| (Copyright) by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) |
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| Below, I begin the minimum treatise’s I’ve written to help explain the Sabbath day. Ten teachings, almost 57,000 words, and over a decade of work. How does one summarize that? Here is what you need to know. 1. Time markers in Scripture. 2. A day start is sunrise. 3. The correct definition of sunrise. 4. The correct definition of sunset. 5. The correct definition of between the evenings. 6. That even/evening is our modern day afternoon. 7. What a perfect week is. 8. How to count 7 perfect weeks to Shavuot. 9. The difference between Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 10. Passover is one day. 11. Feast of Unleavened Bread is 7 days. 12. When the word feast is used, you need to know what it means. 13. When the words unleavened feast are used, you need to know what that means. 14. Feast and Unleavened Feast do not always mean the same thing each time they are used. 15. The correct definition of a “high sabbath”. 16. The correct definition of preparation day. 17. Need to know that Rabbinic Judaism does not override Scriptures, it is the other way around. 18. Need to know that the Last Supper cannot be the Passover feast. If it were, then Christ has sinned. One can only know these 18 things, by using the proper Calendar of Scripture. Calendar of Scripture Part I – Mechanics of the Calendar 1. I have tried to find a name for the Scriptural Calendar that is not in common usage. There are many people, and I am sure their numbers will grow especially if they borrow from what is written here, that have developed calendars which they name the Bible calendar, Yah’s calendar, creation calendar, and more. So, the calendar I have been led to develop is named the Calendar of Scripture, also known as the Scriptural Calendar. I believe this to be the most accurate of all calendars in use today no matter the source or name; be it Julian, Gregorian, Rabbinic Jewish, etc. The importance of this Calendar of Scripture is that it reflects the way time was kept from the beginning (Genesis 1:1) until some time after Yahoshua’s departure back to the right hand of the Father. 2. The Scriptural Calendar was changed by Gentile and Jew alike. This is by no means an exhaustive look at some calendars. Hillel II, the son and successor of Judah III, was a Hebrew Sanhedrin leader circa 320-385 AD. Traditionally he is regarded as the creator of the modern Jewish calendar. Others ascribe the Jewish calendar to Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, sometimes contracted to Rambam, who lived circa 1137-1204 AD. The modern civil calendar, widely in use today, was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII; hence its name of Gregorian calendar. The Jewish calendar is normally referred to as a lunar calendar, even though the movement of the sun is involved in its making, and Gregory’s calendar is considered a solar based calendar. The Calendar of Scripture is lunar and solar based, because God has created two time pieces for us to use. Genesis 1:14 KJV, “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:16 KJV, “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” Genesis 1:18 KJV, “And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Psalm 104:19 KJV, “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.” 3. Even though Scripture does not teach a calendar, one can reasonably deduce from the information given that a solar year was three hundred sixty days in the beginning, with twelve lunar months of thirty days each. Genesis 7:11 KJV, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Genesis 8:3-4 KJV, “3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” It appears that here in Genesis we are shown that a five month period was exactly one hundred fifty days or five thirty-day months. 4. The changes in format of the Calendar of Scripture is the most drastic when placing the days of a month in their proper spots. For those who religiously follow the current modern calendars in use, both the Rabbinic and Gregory’s calendar, this placement of the days within a month will disturb your sensibilities the most. I suggest, if you want to make use of this calendar for prophecy, for tracking of events and festivals and sabbaths, and especially for discerning the order of events in the histories written in the Bible, that you should just get over it. Check the calendar out, use it, and learn to think outside the box*. *NOTE: Interestingly, under the unction of the Holy Ghost, I started the box thing a couple of decades back, around 1985-6. It was strange to see when it started to make the mainstream circa 2005. It’s in commercials, it’s on the news, it’s in the workplace and marketplace. It was originally employed as a witnessing example. It originally was used to help people be set free to come to know the one true God and His Son that sacrificed His Blood and Life so that man could be reconciled to Him. Now it is used by the secular world to sell tacos. 5. When it comes to keeping track of God’s time pieces, we can only make guesses as to how He started it all and what has changed since then. A day is normally considered to be approximately twenty-four hours from one sunrise to the next. 6. The moon goes through phases throughout a month. In the beginning and now, a new moon always started a month. A new moon is the day that the disc of the moon is dark and therefore not visible. In the beginning of time there were two new moon days every month; one at the beginning and one at the end of every month with four seven-day weeks in-between. Now, some months do not end with a new moon day and those months only have twenty-nine days in them. The beauty of this calendar is that if one ever becomes disoriented and loses track of the days or months, all that needs to be done is to wait for the new moon and you can start counting the months again. 7. Please note that there is a difference between a new moon and a new moon day. A new moon is the day that zero percent of the moon’s crescent is visible. A new moon is assigned to always be the first of a month, and in a thirty day month the thirtieth is a new moon day. The first of every month is always a new moon as well as a new moon day. The thirtieth of a month is a new moon day, but it is not a new moon. Sometimes the thirtieth of a month new moon day might have a one to three percent crescent visible, although with that small a crescent it may not be detectible with the naked eye. 8. In the beginning there were probably 360 days in a year. Now, so we are told, a year is a little over 364 days. There is no longer 12 months of 30 days each in the Calendar of Scripture. Instead, six of the months have only 29 days in them. Every several years a leap month must be added to the calendar. The modern Rabbinic calendar also does this same thing. 9. The leap months can occur every two or three years and roughly even themselves out in a nineteen year cycle. This is what the current Rabbinic calendar does and today’s Scriptural Calendar follows the same pattern. But outside of the occasional insertion of a leap month between the eleventh and twelfth months and the counting of years the similarity between the two calendars differs greatly. 10. In Gregory’s calendar there is only one type of day in a week, month, or year, and that is a weekday; in other words, a day that is part of a seven day week. A day must be a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, or Saturday. There are no other choices in Gregory’s calendar. The modern Rabbinic calendar does not have only one type of day in a week, month, or year, as Gregory’s has, but there are two types of days. There are the work days in a week, six of them, followed by a sabbath day of rest. If one overlays the modern Rabbinic calendar with Gregory’s calendar then the seven days of a modern Hebrew week, for convenience sake only, can be called a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, and Saturday is unique because it is called the weekly sabbath day. The sabbath is different than the other days because the first six days are work days and the sabbath is a rest day. Both the modern Rabbinic calendar and Gregory’s calendar are inferior calendars. One cannot hope to keep track of prophecy, or festival times, or a sabbath day, or even a month, with these calendars. 11. The Scriptural Calendar can easily keep track of the weekly sabbaths, the other annual sabbaths, a month, and it can assist one in calculating prophecy dates more accurately. The Scriptural Calendar does not only have one type of day as Gregory’s calendar, or only two types of days as the Rabbinic Judaism calendar, but it has three types of days. The make-up of a month with a balance of new moon days and perfect weeks is where the strangeness comes in to the current mindset as I wrote in paragraph four above. The three types of days are new moon days, work days, and weekly sabbath days. Work days cover Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Work days are never new moon days and they are never a weekly sabbath day or Saturday. Weekly sabbaths are always Saturdays. Special sabbath days and festivals can land on any day from Sunday through Saturday and they can even over lap with a new moon day as it does on the first day of the seventh month of Ethanim (aka Tishrei). Numbers 29:1 KJV, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.” New moon days are unique to most people’s idea of a type of day and will be discussed in its own paragraph. 2 Kings 4:23 KJV, “And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.” Colossians 2:16 KJV, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” 12. A new moon always begins each of the twelve months and the thirteenth month in a leap month year. If there are two new moon days in a row, the first new moon day is the thirtieth day of a month and the second new moon day is the first day of the next month. It is speculated that in the beginning that there were always two new moon days in a month, therefore, every month had thirty days. In modern times, there are some months with only twenty-nine days because there is only one new moon day in that month. New moon days only fall on the first or the thirtieth of a month. Work days never land on the first or thirtieth of a month. The first and the thirtieth of a month are never part of a week; in other words, new moon days are never a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, or Saturday. New moon days are an entity of their own, they are not part of a week, ever. But new moon days are part of a month. Remember, you must think outside of the box, because new moon days are outside the weekly box. The lack of understanding of this Scriptural Calendar is why the modern Rabbinic calendar is so complicated and messed up. Gregory’s calendar cannot compete either. 13. Please think about this. Since the first of a month is always a new moon day which is not part of a week, then the second of every month is always a Sunday. And this is true all the way back to creation week. Therefore, the weekly sabbath always lands on the eighth of every month, all the way back to creation week. It never changes. Add seven days to the eighth of a month and you have the fifteenth, and that is always a sabbath too – in every month, every where, all the time, in history. Add another seven days and the twenty-second is always a weekly sabbath and so is the twenty-ninth. These dates and their assigned slots within a week never change. As the first of a month hangs by itself outside of a week, but within a month, so does the thirtieth of a month. 14. New moon days are non-work days, but there is no Scriptural prohibition from performing work on a new moon day, unless it is an annual sabbath day. New moon days, traditionally, were used as non-work days. But, under the Torah, no laws or rules were broken if someone chose to work on a new moon day. New moon days are not weekly sabbath days either. A new moon day can be an annual sabbath day if God has designated it as such as He did for the first of Ethanim (the seventh month). 15. Sample Calendar month follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 (30) Every month follows this pattern. 16. With the knowledge of this calendar one can always know when a weekly sabbath is; however, that is not important anymore. One can always know that Passover is the fourteenth and it is always a Friday, every year, and never changes. And so it is with every holiday or festival day. It is the same day of the month, every year, never a change. For those ministries, and I have not found one that is correct yet (but I have not seen all of them), that mistakenly dream up the events of crucifixion week, one can now determine, from Scripture, the true sequence of events. The Last Supper was on Wednesday, the crucifixion took place on Thursday, Passover was Friday. 17. I have not found anyone who makes a calendar like this. I make one for myself. Then I overlay Gregory’s calendar so that I can keep proper track of all days and events. The only calendars I see in the marketplace, take Gregory’s calendar and overlay the modern Rabbinic calendar on top of it. No where to be seen is the Calendar of Creation. There are a few people who have constructed a nearly correct calendar from Scripture. But some fail to begin the day at the correct time, and some fail to begin the month on the correct day due to a mistaken understanding of what constitutes a new moon. Sometimes these calendars, as well as the Rabbinic calendars, are up to two and three days off in the beginning of a month. 18. With this calendar other mysteries clear up as well. We can know that the seven days of creation did not end with the seventh day landing on a sabbath. That is why it is not called a sabbath, it is only called the seventh day on which God ceased from His work of creating. He ceased from His work on a Friday. But one must also know when a day begins, or one cannot properly know how to calculate this calendar. One must know where to place the International Dateline on its proper meridian (Deuteronomy 11:12 KJV, “A land which [Yahowah] thy God careth for: the eyes of [Yahowah] thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”). Then one can determine what is meant in Scripture about the countdown to Shavuot which includes the counting of perfect weeks. One must know what a perfect week means. One can learn the proper meaning of “between the evenings”. One can learn the true significance of “after the sabbaths” when the Marys arrived at Yahoshua’s tomb after the crucifixion. Basically, a whole wealth of misinterpreted terms and sequences suddenly blossom to life from the pages of Scripture when one knows how to properly construct and use the Calendar of Scripture. 19. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Calendar of Scripture Part I – Mechanics of the Calendar NOTES 17.a. I have not found anyone who makes a calendar like this. I make one for myself. Then I overlay Gregory’s calendar so that I can keep proper track of all days and events. The only calendars I see in the marketplace, take Gregory’s calendar and overlay the modern Hebrew calendar on top of it. No where to be seen is the Calendar of Creation. There are a few people who have constructed a nearly correct calendar from Scripture. But some fail to begin the day at the correct time, and some fail to begin the month on the correct day due to a mistaken understanding of what constitutes a new moon. Sometimes these calendars, as well as the Jewish calendars, are up to two and three days off in the beginning of a month. 17.b. Why is this calendar correct and all the others in error? The answer to this will take a couple of minutes of your time. You may get bored before this paragraph seventeen is finished. It is not necessary to read it at all in order to understand this calendar. But if you want the answer to the question as to why this is a better calendar that the Holy Spirit led me to construct from Scripture, you might have your answer. However, it is imperative, for one who would construct such a calendar (using it is not a problem), that time keeping is thoroughly ingrained into their brain and second nature to them. This is the case with me. Yahowah has been teaching me to keep time for about forty-five years. I keep time in many different ways. The examples follow. 17.c. When I showed up to work for my federal government job I would sign into work on the time sheet in local time. Local time would change depending on the facility I worked at and the time zone that it was in. It would change depending upon whether or not it was the standard time of the year or the daylight savings time (DST) of the year. When I managed a facility, as a manager, I was required to begin my work day so that it matched the start of the work day of my headquarter office, even if we were both in different time zones. If headquarters began their workday at 8 AM, I might have to begin at 7 AM, or 8 AM, or 9 AM. Signing on in local time required that I use the twelve hour clock and the designation of AM or PM. One needs to know that 12:00 AM is midnight and 12:00 PM is noontime. One needs to know how to designate time in hours, minutes, and seconds. For example, 11:59:59 PM is one second prior to midnight. At the end of the 59th second, it then becomes 12:00:00 AM. 17.d. Once signed on in local time I would then proceed to the designated work space; in Air Traffic, we called these positions, or positions of assignment. There was a sign in sheet for each position and we would sign on in local time with the twenty-four clock, not the twelve hour clock. We would not use AM or PM. If I began my work day at 1 PM and began my first position five minutes later, I would sign onto the position at 1305 local time. In local time on the twenty-four hour clock, there is no 24th hour. At 23:59:59 you are one second away from completing the twenty-four hour cycle and one second away from midnight. One second later the time is now 00:00:00. But, of course, you need to know the difference in days at this point. If it was the 14th of the month one second prior to midnight, then it would be the 15th of the month, beginning at midnight – on the Gregorian calendar that is. So this could be designated as 14:23:59:59 and one second later it is 15:00:00:00. However, this would really be written as 14235959 and 15000000. If one desires, you could add two more digits to the front for the month of the year, and four more digits to the front of that for the year and century. I started doing this in my job, when a supervisor with the Federal Aviation Administration about 1987 or 1988. The people working with me were perplexed at first, “What does this mean Rick?” When I explained, they understood because they used many different times as I did, but I received no accolades nor indication that they liked it or thought it necessary. But it caught on. Ten to fifteen years later, when the people I had been working with had been promoted and moved up into national headquarters, they implemented this system. As time went on, more detailed and sophisticated ways of describing time became necessary in our jobs due to technological advances, these time groups I initiated had been initiated prophetically. Although, at that time I did not know that. Only in hindsight do I realize it. 17.e. If the position I signed onto was the Weather Observation position things suddenly become even more complicated. Remember, just to get this far I have already used two time systems: regular time like all of us use and local time on the twenty-four hour clock. Weather observations are always taken in standard time. That means the observations are taken in standard local time (LCL) and are never taken in daylight savings time (DST). The twenty-four hour clock is used when taking a weather observation. So, I might clock in at work at 1 PM, sign onto the Weather Observation position at 1305, and take a weather observation within the next five minutes and record the time of this observation as 1210. This may occur if 1305 is daylight savings time (DST), but in standard time it is 1205. Pacific Standard Time (PST) never changes all year around. At noontime it is always 1200. During the summer Pacific Daylight Savings Time (PDT) might be 1300 at noontime, but it will always be 1200 Pacific Standard Time (PST). Confused? Most are, or do not even care. But if you are going to be a calendar keeper like me, then you must also be a time keeper and know the difference. Have you ever called a business in another time zone and listened to their recording? Here is a sample phone call: Almost without exception they will say, we are closed and will open again at 9 AM Mountain Standard Time (MST). But that is not what they mean at all. If it is May, most states and places are on Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), not Mountain Standard Time (MST). So, you have to second guess them. If I am in Washington DC, 9 AM Mountain Standard Time (MST) is 12 PM (or noontime) Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). So, if I call them at 11 AM EST chances are they will not be open for another hour. Why is that? Because they are really on Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) and not on Mountain Standard Time (MST) as their recording said. Nine AM Mountain Standard Time (MST) is the same as 10 AM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). It can get very confusing, even for people used to working with these many different time references. If the business you called is in Arizona they may have had it right, because most of Arizona never goes on daylight savings time, except for some large Indian reservations in the northeast corner of the state. Therefore, during daylight savings time (DST) some of Arizona goes to daylight time and some of Arizona stays on standard time. 17.f. Next, I might work what is called the Inflight Position at this air traffic facility and I will be talking to pilots over the radio. When we talk to these pilots we must talk using Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), also frequently referred to as the Universal Time Clock (UTC). So, I sign into work at 1 PM, five minutes later I sign onto the Weather Observation position at 1305, five minutes later I take a weather observation at 1210, five minutes later I sign onto the Inflight Position at 1315 and the first pilot asks me for a time check and I tell him that it is 2016 Zulu. Why Zulu? Because that is the standard time zone and time for the entire world in aviation and it is equal to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When it is 2016Z in England it is also 2016Z in America, and it is also 2016Z in China, and it is also 2016Z everywhere on the entire planet. But the guy sitting next to me asks me what time it is and I glance at my wristwatch and tell him that it is 1:16 PM. And it gets worse. I might pull out an aviation publication and look up some important airport information. Depending on the information given, I may have to instantly convert it in my mind into local time, or standard time, or daylight time, or zulu time, sometimes using the twenty-four clock and sometimes the twelve hour clock. Such is the life of one who works in the field of aviation and weather reports. This is a part of their everyday world that most of us are totally unaware of. 17.g. Currently the prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England, from the north pole to the south pole. Do you think God cares about this? Do you think this is where He has placed the prime meridian for His calendar? I do not. Do you think He starts a day for planet Earth in Greenwich, England, at midnight? I do not. Perhaps a good place to put the prime meridian is in Jerusalem, after all, God said He would put His name there forever, 2 Kings 21:7. There are many other similar references in Scripture regarding Jerusalem. And Yahoshua is prophesied to return to Earth at Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:4. So why not reasonably begin a new day on Earth in Jerusalem at sunrise? 17.h. There are a few other minute details needed to construct this Scriptural Calendar. I will not address those at this time. However, when this teaching is finished, if anyone wishes these additional details I will discuss it with you. Calendar of Scripture Part II – Scriptures That Support This Calendar 1.a. Genesis 1:1 KJV, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” We must assume that when God started creating the Earth, that He began the Scriptural Calendar of time. There are arguments that could be proposed to select a different starting place, but none of these arguments can deny that this is the starting point that the Holy Ghost wrote into the pages of the Bible when He said, “In the beginning”. Therefore, this is the beginning of the Calendar of Scripture; this is day one of month one of year one. Please notice that I did not say this was the first day of the first week. The reason for this is because the first day of the first week did not begin until the second day of creation. As was explained in the Calendar of Scripture, Part I – Mechanics of the Calendar the first day of a month is not part of a week. This day is the New Moon day and it stands alone in the calendar month outside of the four weeks within that month. Therefore, the first day of a month is not a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday/sabbath. It is the New Moon day. Therefore, the second day of creation is a Sunday and continuing the count, the seventh day is a Friday. This is why the seventh day of creation is not called a sabbath, because it was not; instead, it is called the seventh day. 1.b. Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, “2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3 is the first proof that the first day of a month is not part of a week. If it were, then the seventh day of creation might have been called a sabbath, yet it was not a sabbath. No where in Scripture is the seventh day of creation week called a sabbath. The seventh day of creation was the sixth day of the first week of the first month of the first year. In Genesis 2:2-3 Yahowah has introduced us, for the first time but not the last, to the rest He has prepared for us to enter. 2.a. Leviticus 23:5 KJV, “In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is [Yahowah’s] passover.” This Scripture proves beyond a doubt that the Passover is always on the fourteenth of the first month of Abib (aka Nisan). This is true on the very first Passover and will continue to be true for every Passover throughout the history of man, until the end of time. This verse does not identify the day of the week, which is Friday, on which it lands. This is not necessary because those to whom this verse was written already knew that the 14th of every month is in the Friday slot. 2.b. Leviticus 23:6 KJV, “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto [Yahowah]: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.” This Scripture proves beyond a doubt that the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is always on the fifteenth of the first month of Abib. This is true on the very first Feast of Unleavened Bread and will continue to be true for every Feast of Unleavened Bread throughout the history of man, until the end of time. This verse does not identify the day of the week, which is Saturday/sabbath, on which it lands. This is not necessary because those to whom this verse was written already knew that the 15th of every month was in the Saturday/sabbath slot. 2.c. Leviticus 23:11 KJV, “And he shall wave the sheaf before [Yahowah], to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.” The sabbath being spoken of in this Scripture is both the weekly sabbath and the annual sabbath of the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread from verse 6. Since we know that the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th, then we know that “the morrow after the sabbath” is the 16th. This Scripture shows that Sheaf Wave Day is the 16th of the first month of Abib. This is true on the very first Sheaf Wave Day and will continue to be true for every Sheaf Wave Day throughout the history of man, until the end of time. This verse does not identify the day of the week, which is Sunday, on which it lands. This is not necessary because those to whom this verse was written already knew that the 16th of every month is in the Sunday slot. Not only that, they also knew that 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sunday of every month always follow a weekly sabbath. The 1st Sunday of every month follows the New Moon Day. 2.d. From the preceding three verses in Leviticus 23:5-6,11, we can see that Friday the 14th is Passover, Saturday the 15th is both the weekly sabbath and the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Sunday the 16th is Sheaf Wave Day. However, some might say, they agree that the annual sabbath of the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th, but the Scriptures, thus far, do not support the notion that it was also a weekly sabbath. In fact, they might point out, only the calendar that I claim to be the Calendar of Scripture supports the idea of a weekly sabbath on Abib 15. They are correct, until we read Leviticus 23:15. 2.e. It is verse 15 that supports the Calendar of Scripture more than any other. Leviticus 23:15 KJV, “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete.” This Scripture shows that the annual sabbath of the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also a weekly sabbath. How does this Scripture prove that this annual sabbath is also an end of the week sabbath? The instructions in this Scripture require that the counting of the seven complete sabbaths to Shavuot begin on Sheaf Wave Day. It is impossible to count seven complete sabbaths (or even one complete sabbath for that matter) from this day unless you begin your count on a Sunday and end the count of each week on a sabbath/Saturday. This method of counting sabbaths requires that six days of Sunday through Friday must first be counted in order to have completed seven days when you reach the sabbath day. Therefore, when verse 15 states, “from the morrow after the sabbath”, this sabbath must also be a weekly sabbath/Saturday, because “the morrow” must be a Sunday in order to begin the count of the seven sabbaths. This fact that the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is both an annual sabbath and an end of the week sabbath will continue to be true for every year throughout the history of man, until the end of time. This verse does identify the day of the week, which is Sunday Abib 16, on which the count to Shavuot begins. 2.f. It is impossible for this arrangement of days around the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Sheaf Wave Day, and the beginning of the count of seven perfect weeks to occur except that the Calendar of Scripture is true. The Scriptural Calendar must have every month formatted as explained in The Calendar of Scripture, Part I – Mechanics of the Calendar, paragraph fifteen. This pattern is supplied again here for your convenience. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 (30) 3.a. Exodus 16:1 KJV, “And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.” Following the Scriptural Calendar we know that the fifteenth of any month is a sabbath/Saturday. Now, does this hold true for the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt? You will see that the answer is yes, as we continue. 3.b. Exodus 16:4-5 KJV, “4 Then said [Yahowah] unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” Please notice that the instructions included “that on the sixth day”, meaning Friday, after days one through five had passed. Also, please notice that Yahowah wanted to test His people “whether they will walk in my law, or no.” This law is referring to the future, it must be, the Law or Torah or Ten Commandments had not been given to them yet. The Law will be given to them in the next month, the third month. 3.c. Exodus 16:7-8 KJV, “7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of [Yahowah]; for that he heareth your murmurings against [Yahowah]: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? 8 And Moses said, This shall be, when [Yahowah] shall give you in the evening (this evening means afternoon – from noon until sundown) flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that [Yahowah] heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against [Yahowah].” These two verses show that God was going to provide manna beginning on the day after the fifteenth (Exodus 16:1). Is this day after the fifteenth a Sunday, making the fifteenth a Saturday? We will see that the answer is yes by continuing to read the story. 3.d. Exodus 16:12-15 KJV, “12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, [Between the evenings] ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am [Yahowah] your God. 13 And it came to pass, that at even (in context, this even means the high noon even when the sun first starts going down) the quails came up and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which [Yahowah] hath given you to eat.” This was the first day that manna was given to the children of Israel. Was this day, already shown to be the day after the fifteenth of the month from verse one, a Sunday? Let us continue with the story to see that the answer is yes. 3.e. Exodus 16:21-22 KJV, “21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. 22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.” These verses show that they had gathered manna every day for six days and now were gathering twice as much manna because it was the sixth day and that which is gathered on the sixth day must feed them also on day seven, a day in which they will not gather any manna. Does this show that the seventh day is a sabbath? Let me summarize from where we began in verse one to where we are now on the calendar of time. From paragraph 3a above (Exodus 16:1) we know that this story started on the fifteenth day of the second month. From paragraph 3c above (Exodus 16:7-8) we know that the manna was promised on the sixteenth of the month. From paragraph 3d above (Exodus 16:13-15) we know that the manna has now been given on the sixteenth of the month as promised. And now in this paragraph we are told that they have gathered manna for six days which brings us to Zif 21. Is the 21st day a Friday? Let us continue with the story to see that the answer is yes. 3.f. Exodus 16:23 KJV, “And he said unto them, This is that which [Yahowah] hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto [Yahowah]: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” This verse explains that the following day, the day after gathering manna for six days, was the sabbath/Saturday again. This weekly sabbath day will be the twenty-second of the month and that means the fifteenth of the month, which is where we started, is also a weekly sabbath. So the Calendar of Scripture has passed yet another test. How could the previous month have a sabbath/Saturday on the fifteenth and now the very next month has a sabbath/Saturday on the fifteenth again? It is not a problem if one uses the Calendar of Scripture. It will work every time. 3.g. Exodus 19:1 KJV, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.” They left Egypt on Abib 15. “The same day” means that they arrived in the wilderness of Sinai on the 15th. In this case it is Sivan 15. This does not prove that the 15th of the third month was a Saturday/Sabbath. But that does not negate the fact that we have already proven that the 15th of every month is a Saturday/Sabbath. 4.a. The book of Joshua is the next time calendar date given for Passover. Joshua 5:10-11 KJV, “10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.” Once again, the fourteenth of the first month is identified as the Passover. On the morrow after the Passover is, of course, a weekly sabbath/Saturday. The fifteenth of the first month is also an annual sabbath. It is the first day of the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As an additional note, one of the items eaten “on the morrow after the Passover”, provides more evidence as to the day of the week of this Passover. Since the day after Passover is the first day of the seven days of Unleavened Bread, the only bread that could be eaten is unleavened bread. 4.b. Joshua 5:12 KJV, “And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.” The manna had not stopped yet on Friday Passover. The following day no mention is made that the manna had stopped, but they did eat of the fruit of Gilgal. The Passover was the sixth day of the week, on the morrow was the seventh day of the week and no manna is provided on the sabbath. The morrow after that they ate of the land. They would have expected to gather manna, but it is stated that the manna stopped. There was no need to state that the manna stopped the day before, because they never gathered manna on the sabbath. Once again, this Scripture and the dates around Passover and the gathering of manna all support that Passover always occurs on Friday Abib 14. 5. Even though there is mention several more times in the rest of the Old Testament when Passovers were celebrated with the Feast of Unleavened Bread being celebrated immediately afterwards only the day of the month is given as the date, which is the fourteenth. But the day of the week is not repeated. But there is no need, because that has been forever established. 6.a. The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, as explained in Leviticus 23 also proves the Calendar of Scripture to be true. 6.b. Leviticus 23:34-36 KJV, “34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto [Yahowah]. 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto [Yahowah]: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto [Yahowah]: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.” Verse 34 proves that the Feast of Tabernacles begins on Ethanim 15 and continues for seven days. This was true on the very first Feast of Tabernacles and will continue to be true for every Feast of Tabernacles throughout the history of man, until our God and Father brings it to an end. Please notice that the first of these seven days is a holy convocation. This is not unusual for annual sabbaths. But you are also told that the eighth day is also a holy convocation. Since this Feast is only seven days long, why is an eighth day mentioned? It is not only mentioned, but it is identified as an holy convocation. In other words, the eighth day must be a weekly sabbath. This would also mean that the first day of this Feast was also not only an annual sabbath but a weekly sabbath as well. 6.c. Leviticus 23:39 KJV, “Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto [Yahowah] seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.” Verse 39 confirms that which was taught in Scripture in verses 35 and 36; that the eighth day is a weekly sabbath. Otherwise, there would be no need for Scripture to mention the eighth day, since the Feast is only seven days long. This was true on the very first Feast of Tabernacles and will continue to be true for every Feast of Tabernacles throughout the history of man, until our God and Father brings it to an end. 7. As you can see, God frequently extends the periods of rest He provides for His people. Both the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles begin on a weekly sabbath and end the following Friday, only to be extended for an extra day because the next day is another weekly sabbath. The fourth weekly sabbath of every month is followed by at least one new moon day and sometimes two. This provides an extra long weekend and break from servile work every month. 8.a. During the reign of Solomon, a feast was celebrated that aligns perfectly with this calendar. 2 Chronicles 7:8-10 KJV, “8 Also at the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt. 9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 And on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that [Yahowah] had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.” 8.b. In verses 8 and 10 a seven day feast in the seventh month is identified. This can be none other than the Feast of Trumpets. 8.c. In verse 9 the feast was kept for seven days. This Feast begins on the Sabbath Ethanim 15 and ends on Friday Ethanim 21. After the Feast on the eighth day, which is another Sabbath day Ethanim 22, they had a solemn assembly. 8.d. In verse 10 on Sunday Ethanim 23 the celebration was over and a new work week of six days began. 9. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 and 2012 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Sabbath Keeping Part I – Why It Was Established On Wednesday June 6, 2018, my Father told me men changed the calendar that was from the beginning, and He allowed it to happen. He allowed it to happen so that all but a few would forever be mistaken when calculating Holy Convocation Days. The Sabbath would be sought after, but almost never found. Fallen men would attempt to worship this idol – the Sabbath Day – but never succeed. I took from them Moses’ snake on a pole, and I took from them Gideon’s Breastplate because men began to worship them. So too, I took the Sabbath from them because they were worshipping it. 1. Deuteronomy 5:13-15 KJV, “13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that [Yahowah] thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore [Yahowah] thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” Mark 2:27 KJV, “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” These Scriptures identify why sabbath keeping was established by Yahowah. He gave it so that man, the servants of men, and the beasts of burden would have a period of rest each week. It was given, by a loving God, to increase their quality of life. 2. The sabbath was also given by Yahowah as a precursor, as a type, to His rest that is yet to come for all His children who become born again. This rest, that is to come, is discussed in Hebrews 3:7-19 continuing through 4:1-11 KJV, “7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” Here the word rest is first spoken in this group of Scriptures. This is the teaching on which we are focusing. “12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? “Rest is written here again. This is the true sabbath rest that God has been teaching throughout the Bible. Not a weekly rest, but a spiritual rest now in the present, and an eternal rest forever. “19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” and in Hebrews 4:1-5 KJV, “1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” God has prepared a rest for us, but we must have the faith to enter into this rest. Beginning in Exodus 16 the Hebrews were taught to observe this rest by a weekly sabbath. However, they did not exercise and apply their faith. Therefore, God did not allow most of them to enter into His rest. “4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.” Here God shows the pattern and teaching He prepared for us even from the beginning, even from the seventh day of creation. He did not introduce the sabbath at this time however. But He did introduce the rest that He had prepared for us. It is the rest that God focuses on in Genesis 2:2-3 and here in Hebrews chapters three and four. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. His focus is not on the physical requirements of a sabbath rest day, instead His focus is on the spiritual rest from all our labors. His focus is on the spiritual rest that is ours when we rest in the finished work of Yahoshua on the tree of Calvary. We cannot strive to reach God and strive to maintain our salvation. We can only rest in the power and sovereignty of Yahowah. He did not need our help in creating the heavens and the Earth, He did not need our help in paying for our sins by Yahoshua’s death on the tree, and He does not need our help in preparing an eternal rest for us. But He does want our faith and belief that He created the heavens and the Earth. And He wants our faith and belief that He did atone for our sins on the execution stake at Calvary. And He wants our faith and belief that we can enter into His rest. Without this faith we cannot please God, Hebrews 11:6. “Hebrews 4:6-11 KJV, “6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if [Yahoshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” This is what God was teaching in Genesis 2:2-3; this is what God was teaching in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5; and this is what God is teaching here in Hebrews 3 and 4. He is teaching of His rest, prepared for His people. The purpose of the old requirements to keep the weekly sabbath was not the beginning point nor the end point of His teachings and requirements; it was not the culminating point; it was not the ordinance above all ordinances to be observed by all for all time. No, not at all. Weekly sabbath keeping was only another tool along the way, used by God, to teach us the importance of entering into His spiritual and permanent rest. 3. In the Old Testament, in the physical, under the Law of Moses, the sabbath of rest was to be observed under the penalty of death. In the New Testament, in the spiritual, under grace, the rest that God’s people would enjoy comes not from a physical observance of the sabbath day; instead, it comes from the faith God places in your heart. You must hear Yahoshua, you must believe in the sacrifice He has made for you, and then you will be born again and you will enter into His rest permanently. Once you have entered into His rest, there is no need for a weekly observance. It has been done, once for all. Not only that, but Yahoshua, at the execution stake, kept the sabbath for all for all time. 4. The concept of a day of rest was introduced by Yahowah in Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, “2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This moment in history did not establish the ordinance of sabbath keeping. But it did introduce the idea of a day of rest. It also introduces the idea of a time of rest for all of God’s people. For those who insist on keeping the Torah, and thereby alienating themselves from the Messiah, they will stop at nothing to convince others and themselves that sabbath keeping was instituted in Genesis chapter two. These same people have failed to comprehend the teachings of the Bible as shown in the first three paragraphs above. They insist that God must come into their box and observe the weekly sabbath too. They preach the gospel of man, not the gospel of God. Be warned. Stay away from them and their gangrene. They have taken the way of Cain, instead of God’s way (Jude 11). 5. These teachers want to pull you back into observing the Torah. When the Torah was clearly against you and your salvation. Colossians 2:14 KJV, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his [stake].” Colossian 2:18 KJV, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” Strive to enter God’s rest. Trust in the Scriptures. Do not listen to the Judaizers who frequently come under the label of Seventh Day Adventists and Hebrew Roots. They have replaced the one true God with a god of their own making. Sabbath keeping is their god. It is easy to test. Denigrate their god, talk and teach against their god, and their hackles and offenses quickly rise. They must defend their god because this god cannot defend itself. 6.a. Let me rephrase the bottom line of this theology of sabbath keeping. The act, the performance of weekly sabbath keeping is no more important than the performance of physical circumcision. The important thing to remember is what the no-longer-required ordinance of sabbath keeping points to. It points to the sabbath rest of Almighty Yahowah. The rest He has prepared for His children. If God gives you a gift and chooses to deliver it to you in a UPS delivery truck and that truck arrives at your house on a Saturday, are you going to revere and even worship UPS delivery trucks on Saturday for the rest of your life? Of course not. That is a ridiculous notion and even a sick notion. Instead, you are going to praise, thank, and revere the God of all creation, the Almighty, Yahowah is His name, for the gift He gave you. UPS did not give you the gift, God did. The very same is true of the ritual of sabbath keeping. Keeping a weekly sabbath did not give you the gift of the rest of God. Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your golden calf (Exodus 32:8). Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your Gideon’s ephod (Judges 8:27). Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your brazen snake (2 Kings 18:4). God is God and He will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). The gift is God’s rest for man. The weekly sabbath was the UPS delivery truck. Foolish men, stop worshipping brazen serpents and UPS delivery trucks. Worship God! 6.b. Here is another story to help explain this concept. I hire a man to dig a ditch for me. While he is digging Christ shows up. Christ says to the man, I’ll finish this job for you. When Christ finished digging the ditch he dismisses the man and tells him he is no longer needed, the job is done. So, the man goes away. Work is honorable and there is glory in it, but a completed job has greater glory. The whole purpose of the hired man was to complete a job. But the job was too big, he never would have completed it if Christ hadn’t come along and done it for him. Then my foreman shows up and is very upset. He says to Christ, “Where is the man hired to dig the ditch?” Christ said, I fulfilled his requirements, I finished the ditch, the job is done, he was no longer needed, and I dismissed him. The foreman was wroth. He sought out the man and brought him back and told him to get back to work. But he had no work to get back to. So, he just started digging useless ditches all over the place. The foreman, having no understanding, was very happy. The foreman looked at Christ and said, “See, now we don’t need You! You can go away, I have my workman back.” 7. Now that it has been explained and shown in the Scriptures why the sabbath of rest was established, let us move onto “Part II – When It Was Established” 8. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Sabbath Keeping Part II – When It Was Established 1. Before proceeding with this treatise, it is very important that one first read “Sabbath Keeping, Part I – Why It Was Established”. If you are one who worships the idol of sabbath keeping or are confused by those who teach the heresy of current day sabbath keeping, then you need to know that sabbath keeping was only a temporary tool God used to bring His children into His rest. 2. End of the week sabbath keeping was first brought to the attention of man, and only the Hebrews, circa two and one-half thousand years after the creation of man in the Garden of Eden. This brings us to circa 1,500 BC, and Exodus 16:22-23 KJV, “22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which [Yahowah] hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto [Yahowah]: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” Prior to this, the sabbath was unknown to man and not in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible. How do we know that the sabbath was unknown to man prior to Exodus 16:23? Look at Deuteronomy 5:15 KJV, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that [Yahowah] thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore [Yahowah] thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” See also Exodus 31:13. As you can read in verse fifteen, God gave the command to the Hebrews to keep the sabbath day of rest after He brought them out of the land of Egypt 430 years after He brought them into Egypt. This was circa 1,500 BC. If anyone can find an earlier date that God told anyone to keep the sabbath, or even told anyone that there was such a thing as the sabbath then please share this Scripture with us. We need to know. 3.a. There are some who mistakenly believe that the sabbath was instituted by God in Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, “2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” You will notice that the word sabbath is not in these two verses, nor in the book of Genesis at all. God did not call the seventh day of creation, the day on which He ceased from His creation activities, a sabbath day. Nor can it be shown in Scripture that the seventh day of creation falls into the Saturday slot. When God introduced the seventh day of creation as a day of rest, He was introducing His rest which He had prepared and desired for man to enter into, He was not introducing weekly sabbath keeping. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. 3.b. Furthermore, if God was introducing weekly sabbath keeping in Genesis 2, then why did He not do it on a sabbath day? There is no Biblical evidence to confirm that the seventh day of creation was a sabbath day. In fact, since Genesis 2 does not call the seventh day a sabbath, that would strongly suggest that it was not. If the doctrine of sabbath keeping was being introduced in Genesis 2, it would have benefited our tiny minds if our Creator had told us so, by at least telling us that He was talking about the sabbath. But He did not. He did not, because He was not introducing the doctrine of weekly sabbath keeping, instead He was introducing the doctrine of spiritual rest from our labors. See “Sabbath Keeping, Part I – Why It Was Established”. There is more Biblical evidence to show that the seventh day of creation was not a sabbath. However, to explain this, one must have knowledge of the Calendar of Scripture and one must assume that God began creation on the first day of the first month of the first year of creation. Why would He not? 3.c. God further supports the doctrine of entering into His rest with sabbath days that are not the seventh day of a perfect week. Days such as the feast days of Scripture and those days that specify that no work is to be done. The weekly sabbath was only one of several tools God used to teach us the doctrine of entering into His rest. 3.d. But for those that mistakenly believe that sabbath keeping is a doctrine in and of itself, for those who preach and teach the gospel of man, it is very important to them to establish its beginning in Genesis 2, a place where it simply is not found no matter how much bantering they do about it. Because sabbath keeping is not an end to itself, sabbath keeping is merely a temporary tool used by our Creator to teach us about His sabbath rest. Sabbath keeping was given only to the Hebrews and only after they departed Egypt. Ezekiel 20:12 KJV, “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am [Yahowah] that sanctify them.” See also Nehemiah 9:13-14 (Part III). 4.a. Subsequently, God furthered the doctrine of entering into His rest by introducing the weekly sabbath rest in Exodus 16:23, and three weeks later making it part of the Torah and the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11 KJV, “8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] 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: 11 For in six days [Yahowah] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore [Yahowah] blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” 4.b. Once again, for those who erroneously teach that these verses confirm that weekly sabbath keeping was taught in Genesis 2, we will take a closer look at these verses. First, I will point out the obvious. It is highly doubtful that God would start a teaching in Genesis 2:2-3 (wherein the sabbath was never mentioned) and then totally drop the subject for two and one-half thousand years; then continue with the teaching in Exodus 20:10-11. In Exodus 20:10a the word sabbath is written again, but it is not referring back to Genesis 2 and calling the seventh day of creation the sabbath. Instead, it is referring to the seventh day of a complete week and drawing a comparison, a type, with the six days of work performed in Genesis chapter one followed by a day of rest. Why is there a difference between the seventh day of creation and an end of the week sabbath? As discussed in paragraph 3a above, there is no Biblical proof that the seventh day of creation was the end of a complete week; in other words, there is no proof that it was in the Saturday slot. It should be no surprise that the Scriptural Calendar does not look like Gregory’s calendar. After all, Pope Gregory was part of the antichrist system and it was prophesied that this antichrist would think to change the times. Daniel 7:25 KJV, “And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” The changing of times has occurred from the Scriptural Calendar, with its Lunar and Sun time pieces, to a Sun only based calendar. 4.c. In Exodus 20:11 the sabbath is written again. It says that “Yahowah blessed the sabbath day”. The sabbath day which Yahowah blessed is the sabbath day mentioned in verse 8; and the seventh day and the sabbath day written in verse 10a; but it is not calling the seventh day of creation in verse 11 a sabbath day. Instead, it is merely using, once again, the pattern of the seventh day of creation as a type. It is saying that the pattern is that the seventh day following six days of work, is a sabbath. God even blessed and sanctified the seventh day of creation week, but He never called it a sabbath. Why is this distinction so important? It is important because those who want weekly sabbath observing to be a physical requirement for resting will never understand and strive for the spiritual rest – that God is teaching – that God has prepared for us and desires for us to enter. The Law is contrary to us and prevents us from entering into His rest. We will never obtain His rest, our salvation, by our own physical exertion and mental resolve to do so. It can only be obtained by trusting, believing, and having faith in the Almighty God, Yahowah is His name. 4.d. Besides, the sabbath rest was only given to the Hebrews in the Desert of Sin. Does that mean the rest of mankind is left out in the cold? Not at all. We all can enter into His rest, not by observing the Law or a weekly Sabbath, but by placing our faith and hope in the finished work of Yahoshua the Messiah upon the execution stake of Calvary. 5. Do not let this next point escape your notice, you may miss your salvation and end up on the road to hell. Even though the Hebrews fleeing Egypt to the Promise Land observed the weekly sabbath as required by the Torah, they did not enter into His rest. But those who believed the gospel entered into His rest. Hebrews 4:2-3,6 KJV, “2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.” 6. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Sabbath Keeping Part III – Who It Was Given To 1.a. The sons of Jacob became a nation when they were taken out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 4:34 KJV, “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that [Yahowah] your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” After God had led the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the Desert of Sin, the sabbath – for the first time – made its splash on the pages of Scripture. Exodus 16:22-23 KJV 22, “22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which [Yahowah] hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto [Yahowah]: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” It is important to know that no one, including the Hebrews, had been given the sabbath prior to this time. This is shown in Nehemiah 9:14 KJV, “And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.” See also Ezekiel 20:12 (Part II). God is being praised here for making known His holy sabbath to the Hebrews. In other words, His holy sabbath was not known prior to this time, the time of Moses. If you read Parts I and II of this Sabbath Keeping treatise you will find more Scriptures that verify this teaching. 1.b. The weekly sabbath was given to the Hebrews as part of the Torah and it was not given to anyone else. Even the New Testament testifies to this. Romans 2:14 and Romans 3:2 are two more examples of this. Romans 2:14 KJV, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:”. Romans 3:2 KJV, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” 2. The sabbath was not given to mankind, but to Israel only. And in Exodus 16, the sabbath was not given to Israel as part of their Law (the Torah), i.e., the Jewish legal system. The Law was yet to come at Mount Sinai. The sabbath was given to them as a rest and as a holy day unto Yahowah. No penalty was assessed to those who broke this sabbath, penalties were to come later, with the Law. No time limit was imposed in the Desert of Sin regarding the sabbath. God said He was testing their obedience. Exodus 16:4-5,27 KJV, “4 Then said [Yahowah] unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” When God said, “that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no,” this does not mean that the Law had now come. To properly understand this phrase, it needs to be understood as “I will test them now to see, when my law comes, whether they will obey it or not.” God was preparing His people for the introduction of the Torah. From Adam until Moses, God had introduced various laws that He expected men to obey. But it was not until Mount Sinai in Exodus 20 that God gave the Torah, and He gave it to His chosen people, the Hebrews, the descendants of Jacob and Jacob’s twelve sons. 3. With the introduction of the Torah came the requirement to keep the sabbath as part of a closed legal system. Exodus 20:8-11 KJV, “8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] 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: 11 For in six days [Yahowah] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore [Yahowah] blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Just because God has used the seven days of creation as a pattern for giving the sabbath day of rest to the Hebrews does not make creation week a perfect week (a week that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday) and it does not make the seventh day of creation a sabbath. When verse eleven says that Yahowah blessed the sabbath day, this Scripture is referring only to the seventh day of a perfect week that He has just given to the Hebrews. And He is using the seven days of creation only as a pattern of six days of work followed by one day of rest. He is not establishing, after the fact (three millennium later), that creation week had a sabbath at the end of it. There are some who are desperate to place God in a box. Their imaginations never rest inventing interpretations to Scriptures to ensure that at the end of the discussion that a sabbath has been established during creation week, even though the Scriptures do not teach it. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. 4. What is the Torah, or the Law (meaning the Law of Moses)? Deuteronomy 31:24-26 KJV, “24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of [Yahowah] saying 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of [Yahowah] your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” The Law (the Ten Commandments plus more) which was given at Mount Sinai, was first written in Scripture in Exodus 20:1 and continued to be written well into Exodus 23 and beyond. The Law is confirmed in Exodus 24:3 with oaths from the Hebrews; with the preparation of altars in Exodus 24:4; with offerings by the people in Exodus 24:5; with the sanctification of the people in Exodus 24:8; and God giving a written copy in stone of those laws (the Torah) in Exodus 24:12. Exodus 20:1 KJV, “And God spoke all these words, saying,” Exodus 24:3 KJV, “And Moses came and told the people all the words of [Yahowah], and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which [Yahowah] hath said will we do.” Exodus 24:4 KJV, “And Moses wrote all the words of [Yahowah], and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” Exodus 24:5 KJV, “And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto [Yahowah].” Exodus 24:8 KJV, “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which [Yahowah] hath made with you concerning all these words.” Exodus 24:12 KJV, “And [Yahowah] said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” 5. We can now see that Yahowah’s seventh day of a perfect week sabbath had a place in history (for only three weeks) with only the Israelites before the Torah (or Law) and it has had a separate history within the Torah and the Israelite nation that the Torah was given to. So, when the Torah is taken away, we can more clearly see how this affects the keeping of the sabbath. Since the Torah was given to the Israelites, when the Torah is taken away, it can only be taken from the Israelites, because no one else had it. Since the Torah was the only legal system that required the keeping of the sabbath, then sabbath keeping outside of the Torah is not required by God. But one might say, wait a minute, the keeping of the sabbath was required before the Torah in the Desert of Sin as spoken of in Exodus 16:23. That is true. But it seems clear to me that Yahowah, in His graciousness and wisdom gave the sabbath to the Israelites just prior to the Torah, because He was breaking them in slowly and methodically to their new requirements that were yet to come. Many times when driving on the road, prior to a stop sign or a change in speed limit, a warning sign appears: “Stop Ahead” or “Reduce Speed Ahead”. The Desert of Sin story in Exodus 16 is a warning sign from our God: “Change In Rules Ahead” or “Heads Up, Something New Is Happening”. After all, He did not establish penalties for sabbath breaking in the Desert of Sin. Those penalties came with the Torah. 6. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Sabbath Keeping Part IV – Is It For Today? 1. A valid question about the longevity of sabbath keeping should be asked. If, as I have written in “Sabbath Keeping, Part III – Who It Was Given To”, that sabbath keeping can be taken away, then how does that reconcile with the following statements: in Exodus 31:13 it says, the sabbath should be kept “throughout your generations”; in Exodus 31:16 it says the sabbath should be kept “throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant”; in Leviticus 16:31 it says, the sabbath would be “a statute for ever”; and in Leviticus 24:8 it says, the sabbath would be an “an everlasting covenant”? Exodus 31:13 KJV, “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am [Yahowah] that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:16 KJV, “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” Leviticus 16:31 KJV, “It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.” Leviticus 24:8 KJV, “Every sabbath he shall set it in order before [Yahowah] continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.” What does it mean to say throughout your/their generations, and perpetual, and forever, and an everlasting covenant? It means exactly what it says – forever, or continuously, or everlasting, in other words, for eternity. So, why do I contend with those who insist that sabbath keeping is a perpetual requirement? 2. As mentioned in Part III, sabbath keeping was given to the Israelites and not to men everywhere. The sabbath was never given to Christians in the New Testament. I can find a lot of Scriptures in the New Testament that give commands to Christians regarding their behavior and requirements expected of them, and many of these commands are identical to those given in the Torah, or before the Torah was ever given. But, if you can find a single New Testament Scripture that requires Christians to keep the sabbath, please share it with us. We need to know! 3. Some Messianic Jewish organizations contend that New Testament Christians have now become Jews by conversion. Look at Deuteronomy 4:34 KJV, “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that [Yahowah] your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” Israelites come from Jacob and his twelve sons, therefore a Christian is not an Israelite, or Jewish. Romans 9:6-8 KJV, “6 For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Galatians 4:28 KJV, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” In other words, Christians are reckoned through Isaac, not his son Israel. Once again, if you can find a Scripture(s) that states that Christians have become Jewish, please share it with us. We need to know! 4. So what has become of sabbath keeping? In paragraph one above it is pointed out that the Scriptures teach that the sabbath is to be kept by the Israelites, Jews, forever. Yahoshua has done just that, He has kept not only the sabbath, but the whole Torah, forever; so that the Jews, nor anyone else, ever has to keep it again. Matthew 5:17 KJV, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” (See also Luke 24:44.) And fulfill He did. Christ Yahoshua kept the requirements, not only of the Torah, not only of the prophets, but also all of God’s laws for men. If you think not, then what about Christ’s sacrifice upon the Roman execution stake at Calvary at the hands of the Jewish leaders of that day and at the hands of Pontius Pilate? Christ provided for the payment of our sins once for all for all time. Christians have no problem in believing this, so why is it so difficult to believe that He has kept the whole law for all time? Romans 6:23 KJV, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [Yahoshua the] Christ our Lord.” Do Christians have to die for their sins, or did Christ pay for those sins in our stead? John 3:16 KJV, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Understand this, we no longer need to sacrifice lambs, or bulls, or red heifers, Christ was our sacrificial lamb, once for all for all time. And He could do this because He was God and because He was the only one who could keep the Torah for all time. It is done, it is finished, the veil has been rent from top to bottom and Christians have access to the holy of holies. Matthew 27:51 KJV, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;”. Christ said it on the stake just before He expired – “it is finished.” John 19:30 KJV, “When [Yahoshua] therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” 5. If you are keeping the sabbath because you are Jewish, then stop. Believe on the Lord Yahoshua the Messiah and be set free from the requirements of the law and be free from the penalty of your sins. If you are keeping the sabbath because it is part of the Mosaic Law or the Ten Commandments, then stop. If you are not a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. If you are a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. Romans 3:20 KJV, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Galatians 5:4 KJV, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” 6. Even the Holy Spirit and the apostles teach against any requirement for men to be keeping the sabbath. During a council or meeting in Jerusalem, in the first century, only limited requirements were put upon Christians as they came to the faith. Acts 15:10-11 KJV, “10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord [Yahoshua the] Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Acts 15:28-29 KJV, “28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.” There are no sabbath keeping requirements here. 7. While doing this study, I became thoroughly convinced that sabbath keeping was not a requirement of the law anymore, nor a requirement for any man to keep ever again. I have been saved by the shed Blood of Christ Yahoshua. Believing this is an act of faith. Faith that has been imparted to me from God the Father by His grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV, “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Colossians 2:16-17 KJV, “16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Galatians 4:9-10 KJV, “9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” I would pray that those Christians who have stuck with me this far, would now open the Scriptures to Colossians, chapter two. Please read this chapter keeping in mind the whole time that it is describing your freedom from being taken captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy and freedom from sabbath keeping. May Yahowah richly bless you in your love of our Lord Yahoshua the Christ. 8. Now that it has been shown in paragraph four above that Yahoshua has met the requirements of the Torah for all time and in paragraph six above that the Holy Ghost does not require believers to keep the weekly sabbath any more, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that weekly sabbath keeping is not required. God does not require anyone to keep the sabbath any longer. You need to understand that not only are you not saved by the Torah, no one ever was and no one ever could be; but you need to further understand that weekly sabbath keeping is putting oneself under the Torah and therefore becomes a dividing wall between you and the Messiah. It is a sin that leads to the broad path of destruction if you persist and do not repent. If a Christian brother observes a special day because it is part of the Torah or any legal system and thereby hopes to save his soul; or teaches others to observe a weekly sabbath because of the Torah; then rebuke him. Galatians 5:4 KJV, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” 2 Peter 1:9 KJV, “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” And Galatians 3:10-14 KJV, “10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the [nations] through [Yahoshua the] Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” For the man who claims that he is already saved by grace and not the Torah, but then goes back to observing the Torah anyway, please reread Galatians 3:12 in this paragraph. It states very plainly that you have gone back under the Law. And reread Galatians 5:4 in this paragraph, it cannot be made more clear – YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE! 9. Once again, Yahoshua said, John 14:15,21 KJV, “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Yahoshua the Messiah is not saying for us to obey the Torah – that has already been covered in this treatise – He is saying that you are to obey Him out of love, not out of legal obligation; you are to obey Him because you believe in Him and trust that what He says is best for your life now and for all eternity. John 10:10b KJV, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” 10. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Sabbath Keeping Part V – Fleshly Legalism Brings Death, The Spirit Brings Life by Sandy Mauck Everything that Yahoshua would try to teach, the Pharisees wanted to take into the realm of the flesh. They were supposed to be spiritual but they were really flesh. Our precious Lord taught us over and over to stop looking at the fleshly aspects of things; instead, look at the spiritual. The spiritual man is that which is important. He called them on it concerning everything they said to him. Over and over He purposely healed on the sabbath so they could see that their hearts were flesh and not spirit. When the man at the pool of Bethesda was healed, He told him to pick up his bed. This of course freaked the Pharisees out as they were making their sabbath keeping rounds. When they got after the guy, he told it like it was. (In my words) The guy that healed me told me to do it – why should I NOT do what He says! That is the message. We can tithe and do all the stuff according to the law but God is a heart changer. When people want to bring you under legalism, one legalistic thing becomes another, and so on. Why? Because it is a trap. Religion is a trap. Many of us grew up in very religious churches and they had all their traditions that they did. Did it bring forth life? No, of course not, it brought death. It was in the heart of our God to send His Son to show the world the heart of the matter. If you look back to the reasoning of the beginning of the sabbath, it wasn’t so much for the rest of the Hebrews but that those people would NOT put others under slavery as they had been. He knew them. He knew they were hard hearted even before they manifested it in the wilderness. And we are all the same. Not one of us is pure in ourselves. We are all flesh. Our only righteousness is in our Savior who paid the price for our sins. Don’t tempt God with legalism – HE HATES IT! Does He want us to rest physically? Of course, but He wants us to be led by His Holy Spirit in all things. The Holy Spirit might tell you to rest for a week or a month or a year! But the bottom line is that HE IS OUR REST. An all encompassing precious concept of the Spirit of the Living God! He paid for it. We can now rest in that! This is the conclusion of the Calendar of Scripture and Sabbath Keeping which is fleshly legalism not Spirit led faith in God. ———————————————————————- Reprinted with permission from: Bible Doctrine’s https://www.bibletimemarkers.com/ ———————————————————————- |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Richard & Sandra’s Article: Below, I begin the minimum treatise’s I’ve written to help explain the Sabbath day. Ten teachings, almost 57,000 words, and over a decade of work. How does one summarize that? Here is what you need to know. 1. Time markers in Scripture. 2. A day start is sunrise. 3. The correct definition of sunrise. 4. The correct definition of sunset. 5. The correct definition of between the evenings. 6. That even/evening is our modern day afternoon. 7. What a perfect week is. 8. How to count 7 perfect weeks to Shavot. 9. The difference between Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 10. Passover is one day. 11. Feast of Unleavened Bread is 7 days. 12. When the word feast is used, you need to know what it means. 13. When the words unleavened feast are used, you need to know what that means. 14. Feast and Unleavened Feast do not always mean the same thing each time they are used. 15. The correct definition of a “high sabbath”. 16. The correct definition of preparation day. 17. Need to know that Rabbinic Judaism does not override Scriptures, it is the other way around. 18. Need to know that the Last Supper cannot be the Passover feast. If it were, then Christ has sinned. One can only know these 18 things, by using the proper Calendar of Scripture. Laura Lee writes: First I want to say that I am truly sorry that you spent over a decade on this false doctrine. That is a lot of time, so I doubt that you will want to hear what I have to say about all this, however since I let you have your say, I would appreciate it if you listen to what I have to say about all of this. I am going to go over what you sent to us and show you from scripture and a few other documents, where you are wrong. The only thing I have to say about your list above is that it is quite a list, which I do not agree with all of the things on your list but let’s continue. Richard & Sandra’s Article: Calendar of Scripture Part I – Mechanics of the Calendar 1. I have tried to find a name for the Scriptural Calendar that is not in common usage. There are many people, and I am sure their numbers will grow especially if they borrow from what is written here, that have developed calendars which they name the Bible calendar, Yah’s calendar, creation calendar, and more. So, the calendar I have been led to develop is named the Calendar of Scripture, also known as the Scriptural Calendar. I believe this to be the most accurate of all calendars in use today no matter the source or name; be it Julian, Gregorian, Rabbinic Jewish, etc. The importance of this Calendar of Scripture is that it reflects the way time was kept from the beginning (Genesis 1:1) until some time after Yahoshua’s departure back to the right hand of the Father. Laura Lee writes: It looks like you not only made up your own calendar, but you seem also to be encouraging others to make up their own calendars. There is only one calendar that I know of that has been sanctified and that would be the Hebrew Calendar as preserved for us by the tribe of Judah. The Hebrew Calendar is the most accurate calendar there is. Even after over 1700 years of not being tweaked all the Holy Days fall in the right seasons and the Full Moon always shows up on Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread and also on the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Not only that but no one made it up. It was the calendar being kept at the time of Christ. So, tell me Richard, is your calendar sanctified? Does the Full Moon show up every Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread and every First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles? If not, you may have made up your calendar in vain. Also, by encouraging others to make up their own calendars you are creating a great deal of confusion. 1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. To prevent confusion there should only be one calendar by which to keep God’s Holy Days. Is your calendar the one that was used at the time of Christ, and can you prove that? Richard & Sandra’s Article: 2. The Scriptural Calendar was changed by Gentile and Jew alike. This is by no means an exhaustive look at some calendars. Hillel II, the son and successor of Judah III, was a Hebrew Sanhedrin leader circa 320-385 AD. Traditionally he is regarded as the creator of the modern Jewish calendar. Others ascribe the Jewish calendar to Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, sometimes contracted to Rambam, who lived circa 1137-1204 AD. The modern civil calendar, widely in use today, was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII; hence its name of Gregorian calendar. The Jewish calendar is normally referred to as a lunar calendar, even though the movement of the sun is involved in its making, and Gregory’s calendar is considered a solar based calendar. The Calendar of Scripture is lunar and solar based, because God has created two time pieces for us to use. Genesis 1:14 KJV, “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:16 KJV, “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.” Genesis 1:18 KJV, “And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Psalm 104:19 KJV, “He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.” Laura Lee writes: I don’t believe anyone in the Saturday sabbath keeping community would dispute the fact that God gave both the sun and the moon as time pieces and the calendar that most of us keep is a lunar/solar calendar. It is called the Hebrew Calendar. I noticed that the only scriptures you quoted above were the ones that fit your calendar doctrine. If your calendar is true, why not quote the whole thing? Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: Gen 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. Gen 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. What you are trying to tell us is that your calendar was the one that God used from the beginning of time, however that is not true and people will see that as we get further into this. Richards calendar is based on there being a “New Moon Day” before the seven days of creation. The problem with that is that as you can see the moon was not created until the fourth day of creation, which on Richard’s calendar would be the fifth day of creation or Thursday. Do I have that right? Also you are stating above or at least implying heavily that Maimonides and Hillel II created our modern day Hebrew calendar when that is not true at all: Moses Maimonides tells us that the moon sightings were secondary to the astronomical calculations in the Sanhedrin at the time of Christ. All Hillel II did was to make those same calendar calculations public: https://www.church-of-god-bismarck.org/linked/maimonides.pdf From Maimonides page 3 4. The court used to employ methods of calculation of the kind employed by astronomers in order to ascertain whether the new moon of the coming month would be seen to the north or to the south of the sun, whether its latitude would be wide or narrow, and in which direction the tips of its horns would point. And when witnesses appeared in order to testify, the court used to examine them as follows: Where did you see the new moon, to the north or to the south? In which direction did its horns point? How great was its altitude, in the estimate of your eyes, and how wide its latitude? If their testimony was found to conform with the results of astronomical calculation, it was accepted; but if it was found not to conform, it was rejected. From: Maimonides-P.pdf (church-of-god-bismarck.org) From “The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar” by Arthur Spier: In the fourth century, however, when oppression and persecution threatened the continued existence of the Sanhedrin, the patriarch Hillel II took an extraordinary step to preserve the unity of Israel. In order to prevent the Jews scattered all over the surface of the earth from celebrating their New Moons, festivals, and holidays at different times, he made public the system of calendar calculation which up to then had been a closely guarded secret. It had been used in the past only to check the observations and testimonies of witnesses, and to determine the beginnings of the spring season. In accordance with this system, Hillel II formally sanctified all months in advance, and intercalated all future leap years until such time as a new, recognized Sanhedrin would be established in Israel. (End Quote) As you can see the Hebrew calendar complete with the correct holy days and their correct dates was sanctified into the future by the Sanhedrin which at the time of Christ was given the job of sanctifying the calendar all through the years that the Sanhedrin existed. The Jews at the time the Sanhedrin could no longer meet to sanctify the calendar understood full well that people would fall into confusion as the church of God has done in our day if they did not make the calendar calculations public so everyone could keep the same days at the same time. For those who do not understand the Hebrew Calendar I suggest you read Maimonides, The Comprehensive Hebrew Calendar by Arthur Spier and Understanding the Jewish Calendar by Rabbi Nathan Bushwick. Also pay close attention to articles we print in regard to the Holy Days and Weekly Sabbaths as the dates given for the Holy Days on the Hebrew Calendar can all be proven from scripture. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3. Even though Scripture does not teach a calendar, one can reasonably deduce from the information given that a solar year was three hundred sixty days in the beginning, with twelve lunar months of thirty days each. Genesis 7:11 KJV, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Genesis 8:3-4 KJV, “3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” It appears that here in Genesis we are shown that a five month period was exactly one hundred fifty days or five thirty-day months. Laura Lee writes: Do you honestly believe that God would tell us to keep His Holy Days and then He would not leave us a calendar to keep them by? Calendars are not based on past conditions. Calendars are based on what we have now. When Noah was in the ark, it was a transition between pre-flood time and after-flood time. Just about everything changed during the flood. What we are left with today is 365.2422 days in a year on a solar calendar. This is why February has a 29th day every four years plus some other calculations to do with this method still coming up short. A lunar year is 354.37 days long and a lunar month is approximately 29.530589 days long. So, as you can see neither of these is anywhere near a year consisting of 360 days or 30 days in a month. To top all that off, you have to use both the sun and the moon in God’s Calendar, and I know of no one who can do this perfectly, but the Hebrew Calendar is pretty close to keeping perfect time. For those who have studied the Hebrew Calendar, it is said to be the most accurate calendar that ever was. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 4. The changes in format of the Calendar of Scripture is the most drastic when placing the days of a month in their proper spots. For those who religiously follow the current modern calendars in use, both the Rabbinic and Gregory’s calendar, this placement of the days within a month will disturb your sensibilities the most. I suggest, if you want to make use of this calendar for prophecy, for tracking of events and festivals and sabbaths, and especially for discerning the order of events in the histories written in the Bible, that you should just get over it. Check the calendar out, use it, and learn to think outside the box*. *NOTE: Interestingly, under the unction of the Holy Ghost, I started the box thing a couple of decades back, around 1985-6. It was strange to see when it started to make the mainstream circa 2005. It’s in commercials, it’s on the news, it’s in the workplace and marketplace. It was originally employed as a witnessing example. It originally was used to help people be set free to come to know the one true God and His Son that sacrificed His Blood and Life so that man could be reconciled to Him. Now it is used by the secular world to sell tacos. Laura Lee writes: I think you might have a problem being reconciled to God if you insist on making up your own calendar and then telling God where His Holy Days are on it. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 5. When it comes to keeping track of God’s time pieces, we can only make guesses as to how He started it all and what has changed since then. A day is normally considered to be approximately twenty-four hours from one sunrise to the next. Laura Lee writes: Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And yes, there are 24 hours in a day. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 6. The moon goes through phases throughout a month. In the beginning and now, a new moon always started a month. A new moon is the day that the disc of the moon is dark and therefore not visible. In the beginning of time there were two new moon days every month; one at the beginning and one at the end of every month with four seven-day weeks in-between. Now, some months do not end with a new moon day and those months only have twenty-nine days in them. The beauty of this calendar is that if one ever becomes disoriented and loses track of the days or months, all that needs to be done is to wait for the new moon and you can start counting the months again. Laura Lee writes: I believe someone has led you astray. There is only one new moon per month, just like there is only 1 full moon per month. And it shows up once approximately every 29.5 days. From the Farmer’s Almanac: The new Moon marks the beginning of a lunar cycle. This means that there’s a new Moon about once a month, because the Moon takes about a month (29.5 days) to orbit Earth. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 7. Please note that there is a difference between a new moon and a new moon day. A new moon is the day that zero percent of the moon’s crescent is visible. A new moon is assigned to always be the first of a month, and in a thirty day month the thirtieth is a new moon day. The first of every month is always a new moon as well as a new moon day. The thirtieth of a month is a new moon day, but it is not a new moon. Sometimes the thirtieth of a month new moon day might have a one to three percent crescent visible, although with that small a crescent it may not be detectible with the naked eye. Laura Lee writes: I believe you are now playing word games. There is only one new moon approximately every 29.5 days. The new moon day is the first day of a lunar month. The thirtieth day of the month is just that, the thirtieth day of the month. No more and no less. Saying there are two new moon days in a month is like saying there are two full moons per month and there is actually only one full moon per lunar month. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 8. In the beginning there were probably 360 days in a year. Now, so we are told, a year is a little over 364 days. There is no longer 12 months of 30 days each in the Calendar of Scripture. Instead, six of the months have only 29 days in them. Every several years a leap month must be added to the calendar. The modern Rabbinic calendar also does this same thing. 9. The leap months can occur every two or three years and roughly even themselves out in a nineteen year cycle. This is what the current Rabbinic calendar does and today’s Scriptural Calendar follows the same pattern. But outside of the occasional insertion of a leap month between the eleventh and twelfth months and the counting of years the similarity between the two calendars differs greatly. 10. In Gregory’s calendar there is only one type of day in a week, month, or year, and that is a weekday; in other words, a day that is part of a seven day week. A day must be a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, or Saturday. There are no other choices in Gregory’s calendar. The modern Rabbinic calendar does not have only one type of day in a week, month, or year, as Gregory’s has, but there are two types of days. There are the work days in a week, six of them, followed by a sabbath day of rest. If one overlays the modern Rabbinic calendar with Gregory’s calendar then the seven days of a modern Hebrew week, for convenience sake only, can be called a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, and Saturday is unique because it is called the weekly sabbath day. The sabbath is different than the other days because the first six days are work days and the sabbath is a rest day. Both the modern Rabbinic calendar and Gregory’s calendar are inferior calendars. One cannot hope to keep track of prophecy, or festival times, or a sabbath day, or even a month, with these calendars. Laura Lee writes: You do realize that the Gregory Calendar as you call it has nothing at all to do with the Hebrew Calendar. And the Hebrew Calendar is inferior because your calendar is superior? You made up your calendar. Those of us who use the Hebrew Calendar are not having a problem using it to keep track of Holy Days or Weekly Sabbaths, I am sorry that you do not understand the Hebrew Calendar. I know you don’t understand the Hebrew Calendar because of statements you have made about it thus far. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 11. The Scriptural Calendar can easily keep track of the weekly sabbaths, the other annual sabbaths, a month, and it can assist one in calculating prophecy dates more accurately. The Scriptural Calendar does not only have one type of day as Gregory’s calendar, or only two types of days as the Rabbinic Judaism calendar, but it has three types of days. The make-up of a month with a balance of new moon days and perfect weeks is where the strangeness comes in to the current mindset as I wrote in paragraph four above. The three types of days are new moon days, work days, and weekly sabbath days. Work days cover Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Work days are never new moon days and they are never a weekly sabbath day or Saturday. Weekly sabbaths are always Saturdays. Special sabbath days and festivals can land on any day from Sunday through Saturday and they can even over lap with a new moon day as it does on the first day of the seventh month of Ethanim (aka Tishrei). Numbers 29:1 KJV, “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you.” New moon days are unique to most people’s idea of a type of day and will be discussed in its own paragraph. 2 Kings 4:23 KJV, “And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.” Colossians 2:16 KJV, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” Laura Lee writes: The first day of the seventh month is the Feast of Trumpets and it is the day the entire Hebrew Calendar is set by. And why don’t you quote Colossians 2:16-17 so you get the full meaning of what is being said? Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in regard of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come for the body of Christ. (My Version) Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (KJV) I am not quite sure how you are using Colossians 2:16-17 here but most non Sabbath Keepers use it to do away with the Law of God and the Holy Days. If you keep the Holy Days they picture the plan of God, if you don’t keep them you are blind to the plan of God. What these verses are saying is to not judge people because they keep food laws or laws of God and annual holy days and the new moon day and the weekly sabbaths. So here we are talking about food laws and the law of God, annual sabbaths and weekly sabbaths. When it speaks of the new moon day here it is specifically referring to Feast of Trumpets and indirectly to the calendar which is set by the first day of the seventh month or Tishri one. In verse 17 it is telling us that the things in verse 16 are a shadow of the things to come for the body of Christ. In other words, the things in verse 16 are all the things which tell us about the plan of God. The two verses go together, and they abolish nothing. They are both referring to the plan of God for His people. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 12. A new moon always begins each of the twelve months and the thirteenth month in a leap month year. If there are two new moon days in a row, the first new moon day is the thirtieth day of a month and the second new moon day is the first day of the next month. It is speculated that in the beginning that there were always two new moon days in a month, therefore, every month had thirty days. In modern times, there are some months with only twenty-nine days because there is only one new moon day in that month. New moon days only fall on the first or the thirtieth of a month. Work days never land on the first or thirtieth of a month. The first and the thirtieth of a month are never part of a week; in other words, new moon days are never a Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Friday, or Saturday. New moon days are an entity of their own, they are not part of a week, ever. But new moon days are part of a month. Remember, you must think outside of the box, because new moon days are outside the weekly box. The lack of understanding of this Scriptural Calendar is why the modern Rabbinic calendar is so complicated and messed up. Gregory’s calendar cannot compete either. Laura Lee writes: Personally, I believe the only messed up calendar here is yours. Who is speculating that there were two new moon days in a month from the beginning? Where is it in scripture? Again, the new moon only happens approximately every 29.5 days, so you can only have one new moon in a lunar month. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 13. Please think about this. Since the first of a month is always a new moon day which is not part of a week, then the second of every month is always a Sunday. And this is true all the way back to creation week. Therefore, the weekly sabbath always lands on the eighth of every month, all the way back to creation week. It never changes. Add seven days to the eighth of a month and you have the fifteenth, and that is always a sabbath too – in every month, every where, all the time, in history. Add another seven days and the twenty-second is always a weekly sabbath and so is the twenty-ninth. These dates and their assigned slots within a week never change. As the first of a month hangs by itself outside of a week, but within a month, so does the thirtieth of a month. Laura Lee writes: No one needs to think outside of any box for this calendar. Your calendar is a mess and I know of no one who would keep it except you and your wife perhaps. And the Sabbath is the seventh day of creation and not the eighth day of creation. You actually just put God in your box and called God a liar. If God had a day called a new moon day before the first day of creation week He would have said so, but He did not. Not only that but by your inserting a new moon day before the first day of creation week you are claiming there was a moon before the first day of creation week. The moon was created on the fourth day of creation week (Genesis 1:14-19) not before creation week and not on the fifth day of your calendar. And don’t try to tell us it was only a new moon day and not a new moon, because you already explained the difference between a new moon and a new moon day and the first day of a month on your calendar is always a new moon, but there was no moon before the first day of creation week. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 14. New moon days are non-work days, but there is no Scriptural prohibition from performing work on a new moon day, unless it is an annual sabbath day. New moon days, traditionally, were used as non-work days. But, under the Torah, no laws or rules were broken if someone chose to work on a new moon day. New moon days are not weekly sabbath days either. A new moon day can be an annual sabbath day if God has designated it as such as He did for the first of Ethanim (the seventh month). 15. Sample Calendar month follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 (30) Every month follows this pattern. Laura Lee writes: So above is Richard’s calendar month. The first and the thirtieth day if there is one is not counted as part of a week. The first and the thirtieth if there is one are only counted as part of a month. It totally falls apart when you look in Genesis one as God counts down the days and see that God did not include a new moon day, in His creation, that falls outside of the week. It would be pretty hard for this new moon day to exist outside of the week from the beginning since scripture says the following. Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. Gen 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. God didn’t even create the moon until the fourth day of creation. If a new moon day is outside of the weeks, then God would have had to create the moon before the first day as spoken of in Genesis. You cannot have a new moon day either inside the box or outside the box without a moon. And there was no moon until the fourth day of creation. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 16. With the knowledge of this calendar one can always know when a weekly sabbath is; however, that is not important anymore. One can always know that Passover is the fourteenth and it is always a Friday, every year, and never changes. And so it is with every holiday or festival day. It is the same day of the month, every year, never a change. For those ministries, and I have not found one that is correct yet (but I have not seen all of them), that mistakenly dream up the events of crucifixion week, one can now determine, from Scripture, the true sequence of events. The Last Supper was on Wednesday, the crucifixion took place on Thursday, Passover was Friday. Laura Lee writes: Did you take math in school? Because if you did take math in school none of what you just said would even add up to anything. The last supper that Christ ate with His disciples was on a Tuesday night. Christ was crucified on Wednesday afternoon (between the evenings). Wednesday was the preparation day for Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread. He was put in the tomb just before sunset on Wednesday and He rose just before Sunset on Saturday, which put Him in the grave for 3 Days and 3 Nights exactly as scripture tells us. Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. From scripture we know that Christ was risen already when they came to the tomb with spices on Sunday morning the first day of the week. Mat 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Mar 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. Luk 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. Joh 20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. And if you sincerely believe the weekly Sabbath is no longer important, tell that to God and see where it lands you. It is written into the law of God and the law has not been done away as many seem to believe. Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: Deu 5:14 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill. Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal. Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s. Deu 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone and delivered them unto me. Most people who believe the ten commandments are to be kept keep all of them except the Sabbath Command which they throw out as well as all the annual Holy Days. Is there a problem with keeping God’s Sabbath? Why not just get rid of all of the commandments and then your life will be better when people come and try to murder you because murder is okay for people to do without a law? My question to you is why do you need a calendar? You don’t believe you need to keep the Law of God, so why do you need a calendar? (It becomes apparent later in this article that Richard does not believe the Law of God is to be kept by Christians, that it was only for the Israelites.) Richard & Sandra’s Article: 17. I have not found anyone who makes a calendar like this. I make one for myself. Then I overlay Gregory’s calendar so that I can keep proper track of all days and events. The only calendars I see in the marketplace, take Gregory’s calendar and overlay the modern Rabbinic calendar on top of it. No where to be seen is the Calendar of Creation. There are a few people who have constructed a nearly correct calendar from Scripture. But some fail to begin the day at the correct time, and some fail to begin the month on the correct day due to a mistaken understanding of what constitutes a new moon. Sometimes these calendars, as well as the Rabbinic calendars, are up to two and three days off in the beginning of a month. Laura Lee writes: I find your calendar to be way off. And once again Gregory’s calendar is not a part of the Hebrew Calendar, nor has it ever been. The Gregorian calendar was not even created until 1582. The Hebrew calendar has been in use since before Christ. As we already went over, the moon was not even created until the fourth day so according to you, even God does not have a perfect calendar such as yours which starts a month with a new moon day. As far as the Hebrew Calendar goes, it is set from Tishri one and is meant to slide a little bit in order to have all annual holy days show up at the appointed time of God. Passover/First Day of Unleavened Bread and the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles are always on a Full Moon and Tishri one is a New Moon. Your calendar prevents Passover and Tabernacles from showing up on a Full Moon. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 18. With this calendar other mysteries clear up as well. We can know that the seven days of creation did not end with the seventh day landing on a sabbath. That is why it is not called a sabbath, it is only called the seventh day on which God ceased from His work of creating. He ceased from His work on a Friday. But one must also know when a day begins, or one cannot properly know how to calculate this calendar. One must know where to place the International Dateline on its proper meridian (Deuteronomy 11:12 KJV, “A land which [Yahowah] thy God careth for: the eyes of [Yahowah] thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”). Then one can determine what is meant in Scripture about the countdown to Shavuot which includes the counting of perfect weeks. One must know what a perfect week means. One can learn the proper meaning of “between the evenings”. One can learn the true significance of “after the sabbaths” when the Marys arrived at Yahoshua’s tomb after the crucifixion. Basically, a whole wealth of misinterpreted terms and sequences suddenly blossom to life from the pages of Scripture when one knows how to properly construct and use the Calendar of Scripture. Laura Lee writes: Wow, these things blossomed for me and a lot of other people without the use of your calendar, for no one has heard of your calendar unless they accidentally came across your website. Looks to me like your calendar is becoming more complicated as you go through things. Exo 20:11 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. Exo. 20:11 is referring to Gen. 2:2-3 so it doesn’t matter if God didn’t say in Genesis that the seventh day was a Sabbath day because He tells you for sure that it was in Exo. 20:11. Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. A perfect week is seven days whether it is on your calendar, the Gregorian Calendar or the Hebrew Calendar. The count to Shavuot starts the day after Passover or Nisan 16. Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal; and they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, in the selfsame day. (King James Version) Jos 5:10 And the sones of Israel dwelliden in Galgalis, and maden pask in the fourtenthe dai of the monethe at euentide, in the feeldi places of Jerico; (Wycliffe Bible 1382) Wycliffe’s Bible tells us that they kept Passover in Gilgal on the fourteenth at eventide which is the end of the day at sunset. Passover is kept on Nissan 15 from evening to evening or from sunset to sunset and the morrow after the Passover they were eating the fruit of the land because they had already made the wave sheaf offering on Nisan 16 which is the day after the Passover (meal and death angel passing over). And that should answer as to when the days start and end. They go from sunset to sunset and not from morning to morning as I am sure you are going to try to tell us. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 19. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part I – Why It Was Established On Wednesday June 6, 2018, my Father told me men changed the calendar that was from the beginning, and He allowed it to happen. He allowed it to happen so that all but a few would forever be mistaken when calculating Holy Convocation Days. The Sabbath would be sought after, but almost never found. Fallen men would attempt to worship this idol – the Sabbath Day – but never succeed. I took from them Moses’ snake on a pole, and I took from them Gideon’s Breastplate because men began to worship them. So too, I took the Sabbath from them because they were worshipping it. Laura Lee writes: Keeping the Sabbath that God made Holy from the beginning is not worshipping an idol. (Gen. 2:2-3) If I were you, I would be careful in thinking that such a message as stated above has anything at all to do with God. Keep in mind that Satan broadcasts all the time, twenty-four seven. It is more likely that your message above came from Satan himself. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 1. Deuteronomy 5:13-15 KJV, “13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that [Yahowah] thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore [Yahowah] thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” Mark 2:27 KJV, “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” These Scriptures identify why sabbath keeping was established by Yahowah. He gave it so that man, the servants of men, and the beasts of burden would have a period of rest each week. It was given, by a loving God, to increase their quality of life. 2. The sabbath was also given by Yahowah as a precursor, as a type, to His rest that is yet to come for all His children who become born again. This rest, that is to come, is discussed in Hebrews 3:7-19 continuing through 4:1-11 KJV, “7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” Here the word rest is first spoken in this group of Scriptures. This is the teaching on which we are focusing. “12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? “Rest is written here again. This is the true sabbath rest that God has been teaching throughout the Bible. Not a weekly rest, but a spiritual rest now in the present, and an eternal rest forever. “19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” and in Hebrews 4:1-5 KJV, “1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” God has prepared a rest for us, but we must have the faith to enter into this rest. Beginning in Exodus 16 the Hebrews were taught to observe this rest by a weekly sabbath. However, they did not exercise and apply their faith. Therefore, God did not allow most of them to enter into His rest. “4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.” Here God shows the pattern and teaching He prepared for us even from the beginning, even from the seventh day of creation. He did not introduce the sabbath at this time however. But He did introduce the rest that He had prepared for us. It is the rest that God focuses on in Genesis 2:2-3 and here in Hebrews chapters three and four. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. His focus is not on the physical requirements of a sabbath rest day, instead His focus is on the spiritual rest from all our labors. His focus is on the spiritual rest that is ours when we rest in the finished work of Yahoshua on the tree of Calvary. We cannot strive to reach God and strive to maintain our salvation. We can only rest in the power and sovereignty of Yahowah. He did not need our help in creating the heavens and the Earth, He did not need our help in paying for our sins by Yahoshua’s death on the tree, and He does not need our help in preparing an eternal rest for us. But He does want our faith and belief that He created the heavens and the Earth. And He wants our faith and belief that He did atone for our sins on the execution stake at Calvary. And He wants our faith and belief that we can enter into His rest. Without this faith we cannot please God, Hebrews 11:6. “Hebrews 4:6-11 KJV, “6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if [Yahoshua] had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” This is what God was teaching in Genesis 2:2-3; this is what God was teaching in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5; and this is what God is teaching here in Hebrews 3 and 4. He is teaching of His rest, prepared for His people. The purpose of the old requirements to keep the weekly sabbath was not the beginning point nor the end point of His teachings and requirements; it was not the culminating point; it was not the ordinance above all ordinances to be observed by all for all time. No, not at all. Weekly sabbath keeping was only another tool along the way, used by God, to teach us the importance of entering into His spiritual and permanent rest. Laura Lee writes: Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exo 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Exo 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Exo 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. Exo 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. There are many scriptures throughout the bible showing that the weekly and annual sabbaths are all days of rest and they are all written into the law of God. So that means they are laws that God wants us to keep. In the above scriptures Exo. 31:13-17 it shows that the weekly sabbath is a sign between God and His people, His elect, the ecclesia, the church, however you want to state it. In other words, God’s chosen people will be found keeping the Saturday Sabbath of God, which is a day of rest. It even tells us that the penalty for sabbath breaking is death. Why is the penalty for Sabbath breaking death? Because keeping the seventh day sabbath is part of the Law of God and when you do not keep the Law of God it is Sin. The penalty for sin is death. Yes, Christ died for our sins, but He did not die so we could keep on sinning. When Christ died it was not to abolish the Law of God. Christ died so we could repent and live. The only thing nailed to the cross was Christ and the death penalty for sin, not the law. With that said, let’s concentrate on the children of Israel. Who are the children of Israel? There were originally 12 tribes of the children of Israel and later one tribe was split into two tribes, now making 13 tribes. Through the generations these 13 tribes split into two groups. One group was called Judah even though it consisted of more than just the Jews. The other group is generally referred to as the “Lost Ten Tribes.” We know where the Jewish people are, they are in Israel and scattered all over the world. We know where they are. It is the lost ten tribes that most people know nothing about because they lost their identity. So where are they today? Many of them are right here in the United States, others are in Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, etc. These people have no idea that many of them are the children of Israel and Sunday churches for the most part never teach people about this at all. I remember when I first learned there was a group of Saturday Sabbath keepers. I had read my bible more than once, but it wasn’t until God called me into His church that it hit me. As I was reading my bible, I came across scripture talking about the children of Israel and I knew instantly that I was one of them. There was no doubt in my mind and there still is no doubt. Now read the above scriptures especially this one: Exo 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. The children of Israel are not dead, they are very much alive they just do not know who they are until or unless God calls them into the ecclesia. So, if you believe you are somehow excluded from keeping the Sabbath you might want to rethink that whole idea. Also, the seventh day of creation was the seventh day of creation because God said it was. Then you come along, and you tell God and all of us that “no” the seventh day was really the eighth day. Just who are you to call God a liar and put Him in your own little box? Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3. In the Old Testament, in the physical, under the Law of Moses, the sabbath of rest was to be observed under the penalty of death. In the New Testament, in the spiritual, under grace, the rest that God’s people would enjoy comes not from a physical observance of the sabbath day; instead, it comes from the faith God places in your heart. You must hear Yahoshua, you must believe in the sacrifice He has made for you, and then you will be born again, and you will enter into His rest permanently. Once you have entered into His rest, there is no need for a weekly observance. It has been done, once for all. Not only that, but Yahoshua, at the execution stake, kept the sabbath for all for all time. Laura Lee writes: These are all beliefs from misled and lied to Sunday keepers. The rest the children of Israel were locked out of was that they would not enter the promised land. God had them wander in the desert for forty years until they dropped dead. Only those who were twenty and younger were allowed to enter into God’s rest meaning the promised land flowing with milk and honey. For us today, entering into God’s rest means that we enter the Kingdom of God, which is not here yet. Keeping a Sabbath rest is a forerunner to the actual rest which is yet to come. You will not enter God’s rest unless you keep His laws and one of His laws is to keep the weekly sabbaths and the annual sabbaths. None of that was done away with Christ dying on the stake. What Christ died for was for your sins. Your sins have created a death penalty for everyone. Christ died to abolish death. He did not keep anything for you including the Sabbath Rest, you have to earn that by what you do in your life. You will not be born again unless you are first called of God and keep His laws. Grace is not going to save you and yet you cannot be saved by your works either. Most have a really hard time wrapping their mind around the fact that grace doesn’t save you unless you keep the law of God. Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Commandments are the laws of God, you can find them in especially Leviticus and Deuteronomy but also throughout the first five books of the bible. The only difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that in the Old Testament they could not keep the Law of God because for the most part most of them did not have God’s Holy Spirit. Also keep in mind that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt for four hundred and some years. It wasn’t that the law of God did not exist from the beginning, it was that these Egyptian slaves did not know anything about God until He came to rescue them from slavery in Egypt. So those parts of the law you kept telling us that God was using as a forerunner to the giving of the law on Sivan six was God teaching them the law from the time He came to Egypt to rescue them. In the New Testament they were given God’s Holy Spirit on Pentecost. People cannot keep the Law of God without God’s Holy Spirit. Oh sure you can keep parts of it if you have common sense but you won’t find too many people keeping weekly and annual sabbaths without God’s Holy Spirit and without His Spirit your keeping any of God’s Laws will be spotty. So the bottom line is the Law of God is still to be kept by everyone and not just the Israelite’s. Look at John 14:15 and 1 John 2:3 above. Those verses are in the New Testament and they both refer back to the Law of God in the Old Testament. Commandments is just another word for Law. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 4. The concept of a day of rest was introduced by Yahowah in Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, “2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This moment in history did not establish the ordinance of sabbath keeping. But it did introduce the idea of a day of rest. It also introduces the idea of a time of rest for all of God’s people. For those who insist on keeping the Torah, and thereby alienating themselves from the Messiah, they will stop at nothing to convince others and themselves that sabbath keeping was instituted in Genesis chapter two. These same people have failed to comprehend the teachings of the Bible as shown in the first three paragraphs above. They insist that God must come into their box and observe the weekly sabbath too. They preach the gospel of man, not the gospel of God. Be warned. Stay away from them and their gangrene. They have taken the way of Cain, instead of God’s way (Jude 11). Laura Lee writes: I am sorry you feel that way. I did not write the bible, God inspired it to be written and if you want to continue to believe that God told you not to keep the Sabbath then go ahead and believe that. Whether you want to believe it or not Genesis 2:2-3 is the first time the Sabbath is mentioned in the bible, and I am very happy I was called and chosen to keep that Sabbath rest with God each and every week and on high day Sabbaths. Saturdays are big days for most people, it is when they do their housework if they work all week. They grocery shop, window shop, work overtime, play games such as boating, going to games etc. It is a hard day for most people to give up. You could even lose your job by keeping these sabbath days of God. It looks to me like the reason most people don’t keep these Sabbaths of rest is because they are the ones that don’t want to give up anything for God. Doing your own thing on the Sabbaths of God is the way of Cain, so you have that backwards. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 5. These teachers want to pull you back into observing the Torah. When the Torah was clearly against you and your salvation. Colossians 2:14 KJV, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his [stake].” Colossian 2:18 KJV, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” Strive to enter God’s rest. Trust in the Scriptures. Do not listen to the Judaizers who frequently come under the label of Seventh Day Adventists and Hebrew Roots. They have replaced the one true God with a god of their own making. Sabbath keeping is their god. It is easy to test. Denigrate their god, talk and teach against their god, and their hackles and offenses quickly rise. They must defend their god because this god cannot defend itself. Laura Lee writes: If I were you, I would be very careful what you say about the ever-living God and his laws. The handwriting of ordinances that was against you was the death penalty for sin. The Law is still in force. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 6.a. Let me rephrase the bottom line of this theology of sabbath keeping. The act, the performance of weekly sabbath keeping is no more important than the performance of physical circumcision. The important thing to remember is what the no-longer-required ordinance of sabbath keeping points to. It points to the sabbath rest of Almighty Yahowah. The rest He has prepared for His children. If God gives you a gift and chooses to deliver it to you in a UPS delivery truck and that truck arrives at your house on a Saturday, are you going to revere and even worship UPS delivery trucks on Saturday for the rest of your life? Of course not. That is a ridiculous notion and even a sick notion. Instead, you are going to praise, thank, and revere the God of all creation, the Almighty, Yahowah is His name, for the gift He gave you. UPS did not give you the gift, God did. The very same is true of the ritual of sabbath keeping. Keeping a weekly sabbath did not give you the gift of the rest of God. Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your golden calf (Exodus 32:8). Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your Gideon’s ephod (Judges 8:27). Stop making weekly sabbath keeping your brazen snake (2 Kings 18:4). God is God and He will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). The gift is God’s rest for man. The weekly sabbath was the UPS delivery truck. Foolish men, stop worshipping brazen serpents and UPS delivery trucks. Worship God! 6.b. Here is another story to help explain this concept. I hire a man to dig a ditch for me. While he is digging Christ shows up. Christ says to the man, I’ll finish this job for you. When Christ finished digging the ditch he dismisses the man and tells him he is no longer needed, the job is done. So, the man goes away. Work is honorable and there is glory in it, but a completed job has greater glory. The whole purpose of the hired man was to complete a job. But the job was too big, he never would have completed it if Christ hadn’t come along and done it for him. Then my foreman shows up and is very upset. He says to Christ, “Where is the man hired to dig the ditch?” Christ said, I fulfilled his requirements, I finished the ditch, the job is done, he was no longer needed, and I dismissed him. The foreman was wroth. He sought out the man and brought him back and told him to get back to work. But he had no work to get back to. So, he just started digging useless ditches all over the place. The foreman, having no understanding, was very happy. The foreman looked at Christ and said, “See, now we don’t need You! You can go away, I have my workman back.” 7. Now that it has been explained and shown in the Scriptures why the sabbath of rest was established, let us move onto “Part II – When It Was Established” 8. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Laura Lee writes: If Christ died for your sins, is it okay for you to keep on sinning? Apparently, it is by your standards. If you get rid of the law of God there is no sin, correct? So, what you are trying to tell us is that the law of God was nailed to the cross and you no longer have to keep any laws. How is that working out in our society today? In some states they are letting rapists and murders go free and they go out and kill other innocent people. Wouldn’t it be better to have a just system of laws to keep us all safe? Without law there is nothing, but chaos and the devil is the author of chaos not God. So, you go ahead and believe that the law was nailed to the cross and see if that takes you into the promised land (Kingdom of God). The only thing that was nailed to the stake was Christ and the death penalty for sin. In case you don’t understand that concept, let me explain it to you. You sin, you die. Christ dies for our sins which means we can be resurrected and live forever if we repent of our sins, because Christ dying does not mean you can continue to sin, you have to repent when you do sin. Sin is the transgression of Gods law, so if God’s law has been done away as you say how will you know when and what to repent of? Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part II – When It Was Established 1. Before proceeding with this treatise, it is very important that one first read “Sabbath Keeping, Part I – Why It Was Established”. If you are one who worships the idol of sabbath keeping or are confused by those who teach the heresy of current day sabbath keeping, then you need to know that sabbath keeping was only a temporary tool God used to bring His children into His rest. 2. End of the week sabbath keeping was first brought to the attention of man, and only the Hebrews, circa two and one-half thousand years after the creation of man in the Garden of Eden. This brings us to circa 1,500 BC, and Exodus 16:22-23 KJV, “22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which [Yahowah] hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto [Yahowah]: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” Prior to this, the sabbath was unknown to man and not in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible. How do we know that the sabbath was unknown to man prior to Exodus 16:23? Look at Deuteronomy 5:15 KJV, “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that [Yahowah] thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore [Yahowah] thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” See also Exodus 31:13. As you can read in verse fifteen, God gave the command to the Hebrews to keep the sabbath day of rest after He brought them out of the land of Egypt 430 years after He brought them into Egypt. This was circa 1,500 BC. If anyone can find an earlier date that God told anyone to keep the sabbath, or even told anyone that there was such a thing as the sabbath then please share this Scripture with us. We need to know. Laura Lee writes: You do know but you do not believe. It is in Genesis 2:2-3, the Sabbath is always a day of rest. Try it sometime you might enjoy spending a rest filled day with God and Christ. Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. To say the law wasn’t given until Sinai is a total lie on your part. In Gen. 26:5 it clearly says that Abraham kept God’s Laws and this is long before the Hebrews at Mount Sinai. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3.a. There are some who mistakenly believe that the sabbath was instituted by God in Genesis 2:2-3 KJV, “2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” You will notice that the word sabbath is not in these two verses, nor in the book of Genesis at all. God did not call the seventh day of creation, the day on which He ceased from His creation activities, a sabbath day. Nor can it be shown in Scripture that the seventh day of creation falls into the Saturday slot. When God introduced the seventh day of creation as a day of rest, He was introducing His rest which He had prepared and desired for man to enter into, He was not introducing weekly sabbath keeping. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. Laura Lee writes: I’ve read it and it is just as foolish as this is. Exo 20:11 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. Exo. 20:11 is referring to Gen. 2:2-3 so it doesn’t matter if God didn’t say in Genesis that the seventh day was a Sabbath day because He tells you for sure that it was in Exo. 20:11. Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. If you don’t enter into the Sabbath rest you probably won’t make it into the Kingdom of God either because God has a strict rule about keeping the law. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3.b. Furthermore, if God was introducing weekly sabbath keeping in Genesis 2, then why did He not do it on a sabbath day? There is no Biblical evidence to confirm that the seventh day of creation was a sabbath day. In fact, since Genesis 2 does not call the seventh day a sabbath, that would strongly suggest that it was not. If the doctrine of sabbath keeping was being introduced in Genesis 2, it would have benefited our tiny minds if our Creator had told us so, by at least telling us that He was talking about the sabbath. But He did not. He did not, because He was not introducing the doctrine of weekly sabbath keeping, instead He was introducing the doctrine of spiritual rest from our labors. See “Sabbath Keeping, Part I – Why It Was Established”. There is more Biblical evidence to show that the seventh day of creation was not a sabbath. However, to explain this, one must have knowledge of the Calendar of Scripture and one must assume that God began creation on the first day of the first month of the first year of creation. Why would He not? Laura Lee writes: He would not, because you made up the calendar you keep. It is no place in scripture. And I gave you scripture proof that the sabbath was the seventh day of creation. You just don’t believe, and no one can make you believe anything. You will have to find out the hard way. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3.c. God further supports the doctrine of entering into His rest with sabbath days that are not the seventh day of a perfect week. Days such as the feast days of Scripture and those days that specify that no work is to be done. The weekly sabbath was only one of several tools God used to teach us the doctrine of entering into His rest. 3.d. But for those that mistakenly believe that sabbath keeping is a doctrine in and of itself, for those who preach and teach the gospel of man, it is very important to them to establish its beginning in Genesis 2, a place where it simply is not found no matter how much bantering they do about it. Because sabbath keeping is not an end to itself, sabbath keeping is merely a temporary tool used by our Creator to teach us about His sabbath rest. Sabbath keeping was given only to the Hebrews and only after they departed Egypt. Ezekiel 20:12 KJV, “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am [Yahowah] that sanctify them.” See also Nehemiah 9:13-14 (Part III). 4.a. Subsequently, God furthered the doctrine of entering into His rest by introducing the weekly sabbath rest in Exodus 16:23, and three weeks later making it part of the Torah and the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11 KJV, “8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] 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: 11 For in six days [Yahowah] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore [Yahowah] blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” 4.b. Once again, for those who erroneously teach that these verses confirm that weekly sabbath keeping was taught in Genesis 2, we will take a closer look at these verses. First, I will point out the obvious. It is highly doubtful that God would start a teaching in Genesis 2:2-3 (wherein the sabbath was never mentioned) and then totally drop the subject for two and one-half thousand years; then continue with the teaching in Exodus 20:10-11. In Exodus 20:10a the word sabbath is written again, but it is not referring back to Genesis 2 and calling the seventh day of creation the sabbath. Instead, it is referring to the seventh day of a complete week and drawing a comparison, a type, with the six days of work performed in Genesis chapter one followed by a day of rest. Why is there a difference between the seventh day of creation and an end of the week sabbath? As discussed in paragraph 3a above, there is no Biblical proof that the seventh day of creation was the end of a complete week; in other words, there is no proof that it was in the Saturday slot. It should be no surprise that the Scriptural Calendar does not look like Gregory’s calendar. After all, Pope Gregory was part of the antichrist system and it was prophesied that this antichrist would think to change the times. Daniel 7:25 KJV, “And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” The changing of times has occurred from the Scriptural Calendar, with its Lunar and Sun times pieces, to a Sun only based calendar. Laura Lee writes: It looks to me like Pope Gregory is not the only one who changed times and laws. Why are these scriptures about the law all throughout the bible if there is no law? You are also changing times and laws. Your calendar is invalid, you have no authority from God to make up a calendar and then teach it to others. You are also claiming there is no law and those who teach it are either gangrene or filled with gangrene or something foolish like that. In other words, in order to protect your fake calendar so you don’t have to keep God’s law, you will curse those who do keep God’s Law. You have been misled. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 4.c. In Exodus 20:11 the sabbath is written again. It says that “Yahowah blessed the sabbath day”. The sabbath day which Yahowah blessed is the sabbath day mentioned in verse 8; and the seventh day and the sabbath day written in verse 10a; but it is not calling the seventh day of creation in verse 11 a sabbath day. Instead, it is merely using, once again, the pattern of the seventh day of creation as a type. It is saying that the pattern is that the seventh day following six days of work, is a sabbath. God even blessed and sanctified the seventh day of creation week, but He never called it a sabbath. Why is this distinction so important? It is important because those who want weekly sabbath observing to be a physical requirement for resting will never understand and strive for the spiritual rest – that God is teaching – that God has prepared for us and desires for us to enter. The Law is contrary to us and prevents us from entering into His rest. We will never obtain His rest, our salvation, by our own physical exertion and mental resolve to do so. It can only be obtained by trusting, believing, and having faith in the Almighty God, Yahowah is His name. 4.d. Besides, the sabbath rest was only given to the Hebrews in the Desert of Sin. Does that mean the rest of mankind is left out in the cold? Not at all. We all can enter into His rest, not by observing the Law or a weekly Sabbath, but by placing our faith and hope in the finished work of Yahoshua the Messiah upon the execution stake of Calvary. 5. Do not let this next point escape your notice, you may miss your salvation and end up on the road to hell. Even though the Hebrews fleeing Egypt to the Promise Land observed the weekly sabbath as required by the Torah, they did not enter into His rest. But those who believed the gospel enter into His rest. Hebrews 4:2-3,6 KJV, “2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.” 6. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Laura Lee writes: You are teaching against the law of God. By doing that, it will be a problem for you in the future and you won’t be able to use the excuse that you didn’t know that Sabbath breaking is a sin. Somehow, I just don’t believe I am the first one to try to tell you that. You just aren’t listening. For what it is worth all sabbaths are rest days. And if you want to spout off about types, here is one for you. Six thousand years was given to man to go his own way but the seventh thousand years is God’s rest. Do you see the type or the pattern yet. The seventh day represents the seventh thousand years which is a rest. Do you still want to trash God’s rest by teaching against a weekly sabbath? |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part III – Who It Was Given To 1.a. The sons of Jacob became a nation when they were taken out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 4:34 KJV, “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that [Yahowah] your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” After God had led the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the Desert of Sin, the sabbath – for the first time – made its splash on the pages of Scripture. Exodus 16:22-23 KJV 22, “22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 And he said unto them, This is that which [Yahowah] hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto [Yahowah]: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” It is important to know that no one, including the Hebrews, had been given the sabbath prior to this time. This is shown in Nehemiah 9:14 KJV, “And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.” See also Ezekiel 20:12 (Part II). God is being praised here for making known His holy sabbath to the Hebrews. In other words, His holy sabbath was not known prior to this time, the time of Moses. If you read Parts I and II of this Sabbath Keeping treatise you will find more Scriptures that verify this teaching. 1.b. The weekly sabbath was given to the Hebrews as part of the Torah and it was not given to anyone else. Even the New Testament testifies to this. Romans 2:14 and Romans 3:2 are two more examples of this. Romans 2:14 KJV, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:”. Romans 3:2 KJV, “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Laura Lee writes: All Romans 2:14 is saying is that those without God’s law, the gentiles, sometimes keep the law of God because the law of God many times is just plain common sense, so they keep it without knowing it is part of the law of God.. Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. Romans 3:1-2 is talking about the oracles (bible and calendar) of God being given to the tribe of Judah. The Hebrews were all of the tribes. The law of God was from the beginning of creation and is still in effect for all people today. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 2. The sabbath was not given to mankind, but to Israel only. And in Exodus 16, the sabbath was not given to Israel as part of their Law (the Torah), i.e., the Jewish legal system. The Law was yet to come at Mount Sinai. The sabbath was given to them as a rest and as a holy day unto Yahowah. No penalty was assessed to those who broke this sabbath, penalties were to come later, with the Law. No time limit was imposed in the Desert of Sin regarding the sabbath. God said He was testing their obedience. Exodus 16:4-5,27 KJV, “4 Then said [Yahowah] unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. 27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.” When God said, “that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no,” this does not mean that the Law had now come. To properly understand this phrase, it needs to be understood as “I will test them now to see, when my law comes, whether they will obey it or not.” God was preparing His people for the introduction of the Torah. From Adam until Moses, God had introduced various laws that He expected men to obey. But it was not until Mount Sinai in Exodus 20 that God gave the Torah, and He gave it to His chosen people, the Hebrews, the descendants of Jacob and Jacob’s twelve sons. Laura Lee writes: There is only one law, and that law was given for all men. There is not one law for the Hebrews and another law for the gentiles. The same law applies to all people. And the law of God was from the time of Adam and Eve until now and in the future. The law has not changed no matter how much you believe it has. Scripture says if you love God, you will keep his law and you so obviously believe you do not have to keep the law because what, because God kept it for you. Think about that, can anyone keep any law for you spiritually or manually? Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3. With the introduction of the Torah came the requirement to keep the sabbath as part of a closed legal system. Exodus 20:8-11 KJV, “8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of [Yahowah] 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: 11 For in six days [Yahowah] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore [Yahowah] blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Just because God has used the seven days of creation as a pattern for giving the sabbath day of rest to the Hebrews does not make creation week a perfect week (a week that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday) and it does not make the seventh day of creation a sabbath. When verse eleven says that Yahowah blessed the sabbath day, this Scripture is referring only to the seventh day of a perfect week that He has just given to the Hebrews. And He is using the seven days of creation only as a pattern of six days of work followed by one day of rest. He is not establishing, after the fact (three millennium later), that creation week had a sabbath at the end of it. There are some who are desperate to place God in a box. Their imaginations never rest inventing interpretations to Scriptures to ensure that at the end of the discussion that a sabbath has been established during creation week, even though the Scriptures do not teach it. In fact, the seventh day of creation week is a Friday, not a Saturday or Sabbath: see our treatise on the “Calendar of Scripture” parts I and II. Laura Lee writes: Do you even listen to yourself speak. The calendar you made up is not in the Bible. When God said he made the Seventh Day of creation Holy to Him, he said that because it is the Sabbath and the seventh day is not the eighth day as you keep saying. You are the one putting God into a box and insisting that He meant eighth day when He really said seventh day. In your box God is stupid to you because He doesn’t seem to know the difference between the seventh day and the eighth day according to you. Trust me, God is way smarter than all of us and He has a punishment for unrepentant law breakers. Mostly what you are doing here is playing word games with us. To you a perfect week is one that starts on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday. In reality a perfect week is a week of seven days whether you start your count from a Sunday or a Wednesday. A perfect week is also a complete week of seven days, again no matter which day you start your count from. And there was no day before the first day of creation week because the reality is that there was no moon until the fourth day so there is no “new moon” or “new moon day” before the first day of creation. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 4. What is the Torah, or the Law (meaning the Law of Moses)? Deuteronomy 31:24-26 KJV, “24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of [Yahowah] saying 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of [Yahowah] your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.” The Law (the Ten Commandments plus more) which was given at Mount Sinai, was first written in Scripture in Exodus 20:1 and continued to be written well into Exodus 23 and beyond. The Law is confirmed in Exodus 24:3 with oaths from the Hebrews; with the preparation of altars in Exodus 24:4; with offerings by the people in Exodus 24:5; with the sanctification of the people in Exodus 24:8; and God giving a written copy in stone of those laws (the Torah) in Exodus 24:12. Exodus 20:1 KJV, “And God spoke all these words, saying,” Exodus 24:3 KJV, “And Moses came and told the people all the words of [Yahowah], and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which [Yahowah] hath said will we do.” Exodus 24:4 KJV, “And Moses wrote all the words of [Yahowah], and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.” Exodus 24:5 KJV, “And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto [Yahowah].” Exodus 24:8 KJV, “And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which [Yahowah] hath made with you concerning all these words.” Exodus 24:12 KJV, “And [Yahowah] said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” 5. We can now see that Yahowah’s seventh day of a perfect week sabbath had a place in history (for only three weeks) with only the Israelites before the Torah (or Law) and it has had a separate history within the Torah and the Israelite nation that the Torah was given to. So, when the Torah is taken away, we can more clearly see how this affects the keeping of the sabbath. Since the Torah was given to the Israelites, when the Torah is taken away, it can only be taken from the Israelites, because no one else had it. Since the Torah was the only legal system that required the keeping of the sabbath, then sabbath keeping outside of the Torah is not required by God. But one might say, wait a minute, the keeping of the sabbath was required before the Torah in the Desert of Sin as spoken of in Exodus 16:23. That is true. But it seems clear to me that Yahowah, in His graciousness and wisdom gave the sabbath to the Israelites just prior to the Torah, because He was breaking them in slowly and methodically to their new requirements that were yet to come. Many times when driving on the road, prior to a stop sign or a change in speed limit, a warning sign appears: “Stop Ahead” or “Reduce Speed Ahead”. The Desert of Sin story in Exodus 16 is a warning sign from our God: “Change In Rules Ahead” or “Heads Up, Something New Is Happening”. After all, He did not establish penalties for sabbath breaking in the Desert of Sin. Those penalties came with the Torah. 6. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Laura Lee writes: Torah = (in Judaism) the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch). The Torah is the Bible (the first five books). If it was only given to the Hebrews, then why do you have a copy of it? The Bible (which includes the Torah) was given to all people as an instruction book on how to live. If you did not have a Bible, you would not know the law and therefore would not know what sin is so you could stop sinning. Even those who are granted God’s Holy Spirit (and not all people have it) still have to study their bibles in order to know what God wants of them. You can send me as many scriptures as you want in regard to how you believe the Sabbath should not be kept anymore but there are two elements you are missing and that is understanding in regard to how to put scripture together and wisdom. You keep telling me that only the Hebrews kept the Sabbath, but the apostles were keeping it long after Christ died and teaching it to the gentiles. So, keep on explaining scripture away that you don’t want to keep, those of us who keep the weekly sabbath know what scripture says and we don’t buy any of your excuses not to keep it. Your double talk throughout is laughable if it weren’t for the fact that some people will actually fall for all the lies you are telling here. If there was no law for all men and women from the beginning then Adam and Eve could not have sinned, because sin is the transgression of the law. Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part IV – Is It For Today? 1. A valid question about the longevity of sabbath keeping should be asked. If, as I have written in “Sabbath Keeping, Part III – Who It Was Given To”, that sabbath keeping can be taken away, then how does that reconcile with the following statements: in Exodus 31:13 it says, the sabbath should be kept “throughout your generations”; in Exodus 31:16 it says the sabbath should be kept “throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant”; in Leviticus 16:31 it says, the sabbath would be “a statute for ever”; and in Leviticus 24:8 it says, the sabbath would be an “an everlasting covenant”? Exodus 31:13 KJV, “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am [Yahowah] that doth sanctify you.” Exodus 31:16 KJV, “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” Leviticus 16:31 KJV, “It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.” Leviticus 24:8 KJV, “Every sabbath he shall set it in order before [Yahowah] continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.” What does it mean to say throughout your/their generations, and perpetual, and forever, and an everlasting covenant? It means exactly what it says – forever, or continuously, or everlasting, in other words, for eternity. So, why do I contend with those who insist that sabbath keeping is a perpetual requirement? 2. As mentioned in Part III, sabbath keeping was given to the Israelites and not to men everywhere. The sabbath was never given to Christians in the New Testament. I can find a lot of Scriptures in the New Testament that give commands to Christians regarding their behavior and requirements expected of them, and many of these commands are identical to those given in the Torah, or before the Torah was ever given. But, if you can find a single New Testament Scripture that requires Christians to keep the sabbath, please share it with us. We need to know! Laura Lee writes: All men are required to keep the law of God, it doesn’t matter what you call yourself or what you want to identify with. There is only one law for all people. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 3. Some Messianic Jewish organizations contend that New Testament Christians have now become Jews by conversion. Look at Deuteronomy 4:34 KJV, “Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that [Yahowah] your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” Israelites come from Jacob and his twelve sons, therefore a Christian is not an Israelite, or Jewish. Romans 9:6-8 KJV, “6 For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Galatians 4:28 KJV, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” In other words, Christians are reckoned through Isaac, not his son Israel. Once again, if you can find a Scripture(s) that states that Christians have become Jewish, please share it with us. We need to know! Laura Lee writes: You are again splitting words to come up with false doctrines. The children of promise are the ecclesia, the called out ones, the Israelites. The Israelites are God’s people anyone else has to be grafted in. Where does it say that Christians are descended from Isaac? I don’t see that there anymore than you see the Sabbath in Genesis 2:2-3. Read Romans 11 to learn of the grafting in. God’s people are the Israelites so if you believe you are not an Israelite so therefore do not have to keep the law of God then you are a Gentile and have to be grafted into the Israelites in order to be saved. Even if you believe you are a Christian and you are teaching against the law of God you are a gentile. In the end you want to be an Israelite because those are clearly God’s people throughout the bible. Where in scripture do you ever see God calling Christians his people. The Israelites of God are all Saturday Sabbath Keepers. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 4. So what has become of sabbath keeping? In paragraph one above it is pointed out that the Scriptures teach that the sabbath is to be kept by the Israelites, Jews, forever. Yahoshua has done just that, He has kept not only the sabbath, but the whole Torah, forever; so that the Jews, nor anyone else, ever has to keep it again. Matthew 5:17 KJV, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” (See also Luke 24:44.) And fulfill He did. Christ Yahoshua kept the requirements, not only of the Torah, not only of the prophets, but also all of God’s laws for men. If you think not, then what about Christ’s sacrifice upon the Roman execution stake at Calvary at the hands of the Jewish leaders of that day and at the hands of Pontius Pilate? Christ provided for the payment of our sins once for all for all time. Christians have no problem in believing this, so why is it so difficult to believe that He has kept the whole law for all time? Romans 6:23 KJV, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [Yahoshua the] Christ our Lord.” Do Christians have to die for their sins, or did Christ pay for those sins in our stead? John 3:16 KJV, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Understand this, we no longer need to sacrifice lambs, or bulls, or red heifers, Christ was our sacrificial lamb, once for all for all time. And He could do this because He was God and because He was the only one who could keep the Torah for all time. It is done, it is finished, the veil has been rent from top to bottom and Christians have access to the holy of holies. Matthew 27:51 KJV, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;”. Christ said it on the stake just before He expired – “it is finished.” John 19:30 KJV, “When [Yahoshua] therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” Laura Lee writes: Read your own scripture: 5:17 KJV, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Christ didn’t destroy the law it says so right here. The only thing that was nailed to the cross was Christ and the Death Penalty. The whole point of Christ dying was to destroy death. He didn’t keep the sabbath or the law for you. You have to do that yourself. If I were you, I would pray for wisdom and understanding so you get what you read. And you should also pray to be grafted into the body of Christ because trust me, when you teach against God’s laws you are not doing anything that God wants from you. You are just putting a curse on yourself. It sounds like many people have tried to show you in scripture what God wants from you but you just are not hearing any of it because you believe what you believe and God and no one else can tell you anything. Jesus stated unequivocally in His sermon: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill,” (Matthew 5:17). The Greek word pleroo, here translated “fulfill,” means “to make full,” “to fill to the full,” “to make complete in every particular,” “to render perfect” or “to carry through to the end” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2005, Strong’s number 4137). Far from destroying or abolishing the law, as some interpret this verse, Jesus said He came to fill the law to the full—to complete and perfect it. This He did by showing the deeper spiritual intent and application of the law. Did Jesus Do Away With the Law? | United Church of God (ucg.org) Richard & Sandra’s Article: 5. If you are keeping the sabbath because you are Jewish, then stop. Believe on the Lord Yahoshua the Messiah and be set free from the requirements of the law and be free from the penalty of your sins. If you are keeping the sabbath because it is part of the Mosaic Law or the Ten Commandments, then stop. If you are not a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. If you are a Christian, then keeping the law will not save you from your sins to the attainment of eternal life. Romans 3:20 KJV, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Galatians 5:4 KJV, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Laura Lee writes: You are not justified by the law. You cannot save yourself by keeping the law, you are saved by grace, but that does not mean that you do not keep the law. If you do not keep the law of God you will not be allowed into the Kingdom of God. When you refuse to keep the law of God you are yet in your sin and in that case you will eventually be destroyed forever. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 6. Even the Holy Spirit and the apostles teach against any requirement for men to be keeping the sabbath. During a council or meeting in Jerusalem, in the first century, only limited requirements were put upon Christians as they came to the faith. Acts 15:10-11 KJV, “10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord [Yahoshua the] Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Acts 15:28-29 KJV, “28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.” There are no sabbath keeping requirements here. Laura Lee writes: You deceive yourself; these things are part of the law. What was being specifically talked about is not requiring new converts to be circumcised. What God wants more is circumcision of the heart rather than physical circumcision. And all of the apostles and Christ himself all kept a Saturday Sabbath. Richard & Sandra’s Article: 7. While doing this study, I became thoroughly convinced that sabbath keeping was not a requirement of the law anymore, nor a requirement for any man to keep ever again. I have been saved by the shed Blood of Christ Yahoshua. Believing this is an act of faith. Faith that has been imparted to me from God the Father by His grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV, “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Colossians 2:16-17 KJV, “16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Galatians 4:9-10 KJV, “9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” I would pray that those Christians who have stuck with me this far, would now open the Scriptures to Colossians, chapter two. Please read this chapter keeping in mind the whole time that it is describing your freedom from being taken captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy and freedom from sabbath keeping. May Yahowah richly bless you in your love of our Lord Yahoshua the Christ. 8. Now that it has been shown in paragraph four above that Yahoshua has met the requirements of the Torah for all time and in paragraph six above that the Holy Ghost does not require believers to keep the weekly sabbath any more, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that weekly sabbath keeping is not required. God does not require anyone to keep the sabbath any longer. You need to understand that not only are you not saved by the Torah, no one ever was and no one ever could be; but you need to further understand that weekly sabbath keeping is putting oneself under the Torah and therefore becomes a dividing wall between you and the Messiah. It is a sin that leads to the broad path of destruction if you persist and do not repent. If a Christian brother observes a special day because it is part of the Torah or any legal system and thereby hopes to save his soul; or teaches others to observe a weekly sabbath because of the Torah; then rebuke him. Galatians 5:4 KJV, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” 2 Peter 1:9 KJV, “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” And Galatians 3:10-14 KJV, “10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the [nations] through [Yahoshua the] Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” For the man who claims that he is already saved by grace and not the Torah, but then goes back to observing the Torah anyway, please reread Galatians 3:12 in this paragraph. It states very plainly that you have gone back under the Law. And reread Galatians 5:4 in this paragraph, it cannot be made more clear – YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE! Laura Lee writes: I hope this helps you understand what Galatians is saying. Paul indeed speaks of “the curse of the law” (Galatians 3:13), meaning a curse decreed by the law. But he does not refer to the law itself as a curse. What Paul actually says is this: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'” (Galatians 3:13, NRSV). A few verses earlier he writes: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law'” (Galatians 3:10, NRSV). First, notice that the curse applies to “everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law”! No curse is pronounced on those who obey “all the things” the law requires. From: The ‘Curse of the Law’ | United Church of God (ucg.org) Richard & Sandra’s Article: 9. Once again, Yahoshua said, John 14:15,21 KJV, “15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Yahoshua the Messiah is not saying for us to obey the Torah – that has already been covered in this treatise – He is saying that you are to obey Him out of love, not out of legal obligation; you are to obey Him because you believe in Him and trust that what He says is best for your life now and for all eternity. John 10:10b KJV, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” 10. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors. Laura Lee writes: The law will not save you but neither will grace save you by itself. Christ died to take away the death penalty for sin. The penalty for sin is death. You keep the law of God because you love God. Grace also will not save you unless you keep the law of God. Christ did not die for us so we can continue to sin. Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part V – Fleshly Legalism Brings Death, The Spirit Brings Life by Sandy Mauck Everything that Yahoshua would try to teach, the Pharisees wanted to take into the realm of the flesh. They were supposed to be spiritual but they were really flesh. Our precious Lord taught us over and over to stop looking at the fleshly aspects of things; instead, look at the spiritual. The spiritual man is that which is important. He called them on it concerning everything they said to him. Over and over He purposely healed on the sabbath so they could see that their hearts were flesh and not spirit. When the man at the pool of Bethesda was healed, He told him to pick up his bed. This of course freaked the Pharisees out as they were making their sabbath keeping rounds. When they got after the guy, he told it like it was. (In my words) The guy that healed me told me to do it – why should I NOT do what He says! That is the message. We can tithe and do all the stuff according to the law but God is a heart changer. When people want to bring you under legalism, one legalistic thing becomes another, and so on. Why? Because it is a trap. Religion is a trap. Many of us grew up in very religious churches and they had all their traditions that they did. Did it bring forth life? No, of course not, it brought death. It was in the heart of our God to send His Son to show the world the heart of the matter. If you look back to the reasoning of the beginning of the sabbath, it wasn’t so much for the rest of the Hebrews but that those people would NOT put others under slavery as they had been. He knew them. He knew they were hard hearted even before they manifested it in the wilderness. And we are all the same. Not one of us is pure in ourselves. We are all flesh. Our only righteousness is in our Savior who paid the price for our sins. Don’t tempt God with legalism – HE HATES IT! Does He want us to rest physically? Of course, but He wants us to be led by His Holy Spirit in all things. The Holy Spirit might tell you to rest for a week or a month or a year! But the bottom line is that HE IS OUR REST. An all encompassing precious concept of the Spirit of the Living God! He paid for it. We can now rest in that! This is the conclusion of the Calendar of Scripture and Sabbath Keeping which is fleshly legalism not Spirit led faith in God. Laura Lee writes: I feel sorry for the both of you. I sincerely hope you get something out of my comments, but I am not expecting that you will because you are filled with so much hatred for the law of God and those who keep it. I have actually not printed this to promote you but so the elect of God can see what it is we are up against and why God got so angry at law breakers such as yourselves. I sincerely hope that you both pray for God to show you His way and not your own way. The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that they were unable to keep God’s Law without His Holy Spirit. Most of them did not have God’s Holy Spirit. In the New Testament they were given God’s Holy Spirit on Pentecost so they could keep God’s Law. The Law was not done away, instead it was magnified. In the OT if you murdered someone it was against the law which is a sin. In the NT if you just think in your mind to murder or hate someone it is against the law which is a sin. See the difference? The weekly Sabbath is part of the law of God and it is a sin not to keep it. The new covenant law is spiritual because the Holy Spirit is what helps you to keep the law and the Holy Spirit is spirit. So again, I feel sorry for you, it is one thing to not want to keep the sabbath but it is quite another to go out there and teach against it while all the time calling God a liar. You have been given a gift of “Free Will” to continue in this if you choose. We will pray for you that someday you will understand that what you are doing is wrong and not God’s will at all but yours only. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Richard Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) |
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| Your critique of my Sabbath Keeping teaching is not surprising. You obviously do not understand the difference between the Hebrew calendar that was in use during crucifixion week, and the Rabbinic calendar. The Rabbinic calendar came to be created well after the time of crucifixion week. Then you make the predictable error of trying to take a modern calendar and back it up to the time of Christ. Round pegs do not fit square holes. Your insistence that the moon cannot be calculated into history before it was created – you have swallowed the propaganda hook, line, and sinker. The teaching is all there, but you ignored it. I am being judged by your model of the universe, which is demonically inspired. Therefore, it is meaningless. Another example of your confusion is that you make reference to a moon that revolves around the Earth as if it is a sphere. The moon is only a flat disk that circles over the flat Earth as any thinking person can easily determine. Why has no one ever seen the far side of the moon? Why is only one side of the moon ever seen? Same with the sun, it is a flat disk, we only see one side, because it does not have two sides. You can only understand that which your mind has been trained to believe, no matter how monstrous the lies fed to you are. You need to come out of your delusional world and repent of your rebellion against Yahowah almighty, especially your Armstrongism. That is the gloriousness and beauty of the One and Only Awesome God. Repent, confess your sins, surrender to Christ and you can be redeemed by Yahoshua’s shed Blood. The sacrifice has already been provided; it awaits you to appropriate It. Post this if you wish in your Iron Sharpens Iron section, it makes no difference to me. You have no iron to sharpen. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Richard’s Iron Sharpening Iron: Your critique of my Sabbath Keeping teaching is not surprising. You obviously do not understand the difference between the Hebrew calendar that was in use during crucifixion week, and the Rabbinic calendar. The Rabbinic calendar came to be created well after the time of crucifixion week. Then you make the predictable error of trying to take a modern calendar and back it up to the time of Christ. Round pegs do not fit square holes. Laura writes: Apparently, you at one time were perhaps in the Worldwide Church of God or one of it’s off shoots and became an angry customer at some point along the way. Just speculation based on the phrase “Round pegs do not fit square holes,” a phrase I am told Herbert Armstrong used a lot. As far as the Hebrew Calendar and the Rabbinic Calendar go, they are the same calendar and if you believe they are not, please send your proof showing they were two different calendars. Richard’s Iron Sharpening Iron: Your insistence that the moon cannot be calculated into history before it was created – you have swallowed the propaganda hook, line, and sinker. The teaching is all there, but you ignored it. I am being judged by your model of the universe, which is demonically inspired. Therefore, it is meaningless. Laura writes: I read this “Iron Sharpening Iron” and found the whole thing as well as your article to be meaningless. The entire thing is a fable which was made up in what I see now as a delusional mind that cannot at this point in time understand clear scripture as God had inspired it to be written in the Bible. I am truly sorry for both you and your wife that you were perhaps hurt so deeply by some church group that you can no longer tolerate the real truth. Richard’s Iron Sharpening Iron: Another example of your confusion is that you make reference to a moon that revolves around the Earth as if it is a sphere. The moon is only a flat disk that circles over the flat Earth as any thinking person can easily determine. Why has no one ever seen the far side of the moon? Why is only one side of the moon ever seen? Same with the sun, it is a flat disk, we only see one side, because it does not have two sides. Laura writes: It looks to me like you are the one who fell for the lying propaganda that the earth, sun, and moon are flat. A flat earth was disproved long ago. Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: Richard’s Iron Sharpening Iron: You can only understand that which your mind has been trained to believe, no matter how monstrous the lies fed to you are. You need to come out of your delusional world and repent of your rebellion against Yahowah almighty, especially your Armstrongism. That is the gloriousness and beauty of the One and Only Awesome God. Repent, confess your sins, surrender to Christ and you can be redeemed by Yahoshua’s shed Blood. The sacrifice has already been provided; it awaits you to appropriate It. Post this if you wish in your Iron Sharpens Iron section, it makes no difference to me. You have no iron to sharpen. Laura writes: I believe that Satan has brainwashed you into believing many lies, some of which are whoppers. Your mind at this time is unable to receive sound doctrine, so there isn’t a lot of point in trying to discuss scripture with you as you are unable to understand even the simplest of verses. We will pray for you. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) Comments by Darwin Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Flat earth people are truly delusional. If the earth were flat, then at some point on this “disk-round table” (earth), [the edge- end of disk-table], if I were to step beyond that, I would fall off this disk-table into endless space and into oblivion never to be seen again. Also, the ocean’s waters by now and (a long time ago) would have also drained off over the ends of this disk-table. Therefore, no more oceans for ships to sail on. And the airplanes, they too would fly over the edge into oblivion never to be seen again with all those people in them. Perhaps they would end up in another universe, you think? What a travesty that human beings can become so dumbed down that they can’t even see how foolish they are. As a supposed religionist person, you accuse law abiding Christian Sabbath keepers of committing idolatry for keeping God’s law. All the laws of God are for all mankind including Jews, the eleven other tribes of Israel and all gentiles, even men and women from Adam to father Abraham. Those laws are for past, present, and future. Some, like the Sabbath, won’t be needed any more when the eternal kingdom is fulfilled, for we will be living the sabbath rest for eternity. One of the purposes for the Sabbath was meant to picture that ultimate rest by entering God’s rest weekly now showing our faith that He will bring us into His permanent rest. Rejecting to enter His weekly rest now and the commands that are attached to it will get you into the fiery death to come. To ascribe Sabbath keeping as idolatry is sad indeed and tragic that you have gone so far off the “deep end”, (no pun intended). Let everyone that reads this iron sharpens iron and your ignorance of the truth, pray mightily that perhaps you can yet be rehabilitated and brought back out of your stupor and be saved. Do a little research and you will find out why you can’t see the back side of the moon. But flat earth people won’t accept scientific facts because they are delusional. Tidally locked Observers on Earth can’t see the other side of the Moon because it is tidally locked. The Moon only shows one face to the Earth because its rotation period is the same as its orbital period. NASA this week released photographs of the far side of the moon, providing a lunar perspective we rarely get to see. The images were snapped by the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite, positioned between the sun and the moon with the Earth as its backdrop. But why is the dark side of the moon, as it’s known, so elusive to the Earthbound? First, the dark side isn’t really any darker than the near side. Like Earth, it gets plenty of sunlight. We don’t see the far side because “the moon is tidally locked to the Earth,” said John Keller, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project. “The moon does rotate, but it rotates at the same speed that it rotates around the Earth.” The moon completes one full rotation on its axis in the time it takes to orbit the Earth. That means the same side is always turned toward us. Much like a race car drifts when it turns on the curved portions of an oval racetrack, the moon does have a tendency to want to spin faster. Earth’s gravitational pull holds it in place. The moon’s shape is key to keeping it in sync with the Earth. Long ago, scientists believe, the moon had its own spin. Over time, frictional forces, including gravity, helped mold the moon into the shape it is now — spherical, but not a perfect sphere. Gravity exists as a gradient. If the moon were a perfect sphere, then the gravity felt on the far side and the near side (or Earth’s side), would cancel each other out. But because it isn’t a perfect sphere, as it turns, a smaller portion of the moon moves in toward Earth and a larger portion moves away. This uneven distribution in gravity causes a torque, or a rotational force, making the moon spring back into place. The spring-like motion is referred to as lunar libration. The first images of the far side of the moon were taken in 1959 by the Soviet Luna 3 Spacecraft. Since then, missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have been able to tell us much more about the side we never see – and the far side doesn’t look anything like the near side. Scientists believe the moon was molten, or hot liquid when it first formed, and then it cooled. But the dark side cooled first, making it older with more craters, Keller said. Though they don’t know why, the near side also has more radiation than the far side, perhaps contributing to why the near side didn’t cool as fast. “For one reason or another, one side was favored over the other,” Keller said. From: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/never-see-far-side-moon |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck Comments by Richard Mauck (Pulaski County, Kentucky) |
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| You stated in one of your responses to me “Keep in mind that Satan broadcasts all the time, twenty-four seven. It is more likely that your message above came from Satan himself.” Attributing the work of the Holy Ghost to the devil or a demon is blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, for which there is no forgiveness. Christians are not even to pray for such a one as yourself. Do not expect any further correspondence from me. |
| Iron Sharpening Iron In regard to: Biblical Teaching of Sabbath Keeping Article by Richard Douglas Mauck and Sandra Faye Mauck Comments by Laura Lee (Bismarck, North Dakota) |
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| Richard is referring to the following: Richard & Sandra’s Article: Sabbath Keeping Part I – Why It Was Established On Wednesday June 6, 2018, my Father told me men changed the calendar that was from the beginning, and He allowed it to happen. He allowed it to happen so that all but a few would forever be mistaken when calculating Holy Convocation Days. The Sabbath would be sought after, but almost never found. Fallen men would attempt to worship this idol – the Sabbath Day – but never succeed. I took from them Moses’ snake on a pole, and I took from them Gideon’s Breastplate because men began to worship them. So too, I took the Sabbath from them because they were worshipping it. Laura Lee writes: Keeping the Sabbath that God made Holy from the beginning is not worshipping an idol. (Gen. 2:2-3) If I were you, I would be careful in thinking that such a message as stated above has anything at all to do with God. Keep in mind that Satan broadcasts all the time, twenty-four seven. It is more likely that your message above came from Satan himself. All I can say is God gave you free will to use for whatever use you wish to use it for whether for good or for evil. It is not me that is calling God a liar saying that when He said the 1st day, 2nd day etc. that He really meant 2nd day, 3rd day etc. I also did not make up a calendar that has a new moon day without a moon. As far as the Sabbath goes, it is in the law of God and if we choose to keep it Holy as God wanted then it is not idol worship as you say. Most people run from keeping the Sabbath, so most people today do not keep it or even seek it out. If you are so much smarter than the rest of us, show us where the scripture is that says God took the Sabbath away from us. I feel sorry for both you and your wife when you can make up all kinds of stuff and teach it to others, believing it comes from God when it clearly does not. We will pray for you, and I am sure others will also. |
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