What day is the Sabbath?
The seventh
day. But, the seventh day from when? Is the seventh day to be counted from creation in an unbroken continuous cycle, or from each new
moon? There is an intense debate surrounding this very question in the last days where the restoration of all things is being
fulfilled. Seeing that the traditional Sabbath, kept by the modern day proponents of Judaism, has become the accepted
standard world-wide,
the seventh-day Sabbath counted from the New Moon is either legitimate
restoration truth or a strong delusion. I invite all who have ears to hear to consider this question in light
of the scriptures, and more especifically the feast
of First fruits. God is not the author of confusion. He would not give us such an important commandment, and then leave us in the dark as to how to keep it. Seeing that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, we
should not consider any portion of scripture to be insignificant. My hope and prayer is that you, the reader, will
see the feast day that gets the least
attention is the
one that holds the key to understanding how
the true Sabbath is to be kept. So how does
the feast of First fruits prove the true Sabbath? I will demonstrate this to you by proving the following seven
points:
1. There is no such thing as a "high" Sabbath
apart from the weekly Sabbath:
When John 19:31 states "for that Sabbath day was a high day" he was making reference to
the weekly Sabbath, which was also the first
day of Unleavened Bread. It was a high day"
because that day was the most important day in ancient Israelite history, and
was referenced by the scriptures more than any other day. After all, it was the day that God brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt with a high hand, and by a mighty out stretched arm. The traditional Sabbath understanding of that day being
a "high Sabbath", meaning a
"feast Sabbath" is incorrect because the first and last days of Unleavened bread are never
called Sabbaths, or "Sabbath/ Sabbath own", are the feasts of the seventh month. There are numerous scriptural reference
"the third day" being counted with inclusive reckoning
( Ex. 19:10, 11; Lev. 7:16, 17; Lev.19:6: 1 Sam. 20:12; Hos.6:2),
meaning that the day count starts in the current day, and not on the morrow. In today's terminology. "the third day"
would be equal to "the day after tomorrow".
But, what about Jonah" and the "heart of the earth"? God said. "For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites,
so shall also the son of man be to this generation." ( LK. 11:30 ) The Ninevites never saw Jonah in the belly of the
great fish, but they did see him preach. The "heart of the earth" is Jerusalem, and Jesus preached there for three
days and three nights. There is no scriptural support for the "heart of the earth" being the grave. 3. Jesus rose
from the dead the third day "according to the scriptures."...Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Messiah to
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:" (Lk. 24:46)"...and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures:" ( 1 Cor. 15:4 ) The only place in the scriptures that speaks of or typifies a third day resurrection/first
ascension of the Messiah is in the law of First fruits:
Above are two valid witnesses that the third day resurrection/first ascension
of the Messiah
was
foreshadowed in the scriptures. It is of extreme importance to realize that not only was the third day resurrection/first
ascension was typified. " And he shall wave the sheaf before God, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath
the priest shall wave it.
" ( Lev. 23:11 ) "But now is Messiah risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of
them that slept." ( 1 Cor. 15:20 ) "But every man in his own order: Messiah the first fruits;
afterward they that are Messiah's at this
coming." ( Cor. 15:23 ) " Jesus said unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go
to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my Mighty One, and your Mighty One."(
John 20:17 )" Then he said to Thomas, Reach and with thy finger thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."
( John 20:27 ) The word "Sabbath" in Leviticus 23:11 clearly indicates a weekly Sabbath:
( Remember, there is no such thing as a
"high" Sabbath. The only way for First fruits to
ALWAYS foreshadow a third day resurrection/first ascension, and for the
sheaf to be waved on the "morrow after the Sabbath", is for the weekly Sabbath to coincide with the first day of
Unleavened Bread EVERY YEAR: There is just no way around this one: Abib 14
the Passover Abib= Weekly Sabbath Abib= Wave Sheaf.
This must be the case, if
First fruits is to perfectly typify the third day resurrection/first ascension of the Messiah.
*** IMPORTANT NOTE: for those who insist
on believing that Jesus was in the grave 72 hours, placing the resurrection at the end of Abib 17, please take note that in
order for
First
fruits of perfectly typify the third day resurrection of the Messiah, there still must be a FIXED NUMBER of days between
Passover and Wave Sheaf. The problem doesn't go away. What I have presented to you can never happen if you observe a Roman,
solar seventh-day" Sabbath": it may work once or twice every seven years, but it will never work every year (Try
it for yourself ). The only way for the first day of Unleavened Bread to be a weekly Sabbath every year, which it must be
in order for First Fruits to perfectly typify the third day resurrection/first ascension of the Messiah, the Sabbath must
be kept by counting from the New Moon. *** A FINAL NOTE: Those who disagree with this conclusion will end up with the following
problems:
For
those who acknowledge that the sheaf must be waved on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath, if they insist on keeping the Roman,
solar seven-day "Sabbath" they will end up waving the sheaf a VARIABLE NUMBER of days from Passover. Sometimes it
will be 4 days after Passover, sometimes 3 days, sometimes 6 days, and so on, and so on.
This destroys the integrity of the third
day resurrection/first ascension typology.
For those who acknowledge that the sheaf must be waved on Abib 16, keeping the integrity of the third
day resurrection/first ascension typology, if they insist on keeping the Roman, solar seven-day "Sabbath" they will
end up waving the sheaf on the morrow after another day than the weekly Sabbath. Although they keep the integrity of the third
day typology, they break the rules in doing so, for the sheaf must be waved on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath. Both problems
are solved by keeping the Sabbath correctly. When the seventh-day Sabbath counted from the New Moon, the rules of Leviticus
23:11 are kept and the
integrity of the third day resurrection/first ascension is maintained.
Thus said the LORD, which give the Sun for
a light by day, and the ordinances of the Moon and of the Stars for a light by night, which divide the sea when the waves
there of roar;
The
LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, said the LORD,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease
from being a nation before me for ever.
Jeremiah 31,35.36
