dottings into the Hebrew text) placed feminine pronunciation dottings over the masculine pronouns referring to the Sabbath. It is read as if the Sabbath is a ‘she’ rather than a ‘he’. (One way certain texts that are believed to be spelled wrong are corrected is by changing these dottings.) If the masculine pronoun is erroneous, why is it always made at the same times and places in many texts? It isn’t in error. The Sabbath is the person of the Messiah.

How can the Sabbath be a sign that Yehovah is the Sanctifier of the Israelis? A sign is a person, place, thing or event which serves as an evidence to another that something is true or will take place. If the Sabbath is the Messiah, the Sanctifier of Israel, this is a sign! How can a ceasing be a person? How can the Messiah be Yehovah Who sanctifies Israel? He is. According to Judaism, an infinite God cannot be born as a man. Yet Yehovah is omnipotent, and all things (morally and ethically right) are possible. The miracle of the Sabbath is Messiah, Israel’s Sabbath.

Guarding the Sabbath against violation is the safeguard against violating the Messiah Who is holy to Israel. Without him, Israel has no rest. He belongs to Israel, being a son of the herd:

Exodus 29:1  And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young  bullock (literally, a son of the herd).

The Sabbath is called her, and the one profaning her will certainly die. The Sabbath is a type, and Messiah is the antitype (the answer to the mystery of the type). Profaning her incurs the death penalty. Yehovah thus shows Israel the importance of the Sabbath and what she typifies. Profaning anything is treating it commonly rather than special, as if it is no one’s property. A public telephone is a profane telephone (even though it is owned by the telephone company) because anyone may use it to call. A private telephone is a holy telephone. Profane and holy are opposites.

The word being (in and that being shall be cut off from the midst of her people) takes a masculine pronoun. This is followed by she shall be cut off from the midst of her people, showing the relationship between the being (feminine) and the man (masculine) who is occupying the being. By making the pronoun feminine and saying she shall be cut off from her people, the text is not only referring to the man who is violating, but the being that will be damned. A man cut off from his people will die, but a being cut off from her people is damned! Yehovah sees this Sabbath with this importance.

What is the Sabbath of Sabbath(s) (in and on the seventh day is the sabbath of Sabbath(s), holy to Yehovah)? The Hebrew Shabbat Shabbaton is special compared to all Sabbaths. But this is a regular Sabbath! The regular Sabbath is that special to Yehovah. Violating this Sabbath is contemning all Sabbaths, and is holding the Messiah Himself in contempt.

Yehovah commanded the Israelis to guard the sabbath to do the sabbath to their generations—as long as they exist. Parts of the Sabbath require the Temple or Tabernacle, however, and they cannot be done according to the Torah until the next Temple is built.

The Sabbath is a covenant. Anyone thinking that he is required to do the Sabbath must also think himself in this particular covenant with Yehovah. This is not a covenant of Salvation or Grace, but is part of the whole Torah made between Yehovah and physical, literal Israel.

The hiding in a sign is he to the hiding is the Hebrew word OLAM, the opposite of YODEA, knowing. Yehovah revealed many things in earth’s history and future. Yehovah did not reveal events before the creation of the earth, nor after its destruction (with a very few exceptions). These are hidden. A covenant which is to the hiding is one which stands until the earth is destroyed with fire. At that time, the covenant will no longer be in force. The Torah of Moses commands will not be needed occupants of the New Earth, because it was designed and given to keep unbelieving Israelis alive until they might come to faith. In the same manner, the Sabbath covenant has force until the earth is no more and the New Earth exists. There will be no need to cease from one’s labours.

And on the seventh day He ceased and was ‘re-beinged’. To cease and ‘re-being’ is to stop working and doing errands, and to have one’s being restored. If Yehovah did this for the sake of man, it is important for man.

 

4.  Regarding the Fire

Exodus 35:1 And Moses congregated all the witnessing-group of the children of Israel, and said to them, “These are the words which Yehovah commanded to do them. Six days shall an errand be done. And on the seventh day the Holy-One shall be to you. The sabbath of Sabbath(s) is to Yehovah. Every doer in him of an errand will die. Ye shall not kindle a fire in all your dwellings on the Day of Ceasing.”

A witnessing group is a congregation witnessing an event. The Scriptures declare that Israelis are Yehovah’s witnesses (even if the cult group thinks that it replaces Israel). Yehovah introduces a new aspect of the Sabbath to be guarded. Fire kindling requires real work. This is not the transferring of fire from one burning fire location to another, but kindling—striking or rubbing in order to make sparks or use friction to start a fire. If an Israeli’s fire went out, he could obtain fire from a neighbour.

 

5.  The Day of Coverings Sabbath

Leviticus 16:29 And she shall be to you for a statute of hidden time. In the seventh month on the tenth of the month, ye shall humble your beings. And every errand ye shall not do–the native-born and the sojourner who sojourneth among you. For on that day he shall cover for you to cleanse you from all your sins before Yehovah. Ye shall be clean! A sabbath of Sabbath(s) she is to you. And ye shall humble your beings, a statute of hidden-time.

This is the Day of the Coverings Sabbath, YOM HAKIPPUREEM. No errand is permissible. This Sabbath requires the Israelis to humble their beings, knowing their true rank, position and responsibilities before Yehovah and men, and living that way from then on. Coverings for sins and cleanness are provided for the Israelis when they truly and permanently humble themselves before Yehovah.

 

6.  General View of the Sabbaths

Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the witnessing-group of the children of Israel, and say unto them, “Holy-ones shall ye be. For I Yehovah your Gods am holy. Ye shall fear a man his mother and his father. And my Sabbaths shall ye guard. I am Yehovah your Gods.

Yehovah describes Himself in the plural form, being all Israel’s Gods. There are no other true and living gods. The Israelis are commanded to be holy ones, owned only by Yehovah and living that way. Yehovah belongs to His Saints, and is also Holy. He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, owned by them as God. Any Israeli who fears Him and obeys His commandments also owns Him as his Gods.

While the Israelis must fear Yehovah, they must also fear mother and father. (The text does not refer to parental abuse, which in Israel was illegal.) Fearing parents does not mean that the child must always obey. If the parents violated Torah and commanded their children to participate, they had to obey the Torah rather than parents.

The plural Sabbaths is used because there are different Sabbaths. (‘Seventh Day Adventists’ claim to keep the Sabbath whle ignoring many Sabbaths. Folks like to pick and choose, especially when they think they replace Israel.) The Sabbaths are to be guarded because Yehovah is the Israelis’ Gods. Fearing the parents and guarding the Sabbaths are in the same category according to Yehovah.

 

7.  Avoiding Pollution of the Land

Leviticus 19:29 Do not profane thy daughter, to give her up to whoredom lest the land practice whoredom, and the land become full of a plot. My Sabbaths shall ye guard and my sanctuary shall ye fear. I am Yehovah. Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers. Seek not after them to make yourselves unclean. I am Yehovah your God.

The Sabbaths guard Yehovah’s land from pollution. Causing one’s daughter to whore for profit, using necromancers, etc. will pollute Yehovah’s land, and He will throw offenders off. The Sabbaths must be guarded, and Yehovah’s sanctuary is the be feared. The Israelis must fear Yehovah, mother, father, and the sanctuary. If the Sabbaths are kept, the land will not be overworked.

 

8.  An Introduction of All the Sabbaths Starting with the Friday-Evening Sabbath

Leviticus 23:1 And Yehovah spoke to Moses to say, “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, ‘The appointments of Yehovah which ye shall call them callings of the Holy-One, these are they–mine appointments. Six days thou shalt do an errand. And in the seventh day is a Sabbath of Sabbath(s), a calling of the Holy-One. Every errand ye shall not do. He is the Sabbath to Yehovah in all your settlements.'”

The Sabbath is an appointment, a calling of the Holy-One. It belongs to Yehovah and must be done in all the settlements of the Israelis.

 

9.  The Passover

Leviticus 23:4 “‘These are the appointments of Yehovah, callings of the Holy-One which ye shall call them in their appointment. In the first month in the fourteenth of the month, between the two evenings is the Passover to Yehovah. And on the fifteenth day to this month is the solemnity of the Matzahs to Yehovah. Seven days shall ye eat matzahs (unleavened bread). On the first day a calling of the Holy-One shall be to you. Every errand of work ye shall not do. And ye shall bring-near fireward to Yehovah seven days. In the seventh day is a calling of the Holy-One. Every errand of work ye shall not do.'”

The Passover is another Sabbath given to Israel, and not to another other race.

 

10.  Waving

Leviticus 23:9 And Yehovah spoke unto Moses to say, “Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, ‘When ye shall come unto the land which I am giving unto you, and ye shall harvest her harvest, and ye shall bring the first Omer of your harvest unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before Yehovah for your acceptance. From the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave him. And ye shall make, in the day of your waving the Omer, a perfect lamb the son of his year to an ascending-sacrifice to Yehovah and his grain-offering, two tenths of fine flour mingled with oil, fireward to Yehovah–a sweet savour, and her drink-offering of wine, a fourth of the hin. And ye shall not eat bread and roasted-grain and green-grain until this self-same day, until ye have brought the brought-near-offering of your Gods, a statute of hidden-time to your generations in all your dwellings. And ye shall count for yourselves from the morning after the Sabbath from the day that ye brought the Omer of the wave-offering, seven Sabbaths. They shall be perfect. Unto the-day-after the seventh sabbath shall ye count fifty day(s). And ye shall bring-near a new grain-offering to Yehovah. Out of your dwellings shall ye bring bread of waving, two of two tenths of fine flour they shall be. Leaven they shall be baked, first-fruits to Yehovah. And ye shall bring-near with the bread seven perfect lambs, the son of a year, and one bull, the son of the herd, and two rams. They shall be an ascending-sacrifice to Yehovah, and their grain-offering and their drinks-offering, fireward–a sweet savour to Yehovah. And ye shall make one kid of the goats for a sin-offering and two lambs the son of a year for a sacrifice of peaces-offering. And the priest shall wave them upon the bread of the first-fruits a wave-offering before Yehovah upon the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yehovah to priest. And ye shall call in this selfsame day a calling of the Holy-One. He shall be to you. Every errand of work ye shall not do, a statute of hidden-time in all your settlements to your generations. And in your harvesting the harvest of your land, thou shalt not finish the corner of thy field in thy harvest. And the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not glean. To the humble and to the stranger thou shalt forsake them. I am Yehovah your God.'”

And Yehovah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month shall ye have a rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. No manner of servile work shall ye do; and ye shall present an offering by fire to Yehovah.'” And Yehovah spoke unto Moshe to say, “Only, in the tenth to this seventh month, a Day of the Coverings is he. A calling of the Holy-One he shall be to you. And ye shall humble your beings. And ye shall-bring-near fireward to Yehovah. And every errand ye shall not do in this selfsame day. For the Day of Coverings is he to cover upon you to the faces of Yehovah your Gods. For all of the being which will not be humbled in this selfsame day, and she shall-be-cut-off from her peoples! And all the being which shall do every errand in this selfsame day, and I will damn that being from the midst of her people. Every errand ye shall not do, a statute of hidden-time to your generations in all your settlements. He is a Sabbath of Sabbath(s) to you. And ye shall humble your beings in the ninth to the month in the evening. From evening unto evening ye shall cease your Sabbath.”

And Yehovah spoke unto Moshe to say, “Speak unto the children of Israel to say, ‘In the fifteenth day to this seventh month is the Solemnity of the Succot (booths) seven days to Yehovah. In the first day is a calling of the Holy-One. All errand of work ye shall not do. Seven days ye shall bring-near fireward to Yehovah. In the eighth day, a calling of the Holy-One will be to you. And ye shall bring-near fireward to Yehovah. He is an arresting. Every errand of work ye shall not do.

“‘These are the Appointments of Yehovah which ye shall call them, callings of the Holy-One to bring-near fireward to Yehovah ascending-sacrifice and grain-offering, sacrifice and pouring-offerings, a matter of a day in his day besides the Sabbaths of Yehovah and besides your gifts and besides all your vows and besides all your liberalities which ye shall give to Yehovah. Only in the fifteenth day to the seventh month, when ye gather the produce of the land, ye shall solemnize the Solemnity of Yehovah seven days. In the first day is a Shabbaton and in the eighth day is a Shabbaton. And ye shall take for yourselves in the first day the fruits of a majestic tree, palms of palm-trees and a cluster of a tree of compacts and willows of the brook. And ye shall rejoice before Yehovah your Gods seven days. And ye shall solemnize him, the Solemnity to Yehovah, seven days in the year–a statute of hidden-time to your generations. In the seventh month ye shall solemnize him. In Succot ye shall sit (reside) seven days–every native-born in Israel shall sit in succot so-that your generations shall know that in succot I made-sit (reside) the children of Israel when I sent-them-out from the land of Egypt. I am Yehovah your Gods.'” And Moses declared the set feasts of Yehovah to the children of Israel.

The Israelis are commanded to cease from errands, but the sacrifices go on seven days a week. Some priests do their labours on the Sabbaths. It is their work to oversee the sacrifices and to keep the altar clean.

The Sabbaths act as timing marks. And ye shall count for yourselves from the morning after the Sabbath from the day that ye brought the Omer of the wave-offering, seven Sabbaths. The timings of other events depend upon these Sabbaths. Yehovah did not give other races Sabbaths to mark events.

Verses 23 through 25 record the shortest Israeli solemnity, a blowing of Trumpets. This is a Shabbaton (a strong word for a Sabbath). It has the following stipulations:

·         No Israeli may run an errand.

·         The Israelis (plural) must bring near fireward to Yehovah (what they must bring is found in Numbers 29).

·         There is to be a blowing of trumpets. These trumpets are silver, not the shofars (ram’s horns):

Numbers 10:1 And Yehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Take thee two trumpets of silver. Of turned-work shalt thou make them. And they shall be for thee for the calling of the witnessing-group and for the journeying of the camps. And they shall blast with them. And all the witnessing-group shall keep-appointment-unto thee at the opening of the Tent of Appointment. And if they blast with one: and the princes the heads of the thousands of Israel shall keep-appointment unto thee. And ye shall blast a sounding. And the camps that lie on the east parts shall go journey. And ye shall blast a second sounding. And the camps that lie on the south side shall journey. A sounding shall they blast for their journeys. And when the congregation is to be congregated, ye shall blast, but ye shall not do a sounding (i.e., not an extended trumpet blowing: no long notes). And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blast with the trumpets. And they shall be to you for a statute of hidden-time to your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall sound with the trumpets. And ye shall be remembered before Yehovah your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. And in the day of your gladness and in your appointments and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blast with the trumpets over your ascending offerings and over the sacrifices of your peaces offerings. And they shall be to you for a memorial before your God. I am Yehovah your God.

Numbers 29:1 And in the seventh month on the first of the month a calling of the Holy-One shall be to you. All errand work ye shall not do. A day of sounding shall be to you. And ye shall make an ascending -offering for a sweet savour to Yehovah, one bull the son of the herd, one ram, seven perfect lambs sons of a year. And their grain-offering is flour mingled with oil, three tenths for a bullock, two tenths for a ram, and one tenth for one lamb throughout the seven lambs, And one kid of the goats a sin offering to cover upon you beside the ascending-sacrifice of the month and his grain-offering, and the daily ascending-sacrifice and his grain offering, and their pouring-offerings according to their justice–a sweet savour fireward to Yehovah.

The silver trumpets must be blasted the first of each month and in the seventh month. This Sabbath requires both the sounding of the silver trumpets and the blood sacrifices commanded. It is a memorial event—something is being remembered. What is this event? (I don’t yet know.)

And ye shall call in this selfsame day a calling of the Holy-One. This Sabbath requires this. Anyone thinking he can keep these Sabbaths outside of the Land of Israel without doing these requirements including the blowing of the trumpets and the sacrifices is dilluded.

Verse 26 refers to the Day of the Coverings which is a Sabbath of Sabbath(s) in which the Israelis must humble their beings. It is like the weekly Sabbath except for the death penalty for any Israeli who does not humble his being in it.

Verses 37 and 38 include the following which must be done along with the Sabbaths:

·         The appointments of Yehovah

·         The various sacrifices and offerings

·         Gifts to Yehovah

·         Vows to Yehovah

·         Voluntary offerings which one’s heart prompts him to do

Not included in this list are the various functions of the priesthood on behalf of Israel which also must be done.

The Sabbath does not stand alone. Many other things must accompany the Sabbath in order for the Sabbath to be being properly kept or guarded.

Verse 39 includes two Shabbatons, the first and last days of Succot, or Booths:

·         The normal Sabbath requirements must be met including the doing of no errand, and thus a ceasing from one’s labours.

·         Boughs of leafy trees, willows, palm branches, whatever grows on trees as leaves are to be taken, and the one taking them is to rejoice before Yehovah seven days.

·         Each native-born Israeli must dwell in booths seven days because Yehovah caused the Israelis to dwell in booths when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.

One Sabbath requires rejoicing while another humbling one’s self. One requires taking branches while another requires that no sticks be gathered. All have one requirement in common—no errand may be run. All are given to Israel. Anyone who wants to join with the Israelis to become part of the People of Israel may voluntarily do so (and thus take on the responsibilities and the dangers).

 

11.  The Sabbath Table

Leviticus 24:1 And Yehovah spoke unto Moshe to say, “Command the children of Israel. And they shall take unto thee pure finely-cut olive oil for the light-bearer to make-ascend a lamp always. From outside to the vail of the testimony in the Tent of Appointment Aharon will order him from evening unto morning to the faces of Yehovah always, a statute of hidden-time to their generations. Upon the clean Menorah he will order the lamps to the faces of Yehovah always.

“And thou shalt take fine-flour, and thou shalt bake her, twelve Hallahs. Twelfth-portions will be to one hallah. And thou shalt put them, two orders, six of the order, upon the clean table to the faces of Yehovah. And thou shalt give upon the order pure frankincense. And she shall be for bread for I-will-remember-her fireward to Yehovah. In the Day of the Sabbath, in the Day of the Sabbath, he will order him before Yehovah always from with the children of Israel, a covenant of hidden-time. And she shall be to Aharon and to his sons. And they shall eat him in the Holy Place. For Holy of Holies is he to him from the fires of Yehovah, a statute of hidden-time.”

The pronouns switch between thou and he. The thou is Moses, and the he is Aharon or one of his sons in his lineage. Verse 8 shows Aharon’s Sabbath responsibility to order the table before Yehovah. The Sabbath cannot be kept if Aharon or one of his sons is not ordering the table. The Tabernacle or Temple is necessary for the Sabbath to be guarded according to the command of Yehovah.

 

12.  The Land Gets a Break

Leviticus 25:1 And Yehovah spoke unto Moshe in Mount Sinai to say, “Speak unto the sons of Israel, and say thou unto them, ‘When ye shall come unto the land which I am giving to you, and the land shall cease a Sabbath to Yehovah. Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and thou shalt gather her produce. And in the seventh year shall be Shabbat Shabbaton to the land, Shabbat to Yehovah. Thy field thou shalt not sow and thy vineyard thou shalt not prune. The volunteer of thy harvest thou shalt not harvest and the grapes of thy separated-one thou shalt not diminish. The year of the Shabbaton will be to the land. And the Shabbat of the Land shall be to you for food for thee and for thy servant and for thy female-servant and for thine hired-worker and for thy settler of the sojourners with thee. And for thy beast and for the animal which is in thy land shall be all her produce for food.'”

The land of Israel has a ceasing (Sabbath) just as every individual in Israel. Animals, slaves and the land must guard the Sabbath. Yehovah threw the Israelis off the land because they worked the soil on her Sabbaths.

 

13.  Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8 And thou shalt publish to thee seven Sabbaths of years, seven years seven strokes. And they shall be to thee the days of seven Sabbaths of the years, nine and forty year(s). And thou-shalt-make-pass a blasting shofar in the seventh month, in the tenth to the month. In the Day of the Coverings ye shall-make-pass the shofar in all your land. And ye shall sanctify the year of the fifty year(s). And ye shall call a liberation in the land to all her dwellers. A Flowing is he. She shall be to you. And ye shall return a man unto his possession, and a man unto his family ye shall return. A Flowing is he. The year of the fifty year(s) she shall be to you. Ye shall not sow and ye shall not harvest her [plant] volunteers, and ye shall not cut-away her separated-ones. For a Flowing, he is Holy. She shall be to you. From the field ye shall eat her produce. In the year of this Flowing, ye shall return a man unto his possession. And when ye shall sell a sale to Thy neighbour or purchase from the hand of thy neighbour, ye shall not tyrannize a man his brother. Via the number of years after the Flowing ye shall purchase from thy neighbour. Via the number of years of produce he shall sell to thee. To the mouth of the greatness of the years ye shall multiply his purchase, and to the mouth of fewness of the years ye shall diminish from his purchase. For the amount of produce he will sell to thee. And ye shall not tyrannize a man his neighbour. And thou shalt fear from thy Gods. For I am Yehovah thy Gods.

This Jubilee is also a Sabbath of the land, though Sabbath is not used. No work is to be done on the fields. They are to be left alone. The following are included:

·         The shofar blast (singular) must pass throughout all the land.

·         Sanctification of the 50th year must be done at that time.

·         A liberation is called to all the dwellers of Israel, foreign slaves being excepted.

·         Every Israeli returns back to his possessions and properties. If this is not done, this Sabbath is not being kept.

·         Each Israeli must fear from Yehovah his Gods.

 

14.  The Land’s Sabbaths, With or Without Israel

Leviticus 26:23 “And if via these ye will not be-corrected to me, and ye will walk hostilely with me, and I will walk, even I, with you via hostility. And I will smite you, also I, seven concerning your sins. And I will bring upon you a sword avenging the vengeance of the Covenant. And ye shall be gathered unto your cities. And I will send pestilence in your midst. And ye shall be given into the hand of an enemy via My breaking for you the staff of bread. Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven. And they shall return your bread by weight. And ye shall eat and not be satisfied.

“And if via this ye will not hearken to Me, and ye will walk hostilely with Me, and I will walk with you via the heat of hostility. And I will correct you, even I, seven concerning your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons. And the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will damn-out your high-places. And I will cut-off your solar-images. And I will give your carcases upon the carcases of your rollers [referring to a derisive name for idols carved from logs which roll, now called totem polls]. And My being shall loathe you. And I will give your cities destruction. And I will desolate your sanctuaries. And I will not savour via the savour of your sweet-savour. And I will desolate, I, the Land. And your enemies who are dwelling in her shall be desolated concerning her. And you will I scatter in the races. And will draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths all the days of the desolation. And ye are in the land of your enemies. Then shall the land cease and enjoy her Sabbaths. All the days of the desolation she shall cease that which she did not cease in your Sabbaths during your dwelling upon her. And the remaining-ones with you and I will bring softness [versus resoluteness] into their heart in the lands of their enemies. And the voice of a shaken leaf shall chase them. And they shall flee the flight-of a sword. And they shall fall, and none chaseth. And they shall stumble a man upon his brother as from the faces of the sword, and a chaser is not! And there will not be to you a standing before your enemies. And ye shall be damned among the races. And the land of your enemies shall eat you. And they that remain in you shall pine away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies. And even in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. And they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers with their transgression which they transgressed with Me, and even that they walked with Me with hostility. Even I, I will walk with them in hostility. And I will bring them into the land of their enemies–or then their foreskinned heart will bend. And then they will accept their iniquity. And I will remember My covenant Jacob, and even My Covenant Isaac. And even My Covenant Abraham will I remember. And the Land will I remember. The land shall be forsaken from them. And she shall enjoy her Sabbaths in her desolation from them. And they shall accept their iniquity because and because via My justices they contemned, and My statutes their being abhorred. And even also this–during their being in the land of their enemies–I did not contemn them and I did not abhor them to finish-off them, to break My Covenant with them. For I am Yehovah their Gods.”

Yehovah will choose the land over the Israelis if the Israelis violate on His land. Yehovah enforces the land’s Sabbaths. Israelis who are not in Israel cannot do many of the Sabbath commandments. Israelis enslaved in a foreign land cannot even cease on the Sabbaths of Yehovah.

 

15.  Gathering Sticks Can Be Fatal

Numbers 15:32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward because it was not declared what should be done to him. And Yehovah said unto Moses, “Dying, the man shall die. All the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.” And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones. And he died as Yehovah commanded Moses.

Violating the Sabbath is a death-penalty offense, as bad as murder in Yehovah’s eyes. There is no sacrifice for such offenses. Does this apply to gentiles, or Jews at this time? The Sabbath cannot be kept at this time (without the Temple, priesthood and the sacrifices). Even the most fervent Hassidic Jew living in the Land of Israel can keep only a shell of the Sabbath, not the Sabbath. He can cease from his labours and refuse to tend his field every seventh year. He can keep his servants and animals from labour on the Sabbath. He cannot enforce the Sabbath stonings of other Israelis  nor do the Sabbath-required sacrifices, however. He must wait until the Temple is restored and the Land of Israel is freed from foreign Sabbath-inhibiting elements.

 

16.  Sabbath Sacrifices

Numbers 28:1 And Yehovah spake unto Moses to say, “Command the children of Israel and say unto them, ‘My brought-near-offering, my bread for my fires, a savour of My sweetness shall ye guard to bring-near to Me in his appointment.’ And thou shalt say to them, ‘This is the fireward-offering which ye shall bring-near to Yehovah: two perfect lambs sons of a year of the first year two to a day, an ascending-sacrifice always. The one lamb shalt thou do in the morning and the second lamb shalt thou do between the evenings, and a tenth of the ephah of fine-flour for a grain-offering mingled with the fourth of the hin of beaten oil, an ascending-sacrifice of always which is done in Mount Sinai for a savour of sweetness fireward to Yehovah. And his pouring is a fourth of the hin for the one lamb. Via the Holy-One he shall pour the pouring of strong-drink to Yehovah. And the second lamb shalt thou do between the evenings. As the grain-offering of the morning and as his pouring thou shalt do fireward, a savour of sweetness to Yehovah.

‘”And on the sabbath day are two perfect lambs sons of a year and two tenths of fine-flour, a grain offering mingled with oil, and his pouring, the ascending-sacrifice of Shabbat in his Shabbat upon the ascending-sacrifice of the continuance and her pouring.'”

This is commanded twice daily every day of every year, as well as every Sabbath of every week. If a single Sabbath goes by without the appropriate sacrifice, the Sabbath has been violated. Yehovah did not design the Sabbath only for individual use, but for all Israel.

The following paragraphs include the rest of the Sabbath passages, some not pertinent to an understanding of the topic. Pertinent ones will receive titles.

2 Kings 4:23 And he said, “Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? [it is] neither new moon, nor sabbath.” And she said “Well.”

2 Kings 11:5 And he commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that ye shall do. A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house…”

2 Kings 11:7 “And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Yehovah about the king.”

2 Kings 11:9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. The covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house and the king’s entry without turned he from the house of Yehovah for the king of Assyria.

 

17.  Cooking Kohath-Style on the Sabbath

1 Chronicles 9:32 And of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites are over the Bread of Faces to prepare every sabbath.

The Kohathites had to cook on the Sabbath to prepare the Bread of Faces in order to keep the Sabbath.

1 Chronicles 23:31 …and to offer all ascending-sacrifices unto Yehovah in the Sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts by number according to the order commanded unto them continually before Yehovah.

2 Chronicles 2:3 “Behold, I build an house to Name Yehovah my Gods to sanctify to Him, to incense before Him sweet incense, and for the Order of continuance, and for the ascending-sacrifices for the morning and for the evening, for the Sabbaths and for the new moons and for the appointments of Yehovah our God. This is to hidden-time concerning Israel.”

2 Chronicles 8:13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the appointments, three times in the year: in the feast of unleavened bread and in the feast of weeks and in the feast of tabernacles.

2 Chronicles 23:4 “This is the thing that ye shall do. A third part of you entering on the sabbath of the priests and of the Levites, are porters of the doors…”

2 Chronicles 23:8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath with them that were to go on the sabbath. For Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

2 Chronicles 31:3 [He appointed] also the king’s portion of his substance for the ascending-sacrifices, for the morning and evening ascending-sacrifices, and the ascending-sacrifices for the Sabbaths and for the new moons, and for the set feasts as written in the law of Yehovah.

2 Chronicles 36:21 …to fulfil the word of Yehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath to fulfil seventy years.

Nehemiah 9:14 “…and the Shabbat of Thy Holy-One Thou madest known unto them, and commandedst them commandments, statutes and laws by the hand of Moses thy servant….”

Nehemiah 10:31 “And the people of the land are bringing ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell. We will not buy it of them on the sabbath or on the holy day. And we will leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.”

Nehemiah 10:33 “…for the Bread of the Order and for the continual grain-offering, and for ascending-sacrifices of the continuance, the Sabbaths, the new moons, for the Appointments, and for the holy [things], and for the sin offerings to cover upon Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.”

 

18.  Guarding the Gates on the Sabbath

Nehemiah 13:15 “In those days saw I in Judah [some] treading wine presses on the sabbath and bringing in sheaves and lading asses, as also wine, grapes and figs, and all burdens which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I testified in the day wherein they sold victuals. There dwelt men of Tyre also therein who brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah and said unto them, ‘What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.’ And it came to pass that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath. And of my servants set I at the gates. There should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.”

Nehemiah 13:21 “Then I testified against them, and said unto them, ‘Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do [so] again, I will lay hands on you.’ From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and they should come keep the gates to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, this also. And spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.”

Guarding the gates is work, and is part of sanctifying the Sabbath. A Levite with this responsibility must work on the Sabbath.

Ezra and Nehemiah could not enforce the death penalty for Sabbath violation. Once the Kingdom of Yehovah was exiled, the right to enforce the Law of Moses was denied. The Sabbath cannot be kept without a way to stop violation.

 

19.  Sabbath Songs

Psalms 92:1 A Psalm, Song for the sabbath day. [It is] good to give thanks unto Yehovah and to sing praises unto Thy Name, Most High.

The Scriptures contain songs dedicated to the Sabbath.

 

20.  Sabbaths Wrongly Done Are Disgusting

Isaiah 1:13 “Bring no more vain oblations! Incense is an abomination unto me! The new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies–I will not be able! “

A Sabbath improperly kept is wrong, equal with not doing it.

Yehovah gave the Sabbath as a gift to Israel within the terms of the Torah. As long as the Israelis spurn the Torah, Israelis will not be able to enjoy the benefits of the Sabbath, and it will be as much a burden as it would have been a delight. The most Orthodox Jews work hard to rest on the Sabbath! They have many rules, regulations and stipulations that make modern Sabbath keeping more of a profession for the highly educated, and many of these regulations violate the Torah:

Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Yehovah your God which I command you.

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