There is an identifying sign between God and His people throughout all generations. Do you know what it is?
It's a bond between Creator and Creation. It was instituted at the end of the first week in the history of mankind.
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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." ~ Genesis 2: 1-3 ~
The seventh day sabbath points directly to our Creator who rested on the seventh day after the six days of creation. The fourth of the Ten Commandments tells us to observe the sabbath day.
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." ~ Exodus 20: 8-11 ~
This sign was reiterated to the twelve tribes of Israel as they wandered forty years through the wilderness after their miraculous release from Egyptian bondage. This was done through another miracle. Manna! This perfect food, the bread from heaven, was a nutritionist's delight! It could be eaten raw, boiled or baked but would spoil if kept overnight and had to be gathered fresh each morning. But on the sixth morning they were instructed to gather a double portion, enough to last through the seventh day when they would find no manna to be gathered. The manna gathered on the sixth morning was still fresh through the seventh day.
Read the account in Exodus 16.
Modern day Jews (Judah - one of the twelve tribes of Israel) are still known as God's chosen people. Throughout dispersions, persecutions and pograms they have still retained the identifying sign of the seventh day sabbath. But for the ten northern tribes of Israel it was not so.
After the death of King Solomon civil war separated the northern ten tribes of Israel from the tribes of Judah and Levi. They migrated away from Jerusalem and were eventually assimilated into other nations, adapted to their ways and lost their national identity as Israel.
Through the prophet, Amos, God revealed, "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as [corn] is sifted through a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." (Amos 9: 9)
By the time of the advent of Christ they had become the "lost sheep of the house of Israel". At one point the Lord instructed His disciples to . . ."go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10: 6) To another He answered and said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15: 24) Even though the "sheep" had lost their identity the Shepherd still knew who and where they were and knows who and where they are today.
Here is a promise from the mouth of the LORD contingent upon an agreement about the Sabbath.
"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it." ~ Isaiah 58: 13-14 ~
As the "lost sheep of Israel" begin to obey this pivotal command they also begin to understand who they are, regaining knowledge of their identity, heritage and destiny. After all, the mouth of the LORD has spoken it!
It's important to understand that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, is the physical incarnation of the Word, our Creator (John 1: 1-14; 1 John 1: 1-3). In John 8: 58 we read, "Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am." And Paul tells us, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13: 8). The LORD of the Old Testament is also the Lord of the New Testament. "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." ~ Malachi 3: 6 ~
As Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5: 17-19). For One who inhabits eternity will "all" ever be fulfilled?
"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. [Sanctify: 1. to make holy, consecrate; 2. free from sin] Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.'" ~ Exodus 31: 12-17 ~
When we acknowledge and honor His Sabbath He is identified as the one who sets us apart, consecrates us and frees us from sin. He is identified as the one who is being worshipped. How do we know this? He said so!
God's Sabbath is a weekly joy. Why do people resist it so? Because the mainstream doesn't understand and it's difficult to overcome tradition and peer pressure. It helps to remember what the Lord said: "Enter ye in at the strait gait: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. ~ Matthew 7: 13-14 ~
The "strait and narrow way" has never been popular. Some of those who fail to find the narrow gate are also the ones who actually cast out devils and do many "wonderful works" in the Lord's name, yet, He will tell them, "...I never knew you: depart from me..." (Matthew 7: 21-23). And again, "...in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." ~ Matthew 15: 9 ~
How can we know with certainty that He will know we worship Him? "My Sabbaths ye shall keep...it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations..." How does He know that we love Him? "If ye love me, keep my commandments." ~ John 14: 15 ~
When you begin to keep God's identifying sign of the seventh day sabbath you may find family, friends and associates telling you that the Ten Commandments are no longer in effect, the law has been "done away" and that we are now under a new covenant. They are partly right. We are, indeed, under a new covenant. But the covenant and the law are two different things. The covenants are agreements about the law.
Under the old covenant the law, comprised of the Creator's Ten Commandments, was written in stone. Israelites were instructed to bind copies of the commandments to their right hands and foreheads (still a practice among orthodox Jews) and to post them at the doors of their homes. Transgression of the law (sin) required a penalty of blood sacrifice. Under the new covenant the same law is written in our hearts and minds (Hebrews 8: 10; 10: 16), and transgression of the law still requires the penalty of blood sacrifice.The good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is that the penalty has already been paid. The Lawgiver is also our Redeemer (Hebrews 10: 10-12).
The Sabbath is so important that it has a special covenant all its own. This covenant is a perpetual agreement that the seventh day Sabbath will be an identifying sign between God and the children of Israel forever.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches: To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." ~ Revelation 2: 17 ~
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they who keep his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." ~ Revelation 22: 13, 14 ~