Y’Shua healed on the Sabbath: Matthew 8:16-17; Matthew 12:9-14; Mark 1:32-34;

Mark 3:1-6; Luke 4:40-41; Luke 6:6-11; John 5:9; John 7:23; John 9:14

Y’Shua gave true meaning of the Sabbath: It is made for man; He is Master of the Sabbath
Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5

 

Is Sunday the Christian Sabbath/’Lord’s Day’?

There are five passages which people will often use to try and show that Sunday is the ‘Lord’s Day’ or Christian Sabbath.

1.  Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5

2.  John 20:19-29  

Y’Shua ends His rebuttal to the Pharisees with the statement, “…the Son of Man is also Master of the Sabbath.”  This means exactly what it says;  Y’Shua is the Master of everything including the day that HE “blessed” and “sanctified” when He finished creating the universe.  He also said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not the other way around.  YHWH made the Sabbath for us to delight in and rest.  We are not to be enslaved to this day against our will but are to enjoy YHWH’s provision and blessing in it.  If this day is “made for man” then wouldn’t we at least want to see why YHWH gave it to mankind?

2.  In his gospel, John notes that the Y’Shua appeared to them on the evening of His resurrection and then eight days later.  First of all, there’s nothing in particular about that evening Y’Shua appeared to them.  He hadn’t risen until that morning and then He seemed to have presented the saints of old to the Father as a firstfruits offering (see Firstfruits under the Spring Feasts).  Then He traveled with two of the disciples, who didn’t recognize Him, to Emmaus.  Then He waited for those two to run back to Jerusalem before He appeared in the upper room to all the disciples.

3. In Acts 20:7 we read that the disciples gathered together on the first day of the week to break bread.  Then “Sha’ul, intending to depart the next day, was reasoning with them and was extending the word till midnight”

We have to remember that the biblical day starts at sundown.  So when the sun sets on Saturday evening, that begins the first day of the week.

Many times after a Sabbath gathering, men would continue discussing the Scriptures and might go well into the early hours of the morning.  It is a possibility that after a Sabbath gathering, when the sun had set and it was now the first day of the week, the disciples broke bread and listened to Sha’ul’s message until midnight.  He would then leave the next day, Sunday morning. We are confused today because we have given names to days and start the day at a different time.

And even if they had gathered on the first day of the week to break bread….so what!  I’m sure the disciples met on many days of the week, does that mean every day is the Sabbath now?  Certainly not!  Acts 2 tells us that the disciples gathered daily in houses and in the temple.  Does that mean we can change YHWH’s Word and make any day of the week the Sabbath because of that?  Again, certainly not!  We CANNOT take ONE verse and change the entire Word of YHWH to fit our theology!  It just doesn’t work that way, yet people have done just that.  It’s unbelievable how blind we can be at times.

4.  “On the first day of every week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”1 Corinthians 16:2

The argument here is that Sha’ul was giving instruction to the church that when they gathered on the first day of the week, they should take up an offering.  However, we must look at context and meaning.

The disciple’s pattern in Acts 2:46-47 shows us that the early church was meeting more than once a week to worship together and celebrate Messiah.  However, nowhere in His Word did YHWH make the change of the seventh day Sabbath to the first day of the week as His set-apart day.  If YHWH wanted to make that change He would have stated it plainly like He did everything else.  The seventh day of the week is still His Sabbath and the day for His people to keep set-apart and rest.

5.  Revelation 1:10 says, “I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of יהוה, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ”.

First, what is John talking about here?  He is seeing a vision of Y’Shua Who is revealing to him events that will lead to YHWH’s restoration of His people.

When John says, “I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,” this brings to mind some verses that speak of Messiah’s return, especially using the image of the trumpet (Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

The phrase “Day of YHWH is used only here in Revelation.  It is possible that John, being in the Spirit on the Day of יהוה,  is telling his readers that he is being shown a vision, by the Spirit of YHWH, of the Day of יהוה,  – the end times.  In other words, being in the Spirit does not necessarily mean that John is meditating on YHWH’s word when Y’Shua appears to him, as some purpose.  Rather, he is in, or carried away by, the set-apart Spirit to be shown the vision of YHWH’s day of wrath on His enemies and the day when His children will be united with Him forever.  John uses this exact same phrase elsewhere in Revelation to state that he was experiencing visions by the power of the set-apart Spirit.

And immediately I came to be in the Spirit and saw a throne set in the heaven, and One sat on the throne.

How did we go from Sabbath to Sunday?

Leviticus 23:4

In the spring of every year, during the month of Abib (which means ripe ear, as in the barley), are the spring feasts of YHWH – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits.  The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) is fifty days after Firstfruits and falls around late spring early summer.

YHWH said that His people were to proclaim these feasts in the spring (and fall) at their appointed times.  The Hebrew word for appointed times is moed which means “designated times; seasons; and has the strong, personal implication of a meeting.

The feasts are a time of meeting between YHWH and His people.

A personal and reflective time in which YHWH’s people can rejoice in His provision and faithfulness.

They are set-apart convocations, which is to say they are set-apart rehearsals!  Think of it, everytime we celebrate the feasts we are rehearsing, or practicing, for our wedding day with the Lamb and our eternity with Him.

The celebration of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days with a set-apart day, or high Sabbath, beginning and ending the feast.  Passover (also the first day of Unleavened Bread – Matthew 26:17) has become the most recognizable of the three and today people usually understand Passover, when spoken of, to include them all.

YHWH commanded Israel to observe these feasts as a remembrance of their release from Egypt and their dependence on Him, but as we will see, all of YHWH’s people are to keep, and can rejoice in, these spectacular celebrations of YHWH.

The small band of rebels against the large army of the Grecian empire seemed hopeless, but by YHWH’s providence, the Maccabees led the revolt and won their freedom.

They rededicated the Temple around 165 B.C. hence the name ‘Feast of Dedication’.

In John 10:22-23, Y’Shua went up to Jerusalem, in the winter, to the Feast of Dedication.  It says He walked in Solomon’s Colonnade which is part of the Temple.

Too often we are in fellowship with the ways of this world and are defiled in the process.  We need to allow YHWH to cleanse us so we can be a more affective witness.

The feast is also called the Feast of Lights because of the supposed miracle that is recorded in the Talmud (a collection of rabbinic writings concerning man’s laws! that YHWH performed this after the dedication.)  According to tradition, the Jews did not have enough oil to light the menorah and keep it lit.  It would take almost eight days to get new oil made.  However, they obeyed the command and lit it anyway knowing that it should not be out. YHWH then kept it lit for the entire eight days until they had produced the oil.

Although this makes for a nice story, unless it is in the pages of Scripture, it is for us to question and read with caution.  There is no doubt that YHWH could do such a miracle, but not even the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees record this “event”.  It is only found in the Talmud which is NOT the word of YHWH.

However, we can still remember that Y’Shua said He is the light of the world.  We, too, are called to be light in a darkened world.  Like a city on a hill, we should “Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens.” Matthew 5:14-16.

Purim – Feast of Lots – Twelfth month (Feb./March)  14^th day

Purim comes from the book of Esther.  During the reign of king  Ahasuerus
(Xerxes I), a feast was held during which the king ordered the queen to be brought before him, but she refused.  The queen was discarded and the search for a new queen began.  At this time, many Jewish people who had been in captivity had returned home to Israel.  However, many others remained in Persia.  A scribe name Mordecai was one who remained along with his cousin Hadassah whom he took as his own daughter.  She would be chosen the new queen, but she had to hide her heritage and so changed her name to Esther which means “star”.

A man named Haman plotted to kill all the Jews in the land, and as it became known to the Jews, Esther soon found out and became very distressed.  She told Mordecai to have the people fast for three days and she would enter the king’s courts to tell him the truth of the plot and her heritage.  To enter uninvited was against the law and resulted in death, but Esther was willing to take the risk to save her people. 

She asked the king and Haman to a series of banquets where she finally told the king of the evil plot.  Because of her braveness all the Jews were saved from certain annihilation.  The book is a fascinating look at YHWH’s providence and protection even though He’s not even mentioned once in the story.

The word Purim means “lots” which stood for Haman’s use of casting lots to determine on which day the Jews would be killed.

Esther was a story of YHWH’s people being saved from an irrevocable decree of certain death.

Through YHWH Himself, Messiah Yahushua, we have been saved from an irrevocable decree of certain death as well.  YHWH must judge sin, which means we all deserve death since we’re allsinners.  But when Y’Shua died on the cross, He saved all those who would believe in Him from certain death.

The twelfth month on the Hebrew calendar would be the same as our February.  It’s no coincidence that Purim is technically at the same time as another holiday that celebrates “love” – Valentine’s Day.  However, there are some major differences.

Esther portrays true, Godly love in that she was willing to give her life for her people.

We can also see the modern celebration practices that accompany Purim in many Jewish and even Messianic circles.  That in which people dress up in elaborate masks and costume with noise makers and other trinkets.  All of this is very reminiscent of Mardi Gras which falls around the same time as Purim on our modern calendars.  Mardi Gras itself is nothing more than lustful, pagan celebration that has come from millenia of humanism.

Satan is always trying to throw in counterfeit celebrations in the same manner as what YHWH has put in place.  The enemy does this to distract us from anything truly YHWH centered.