Chapter 9
The First Mo’ed: The Seventh Day
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11).
At this point in our study of the lunar message, which we have seen is about the Holy Law, it is appropriate to begin an in-depth look at each of the mo’edim, or feasts of YHWH. The first of the mo’edim, as listed in Leviticus chapter twenty-three is the weekly Sabbath.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, concerning the feasts (mo’edim) of YHWH, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My feasts (mo’edim). Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of YHWH in all your dwellings (Leviticus 23:2-3).
The fact that the Seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH is clearly stated in both Leviticus chapter twenty-three and in the Ten Commandments, as listed in the key text for this chapter. However clearly it may be stated, there is obviously great confusion on this issue in the Christian world today. The greater majority of Christians now keep Sunday as the holy day. This brings us to an important question: Why does the mainstream Christian world keep Sunday?
One immediate reason many Christians give for Sunday-keeping is the belief that the Old Testament is no longer binding. In fact, the very name “Old Testament,” was first given to this portion of the Bible to designate it as out-of-date. In this mindset, only the New Testament gives instructions to be followed after Calvary. Thus, the writings of Paul are considered valid, while the writings of Moses and David are not.
This idea would certainly be ludicrous to Paul! The Scriptures he quoted and preached from were the Old Testament, and largely the Torah. Paul, who was responsible for writing a great portion of the New Testament, had only what is known today as the Old Testament of the Bible from which to quote. Yet armed with it alone, he was lead into the wondrous truths, which he shared in his fourteen books in the New Testament.
Christ, also, considered the Old Testament to be the Scriptures. Almost ironically, the Old Testament, which many consider to be no more than an interesting storybook, was the vital “sword” which Paul told us was our defense in the Christian armor against the “wiles of the devil.”
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of Elohim… (Ephesians 6:17).
Paul wrote to young Timothy about the necessity of reading and understanding the Scriptures. For clarity, it is necessary to again stress that the Scriptures Paul was referring to were the writings of the Old Testament. It was much later that the New Testament became part of the Scriptures.
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Y’shua. All scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:15-16).
Christ Himself used the Old Testament as His sword of defense. Whenever Satan attacked Him with temptation, Christ responded, “It is written…” (see Matthew chapter 4), followed by a quotation from the Old Testament.
In the example of Christ and the early Christians, the idea that, at the Tree of Calvary, the Old Testament was to cease being a valid source of Scripture, would have been quickly denounced as a diabolical doctrine. Yet, many throw out the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath based upon this teaching.
By the very teachings of those we revere as the authors of the New Testament, we have dealt with the fact that the Old Testament is a valid part of Scripture. To be thorough, we should “add one more nail to the coffin” of skepticism, finally putting to rest the false idea that the New Testament is valid, while the Old is not.
Many teach that the Law of Elohim, being part of the Old Testament, is not something we need seriously concern ourselves with today. As has been previously pointed out, such a teaching targets the fourth commandment. This is neither a Biblically nor a historically sound view. To demonstrate this, we will next address whether the Ten Commandments exist also in the New Testament.
On the next pages, the Ten Commandments, as listed in Exodus chapter twenty and in Deuteronomy chapter five, will be compared side by side with their specific counterparts in the New Testament. For ease of understanding, this list is provided in table form:
The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament / The Ten Commandments in the New TestamentCommandment #1:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me…”
(Exodus 20:3). / “Then saith Y’shua unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship YHWH thy Elohim, and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).
Commandment #2:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images…”
(Exodus 20:4-6). / “Little children, keep yourselves from idols…”
(1 John 5:21).
“…We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device” (Acts 17:29).
Commandment #3:
“Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy Elohim in vain…” (Exodus 20:7). / “…That the name of Elohim and His doctrine be not blasphemed” (1 Timothy 6:1).
Commandment #4:
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH thy Elohim…” (Exodus 20:8-11). / “For He spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And Elohim did rest the Seventh day from all His works. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of Elohim. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as Elohim did from His” (Hebrews 4:4, 9-10 see also Matthew 24:20, Mark 2:27-28, Colossians 1:16).
The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament / The Ten Commandments in the New Testament
Commandment #5:
“Honor thy father and thy mother…” (Exodus 20:12). / “Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”
(Matthew 19:19).
Commandment #6:
“Thou shalt not kill”
(Exodus 20:13).
Commandment #7:
“Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).
Commandment #8:
“Thou shalt not steal”
(Exodus 20:15).
Commandment #9:
“Thou shalt not bear false witness” (Exodus 20:16). / “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law”
(Romans 13:9-10).
Commandment #10:
“Thou shalt not covet…”
(Exodus 20:17). / “What shall we say then? is the law sin? Elohim forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7).
Thus, as is clearly demonstrated in the content of the New Testament, there can be no doubt that the Law of Elohim is very much still in effect today. Therefore, the argument is invalid which suggests that we needn’t keep the Seventh day holy because the Law of Elohim is not reaffirmed in the New Testament.
But the supposed “invalidity” of the Law is not the only reason mainstream Christians give for not honoring the Seventh day. Many believe that it doesn’t matter which day you keep, so long as you keep one day in seven.
The Bible says that Elohim RESTED on the Seventh day, He BLESSED the Seventh day and Elohim SANCTIFIED the Seventh day (see Exodus 20:8-11). At no point in the Bible did Elohim invest so much sanctity in any other day. The Seventh day, uniquely, is set apart as special, sacred, and holy.
First, Elohim rested on the Seventh day. Why did Elohim rest? Was He tired? The Bible teaches that Elohim never sleeps.
Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. YHWH is thy keeper: YHWH is thy shade upon thy right hand (Psalm 121:4-5).
YHWH’s rest was not about tiredness. Rather, His rest was to establish a pattern for us to follow. Just as Elohim labored in the work of Creation for six days, so we are to do our daily labor in the first six days of the week. But the last day is set aside for worship of Elohim. Our normal labor ceases, our focus is solely upon communion with heaven.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11).
Elohim is very specific about which day we are to keep. He does not merely instruct us to keep one day in seven, or A Seventh day. We are clearly told to keep THE Seventh day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on THE Seventh day Elohim ended His work, which He had made; and He rested on THE Seventh day from all His work, which He had made. And Elohim blessed THE Seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which Elohim created and made (Genesis 2:1-3).
Is keeping the Seventh day an impossible request that YHWH is making of us? After all, can we know which day is the Seventh day after so many centuries? How can we be certain that Saturday is the Seventh day, which Elohim designated as holy? This is a very important question. We will answer it from two definitive angles of evidence: history and the words for “Sabbath” from ancient languages.
Let us begin by looking at historical evidence to see whether Saturday is the historical Seventh day. A first and obvious source of historic evidence comes from the faithful Jews, who have observed the Sabbath without missing one from generation to generation. It must be noted here, however, that the Seventh-day Sabbath is not merely “Jewish,” since the Sabbath was established at Creation long before the first Jew was born.
Still, the Orthodox Jews are an excellent source for discovering which day is the Seventh day from a historical point of view. From the day that Elohim gave the Ten Commandments to Moses until this day, the Orthodox Jews have observed Sabbath from sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday. Week after week, generation after generation they have faithfully kept Saturday as the Sabbath.
Historically, the next point to consider is the calendar change. Most mainstream Christians are aware a calendar change, in the past. Without further investigation, some assume therefore that one cannot be certain that Saturday remains the seventh day.
Let us carefully examine the evidence, rather than make such an assumption. In fact, there has only been one calendar change to affect the dates as we know them. It happened in October of the year 1582. Pope Gregory XIII reformed the Julian calendar by REMOVING 10 days. This change was intended to synchronize the calendar with the seasons, the planets and the stars.
This change effected only the DATES of the month, NOT the ORDER OF THE DAYS of the month. What does this mean? To clarify, the calendar below shows the exact changes in history recorded as having taken place in October,1582.
October, 1582SUN / MON / TUES / WED / THUR / FRI / SAT
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 15 / 16
17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23
24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
31
(This calendar and historical material is found in the book, Seven Mysteries Solved, Vol 2.)
Certainly, these historical facts strongly support the weight of evidence that Saturday is still the Seventh-day Sabbath. But there is more. The next point of consideration is a linguistic one. Through examining the oldest of human languages all over the world, we find that the word for Saturday is Sabbath.
Language / Word for Saturday / Meaning of WordGREEK
LATIN
SPANISH
PORTUGUESE
ITALIAN
FRENCH
GERMAN
PRUSSIAN
RUSSIAN
POLISH
HEBREW
AFGHAN
HINDUSTANI
PERSIAN
ARABIC
TURKISH
MALAY
ABYSSINIAN / Sabbaton
Sabbatum
Sábado
Sabbado
Sabbato
Samedi
Samstag
Sabatico
Subbota
Sobota
Shabbath
Shamba
Shamba
Shambin
Assabt
Yomessabt
Ari-Sabtu
Sanbat / Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath day
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
Sabbath
The Sabbath
Day Sabbath
Day Sabbath
Sabbath
No wonder, many years after Christ’s resurrection and ascension the apostle Mark still referred to Saturday, not Sunday, as the Sabbath.
And when the SABBATH WAS PAST, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the FIRST DAY of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun (Mark 16:1-2).