Sabbath Observance Imperative for All

Sabbath observance is never a matter of choice. It is mandatory.

¹³ You must observe My Sabbaths. EXODUS 31

²² They must observe the Sabbath as a holy day, as I commanded their ancestors. JEREMIAH 17

Take note of the word “must.”

Sha means “eternal one.” Ab, the root word of Abba, means “father.” Bat or bet means “house of” or “sign of.” Combined as Shabbat (Hebrew for Sabbath), they pack a powerful testimony: Sign of the eternal Father.[1]

¹³ [Sabbath observance] will be a sign between Me and you and the generations to come. EXODUS 31

Y’shua was the type who would do what ought to be done. If the divine intention were to stop Sabbath observance, then He would have pronounced so. What happened was the opposite. He made it His custom to observe the Sabbaths. He even made pilgrimages to the Jerusalem Temple to celebrate there the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Harvest and the Feast of Tabernacles in obedience of Deuteronomy 16:16.

¹⁶ On the Sabbath day Y’shua went into the synagogue, as was His custom. LUKE 4 (Emphasis supplied)

If the Son of God did not exempt Himself from observing the Sabbaths, why should anyone be exempted?

He purified the commandments of corruptions and warned of the troubles we shall face in obeying them. This indicates that He expected us to keep and honor the Ten-C.  

²⁰ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. JOHN 15

² They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. JOHN 16

ISN’T SABBATH OBSERVANCE AN OLD COVENANT PRACTICE AND ONLY FOR THE JEWS?  

It is not. If it were limited to the Old Covenant, why else did Y’shua, the apostles and the early Christians observe the Sabbaths? If it were meant only for the Jews, why else did God say in Leviticus 24:22, “You are to have the same Law for the alien and the native-born”?

¹³ Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ECCLESIASTES 12

Observance of the Sabbath Commandment, even of the nine other, does not stop in Isra’el. The Jews are called to live by the Ten-C and so are the rest of the world (Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus, Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics and Born Again Christians included).

¹⁵ The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the Lord. ¹⁶ The same laws and regulations shall apply both to you and to the foreigner living among you. NUMBERS 15

¹⁶ Then, if [the other nations] will carefully learn My people’s ways, swearing by My name, “As Adonai lives,” just as they taught My people to swear by Ba’al, they will be built up among My people. JEREMIAH 12 cjb

God looks down from heaven at both Jews and non-Jews to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship Him (Psalm 53:2 tev). He is waiting to welcome into His kingdom Jews and non-Jews whose hearts are right with God.

¹⁰ Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? MALACHI 2

²⁹ Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too. ROMANS 3

⁵ [There is] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. EPHESIANS

¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. JOHN 10

⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship Him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My covenant— ⁷ these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. ISAIAH 56

Whether one is born a Jew or non-Jew is immaterial. God is after the spiritual man, not the physical man. He does not look at our religion, nationality, color, intelligence, wealth, gender, strength or physical beauty; God looks at our hearts. To Him the true Jew is anyone who hears the voice of the Good Shepherd and heeds His instructions. The true Jew is he who worships God in spirit and in truth. The true Jew is he who soaks in divine love and exudes it.     

⁶ For not all who are descended from Isra’el are Isra’el. ⁷ Nor because they are descendants are they Abraham’s children. ROMANS 9

²⁹ A true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the Law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. ROMANS 2 nlt

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[1] Danny Shelton & Shelley Quinn, Ten Commandments Twice Removed (USA: Remnant Publications Inc., 2005), p. 102.