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Why a seven day week?


BlindSeeker

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It is because of a lack of understanding what the Sabbath represents that it is surrounded by so much confusion nowadays. The Sabbath, first of all, was around a long, long time before there was ever a Jew or a Mosaic Law. Still, the Sabbath, like the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law, represents something specific. I hope we would agree right off that the ceremonies and sacrifices of the old testament were prophetic actions declaring the coming crucifixion of Jesus.

The Passover lamb of the Jews was not to be eaten raw, but the whole of it was to be roasted with fire. This fire represented the judgement Jesus Christ would go through for us. It was necessary for our Passover Lamb to pass through fire for our sins. In regards to partaking of the lamb, the Jews were commanded not to let any of the lamb remain. What they could not consumed physically, they were commanded to burn with fire. This represents how we are to consume, or accept, all of Christ, and not just those parts we favor. Example being, we all want him as our Savior, but few as their Lord. He, as our Passover Lamb, was without blemish (sin) and the first born.

In Colossians 2:16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the SABBATH DAYS : Which area shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Most immediately think these "Sabbath days" are the weekly Sabbath, but they are not. These were the High Sabbath days which were set apart from the weekly Sabbath. Some of these high days were indeed fulfilled in Christ, others remain. But what is important is to realize these High Days are separate from the weekly Sabbath, because they point to different things than the weekly Sabbath does.

  • KJV Leviticus 23:1-44
    1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
    2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
    3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

God tells Moses that there are to be "Feasts . . . holy convocations " which had prophetic purpose in relation to the death and sufferings of Christ, BUT, He also reminds Moses ALSO of the Forth Commandment, to remember the seventh day Sabbath as a holy convocation on which they were to rest and do no work. It was these feast days, remember, that Paul referred to as "Sabbath days" when writing to the Colossians church. These days were the high holy days, and on their day, just like on the seventh day, there was no work was to be performed.

Consider all the verses in Leviticus 23, but to save length and labor, I post only these:

4 These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's Passover.

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

7
In the first day ye shall have AN HOLY CONVOCATION: ye shall DO NO SERVILE WORK therein.

8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days:
in the seventh day is AN HOLY CONVOCATION: ye shall DO NO SERVILE WORK therein.

15 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: 16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord.

21
And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be AN HOLY CONVOCATION unto you: ye shall DO NO SERVILE WORK therein
: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have A SABBATH, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, AN HOLY CONVOCATION.

25
Ye shall do NO SERVILE WORK therein
: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

27
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be AN HOLY CONVOCATION unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

28
And ye shall DO NO WORK IN THAT SAME DAY: for it is a day of atonement
, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God.

29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

31 Ye shall DO NO MANNER OF WORK: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from EVEN UNTO EVEN, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.

33 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

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 the Lord.

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 the Lord:
on the eighth day shall be AN HOLY CONVOCATION unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and YE SHALL DO NO SERVILE WORK THEREIN.

It is profitable to inject here, because in the next two verses there is a definite distinction, made by God, between these feasts days, or Holy Convocations, and the weekly seventh day Sabbath. If we just look at the first part of the verses it can be seen very clearly, however due to the length of verse 37 most simply fail to make the connection. Here are the first part of verses 37 and 38, "THESE ARE THE FEASTS OF THE LORD . . . BESIDES [APART FROM] the Sabbaths of the Lords."

37
These are the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be HOLY CONVOCATIONS
, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

38
BESIDE
THE SABBATHS OF THE LORD
, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the Lord.

39 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 the Lord seven days: on THE FIRST DAY SHALL BE A SABBATH, and on THE EIGHTH DAY SHALL BE A SABBATH.

It helps to recall the "types and shadows" of the Children of Israel coming out of Egypt's bondage and their entering into the promise land. Before we come to surrender ourselves to the Lord we are in bondage to sin and therefore subject to the god of this world. Therefore, Egypt and Pharaoh are type/figures of this world and Satan. But God sent Moses unto Pharaoh demanding that he let God's people go free. Moses in this case is a type/figure of Jesus.

The crossing of the Red Sea is liken to Water Baptism in I Corinthians 10:1,2. Following the Cloud = being led of the Spirit of God. The eating of manna and drinking water from the rock = daily communion with and partaking of Christ. The crossing of the River Jordan, which separated them from Canaan represents the passage through death into heaven, for as the Bible says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." We heard the song "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore." In that song we hear how the river is deep and wide, milk and honey on the other side. The song is about God sending His angel Michael to carry His saints across Jordan, the river of death, to God's promised "rest" for His people.

In Hebrews 3:7-19, Christians were warned not to harden their hearts to God's voice. Because the Jews believed the evil report of the ten spies they refused to go and take the promised land. God, being provoked to anger, said, " ...your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known My ways. So I sware in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest." Being reminded of God's wrath against those who disobeyed, we then are told, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. . . So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief." In all this, we see New Testament scriptures confirming that Canaan, the Promised Land, represented God's promise of "rest."

The author of Hebrews continues in Chapter 4.

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.

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.

Here a warning is given to us that we too could "come short" of God's "rest" if we do not "mix" faith with our hearing of God's word. There is also in verse 3 and 4 an introduction of the "seventh day" on which God rested AFTER the "works were finished from the foundations of the world." The New International Version states it this way, "And yet His work has been FINISHED since the creation of the world. . . And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."

The author of Hebrews compared the Promise Land to "rest," and then joined it to God's "rest" on the seventh day, AFTER the work of creation was FINISHED or COMPLETED. In other words, we see here an important part of the forth commandment, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work . . .For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (NIV Exodus 20:9,11).

The second part of the forth commandment is as EQUALLY important as the first, to labor and do ALL our work. Why most fail to recognize and expound on this part of the commandment I don't know. No one has a right to God's promised rest if they are not willing to do the work God has purposed for them to do. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city," (Rev. 22:14). Certainly, without question, our labor is only acceptable if it is an obedient labor of faith.

God established the standard in that He completed His work in six days and rested the seventh. He therefore has given Mankind six days to complete all of his work that he might enter into God's rest. There is more to this than what immediately meets the eye. Perhaps some are seeing it even now. Remember why the Jews perished in the wilderness and how their disobedience provoked God to wrath? Reconsider Hebrews 4:1,2 again. Because the Jews refused to do the work of faith and conquer the Canaanites they could not enter into the Promised Land's "rest."

NIV Hebrews 4:5,6

5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

Because there were yet some who had yet to hear the Gospel, the time of preaching continues even today. As for those who heard it first, they forfeited its benefit because of their disobedience. This next verse is important because it clarifies that God established, or set, a specific day.

7 Therefore God again SET
[signified]
A CERTAIN DAY, calling it TODAY, when a long time later He spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

Now this passage is a quote from Psalm 95 written by King David, long after the conquest of Joshua. It was written to be sung ON THE SABBATH as a praise to God and to exhort the people saying "TODAY," which of course, would reflect on the Sabbath. It was intended to encourage God's people to have faith and obey His voice and God wouldl keep His promise to give them "rest." King David obviously knew that the geographical Promise Land (he was in) only represented "rest" and was merely a prophetic example of an ultimate "rest" God has for His people.

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

Verse 9 implies there remains a keeping/observing of the Sabbath-rest for all the people of God. The author of Hebrews is warning them to remain faithful to do ALL the work God had given them to do. They were under heavy persecution at the time and he wanted to remind them they could more than over comers, like Joshua, IF they mix their faith to God's word through obedience.

Remember Paul's words to Timothy, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have FINISHED MY COURSE, I have KEPT THE FAITH: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." (KJV 2 Timothy 4:6-8).

We are told by Peter, "there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (Trust me, I am still on the subject of the Sabbath ) He says the scoffers are only scoffing because they are "willing ignorant" because they have not sought out the scriptures. Peter says we understand, "by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: [as revealed in scriptures concerning Noah] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word [scriptures] are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." This is why Peter encouraged the people to give heed to the scriptures.

KJV 2 Peter 3:1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Peter was reminding the people what had been written by the prophets CONCERNING the Lord's return, then later in verse 3:8 he says, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Most people presume Peter is just rationalizing an apparent delay of Christ's return. They feel Peter is saying, "Time with God is different then time is with us. A day, a thousand years, doesn't matter to God. He is eternal." Peter was not trying to rationalize anything, he was clarifying something. He told to people to REMEMBER that when interpreting the prophesies given in regards to Christ and His return, that a "day" represented a thousand years. Such a prophesy is found in Hosea.

Because the Jews rejected Jesus He told them judgement was coming. Hosea records God speaking to Israel, " For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early," (Hosea 5:14,15).

In the next chapter we see Israel reasoning about returning to the Lord. "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After TWO DAYS will He revive us: in the THIRD DAY HE WILL RAISE US UP, AND WE SHALL LIVE IN HIS SIGHT. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and HE SHALL [surely] COME unto us as the rain, [again] as the latter and [as He did the first time like the] former rain unto the earth," (Hosea 6:1-3). Excuse the inserts.

Peter says to "be mindful of the words . . . spoken before by the holy prophets" because he knew the Lord was not going to return for "two days," meaning, two thousand years. Also, we see the Jews acknowledge their offence in the later part of Revelations 11:13, "...and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." These events take place just prior to the Lord's return, at which time, the millennial reign of Christ begins with His church. "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands."

Those faithful to Him in this life will be resurrected to a life eternal with a position of ruling and reigning with Christ. The time when the meek will inherit the earth. "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory . . ." The millennium I'm persuaded is the prophetic "third day" of Hosea 6:2.

If we look at the biblical accounting of time, Christ came and died around four thousand years after creation. I know many time frames have been generated, but only one can make prophetic sense. If we apply Peter's interpretation of a day being a thousand years, and call each of these thousand years a "millennial day" for lack of a better term, then Jesus came during the forth millennial day to his people, but His people did not receive Him. Therefore they brought the judgement upon themselves that we see in Hosea chapter 5.

After two more millennial days Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth with His people. The seventh millennial day is for the Church to receive honor with the Lord as those who WORKED out their salvation during the other SIX MILLENNIAL DAYS. Thus we can see a millennial week has been determined for humanity to work out there salvation and the final purging of sin from God's creation.

Therefore, to me, the seventh day of the week Sabbath, sanctified and hallowed by God from the very first Sabbath at creation, is prophetic of the time when God will honor all those who, taking full advantage of His mercies and grace, labored for His name sake and worked out their salvation with fear and trembling.

As Jesus said, "The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath." This is the time when God honors those who honored Him. BUT!!! Since the Millennium Reign has yet to come, it remains there should be a keeping of the Sabbath for the people of God.

Peace

Edited by BlindSeeker
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