Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest... Leviticus 23:3
Where in the Bible does God command people to attend a "Sabbath Service" in order to "keep" the sabbath of rest?
There was no question about which day of the week is the Sabbath Day until organized religion got involved.
Who are the elect of God? The elect are people who obey the commandments of God rather than the commandments of men.
What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, To this very day.” ~ Romans 11:7-8
Every Christian knows that "remember the Sabbath Day" is a commandment from Almighty God. And sincere Christians want to observe the correct day.
Which brings us to the another question... when do "days" begin and end? Most people assume (never a good thing) that the Jewish observance of sunset to sunset is correct. Or is it?
What say the Scriptures? In the first chapter of the book of Genesis, God said. "Let there be light"... not sunset and darkness. The writer of Genesis goes on to say that the evening and the (next) morning constituted a "day." But were those "days" 24 hour periods of time as we know them today? I think not. The sun was not created until the fourth "day." I have come to believe that the word "day" refers to epochs of time... an indeterminable period of time.
In the Spirit realm time is irreverent, therefore, the story of creation was written from God's point of view. Later, when God wrote the Ten Commandments, HE specified a special day called Holy (set apart) to be remembered as a Day of Rest, or in Hebrew, Sabbath.
The word Sabbath simply means rest, not a day of the week. OK, then when do "days" begin? I say at Noon. Why noon? Because it concurs with Scripture. Noon has always been the correct dividing point for a 24 day. We call it AM and PM today.
The sabbath day was never intended to be a burden. The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath [Mark 2:23-28].
To keep it "holy" means to set a day apart from work days. In fact the
Ten Commandments are actually ten promises. As Paul wrote in Hebrews 4:1-10
there is coming "another day" when we will rest in Jesus. The seventh
day after working six days was given as a practice day to make us ready
for that "other" day.
There are certain jobs that require people to work on Saturday and Sunday, i.e., doctors, nurses, EMS, police, firemen, the military, etc. So when is their day of rest? The whole world cannot "rest" all at the same time. Even strict Saturday Sabbath keepers want the fire department on duty 24/7.
Mankind has always ignored the plain instructions of the Creator which has caused much confusion and misinformation. Sunset to sunset and midnight to midnight are both traditions of men... and are to be avoided.
According to Strong's Concordance of the Bible, the word noon in both the Hebrew #6672 and the Greek #3314 means mid-day. It also means the ninth hour which has come to be called 3PM. I have no problem with the "3PM". God allows for a time of preparation for the Sabbath.
After much prayer and research, I am convinced that Biblical days are from noon to noon. The weekly Sabbath is noon Saturday to noon Sunday. So, if you observe the Sabbath Saturday afternoon, or Sunday morning, you are "remembering the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy." The word 'holy' simply means separate. The
Sabbath is really about three things... Stopping, Resting, and
Enjoying. Stop what you normally do the other six days, get some rest,
and enjoy a day off.
The word twilight has caused many to assume (never a good idea) that it can only refer to the time just before sunset. Actually, there are two twilights per day, sunrise AM and sunset PM. Each twilight begins at 18 degrees above the horizon... all chickens already know this.
Noon to noon is also confirmed by the Passover. God commanded the lamb to be slain on the 14th day of the month of Abib and consumed that self-same evening. A sunset to sunset day causes the lamb to be slain on the 14th and consumed on the 15th which is totally contrary to Scripture. Leviticus 23:4-8
The purpose of this post is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong. To learn the revealed truth of God we must know and understand the true meaning of the words God inspired to be written. Use Strong's Concordance to check the original word before it was translated. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
