The Sabbath

Torah – These are the first five books in the Bible written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy contained in every Christian Bible but vastly ignored by Christians) – Since Torah is instruction in Rabbinic understanding it can encompass all the books up to Malachi including the Renewed Covenant writings, which are also instructions.

All quotes from the AF Study Bible or where different stated to be released in August 2009. The AF Torah can be ordered at the following address:

Many of England’s seminaries and that includes the US ones are deficient in teaching the true holy days of YHWH as they teach man made days like Christmas and Easter both of which are idolatrous and pagan. Today many teach a Christianity like that of Marcion the once heretic who removed much of the ancient writings and cobbled together Paul’s letters to come up with a new religion.

Nazarene believers in the first three centuries of their faith cut away from Sun and moon worshippers altogether and went underground to maintain the walk like Yahushua and would find today’s Christianity foreign to how they lived. There is no way on this earth that the first century believers would dare even consider worshipping God on Sunday. These issues split up people in the first century because the set established days of worship were Friday night and Saturday and Sunday was usually day of travel and not worship. Sun-day was used by sun worshippers this is why it was considered a day of Satan and not God.

The switch to Sun-day was cleverly made by some people who started departing away from the faith of the Jerusalem Bishops and confuses people to this day. Let us examine the true facts of the holy days of YHWH the God that many forgot.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify YHWH Elohim in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

-> What about the Acts 15 council which it appears did not give the Sabbath as a commandment to the gentile believers?

Notes: Different Christians are at different stages of their development, some have accepted positions that are entirely unbiblical due to wrong teaching in the churches or simply the dispensational error that is taught is most Western Churches today and was introduced in the church by a Jesuit priest later adopted by John Darby. We need to go back to the 1^st century of the faith and rectify our understanding of how the disciples of Yahushua lived. God’s Sabbath is not something to be frowned upon but this is what many believers do today instead of arguing and crying like little babies legalism they should learn to be humble and obey the Lord. Real legalism is breaking God’s law not keeping it and most of Christendom are into legalism.

The Holy Sabbath

The very first mention of the word Sabbath leads Christians to think ah, this is for the Jews we do not have to keep the Sabbath but no where do we find such a commandment in the Bible specifically telling us that only Jews are to keep the Sabbath. The premise itself is built on a false argument because when we say Jews we are only addressing one tribe of Israel, what happened to the other eleven tribes, did we forget about them?

The problem with most Christians is that they look for an easy way out to avoid God’s holy Torah by calling it Jewish; they do not realise the need of holiness as dictated by God Himself since for the typical Christian grace means that he can do whatever he wants and whenever he wants and believes grace is abound for him to sin and that includes those Christians who practice the homosexual lifestyle and call it love. Not only today many Christians today(apart from 7^th day Adventists) not pay attention to the importance of the Sabbath but the Bible teaches the priests that is today’s pastors, Bishops profane His holy laws and and we see this is indeed prevalent, the Pastors are teaching to eat meats that are unclean, keeping days that are unclean.

The gentiles in the church today are notorious for doing this, despising His holy things and profaning His Sabbaths, they don't teach to keep kosher and they hate his true Sabbaths by teaching against them. They call unclean meats like pork and shellfish clean and hold no difference between the two yet God says these people are guilty of sin and have not kept the difference between that which is holy and unholy. As a result of this YHWH’s name is profaned amongst the nations but these people will pay the price because the Beast is unleashed to deal with them in this world and God will deal with them also in the next when most of these people will not be raised in the millennium in the first resurrection because of their disobedience. For this get our study “Will the Christians enter the 1000 years millennial reign?”.

Ezekiel 22:26 "Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day Elohim ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. (3) Then Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which Elohim had created and made.

God calls this His Sabbath so this is Yahushua' Sabbath not man's, when we do not believe God we reject Him and His commandment.

The first mention of the word Sabbath Hebrew ‘Shabbat’ is in the book of Genesis soon after the creation of man and woman; later there was Abraham followed by Isaac and Jacob and it was Moses who led the twelve tribes with the mixed multitude so the Sabbath was not given to the Hebrews alone, in fact the application of the Sabbath applies to ALL mankind whether Jews or gentiles both male and female. We forget that the mixed multitude included Egyptians plus other nationals who had joined unto the God of Israel so in God’s one kingdom/nation called Israel ALL people are to observe His commandments and statutes.

The Catholic Cardinal Gibbons, in Faith of Our Fathers, pg. 111, said, “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we (The Roman Catholic Church) never sanctify.

The Catholic Mirror Sept. 9, 1893- “Nor can we imagine any one foolhardy enough to question the identity of Saturday with the Sabbath or seventh day, seeing that the people of Israel have been keeping the Saturday from the giving of the Law, A.M., 2514 to A.D. 1893 (to the present day)…”

"The Catholic Church, ... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday."
The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"1. Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?
"I answer yes.
"2. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?
"I answer yes.
"3. Did Christ change the day?
"I answer no! Faithfully yours,
"J. Cardinal Gibbons"
Gibbons' autograph letter.

Now you heard it from the horse’s own mouth so to speak so let us swiftly move forward.

We find in the creation narrative something profound happened; God created Adam and then found that Adam was inadequate on his own so He put Adam to sleep on the 6^th day and formed a woman to be his personal helper and companion. Notice that God blessed THE 7^th day and the Bible calls it in the Hebrew language of God “The Shabbat”, it was not just any Sabbath but “THE Sabbath” that God blessed and He sanctified it meaning He set this day apart from all other SIX days of the week, He ceased from All His work and was happy that everything that was created was good.

We can see that the Sabbath was called the 7^th day not the 6^th day or the 1^stday. The 7^th day according to the Bible is Saturday and it starts Friday sunset to Saturday Sunset. Sunday cannot be the Sabbath because it is the 1^st day of the week (Yom Rishon) so no matter whether you decide to go to church on Sunday or not it remains the 1^st day of the week and it can never replace the seventh day Sabbath. Some Christians like to argue that everyday is the Sabbath, they think now their authority supersedes God’s authority, how unwise to think and behave this way. This is simply ignorance and lack of knowledge. We can never say everyday is the Sabbath since God does not say so. What gives anyone a right to decide to override His maker?

God sanctified THE 7^th day of the week and not everyday of the week the argument fails when Christians misapply it.

The Bible is not just a historical manual but a guide for our daily living, what was good yesterday is still good today, (Baruch HaShem) what was evil yesterday is still evil today. Let me give you an example, if it was evil yesterday to be involved in an adulterous relationship then it is also evil today. Sin’s definition has not changed and not keeping the Sabbath is a sin, therefore if you do not keep the Sabbath you remain a sinner.

It is up to you to stop living a sinful life, He won’t come down to stop you but He will judge you for it Christian or not.

We are often told that oh we live in a different time now, I say really so what has changed?

Yesterday, when Israel was in the wilderness there were foreign people roundabout Israel who were into worship of false gods, immorality, bestiality and homosexuality was widespread in ancient cultures.

Today we also have around us Immorality, bestiality and homosexuality so what has changed? Recently it was in the news that an Austrian man kept his daughter in a cellar and repeatedly raped her and she had seven children by him.

The world continues to live in sin as it did back then; nothing is new under the sun but one thing is certain, judgment is coming the moment you shut your eyes then who will help you?

In order to recognise the requirements that we have to fulfil we have to recognise who we are first. God formed one nation not a multitude of nations for His prize possession. He wanted everyone to fit into this one nation that He chose to call Israel through the man Jacob.

Genesis 32:28 (KJV) And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

A name change means a nature and a character change. The word Israel in Hebrew means UPRIGHT with God. In the most ancient Hebrew it means YHWH the prince who reigns over.

Moving on when the Torah was given it was given for ALL not just for the Jewish people.

Exodus 12:49 (NKJV) "One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.''

Since most Christians do not recognise who Israel is therefore they get their theology skewed up and end up understanding the Bible incorrectly. Many Christians are taught to believe that somehow God has cast off Israel and is now no longer interested in this nation of people and that by some magic the Church/Christianity is new Israel. However, the Bible teaches we owe our salvation to the disobedience of the Jews and that we are joined into the commonwealth of Israel, the Bible does not say Israel joined unto us.

Ephesians 2:12 (NKJV) That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Roman 1:1 (NKJV) I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

Paul warns the gentile converts not to boast of their salvation because salvation is really from the Jews i.e. the king is from Yahuda since Yahushua both was and still is Jewish and of the tribe of Yahuda as well.

Romans 11:18 (NKJV) Do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

Paul’s letter smacks in the face of gentile ignorance that is so rampant in churches making Rabbi Paulos to be some kind of gentile follower of Yahushua in another religion other than Judaism and is a death knell to the replacement theologians and most Christians who are not knowledgeable with the Bible. Their Bible mainly sits in their home shelves and eats dust while they live in worldly ways.

All the covenants were signed and sealed with the Hebrews though one may argue Abraham was not a Jew but the Bible even calls Abraham a Hebrew so by definition anyone who becomes a believer in Yahushua is a Hebrew by definition and an Israelite in God’s eyes and that goes especially for converts since Abraham was a convert. I would like anyone to prove it otherwise scripturally therefore Abraham was a Jew indeed since he lived in the regions of Judea which are Jewish areas. If I live in Pakistan today I would be called a Pakistani or would you call me as an Indian? Think about it therefore Abraham was a Jew because he did convert into it.

Exodus 12:49 (NKJV) "One law/Torah shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.''

Even God dictates that there is only one law/Torah both for the foreigner and the fellow Israelite.

What about the statement in Acts that the believers worshipped on the 1^st day of the week then all about, is that not Sunday?

Acts 20:7 (NKJV) And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

There is a mandate in scripture which is referred to as the two or three witnesses testimony needed to establish truth. Before we jump on the bandwagon for Sun-day worship we need to establish this with two witnesses and we find none and worse still I will show you that this verse is not even talking about worshipping on the Sun day an unholy day in the past used by pagans to worship their false deities and worship of the Sun.

Deuteronomy 19:15 (KJV) One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Matthew 18:16 (KJV) But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

If we read carefully between the lines we find some interesting truths here that are hidden to the naked eye, but many have their eyes open but their hearts closed as all truth is established in the heart first and not in the eyes. So Lets examine this further.

We start in Acts 1 where Paul after causing a massive uproar travels to Macedonia and then from there to Greece. He stays there three months and then en-route to Syria decides to go via the Macedonian route. They spend some time at Philippi where they celebrate the feast of Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. Before Paul departs scripture details the disciples coming together to "break bread", what were they doing on that so called alleged Sunday?

Here is a more accurate translation of Acts 1 without any anti-Semitic agenda straight from the pages of the AF Nazarene Hebraic Study Scriptures.

Ma’aseh Schlichim (Acts) 20:7 (AFNHSS) And on the first week at the conclusion of the Sabbath[1] (mia ho sabbaton), when the disciples came together to break Lechem (bread), Rabbi Paulos (Sha’ul) proclaimed to them. He was ready to depart the day after; and continued his speech until midnight.

First of all this was not a Sunday because according to the Bible the day begins at sundown not midnight (Gregorian calendar) so this was still Saturday night so here comes the bombshell that many have missed.

There coming together was to celebrate the Havdallah ceremony, this ceremony is the lighting of the triune (intertwined) candle on Saturday night however in order to do this they would have met earlier to commemorate the Sabbath and stayed all the way to midnight. This custom is still done today at the conclusion of the Sabbath.

This was also a special Omer count week likely week one in the count as it is soon after Unleavened Bread, the word day does not exist in the translation and is inserted. Even today in Judaism many Jews do this, so the disciples had come to light the candles, which is typically done at the conclusion of a Sabbath in other words the meeting never started at sunset but would have begun during the Sabbath as was custom (Luke 4:16).

At the same time they would more than likely have had a meal which we know is customary and followed by discussion and discourse, which we find as Paul is teaching them.

It was so important to God that He names the other days with simple names like Day one and Day two but the Sabbath was kept separate with a beautiful name given to it. The ancient Hebrew of this word Shin Bet and Tav represents the holy ONE praise be He leading us to His house and marking us with His sign of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is one of the seals of the faith and without this you do not have the seal of a saved person.

Even today in almost 127 countries the 7^th day name is very similar to Shabbat, here are a few examples.

But God told me it is not so who you going to believe your Pastor or God His maker?

John 20:19 (KJV)Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

As we can see in the Besorah (Gospel/meat) of John that the first day is Saturday night sunset, we find the disciples gathered together and note carefully it says first day of the week, what are the disciples doing on this Saturday evening, exactly what I stated earlier celebrating the Havdalah ceremony, which is conclusion of the Sabbath, this shows again as was the custom that they would have met during the Sabbath Luke 4:16 and continued to meet even after Yahushua’s resurrection some twenty years later.

Well this is easy, how about theologians, Pastors, teachers, everyone of us is to blame for deliberate ignorance and misinterpreting scripture. Many often blame the Roman Catholics for bringing in Sunday worship, there is some truth to this but never the less it is also many people’s own ignorance that has caused people to stray from this truth.

Can we blame an institution when it is up to us to obey that institution or not? Many Jewish people even though were killed and persecuted alongside true Christians but they never abandoned their commandments including the Sabbath. The early believers were Sabbath observant and they were not just Jewish but within the ranks were gentiles also who converted into the Nazarene faith, whicih when seen by later theologians as Jewish looking yet were not ethnically Jewish.

"They [the Nazarenes] have no different ideas, but confess everything exactly as the Law proclaims it and in the Jewish fashion-- except for their belief in Messiah... but since they are still fettered by the Law -- circumcision, the Sabbath, and the rest-- they are not in accord with Christians."

Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

This is what the average Christian is taught to believe. These are not God's true New Moons or His Sabbaths but the new moons and Sabbaths that the people had defined for themselves and God rebukes them to the point that He calls these sin yet He delights in His own days as He has Set them Apart (Kadosh) but the day man sets apart He is not happy about these at all and the same goes likewise today for Christmas and Easter because the true festivals are called Passover and Tabernacles and not Christmas and Easter.

God used the words very strongly and in the negative for those that break the Sabbath or change the day, so we can see that the recipe for disaster is ignorance yet why should the Christian be forgiven anymore then the Jewish people?

There is every point in obeying God and His eternal holy laws. Since this law was the first one made and declared to be kadosh (Holy) we need to guard it. Christians have no more authority then Jewish Rabbis to change God’s holy set apart kadosh days. God tore the kingdom out of the hand of King Solomon and gave the ten northern tribes to King Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:31), Jeroboam wanted to change God’s Temple location and His feasts days (1 Kings 12:32) but he was committing a grave error.

Today Christendom does likewise yet thinks that somehow God will be more forgiving to them, if God was angry with Jeroboam then why should any Christian expect any less? Do you want to continually live in ignorance or do you want to be an obeying believer? It may be that you cannot fully obey His law but the very fact that you tried is going to show Him your desire and heart.

Yahushua predicted Sabbath keeping believers and never annulled the Sabbath at anytime.

Matthew 24:20 (NKJV) And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.

Yahushua knew His disciples will be keeping the Sabbath. Take note: The ones who do not keep the Sabbath maybe saved but are not His disciples.

Malachi 3:6 (KJV) For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Christians say Yahushua is the same today as yesterday yet they break His holy laws. Next time a Christian says this then he needs to examine his life first whether he obeys Yahushua' commandments?

Acts 13:14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.

A lot of Christians use Paul to break the holy laws of God including Kosheret food laws but they forget that Paul was a Rabbi a Pharisee in favour of the Torah after he was called out by Yahushua He still faithfully obeyed the Holy Torah but dropped a lot of the oral Torah for which he was in argument with his fellow countrymen.

Acts 24:13-14 (KJV) Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. (14) But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

Paul an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin (Roman 11:1) was keeping the Sabbath.

What was Paul doing in the synagogue on Sabbath day if he did not obey the commandment? This is the same error that was made by the 4^th century councils that changed the Holy Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday and decided to call Sunday Sabbath

Acts 24:14 "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing ALL things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

Acts 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

Yes it absolutely does matter because God ordained His Sabbath on the 7^th day (Hebrew name is Shabbat) so trying to force Sunday is futile. You either walk in the strength of God or you walk in your own strength. Would you turn up at a doctor’s appointment of your own choosing or do you go when he told you to come? God has allotted certain holy days that He specially sits and listens to our prayers.

The ten virgins mentioned in Matthew chapter 25 of them five were like many Christians today who wanted to walk in their own strength. They did not want to obey God’s word (Torah obedience) but they wanted to proclaim freedom in their Messiah and make Yahushua out to be a gentile paganised Messiah to suit their selfish desires! This is the problem with most Western Christians they are paganised by the Church system and most don’t even know it while they propagate the same foolish doctrines in the East. They do not realise that the oil in the lamp is the very word of God that we must obey yet they fell asleep at the realm and only woke up when the ship was sinking in the storm.

Sabbath is a Covenant by its own right and God’s people will obey this Covenant forever, it is not a matter of our preference whether it is Saturday or Sunday, if you are His child then obey your Father in Heaven if you are not then keep disobeying for a later judgment.

Isaiah 66:23-24 And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,'' says the God. "And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.''

Someone forgot to tell the dispensationalists that God has not done away with His holy Torah (Instructions) yet this error is taught and believed by millions of Christians worldwide but ironically they all proclaim we have truth. Yes you have truth but you do not obey it.

Isaiah 66:19 "I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.

What an amazing prophecy above. God will set His sign the very people who hated the Jewish people and Christians, yes that is the Muslims who escape the battle of Armageddon will go to Turkey, Lebanon, Libya and the furthest parts of the world, these will be ex-Muslims like myself who will proclaim God’s mighty NAME Yahuweh and glory to the gentile nations, what a wonderful testimony for Muslims who will come to Yahushua after the big battle.

Isaiah 56:1-7 Thus says the God: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. (2) Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.'' (3) Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the God speak, saying, "The God has utterly separated me from His people''; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree.'' (4) For thus says the God: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, (5) even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. (6) "Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the God, to serve Him, and to love the name of the God, to be His servants everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant (7) even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.''

What a wonderful testimony for those that keep His holy Sabbath, those that choose to please God rather than waste time in arguments God will give them a wonderful place in His house with an everlasting name. Are the Sun-day keepers made this promise? No. Where did Sunday come from?

Mithraism A pagan religion consisting mainly of the cult of the ancient Indo-Iranian Sun-God Mithra. It entered Europe from Asia Minor after Alexander's conquest, spread rapidly over the whole Roman Empire at the beginning of our era, reached its zenith during the third century, and vanished under the repressive regulations of Theodosius at the end of the fourth century...Helios Mithras is one God...Sunday was kept holy in honour of Mithra...The 25 December was observed as his birthday, the natalis invicti, the rebirth of the winter-sun, unconquered by the rigours of the season (Arendzen. J.P. Transcribed by John Looby. Mithraism. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume X. Published 1911. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).

More important in raising the status of Sun Day among pagans was Mithraism. This movement was related to the emperor's Invincible Sun Cult but carried much broader appeal, especially among the empire's multitude of soldiers. Followers of Mithra did emphasize Sun Day, and with greater impact than early Christians. In fact they may have influenced the Christian choice of the first day of the week for worship and some Christian forms of worship. Purification by baptism, the virtues of abstinence...setting aside heaven for the pure...and celebrating the birth of their God on December 25 are all allowable parallels. Another was Mithraism's treatment of Sun Day.

Christians assigned their own meanings to such practices...Christ was the true Sun, and east was the direction in which Christ ascended into heaven...the similarities in worship, the new status of the first day among both groups at about the same time, the pagan assumption that Christians were fellow Sun-worshipers, and the emergence of the Christian metaphor "Christ the Sun" all suggest a connection of some sort (Harline C. Sunday: A History of the First Day from Babylonia to the Super Bowl. Doubleday, NY, 2007, pp. 5,9-10).

Exodus 31:16-18 `Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. (17) `It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the God made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.' '' (18) And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

The change from Sabbath to Sunday was made by some early people such as Simon Majus who were haters of anything Jewish. Rome adopted Sunday quickly because of Mithraism and from their it crossed over to Christianity the new found faith of Rome and paganism.

This was truly the start of the new pagan religion of Christianity further fuelled by Constantine.

Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

10. A Covenant with the animals also in the millennium in Israel Hos 2:18

9. Covenant of peace with Israel yet future in the millennium Ezekiel 37:27

Deut 29:1 - The Renewed Covenant Repeated in Jeremiah 31:31

8. The Davidic Covenant Second Samuel 7:10-16

7. The Renewed Covenant at Mount Nebo Deuteronomy 29:1

6. The Sinaitic Covenant Exodus 24:7

5. The Abrahamic Circumcision Covenant Genesis 12:3,7; 17:7

4. The Noahic Covenant Genesis 9:1

3. The Adamic Covenant Genesis 3:14-17

2. The Creation Covenant of the Sabbath Exodus 31:16-17, Gen 2:3

1. The Edenic Covenant Genesis 1:26

Many people leave out the most important ordinance that God has set and only list seven covenants or five or even four.

I may not be perfect or am not claiming to be holier than thou but I can claim to be trying to obey God and that in my book is a good start for anyone following Yahushua. Walk as He walked.

1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

This is not about physical walking it is about Halacha the same words were used for Abraham, which means to obey just like Yahushua. One Christian guy said to me that he only sees Jesus walking in the physical on his legs and the commandment is only about love but little did he realise when I showed him that love is perfected in our obeying God's commandments. Without the outer demonstration love is futile at best. Welcome to Bollywood style of love!!!

Some scholars suggest by reading the Didache (Early Christian writings circa 70-135 CE) that they worshipped on Sunday however on close examination of the Didache one will not find the term Sunday in there so it has been conveniently and wrong assumed.

The Didache says the following which translates to the Lord’s way not the Lord’s Day. Κατα κυριακήν δε κυριου (The Didache. Verse 14. In: Holmes M. The Apostolic Fathers--Greek Text and English Translations, 3rd printing 2004, pp. 266-267.

The Lord’s way is speaking about the Jewish Passover which Christians observed hence the LORD’S WAY. The Lord’s Day was a term for the 7^th day Sabbath and not Sunday either.

[2]Letter to the Magnesians. However, the terms for Sun or day are also not in the text. Although some scholar erroneously translated `κυριακήν as "Lord's Day", it should be translated as “Lord’s way” or combined with the Greek word that follows it , ζωντες (Ignatius. Letter to the Magnesians. Verse 8. In: Holmes M. The Apostolic Fathers--Greek Text and English Translations, 3rd printing 2004, p. 154), “Lord’s way of life” or “Lord’s living”.

The Lord’s way or His living once again take us back to the Passover and not Sunday.

[3]The idea of Christianity being tied to an "eighth" comes from a concept held by Gnostic heretics that the Logos (Jesus) was related to the Ogdoad (a word signifying eight). Irenaeus condemned that as a heresy in the second century and noted the following:

By the conjunction of Logos and Zoo were brought forth Anthropos and Ecclesia; and thus was formed the first-begotten Ogdoad, the root and substance of all things, called among them by four names, viz., Bythus, and Nous, and Logos, and Anthropos. For each of these is masculo-feminine, as follows: Propator was united by a conjunction with his Ennoea; then Monogenes, that is Nous, with Aletheia; Logos with Zoe, and Anthropos with Ecclesia.

These Aeons having been produced for the glory of the Father, and wishing, by their own efforts, to effect this object, sent forth emanations by means of conjunction...Moreover, they declare that this invisible and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this reason they affirm it was that the "Saviour" -- for they do not please to call Him "Lord" -- did no work in public during the space of thirty years, thus setting forth the mystery of these Aeons (Irenaeus. Adversus Haeres. Book 1, Chapter 1, Verses 1-3).

1...Valentinus, who adapted the principles of the heresy called "Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school, taught as follows: He maintained that there is a certain Dyad (twofold being), who is inexpressible by any name, of whom one part should be called Arrhetus (unspeakable), and the other Sige (silence). But of this Dyad a second was produced, one part of whom he names Pater, and the other Aletheia. From this Tetrad, again, arose Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. These constitute the primary Ogdoad. He next states that from Logos and Zoe ten powers were produced (Book 1, Chapter 11, Verse 1).

We can see here that Ireneus was condemning Valentinus for holding such views of Sunday observance.

On the day called Sunday (Justin Martyr. The First Apology. Chapter LXVII. Text edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson and first published in Edinburgh, 1867. Additional introductionary material and notes provided for the American edition by A. Cleveland Coxe 1886. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, reprint 2001).

We hold our common assembly on the day of the sun, because it is the first day, on which God put to flight darkness and chaos and made the world, and on the same day Jesus Christ our saviour rose from the dead (Justin Martyr. The First Apology. Chapter LXVII. Text edited by H. Betteson and C. Maunder. Documents of the Early Church, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999, p.73).

Note he did not call the day Sunday but used the term on the day said of Helios.

The actual introduction of Easter-Sunday appears to have occurred earlier in Palestine after Emperor Hadrian ruthlessly crushed the Barkokeba revolt (A.D. 132-135)...

The fact that the Passover controversy arose when Emperor Hadrian adopted new repressive measures against Jewish religious practices suggests that such measures influenced the new Gentile hierarchy to change the date of Passover from Nisan 14 to the following Sunday (Easter-Sunday) in order to show separation and differentiation from the Jews and the Jewish Christians...

A whole body of Against the Jews literature was produced by leading Fathers who defamed the Jews as a people and emptied their religious beliefs and practices of any historical value. Two major causalities of the anti-Jewish campaign were Sabbath and Passover. The Sabbath was changed to Sunday and Passover was transferred to Easter-Sunday.

Scholars usually recognize the anti-Judaic motivation for the repudiation of the Jewish reckoning of Passover and adoption of Easter-Sunday instead. Joachim Jeremias attributes such a development to "the inclination to break away from Judaism." In a similar vein, J.B. Lightfoot explains that Rome and Alexandria adopted Easter-Sunday to avoid "even the semblance of Judaism" (Bacchiocchi S. God's Festival in Scripture and History. Biblical Perspectives. Befriend Springs (MI), 1995, pp. 101,102,103).

Polycarp the disciple of John the son of Zebedee went to Rome to persuade them not switch over to the Sunday Passover from the dates of 14th of Nissan that were calculated based on the moon and the Jewish calendar. Ireneus records this as follows:

And when the blessed Polycarp was sojourning in Rome in the time of Anicetus, although a slight controversy had arisen among them as to certain other points…For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to forego the observance [in his own way], inasmuch as these things had been always observed by John the disciple of our Lord, and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant; nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp succeed in persuading Anicetus to keep [the observance in his way], for he maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him. And in this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other; and Anicetus conceded to Polycarp in the Church the celebration of the Eucharist, by way of showing him respect (Irenaeus. FRAGMENTS FROM THE LOST WRITINGS OF IRENAEUS. Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. Excerpted from Volume I of The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, editors); American Edition copyright © 1885. Electronic version copyright © 1997 by New Advent, Inc).

VICTOR I, ST. (189-199) An African...Victor tended not to advise other churches but to impose Rome's ideas on them, thus arousing resentment at times in bishops not inclined to accept such impositions. This was the case of Polycratus, the Bishop of Ephesus, who felt offended at this interference. The question was again that of Easter. Victor reaffirmed the decisions of Soter and Eleutherius both with regard to the date, which had to be a Sunday, and with regard to several customs of Jewish origin which were still practiced in some Christian communities...Polycratus justified himself before the pope with a letter containing the phrase "...it is more important to obey God rather than men" (Lopes A. The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 5).(bold mine)

The Sabbath was kept in Ireland part of the British homeleand even in 11^th Century CE until an English woman married Malcolm III king of the Scots and she then forced his subjects to obey Sunday laws.

It seems to have been customary in the Celtic churches of early times, in Ireland as well as Scotland, to keep Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, as a day of rest from labor, and Sunday, commemorative of the Lord's resurrection, as one of rejoicing, with exercises of public worship. In that case they obeyed the fourth commandment literally upon the seventh day of the week…

The queen insisted upon the single and strict observance of the Lord's Day. People and clergy alike submitted, but without entirely giving up their reverence for Saturday, which subsequently sank into a half-holy day preparatory for Sunday (Moffat , James Clement. The Church in Scotland: A History of Its Antecedents, it Conflicts, and Its Advocates, from the Earliest Recorded Times to the First Assembly of the Reformed Church. Published by Presbyterian Board of Education, 1882. Original from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Digitized Mar 13, 2008, p. 140).

Yahushua of Nazareth was the one who gave the Torah on Mount Sinai and He was the one who gave the revelations to the prophets, He was also the one who left His teachings with His disciples who later penned it into gospels and epistles. He is the one who met Abraham, met Moses and several other prophets.

The Sabbath was created for ALL mankind (Genesis 2:3) and it was given later to Israel as a lawful commandment as the fourth commandment in the ten words or the Decalogue.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: (10) But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the God 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: (11) For in six days the God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the God blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The Messiah was to take on the sin of the world and had to be sinless to qualify as the lamb of God and Yahushua kept the very Torah that He gave. If Yahushua did not keep the Sabbath then He is a Sabbath breaker thus a sinner and therefore could not fulfil the office of Messiah, however we know that He did keep the Sabbath and even advocated for His followers to keep it.

Matthew 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.

Yahushua expected His followers to keep the Sabbath thus He said that the time of the coming of the Anti-Messiah those that are keeping the Sabbath do not return or else you will be killed and to escape into the mountains. He is referring to a time in future when the Sabbath day is holy to many and this is not to His Jewish disciples only but it applies to ALL His disciples.

Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the Sabbath day He entered into the synagogue, and taught.

Yahushua entered a synagogue on the Sabbath day and was teaching the Hebrew Bible on that very day in the Hebrew language! You do not read Hebrew in Aramaic another fallacy that Yahushua’s teachings are written in Greek. This clearly shows that Yahushua observed the Sabbath. It is apparent that the late Christian Church fathers and today’s numerous pastors included have perverted God's holy laws and He will judge them for this no doubt. They make out that the Sabbath is not for us and that somehow since Yahushua fulfilled the law we do not have to do any more of the commandments but no where in the Bible do we have a clear teaching telling us not to obey the clearly laid out holy laws.

Luke 6:6 And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

Note Yahushua again enters a synagogue a place of worship and teaches Torah and the prophets i.e. the Hebrew Bible called the Tanach. There are three principles here;

2. Worship on the Sabbath day or gathering is the proper order to meet since God has blessed the 7^th day.

3. It is good to fellowship on the Sabbath together nourishing on the words of God.

4. It is good to do good to other people on the Sabbath such as Yahushua healed this man showing that it honours God and shows who we belong to.

5. He lays no rules for Sabbath observance since they are already in place in the Tanach (referred to by many as the Old Testament)

6. In the Sabbath it is always the message of redemption for the afflicted people.

Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

Note carefully that Yahushua entered a synagogue to do what? Teach and the passage says as it was HIS CUSTOM to do this on Saturdays, so a custom is not done once but done often e.g. in this every week. Yahushua set the example for us to follow and obey. If you are the disobedient variety then you will reject His commandments and do what you want.

Deuteronomy 15:5 (KJV) Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the God thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

Matthew 19:16-21 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (18) He saith unto him, Which? Yahushua said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, (19) Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (20) The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? (21). Yahushua said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Apparently many in Christendom would like to believe that Yahushua forgot to tell the man who came that the commandments have been annulled but no he reminds Him what is good for Him and quotes verbatim the commandments given to Moses.

God's holy law stands as a witness either for us or against us and it is not done away with, Yahushua came to obey and show clearly how to keep the commandments.

Revelation 2:26 (KJV) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Yahushua the Messiah refers clearly to he (all the people) who keep my works, i.e. keep the commandments that Yahushua kept such as keeping kosher avoiding unclean things like swine flesh and the other such animals to avoid in Leviticus 11, it is to him that Yahushua will give the authority over nations while the rest who did not "keep his works", He said they would be the "least in the kingdom of God" that is if they at least have the blood of Yahushua but lack of understanding to follow Yahushua.

I have heard many arguments but the typical one brought up is this verse that they try and use to do away with the Sabbath.

Colossians 2:16 (KJV) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

The letter to the Colossian synagogue was written somewhere around 62AD because of prevalent false doctrines had started to enter messianic places of worship after the epistles of Ephesians and Romans. The Acts of the apostles were written somewhere around 60-62 AD also. Now two important things come to mind, one that Paul has been shown to be Sabbath keeping in the book of Acts by Luke, second Paul was an observant Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin so he was obedient to the Torah then why would he be advocating breaking the 4^th commandment? Let us look at this a little. Paul said in one of his epistles 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Messiah.

Let us look at this statement; If Paul was an imitator or follower of Yahushua then he would have kept the feasts and the Sabbaths because if Yahushua did not keep the Sabbath then Yahushua could not be the sinless lamb of God because He would be a commandment breaker but I have shown above that He was a commandment maker and not a breaker.

Acts 24:14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

Now with the above information we can move forward to interpret what Paul is teaching in Colossians 2:16. The "man" that is not to judge you on your meats or Sabbaths is not talking about another believer but a "heathen", yes that is correct in Jewish/Christian scholarly circles it is well established that this verse is about a man who is not a Christian who tries to question the believers for how they live i.e. he thinks he lives a better moral life and we have often seen this with the atheists who think they are more moral than Christians or Jews. Also the verse has a translation issue that the word “is” has been added which changes the context.

Col 2:16-17 (AFNHSS) Let no man therefore judge ye in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a set-apart day, or of the Rosh Kodesh (new moon), or of the Sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of Messiah.

Note the wording is “body of Messiah” and not the words “body is of Messiah.” This indicates only the boy is to judge on matters of purity and holiness and not outside pagans.

This reminds me self bloated righteousness, which exists in many unbelievers. The term ‘man’ is a first century idiomatic expression for all people non-Jewish and this is a Jewish mishnah verdict too.

Did that include ALL things but the circumcision? Scripture itself testifies according to Acts and many other letters of Paul ALL things here really meant Torah OBEDIENCE.

Acts 24;14…Believing all things which are written in the law/Torah and in the prophets

There you have it, sealed in scripture is what Paul believed in God the God of his fathers and kept ALL things. Yet we have people in Churches advocating that God forgot about His own Sabbath laws and changed the day to Sunday.

One would wonder if this is what Bible colleges are teaching today then people should stop going to these because they are really teaching against God’s law. Its best to stay at home and pray to the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) for guidance and to reach out to good teachers online or through friends that you know are teaching things correctly for understanding scripture rather than to teach men to break His holy words which Yahushua commanded and advised in the strictest that not one jot or nekuda can pass from the Torah and that any man who teaches so will be the least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:18-19). Bearing these words of our Saviour one can hardly dare to teach such doctrines forgetting the wrath that can pour upon us for teaching unbiblical things.

Do we have any testimony or evidence to know what the various denominations believed?

It would be an error to attribute ['the sanctification of Sunday'] to a definite decision of the Apostles. There is no such decision mentioned in the Apostolic documents [that is, the New Testament] ."--Antoine Villien, "A History of the Commandments of the Church," 1915, p. 23.

"It must be confessed that there is no law in the New Testament concerning the first day."--McClintock and Strong, "Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature," Vol. 9, p. 196.

"Until well into the second century [a hundred years after Christ] we do not find the slightest indication in our sources that Christians marked Sunday by any kind of abstention from work."--W. Rordorf "Sunday," p. 157.

"Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles . . . From beginning to end of scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first."--Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.

"There was and is a command to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will however be readily said, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week, with all its duties, privileges and sanctions. Earnestly desiring information on this subject, which I have studied for many years, I ask, where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament--absolutely not. There is no scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week."--Dr. E.T. Hiscox, author of the "Baptist Manual."

"It is true that there is no positive command for infant baptism. Nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week. Many believe that Christ changed the Sabbath. But, from His own words, we see that He came for no such purpose. Those who believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath base it only on a supposition."--Amos Binney, "Theological Compendium," pp. 180-181.

"We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy, catholic, apostolic church of Christ."--Bishop Symour, "Why We Keep Sunday."

"This [Constantine's Sunday decree of March, 321] is the 'parent' Sunday law making it a day of rest and release from labor. For from that time to the present there have been decrees about the observance of Sunday which have profoundly influenced European and American society. When the Church became a part of State under the Christian emperors, Sunday observance was enforced by civil statutes, and later when the Empire was past, the Church, in the hands of the papacy, enforced it by ecclesiastical and also by civil enactments."--Walter W. Hyde, "Paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire," 1946, p. 261.

"The keeping of the Sunday rest arose from the custom of the people and the constitution of the [Catholic] Church . . . Tertullian was probably the first to refer to a cessation of affairs on the Sun day; the Council of Laodicea issued the first counciliar legislation for that day; Constantine 1 issued the first civil legislation."--Priest Vincent J. Kelly, "Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations," p. 203. [A thesis presented to the Catholic University of America.]

We can find evidence after evidence that no such day as Sunday was ever called a Sabbath and that the ones who instituted the Sabbath on Sunday were only human in error. This has nothing whatsoever to do with God God of Israel. By this we can conclude that many today who are teaching nothing but Catholic doctrines that Sabbath is Sunday prove their lack of knowledge of the scriptures that can make one wise.

What about the Acts 15 council not talking about the Sabbath as a commandment to the gentile believers?

Why is it that we have to pick passages that are obscure to prove our point rather than those that are clear, just because the Sabbath was not mentioned does not mean it was annulled? The council was not sitting down to discuss Sabbaths or feasts laws this is why they are never mentioned. They were actually discussing rules of table fellowship, things to do with eating at a minimum where the returning gentiles can sit and eat together with the Jewish believers. Most of you would not know what this means. If you have Muslim friends or relatives then you may have some idea. They will not sit and eat with gentiles who are unclean or eat unclean foods such as pork.

When I was a Muslim I got saved by my confession to accept Yahushua into my life and asking forgiveness for my sins, I had no understanding about the Bible, if at that time someone had said to me to go dip in the Jordan for my baptism I would have gladly done so not knowing any better that I can dip in another river in Europe I may reap the same result unless I had leprosy and I was commanded to dip in the Jordan seven times.

Since my understanding was not good at that time then I would need time to come to an understanding to do the rest of the commandments that I may not have been doing from the start and this same situation applied to the Acts 15 council that the new converts should do the minimum to start with waiting to do the rest as they gain a better understanding.

Most people never bother to read the next verse that came after the four point rule of abstaining from pollution of idols, fornication, strangled animals and blood (Acts 15:20).

Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.

What were the gentiles doing in synagogue on the Sabbath? Could it be that they were keeping the Sabbath and learning the Torah? This in itself is evidence to reject Christendom’s stance of non-Sabbath observance as founded by men rather than God. However we do not reject Western Christianity for truth of Messiah and salvation only through Him.

Acts 15:22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church...

What was being preached that excited and encouraged the Acts 15 council so much? Could it be the commandments of the Torah that the new believer like me would have come to understand and in his own time obey? Of course we agree that he the "gerim" convert got completely saved before doing anything else like the Sabbath keeping and other things. We also agree that God is the author and finisher of our faith so should we take His lead or mans?

If you had said to me Simon you can start eating pork however this is where I would have rejected Christians but not the Bible because I would have searched for why should I eat unclean meat when Yahushua did not and the disciples did not and even I in my past as a Muslim did not because the Qur’an has many aspects of Torah in it.

if you don't believe me ask any other ex-Muslim and he or she will tell you likewise. This is a big stumbling-block for many Muslims and Jewish people alike. I have even seen that when Jewish people are invited to Christian fellowship meetings that the Christians at times are very insensitive to put pork in front of kosher eating Jewish people. What a tremendous stumbling block and a bad witness. However there are those Christians with understanding who make the appropriate arrangements in such meetings.

The whole point of Acts 15 is to do with table fellowship and this is common in Middle-East, when you meet friends you sit and eat with them, it is not like in the West just one cup of tea, nice to meet you and bye bye, see you another time. In the Middle-East you must eat with friends so how do you eat with friends who are eating pork or crabs or snakes worse still? You cannot do that as that stops you fellowshipping. In strict Muslim homes they keep separate dishes for those people who enter their home who are not Muslims because they do not want to pollute their own dishes, the same principle works in Judaism with the Jews. This is why Acts 15 was to get rid of the first biggest stumbling-block to allow the gentile converts to sit and eat with the Jews for table fellowship so they are not seen as idolaters.

Where did Yahushua ever give a clear edict that this is finished? You do know that we find none, not even once. This is why Christianity does not appeal to Muslims and they would reject the ideas founded by Western Christianity as unbiblical Christianity. I know it may not be a problem for the Western people but this is the real world friends.

It is hard to explain all this because it is hard enough through the spirit to know that Yahushua is God but harder still to accept that the commandments He issued very clearly are no longer valid because that to us is a mutating God and that God with the lower case "g" who mutates we refuse to accept is true sorry to say from an ex-Muslim point of view.

Hebrew 13:8 Yahushua Messiah the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Now you tell me does Yahushua change? If your answer is no then where do we get the idea that some commandments are annulled while others are still valid?

We have not even discussed the fact that Sabbath is a Covenant and an everlasting one and a mark of God at that and you do know what everlasting means right?

Exodus 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant (Permanent covenant).

The early believers of Messiah were called Nazarenes, they were not cultic or Judaizers but were very Biblical oriented concerning the idolatry around them.

You have heard it said, “Sabbath and the Biblical festivals are for the Jews, followers of Yahushua no longer have to observe God's appointed times but I tell you the written word says the Sabbath is forever.

Ezekiel 44:24 "In any dispute, the priests are to serve as judges and decide it according to my ordinances. They are to keep My laws and My decrees for all My appointed feasts, and they are to keep My Sabbaths holy."

These Torah ordinances are not just for the future priests but also for the believers who would be raised and those living at the time will have to obey them.

Zechariah 14:16-19 "Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, God Almighty, and to celebrate Sukkot. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, God Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. God will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate Sukkot. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate Sukkot."

The feast of Tabernacles is also a high holy-day a Sabbath of God and this feast is for all mankind to attend and present themselves to God in the millennium future when God will rule with a rod of iron and no longer will be lovey dovey with the rebellious ones.

Isaiah 66:22-24 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares God, "so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says God . "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind."

Again note no bogus time gap between commandments as such claimed by dispensationalists error who essentially deny God's commandments.

Daniel 7:25 “And he [The Anti-messiah] shall speak proud words against the Most High, and intends to change the appointed times and Torah; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.”

God has made it clear that the Torah is still around and so are His appointed times. And God clearly expects ALL MANKIND to observe His appointed times; these are not optional and not only for the Jews as Christianity has been teaching erroneously! It is also clear that even after the New Heavens and New Earth will come that we will be observing God's appointed times.

Obviously then, the commandments of God's appointed times are still for today, contrary to what institutionalized Christianity has been teaching for many centuries. It is also interesting to note that one of the characteristics of the anti-Messiah is that he “he intends to change the appointed times [Sabbath, New moon, Passover, etc.] and Torah”! Constantine Christianity is guilty of changing His appointed times so beware not to follow after the idolatries of Roman Christianity and protestant Christianity is simply the daughter of Rome following many similar errors while the real beast is roaming around freely.

Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

Note the very beginning of the word it does not say "blessed is the Jew" who keeps the Sabbath but it says "BLESSED IS THE MAN AND THE SON OF MAN" that in Hebrew is "Eshere Enosh asa ben Ha Adam" meaning any man who does this is blessed i.e. not restricted to Jews. The term ‘man’ is a midrashic one and applies to all non-Jews.

There is a mark of the Anti-Messiah and there is a mark of a true believer, the mark that God has chosen for His people is the Sabbath the day that He especially set apart for His people who are also set-apart.

The Sabbath law is a law given by God and written by His own finger who do you think was dong the writing, how about the Son of God Yahushua Himself, this was re-dictated to Moses as part of the ten commandments not ten suggestions but ten Khukim, these are statutes forever not for a limited time. In Exodus 20:8 it says "remember", how can we remember if we are never going to practice them? The Hebrew word for "remember" is Zekar and it means to talk about it, to do it and perform the act, this the only way we can remember. Out of the ten commandments this is the only one we are told to "remember".

Exodus 13:9 And it (the Feast of Unleavened Bread) shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the God's law (Torah) may be in thy mouth.

Exodus 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a SIGN between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the God that doth sanctify you.

Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a SIGN between Me and them, that they might know that I am the God that sanctify them.

Ezekiel 20:20 And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a SIGN between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the God your God.

According to these Scriptures, God's SEAL in the Torah and His Signature is defined as being the Sabbath days in His Torah. These are inscribed in the believer's forehead, his mind. Yes, believe it or not, God's Sabbath days constitute His signature, His sign and like Himself they cannot be changed or done away with.

After reading this article many of you may dislike me as I have received some hate mail already from Christians or even hate me for teaching that the Sabbath is holy, many of you will call me a legalist, you are putting us in bondage type of arguments, I have come out of a very harsh background so this kind of talking makes no difference to me, I lost my seventeen years old marriage and two children for God, you are welcome to join the line of Muslims who hate me for leaving Islam and Christians for obeying Yahuweh and I simply choose to obey God and reject your traditions!!!

Remember there are even those Christians in Israel and the Palestinian regions for whom Yahushua is a freedom fighter who also hates the Jews, this is the sort of misguided theology that has taken hold in some parts of the Middle-East for the sake of appeasing the Palestinian people, on the day of judgement many of these types of Christians will find that they were never His people.

Since Christians want to disobey the Sabbath instruction today and want to follow Sun-day worship they should remember one thing they are actually more precisely following the Roman Catholic laws set by the Roman Catholic church. So it would be better for you to call yourself a Catholic as Yahushua (Jesus') followers were Sabbath and feasts keepers of God and never accepted pagan Rome's doctrines.

Constantine and the Jews

Constantine instituted several legislative measures regarding the Jews: they were forbidden to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves. Conversion of Christians to Judaism was outlawed. Congregations for religious services were restricted, but Jews were allowed to enter Jerusalem on Tisha B'Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. Constantine also supported the separation of the date of Easter from the Jewish Passover (see also Quartodecimanism), stating in his letter after the First Council of Nicaea: "... it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul. ... Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Saviour a different way." [6]. Theodoret's Ecclesiastical History 1.9 records the Epistle of the Emperor Constantine addressed to those Bishops who were not present at the Council: "It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded. ... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of the God, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our God. ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews."

This whole saga was implemented by pagan Roman emperor Constantine who was also a Jewish hater and hater of God's feasts.

Although this was first brought out in Antioch by Ignatius but This day was further propagated in the year 321 by Constantine, who spoke of Sunday as "the venerable day of the sun." The Pagans celebrated it as a festival in the religious rites of Mithraism, a sun-worshiping religion. Unable to suppress these pagan celebrations, the early Christians embraced these holidays, gave them Christian significance, and merged them into the religion of Christianity. No wonder Muslims say Christianity is a Mithraism and I don’t blame them for it because it is partly true.

This comment by John Frith (1503–1533) was an English Protestant priest , quoted by Dr. Hardwicke, is interesting and important
"We are as superstitious about Sunday as they [the Jews] are about their Saturday, yea, we are much more mad; for the Jews have the word of God for their day, since it is the seventh day, and they are commanded to keep it sacred; but we have not the word for us, but rather against us."

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.

The day is never mentioned as a Sunday but most people just assume it. This is actually a high holy day. How do we know this? We have two clues, it is called the Lord's day or more accurately YHWH's day since in Hebrew it would be in like manner and also the second clue is the great trumpet which identifies this as a feast day of God. Trumpets were blown on feasts days, Sabbaths and New moons as specified in Psalm 81:3.

First of all God calls His holy day Shabbat day but never calls this day Sunday. Secondly it is clear this day is a sounding cry of judgment done through the great shofar. This day is no other but another Sabbath since a shofar is blown to sound the return and judgment. The shofar was blown on high holy days and the Sabbaths thus we see the same pattern here. To learn more about these things please get the AF Nazarene Study Bible from www.abrahamic-faith.com.

There may well be instances where a believer is living in a land where he is not allowed to take Saturday off and thus is forced to work, maybe he is allowed to take Friday off as in some Islamic countries, here God is fully understanding and knows the heart of the believer its best to pray to God to give you Saturday off even in a heathen or unbelieving land so that you can observe the Sabbath to make a strong witness and if you cannot then God will not judge you for something you had no control over. We know this is true because God never cited the Sabbath as one of Israel’s sins in Egypt as they were made to work.

As you know the priests were working on the Sabbath preparing the services and offerings thus even today likewise the Pastors/Rabbis are exempt as long as they are preparing the sermons because they may have to prepare church/synagogue services and conduct services by travelling out to places.

We are to break for rest and as Yahushua showed some occupations may be exempt e.g. if you are a doctor or a nurse and have to work on Saturday then since Yahushua showed that healing is allowed on the Sabbath (Mark 3:2-4) the higher principle applies, i.e. you can work due to the emergency but do work or if paid give your pay into God's tithe as that is his time that you just used up. You should not keep Saturday’s pay as that would be wrong you would be accused of stealing from God. Make sure to give your tithe to good Torah teachers and do not waste it on pastors who know nothing about God and his laws even those who have been to seminary and teach to break His holy laws. This also means police and military service men are exempt because they have to be on duty but if they are off duty then they should keep the Sabbath. God will not judge them if they were on duty for their country.

No, scripture does not allow it, unless it is an emergency like saving a life to go out and buy medicine or if someone is dying and you must feed him else he dies.

Nehemiah 10:28-31 And the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the porters, the singers, the Nethinims, and all they that had separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one having knowledge, and having understanding; (29) They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the God our God, and his judgments and his statutes; (30) And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: (31) And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt.

If you understand that you are taking this stand for God and to please Him would that not include conducting your business unless you are a Pastor or Rabbi taking a service which falls outside business.

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 God, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: (14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the God; 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 God hath spoken it.

God will bless you if you are obedient. If you take a stand for God's holy day and decide that you will choose to obey Him then he will cause His blessings to fall upon you and you will know for sure that the result of the blessings is surely God's holy day of Sabbath.

It is obvious in such a circumstance you will not be given time off to keep the Sabbath and also when Israel was in captivity they could not keep the Sabbaths but God did not judge them for these missed Sabbaths since this was out of their control.

Exodus 5:1-5 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the God God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. (2) And Pharaoh said, Who is the God, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the God, neither will I let Israel go. (3) And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the God our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. (4) And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.(5) And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

God knows your predicament and there may not be a perfect answer for every situation the only thing I can say is to pray to have the Saturday off and for your situation to change but go and work and provide food for your family if there is no other choice but remember give the Saturday money to God as it belongs to Him alone. You have six days to work and provide for yourself and your family, the 7^th day belongs to God.

1 Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

There are other Sabbaths like land rest, forgiving of debt and in essence if we are obeying these laws then our world would be a different place but this will happen in God's kingdom so we have to wait for this to come about. There are probably many other situations but for each situation you have to follow scripture and let the Holy Spirit guide you.

Answer) You should recite the prayer at the onset of the Sabbath or just before daylight goes out to light two candles as per tradition, then do the following prayer and bless the bread and wine.

Note women should light the candles just before the sunset and then recite the following blessings.

Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner shel Shabbat.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light.

You should replace the word Lord and God with Yahuweh’s true name. This is at the onset of the Sabbath.

The blessing for sons asks God to make them like Ephraim and Manashe.

May YHWH make you like Ephraim and Menashe

Transliteration in Hebrew
Ye'simcha YHWH ke-Ephraim ve-chi-Manashe

The blessing for daughters asks Yahuweh to make them like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

May God make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

Transliteration in Hebrew
Ye'simech YHWH ke-Sarah, Rivka, Ra-chel ve-Lay'ah

Do the shema together facing Jerusalem the head of the household recites and the rest recite after him.

The priestly blessing at the end before which other prayers can be brought such as for family needs and healings or corporate prayers for the body of believers worldwide and the nations etc.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace.

Note the Sadducees believed in the day starting at sunrise while the Pharisees believed in days starting at sunset. The Pharisee were correct while the Sadducees were wrong. Note also that today’s modern Karaite movement has arisen out of the Sadducees. Unlike today many of the Sadducees were in fact enemies of Yahushua at His time so do not be deceived to run after the Sadducees.

God said Judah is my lawgiver (Ps 60:7) and therefore the Sabbath as organised by the Jewish people is correct.

Psa 60:7 (KJV) Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;

They have gone through the exile and came back in the land to establish the 7^th day cycle and have faithfully continued to keep it. We find no argument in the Renewed Covenant (NT) at all with the Pharisees ever regarding the Sabbath where Yahushua would ever rebuke them. It did not happen as the Sabbath was a straight 7 days cycle and there was no issue even Yahushua was seen in the Synagogues teaching (Mark 1:21). By rejecting Judah’s established Sabbath you actually reject YHWH since He set them to make the jurisdiction of the Moe’dim feasts and the Sabbaths. If you would like an example then look at what happened to Korah who also rebelled with his company of men against Moses (Num 16:2) who was the lawgiver over Israel.

Please do not be carried by every wind of doctrine that comes your way, use wise and righteous teachers to help you to understand things you do not understand but don’t run after the masses.

Now you can either decide to believe what God has said about Judah (Jewish Israel) or you can run after these groups for the rest of your life. Its really your choice. This is why God had teachers and Rabbis who would decide matters of law. When you have lay people deciding matters of God’s law then chaos is the order of the day. So be warned.

I want to point out that in 70 CE both the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel had a dispute about something and then a Bat Kol (Voice from heaven) was heard that said that both these schools speak are the words of God but the School of Hillel Rules from this day and the school of Hillel has ruled since that day. The Jewish people are quite correct in their Sabbath observance and in many other things they have already made halacha (way of conduct) is fine. Some things may appear to go a bit too far but they are in essence trying to protect the Torah, remember they are the lawgivers so either you agree with YHWH’s lawgiver or you don’t.

Yes its true they do not have a revelation of the Messiah but this is how it is meant to be so once again what has been established and practiced for over 2000 years I can tell you is correct. If you want sanity in your lives I suggest you go to a Jewish Synagogue and avoid all these bad teachers teaching bad doctrines and yes I do mean the Orthodox Synagogue.

Your belief on the Messiah is your personal belief and that will not hinder you from sitting and studying in the Synagogue.

Let me tell you categorically that God has rejected doctrines coming out of Christendom at least on Torah as they do not have the right to make Torah law. Here is proof below.

Psalm 78:9-10 (NKJV) The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. (10) They did not keep the covenant of G-d; They refused to walk in His law,

For more see our article explaining the Lunar Sabbath is an inaccurate view on the Ask the Rabbi page.

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Simon Altaf was chosen by G-d for the special End-Times prophetic calling. A lone voice in the wilderness, one taught by G-d (Ps 119:120-121), a Messianic Rabbi, writer. He is an ex Sunni Muslim from the tribe of Levi called out of Islam to rejoin His people after his long exile.

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[1] This was a Saturday night when the disciples were celebrating the conclusion of the Sabbath with Havdallah prayers. This is wrongly understood by many Christians to be Sunday but it is actually Saturday evening and not Sunday. Many bible translations insert the word ‘day,’ which does not exist in the Greek text and is referring to a special week count suggesting an omer count week.

[2] http://www.cogwriter.com/sunday.htm

[3] http://www.cogwriter.com/sunday.htm