Nehemiah Tells Us How to Enjoy A Holy Day.

Whether you believe the Sabbath is on Saturday or Sunday, it is a day considered holy. It should be considered that since God has made it so.

 “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  Exodus 20:11

 “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”  Genesis 2:3

I was reading Nehemiah, and noticed that Ezra told the people how to act on a holy day. The priest had read the law to all of Israel and the people began to weep because they saw how badly they had been acting. They saw the beauty of God’s laws and were sorry they had not followed it.

“Then Nehemiah…said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

“Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.”   Nehemiah 8:9-12

I think this is example is very important. Yes, we need to acknowledge our sins, but then rejoice immediately by a feast celebration and go on to do good to others by sharing our food. It would be wonderful if every church did this on Sabbagth; celebrate with a meal and give food to the poor.

Sadness saps our strength, 

Joy strengthens us. 

Choose joy.

Saturday or Sunday Worship. Does it Matter?

I was reading a book yesterday and the author said the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), was given to the Jews. He said we no longer have to follow that day; we now celebrate Sunday as the day of rest to commemorate Jesus' resurrection.

He is wrong on two counts. The Seventh-Day-Sabbath was given to Adam and Eve. There were no Jews at that time, just two people. The Sabbath was given for a day of rest and recreation for the human race.

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.   Genesis 2:2,3

There is no place in the Bible where any of Jesus' followers changed the Sabbath to Sunday. They met on Sunday a few times, but they met constantly to talk together about Jesus and preach the word. Jesus went to the temple on the Sabbath and so did his followers until they set up their own churches, which were in people's houses.

The Sabbath was later included in the 10 Commandments and given to Moses for the children of Israel. This commandment is as important as all the others. It isn't something we can change. Churches now say it doesn't matter, but that doesn't make sense. We wouldn't want to change stealing, murder or adultery. Why the Sabbath?

It was changed to appease the pagans, who worshipped the sun on Sunday. It was changed by the emperor Constantine, who also had worshipped the sun. The Catholic Church was also involved and agree even now that they changed the holiness of Saturday to Sunday.

So, I hope, if you are interested, you will study these things. As we near the end of the world and Jesus' return, the Sabbath will be a test. There will be laws passed in the U.S. and other Christian nations to not work on Sunday. There will be laws against keeping Saturday holy. This is the image to the beast written about in Revelation.