Why and Who should keep The Sabbath of Yahuah
In this text I chose to use the proper names for Israel which is Yahisrael, Yahudah in place of Judah or Yahudites in stead of Jews.
This article explains what happen to Yahuah's people when they chose to not keep His Sabbaths as well as pointing out why and who should keep The Sabbath of Yahuah.
Also in order to help you pronounce the Name of The Creator and His Only Begotten Son go to "Messiah's Name Made Simple"
For centuries many a man and many an earnest theologian have attempted to discover the truth of what has happened to the Ten Lost Tribes of the nation of Yahisrael. I believe the mystery has now been solved, not only that of what happened to them, but also why they so completely lost their identity.
The main collection of Israelites - the northern kingdom - who bore the national name "Kingdom of Yahisrael" became a kingdom lost in all history, so far as historic records are concerned the earth might as well have opened up its mouth and swallowed it up. History does record their captivity by Assyria, 721 - 718 B.C.E. They were removed from their cities, towns and farms in the northern part of what the British named Palestine. Taken as slaves to Assyria, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. But by 604 - 585 B.C.E. when the southern Kingdom of Judah (Yahudah) was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, The Assyrians migrated northwest and the ten tribe Yahisraelites with them. They were utterly gone! Lost from view! How far northwest they proceeded, or where they finally settled, comes to a blank page in history. How do Historians and Theologians explain this? Not knowing the true answer, they explain it erroneously. They assume, in error, that all Israelites were Jews, and that the 20 million or so Yahudites in the world today constitute the entire population of Yahisraelites remaining alive at this time. Some Theologians falsely claim that all of the ten tribes who went to Assyrian captivity in 721 - 718 BCE returned to Jerusalem with the Jews, who returned to rebuild the Temple there 70 years after Judah's ( Yahudah's ) captivity 604 - 585 B.C.E. But that is total error. Only part of Yahudah went back and those who returned were all of the three tribes of, Yahudah, Benjamin, and Levi. Check the genealogies in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The Yahudites never lost their identity, whereas the House of Yahisrael did. This is because Yahuah had given them a very special everlasting covenant, containing a very significant sign of Identity. It is not generally known or recognized that Yahuah made a separate, special, eternally binding covenant, with His people while on Mount Sinai. This covenant provides for a sign of identity. I must point out at this time that Yahisrael the nation were the only people on earth with whom Yahuah then dealt with personally as His people.
Remember, Adam and Eve rejected Yahuah's original plan, thus forfeiting a father son relationship with Him. Their descendants, cut of from Yahuah, stayed so far from His ways that by the time of Noah the Earth was filled with corruption and violence. After the flood, within two generations the world as a whole was following the apostate ways of Nimrod and his mother - wife Semiramis ( Gen. 10: 8-12, 11: 1-9 ). These two founded the apostate pagan religion that has engulfed and deceived the world ever since. This apostate religious system, started by Semiramis, flowed into all nations. In its perversion s of truth, it evolved into different varieties and appeared under different national names in different nations.
But it was the same basic system of apostasy. It cut the world off from Yahuah! And it grips a deceived world today in its various forms, called by the names of many various religions.
Yahuah chose these children of Yahisrael because of the obedience of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. While they were in servitude and slavery He called them as His people, through whom His truth, His true religion and way of life and intended future for mankind should be revealed to the world.
Yahuah's truth and Yahuah's way revealed to these Yahisraelites is simply Yahuah's truth and His way for all of His people, in all times and all ages! Yahisrael, had they followed Yahuah's ways, was intended to be a living example to all nations, much the same as Yahusha is the example for the world today.
Yahusha came, not to do away with Yahuah's truth or His ways, not to bring a new religion, but to reveal additional truth about the coming Kingdom of Yahuah and how through obedience we may be born into it.
True, Yahisrael was given certain sacrificial rites and rituals, which served merely as a reminder of their sin and to cover up their sins. These sacrifices were nothing except Obeying Yahuah. Had Yahisrael been obedient to her Husbands laws and lived according to His way there would have been no need for offerings, or sacrifices and no need for a Messiah. Fortunately Yahuah provided His people away to be forgiven. When people added to Yahuah's commandments they made them much harder for the people to obey. The Scribes and Pharisees made Yahuah's commandments a burden. Yahuah sent His only Begotten Son, Yahusha, to show us that we can live by His Father's commandments.
Yahuah's truth and way remain eternally. Yahuah was revealing to Yahisrael at Sinai what His way is for all people and times including today. This special identifying covenant, then ordained forever, applies to all believers today, to all who are reconciled to Yahuah as His people. This special eternally binding covenant is found in Ex. 31:12-17 "And Yahuah spake unto Moses, saying, speak thou also unto the Children of Yahisrael, saying, verily my Sabbaths you shall keep …"
Notice Yahuah calls the Sabbaths "My Sabbaths". The Sabbaths are His! They did not belong to Yahisrael, they are not our days, but Yahuah's, not the Yahudites Sabbaths or the Gentile Sabbaths. The Sabbath is a space of time, from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday. When it arrives it belongs to Yahuah, not us, and it applies the same to us today as to our fore fathers then. If we appropriate it for ourselves, for our own use whether for work, pleasure, or whatever, we are stealing that time from our Heavenly Father.
Notice again, He said "my Sabbaths you shall keep." In Ex.20: 8 He commanded us to "keep it Holy" ( set apart for Yahuah's special purposes. ) Yahuah made it a special time and commanded us to keep it special for Him. We are not to profane that which is special to Yahuah.
Now lets study this special covenant a little more … "for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahuah that does sanctify you ( set you apart for my special purpose ) [ Ex. 31: 13 ]. What tremendous meaning is packed in this small portion of that sentence! Yet most people read right past it, failing to get the vital truth it contains.
Notice, here is the purpose of the Sabbath … "for it is a sign" …
What is a sign? You walk down a main street in the business district of any town, everywhere you see signs identifying stores, offices, factories, what ever. If you want to know what a sign is just turn to the word in the yellow pages. You'll find such names as Jones neon Sign Company, or Smith Brothers Signs. If you call one of them and ask them what they make or sell, they will tell you that they make signs for business firms, institutions, or professional individuals to hang in front of their places of business. The sign identifies whose establishment, institution, or office it is inside.
A sign is a badge, a symbol, or a token of identity. If you see the sign, Brown's Furniture and Furnishings, the sign identifies the owner and tells you the type of business he operates. Websters Dictionary defines a sign as "a publicly displayed notice on a building, office, etc. To advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm conducting it. Something indicating the existence of a thing; a token." The word that Moses wrote in Hebrew which is translated as sign is OWTH, and the Hebrew/ English dictionary defines it as " a mark, miracle, sign token." A flag identifies a nation. A beacon is a signal to announce the existence of something warned about, a token is a visible sign, something that serves as an identifying signal to make something known, as a whit flag is a token of surrender.
Yahuah commanded His people to keep His Sabbath as a sign. It is a sign between Yahuah's people and Yahuah. It is a badge or a token of identity. It advertises, or announces, or proclaims certain identifying knowledge. What knowledge? Well let's look again at verse 13 Yahuah says, "that ye may know that I am Yahuah that does set you apart." Note those words carefully, it is a sign that identifies to the people who is their master. It is a sign by which we may know that He is our Elohim, our Mighty One, The Husband of Yahisrael. It identifies Yahuah! I've been asked, yeah but doesn't everyone know who Yahuah is? My only answer to that question is absolutely not. This whole world is deceived so says your own Bible. Yes, the world has a god, a false god, HaSatan the devil/ the evil one. He pretends to be an "angel of light" 2 Cor. 11: 14. He has his religious organizations, his churches. Not all are Buddhist, Shintoist, Taoist, or Confucianist, many have taken the very name Christian, but their ministers, says your bible, are actually ministers of HaSatan. Let me quote 2 Cor. 11: 14-15 "And no marvel, for HaSatan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness."But do they actually call themselves the ministers of The Messiah? (meaning, the anointed one or Savior) Read verse 13 of the same chapter. "For such are false Apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the Apostles of The Messiah." Yes HaSatan is the great counterfeiter, he palms himself off as god. In your Bible he is called the god of this world (2Cor. 4-4). He palms off his ministers as ministers of the anointed one, and they accuse the true ministers of righteousness, those who teach truth, as being false Apostles, to divert suspicion from themselves.
Now, I ask you, does this worlds "Christianity" really know the true, Mighty one? Do they know the true creator? NO! They are deceived into believing that they do, yet how can you claim to know Him and not even Know His name? A deceived world may be very sincere in their false belief. Be that as it may, still ones god is the one or the thing one serves or obeys. But the true mighty one is the one who we should obey. This world is not taught to obey Yahuah! Its false "Christianity" teaches that Yahuah's law is done away with.
It actually puts human conscience, actuated by Hasatan's false teaching, in place of Yahuah's law. It does not teach as did Yahusha the Messiah, that we must live by every word of Yahuah. Instead it obeys Hasatan by disregarding Yahuah's law. Hasatan therefore is the worlds god. Yahuah gave man His Sabbath for the purpose of keeping mankind in the true knowledge and the true worship of the true Mighty one and Creator. But, you ask, how does the Sabbath identify Yahuah? How does it point to the true Creator, rather than the false? Does not Sunday do just as well? Positively not!
Notice Exodus Chapter 31 verse 17 of this special Sabbath covenant, "It is a sign between me and the children of Yahisrael forever. For in six days Yahuah made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." It was on the seventh day of the creation week that Yahuah rested from His work of creation, not Sunday, not the first day and not the eigth, only the seventh day of the week points back to creation. How does that point to who Yahuah is? If you believe any one else, or anything else is Elohim. I will prove that my Elohim, my mighty one is the true Elohim, mighty one, or master, because, whatever else you may think is god was made or created by the true Elohim. He who created or made everything else is greater than whatever he made superior to anything else that could be called god. Creation is proof of Yahuah, of His existence. It's the act of creating, by itself, which identifies Him.
So, Yahuah took the most enduring, lasting, imperishable thing man can know a recurring space in time the only day that is a memorial of the act of creating, He took the only day which points, constantly, every seventh day of the week. Too, Yahusha resting on the seventh day of creation from creating; which points to the existence of the Almighty, All-powerful, All ruling Elohim, and The Creator. And Yahuah set that particular day apart from others He made that day special, set apart for His purpose, designating it as the very day on which He commands His people ( those who obey Him) to assemble for worship the day man is commanded to rest from his own work and physical pleasure, and to be refreshed by assembling with other obedient worshipers in spiritual fellowship.
No other day is a memorial and a reminder of creation. True, Hasatan has deceived a deluded world into supposing Yahusha's resurrection occurred on Sunday morning at sunrise the very time that has always been the time of Pagan sun worship. But this supposition is not true! The resurrection of Yahusha actually occurred on a Sabbath, not on a Sunday. This can very easily be proven, but that is another study in itself, besides, Nowhere in scripture does Yahuah tell us to celebrate the day of Yahusha's resurrection! That is purely a man made Pagan custom, based on apostate mans authority alone completely contrary to the commandments of Yahuah.
So here we find the great purpose in the Sabbath, it identifies Yahuah! The very day which Yahuah set aside for assembly and worship points as a memorial to whom we are to worship, Yahuah the creator and ruler of all that is.
But that is not all! The Sabbath also was given as a sign that identifies who are the people of Yahuah and who are not! Notice, not only does this special covenant say "that ye may know that I am Yahuah" but, read the rest of the sentence "that ye may know that I am Yahuah that doth sanctify you (set you apart)."
Understand the tremendous meaning of that! What does the word sanctify mean? It means "to set apart for Yahuah's special use or purpose." On the seventh day of the creation week the Eternal sanctified, that is, set apart for His special use the Sabbath day, but now we see that, Yahuah says it is a sign that He, the Eternal, also sets apart from other people, those who are His people.
In Old Testament times His people were the people of Yahisrael. Today His people are still the People of Yahisrael, and the people of Yahuda. Remember the covenant, was made between Yahuah, the House of Yahuda and the House of Yahisrael (Jer. 31: 31). Today's Jews (Yahudites) are of the House of Yahuda, they have never lost their identity. Yet those of the House of Yahisrael are today those true believers spread throughout the world, those who through spiritual desire chose to do the will of Yahuah. They are set apart from the rest of the world and identified by their keeping of Yahuah's Sabbaths!
Some ask, but how does the Sabbath set them apart, separate them from those who are not Yahuah's own true people. Well let me assure you, if you have begun to keep Yahuah's Sabbath set apart the way He commands, you have found the answer already, by actual experience! For those who haven't, just start keeping Yahuah's Sabbath as commanded and you will soon learn that you are automatically set apart from all other people! The world, people you know, friends, family, work associates, they will set you apart, believe you me, they will most assuredly set you apart.
The Sabbath is Yahuah's sign that identifies not only Yahuah as creator and ruler, but it also identifies those who are truly His people. Still you ask, How? Let me give yet another definition of the word god. Although the only wise and true God, I prefer Elohim, is the great creator and ruler of the universes. There are many false or counterfeit gods. Hasatan palms himself off to a deceived world as god, and indeed Scripture plainly calls him the god of the world. Idols were and are worshiped as gods, even in so called Christian churches. Again let me loudly declare, whoever or whatever you serve and obey, that is your god
The word lord means, master, ruler, boss, the one you obey. Yahusha exclaimed in (Luke 6: 46) "And why call ye me lord, lord and do not the things which I say?" If they did not obey Him then He was not really their lord or master. So why did they call him master when truly he was not? Then again in (Matt. 7: 21) Yahusha said, "not everyone that saith unto me lord, lord (master, master) shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." Obviously only they who obey Yahuah can be His children and enter His kingdom. Yahuah, Elohim is the one you must obey!
Understand what is said in (Romans 6: 16) "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Regarding Idols as false and counterfeit gods, the second commandment says; "thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them (that is obey them), for I the Eternal, Thy Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity (disobedience), of the fathers, upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me; and showing mercy (favor) unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments (Ex. 20: 5-6).
How momentous! The Sabbath command is the only one of the ten, which is a sign identifying who are the real and true believers today! It is the one real test command! A man may be honest and upright in his dealings with others, he may have a reputation of not lying or stealing, but that does not identify him set him apart especially as a believer. Many non-believers honor their parents at least as far as other people know, many are regarded by others as faithful, true to husband or wife, many do not swear, or use profanity and most I am sure are not murderers, at least not in the eyes of others. But their supposed conformity to these commandments does not stamp them as different, as being Yahuah's people. Actually few even keep these commandments in spirit but that is not obvious to the world around them. But it is very obvious to the world when one keeps Yahuah's Sabbath. That's why so few people do! People don't want to be different, they don't want to be identified as belonging to Yahuah, being set apart from the world. People want to be identified, in the eyes of the world, as belonging to the world, part of the crowd but feel ashamed to be identified by friends, family, co-workers, as belonging to Yahuah. No one wants to be different! Therefore the people of the world are willing to acknowledge the other nine commandments, but the Sabbath commandment is one they positively rebel against! It is the one commandment that is the crucial test of obedience! It identifies those who have surrendered their wills to Yahuah, who obey Yahuah, regardless of persecution or cost. That is the key, because, you most assuredly will be tried and persecuted, by others, tested by Hasatan, some times the cost can be staggering!
It definitely sets you apart all right! What a sign! Once again, it identifies the true Creator, Mighty one, on the very day He set apart for assembly and worship. It identifies the real people of Yahuah. It identifies those who keep the Sabbath, as being Yahuah's people, to the world, simply by separating them from others, automatically. Yahuah's sign is one you accept voluntarily, of your own accord or not at all. Yet there is another mark that is now becoming a reality, the mark of the beast system. Scripture says if you don't accept it voluntarily, it will be forced on you, or you will be killed. Yes, the Sabbath is the great test command. I believe the one on which you very salvation and eternity depend.
Here we are only concerned with the keeping of one commandment, the keeping of the Sabbath. This is the only condition to be performed. It, the Sabbath, is to be set apart unto you, says Yahuah. And what is the reward promised upon performance of the condition? It is not only a sign, but also a compact,or a covenant "between me and you" says Yahuah, "that you may know that I am Yahuah that doth set you apart." That's it! Yahuah promises to set you apart! He will set them apart as his special people, for His special purpose! Can you ever really ask for a bigger promise?
So, you see, it is, indeed a covenant! It is a separate, totally different covenant. Even if one was to argue that old argument, "the old covenant was abolished, therefore the Ten Commandments are abolished." One cannot argue that this covenant was to last only to the cross. This covenant is binding throughout Yahisrael's generations (vs. 13), a perpetual covenant, (vs. 16) forever. (vs. 17) Someone may argue, "Yes but it is between Yahuah and the children of Yahisrael. It is throughout Yahisrael's generations, between Yahuah and the Israelites forever." Oh!, then you admit it is binding forever on Israelites and throughout their generations? I have then two answers to that argument that will condemn you, if you so argue, to the Lake of Fire.
1). No one can deny that this absolutely binds the people of Yahisrael to keep the Sabbath forever, perpetually (unbroken or interrupted,) throughout their generations. Their generations are still going on. They have not stopped generating. Therefore it is binding on them today. Also you have to admit that salvation and Sonship to Yahuah are available to all, both Yahudite and Gentile. An Israelite can become a true believer in the Messiah as well as can a Gentile.
So a Yahudite, even though converted as a believer in the Messiah, is bound to keep the Sabbath, as a perpetual covenant, throughout his generations, forever. Now, does Yahuah have two kinds of believers? Is it a sin for a Yahudite to break the Sabbath, and a sin for others to keep it? Most Yahudite believers assemble on the Sabbath, and those of other nationalities on Sunday. Didn't Yahuah say "a house divided against itself would fall?" Are there two types of believers? Is there more than one set of rules for gaining salvation? Read (Gal.3: 28,29) "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond or free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Yahusha the anointed, and if we (Gentiles) be his (Christ) then are we Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." So, if the Sabbath be binding to the Yahudite and we are all one in Yahuah, then it is binding to gentiles too!
2). There is another answer to this argument. The people of the United States, the British Commonwealth nations, and the nations of northwestern Europe, are in fact, the peoples of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom, the House of Yahisrael. The Yahudites are the
house of Yahuda.
But if the Sabbath is Yahuah's sign to identify his people, then if we are Yahisrael, why don't our nations keep it? The answer to that question is the answer to another. Why are the ten tribes of the House of Yahisrael called "the ten lost tribes?" And why do our nations believe we are Gentiles? Why don't they know their identity?
Ah! Now we have a staggering, startling, surprising truth to reveal. Here is a dumbfounding truth, far stranger than fiction. Here are facts hidden away for centuries, more intriguing than a mystery novel! Why is the Sabbath called, disrespectfully, sneeringly, "the Jewish Sabbath?" Why does the world think that all Israelites are Jews, or that the Jews are all of the Israelites? I have a startling surprise for those who have believed that. The so called Jews are only a small minority of the Israelites! Nowhere in all of Scripture are any of the ten tribed nation of Yahisrael called Jews. (yahudites) That name, Jew (which is really just a nasty nickname) refers only to the House of Judah (Yahudah). Yahudites are Israelites truly, but only a very small number of Israelites are Yahudites (Jews).
Now comes time for a little biblical history lesson. Almost immediately on being made king in the northern Kingdom, Jeroboam began to fear, that when his people went to Jerusalem to attend the annual feasts (Sabbaths), they would see and desire their former king Rehoboam. Thus he took swift action to protect his own position. Remember, the tribe of Levi composed the Priesthood. They were the leaders among the tribes, the best educated. They, got their living off the tithes of the people, had enjoyed incomes two or three times larger than the other tribes. With one swift stroke, Jeroboam demoted the Levites, set the lowest and most ignorant people to be the priests. He could easily control them, thus he could easily control the religion, just like Gentile kings had always done. Thereupon many, if not most of the Levites went back south, to the Kingdom of Yahudah and became known as Jews.
Almost immediately Jeroboam set up two great Idols for his people to worship. He ordered the fall festivals to be observed in the eighth month at a place of his choosing instead of the seventh month and at Jerusalem, as commanded by Yahuah (1Kings 12: 28-32). Jeroboam also changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the eighth, that is to the day following the seventh day, which of course, was actually the first day. Thus he set the day of worship to coincide with the Pagan day of the sun, Sunday.
Through the rule of nineteen kings and seven successive dynasties, the ten tribed House of Yahisrael continued in the basic twin sins of Jeroboam; idolatry and, Sabbath breaking. Several of Yahisrael's kings added evil and sinful practices. Then in 721-718 BCE. Yahuah caused the House of Yahisrael to be invaded and conquered by the kingdom of Assyria. These Israelites were taken from their farms and cities and taken to Assyria on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, as slaves. But the House of Yahudah (the Jews), a separate and different nation were not invaded until 604 BCE.
Two or three generations after the captivity of Yahisrael, however, The Chaldeans rose to world power, forming the first, world ruling Empire. Under Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldeans (Babylon) invaded Yahudah the southern kingdom, in 604-585 BCE.. The Assyrians, before 604 BCE, left their land, north of Babylon and migrated northwest, through the lands that are now, Georgia, the Ukraine, Poland and into the land that is known today as Germany. The people of the ten tribes of Yahisrael also migrated northwest. Though the Assyrians had taken Yahisrael into captivity, the Israelites did not remain slaves of the Assyrians in Europe. They continued on a little further, into Western Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the British Isles.
Now, why did they become known as the "lost ten tribes?" They had lost their national identity, the sign that identified them as Yahuah's people. King Jeroboam had changed their day of worship to the day of the sun Sunday. All succeeding kings followed this practice, as well as idolatry. As long as they remained in the land of Yahisrael and called themselves "the Kingdom of Yahisrael," there identity was known. But in Assyria they were no longer a nation with their own government and their own king. They were mere slaves, they took up the language and the customs of the Assyrians. As succeeding generations grew they lost the Hebrew Language, just as biblical prophecy said they would. Ultimately they lost all national identity.
After several generations, the tribe of Joseph divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manassah, and came to call themselves British. They did retain a few Hebrew earmarks. Berith, or B'rith in Hebrew means, "covenant man" which truly, they are. The tribe of Ruben settled in the country that is France today. All tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Yahisrael lost their identifying tag the Sabbath, Yahuah's Sabbath. That is why they lost their national identity.
But the tribe of Yahudah kept the Sabbath. They did not continue long to keep it as a day of rest, but they have continued to acknowledge it. This has resulted in all the world looking on them as being the chosen people of Yahuah. The world thinks they are Yahisrael not merely Yahudah.
The Yahudite's (Jew's) identity has not been lost and since their identity as racial descendants from ancient Yahisrael is known and that of the far more numerous "lost ten tribes' is not known, the world supposes that the Yahudites (Jewish people) are Yahisrael, instead of Yahudah. The Yahudites believe it themselves. So here again the whole world is deceived, even as to the true identity of who really are the chosen birthright people of Yahuah.
Yes, the Sabbath, Yahuah's day, the true Master's day, (lords day) is after all, the day for our people, for two reasons! First, because it is for all people of Yahuah, even Gentile born people, who are now Yahuah's. Secondly, because, racially, even by fleshly birth, it is Yahuah's day that He gave our forefathers and commanded to keep set apart forever.
Do you know why the Kingdom of Yahisrael was invaded by Assyria, conquered, removed from their land as slaves in 721-718 BCE.? Do you know the kingdom of Yahudah was later taken captive and scattered over the world? Both houses of Yahisrael were sent into national punishment and banishment from Palestine because they broke Yahuah's Sabbath!
Does it make a difference? It certainly made a lot of difference to Yahuah. And He says that He has not changed, He is the same today yesterday and forever (Hebrew. 13: 8).
First let's see why the Yahudites were invaded, conquered by Nebuchednezzar, and taken into captivity in Babylon, during the years 604-585 BCE. Seventy years after that captivity, according to Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. 29: 10), many of the Jahudites returned to Palestine to rebuild the Temple and restore worship there. The prophet Nehamiah tells why they had been driven into captive slavery seventy years before. "In those days saw I in Yahudah, some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading asses, as also wine, grapes, and figs and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day; and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals, then I contended with the nobles of Yahudah, and said unto them, what evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath Day? Did not our fathers thus, and did not our Elohim bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? Yet ye bring more wrath upon Yahisrael, by profaning the Sabbath (Neh. 13: 15-18).
That's it! In plain language, Sabbath breaking was the prime cause of Yahudah's captivity. It was so important to Yahuah, that He punished His own chosen people with this most severe national punishment defeat in war, being taken from their land and being made slaves in a foreign land!
Sin, is defined by Yahuah, as the transgression of His Law (1John 3: 4). His Law says to "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it set apart … the seventh day is the Sabbath day of Yahuah thy Elohim." To work on the Sabbath, to defile it by your own pleasure seeking, doing business, etc. is a sin, punishable by eternal death.
The Yahudites were without excuse, they had been warned, by the prophets. Notice the warning through Jeremiah; "Thus saith the Eternal, take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath Day … neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath Day (set it apart specially for Yahuah's purpose), as I have commanded your fathers. But if ye will not hearken unto me to set apart the Sabbath Day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath Day; Then will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched (Jer. 17: 21,22,27).
That was the warning! The Yahudites did not heed it. Now see what happened. "Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the King of Babylon, into Jerusalem and burned the House of The Eternal, and the king's house, and all the houses. And all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire." (Jer. 52: 12-13) When Yahuah warns the punishment is sure!
Now let's see what happened to the other nation of Israelites, the Kingdom of Yahisrael, one hundred seventeen years before Yahuda's captivity, Yahuah had laid down the choices to these people in the days of Moses, long before they were divided into two nations. Read chapter 26 of Leviticus. I would like to point out what Yahuah said through the Prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel was given a message from Yahuah to give to the House of Yahisrael, not Yahudah (not the Jews). Ezekiel was among the Yahudite captives after their captivity, which occurred more than a hundred years after Yahisrael's captivity. By that time the Assyrians had long since left their land on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and migrated northwest, finally settling in the land today called Germany. The people of the House of Yahisrael also migrated northwest across Europe. However, they didn't stop in Germany, they continued on further west and north, into Western Europe, France, Belgium, Holland. The Scandinavian countries, and the British Isles, where they are to this day, except for the tribe of Ephraim which later migrated to North America and became the United States.
The Prophet Ezekiel was commissioned to go from where he was, among the Yahudites, to the House of Yahisrael. "Go speak unto the House of Yahisrael" said Yahuah in Ezekiel 3: 1, and again "go get ye unto the House of Yahisrael" (verse 4). But Ezekiel never took that message to
the lost House of Yahisrael. He couldn't, he was a slave among the Yahudites. Howeve,r he is taking that message to them today, by having it written in his book in the Scriptures. It is a prophecy! It is a message for our peoples today! You are hearing it now! May Yahuah help you to heed!
Speaking first of ancient Yahisrael. Yahuah says, in Ezekiel chapter 20 "wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness; And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they know that I am Yahuah that sets them apart" (verses 10-12). Understand, this passage repeats the exact wording the forever binding Sabbath covenant of (Exodus 31: 12-17). Now let's continue, "But the House of Yahisrael rebelled against me in the wilderness, they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments … and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted (verse 13).
Then Yahuah pleaded with their children a generation later, "But I said unto their children in the wilderness, walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile
yourselves with their Idols: I am The Eternal your Elohim. Walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and set apart my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am The eternal your Elohim" (verses 18-20).
The entire emphasis here is differentiating between Yahuah's statutes, judgments, and Sabbaths on the one hand, and their fathers different Sabbaths, statutes, and judgments. They were observing a different day from Yahuah's Sabbath! They had already turned to the Pagan's day, today called Sunday, the day of the Sun and Sun worship. Yahuah continues, through the Prophet Ezekiel, in verse 21 "not withstanding the children rebelled against me … they polluted my Sabbaths."
So what did Yahuah finally do generations later? He scattered them, in national captivity and slavery (verse 23). But why? "Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers Idols." That's why! Did it make a difference? Let's continue with this amazing prophecy! Notice the prophecy for us today. Speaking of a time, sometime soon, in our time, Yahuah says to our people, "As I live, saith Yahuah, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out will I rule over you." (verse 33) The expression "fury poured out" I feel, might refer to the seven last plagues, at the very time of the Second Coming of Yahusha.
Compare Rev. 16: 1. The time when Yahusha will rule over us, is at and after his second coming, so this then is a prophecy for our time! Every Prophecy in Scripture showing where our people (Yahisrael) will be at the second coming of Yahusha, and the future great exodus back to The Land of Yahirael, pictures them in captivity and slavery once again!
Now continue the prophecy, "And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of countries wherein you are scattered … with fury poured out, and I will bring you into the wilderness of the people [coming exodus - Jer. 23: 7-8], and there will I plead with you face to face." (verses 34, 35)
It's time to wake up, to realize the imminent and the stark seriousness of this. Perhaps only one lone voice is warning you! But Yahuah used one lone voice to warn the world in Noah's day, one lone voice in Eliyah's day, one lone voice in the day of John the Baptizer; and after John was put in prison, one voice in the person of Yahusha The Messiah Himself, If you rely on the majority of sinning people, you will suffer their penalties with them.
What do you count as a lot and as a few? Is 10,000,00 a lot or a few
that is about how many "Christians" there is in The United States alone.
Now remember what the Messiah Himself said, "Enter ye in at the strait
gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it."
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