The Sabbath, in Hebrew, Shabbat, is the single most important thing in the history of the Jewish people that has held them together. No matter where they have been in the world they have continued to keep this festival that G-d has given them. The Sabbath is mentioned as early as Bereshit (Genesis) chapter 2…

"Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day (the Sabbath) G-d ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then G-d blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work which G-d had created and made."
Bereshit (Genesis) 2.1-3

The word that G-d chose to use for "sanctified" is the Hebrew word "kadeish", which means, 'to be set apart as sacred.' In Y'shayahu (Isaiah) 58 G-d calls the Sabbath by another word, "kadosh", which means, 'sacred or holy.'

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the L-rd honorable, and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the L-rd; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Ya'akov (Jacob) your father. The mouth of the L-rd has spoken."
Y'shayahu (Isaiah) 58.13-14

There is something that needs to be brought out in the above mentioned verses. When G-d calls the Sabbath kadosh, He refers to it as being, 'His', not once, but twice. G-d is proclaiming that to Him this day, the Sabbath, is His holy day, there is no other.

When G-d created the heavens and the earth, why did it take Him seven days? Was it because he needed that much time to complete such a complicated task as creating an entire universe? Or was it because He was communicating to us His plan for the ages. It is my belief that the latter is the case.

G-d is not confined to His creation. He created time, but is not restrained by it. G-d took six days to create the universe and rested on the seventh because He wanted us to know that we would have six thousand years of toil and one thousand years of rest. He wanted us to know that in the year four thousand He would send His son to redeem the universe. He let us know that His son would come in the year four thousand by creating the sun on the fourth day. What does the fourth day have to do with the year four thousand?

To the Jewish people of the first century, as well as to many Jewish and non-Jewish people of today, there was and is the belief that each day of creation represents a thousand year period of time. They did not believe that each day was a thousand years, they simply believed that a day of creation represented a thousand year period of time. Each day of creation was a twenty-four hour period, and the universe was created in a hundred and forty-four hours, that is, six twenty-four hour days.

Their belief comes from Tehillim (Psalms)…

"For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night."
Tehillim (Psalms) 90.4

This thought is also seen in the book of II Kefa (Peter)…

"But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the L-rd one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
II Kefa (Peter) 3.8

There are a number of other books that reveal this same thought. Two of the most known are the books of II Enoch and Barnabas.

"Furthermore it is written concerning the Sabbath, in the Ten Commandments, which G-d spoke to Moshe (Moses) at Mount Sinai, face to face; Sanctify the Sabbath of the L-rd with pure hands and a clean heart. And He said elsewhere; If your children shall keep My Sabbaths, then I will put My Mercy upon them. And even in the beginning of creation He mentions the Sabbath. And on the seventh day G-d ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done, and He sanctified it. Consider, my children, what that means, He finished in six days. The meaning of it is this: that in six thousand years the L-rd G-d will bring all things to an end.
Barnabas 13.1-4

"And I (G-d) appointed the eighth day also, that the eighth day should be the first-created after my work, and that the first seven revolve in the form of the seven thousand, and that at the beginning of the eighth thousand there should be a time of not-counting, endless, with neither years nor months nor weeks nor days nor hours."
II Enoch 30.1

The thought that G-d would complete all things in six thousand years was a very well known doctrine in the first century C.E. It was taught that the reason G-d gave us the Sabbath, was to teach us about the Messianic Kingdom (Millennium). If G-d did give us the Sabbath to teach us about the Kingdom to come in which Messiah Yeshua will reign, shouldn't we be looking at it to see what can be learned, and if we can learn from looking, how much more will we see if we keep and observe the Sabbath of G-d.

In Vayikra (Leviticus) 23.3 G-d calls the Sabbath a Mikra, which means, 'a rehearsal.' Every Sabbath G-d will have us rehearse the Messianic Kingdom, at least in part. As with all of the Festival's of G-d, none of them will teach everything there is about any given subject, therefore we must study them all to get a clear and proper understanding of what G-d is showing us.

One of the greatest aspects of the Sabbath is the peace that comes with it. Friday's can be one of the worst days of the work week, we are worn down from all the work during the week and all day long all we can think of is for this day to be over with, not because we are tired, but because the Sabbath will soon be here, and with it ‘peace.’

The rules and commandments pertaining to the Sabbath were put in place by G-d to enable us to completely enjoy the Sabbath, and of course, to teach us. I've been told many times by those who simply do not understand, that I am placing myself under the Law by keeping the Sabbath. In truth, I am. You see, Law comes from the Hebrew word Torah, which, according to William Gesenius, author of the Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, the word Torah means, to teach, instruction, doctrine. So it follows that to be under the Law is to be under the teachings and instructions of G-d and following the doctrines of G-d instead of the doctrines of man. To be free from the Law is to be free from the teachings and instructions of G-d. Please understand, none of this has anything to do with salvation. Salvation is, as it has always been, by faith alone.

When one enters the home on Friday evening he will prepare to enter into the Sabbath rest of G-d. We are to leave all the troubles of the world outside. As we set at the table to eat the first of three meals dedicated to G-d, for us the toils of life are over, for we have entered into the Sabbath of G-d.

During the Sabbath, from sundown Friday till sundown Saturday, one should refrain from spending or even handling money. We do not pay our bills on the Sabbath, we do not go shopping on the Sabbath, we do not go out to eat on the Sabbath. Not being able to handle money on the Sabbath will in itself change the lives of most of us.

What is the Biblical basis for this belief? Believe it or not, there are many, here are just a few…

"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 (Festival); and we would forego the seventh year's produce and the exacting of every debt.”
 Nechemya (Nehemiah)

"In those days I saw people in Yehuda (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 Y'rushalayim 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 Yehuda, and in Y'rushalayim. Then I contended with the nobles of Yehuda, 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 G-d bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Yisrael by profaning the Sabbath.” So it was, at the gates of Y'rushalayim, 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.”
Nechemya (Nehemiah)13.15-19

"Saying: “When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the scales by deceit,…””
Amos 8.5

The purpose for not handling money on the Sabbath is that we will have more time to spend with G-d. At this time we are to stop thinking of ourselves and turn our undivided attention to G-d. Y'shayahu (Isaiah) wrote the words of G-d this way…

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the L-rd honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,…”
Y'shayahu (Isaiah) 58.13

It is taught that six days are given for man to work and one day for man to rest. We have six days to conduct our business and to learn about and serve G-d, but the seventh day is for learning about and serving G-d only.

As mentioned earlier, the Sabbath is designed to teach us about the Messianic Kingdom. One of the most misunderstood concepts of the Messianic Kingdom is when it starts. Nearly all Christian commentators say the same thing, ‘it begins at the end of the Tribulation.’ Nearly all Jewish commentators say the same thing as well, ‘it begins with the Time of Ya'akov's (Jacob) Trouble.’ We would know the Time of Ya'akov's (Jacob's) Trouble as the Tribulation period.

The answer to this dilemma can be found in the Sabbath. In the days of the Temple the priests who were coming on duty on the Sabbath were the one's who had the task of cleaning the Temple. Therefore the Temple was to be cleaned at the beginning of the Sabbath. What does this mean? At the beginning of the Messianic Kingdom, G-d will clean the earth just as the priest cleaned the Temple.

Some will say, ‘but the Messianic Kingdom is a place of peace where the Messiah rules.’ This is true, but let's not put the cart before the horse. Before we can have a king, he must be crowned. Even though Satan lost the right to be king of this world when he took the life of an innocent man, and Yeshua won the right to be king by shedding his own blood, there has not yet been a coronation to proclaim him king, until then, Satan still rules the earth, as the scripture says…

"You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But
now we do not yet see all things put under him."
Hebrews 2.7-8

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