Jehovah has a lot to say in the Bible about Sabbath. Jesus also helps to clarify the priority and application of Sabbath through His earthly ministry and personal example. In the Jewish calendar, Sabbath begins on Friday at sundown in the evening and continues until sundown on Saturday evening. Jehovah consistently tells His people to observe Sabbath as a day of rest to the Lord.
The Sabbath Emphasized
1Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do:
2“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3“You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.”
We have six days of the week to prepare for Sabbath so that we need not be doing work on the Sabbath. We know it is coming. There is no good reason not to prepare other than we choose not to make it as important as God said it was. I encourage everyone to take a deeper study about Sabbath and consider prayerfully how to apply it in their lives today. I encourage you to study about Sabbath from what God’s word actually says, rather than an off the shelf pamphlet from a local church. Most of our culture today has neglected or changed Sabbath and even in the churches there have been changes from God’s word… the most obvious of which is moving the day from the Jewish calendar (Fri sundown to Sat sundown) to observing it on Sunday (12:00am to 11:59pm).
Certainly those of us who celebrate Sabbath can have a rich dialogue on how God intends for us to do so, but we should anchor that discussion on His word. I recommend visiting some of the ministries in our resources section of our website, Focused Ministries – Understanding Hebrew Roots, as a helpful way to get pointed in the right direction. Test everything against God’s word.
Remember, God did not suggest Sabbath as a good idea for His people to consider… He commanded it as part of our covenant with Him. I have found much benefit and joy in leading my family to celebrate the Sabbath more regularly in our lives since I began a few years ago. I hope you have a similar experience.
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