Jehoshua is on the throne of David in New Jerusalem and He is the King of a New Israel
Genesis 1:1-3 1 And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. The Sabbath is one of the most controversial subjects in Christianity, which is centered on whether or not new covenant believers need to observe it? Many complicated arguments are made against keeping the Sabbath day and sometimes even pro Sabbath keepers complicate the matter. Above in Genesis chapter 2 we see that Jehovah God sanctified the Sabbath at the seventh day of the creation week. This was long before there ever was a Jew or a nation of Israel. This is key because the argument is often used that the Sabbath was for the Jews or Theocratic nation of Israel. The teaching follows that no one before Jehovah made known the Sabbath to Israel is recorded as keeping it. This is a argument from silence and we do have a hint from scripture that indeed Abraham kept it: Genesis 26:5 "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." While it doesn't state that the Sabbath was part of the commandments that Abraham kept it makes sense that it was being that Jehovah had already sanctified it by this time. Also, we have the words of the Son of God that show us that the Sabbath was not just made for old testament Israel but in fact the Sabbath was made for man: Mark 2:27-28 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man. Notice that He didn't say it was made for the Jews or Israel. The word "man" comes from the Greek word "anthropos" (Strongs 444) and means "man faced, human being, man". Jesus clearly states that the Sabbath was made for all mankind. This is strong support that Adam the first human being kept the Sabbath day. The word/name "Adam" from the old testament comes from the Hebrew word "adam" (Strongs 120) and means "ruddy, human being (an individual or the species, mankind)." So by Jesus saying the Sabbath was made for man He is basically saying it was made for Adam as both words "Adam" and "man" mean the same thing i.e. the human kind or the human species. This then supports that the Sabbath was part of the commandments Abraham kept as it was made for man. The second part of verse 27 of Mark chapter 2 is also important to highlight as many modern Christians label the Sabbath as bondage and that Jesus gave us freedom from it. Here in verse 27, Christ says that man was not made for the Sabbath, meaning that man is not a slave to the Sabbath but rather it is a gift and benefit for man. This refutes the evangelical idea that the Sabbath commandment was bondage that Jesus came to free us from. Verse 28 of Mark 2 Jesus stated that He was Lord of the Sabbath. This means that Jesus decides what is proper Sabbath keeping. Rather than trying to complicate how you keep the Sabbath listen to what Jesus says: Matthew 12:12 "How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day." Jesus said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. Our Sabbath keeping shouldn't be about what we can't do but rather about doing good which in Jesus case was to heal a man. When we look at the Sabbath as a day to do good rather than a list of do's and don't's then we are keeping it in a Christ like manner. If we get obsessed about the legalism of the Sabbath then we are no better than the Pharisees Jesus rebuked. Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The remnant church keeps God's commandments and it is this church only that Satan is angry with. We must the testimony and faith of Jesus and keep the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12). Many Christians today have the faith of Jesus and His testimony but they don't keep God's commandments either due to ignorance or outright disobedience. God winks at ignorance (Acts 17:30) but outright disobedience can lead to one forfeiting access within the gates of the city of New Jerusalem: Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." It is those who do the commandments of God that will have the right to the tree of life and gain entrance into the paradise of God. In Revelation 12:17 and 14:12, somewhat of a distinction is made between the faith-testimony of Jesus and the commandments of God, who is obviously the Father. This shows that it is not only important to have the faith of the Son of God and His prophetic testimony but one must also keep God's commandments which are summed up in the royal decalogue. In reality, to have the faith of Jesus would include keeping the Father's commandments as that's exactly what Jesus did. These are clear texts showing us that keeping the commandments of God, who scripture over and over again says is the Father, is part of the faith of the true church. Again, a distinction is made between the faith-testimony of Jesus who is the Son of God and the commandments of God who is the Father. This is an important distinction because it was God the Father who gave the 10 commandments. We see from Revelation 22:14 that to keep the commandments of God gives one eternal life in New Jerusalem. This is verified by Jesus in Matthew chapter 19: 16And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?17And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.18He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,19Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. When the young rich ruler asked Jesus how he could attain eternal life, Jesus answered him by saying to keep the commandments. Jesus then goes on to list 5 of the 10 commandments. It would be ludicrous to suggest that Jesus is excluding the Sabbath here as part of keeping the commandments as the 10 commandments are a unit. Whenever Jesus makes an eternal life statement it is best to take it seriously. If Jesus says keeping the commandments are part of getting eternal life then we need to take him at His word and not let theologians, Pastors and scholars cheat us with their vain evangelical philosophy. Did you know that Paul the apostle kept the Sabbath day? Acts 16:13 "And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Paul engaged in corporate and/or public prayer on the Sabbath. Remember, that Paul said to follow him as he followed Christ. Christ kept the Sabbath as did Paul. Acts 17:2 "and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures" Many anti-sabbatarians say that Paul was just using the Sabbath to preach to his countrymen but the scriptures say no such thing. The text simply says that Sabbath keeping was a custom that Paul kept without any type of loophole. Here Paul reasoned for three consecutive Sabbath's out of the scriptures. The word "reasoned" comes from the Greek word "dialegomai" (strongs 1256) and means "to say thoroughly, to discuss (in argument or exhortation), to reason, to speak, to preach" The reasoned can also be rendered as "preached". Paul repeatedly use the Sabbath day as an opportunity to preach the gospel. While many will say he did this because he was being a Jew to the Jew the passages mentioned here say no such thing. It is evident that Sabbath keeping was something Paul did and he used that day to preach and pray. Guess what? Paul was following Jesus in doing this. 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." In the context of this passage, Jesus was officially beginning His Kingdom ministry as He quoted Isaiah 61. It is noteworthy that the official beginning of the Son of God's ministry began on the Sabbath day. The idea that the Sabbath is done away is hard to understand especially in light of the fact that we will be keeping it in the new heavens and new earth: Isaiah 66:22-23 22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.23And 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 Jehovah. This is another passage anti-sabbatarians will either ignore or go out of their way to explain it away. However, we cannot disregard or spiritualize this prophecy of Isaiah for then that would jeopardize other Isaiah prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. If the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ are to be taken literally then why not this very straightforward prophecy from Isaiah? We know that the new heavens and new earth arrive after the second advent of Jesus Christ, so this prophecy from Isaiah shows that after the second advent we will still be keeping the Sabbath day as well as the new moon. The whole earth made new will be populated with the saints and we will also build houses and plant vineyards. All flesh will come to worship Jehovah God on the Sabbath day. Remember, our resurrected bodies will still be made of flesh. We will also come to New Jerusalem to worship Jehovah God on the new moons. We actually see this in the book of Revelation 22:2 "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" The mention of every month is likely referring to the new moon as the new moon begins the month in the Hebrew calendar. We will also have the feast of tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16). My brothers and sisters, there will be no sacred Sunday, Christmas or Easter in the new heavens and new earth, however there will be worship on the Sabbath day, new moon's and the feast of Tabernacles. If we are going to be keeping the Sabbath day in the new heavens and new earth then why shouldn't we keep it now? Unlike the feasts, the Sabbath day is not dependent upon a temple, Levitical priesthood or going to earthly Jerusalem. The Sabbath was given to mankind at the Seventh day of the creation week. It was given for our benefit, don't follow the example of the pharisees and how they kept it but learn from Christ who said it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.
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