Sabbath - Part One

Foreword

A word of explanation is necessary at the start of this book. In this work you will find the writer using names in reference to God the Father and God the Son that are more faithful to their Hebrew original than the names and titles generally in use by the church today. The name Yah, or Yahweh, will be found in reference to God the Father, and the name Yahshua will be utilized when speaking of the Son.

This usage is not intended to be divisive, nor does it serve as a renunciation of the usage of titles such as Lord or God. Neither is it a condemnation of those who choose to call the Son of God Jesus. My intent as a teacher of the Bible is simply to illumine and instruct. There is great meaning in the Hebrew names of the Father and the Son, and these names are directly related to one another. Many of the people whose lives are portrayed in Scripture also serve as types and shadows of God, bringing to light truths that might otherwise be hidden.

For example, Joshua, the Israelite leader who led the people of God across the Jordan and into battle to take possession of the land of Canaan, bears the same name as the Messiah. They both were called Yahshua. Like Joshua in the Old Testament, the Son of God began His ministry at the Jordan River as He was baptized by John. Both men labored to establish a kingdom dedicated to Yahweh, the first external and natural, the latter internal and spiritual.

Yah is the name used in reference to the Father on forty-nine separate occasions in the Old Testament. Most Christians have utilized this name of God without knowing that they were doing so. Whenever the word hallelujah is uttered, the speaker is literally exclaiming “Praise Yah,” for this is the meaning of the Hebrew word from which it is derived. The longer name Yahweh is found an additional 6,828 times.

The name of the Son is likewise significant, for Yahshua is understood to mean “Yah’s Salvation.” The Gospel writer indicates that this is the meaning of the name given to the Savior at His birth.

Matthew 1:21
“And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Yahshua, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”

It has been the practice of this writer for many years to use these names, which more clearly represent their Hebrew originals. It is my hope that their employment in this book might aid the reader by bringing forth light on relationships that are obscured, as well as promoting an increased intimacy with God the Father by calling Him by His memorial name, instead of a title which men have substituted.

Introduction

It has been nearly 6,000 years since Adam was created by Elohim. It has also been 2,000 years since Yahshua (Jesus) walked this Earth in fulfilling the ministry that His Father entrusted to Him. It is recorded for us in scripture, that in the mystery of Yahweh’s plan of the ages, a thousand years correlates to one day, and one day to a thousand years. We find this truth revealed in II Peter 3:8, Psalms 90:4, as well as in other passages.

II Peter 3:8
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

When Yahshua walked among the Jews He chided them because they could forecast the weather, but they could not discern the day in which they lived.

Matthew 16:2-3
He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”

In contrast, when David went to Hebron to establish the kingdom we are told, in a very favorable mention, that among those who joined themselves to him were 200 chief men from among the sons of Issachar, “who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (I Chronicles 12:32). It is an important matter with Yahweh that His children have an understanding of the days in which they live.

As we examine Peter’s words we can discern that not only have 6,000 years elapsed since Adam’s creation, with man poised to enter the 7th millennium, but man equally stands ready to enter the 7th day of Yahweh’s divine timetable. We can understand much of what this 7th day will hold as we look at what occurred on the 7th day of creation, and what the 7th day represents throughout scriptures.

The 7th day is a day of rest. The 7th day is the Sabbath. In the epistle to the Hebrews, Paul wrote that there yet remained a Sabbath rest for the children of God to enter into (Hebrews 3, 4). He gave great cautions lest any of the saints of God should fall short of entering into this rest. Entering into this rest holds far more significance than most saints have considered, and many are oblivious to the peril of failing to enter in.

The Sabbath is much more than just a day that occurs once a week in which physical labor is to be avoided. It was given to be a symbol of something much greater. In understanding the symbol we can see that its significance has such importance as to touch on Satan’s original sin, as well as mankind’s transgression in the Garden of Eden. By violating the principles that the Sabbath represents all the sins listed in the ten commandments of Yahweh ensued, including lying, covetousness, envy, and murder. It is in returning and entering into the true fulfillment of the Sabbath rest of God that these transgressions will be overturned.

We live in that very transitional period of the ages when man will enter into the 7th millennium, the Sabbath rest of Yahweh. However, not all will enter in at the appointed time. Some will be prevented due to disobedience and unbelief. This book will address this peril in the hope that some will awaken from their slumber and apply all diligence to the pursuit of entering into the Sabbath rest of God.

There are other significant scriptures that speak of the awesome day in which we live. It has been nearly 2,000 years since Yahshua walked this Earth and completed His ministry. It has been nearly 2,000 years since that great Pentecost when the Spirit was given to indwell mankind. In the ensuing years man has known what it is to be divided as his flesh has warred against the Spirit, and the Spirit has warred against the flesh (Galatians 5:17).

This torn and fractured state of mankind has been appointed to last for a specified period of time appointed by the Father. The Scriptures declare that our healing is fast approaching when no longer will man be torn asunder, but he will be made wholly into a creature that fully agrees with Yahweh in spirit, soul, and body. We find this prophecy in Hosea.

Hosea 6:1-2
“Come, let us return to Yahweh. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.”

For 2,000 years, two days in Yahweh’s timetable, man has been torn as he has known the agony of the war of flesh and Spirit raging inside his members. The victory has been assured. The life of Christ overcomes the death of sin. It is appointed unto men to experience this warfare in their members, but a glorious day is quickly coming when the warfare will end and life will fully overcome death.

For 2,000 years, from that awesome Pentecost when man received the promised indwelling Spirit of Yahweh, man has known the agony of being a divided house. The flesh has tried to resist and wage war against the life of the Spirit, and the Spirit has been seeking to put the flesh to death. We stand at a juncture in time that is doubly important. We can look forward with anticipation to entering into the Sabbath rest of Yahweh and also being freed from the torn and embattled state that man has known for 2,000 years.

There has been very little rest in the first six days of mankind. Man has known misery and suffering. For six days the whole creation has been subjected to the futility of the curse, and with groaning and travail it has been longing for its deliverance when the sons of God are finally manifest in their restored state (Romans 8:19-23). Full deliverance will come when we lay aside these mortal bodies that are subject to the curse of sin, and we are clothed with immortality; when we will lay aside this corruption and put on incorruptible bodies (I Corinthians 15:53).

We live at the transitory date when man will enter the 7th millennium, the Sabbath day of creation. Our healing awaits us. A true Sabbath rest awaits us. May your soul and spirit be stirred as you anticipate the awesome things which will soon appear.

Hebrews 4:1
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

Understanding the Present Hour

Before proceeding into the subject matter of this book, it is necessary to address some issues that could cause the reader difficulty. Much of what is written in this book is contrary to what is commonly accepted and taught in Christianity today. This will undoubtedly cause some concern to certain readers. It is often difficult to receive some truth that we have not previously heard, but it is even more difficult when the truth is in clear contradiction to what has been preached by myriads of pastors, evangelists, and teachers until it has become the accepted standard, or norm, of our day.

Unfortunately, there are few saints who actually understand what is clearly foretold in scriptures, that the last days before the return of Yahshua would be a time when great error would exist among the saints of God. Once one understands this, then they can appreciate that when truth is proclaimed it will be very common to find that it flies in the face of the accepted beliefs of the day in which we find ourselves. Let us look at a few scriptures that reveal this understanding, that the days preceding Yahshua’s return would be days of profound deception and error.

II Timothy 3:1-7
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Note very carefully here that Paul identifies the day he is speaking of to Timothy. “But realize this, in the last days difficult times will come.” How many ministers today are proclaiming that we live in the last days? It seems that many recognize that the hour is late, but they have failed to discern what the state of Christianity would be at this late hour. Paul begins this passage by saying, “in the last days difficult times will come,” and he concludes by saying that people would be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” In between these two statements Paul describes the heart of mankind in these days, and it is due to the corrupt state of the heart of man that these days are difficult.

Timothy was charged by Paul to preach the word, and things were already difficult in those days, but consider the difficulty of any minister who finds himself proclaiming truth to those described in this passage. Indeed, their task would be very formidable. Yet Paul doesn’t stop here. Paul is still maintaining the same train of thought when he speaks the following words.

II Timothy 4:1-4
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.

When should one expect this time to come when men will not endure sound doctrine? Paul already has informed us that he is speaking of the last days, the days in which we now live. If men are not heeding sound doctrine, what are they listening to? They are listening to great accumulations of teachers that are speaking the things their wayward hearts want to hear. They are turning aside unto myths and fables.

It should be obvious that the days we live in are the subject of Paul’s discourse to Timothy, for we are in the last days, yet what preacher will admit that it is his congregation that has hired him to tell them the things they want to hear? What preacher would confess that he is simply tickling the ears of those listening to him, that he is teaching falsehood and myth?

We live in very difficult days, for the masses of Christendom have departed from truth and they prefer to hear things that agree with their own lusts. Paul said that in the last days men would be “lovers of self, lovers of money... lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.” What sort of things do you suppose that such men would like to hear?

Perhaps they would like to hear a message of financial prosperity. Perhaps they would like to hear a message that says that God wants to pour out blessing after blessing of material goods upon those who are His children. Is this not what is being proclaimed today from so many pulpits? Yet men do not realize that Paul was warning Timothy about those who are within Christianity in this very day, people who have accumulated teachers unto themselves to tell them the things they want to hear.

In contrast, sound doctrine has no home among such saints who are lovers of self,  of money, and pleasure. It is with difficulty that Yahshua’s words are shared with them.

Luke 16:13
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Mammon is the system of world materialism and it is identified with the love of money and all that money can purchase. Myriads of saints today are in that tragic condition of trying to straddle the fence. They want to serve God and mammon at the same time. To accomplish this feat they have developed false doctrines that proclaim that it is the will of Yahweh that every saint should be running over with the goods of this world. Yahshua, however, said that His kingdom followers should not concern themselves with issues of what they would eat and drink, or what they would clothe themselves with, but they should seek first His righteousness and His kingdom.

The Pharisees who heard these words scoffed at Yahshua, for we are told that they loved money. Multitudes also scoff today for they share the same affliction.

Luke 16:14-15
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

We live in a day in which men are proclaiming those things that they esteem, while neglecting the things God esteems. I have picked just one topic, albeit a major one, that is being falsely taught today to demonstrate that men have departed from truth and have sought out teachers that would tell them things in accordance with their desires. Men in their love of self and love of money have devised all manner of false interpretations of scripture to justify their lust for things. Absent is the message of the disciple’s cross and the proclaiming of the Christ’s words that if we would save our soul life, we must lose it, but if we lose it we will save it. Absent is the message of taking up our cross daily and following Yahshua.

Matthew 16:24-27
Then said Yahshua to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.”

The message of self denial is not found in the houses of prosperity today. Every man will be recompensed for his deeds, yet the recompense will be very grievous for those who have accumulated to themselves teachers to tell them the things they desire to hear. The very issue of self denial is at the heart of a true understanding of Sabbath, for in Hebrews we read these words of Paul.

Hebrews 4:10
For the one who has entered His rest [Sabbath] has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

If we are to enter into God’s rest, we must cease from doing our own works. This is self denial. This is the work of the cross in the lives of the saints. Because men have not ceased from their own works, preferring to indulge the selfish desires of their hearts, they have strayed from truth and have embraced falsehood and myths. The issue of serving mammon is but one issue in which this has happened. There is virtually no area of truth that has remained unaffected due to the difficulty of the days we live. In the book of II Thessalonians, Paul described the dire state of these days with the word “apostasy.”

II Thessalonians 2:1-3
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first...

Once more Paul is writing about the days that precede the return of Yahshua. He is writing of the days we live in, and he states that Yahshua will not return unless the apostasy occurs first. Strong’s Dictionary of Greek words defines apostasy in the following manner.

646  apostasia (ap-os-tas-ee'-ah);
feminine of the same as 647; defection from truth (properly, the state) ["apostasy"]:

As one looks further into the meaning of this Greek word, it is seen that it shares a similar root with the Greek word meaning divorce. The apostasy of which Paul speaks is literally a divorcement from truth. Taken in relationship with Paul’s other statements we can discern that the last days will be a time when those who claim to be followers of Yahshua will divorce themselves from truth, and they will in turn be wed to myths and fables. They will figuratively heap up for themselves teachers that will proclaim error and falsehood unto them.

This is the perilous circumstance that we find ourselves in today. It is not the masses that are proclaiming truth, but the remnant. Truth is not widely preached and received, rather it is largely rejected, having been replaced with falsehood. How did this circumstance come about? Again the apostle Paul informs us of the reason.

II Thessalonians 2:10-12
Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved... for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Because men have preferred lies over truth, the Father has sent a deluding influence upon them so that they might believe what is false. This passage and the others we have looked at are not talking about the world, but those who claim to be followers of God. Paul earlier said they would have “a form of godliness, but deny the power of it.” This is speaking of the church. The true power of godliness is the power to transform men’s lives, but men have preferred not to be transformed. Instead they have desired to transform the scriptures to support the pursuit of their soulish life and its desires.

Those who read this book, and other writings that are proclaiming truth in this hour, must realize that what is written here is out of synch with the masses of Christendom because the masses of Christendom are themselves out of synch with God. Yahshua said He was the truth, yet the truth is not loved in the last days before Yahshua’s return, and as a result the Father has sent delusion upon mankind so that they might believe what is false, which is what they prefer.

As one examines the scriptures with an understanding heart they will perceive that it has ever been the case with mankind that only a remnant has really known what the Father was doing in the day in which they lived. In the days in which Moses led the children of God forth from Egypt and into the wilderness, there was truly a large body of people who were known as God’s chosen people, but not all understood what they should have known.

Psalms 103:7
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.

What a gulf separates knowing Yahweh’s ways, and witnessing His acts. Of the millions of Israel, only one man was said to have known the ways of Yahweh in the day in which he lived. We see the same thing in the days of Daniel, of Jeremiah, of Elijah, etc..

Certainly this was also the case in the day the Father sent His Son to be born and to walk this Earth in the form of man. There were myriads of Jews dwelling in and around Jerusalem. The temple and the synagogues were a center for the people to learn the things of God. Was it to these centers that Yahweh sent His messenger to prepare for the coming of His Son?

John 1:6
“There came a man sent from God whose name was John...”

What was John’s message? Was it not to prepare the way for Messiah to come? If there were myriads of devoted Jews in that day, a priesthood, as well as many teachers of the Law, then why did not God use these men to proclaim His truth and to prepare the way for His Son? Why did He not have the message proclaimed in every synagogue?

It is ever the remnant that Yahweh works through. He chose a man who was little esteemed. He had him to grow up in the wilderness, not in the centers of power. And He had him accomplish his ministry away from the synagogues and the temple. Why should it surprise the understanding saint to hear that those who will prepare the way for the second coming of Yahshua will follow a similar pattern?

In the gospels we are told that Yahshua “came to His own, but His own received Him not” (John 1:11). Knowing this was the case of His first appearing to mankind, and that history ever repeats itself, the importance of the following scripture should give rise to serious consideration, as it speaks of His second coming.

Luke 18:8
“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

Yahshua is here speaking of His second coming to the Earth. At His first coming there was a whole nation of people who claimed to be followers of His Father. There was a well used religious system centered around the Temple and the synagogues. People were studying the scriptures continuously, and they claimed to be waiting for the appearing of Messiah.

Do we not have a similar scenario today? There is a body of people, huge in number that claim to be followers of Yahshua (Jesus). There is a religious system that is utilized regularly. In place of synagogues there are church buildings on every street corner and at every crossroads. This great body of believers also claims to be awaiting the return of their Messiah.

With all of this teaching and religious structure in place, those who claimed to be waiting for Messiah did not recognize the day of their visitation when He appeared 2,000 years ago. Yahshua was despised and rejected. Certainly the Jews and their leaders would never have admitted to having a wrong understanding of Messiah and what His appearing would be like, anymore than would those in Christianity today. Yet Yahshua asks whether He will find faith on the Earth when He returns. Incredibly, Yahshua describes the last days prior to His return, unto His disciples in the following manner.

Matthew 24:10-13
"And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.”

Many will fall away; many will be mislead; most people’s love will grow cold; men will be lovers of self, lovers of money; men will not endure sound doctrine; men will turn aside to myths and fables; Yahshua will in no way return unless the apostasy occurs first; will He find faith on the Earth?

These things should sober any sincere follower of Christ. It is the remnant who will be saved. The true flock of Yahshua is called the “little flock” (Luke 12:32). Why then do the churches preach that there will be a huge body of believers worldwide who will be raptured at the appearing of the Lord? Are they not deceived? Yahshua Himself questioned whether He would find faith on the earth at His return.

I urge the reader to keep these things in mind as you proceed to read the pages of this book. Great deception has fallen upon the church in this hour, and it was foretold over and over that this would be the situation on the Earth prior to Yahshua’s return. Do not be surprised that so much that is written here is in contradiction to that being preached in thousands of pulpits throughout the world today. One should expect no less when the scriptures are properly discerned and the descriptions of the days we live in are rightly perceived.

May you have eyes to see and ears to hear as you study the things written herein.

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This book was written in 2001. The Lord has kept this message at the center of all my writings from that date forward. Most Christians do not understand what Sabbath is. It is far more than one day out of the week. It is of ultimate important, even as failing to keep Sabbath was a capital crime in the Old Testament.

Exodus 31:14-15
You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Seeing that the Sabbath of rest was so holy to the people of the Old Testament this book seeks to make it known to the sons of glory (both male and female sons). Sabbath

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