“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God).” Exodus 20:8 AMP
Good morning Divine Ones! We are starting the 4th Commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy...” Exodus 20:8. Let’s start to break it down! On the surface, this seems to be a call to attend church services, but it’s not. Sabbath means “a time of rest”. (Webster’s). The Revealing Word defines it in this way “The true Sabbath is that state of spiritual attainment where man ceases from all personal effort and all belief in his own works and rests in the consciousness that "the Father abiding in me doeth his works" (John 14: 10). We rest from outer work, cease daily occupation, and give ourselves up to meditation or the study of things spiritual.” “Without a doubt, this commandment has done more for the observance of religion in Judaism and Christianity than any other...for it appears to establish... without a doubt the special time for religious studies and worship. Originally, it was set down arbitrarily (on a whim)... with the maximum penalty of death.” (Breaking the Ten Commandments). In Numbers 15:32, there is the story of a man who was stoned to death because he was gathering sticks on the Sabbath. “There is no mention of why he was gathering sticks, but one can assume that it was a matter of a father gathering firewood to keep his family warm. ...but the commandments must be kept at all costs! So the culprit was brought before the elders, who condemned him to death by stoning. “And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died...” Numbers 15:36 KJV. (Breaking the Ten Commandments). This is fanatical adherence. Our role is to “break the commandments”, break them down in order to understand the inner meaning so that we then apply that inner meaning to our daily lives. “...not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV. What in your life are you rigid about? What in your life are you holding to the letter of the law (outer meaning) and not to the spirit? What is the Sabbath day? How does one keep it holy? Well everyone knows the Sabbath is on Sunday right? Not true! The Jews keep their sabbath on Saturday, beginning with sundown on Friday. Seventh-Day Adventists observe their sabbath on Saturday. “...from a purely scriptural point of view, they are probably correct. Saturday is the seventh day of the week. Sunday was probably redesignated as the Sabbath day by Christian theologians who thought it was more fitting to honor the “first day of the week”.” (Breaking the Ten Commandments). So does it matter what day? Let’s go back to the definition of the Sabbath, which is a time of rest. Are you resting from the work of the day? Are you coming apart from the world and resting? Hmmmmm? More tomorrow! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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