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BibleTruth.cc "Guarding the Sabbath" Series Delighting in the Sabbath How to Get the Most Out of the Seventh Day or
Making an Attitude Adjustment About Sabbath By David M Rogers www.BibleTruth.cc Published: October 2017 Table of Contents My Testimony about Sabbath Keeping
The Sabbath as
Honorable-Isaiah 58:13-14
In this Bible study we’re going to talk about delighting in the Sabbath. I ask you, How many of you are delighting in the Sabbath today? Hallelu Yah! Hallelu Yah. I think I see most hands clapping in agreement with that statement. We’re going to learn today about how even more and more we can enjoy and delight in the Sabbath. And for those who are still new to the Sabbath and are trying to get a hold of the meaning of the Sabbath we will discuss how to walk on the Sabbath in a way that we’re able to delight in the Sabbath. My Testimony about Sabbath Keeping My own testimony is this. When I first came into the knowledge of the Sabbath, Cathy and I decided after reading the Scriptures and talking about it and meditating, that this is something that we need to be doing. This is something the Almighty has called us to. Jesus didn’t “do away with” the Sabbath. The seventh day Sabbath is still an integral part of worshipping Elohim. It is a way that we could obey the Almighty and come into his presence and do the things that please him. When we began to do the Sabbath, it was a really difficult adjustment for us because all of our lives Saturday (the seventh day) was just an ordinary day for us. We did whatever we wanted on that day. Sometimes we’d go to the workplace and do work, but more often than not it was just a free day for us to do whatever we wanted to do. We would do all the extra chores and tasks that we didn’t get time to do during the week because we were at work. When we came into the Sabbath truth and decided for ourselves to do it, we resolved that we were going to do obedience to YeHoVaH and obey the seventh day Sabbath commandment. We didn’t really know what to do with the Sabbath. We didn’t know how to fill a whole twenty-four hour period of just coming into his presence and worshipping. So we kind of took on an attitude that since the Sabbath was made for man, that this was “our day.” It was his day, but it was really kind of our day. We could do the things that made us happy. We didn’t necessarily have to work, but we could do those things that were pleasing to us and hopefully that would be pleasing to the Almighty. We did a lot of things that we don’t do anymore on the Sabbath. You know? Going to the park is fine for the Sabbath day because we’re getting out into “nature.” I mean, that’s the excuse we use. We’re going out to see “the creation,” right? We can fellowship with the Almighty because he’s the Creator of all things, so we go out to the park and we do our own thing (whatever that means) such as hiking down the trails or taking our picnic lunch. At one point in time our kids would do sports on the Sabbath because we didn’t really understand that that was doing what was pleasing to us. We were doing our own pleasure on the Sabbath day. Our kids would play baseball or basketball or whatever the season was. We would attend those things and we would “enjoy the Sabbath” in that manner. But during the hours when those activities weren’t going on, it was kind of like this. You know, you can only read your Bible for so long, right? And you worship and praise. Then there are those dull periods of time where: “Okay, now what do we do? It's still the Sabbath hour. The sun hasn't gone down yet. Now what do we do?” Sometimes there was a sense in which the Sabbath was a burden because we didn’t really know how to delight in it. I suspect that a lot of people who are coming into the Sabbath face that same issue of: What do I do with this whole day? How do I delight in it and how do I do the things that please the Almighty? I needed an attitude adjustment. I think I needed more information, more of an understanding of the purpose of the Sabbath so I could delight in the whole Sabbath and at the same time not go my own way and do the things that were pleasing to me. There were a lot of changes that had to take place. There were changes in our activities and changes in my attitude. Really at the core of that is my understanding of what the Sabbath is all about. So there are many questions about the Sabbath The Master intends the Sabbath day rest to be a pleasure and no burden at all. Thus, when properly understood and guarded, the Sabbath can truly be a delight. Yahusha spoke of the first principle of Sabbath. This can be experienced through relationship with him: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. The Sabbath finds its true intention when done with relationship with Elohim through the Son in the forefront. Rest for the soul is accomplished on Sabbath when we trust in Yahusha. We are introduced to the concept of delighting in the Sabbath by the prophet Yeshayahu or Isaiah as his name is rendered into English. "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath
a delight and Yahuwah's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by
not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle
words,
The word "delight" Traditionally, that is, in Jewish custom, oneg refers to the
pleasantness of the eating of special meals and dressing up as Sabbath
begins or even the meal after the Sabbath service.
To delight in the Sabbath first of all requires that I delight in the One who gifted me with the Sabbath. This is expressed well in Psalm 37: Trust in Yahuwah and do good; dwell in the land and
enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in Yahuwah and he will give
you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Yahuwah; trust in him and he
will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the
dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before Yahuwah and wait patiently for him;
(Psalm 37:3-7) The word delight
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel
of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of
mockers. But his delight
is in the Torah of Yahuwah, and on his Torah he meditates day and
night. (Psalm 1:1-2) Praise Yahuwah. Blessed is the man who fears
Yahuwah, who finds great delight in his commands. (Psalm 112:1) Elohim the Creator has given us the commandments of his Law to bring us into alignment with his purposes and in conformity with his will for our lives. Thus, delighting in his commands and in his Torah Law as a whole constitutes an attitude of acceptance and appreciate for Yahuwah himself since his will for us is contained and described in the Law he has given to us through Moses. In addition to that, Psalm 119 gives a confirming word about the Torah in the life of David and for us as well. David testifies to the delight he takes in the Creator's commandments: I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (v16) Your statutes are my delight; they are my
counselors. (v24) Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I
find delight. (v35) …for I delight in your commands because I love
them. (v47) David delighted in the walk of obedience with his Maker. Described in several different ways, David loved Elohim's laws because they directed him into the ways of life and joy. In obeying His commands, David was able to draw nearer to his Maker. David loved Yahuwah his Redeemer. Therefore, he loved Yahuwah's instruction for him to walk in.
The Sabbath as Honorable-Isaiah 58:13-14 Isaiah also calls the Sabbath day "honorable." If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and Yahuwah's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in Yahuwah, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Ya'acov." The mouth of Yahuwah has spoken. The word rendered her honorable "Honor your father and your
mother, as Yahuwah your Elohim has commanded you, so that you may live
long and that it may go well with you in the land Yahuwah your Elohim is
giving you. This concept of honoring refers to giving weight to something, or considering something to be weightier than something its being compared to. As a common way of comparing two things in the Hebrew language, the term weight often refers to a more important item than the one being compared to. Yahusha compared his testimony to that of Yochanan the Immerser: John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you
chose for a time to enjoy his light. Though Yahusha stipulated that Yochanan was the greatest of all the prophets, yet he indicated that his own testimony was greater still than the prophetic information Yochanan brought because his own work superseded even that of Yochanan. In another use of the "weightier" metaphor, Yahusha compared the more important commands of the Torah with the less important commands: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-- mint, dill and cummin. But
you have neglected the more important matters of the law--
justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former. (Matthew 23:23) The Master indicated that some commands have more impact and should be kept with greater seriousness that others. So, one of the ways in
which I Can Delight in the Sabbath is by not going my own
way But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the
royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not
to defile himself this way. One of the meanings of resolve is to come to a definite or earnest
decision about; determine (to do something) (Dictionary.com) An important Step in Delighting in the Sabbath is to
be determined to keep it as Yah has shown me. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his
thoughts. Let him turn to Yahuwah, and he will have mercy on him, and to
our Elohim, for he will freely pardon.(Isaiah 55:7) “My ways” are those activities that have little or
nothing to do with Him. My
ways feed my carnal nature. What does this look like? Don’t ask me the age
old question about what you can do and what can't you do on the Sabbath, but be discerning about what you do.
“Is this activity about me or about Him?”
then you will find
your joy in Yahuwah, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the
land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Ya'acov." The mouth
of Yahuwah has spoken. Entrance into the kingdom of Yahusha and the fulfillment for me of the promises given to the patriarchs is contingent upon my voluntary and joyful acceptance of Sabbath Keeping. What Salvation are we talking about? This is what Yahuwah says: "Maintain justice and do
what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness
will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps
the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any
evil." Let no foreigner who has bound himself to Yahuwah
say, "Yahuwah will surely exclude me from his people." And let not any
eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." For this is what Yahuwah says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and
hold fast to my covenant-- to them I will give within my temple and its
walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give
them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. For our ancestors which left Egypt and were about to enter the Promised land, keeping the day of rest as instructed by Yahuwah held the key to the fulfillment of the promise for them. And so it is for us. If by "salvation" you are talking about entrance into the kingdom of Yahusha, then it is vital that we enter into that kingdom now by entering into his seventh day rest now. Here is another statement of the Promise to All Those Who Guard Shabbat And foreigners who bind themselves to Yahuwah to
serve him, to love the name of Yahuwah, and to worship him, all who keep
the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant--
these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of
prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my
altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.“
(Yeshayahu [Isaiah] 56:6-7) Isaiah completes his testimony about those who qualify for entrance into the reign of Elohim. Those who keep his ways - including the Sabbath - gain the right to eternal life in the Messianic Age. I can Delight in the
Sabbath By Setting This Day
Apart (and ceasing) "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh
day is a Sabbath to Yahuwah your Elohim. On it you shall not do any
work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or
maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. There is no ambiguity about which day my Creator Declares is Holy
The Hebrew moed
refers to a set time,
appointment I Can Guard in the Sabbath By Pursuing Relationship with Yahuwah. This relationship is pursued on the Sabbath day when I assemble with others of like faith at this time:
Why Assemble? And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more
as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Paul's exhortation is rooted in the command to assemble. The faithful habit is to meet on Sabbath according to the command. It is best to keep on meeting on His appointment day.
Delighting in the Sabbath By Doing the Work of
Elohim What is the work that Elohim rested from on the
seventh day? At that time Yahusha went through the grainfields on
the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of
grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him,
"Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." Doing Good is an acceptable and pleasing activity for the Sabbath: Going on from that place, he went into their
synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a
reason to accuse Yahusha, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath?" What Sabbath laws did Yahusha break?
There is no Sabbath law in Torah that forbids
rubbing grain in the hand and eating. The Father and the Son Both Work on the Sabbath! So, because Yahusha was doing these things on
the Sabbath, the Yehudim persecuted him. Yahusha said to them, "My Father
is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." For
this reason the Yehudim tried all the harder to kill him; not only
was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling Elohim his own
Father, making himself equal with Elohim. (Fourth Gospel 5:16-18)) Yahusha Breaks Another Sabbath Law to Heal the Man
Born Blind As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said
Yahusha, "but this happened so that the work of Elohim might be
displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him
who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in
the world, I am the light of the world." His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him
begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" Some
claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he
himself insisted, "I am the man." "How then were your eyes opened?" they
demanded. He replied, "The man they call Yahusha made some mud and put
it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and
washed, and then I could see." "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I
don't know," he said. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been
blind. Now the day on which Yahusha had made the mud and opened the
man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he
had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied,
"and I washed, and now I see." Some of the Pharisees said, "This man
is not from Elohim, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others
asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were
divided. (4th Gospel 9:1-16 The accusation of the Pharisees was invalid. The man was no longer invalid. Yahusha has properly healed this man without breaking Elohim's law. END |