Step 2 – The Restoration of the Sabbath

from the book YHWH Is Calling

Esteemed Christian congregations, make it possible to hold weekly gatherings alongside your current practices during the original Sabbath (from Friday evening to Saturday evening) and according to its traditions.

There is no need to immediately abolish the current practices based on man-made traditions. Let no one judge those congregants who continue to observe the holy day according to the old practices. Likewise, let no one judge those who have already responded, or will respond, to the Lord’s call to return to original obedience. Remember that the Lord’s Holy Spirit is responsible for writing God’s will on each believer’s heart according to His timing, through the study of the Word and prayer. We cannot demand any more from anyone.

The Lord Himself will testify through His Spirit which way is pleasing to Him, as long as the original apostolic practice is made available to the congregation in accordance with the Lord’s call. Here, I refer to the revelation I received from the Lord, which showed that during the coming outpouring of the Spirit, miracles (creative miracles, healings, deliverances from demonic oppression, etc.) will happen abundantly, especially in places where the apostolic practices and obedience to the sign of the covenant—the Sabbath—are restored. Notice the connection between this revelation and the Word: many of the miracles Jesus performed happened specifically on the Sabbath.

I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation than the lingering anti-Semitism since the time of Constantine for the phenomenon where even the mere mention of the word 'Sabbath' seems to be a 'red flag' for some congregations. The matter that God established as an eternal ordinance never ceased to apply to all those grafted into His noble olive tree.

The Sabbath is not a trivial matter to the Lord. Remember that the Lord set the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant. In many places throughout the Word, we can read about its significance to the Lord as a demonstration of obedience, and, on the other hand, how breaking the Sabbath was a cause for curses. The New Testament at no point changed this holy ordinance of the Lord.

Jesus’ command not to judge different practices did not mean that any human decision could be considered the Lord’s will in the future. A follower of Jesus is to strive to follow Jesus' example of doing the Father’s will, but in individual situations, when necessary, permission was given to deviate for the benefit of those weaker in faith, in the name of grace and love (though even in these situations, not everything is permissible).

Let’s review the fundamental idea of what this new era means according to the Word.

We have entered a time when God is showing mercy to the remnant of Israel, who once received a certificate of divorce, specifically referring to the punishment that was imposed for their apostasy. It ultimately makes sense that the first thing the Lord calls for in the re-betrothal of the descendants of Israel is the restoration of the sign of the covenant that He gave among those who are being shown mercy. Once again, we see how God, in His holiness, fulfills the law Himself, even though no human is able to fully keep it.

My sister in faith beautifully and practically described the matter using a metaphor given by the Lord Himself. The marriage between a man and a woman can often be recognized in Scripture as a metaphor for the relationship between the Lord and His bridal congregation. It’s understandable, then, that biblical marriage is also very sacred to the Lord. As the Lord’s return and the anticipated wedding feast approach, it is natural that the bride is adorned in preparation for the celebration (compare this to the call for Christian congregations to purify their doctrines and return to original obedience in this new era). From this perspective, the Sabbath can be viewed as a regular meeting day between the Lord and His betrothed. If the bride always comes to meet her future groom on a different day than the one agreed upon, it is understandable that the promise of the covenant stands only because of the Lord’s long-suffering and grace. This perspective is worth considering when congregations think about how to increase the encounters between the Lord and His people, and how to increase the testimonies of the Holy Spirit about the living God.

To witness the miracles of the Spirit during Sabbath gatherings in congregations, ensure that the ministry during these Sabbath services is carried out by born-again servants of God who are faithful to the Lord’s Word. It is pointless to blame the Spirit for leaving and for the absence of miracles and signs in the life of the congregation if those representing God are people who proclaim as permissible things that God has defined as sin in His will. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

If your congregation has a member who is like the wild donkey’s colt, prepared by God for this time, give them the opportunity to speak. That is why God has already planted hundreds, if not thousands, of them across different congregations for this very time.

There are many ways to observe the Sabbath. Our God, YHWH, does not demand nor desire rigid, overly detailed routines. He wants space and time for His Spirit to work. Be creative in coming up with new, joyful gatherings that reflect the examples Jesus gave about the purpose of the Sabbath: a diaconal family fellowship, interactive Bible study, breaking bread and sharing wine as a memorial meal, joyful praise and thanksgiving that nurtures the presence of the Spirit, and providing people the opportunity to encounter God through the testimonies of the Spirit (e.g., prayer ministry).

YHWH also desires that Christian congregations form brotherly connections with Jewish congregations. The restoration of the Sabbath is a wonderful opportunity to build a connection between the sisters of ancient Zion. While Christians can invite their Jewish brothers and sisters to share in their congregations the practices that have been preserved for millennia—practices rich with fascinating details that illuminate the Word of the Bible—joint Sabbath observance would also provide an opportunity for Christians to share the Good News of the Gospel with the Jewish people (as Messianic Jews have already received Jesus into their hearts).

An essential part of restoring the Sabbath is also reinstating the teaching in congregations regarding the responsibility of families in observing the Sabbath. In addition to believers receiving teaching from the Word, encountering the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit, and experiencing loving and caring congregational fellowship on the Sabbath, the Sabbath also holds significant importance for the well-being and blessings of families. Beyond ensuring that, at the very least on holy days, families pass on the knowledge of the Word to their children to help them grow in their relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son, families should gather in some form to give thanks and praise together for the good things in life, in joyful fellowship. As a good example of the desired Sabbath evening atmosphere, I have shared with families a peaceful and joyful Sabbath blessing music video by Joshua Aaron:

https://youtu.be/IIwCDYWOEQ4

(Can be found by searching on Google: Joshua Aaron Shalom)

The Lord’s desire to restore joy and rejoicing in serving Him applies not only to congregations but also to the personal acts of faith and family relationships of believers.

While Christian congregations have had the joy of sharing the gospel with Jewish brothers and sisters who do not yet know Jesus, in this new era, Christian congregations and families should, in turn, learn from the Jewish people about serving the Lord with joy, as well as observing the Sabbath and the Lord’s appointed feasts according to the Word.

The Lord’s call to return to the original covenant with Him signifies a special time of reformation before the Lord’s return, during which, through the call He has issued and the sifting that accompanies it, He will sweep away the false doctrines that entered into the life of faith and teachings through Emperor Constantine.

It is important to recognize that, although the Jewish people have developed their own traditions over time, layered upon many things ordained in the Lord’s Word as eternal, their ways of observing the Sabbath and the Lord’s feasts are still fundamentally based on the times and practices prescribed in the Word. Unlike among Christians, most of the customs that have developed as Jewish traditions have a biblical foundation, and even the traditions often beautifully deepen the instructions of the Scriptures.

Since the labeling of the observance of the Lord’s feasts and the Sabbath as practices belonging only to the Jews, which originated in the time of Constantine, still strongly influences many Christian congregations that stem from Constantine’s church councils, I will repeat once more: restoring apostolic practices in Christian congregations is not about converting to Judaism, but about the Lord’s preordained and necessary return to original obedience to the Word before the Lord’s return.

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying:

Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep,

for it is a sign between Me and you

throughout your generations,

that you may know that I am the Lord

who sanctifies you.

You shall keep the Sabbath,

therefore, for it is holy to you.

Everyone who profanes it shall surely

be put to death; for whoever does any

work on it,that person shall be cut off

from among his people.

Work shall be done for six days,

but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest,

holy to the Lord. Whoever does any

work on the Sabbath day,

he shall surely be put to death.

Therefore the children of Israel

shall keep the Sabbath,

to observe the Sabbath throughout

their generations as a perpetual covenant.

It is a sign between Me

and the children of Israel forever;

for in six days the Lord made the heavens

and the earth, and on the seventh day

He rested and was refreshed.’”

Exodus 31:12-17 (NKJV)

The Sabbath was established as an eternal covenant between the Lord and all Israelites. Under the New Covenant, Jesus merely fulfilled the instructions concerning the Sabbath. He did not change the day set apart as holy to the Lord. I won’t go into this topic in detail here, but it is worth mentioning for all potential readers that even the death penalty was not abolished under the New Covenant, although life is no longer meant to be immediately taken as in the case of the death penalty. However, the continual neglect of the Sabbath will inevitably lead to spiritual death, which in turn has its consequences in the time after physical death. The death penalty serves as a good example of the type of changes the Word refers to when it speaks of the law shifting from the Law of the Flesh to the Law of the Spirit. Therefore, even the death penalty was not abolished; instead, under the New Covenant, it transitioned from physical death to spiritual death—separation from God and the salvation available through Jesus.

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Scriptures taken from the New King James Version:

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