63 Biblical Reasons To Keep The Seventh Day Sabbath by Rob Roy

63 Biblical Reasons to Keep the 7th Day SabbathBy Robert Roy

Last updated May 11, 2012

I remember kicking against the Saturday Sabbath. I remember spending hours combing through the scriptures, looking for passages that would justify its not being binding on me today. Sure it was established at creation. Sure, it was one of the 10 commandments. Sure, God said it would be a “perpetual” commandment, to be observed “forever.” But I remember finding an ambiguous passage here, or a theological rationalization there that would satisfy me for the moment — but that would then leave me thirsty, and unsatisfied, looking for more answers. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but think that I was just rationalizing my own disobedience — rather than objectively weighing the full weight of biblical testimony and witness.
If this has been your experience too, I invite you to put down your theological weapons, loosen your grip on your counter-arguments, and open up your heart to the possibility that the 4th commandment might be for today — that God may be holding out unknown pleasure, and blessings, and riches to you — and all you have to do is reach out and take hold.

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Reason #1: God finished His work of creation and rested on the 7th day (Gen. 2:2-3, Ex. 31:17)
Reason #2: God uniquely blessed the 7th day (Gen. 2:3)
Reason #3: God made the 7th day “holy” — that is, “set apart” from all other days (Gen. 2:3, Ex. 31:14)
Reason #4: God rested from all his labors on the 7th day Sabbath (Gen. 2:2-3)
Reason #5: Man is made in God’s image, and since God rested on the 7th day, part of bearing God’s image means keeping the 7th day Sabbath (Gen. 1:26-27).
Reason #6: The Saturday Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments (Ex. 20:8-11, Deut. 5:12-15).
Reason #7: God says “above all” believers are to keep his Sabbaths (Ex 31:13)
Reason #8: God tells his people to keep the Saturday Sabbath so that they know that God is the one who sanctifies them — that is, sets them apart from all other people (Ex 31:13)
Reason #9: God tells his people to keep the Sabbath “throughout your generations.” (Ex. 31:13, 16)
Reason #10: The Saturday Sabbath is a sign or a mark of God’s authority over his people (Ex. 31:13, 17)
Reason #11: God tells his people to keep the Sabbath “forever.” (Ex. 31:16)
Reason #12: The 7th day, Saturday Sabbath is an eternal covenant (Ex. 31:16-17)
Reason #13: God’s people are told to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations (Ex. 31:16-17)
Reason #14: The Saturday Sabbath commandment was written with the finger of God (Ex. 31:18, Deut. 9:10).
Reason #15: God does not change his mind (Numbers 23:19)
Reason #16: God says that his commandments (including the Sabbath) are not too hard for us to do (Deut. 30:11)
Reason #17: God sent Israel into captivity for breaking the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:17)
Reason #18: Those who observe the Saturday Sabbath will be given “a monument and a name better than sons and daughters” (Isa. 56:5)
Reason #19: God promises to specially bless those who keep the Saturday Sabbath (Isa. 56:2)
Reason #20: God promises to not cut off those who keep the Saturday Sabbath (Isa. 56:3-6)
Reason #21: God promises that he will bring those who keep the Saturday Sabbath to his Holy Mountain (Isa. 56:7)
Reason #22: God promises to make joyful those who keep the Saturday Sabbath (Isa. 56:7)
Reason #23: The Sabbath is intended to be a delight (Isaiah 58:13)
Reason #24: God promises that we will “find our joy in the LORD” when we keep the Saturday Sabbath (Isa. 58:13)
Reason #25: God promises that those who keep the Saturday Sabbath will “ride on the heights of the land” (Isa. 58:13)
Reason #26: God promises that those who keep the Saturday Sabbath will “feast on the inheritance of our father Jacob” (Isa. 58:13)
Reason #27: In the future, after the Final Judgment, the Sabbath will still be in effect (Isa. 66:22-23)
Reason #28: God uses the Sabbath as a time marker when referring to the New Heavens and New Earth, showing that the Sabbath will still be in effect in the world to come (Isaiah 66:23)
Reason #29: Forgetting the Saturday Sabbath is a punishment (Lamentations 2:6)
Reason #30: The Lord gave the Sabbath as a sign or a mark between Him and His people (Ezekiel- 20:12-24)
Reason #31: God mentioned Sabbath breaking in a list of indictments against his people, along with other “moral” issues (Ezek. 22:8, 26, 23:38)
Reason #32: The prophet Ezekiel describes a future temple in which the Sabbath will still be in effect (Ezekiel 46:1-12)
Reason #33: The Bible warns that the devil will seek to change times, laws, Sabbaths, etc. (Daniel 7:25)
Reason #34: God takes away the Sabbaths and the Feasts as a punishment (Hosea 2:11)
Reason #35: God wouldn’t change the day of the Sabbath, or nullify it, without speaking this through the mouth of the prophets first (Amos 3:7)
Reason #36: God does not change (Malachi 3:6)
Reason #37: Jesus did not come to abolish even the least of God’s commandments (Matt. 5:17-19)
Reason #38: Nothing will pass from the Torah until ALL is accomplished (Matt. 5:18)
Reason #39: Those who break the Saturday Sabbath will be called “least” in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19)
Reason #40: Those who teach others to break the Sabbath will be called “least” in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19)
Reason #41: Those who keep the Saturday Sabbath (along with God’s other commandments) will be called “great” in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:19)
Reason #42: Those who teach others to keep the Saturday sabbath will be called “great” in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:19)
Reason #43: Jesus will say he does not know those who practice lawlessness (Matt. 7:23)
Reason #44: Jesus taught his disciples how to properly keep the 7th day Sabbath, with the expectation that his followers would keep it as he did (Matt. 12:10-12, Mark 2:27-28, 3:2-4, Luke 6:1-11)
Reason #45: Jesus told his disciples to pray that they wouldn’t have to flee on the Sabbath (Matt. 24:20)
Reason #46: Jesus taught that the Sabbath would be in effect after his death and before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:20-21)
Reason #47: Jesus set our example by observing the Saturday Sabbath (Mark 1:21, 6:2, Luke 4:16, 13:10, ).
Reason #48: Even after his crucifixion, some women “rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” (Luke 23:56)
Reason #49: Jesus told his followers that the Saturday Sabbath was made for mankind (Mark 2:27-28).
Reason #50: Jesus said “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15), and Jesus told his followers to keep the 7th day Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28, Matt. 5:17-19)
Reason #51: The disciples (including Paul) continued to observe the Sabbath after Yeshua’s death (Acts 13:14, 16:13)
Reason #52: The Jerusalem council gave gentiles four basic commandments because they knew they would learn the rest of God’s commandments in the Synagogues on the 7th day Sabbath (Acts 15:21)
Reason #53: It was Paul’s habit to keep the 7th day Sabbath (Acts 17:2)
Reason #54: Paul kept the Saturday Sabbath every week (Acts 18:4)
Reason #55: Paul taught his churches to uphold the Law/Torah of God (Romans 3:31)
Reason #56: Jesus kept the Saturday Sabbath, and Paul was an imitator of Jesus, teaching others to imitate both himself and Jesus (1 Cor. 11:1)
Reason #57: Paul taught others to imitate himself (1 Cor. 11:1), and Paul kept the 7th day Sabbath (Acts 13:14; 16:13; 17:2)
Reason #58: All scripture is profitable for reproof, correction, and training in righteousness — and “all scripture” would include the 7th day Sabbath (2 Tim. 3:16)
Reason #59: The Author of Hebrews says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God” (Heb.4:9).
Reason #60: We are to “walk as [Jesus] walked,” and Yeshua kept the Saturday Sabbath (1 John 2:6)
Reason #61: We are told that love for God = obeying his commandments (1 John 5:3).
Reason #62: God’s commandments are not supposed to be burdensome (1 John5:3).
Reason #63: The Book of Revelation praises those living in the end-times who keep God’s commandments — which would include the 7th day Sabbath (Rev. 12:17)

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Fifth Sabbath

Today is the Fifth Sabbath of Seven Sabbaths! 

Our Obligation To The Poor Always

This is a great article written by Alana Alpert. It is to remind us that what our Father has placed in our hands is not all for us.  But we are to take care of the needy, poor, widow, and orphan out of what He has blessed us with.  In good times and bad.  Enjoy! 

 

The Instinct to Hoard

Even when times are tough, we still must give.

By Alana Alpert

Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.

Tzedakah can seem unnatural: we never want to give up what we have. When we have a lot, we say, “It’s mine--I worked hard for it and I want to keep it.” When we don’t have a lot or are worried that we won’t, we say, “It’s mine--I need it, so I can’t give it away.” The instinct to hoard is common, and the Torah goes out of its way to urge against it.

In the middle of a discussion about the festivals, Parashat Emor repeats the mitzvah we learned last week in Parashat Kedoshim: “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 23:22).

Why would these verses, repeated almost verbatim, reappear in the midst of laws about the festivals? Scholar Nehama Leibowitz explains that the festivals--marking the completion of the harvest season--are a particularly joyous time, and in joy we might forget the poor. Indeed, the jubilation and pride we feel at a successful planting season may lend itself to a strong sense of entitlement akin to our response to tzedakah in a time of plenty: I worked hard for this harvest and I want to keep it.

The Land is Not Yours

Rabbi Moshe Alshech, a 16th century commentator from Safed, offers a radical reading of the verse, “and when you reap the harvest of your land,” that dispels the myth of ownership that underlies this instinct to hoard. He points out that “your land” is plural, explaining that “the Torah uses the plural to designate the common ownership of the field by the owner, the poor, and the stranger, for in truth, they share in it.” He says:

“Do not think that you are giving to the poor from your own possession, or that I despised the poor person by not giving him as I gave you. For he is my son, as you are, and his share is in your grain; it is to your benefit to give him his share from your property.”

Ultimately then, we are simply giving the poor their share. I may have a deed to the land. I may have sown the seeds. I may have plowed the field. But the harvest does not belong to me. And so the verses in Parashat Emor remind us to curb our proprietary reaction to acquiring wealth and to be cognizant of the poor in times of plenty.

When Times Are Tough

Yet the inverse question--how do we remember our obligations to the poor during times of limited resources?--is perhaps even more important. How can we respond when the needs of the poor are great but the resources of the owner of the field are few? This question is especially poignant for us today, in the midst of our financial crisis. Estimates for decline in philanthropy this year demonstrate that when times are hard, most people are less sensitive, rather than more, to those who have it harder. We are all instinctually feeling, I need it, so I can’t give it away.

But during times of economic crisis, the poor--especially people living in the Global South--are among the hardest hit. The cost of food and fuel are rising and job loss is rampant. Estimates say “the global economic crisis will cause an additional 22 children to die per hour, throughout all of 2009.” When the Global South needs financial support more than ever, people all over the world are holding back, rather than giving.

The Torah’s instructions for harvesting are there to subvert this instinct to hoard during a recession. The law states, “You shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field.” It does not clarify whether the farmer had a good or a bad crop yield. Thus, whether I have earned a lot or a little this year, I am still required to give enough for those who have less than I do. We are reminded of this in the laws of the Mishneh Torah which state that even a poor person is expected to give tzedakah (Laws of Gifts to the Poor 7:5).

Our challenge is to remember our obligation to the poor always: in times of plenty and times of need. The corners of our field do not belong to us; they never did. We cannot glean all the way to the edges of the field even if the produce yield is low. Let us struggle to rise above the natural reaction to hoard out of pride or fear, and rather, sanctify our harvests through generosity.

Alana Alpert earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Studies from the University of California in Santa Cruz. She is currently studying at the Conservative Yeshiva and volunteering with organizations working toward Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Parshat Kedoshim (What if Leviticus Rhymed?! Contagiously Musical Torah)

                

Blessings!!!

Jim Staley- The Great Deception (Recognizing the Voice of the Enemy)

                        

Blessings!!!

Why I Dislike Living In Spiritual Egypt #3

                 

Really???  Now shopping is being called a sport that you can get a high from when you get a great deal.  Ugh.  I have nothing against Mia Hamm and I have always liked shopping at Kohls.  But really? 

The Rabbis Knew the Messiah

                  

Jews coming to the Messiah and Christians coming to Torah.  Two Sticks becoming One Stick in His hand. 

Blessings!!!