Believe it or not but one day our Creator might take the decision to blind our eyes in such a way that we would become completely unable to understand anything from His Bible and all His commandments?
In fact, most of us are already today a living proof of this fact:
The majority of the human beings rejected already a long time ago the first commandment to be revealed in the Bible, the one that revealed the day of the rest, the Sabbath instituted by Elohim at the end of His creation!
Yes, the Sabbath, seventh day of the week, is trampled underfoot by the vast majority since innumerable years, already before the Flood. The mankind today is unaware about Sabbath's meaning and the Jewish people, who were the messenger of the Bible, are often eager to reject the seventh day of rest, having in mind that by so doing they would imitate the nations.
However, there are still today very few Jewish or Christian people scattered all over the world who still believe that the Sabbath is a sacred day blessed by Elohim. The following message is specially addressed to these people in order to inform them about the future danger ahead if the days would come when they would start to disregard the Sabbath and diminish their love for that day. Indeed, Elohim could suddenly blind their eyes at such a point that they would completely reject the Sabbath as a day of rest to be sanctified.
Are we taking enough into consideration this day of rest, the seventh of the week? You know that as in all things, Elohim entrusts the most precious good of all: LIBERTY! Consequently, this day of Sabbath belongs to YOU as a day of rest as long as our Creator authorizes this. This Sabbath is a gift of our Lord, He created the Sabbath as a day of rest and He gave it to us who are living on earth! But at one simple condition, we cannot make only our will during that day: we must prepare ourselves to fill this day with deeds that our Father likes too.
Moreover, the Sabbath, as it was planned by Elohim since the beginning, is a mean given to us in order to start and increase steadily our knowledge of the only living Divine family, the family of those who have the life in themselves. Let us read how Yehoah describes the Sabbath in Ezekiel, chapter 20, verses 10 to 12:
"10"Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, "which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' 12Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am Yehoah who sanctifies them."
Yehoah, by the writings of Ezekiel, reveals a first "raison d'ĂŞtre" for the Sabbath:
He is the one we worship!
The Sabbath is thus a sign which woman and man are invited to carry with them all the time to show our Lord that we wish to become member of His family.
By the way, please note that if we have been baptized according to the rules revealed in the New Testament, to mark our adhesion with the people of the Creator, we have been dipped completely into the water and this means to some extent that we have also crossed the Red Sea as the people of Israel and the multitude who accompanied them at that time; these people are the one mentionned in verse ten of Ezekiel 20. By so doing, we thus fled the influence of the empire of sin symbolized by Egypt at that time. Let us read about this what Paul wrote in his first epistle to Corinthians, chaptire 10, verses 1 to 5:
"1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness."
If we were baptized in the same way, we must make all our efforts to have a behaviour that will please our Father.
But let us come back to warning given by Yehoah in Ezekiel about His law. First of all, it should be understood that His law was conceived by the Creator for the whole mankind and not only for the Jews! Don't believe what the so-called "Christian world" is trying to put in your mind that this law mentionned by Ezekiel was only for the Jews, as this is a lye.
The text given in Isaiah, chapter 56 and verses 1 to 8, that quotes the words of Yehoah is unambiguous about this subject:
"Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
2Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of Adam who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil."
3Do not let the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to Yehoah
"Yehoah has utterly separated me from His people";
"To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
5Even 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 Yehoah, to serve Him,
And to love the name of Yehoah, to be His servants--
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant--
7Even 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."
8 Yehoah Elohim, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
"Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him."
The meaning of this text is crystal clear for those who have eyes to see and will see or ears to hear and will hear. Indeed, Isaiah describes a time when salvation will be about to come and these words are also addressed to the descendance of Adam, in other words to everyone on earth, eunuchs as well as foreigners are encouraged to keep the Sabbath and not to profane it. To all these people, Yehoah promises an access in one way or the other to His House. So, please don't listen to those priests or pastors who are blind or are looking for money or even guided by pride to become your leader and who would make you believe criminally that Sabbath is no more in practice today as THE day of rest but that it was replaced by Sunday alias day of the sun according to its ethymology in the Germanic and English languages (Sontag, Zondag or Sunday).
The book of Ezekiel reveals indeed that Yehoah has given us the Sabbath day or more precisely the Sabbaths as it means not only the weekly Sabbaths but also the annual Sabbaths of the year (during festivals). All these Sabbaths are given to us as days of rest after a week filled with good work. Sabbaths, as said earlier are also opportunities offered to know better our Father.
This reason is even the main one for the Sabbath! Now let us continue the reading of the words of Yehoah in Ezekiel, same chapter 20, verses 19 and 20:
"19I am Yehoah your Elohim: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yehoah your Elohim.'
Here we find a second reason for the Sabbath: To let the world know that Yehoah is our Elohim, in other words that
Yehoah Elohim accepts our worship!
Don't play with fire, don't take the risk to be rejected out of the Sabbath!
Here is now a warning with heavy consequences for anyone who would start to soil and scorn the saint Sabbath of Yehoah:
"23Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, 24because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols.
25"Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;" (Ezekiel 20: 23-25)
Yehoah shows us here that He can blind us to such a point that we would be capable to reject the Sabbath or in other words, that without feeling it, we would be rejected out of the Sabbath by our Creator! Our new status, taking into account what we have read earlier in Ezekiel, means that we would have lost completely our identity: we would become foreigner for Yehoah Elohim, and we would again become part of the world for our loss.
To avoid this, let us start happily to keep the Sabbath, having in mind that it is a very precious gift that Yehoah gave us since His creation. Here are some keys of success for this project.
You can find the first key of success in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verses 21 and 22:
" 21Thus says Yehoah: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers."
This warning is very serious since it is a question of life or death! This warning is valid for anyone and anywhere at any time but it is significant that it was given just before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. It was given just before the beginning of the exile of the throne of king David out of the Holy Land.
Yehoah is asking us not to bear any burdens during the Sabbath day, but we must understand the meaning of this by taking into account the teachings of Jesus, our Saviour who amplified the law revealing us its spiritual dimension. Indeed, Jesus is asking us to not limit ourselves only to the only materialist field of the law but, on the contrary to the teachings of the scribes and the pharisees of his time, to penetrate the spiritual field and to discover a new world with this new dimension of the law.
The spiritual field means our thoughts and we must be very suspicious with our thoughts as the heart of man is tortuous above all. Have a look on how Jesus expresses himself in Matthieu 5 verse 20:
"20For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."
In other words, we must be righter than the scribes and the Pharisees while learning how to keep the commandments of Yehoah, starting with the physical dimension and continuing with the spiritual dimension, as Jesus is teachning us in the following example (Matthieu 5: 23-24):
"23Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison."
Jesus wants us to remember the evil we could have made in the past and He wishes to see a sincere and tangible repentance from our side. By so-doing, we will have clean thoughts before introducing ourselves to the Author of our life.
Now let us come back to the spiritual burdens that we should not bear during the Sabbath day! What can be these burdens today? We must try to identify them and avoid the risk to profane the Sabbath if, unconsciously, we continue to bear them during this holy day. In fact, if we start to think alittle bit, we can easily realize that such burdens are nothing else than our worries about our work, about our financial problems or about our family. Here are many burdens we must try to eliminate from our thoughts during the Sabbath day. We must discharge them from our thoughts as soon as Friday evening approaches, marking the beginning of the seventh day of the week, the day blessed by the Creator. If we manage to release us from these burdens, we will not be tempted any more to speak about it with our home during the Sabbath and we will avoid the propagation of a disease around us to those who are seeking Yehoah.
It does not mean that we must stay dumb without saying a word during the Sabbath day on the contrary. The Sabbath is the day when our Creator expects us to speak with him by our prayers; even dumb men are invited to address their thoughts to him! But it is also necessary to speak with his family and friends and taking care to control our speech so that our words are pleasant to our Lord and with our neighbour.
Something else to avoid during our conversations in general and during the Sabbath in particular, is the spreading of rumours or even to initiate them. Better is the speak about the beauty of the truth of our Lord. Let us be useful by our words and flee the vanity of empty words. Before speaking, prepare your speech while taking the advice emitted in Proverbs 12: 17-20:
"17He who speaks truth declares righteousness,
But a false witness, deceit.
18There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
19The truthful lip shall be established forever,
But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy."
During the Sabbath, let us put more at the honor the Word of our Creator!
A last key to get a good entrance in the Sabbath: take your time for preparing and planning the Sabbath as well as possible in particular during the sixth day, the day of the preparation. To help you about this, compare that preparation with the one you would have if an valuable person decided to visit your home one day: wouldn't you make an in depth preparation to accomodate him? This preparation would consist in making initially your house clean. Then, you could plan a meal of quality for Him according to your financial means and finallyyou should take a particular care to dress you correctly. Your preparation will not be limited only to these physical aspects.
It is also advisable to think in advance about topics to discuss during your conversations so that you would please Him.
Having these plans in mind, it will be necessary to inform you to know better about this special guest and about His poles of interest. In fact for the Sabbath, it must be the same because you have the privilege to invite the most valuable guests in your home: your Creator and His Son who are so happy at the idea to come and share Their Sabbath with all those who invite Them:
23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14: 23)
Thus let us prepare the Sabbath with the same love, the same tact and same tenderness each week. The Sabbath will then become a splendid feastday in the honor of your Father and His family in which you can take part!
Be warm during the Sabbath day and flee lukewarmess because those who are lukewarm in their actions will be vomited according to Revelation 3: 16.
By so-doing, you will find on your road many blessings from your Creator and these blessings, one day, could be as spectacular as the opening of the Red Sea giving you an open access in the rest of the King of kings (Hebrew 4: 3-13):
3For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:
"They shall not enter My rest,"
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works";5and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."
6Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said:
"Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts."
8For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
The Word Discovers Our Condition
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."