Jeremiah, chapter 17:19-27
interpretation - meaning - commentary - explanation
The Sabbath must be observed
(19) Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; (20) And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: (21) Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; (22) Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. (23) But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
(24) And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein; (25) Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever. (26) And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD. (27) But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
One of the reasons for the Israelites' disregard for God's commandments was their desire to accumulate money. Materialism caused the moral decline of the chosen people. Even for one day a week, some of them were incapable of exercising restraint.
- Is it not the same today?
How many Christians celebrate Saturday as a day of rest?
A small number. - And how many celebrate Sunday?
More than the former, but overall not many either. - What day in commerce is the day of highest turnover?
Saturday. - And what is the second?
Sunday.
A forgotten holiday given by God from the foundation of the earth. It is incorrect to say that the Sabbath was obligatory only for Jews and was given to them in the Decalogue. Read the creation of the world in the first chapters of the Book of Moses, and you will learn that God on the seventh day (Saturday is the seventh day of the week according to the Bible - it was people who made the seventh day a Sunday) rested and blessed the day. Genesis 2.2-3 "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Do you really believe that God, who blessed the day, did not command the first inhabitants of the earth to observe it and did so only by giving the Decalogue? By the way, I'll mention that the commandments are timeless, and don't believe the fairy tales that all but the Sabbath remain valid. Jesus did not come to change the commandments he himself gave.
On Saturday and Sunday we forgot about God
Man, living in the rush of this world, forgets about God. A Saturday day with God is supposed to decelerate him, turn his thoughts to the Savior, this time is supposed to be a rest for body and mind, and this is what everyone needs. How would a parent feel whose children forget to visit him and don't do so even once a week? God wants our love, he wants it because he loves us, he calls out to you through the Scriptures to come to him. Let's respect the fact that the Lord has given us life, He cares for us, let's give this time to Him.
From when to count the Sabbath? In the Bible, time is counted from sunset to sunset. The Sabbath begins on Friday after sunset and ends with sunset on Saturday.
In astronomical units, a day is the rotation of the Earth around its axis. A month is the motion of the moon relative to the earth. A year is the movement of the earth relative to the sun. However, there is nothing to indicate a week. Why was the week designated? God did it, not man. Respect what the Creator gave as a sign of the creation of the world.
The first step we should take is to give up shopping on this day, not to work and not to force animals to work. God, in the 10 commandments, has not forgotten them either. Let this testify to how important this day is in the eyes of the Lord. By shopping alone, you are not working, but contributing to the work of others and directing your thoughts toward materialism. Not working on the Sabbath is not only gainful employment, but also cleaning the apartment, working on the plot, etc. The most difficult step is to give up gainful employment on Saturday, which may involve getting fired from your current job. Such decisions should certainly not be made hastily, lest discouragement and hatred instead of love for God catch up with us later. Giving up gainful employment in favor of the Sabbath is a long process in a person's life, and many months will pass before it happens, which is perfectly normal - it is difficult for us to wean ourselves from everyday life and our own beliefs or faith in this matter.
Giving up shopping on the Lord's Day at first can be expected to be severely inconvenient, and the day can turn into a horror show. Shopping is not only about stores, but also about buying ice cream or food during a leisure trip on that day. You go to the sea or the mountains, you know it's warm and you can't buy anything to cool off because you'll contribute to another person's work. Others can't understand you, you become a strange person in their eyes. Don't worry about it, what is strange to them will be something wonderful to God, and it is Him we are to serve, not people.
Apocalypse announces ban on buying
In Revelation it is written that in the end times he who does not have the mark of the beast will not be able to buy or sell anything. One interpretation of this verse says that this seal will be the Sabbath (Ezekiel 20.12 "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.") Whether this is a correct interpretation I do not know, but in my opinion it is wrong. I have mixed feelings about it, but I don't deny it because it may be true. I would be inclined to think that the mark of the beast would be the official adoption of the common world faith, thus abandoning the true biblical one. But the fact is that in Roman and medieval times those who observed Saturday and not Sunday were murdered by the Roman Catholic Church. In the name of defending church authority! What happened in the past can happen again in the future. And it is not at all unrealistic. It is enough to create a new world religion (ecumenia) that recognizes Sunday, and those who do not join it will be recognized as those who cause religious strife, division and thus destroy unity. In many Arab countries and China, Christianity is banned and believers are persecuted.
Saturday was changed to Sunday, among other reasons, because Christians who believed in Jesus were identified with Jews and the latter were often attacked. In order to disassociate from the Jews and be able to attract more pagans to the new faith, Sunday was declared a holy day, which was then the day of worship of the Sun or Mithras. It is easier to change the name of a holiday than to order people to abandon what they believed in and move their day of worship to Saturday. Those who attack Saturday say that Saturday was the day of Saturn. It was, except that the Sabbath was recognized from the beginning of the earth. If today we celebrate Sunday and establish bear worship that means that Sunday indicates bear worship? Nonsense.
It is foolish to attack those who celebrate Sunday
One of the biggest mistakes and foolishness of some people who celebrate Saturday is to attack those who celebrate Sunday in favor of Saturday. As a rule, this is done by younger people who are just learning about the power of Saturday, so they should be forgiven for being overzealous. I rejoice when I hear that a person who recognizes Sunday seeks to observe it as the Lord's day. God looks into her heart and sees that with her heart she is close to Him and has allowed herself to be convinced that the day has been changed from Saturday to Sunday. Her faith is sincere and that is important.
We have so many different Christian denominations that it's hard to choose which one is true. I'm not going to tell you which church to go to, or convince you, because that's not the purpose of this site. However, avoid the Catholic church, find some Protestant church, they are definitely closer to the true faith. But I encourage you to read the Scriptures, and in them you will find the answers to your questions. Pray, and God will answer. People in power are often deceptive, show love and may be driven by a desire to maintain their position - influence. Nowadays, the source of knowledge and knowledge of God is the Bible, not what man comes up with! It's sad to say, but society doesn't even read the testament that God left us and bases its faith on what a priest or pastor says. The name itself says it all: the Old and New Testaments - one could add "The Creator's Testament for you."
As a curiosity, I will add that the Jews, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, observed the Sabbath. They were cruel at heart, yet they rested on this day. Paradox - they were not guided by God's love and observed the Sabbath. The inhabitants of the besieged city defended themselves bravely. The Romans noticed after a few Saturdays that the defenders put fewer guards on the walls on that day. For this reason, they stepped up attacks on the Sabbaths. Apparently, some of the Jews believed that they should not defend themselves on this day and counted on God to defend them, while the rest believed that when their lives were threatened, they had the right to defend themselves on this day. If they had listened to the prophets, Jesus and the apostles, they would have known that what happened to them was a consequence of their behavior, and no false Sabbath observance would have helped them anyway.
Today the Sabbath is most often associated with a witch's rally. When you type the term sabbath in Google and give to images you will most often see demonic images. Satan has succeeded in destroying the Sabbath, and humanity doesn't even realize it.
