Of all of the ten commandments, the passage on the sabbath is by far the longest and most detailed in explanation. So why is it the one that we revere the least?Culturally, because of the way we structure our "work week", we casually recognize Monday as the first day of the week. Because we live in a capitalistic society, everything we do is centered around capital and earnings, as with how we structure our week. And even before the United States of America existed as the nation it is today, there was a historical shift which caused Saturday to become socially replaced as the sabbath. Around 200 A.D., Roman Catholics suggested that Sunday be kept to honor the resurrection. So until about 300 A.D., believers kept both Saturday sabbath and Sunday simultaneously. Because Sunday was also a day of sun worship among the pagan Romans (hence the name Sun Day), and was highly regarded throughout the city, Roman Christians began to favor the united front of worship on Sunday. By the 4th century, Sunday was the standard day for worship among Western believers, which eventually permeated the rituals of the traditional Eastern worshippers .
This information isn't hidden, it's quite obvious and readily available actually. Check your local library, or a variety or credible internet sources. Neither is it foreign to us that Sunday is the first day of the week. Look at any calendar and you'll notice that Sunday is the first day of the week listed. When we, as children (and even our children today) learned the days of the week in kindergarten it was even taught in song and rhyme with Sunday always as the first day. Here's a popular example:
Because our rest and worship is embedded in a state of sin in that we are being disobedient to the specific commands of YHWH, we are not benefitting from the power of the holy day. I'm not saying that the Most High does not show up in the midst of Sunday worship, for we know that the Word says, "where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:22)", but in gathering on the chosen holy day, we activate power and blessings that can be released only on that day. I know I want the full promise, don't you?
Many try to justify by saying that as long as they keep "a" sabbath, they believe that YHWH is pleased, so they keep a Sunday sabbath because that's what everyone else does, or they keep an "off-day" sabbath, meaning they consider the day they are off from work as their sabbath. But the YHWH wants me to remind you that your obedience is more valued than your sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Others say that because it was under the old testament law, then it is dead since Jesus came to fulfill the law. It's important to note that there was not just a single old testament law, rather three different types of laws: moral, ceremonial, and civil.
Yashua (Jesus) came to remove the ceremonial and sacrificial laws that brought about curses (often death) upon those who didn't honor them. He is the lamb sacrifice who shed blood that we might no longer perform those types of rituals. However, because he came to redeem us from the "curse of the law", does not excuse us from the moral portion of the law (Galatians 3:13). The Mosiac law given to show us a moral standard applies today, just as much as it did then, only we tend to negate the laws that have been culturally omitted. Because we are no longer under a particular law, does not mean we are without law. But above all, as believers have been sternly warned against allowing the world to dictate our behavior. Can you imagine how choosing to be obedient to this the same way we we are to killing, stealing and tithing might change the face of our nation and ultimately the Christian face of the world?The LORD wants you to know the value in the sabbath for your own benefit. We treat it as a handicap and even sometimes a curse, but it's a gift to us so that we not only have a day where we share in focused relationship with the Creator, but a day for us to focus on our own health and wellness so that we don't become stressed, overwhelmed, and run-down with life. This does not mean that we cannot worship or rest on other days, but it must be in addition to what we were commanded. I rest and worship on Saturday, but also worship on Sunday. Sunday is my own personal sacrificial way of giving back to YHWH my first-fruits, since it is the first day of the week. But I had to come out from under the spell of the Sunday worship cultural standard and become obedient to the sabbath commandment before I could add that additionally.
We say we follow (Yahshua) Jesus, and there are numerous scriptures that identify him as having kept the sabbath holy. Yes, he was questioned by the Pharisees about his lack of strict regiment in that he did service work on the sabbath, but he kept it nonetheless. When we serve on the sabbath as opposed to working, we are within the boundaries that the Messiah set for us. It's only if we are not keeping the sabbath at all that we are being disobedient to both what the Lord modeled, as well as what YHWH commanded.I don't want to come across preachy, because I am not a preacher, but the Most High ordered me to deliver this teaching word to you today, so out of obedience, I must oblige. Don't get mad; and if you don't agree, exercise the freewill to do what you believe is right for you. Above all, pray about the matter so that you may hear from YHWH directly.
I hate to fuss, so this doesn't make me happy to step on the toes of so many people that I truly love and respect. Fact is though, because I love you, I must tell you not what you want to hear, rather what you need to hear. Trust, this is a word for me just as much as for you.
*FOR A MORE IN-DEPTH AFRICAN-RELATED STUDY ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, RESEARCH THE 42 PRINCIPLES OF MA'AT
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