KEEPING THE SABBATH THE 4TH COMMANDMENT

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Y'hovah. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days Yehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, YHVH blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20

As a Shabbat keeper, I am often perceived by non-Shabbat-keeping Christians as a legalist, outdated, or someone who does not fully understand grace. They believe that the Fourth Commandment has either been done away, for the Jews only, or is kept by Y'hoshua-Jesus living in us. In this article, I don’t want to look at why those arguments are flawed. Instead, I believe it would be more constructive to focus on:

Seven New Testament reasons Christians should keep the Shabbat.

1. Y'hoshua-Jesus kept the Shabbat.

We read many accounts that Y'hoshua was always teaching on the Shabbat. Sometimes, he would explain a spiritual truth through a healing. On one occasion, He explains a misunderstanding that arose concerning His disciples picking grain.

He taught through example and focused on a proper understanding of the Fourth Commandment. Luke 4:16 tells us clearly that “as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” A custom is an established observance that brings meaning into our lives. Y'hoshua's custom started at creation and continued throughout His human life.

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6).

I’m pretty sure that includes His customs.

2. Y'hoshua is Adonai of Shabbat.

The observances we keep reflect the Avinu Elohei we serve. Many different religions have various practices and ceremonies that honor their gods.

What Christians observe should honor God. One of Y'hoshua's Sabbath lessons ended with him concluding,

“Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).

By keeping this day, we are declaring that Y'hoshua is our Adonai/Lord. It is a way we honor and worship Him.

3. The Sabbath was made for us, but religions today think the opposite, based on the belief that man was created for Shabbat.

Also, as part of this same lesson to the Pharisees, He explains;

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

We are physical creatures, and we often find ourselves tired or weary from the challenges of life. The Sabbath was created to give us rest. It provides us with the opportunity to recharge so that we can function correctly the other six days of the week. It is how the Creator made us. It is a wonderful gift from Avinu Elohei that we should rejoice at the wisdom He had in its creation. Importantly, you can only understand how great this gift is by keeping it.

4. The Apostle Sha'ul/Paul kept Shabbat.

Act 17:2  And according to his practice, Sha’ul went in unto them, and for three Sabbaths was reasoning with them from the Scriptures.

On several occasions, we see Sha'ul keeping the Sabbath. This is the same man who wrote 28 percent of the New Covenant. In his letters, he continually emphasized the importance of keeping The Torah/law for talmidim/disciples. Not for the purpose of salvation but in response to our salvation through Mashiach/Christ.

“Therefore the Torah is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12).

He was a Shabbat keeper and understood its importance in our relationship with Y'hoshua.

5. Luke directly refers to the Sabbath commandment.

In the book of Luke, we learn that the women who were at the crucifixion of Y'hoshua afterward prepared spices and fragrant oils to anoint His body. Then “they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). Luke wrote this account at least thirty years later. Notice that he does not refer to it as “the former Sabbath” or “the Jewish Shabbat” but as a commandment in the present tense. And this was after His crucifixion, a point in time where some believe the commandment was changed.

6. Y'hoshua's instruction shows that Shabbat will be important in the future.

In referring to the future event that will precede the great tribulation, Y'hoshua advises to:

“Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20).

If there was no longer going to be a Sabbath command after His resurrection, why would He make this statement? The answer is simple. “Y'hoshua Mashiach is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

7. Sabbath keeping remains for the people of Avinu Elohei.

This verse can be easily overlooked as supporting the Shabbat/Sabbath because the Greek word sabbatismos is translated as rest. Some Bible translations translate it more correctly as “sabbath rest.” When this Word is used in other ancient Greek literature, it usually means a “keeping of the sabbath.”

Hebrews 4:9 essentially states that “there remains a keeping of the sabbath for the people of God.”

This emphasizes the theme found in Hebrews 4, connecting the seventh-day rest with the rest that comes as we are diligently obedient to Mashiach/Christ.

These are seven New Covenant reasons for Talmidim to keep the Sabbath. There are actually many more, and so I encourage you to keep reading the Holy Toráh.

By Rabbi Francisco Arbas
📧 franciscoarbas.yisrael@gmail.com
Following His ‘WAY’ — Netzari Mashiach Judaism