(For clarification, there is the weekly Sabbath and High Sabbaths. High Sabbaths take place on the Holy Days, for this particular post, we are speaking of the weekly Sabbath.)

One of the very first things you find out when you read the whole Bible  is how important the weekly Sabbath is to Yahweh. 

But how do I keep it?

It's actually quite simple. Let's break this down first. The Commandment is to "remember" or "guard" the Sabbath and keep it "Holy". "Holy" means "set apart" so we want this day to not just be like all the others. We have to be careful though that we do not fall into legalism regarding it because that is one major thing that Messiah Yeshua ripped the Pharisees over... and if you fall into the rabbinical stuff then you'll find yourself laying in bed all Sabbath staring at the ceiling because you're afraid to move.

Let's back up... first let's establish the day. It's clear in scripture that the Shabbat that Yahweh sanctified and set apart was the seventh day of the week, the day that we refer to as "Saturday". (The days of the week were named in this fashion by men and not our Creator, but for all intents and purposes I will refer to them by the names which we know them by.) Sabbath was not done away with nor was it ever changed to Sunday despite what religion may say, did Messiah rise from death on a Sunday, yes. Was the Spirit sent to the disciples on a Sunday, yes. Was the Sabbath changed to Sunday because of this, no. Whomever makes a claim like that does not understand the biblical Holy Days. Firstfruits (Messiah risen) and Pentecost (Spirit given) are always on Sundays and have been since before these events. It was the Roman Catholic Church that claimed authority to change the day of rest.. I cannot speak for you, but I do not recognize their authority... thus I recommend keeping the day that God set apart, not the RCC.

You hear "Jesus is our rest so we can worship every day... or any day we want". First off, you should be worshipping everyday, yes. He is worthy of that for sure. But to use anything as a replacement for Sabbath or as an excuse to ignore Sabbath I would highly disagree with. If you treat everyday the same, how are you setting one apart? And if you can worship Jesus whenever you want, can you and I go to your church at 2am on a Tuesday and attend service?

I doubt it.

I also hear people say, "what if you have the wrong day?" One would think that if that were the case that Yeshua might have said something about it when He was on earth! This is a weak argument used to defend a Sunday tradition.

Fact is Yahweh blessed the seventh day. If you do not recognize that, that is between you and Him. You can try to convince Him of your argument.

So I think we've established the day, now how do we observe it in present times? Let's examine the scriptures (I like to use the ISR "Scriptures" Bible, just FYI)..

Taken from Leviticus 23:

3 ‘Six days work is done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a set-apart gathering. You do no work, it is a Sabbath to יהוה in all your dwellings.

Taken from Exodus 20:

9 “Six days you labor, and shall do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of יהוה your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.

11 “For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.

(Side note: It is referred to as a "Sabbath to Yahweh" and a "Sabbath of Yahweh" and not a "Sabbath for the Jews".)

These are a few examples, the Sabbath is reiterated all throughout the Bible but the same message tends to carry throughout:

You do not work. You do not make anyone else work. Do not make animals work either.

It is also mentioned later about not "kindling a fire" and we will discuss this after tackling the work part...

Stepping out of bed, is not work. Brushing your teeth, is also not work. Going to your job, I'd say that's work. Cutting your grass, painting your house... also work in my opinion. Going shopping, out to lunch... well, I'd say you're going to make someone else work.

The simple fact here is that this is between YOU and YAHWEH. I cannot definitively tell you what is and isn't work and how to keep YHWH's Sabbath.

If you're unsure how to act or what to do try taking it to Him in prayer.

Other points to consider here are careers that make it inevitable to have to work on the weekends... I work at a hospital, obviously it is a 24-7-365 place of business. If you are able to move things around in order to recognize Shabbat, I would suggest doing it. If you are not, again I say.. this is between you and Yahweh.

On the other side of it, this is a day of rest but not complete laziness. It seems like I have to remind my children weekly that although it is a day of rest, we are not meant to sleep the day away.

This is the way I approach it. This is a day to spend with your Heavenly Father. If you are doing something that you would not do if you had a guest in your home then you are probably doing it wrong. Treat it like you would if you were spending the day with your earthly father.

This is a good day to gather with other like-minded people and study the scriptures.

Also, consider the following verses:

Exodus 35

3 “Do not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

and

Exodus 16

23 And he said to them, “This is what יהוה has said, ‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set-apart to יהוה. That which you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning.’ ”

Many interpret these to mean that you are not to cook on the Sabbath day. I would agree with this but I could see how someone would think otherwise... although I do not cook on this day, I do not disagree with someone who chooses to because I can see both ways in these verses... obviously you should take this to Yah in prayer if you feel differently. As I said, in my home we do not cook on the Sabbath.. we do reheat meals though. We also utilize our crockpot with something that was put together the day before as well.

If you take one thing away from this, take this: Yah's Shabbat is a joyous day. So ENJOY IT. The day was made for us to stop, take it easy, and enjoy time with each other and our Father in Heaven.

So... SHABBAT SHALOM!

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