"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 the LORD thy God: 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 the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. "
– Exodus 20: 8-11 KJV
No Commerce on the Sabbath
Nehemiah 10:31
31 And if the people of
the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy
day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.
Nehemiah 13:15-19
15 In those days saw I in
Judah some treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and
all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they
sold victuals.
16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the
children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil
thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day?
18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring
all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath.
19 And it
came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and
charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no
burden be brought in on the sabbath day.
Commentary
Nehemiah makes it clear that commerce is not tolerated on the Sabbath. In verse 18 he plainly states that their forefathers did
the same in times past, and Adonai poured out his wrath against them, the city, and the nation collectively, for doing so.
The Sabbath is for the Sojourning Stranger
Isaiah 56:6
6 Also the sons of the
stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that
keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Commentary
This should answer all of those who say that the Sabbath is only for the nation of Israel. Isaiah states that even the
strangers that were grafted in were expected to keep YHWH's sabbath and take hold of his covenant.
If We Delight in the Sabbath... a Promise!
Isaiah 58:13-14
13 If thou turn away thy
foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and
feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Commentary
You will note that YHWH calls the Sabbath "my holy day". He does not say the
Hebrew or Jewish holy day because it is His. We also see from this passage that if we just set aside our own desires
and honor His day, He will cause us to ride upon the high places of the earth. What a promise! It is so totally
obvious that this one day means so much to Him, why is there even a debate?
The Sabbath is for ALL FLESH
Isaiah 66:23
23 And it shall come to pass,
that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Commentary
All flesh is rather hard to misinterpret. All flesh,
has not worshipped him from the time of Isaiah until now, so this is clearly a prophecy about the millennial reign. Now, if the Sabbath
was in effect before Yeshua, and it will also be in effect after his second coming, then why would it not be in effect today? You will
also note that Rosh Chodesh (the new moon) is also being observed here.
Malachi 3:6 "I am YHWH, I change not!" Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, today and always." There are also other references, not only to the Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh, but to observance of
the biblical feasts during the millennial reign as well in Zechariah. They appear a little later in this study
The Aleph & Tav
Menorah
