L-rds Day
(Original Entry from HOD-Wordpress - 2009-08-02 5:01:51 pm)
Category - Lamed Messianic Studies, Religion
The L-rd’s Day, The Day of the L-RD, and The Sabbath.
This is an expository on commonly used terms and ideas for those whom would be in confusion about them. Indeed, there is little known about the things of the Ha Shem (The Name) in many Christian circles, but none as deeply cutting nor as severe as the Sabbath and the L-rd’s Day and how neither one of them have to do with the Day of the L-RD.
First, let us lay down some ground rules for study. The first thing we would have to establish is that the L-RD will not go against something He Himself has already established or promised. The second is that Ha Shem will never bless what He has cursed nor curse what He has blessed. So having these two thoughts established, let us lay down some basic terminology.
It will be noticed in this paper that the final references to Ha Shem will be incomplete with dashes instead of fully spelled out. This is a protection for the reader as well as a sign of respect for the focus. It should never be assumed that the most holy of names will be honored or revered as much in unworthy hands or trashed if fallen into the wrong hands should that day happen. So as to protect the naming references so high, they are never spelled out completely so as to not be fully present in substance while retaining full presence in idea and thought and therefore retaining the capacity to avoid becoming marred. If this capacity is lost, therefore, it forces the holder to sin should something happen to the paper in that to mar the Name of the Most High is to use His Name in vein or to not hallow His Name. Granted, this custom is out of Jewish Traditions, but is still none-the-less deemed a worthy custom to uphold for the sake of reverence.
| The L-rd’s Day [of being Risen from the Dead and the day on which He conquered the grave]. |
In reference with this term, this day is only referenced once in Revelation 1:10; but the connotation is the same as is used in the L-rd’s Supper in I Corinthians 11:20. It seems to have been in an early Christian manuscript called the Didache where the two terms are linked together whereas the L-rd’s Supper might have been observed each L-rd’s Day.
There is also instruction given in I Corinthians 16:1-2 where Paul instructs that the Corinthians should set aside weekly contributions on the first day of the week when they would have come together to hear the public reading of the Scriptures and study together. There are other second century texts that refer to the first day of the week and the operations thereof. In the context of the Christian, the Sabbath was never a recognized replacement for Sunday worshipful-ness, but rather a day of rejoicing in the fact of the resurrected Saviour and the joy that comes with being redeemed. It was not until after 1500AD that the term of “Sabbath” began to be used a replacement for Sunday with the English Puritans. Soon after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the first day of the week was officially declared as a day of rest. [Though, it might be added here that it was not “the day of rest” but rather “a day of rest” and therefore not to replace the Sabbath.]
| The Day of the L-RD [anger; vengeance and destruction; in His capacity of Judge and on the day in which He sits in the Seat of Judgment and separates those Whom are adopted and those whom are not as the Good Shepherd separates between the sheep and the goats]. |
This day reference is not actually deemed a specific day in most textual inferences, but rather as a period of time where the wrath of G-D is being used to purge out the wicked and bring in the redeemed unto Himself. Isaiah 2:10 starts with a description of man being hid in the rocks and surrounded by the dust in fear of the L-RD and the Glory of His Majesty; a reference back to the times of Moses being hidden in the cleft of the rock while the L-RD covered his face and let him see only His back as He passed where Moses was hid. It continues well into and through chapter 3 telling how the lofty will be made low and the proud will be made shameful, and everything that has set itself against the L-RD shall fall and be destroyed.
There are other references in Joel 1:15; 2:1-11, 31; 3:14-15; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:7-8, 14-18; and Malachi 4:5 concerning the warnings of destruction and the fear of the L-RD for those who do not take seriously or in reverence will face punishment. The prophets painted pictures with these types of Scriptures days of darkness and punishment.
There are other Scriptures in the books of the prophets that tell of the deliverance from evil enemies on that day of the people of the L-RD, ( Isaiah 13:6,9; Ezekiel 30:3; Obediah 15) and therefore are days to be rejoiced for those people whom are the property of the L-RD. This day, therefore, becomes a point in time wherein G-D displays his sovereignty. These ideas and time references elude to the times of the second coming of Ha Mashiach to set up a renewed Kingdom on earth and all old things will be made new at The Final Judgment.
| The Sabbath [being the day of complete rest in remembrance of the completion of the L-RD and the work He did in creating the Earth and all the universe and then ceasing that work to rest on the seventh day as a day of celebration and enjoyment of that work which was completed]. |
Sabbath is quite simply a day of complete rest. The Jewish interpretation is that there is to be no work done expressed in anything that changes the environment around a person. This includes all items such as sewing, knitting, cutting, binding, completing or breaking electrical circuits, carrying, kindling fire, extinguishing fire, or any manner of a total of 39 different things specifically forbid in the Babylonian Talmud which explains and describes to a Jew how to keep the Law of the L-RD.
This day is a day of completion. It is a day to reflect on the previous week and contemplate the good things with which one has been blessed and the evils that have been averted. We start with the idea and the commandment of the Sabbath being laid down to the Hebrew people in Exodus 20:8 and it does not let up from there. Every reference to the Sabbath is a reference to the weekly 7th day of rest when one was to abstain from labors and commerce and make “The L-RD” and “complete rest” the focus of the day. Then there are references to certain days being High Sabbaths, in which, they are much like the weekly Sabbaths except they apply to another day of the week with a Holy Day (or Holiday) associated with them such as one of the Seven Feasts of the L-RD.
In all, I know this is not even close to the studies that could be performed for each of these three different kinds of days, but the purpose here is to get you thinking. Please do not believe in the fallacy of man to tell you when a day is or is not and how you should interpret that day. Always go back to the Word of G-D and the proven historical texts and documents that can assist in proving what is really there, the way things really should be, and the way things really are to be. For those interested in really keeping the Fourth Commandment seriously, take the time to rest in the L-RD and His goodness, make meal things on the day before so you do not have to cook on the Sabbath, get all the chores done during the week, and start wrapping up about an hour or so before sundown. If nothing else, it will assist in your weekly organization. At best, you will discover the riches and blessings associated and promised by Ha Shem in keeping the Sabbath whether you are a Jew or a Sojourner with the Hebrew people.
–SILVERMOUSE