While I was yet a member and participant at the Catholic Answers Forum (CAF) one of the Catholic member made the statement that The Sabbath is only a day of rest. God only commanded it to be a day of rest. He did not command it to be a day of worship. Knowing otherwise I endeavored to prove this statement wrong and to show through scripture wherein that it was wrong. I post it here for the same reason, some one has made this same statement and I wish to correct the error. Please read all of the post and judge for yourselves whether the Sabbath is just a day of rest or is in actuality a day for which we are to worship and commune with God.
I purposely refrained from writing out the referenced scriptures hoping that any who would read the following article would take the time to take what I have written and study this issue themselves, looking up the scriptures and comparing what I have stated to what is written. With that, God bless and keep you all.
Exodus 12:16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them, but that which everyone must eat, that only may be prepared by you.
This verse needs to be viewed in light of the texts preceding and following it. (The verse was used as proof that the Sabbath was not to be a day of worship.) When done so it is seen that God is instituting the first of several feast days or Ceremonial Sabbaths, known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread or The Passover. In this observance there are two holy convocations, one on the first day of the observance and the second on the seventh day of the observance. Please not that the observance is to start on a specific date rather than on a specific day which would mean that from year to year this observance of the feast with other festal observances, the day changes. As we will see, the Seventh Day Sabbath does not change, neither month to month nor year to year.
Leviticus 23:3: This is an interesting passage, especially as it relates to the passages preceding it;
Leviticus 23:1-2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be a holy convocation, these are my feasts.
Notice then in the verse referenced:
Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
God separates the Seventh Day Sabbath from the rest of the feast days. It stands alone from all the others that are described in the following texts. In addition it is the only one of the proclaimed feast days that is dependent on a day rather than a date. It is also perpetual from week to week, rather than from year to year. We must ask ourselves How important is this feast day?
Lets look at the other feasts.
PASSOVER Feast of Unleavened Bread
This we have already discussed at the beginning of the concourse and need not cover again save to reemphasis that there are two holy convocations for this observance. (By the way, it was the second of these holy convocations upon which Christ was crucified.)(Leviticus 23:7-8)
THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS (Leviticus 23:9-14)
This is the feast that depicts the gathering of the first fruits of the yearly harvest. Who was the first fruit that went before us after the crucifixion? Christ. When one studies this feast and pays special attention to the nuances of how and when this feast was conducted one sees in it the resurrection of our Lord.
THE FEAST OF WEEKS (Leviticus 23:15-22)
This feast starts on the same day that the Feast of First Fruits is observed. It contains seven Sabbaths and an additional holy convocation to be held on the day after, or the fiftieth day, the last Sabbath, the result being two consecutive holy convocations being conducted. This concept is later repeated in the Sabbath of the Seven Years (Leviticus 25:1-7) and the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-17)
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS (Leviticus 23:23-25)
This looks to be the shortest of the observances, however, not the least of them, I believe, as it is this feast that symbolizes Christs victory over Satan and death. Notice also that it is observed in the Seventh month. Ten days following is:
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT (Leviticus 23:26-32)
This is a day of reconciliation to the Lord. The offerings on this day were to bring the people back to the Lord, but the reconciliation was only valid if the people went before the Lord in true contrition. Christ is our atonement sacrifice. It is through his blood we are reconciled to God. In the instructions for this feast we also find the structure of the day being from evening to evening, reflecting that which was done at the beginning. (Genesis 1)
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES (Leviticus 23:33-36)
Again two holy convocations are instituted both to be conducted on the same day as at the start, for example, if the feast began on the second or third day then the second would also be conducted on the second or third day respectively. It is in the description of this festal observance that God calls the holy convocations Sacred Assemblies. Can we but not admit that this could only mean a worship assembly? And does this only apply to this one feast or to all the preceding feasts?
Consider, Moses made only one tabernacle, yet the feast is called The Feast of Tabernacles. Remember, the tabernacle that Moses constructed was put together after a pattern of one already in existence in Heaven. This observance was conducted in honor of what the priests did in the earthly tabernacle and what Christ would do, and is now doing, in the Heavenly Tabernacle at his resurrection.
The Seventh Day Sabbath and the ceremonial Sabbaths are revisited in Numbers 28, once again the Seventh Day Sabbath is separated out from the ceremonial Sabbaths and it stands alone as its own holy convocation.
So what is a holy convocation? If we take each feast as a type of depiction of Christ and we come to the conclusion that Christ fulfilled each of these feasts in his birth, death and resurrection then we must therefore agree that a holy convocation must be a sacred assembly as proclaimed by God at the institution of the Feast of Tabernacles for it is now Christ who is our High Priest presiding over the workings in the Heavenly Tabernacle. As such it is the Seventh Day Sabbath that is declared in which we both rest and participate in sacred worship to the Lord.
I purposely refrained from writing out the referenced scriptures hoping that any who would read the following article would take the time to take what I have written and study this issue themselves, looking up the scriptures and comparing what I have stated to what is written. With that, God bless and keep you all.
Exodus 12:16 On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them, but that which everyone must eat, that only may be prepared by you.
This verse needs to be viewed in light of the texts preceding and following it. (The verse was used as proof that the Sabbath was not to be a day of worship.) When done so it is seen that God is instituting the first of several feast days or Ceremonial Sabbaths, known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread or The Passover. In this observance there are two holy convocations, one on the first day of the observance and the second on the seventh day of the observance. Please not that the observance is to start on a specific date rather than on a specific day which would mean that from year to year this observance of the feast with other festal observances, the day changes. As we will see, the Seventh Day Sabbath does not change, neither month to month nor year to year.
Leviticus 23:3: This is an interesting passage, especially as it relates to the passages preceding it;
Leviticus 23:1-2 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: The feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be a holy convocation, these are my feasts.
Notice then in the verse referenced:
Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
God separates the Seventh Day Sabbath from the rest of the feast days. It stands alone from all the others that are described in the following texts. In addition it is the only one of the proclaimed feast days that is dependent on a day rather than a date. It is also perpetual from week to week, rather than from year to year. We must ask ourselves How important is this feast day?
Lets look at the other feasts.
PASSOVER Feast of Unleavened Bread
This we have already discussed at the beginning of the concourse and need not cover again save to reemphasis that there are two holy convocations for this observance. (By the way, it was the second of these holy convocations upon which Christ was crucified.)(Leviticus 23:7-8)
THE FEAST OF FIRST FRUITS (Leviticus 23:9-14)
This is the feast that depicts the gathering of the first fruits of the yearly harvest. Who was the first fruit that went before us after the crucifixion? Christ. When one studies this feast and pays special attention to the nuances of how and when this feast was conducted one sees in it the resurrection of our Lord.
THE FEAST OF WEEKS (Leviticus 23:15-22)
This feast starts on the same day that the Feast of First Fruits is observed. It contains seven Sabbaths and an additional holy convocation to be held on the day after, or the fiftieth day, the last Sabbath, the result being two consecutive holy convocations being conducted. This concept is later repeated in the Sabbath of the Seven Years (Leviticus 25:1-7) and the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-17)
THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS (Leviticus 23:23-25)
This looks to be the shortest of the observances, however, not the least of them, I believe, as it is this feast that symbolizes Christs victory over Satan and death. Notice also that it is observed in the Seventh month. Ten days following is:
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT (Leviticus 23:26-32)
This is a day of reconciliation to the Lord. The offerings on this day were to bring the people back to the Lord, but the reconciliation was only valid if the people went before the Lord in true contrition. Christ is our atonement sacrifice. It is through his blood we are reconciled to God. In the instructions for this feast we also find the structure of the day being from evening to evening, reflecting that which was done at the beginning. (Genesis 1)
THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES (Leviticus 23:33-36)
Again two holy convocations are instituted both to be conducted on the same day as at the start, for example, if the feast began on the second or third day then the second would also be conducted on the second or third day respectively. It is in the description of this festal observance that God calls the holy convocations Sacred Assemblies. Can we but not admit that this could only mean a worship assembly? And does this only apply to this one feast or to all the preceding feasts?
Consider, Moses made only one tabernacle, yet the feast is called The Feast of Tabernacles. Remember, the tabernacle that Moses constructed was put together after a pattern of one already in existence in Heaven. This observance was conducted in honor of what the priests did in the earthly tabernacle and what Christ would do, and is now doing, in the Heavenly Tabernacle at his resurrection.
The Seventh Day Sabbath and the ceremonial Sabbaths are revisited in Numbers 28, once again the Seventh Day Sabbath is separated out from the ceremonial Sabbaths and it stands alone as its own holy convocation.
So what is a holy convocation? If we take each feast as a type of depiction of Christ and we come to the conclusion that Christ fulfilled each of these feasts in his birth, death and resurrection then we must therefore agree that a holy convocation must be a sacred assembly as proclaimed by God at the institution of the Feast of Tabernacles for it is now Christ who is our High Priest presiding over the workings in the Heavenly Tabernacle. As such it is the Seventh Day Sabbath that is declared in which we both rest and participate in sacred worship to the Lord.
