Newsletter: 2008-05 The first and original Holy Day, the Sabbath rest, and its latest controversy.

The first and original Holy Day, the Sabbath rest, and its latest controversy.

Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

"And on the seventh day
God ended His work, which He had done,
and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
- Genesis 2:1

Some folks will always tell me that the Sabbath and the Holy Days are Jewish holidays, but YHWH sanctified the seventh day’s rest at the beginning of Creation, long before there were any Jewish people. It is one of those undeniable spiritual truths, to rest one day in seven is for all humanity to observe – unfortunately, Satan has been busy…

The Sabbath 'rest' is so great a blessing that it is not observed annually, or monthly, but weekly. The Hebrew word Sabbath means to rest, to stop, to cease from labor - it is humankind’s day of rest. It is a day to spend with loved ones and is wonderfully summarized in Ecclesiastes 9:7-10. It is a day to gather with family and friends, and learn the ways of our CREATOR. The traditional greeting is "Shabbat Shalom" which means peaceful Sabbath.

As the above quote clearly states, the history of the Sabbath extends all the way back to the Creation. After a hard 6 days of work, YAHWEH rested for a day. The 7th day was the only day that our CREATOR personally blessed, and sanctified (Gen.2:1-3), thereby making it the first and original Holy Day. It was so special that it was the only Holy Day carved in stone as one of the Ten Commandments (Exo.20:8-11). And, it is so special that it was the first Holy Day repeated - one more time - in Leviticus 23:3. One would think if someone tells you something very important, three times, it would be remembered. But as I have said, Satan has been busy...

It was a hot button issue in ancient times and it still is today. First, allow me to state: IT IS NOT THE JEWISH SABBATH! It is YAHWEH’S Sabbath (Exo.16:23)! Our CREATOR gave us, a-l-l of us, the Sabbath to liberate us from the slave-masters clock that never stops.

Work-work-work, 24/7, it never stops, and it’s never finished. From the pagan’s point of view, there is no profit in such idleness of a Sabbath's rest. Man’s work is no different then the ox’s, they are all regarded as beasts of burden, drones, robots or slaves to the system - bor-r-r-ring. From the Egyptians, to the Greek and Roman cultures, every day was a workday, time and work just simply roll on one sunrise after another - bor-r-r-ring. And today’s blind servitude to the corporate consumer-culture is not much different, profit is everything - and it too is getting bor-r-r-ring!

Think about it, the Biblical Sabbath divided time and altered the world as we know it. The Sabbath rest honors’ humanities labor, by honoring the rest from labor. Both the powerful and the powerless become irrelevant, as even the ox is liberated and given the same days rest. It was an idea thought so abnormal and so absurd that the Jews took a lot of heat over the centuries for stubbornly observing it, and bringing this universal transcendent idea to the world.

The Sabbath stands for brotherly peace. But studying the history of the observance of the day, pictures a lot of conflict. First there is the blood shed to suppress such revolutionary thinking. Once the word about the Sabbath rest was out, Satan slowly began to use the day as a wedge to divide people, by promoting the idea that Sunday is a better worship day, not Saturday. It was one of the issues that tore ancient Israel in two. Soon after the civil divide, the Sunday keeping northern kingdom of Israel was wiped off the map, never to be heard from again.

Fighting over it is a sucker bet! Satan always enjoys spilling innocent blood, and then collecting the spirits of the torturers, through the worship day controversy. Is it Saturday? Is it Sunday? In Satan’s religious bag of dirty tricks this is “numero uno!” And later, as the worlds population grows, another group will come along and - at the point of a sword - say, “it’s Friday!”

The three main religions of the world (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) supposedly all worship the same CREATOR, but all have their own point of view on the Sabbath. Even amongst them there are divisions on the point of view. The ancient Israeli Saturday vs. Sunday debate spilled over into the Christians. It was a major factor in tearing ancient Israel apart, and the bloody controversy raged on through the centuries dividing the Christian faith.

Today, it still is a dividing issue among the minority Christian Sabbatarians and the majority Sunday keepers, but at least in modern times there are no death penalties enforcing church doctrine. See the attached articles for more historical information, or log on: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=57978; http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=58526

Here’s the kicker, they are all wrong!
(The latest Sabbath controversy.)

That’s right they are all wrong. Three main religious groups of the world fight for their own version of the Sabbatical rest but none of them observe the proper Sabbath day – not even the Jews. Let me explain. In these past few years the idea of observing the crescent new moon to set Holy Day dates is starting to become more popular. So now some people are starting to ask, “This year 2008, January 10^th was the new moon day, meaning that is the first day of YHWH’s 11^th month. January 10^th was on a Thursday, counting ahead 7 days comes to the following Wednesday, January 16^th, which technically speaking, should be the 7^th-day Sabbath.” In YHWH’s calendar the days of the week did not have names, our names for days of the week comes to us from the Romans. In ancient times YHWH’s faithful just called the days of the week by their number, for example, the 3^rd day of the 1^st month, etc. And technically speaking, they are right, not every Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is the weekly Sabbath. Many Jewish and Messianic/Christian religious groups do not like the moon watchers, I suppose it is because it uncovers inconvenient truths. I call it one of those religious anomalies, like the 7-year cycle of the Sabbatical years, and the 50-year cycle of the Jubilee years, they may know about them but they just ignore it. Oy vey, Satan has been busy…

Who is right? Who is wrong? What is the correct way to keep the Sabbath? There are many questions regarding the Sabbath, and in this 24/7 world I don’t have any easy answers. I do not run a church or tell people what to do, I am a researcher / chronicler, I just put the information out there. When asked about what to do, the first thing to remember is that Yahshua was our example. He seems He kept the annual Holy Days by New Moon Sighting, but observed the Saturday Sabbath. I suggest that one prays for guidance, take some time to study the issue, and allow the Holy Spirit guide you.

My professional life has been in the hospitality business, owning and running hotels. During the late 80’s and early 90’s when I was church-hopping through the Sabbath keeping churches most of them they told me I could not be a good or pure Christian because my wife and I work together as hotel owners and work on the Sabbath. (I always thought if there were a few more innkeepers then maybe Yahshua wouldn’t have to have been born in a manger.) I looked at their attitude as religious abuse, because they consider my wife and I somehow inferior in our faith because of our occupation. What is really odd is that what I consider the stickiest Sabbath keeping church I visited with never commented on my profession, and they actually offered me a church position. I call myself a Sabbath observer, not a perfect Sabbath keeper. My wife and I say our prayers on the Sabbath and mostly enjoy a Sabbath meal together. There are times when we have to work, but we do the least amount of work we have to. Yes, we may rent rooms or handle guest needs, but I do not do major work such as repainting a guest room which can be done during the week. No person, and no group is perfect in their religious observations, and thankfully YHWH makes exceptions for our false education (Act.17:30; 2Cor.4:4). Ultimately it is the intents of the heart that will be judged (Heb.4:12). I know I am not perfect, and I often wonder why YHWH picked a wretch like me to open my mind up to so much of HIS spiritual knowledge.

The Sabbath commandment is the longest commandment of all the 10 commandments given (Exodus 20:2-17). There is no wasted motion in YAHWEH’S Universe and HE spelled out this commandment v-e-r-y clearly. It is almost as if HE knew that this command would be a problem. The Judeans of the southern kingdom of Ancient Israel were united in their observance of the Biblical Sabbath. They did not only observe it, but because of “the gentile problem,” they surrounded it and took it hostage! And then they lobotomized it!

The ancient Jewish religious authorities, by adding on man designed Jewish civil law to YHWH’s Laws, used the Sabbath to control the people, in doing so, they smothered its original spiritual essence. It was already the longest most specific commandment in the Torah, now it’s going to get even longer. They used the Sabbath to micro manage people lives. Almost every aspect of life is governed by a set ritual, and then they demanded ritual purity - or else we all lose GOD’S favor. Many of these Jewish civil laws are still in effect today, in some cases to the point where advice is given on how much toilet paper to pre-rip before the Sabbath to see you through the day.

The Commandment is very simply worded, six days you work . . ., one day you rest . . ., and no one does work for you - not even the ox! Ripping toilet paper is not work, normally one does not make their living at it. This type of religious control over peoples lives is not what our CREATOR had intended the Sabbath for. One needs only to read the Gospels of the New Testament to know that this turned the Sabbath into a burden on the people (Mat.3:7, 5:20, 23:1-36; Luk.11:37-54, 18:9-14; Jno.8:44). The message is: Adding onto Heavenly Laws is a no-no!

“I have given you an example to follow…”
- John 13:15

Technically speaking: Humanity should learn the historical examples, but they do not. The simple fact is, it’s a no-brainer, you don’t mess with the Laws of the Heavens. All the Prophets kept them; the head of the church, Yahshua, kept them; the Apostles kept them; the very first Christians kept them; and there is no New Testament reference stating, “. . . the LORD hath given you Sunday.”

Because of "the problems with the Jews," and in the interest of world peace, as the Christian church drifted west, it drifted into Sunday worship. A few centuries later, the Muslims, because of "the problems with the Christians and the Jews," drifted into Friday worship. This is a really thorny issue best left to the professionals, the Bible says in Isaiah 66:23, that the Messiah will set things straight.

Since I do not do resurrections, or walk on water, I will leave the Sabbath 'Day' debate to another forum. For our concern, all three Sabbath-rest worship days, with all their warts, supposedly worship the same CREATOR, and the basic home observance rites would be similar and beneficial, such as: take the day off and rest, spend time with family, read the Bible and learn, share YHWH’s Grace with a family meal and table fellowship, and enjoy some prayer, singing, and dancing, etc.

Biblical Holy Days are not just worship days; they are YHWH’s spiritual educational system. Our CREATOR cares about us. In the Heavenly Kingdom these Holy Days took a great deal of planning to produce their multifaceted Kingdom lessons. They are more than just an ethnic tradition. They are a treasure trove of our CREATOR'S Wisdom. A point often missed by most Bible teachers, even those who pride themselves on their so-called “multi-level interpretation of Scriptures,” is that YHWH’s system of Holy Days teach HIS ancient Way of Faith, and the weekly Sabbath is HIS first spiritual lesson.

The weekly Sabbath observance teaches us that at least for one 24-hour period you are free from your slavery to the mundane self-centered material world, and spend this time with your loved ones. It is a simple day of family sharing. A day to take a news break and stop any activity which is normally engaged in for your livelihood. It is a time to rest, reflect and refocus on our higher spiritual values, and deepen our relationship with our CREATOR and your family by performing some homeWorship.

It is a day to set some time aside for Bible study. Today polls show, that happiness is, a frequently read Bible. In a recent survey commissioned by Tyndale House Publisher, nearly 90% of frequent Bible-readers said they feel at peace all or most of the time, compared to 58% who read the Bible less then once a month. Overall, people can find a higher degree of meaning and happiness through regular Bible reading.

“Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.”
- Psalm 149:1

Scriptures call these Holy Convocations “the Feasts of YHWH.” Feasts in our present English means food or banquet, but the Hebrew word for feast is “hag or chag,” which means to revolve, to circle, to reel to and fro, to dance, to rejoice, to celebrate, to be giddy or happy.

The model Sabbath day and Sacred meal are the basis used as the center of all the Holy Day activities - except for the day of fasting. Besides setting some time aside for Scriptural study, most of the Holy Days have a lively festive homeWorship atmosphere. Psalm 149-150 tells us to “Praise the LORD” by being happy - play music, sing songs, and dance. This festive form of “praising the LORD” gives life to prayers through Sacred songs and dance.

~ The Hoy Days and their Health Lessons ~

HEALTH BENEFIT: There is no wasted motion in YAHWEH'S Universe, and these Holy Days teach many health improvement lesson for the mind, body and spirit. Scriptures say, "Great peace have they which love thy Law," Ps.119:165. Today, polls show, happiness is... a frequently read Bible. Overall, people can find a higher degree of spiritual meaning and happiness through regular Bible reading.

"The Sabbath rest, old idea is a modern elixir." Our CREATOR knows that much of the illness people have is caused by stress of daily life. Today’s mental stress responds well to the spiritual exercises of a 'personal' Sabbath days rest with loved ones.

Health lessons are revealed in all the Holy days. The Holy Days of Unleavened Bread teach us personal cleanliness. The Day of Pentecost teaches us morality and discipline. The lesson of forgiveness and fasting for the Day of Atonement is great therapy for the mind and body. During a fast, the bodily energy needed to digest food is redirected to heal weak areas of the body and forgiveness lightens our soul. The festival of Tabernacles gets everybody uplifted, dancing together, and rejoicing.

The Holy Days can also include worship in Sacred dance (Ps.150). It is prayer in motion - loaded with health benefits. Encourage friends and the spectators to join in. It’s fun . . .. It’s refreshing . . .. It’s good exercise . . .. And it’s something our CREATOR likes.

Enjoy the journey of learning…
> http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_intro.htm
> http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_day_observance.htm

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Take care. Peace and blessings, Errol.
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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2008-05, posted 04/19/08.

Copyright © 2008 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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