21 The Seventh Day Rest Returns Blessings (23 Isaiah 58)
The common belief is the Seventh Day Rest (later known as Sabbath, or Shabbat) is not for a Christian, it is a "Jewish thing". And the Seventh Day Rest no longer needs to be observed because Jesus is a Christians Rest/Sabbath now.
Let's see what scripture says about that starting at the very beginning and then working from Genesis to Revelation.
Scripture: Isaiah 58:13 Isa-58
"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,
then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;" for Yahweh's mouth has spoken it.
Define:
- "turn away your foot" - An idiom for refraining from walking/traveling/acting in a certain way. Refraining from using the Sabbath day for one’s own ordinary, self-directed activities. Stop walking in your own paths and pursuing your own affairs on God’s holy day. ie Neh-13#v15-22
- Sabbath
- "doing your pleasure" An idiom for doing your own will, desires, or business.
- "ride on" Idiom to triumph, rule, and enjoy the fruit of victory Deut-32#v13
- the high places" An idiom the strategic, fertile, and secure hill country, bamotei aretz are the mountain ridges and hills Mountain
- "heritage of Jacob" the Jacobiac covenant land and covenant blessings promised to Jacob (Israel). The full covenant inheritance that God swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants. Lev-26#v14-35
- "speaking your own words" this is deliberately vague in Hebrew Neh-13#v15-18, Am-08#v5, implies that speech on the Sabbath is to be about the Lord, His works, His word, and things that honour Him
Who:
- "you" Israelites, House of Jacob
What:
- Conditional If-Then Statement
- If:
- turn away from doing your own way on the Seventh Day/Sabbath
- turn from doing your own will, desires, business on YHWH's set apart/Holy day
- call the Sabbath a delight
- call the set apart things of YHWH honorable Unclean, Common, Clean, Holy
- Honor the set apart Seventh day/Sabbath
- NOT doing your own ways
- NOT finding your own pleasure
- NOT speaking your own words
- Then:
- you will
- delight yourself in YHWH
- YHWH will
- bring you to a place of triumph, victory, and security
- bring you to His promised land
- you will
When:
- IF you do THEN
Why:
- YHWH's mouth has spoken it.
Findings
The Sabbath is not for a "Christian":
- Christians do not exist yet.
It is a Jewish thing:
- God has made it clear here it is not just a "Jewish thing," it is something HE has set apart and made Holy.
- Jews at this time are the House of Judah:
- The tribe of Judah (dominant)
- The tribe of Benjamin (absorbed into Judah after 722 BC)
- Remnants of Levi (priests and Levites who fled north or stayed in Jerusalem)
- Some survivors from other tribes who defected south after Israel’s fall (2 Chr 11:13–17; 15:9).
- The Multitude (non-native Israelites - 2 Kings 25) who chose to follow YHWH.
- The "Jews" (followers of Judaism) referred to in the New Testament do not exist yet.
Jesus replaced the Sabbath:
- Not yet.
Other Notes:
- Given outside the Ten Words aka Ten Commandments