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A Bit About Sabbath Keeping

זָכוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ

“Remember the Sabbath Day (7th day), to sanctify it.” – Exodus 20:8 (Torah, Sh’mot 20:7)

Ever wonder why He said to “remember” it? Did He anticipate it would be “forgotten?” It seems He did. He also said to protect it. From what? From being forgotten/changed?

שָׁמוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ, יהוה אֱלֹהֶיךָ

“Shamor,” “keep/protect/guard” the Sabbath. To sanctify it, for יהוה your God has commanded you to.” – Deuteronomy 5:12 (Torah, D’varim 5:11)

Yeshua, the Messiah, keeps the Sabbath and calls Himself the “Master of the Sabbath.”
Keeping the Sabbath on the seventh day is a primary difference between Messianic believers and most traditional Christians. The Sabbath is not just a commandment; it is a delight to our God. He never said to change it. To break the Sabbath is still a sin. If God undid this command, then He undid all the others; if He is anything, He is consistent. “I am יהוה, I do not change…” (Mal. 3:6) “Yeshua is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Much like the resurrection, the Sabbath has been corrupted by some. Yeshua did not come to do away with the Sabbath: it’s written in stone in the Ten Commandments. It did not shift from Saturday to Sunday. “Seven,” (Sheva) in Hebrew, comes from a related root of “Shabbat,” to cease. “Cease from all your labors.” The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week: our Saturday. But it starts on Friday night at sundown: “And there was evening, and there was morning, one day.” (two twelve-hour periods) The Biblical day starts in the evening. Shabbat begins on Friday night at sundown and ends on Saturday night at sundown.
We at Bat-Tzion celebrate the Sabbath for many reasons: first, God the Creator said to. The purpose is to remember the Creator, to remember the fact that mankind was specially created, to remember the Messiah who observed it faithfully, to emulate Him, and to remember that the Messiah is going to come one day and give us rest for 1000 years, a Shabbat (seventh) Millennium. We will cease from our labor one day soon, in Him.
We also honor the Sabbath because יהוה promised blessings for those who do. (Gal. 3:17, 29; Isaiah 56-58). And we have experienced those blessings. We certainly are not forbidden to celebrate it. Embrace keeping the Sabbath and see if you don’t suddenly have more time, more peace, and more joy.
At Bat Tzion, many follow a Biblical pattern for worship and assembly. We study Torah during the week and the weekly Torah portion in the home on Friday night as we welcome the Shabbat.  On Saturday, we assemble as a congregation for corporate study and worship. At the end of the Shabbat, Saturday night, we break bread “from house to house”, pray, and care for congregational needs. This is the pattern that the apostles established, as recorded in scripture.
We encourage you to join us in entering into His Rest and find the Shalom of Elohim l

For further explanation on keeping the Shabbat, read Gentiles and Torah.

What are the other feasts of יהוה?

Leviticus 23 lists seven other feasts, after first showing us that the Shabbat is a weekly celebration. Those feasts are divided into two “seasons,” or “mo’edim.” Spring and Fall. See these articles for further explanation.