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TO KEEP THE 7TH DAY SABBATH IS TO DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD, ACCORDING TO ISAIAH 58
"This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3).
What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord? Many of God's professed people like to quote Psalm 37 verse 4, where is says ... "Delight thyself also in the
Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." But what does it mean to delight ourselves in the Lord? One portion of scripture you will not
hear quoted by most professed Christians in the world today is found in Isaiah 58. Let's take a look:
Isaiah 58:13-14 ...'If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: THEN shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.'
Wow! How clear is this! We are told in verse 2 of Isaiah 58 that we are to "delight to know God's ways." Not our own ways, but the ways of God. And what do the above verses clearly tell us is to delight ourselves in the Lord? To keep His Sabbath day holy. Now many professed Christians in the world today say that the 7th day Sabbath is the Sabbath of the Jews. Not only will you not find one verse in the whole Bible saying that, but look at what God says above in Isaiah 58:
"My holy day" ... "call the Sabbath .. the holy of the Lord."
The 7th day Sabbath is God's holy day, which He made FOR MANKIND, not just for the Jews, as Jesus confirmed in Mark 2:27 ... "the Sabbath was made FOR MAN, and not man for the Sabbath." When was the Sabbath 'made' or 'instituted'? During creation week, as Genesis 2 and the 4th commandment in Exodus 20 confirms, look:
Genesis 2:2-3 ...'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. 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.'
Exodus 20:8-11 ...'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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.'
Now look at what God's END TIME warning is for the world:
Revelation 14:6-7 ...'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'
Who is this end time warning message for? The Jews? No, it is for all that dwell on the earth. What is the message? The 'everlasting gospel.' And what is it pointing us to? CREATION and the worship of our Creator, exactly as the Sabbath commandment!
Did you notice God said to 'Remember the Sabbath day'? Where would God's people have learned about the Sabbath day? From the creation account. This is why God is telling His people to REMEMBER it. And look at what God says at the end of the 4th commandment. He is referencing creation week and confirming that the 7th day of creation WAS THE SABBATH DAY and His people are to REMEMBER that day, to what? KEEP IT HOLY. This was a special day in which the people were to remember their Creator and honor Him, not seeking their own ways, but seeking to delight themselves in the ways of their Creator. Had mankind remembered the 7th day Sabbath, to keep it holy, they would have remembered their Creator and not gone off to worship idols. This was one of the main reasons for the 7th day Sabbath.
Now how many Jews were there at creation? NONE. How much sin and how many 'shadows' because of sin were there at creation? NONE. So please don't tell me that the 7th day Sabbath was a 'shadow', because there was no sin and no need of a saviour at creation, and yet there was the 7th day Sabbath, in all its glory! God's holy day, set apart from all other 6 common days, to be spent in special communion with Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, resting in Him. YES! RESTING IN HIM, walking in HIS ways, not our own ways, delighting ourselves in Him.
Yes, there were other sabbaths that God instituted, yearly sabbaths incorporated into the feasts of the Jews. But these were instituted AFTER sin, which contained animal sacrifices, food and drink offerings, and WERE shadows that led to Christ and the work He was to do in saving us, teaching God's people lessons for our daily spiritual lives. These are the sabbaths the apostle Paul spoke about, which were 'shadows of things to come' and which we are not to judge people concerning, as they are no longer needed to be literally kept. But the 7th day weekly Sabbath was instituted BEFORE sin and therefore cannot be a shadow of anything. Not only that, Isaiah 66 tells us that we will be keeping the 7th day Sabbath for all eternity on the new earth:
Isaiah 66:22-23 ...'For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.'
The 'new moon' is a Biblical term for a month, and in Revelation 22:2 we are told that the tree of life bears new fruit EVERY MONTH. So we will go to New Jerusalem on the new earth every 'new moon' to partake of the tree of life. But look at what Isaiah 66 says also. We will go and worship God EVERY Sabbath day. This also shows that God instituted the 7th day Sabbath at creation for it to be kept for all eternity. Remember, it was not made for the Jews. It was made FOR MANKIND (Mark 2:27). And what did Solomon say is the important issue in life?
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ...'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.'
The whole duty of who? The Jews? No, MANKIND! Everyone!
Remember what the apostle John said at the top of the page? "This is the LOVE of God, that we KEEP His commandments, and his commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). If the love of God is for us to keep His commandments, then what should we DELIGHT ourselves in? Keeping His commandments. Of course we cannot do this ourselves, and our works of the law will never save us. Only through faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done can save us. But what should be our LOVE and our DELIGHT and DESIRE because of what Jesus has done for us? To walk in His ways and keep God's commandments, remembering His holy 7th day Sabbath, pledging our allegiance to Him, allowing Jesus to write the Father's law upon our hearts, causing us to walk in His ways and keep the commandments of God (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:33).
So many of God's professed people misunderstand the new covenant. They believe that we no longer need to keep God's commandments under the new covenant, and yet what did God say Himself in Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8 and Ezekiel 36 concerning the new covenant? That He would write His law upon our hearts and minds, and CAUSE US TO WALK in His ways. This goes CONTRARY to what most of God's professed people believe and teach today! The true end time saints of God will be those who are keeping God's ten commandents, not in 'letter' only, but also in spirit, walking in the faith OF Jesus Christ, look:
Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, AND the faith of Jesus.'
God knew that many of His professed people would separate His ten commandments from the faith of Jesus, which is why He prophesied that His true end time people (the saints, NOT Jews of the flesh), would JOIN both the keeping of His ten commandments and the faith of Jesus together. And as Revelation 22:14 confirms, only those who are doers of His commandments have the right to the tree of life.
Friends, the Sabbath is going to play a big role in the last days deception before Jesus returns. It will play a central role in the mark of the beast deception, which is why Revelation 14 gives us the warning to "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters (Revelation 14:7). What is this pointing us to? Creation and the Creator, and what do we find in creation and what our Creator did at creation? Made the 7th day Sabbath a holy day. So many people have been deceived by the teachings of man, that they have forgotten their Creator. It is time to remember our Creator, remember His Sabbath day and delight ourselves in Him.
"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: THEN shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord." (Isaiah 58:13-14)
For much more truth regarding the Sabbath, please see our following pages:
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE THAT THE SABBATH IS OUR SATURDAY
SUNDAY CHURCHES MISSING KEY POINT REGARDING THE SABBATH
A TREE A RIVER AND THE SABBATH, DOES IT MATTER WHICH DAY?