Exodus 20:8-11; "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it qodesh. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH thy Elohim: 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: For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

Brothers and sisters, this, the fourth commandment, is another one of the most denied, ignored, and broken commandment of all commandments by the people in the world today. Not just the sinners, but the church, which is known as the assembly of Yahusha, also bears witness against itself, that it does not keep the commandments of Yahuwah. It’s not the entire assembly, but the ones who seek Him, but do not have the full understanding. Some even teach against the keeping of the Sabbath, saying that it was part of the Old Covenant that was nailed to the stake with Yahusha at Calvary, and that it is no longer to be observed. This is a false doctrine that has been incorporated, and handed down from church to church. It is simply another creeping compromise that is so commonly taught that no one seems to question it. That could be the very thing upon which could destroy them; the lack of knowledge. We shall see the truth of this matter in the pages ahead.

First, let’s look at an example of Sabbath keeping. Take notice, that this took place even before the writing of the Ten Commandments upon the two tables of stone at Mount Sinai. Exodus 16:1-30; "And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to Elohim we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then said YHWH unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that YHWH hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of YHWH; for that he heareth your murmurings against YHWH: and what are we, that ye murmur against us? And Moses said, This shall be, when YHWH shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that YHWH heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against YHWH. And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before YHWH: for he hath heard your murmurings. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of YHWH appeared in the cloud.

And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim. And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which YHWH hath given you to eat. This is the thing which YHWH hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.

And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which YHWH hath said, To morrow is the rest of the qodesh Sabbath unto YHWH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a Sabbath unto YHWH: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And YHWH said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that YHWH hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day."

This commandment has been in existence since the world began. We can read in the book of Genesis, after Yahuwah created all that He created, He rested, and set this law into motion. In the passage that we have just read above, we can get a glimpse of how serious He is about His Law, and the fourth commandment specifically. This passage is just one of the many examples of Sabbath observance that we can read about in His Word. There is a great deal of scripture that centers upon the fourth commandment. To all people reading this, especially those who profess to have the qodesh Spirit of Yahuwah in their lives; hear what the qodesh Spirit of Yahuwah says to you, and to your heart. Find this Sabbath, the seventh day of rest, and meet with Him with prayer, praise and worship at His Appointed time. He is there for you, so you should be there for Him too. This is our love with Yahuwah.

Isaiah 56:1-7; "Thus saith YHWH, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 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. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to YHWH, speak, saying, YHWH hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith YHWH unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to YHWH, to serve him, and to love the name of YHWH, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my qodesh mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."

I want to point out from what we see above that it is made clear that this is not just for the Jews, but for all people. No one is left out, as His love is for all. Then it is taken a step farther as written in Isaiah 66:22-23; " For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith YHWH, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith YHWH." We see here that the Sabbath will be observed even in the new heavens and the new Earth, where upon the New Jerusalem will be, but it also tells us how to find the Sabbath too when it speaks of one new moon to another. This will be discussed in another chapter later, because this is one of several of His Appointed Times. There is one special thing about the Sabbath, in that it remains to be a sign between Yah, and His people. This is also another reason why the Sabbath is so unique and important. It is a spiritual sign to the believer, and a physical sign to the unbeliever.

We see a mention of this sign in Exodus 31:12-18; "And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, 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 YHWH that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is qodesh unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, qodesh to YHWH: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of Elohim."

To the unbeliever, those who believe not on the Law of YHWH, it is strange to them, that we follow after the fourth commandment, and the Law of Yah. We, indeed, are set apart as a peculiar people, because we do not fit into the "common religion" of this world. The unbeliever has, or choses to have no understanding of the Law of Yahuwah to the measure necessary to please Yah. Hos. 8:12; "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." Some may gain understanding of the Law, and decide not to walk in the Law because of inconvenience to them, choosing to remain in the ways they have known, and claim that the Law is void, or not for them. Understand this, they speak of their own wisdom, or the world’s wisdom. In time, they even try to put those that speak the Law away from them, that they might not be reminded of the decisions they have made.

Nehemiah 9:26; "Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations." They do these such things that they might lift their religion above the worship of the Yahuwah, and all they do is try to build a tower as in the days of Nimrod, but this one is a spiritual tower of evil. Likewise as in those days, there is much confusion among the builders, but this time they continue to try to build this one. All the while, Yah sends His message to shed some light upon the darkness they are determined to walk in. Proverbs 12:15; "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." The adversaries do mock, speak evil of, and profane the Sabbath, an Appointed Time of Yah, and even His Assembly, that many call church, as was done in the days of old. Lamentations 1:7; “Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her Sabbaths."

Even so, the Law of Yahuwah remains forever. There is nothing that can be done, has been done, or will be done to change it. At least that’s what is written in the Word of Yah. So the call of Yahuwah is the same, yes, there are some changes or additions according to what Yahusha said as fulfillments of the Law, but that does not change it, that just adds to it. The old covenant has not been done away with, but rather enhanced or lifted up through fulfillments, and the Law of Yahuwah remains. Hebrews 3:7-4:11 ; "Wherefore (as the qodesh Spirit saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living Elohim. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of the Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And Elohim did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of Elohim. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as YHWH did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."

In all things, we are to follow after the example that Yahusha has set before us. In this, most professed Christians agree, yet they refuse to keep the Sabbath, which He did keep. John 15:10; "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." The Sabbath, being the fourth commandment, Yahusha also did keep as he also kept all the other commandments and Appointed Times. 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." Concerning the Sabbath, Yahuwah has this to say in His Word to us; Isaiah 58:13-14; "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my qodesh day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the qodesh of YHWH, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in YHWH; 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 YHWH hath spoken it."