Guarding The Gates of the Sabbath - Part Two

My husband and I get so excited when the sun sets on Friday evenings and we can "shut the gates" when it comes to our home and our relationship with each other and our God.  It's so freeing to know that for the next 24 hours, we are going to shut the world out of our home and our lives.  Then, we get to welcome our Lord Jesus to spend time with us on His holy day.  By so doing, we are "guarding the gates and sanctifying the Sabbath day".

God led Nehemiah to use this phrase in Nehemiah 13:19-22.  "So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath.  Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.  Then I warned them, and said to them, 'Why do you spend the night around the wall?  If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!'  From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.  And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day."

So as a Christian, how are you doing at "guarding the gates" of God's seventh-day Sabbath?  How are you doing at "sanctifying the Sabbath day" - keeping it holy, different and set apart from the other 6 days of the week?  This definitely goes counter-culture in today's society as well as in today's evangelical churches.  As in Nehemiah's day, the merchants are outside "the gates" (meaning our homes) on the Sabbath day -
constantly calling us to "open the gates" in order to come out and buy their goods.  However, by "opening those gates", the world is able to sneak inside our homes through our phones, televisions, radios, newspapers, etc.  It is a constant conscious decision on our part to turn it all off in order to "guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day".

So, what is the benefit to you?  1) You will be walking in obedience to the Word of God, 2) You will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, 3) You will get REST and RELAXATION for 24 hours EVERY WEEK, and 4) You will have peace - Sabbath Peace.  What a gift from God!

                                     "SHABBAT SHALOM!"

Guarding The Gates of the Sabbath - Part One

Here's a little bit of history that I'm sure most of us are unaware of.  In 586 BC, Jerusalem and its gates
were burned and destroyed by fire.  Jeremiah 17:27 gives the reason for why it happened:

Thus says the Lord, "But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched."

A little later on around 432 BC, Nehemiah has gone back to Jerusalem to help rebuild it.  After rebuilding the walls, the people made a covenant in Neh. 10:31 "... if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day;"  Sometime after this, Nehemiah returned to Babylon for a short time.  However, when he came back to Jerusalem (in Neh. 13:15-19) this is what he had to say:

"In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.  And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.  Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.  Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, 'What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day?  Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city?  Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.'  So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath.  Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day."

In verse 18 when Nehemiah referred to "didn't our fathers do thus, and didn't our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city?" - he was referring to the burning of Jerusalem and its gates by fire, back in Jeremiah 17:27!  To put it in our language today, Nehemiah was "freaking out" that the people were buying and selling on the Sabbath day, not keeping it a holy and set-apart day to the Lord, and not keeping the gates of Jerusalem shut on that holy day.  He was fearful that God would again burn it with fire because of them not honoring the Sabbath Day!

What does this have to do with us today?  Take a look at what Christians are doing on the 7th day of the week - the Sabbath day to the Lord our God.  It's one of the first 4 commandments that have to do with "Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength".  Are we "buying and selling" on God's holy day?  Are we working and/or making others work that day by serving us?  Maybe some of us should be getting a little bit more "freaked out" about the natural disasters God is allowing to come on the U.S. when it's obvious we continue to "cast His law behind our backs" (Neh. 9:26) by being a disobedient and rebellious people when it comes to God and His Word.  If God can burn Jerusalem with fire because the people called by His Name would not keep His Sabbath day holy - what makes us think it won't happen to us as well?

Ten Commandments or Two Commandments?

Yesterday morning, I was watching a T.V. minister speak on I John 5.  In I John 5:2 and 3 it says, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.  And His commandments are not burdensome." (NKJV)  This minister proceeded to state that we only have two commandments that we are expected to obey.  He told the audience this without ever giving them a Bible reference!  Of course, the two commandments he was referring to are:  "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Let's look at Matthew 22:36-40 and see exactly what Jesus said about these two commandments.  A lawyer had come to Jesus and asked Him about which was the greatest commandment in the law.  Jesus' reply was "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang all the LAW and the Prophets."

I want you to see a couple of things from this passage:

1.  Jesus is quoting Old Testament Law with both of these commandments. See Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18.
By doing this, He is confirming that the Old Testament Law is not "done away with" as many of our ministers are teaching today.

2.  Jesus never said there were no other commandments than these two.  He only said one was "the first greatest commandment.  And the second is like it."  No where did He say that we did not need to obey the other commandments.  In fact, He said in verse 40, "On these two commandments HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS."

A couple of chapters earlier, in Matt. 19:17-19 - Jesus told the rich young ruler, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."  If you notice, Jesus didn't quote the two commandments mentioned above!

When the ruler asked Him which ones to keep, Jesus answered with the following:  "You shall not murder.  You shall not commit adultery.  You shall not steal.  You shall not bear false witness.  Honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Sounds like part of the 10 Commandments with the "second greatest commandment" added on, doesn't it?

The same minister mentioned above later on in his sermon mentioned the importance of "morality".  Well, we cannot have any kind of morality without "moral laws" to follow and obey. Webster's definition of "sin" is "the transgression of divine and moral law committed consciously".  As soon as this minister started talking about "morality", he was admitting there were more than two commandments to be obeyed.

What I really want you to get from all of this is the importance for each one of us to do as the people in Berea did in Acts 17:11 - they "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so."  Please don't just take your minister's word for anything - without studying it for yourself.  The same goes for any books or devotionals you may read.  We are living in the last days when false teachers are trying to deceive us in any way that they can.  The only way we can know what is really true is to go to the Word of God for ourselves, asking the Holy Spirit to show us what is true and what is false.

The Sabbath Day and Naaman the Leper

Whenever my husband and I share with other believers about the importance of keeping the Lord's Sabbath Day (the 7th day of the week) - we often get the response that "it really doesn't matter what day of the week we worship God".  This comment is given as an excuse to continue their "first day" worship on Sunday - the sun god's day.

A few days ago, I was reading the story in 2 Kings 5 about Naaman.  He was the commander of the army of the king of Syria - and he had leprosy.  Naaman sent for the prophet, Elisha, to heal him of his leprosy.  Instead of going himself, Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman with the following message:  "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean."  (vs. 10)  In verse 11, Naaman became furious that Elisha sent a messenger to him instead of coming himself to heal him.

The key verse I want to share with you today is in verse 11.  It reads as follows, with Naaman speaking:  "'Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  Could I not wash in them and be clean?'  So he turned and went away in a rage."

To me this sounds very much like what believers say today when confronted with keeping God's holy Sabbath day.  Aren't the other days of the week better than the 7th day?  Can't we just have a "rest day" on any of them and be fine?  It is all a question of obedience and remembering that we are only a created being of God's - and not the Creator Himself.

In verse 14 it says, "So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."  He could not choose any other river of his choice.  It had to be the one that God chose.  Also, he could not choose to only dip 3 times, 5 times, 12 times, etc.  It had to be the number that God chose - the number 7.

In Genesis 2:2 & 3, God stated the seventh day - 3 times.  The number 7 is God's number.  Man's number is the number 6.  We all know that the number 666 is the number for the Anti-christ.  What about God's number - 777?  When something is stated in the Bible 3 times - it means it is something very important to God.  When we read, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts", God is getting across to us how important His holiness really is.  So what is He trying to get across to us in Genesis 2 regarding His 7th-day Sabbath?  If I tried to paraphrase, it might sound like this:  "It's the seventh day, the seventh day, the seventh day."  He just doesn't leave any room for us to make it another day, does He? 

One thing we need to remember is this:  The Sabbath Day (7th day) was given long before there was a nation of Israel or before Moses was given the 10 Commandment law.  That's why in the 10 Commandments it is stated to "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy..."  This 7th-day Sabbath was given for all mankind to honor and to set apart as holy.  Just like in the story of Naaman, who do we think we are that we can tell God Almighty that we are going to move His holy Sabbath Day to another day? 

Jeremiah 2:19 says, "'Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear (dread) of Me is not in you,' says the Lord God of hosts."

False Teaching: The Rapture and the Last Trumpet of God

Up until last weekend, I have believed in the "Rapture of the Church" right before the Tribulation.  However, last weekend as I was reading I Thessalonians 4:16 & 17 - I saw something I had never seen before in this passage.

As most of you know, this is the key passage that Bible scholars use to support the "Pre-Tribulation Rapture" of the church.  It reads: 

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord." 

Most of us don't know that there is a cross-reference by "the trumpet of God".  This took me to I Corinthians 15:51 & 52 which reads: 

"Behold I tell you a mystery:  We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 

When I read "the last trumpet",  I immediately turned to Revelation 11:15 to read about that Last Trumpet - or "the Seventh Trumpet".
To my surprise, when the Seventh Trumpet is sounded - it will bring in the Kingdom of God.  That verse reads:

"Then the seventh angel sounded:  And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'"

Here is the problem.  Most Bible scholars argue that these are two different trumpets.  However, using logic we can see that is not possible.  I Thess. 5:16 & 17 is referring to the "last" trumpet of God.  If it is the last one, there cannot be another one after that one.  That, my dear friends, means we will be going through the Tribulation.  Since the 7th Trumpet ushers in the Kingdom of God (the Millenium or 1000-year reign of Christ), that definitely shows it to be the Last Trumpet.  No other trumpets are sounding after that one.  And, if the Last Trumpet is the 7th Trumpet, that also means we are going through the Tribulation.  Logic asks, "Just how many last trumpets can we have?"

After having this truth revealed to me, I realized just how selfish it sounds when Christians say, "I'm just waiting for that trumpet of Christ to sound and then I'm out of here!"  Why would we WANT to leave our unsaved friends and family to suffer here on earth without our witness?  In fact, in Philippians 1:29 God tells us "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."

When that Last Trumpet sounds, it will be at the end of the Tribulation as Christ is preparing to come back to earth.  At that time, we will be taken up to meet Him in the clouds so we can all return with Him - "and so we shall forever be with the Lord".