The Fourth Commandment – The Sabbath

The Fourth Commandment as it is written, “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YHWH your Elohim. You do not do any work – you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.” Exodus 20:8-11

Let us begin the study this week by examining some of the words of this item of our marriage covenant. This is the first instruction that begins not with something we are to keep ourselves from, but we are instructed to “remember” something.

All Scripture posted comes from the TS2009 – The Scriptures.

Remember is:
zakar {zaw-kar’} a primitive root; TWOT – 551; v AV – remember 172, mention 21, remembrance 10, recorder 9, mindful 6, think 3, bring to remembrance 2, record 2, misc 8; 233 1) to remember, recall, call to mind 1a) (Qal) to remember, recall 1b) (Niphal) to be brought to remembrance, be remembered, be thought of, be brought to mind 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to cause to remember, remind 1c2) to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance 1c3) to mention 1c4) to record 1c5) to make a memorial, make remembrance.

This word, zakar, really needs a picture to get the meaning across to you. Here is the picture: something is being engraved into a hand and it is so deep and so permanent so as to imprint eternally that something, into the mind. Something likened unto a branding, like what ranchers do to their cattle. Yehovah is telling us to “zakar” the Sabbath. He is instructing us to “engrave it into the palm of our hand and count it a memorial that manifests itself in our minds” This is significant for some other matters to be discussed in this commentary.

The first mention of this word in Scripture is found in the event of Noah during the Great Flood. We read, “And Elohim remembered Noah, and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.” Genesis 8:1 In this passage, we may envision Yehovah etching Noah and all the life that was with him in the ark… into the palm of His Hand. This idea of having something cherished in the palm of the hand is one of those scarlet threads that runs through Yehovah’s Word. This is also the place where He keeps His “peculiar treasure” His segulah.

A segulah is a treasure, but not just any treasure… it is a peculiar treasure. A segulah is the most valuable item in possession of a King. It is so valuable to him that he doesn’t even let his highest officer watch over it, keep it, or guard it. Sometimes the King allows his high officer to use his seal, as in a ring, to be used to speak for the King and carry out decrees and business. But his segulah… that is another story. The segulah never leaves the King’s hand. It is too valuable to allow anyone to possess it but himself.

In Isaiah we read:
“Would a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Though they forget, I never forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are always before Me.” Isaiah 49:15-16

And Yeshua Himself told us:
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them everlasting life, and they shall by no means ever perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29

The last letter in the word “zakar” is the resh and it is the pictograph of the head of a man. So within this word, remember, we have a cutting, a hand, and a head. Don’t we read some things in scripture about binding things to our hands, and between our eyes?
The first place is in the event of the redemption of the first born of Israel in Egypt.
And it came to be, when Pharaoh was too hardened to let us go, that YHWH killed every first-born of man and the first-born of beast. Therefore I am slaughtering to YHWH every male that open the womb, but every first-born of my sons I ransom.’
“And it shall be as a sign on your hand and a frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand YHWH brought us out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:15-16

We find this also in the shema in Deuteronomy: “And these Words…and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 6:6,8

“Guard yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other mighty ones and bow down to them. Then the displeasure of YHWH shall burn against you, and He shall shut up the heavens, and there be no rain, and the land not give its increase. And you shall perish quickly from the good land which YHWH is giving you. And you shall lay up these Words of Mine in your heart and in your being, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteromony 11:16-18

Yehovah tells us over and over again, remember… remember the Sabbath day. He wants us to set it apart, prepare for it, and think about it.

There has been a lot of discussion so far about the hand or the palm of the hand and the Sabbath. A reason for this is because of the letters that make up the word “zakar” and what they represent. The middle letter is the pictograph of the palm of a hand. So now, the next sentence in our instruction can give us even more clarity concerning Yehovah’s Sabbath because He goes right into some details on what to keep our hands from doing on the Sabbath… namely, work.

“Six days you labour, and shall do all your work…” Six days a week are for us, mankind, to work and do our desires, “but the seventh day is a Sabbath of ???? your Elohim.”
The world and all it has to offer us and we the world, gets six days of our time, attention, work, and dedication. Yehovah commands us to give Him the seventh day. It is by His blessing and by His Divine instruction.

What does it mean to set the Sabbath apart? Many of our Bible translations read “make or keep it Holy” Holy is one of those words that is a little difficult to cling to as a picture in our thoughts and minds. The Hebrew word is qadash and here are all the things it means below:
qadash {kaw-dash’} a primitive root; TWOT – 1990; v AV – sanctify 108, hallow 25, dedicate 10, holy 7, prepare 7, consecrate 5, appointed 1, bid 1, purified 1, misc 7; 172 1) to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be set apart, be consecrated 1a2) to be hallowed 1a3) consecrated, tabooed 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to show oneself sacred or majestic 1b2) to be honoured, be treated as sacred 1b3) to be holy 1c) (Piel) 1c1) to set apart as sacred, consecrate, dedicate 1c2) to observe as holy, keep sacred 1c3) to honour as sacred, hallow 1c4) to consecrate 1d) (Pual) 1d1) to be consecrated 1d2) consecrated, dedicated 1e) (Hiphil) 1e1) to set apart, devote, consecrate 1e2) to regard or treat as sacred or hallow 1e3) to consecrate 1f) (Hithpael) 1f1) to keep oneself apart or separate 1f2) to cause Himself to be hallowed (of God) 1f3) to be observed as holy 1f4) to consecrate oneself

That is a lot of words and it is good to read them all. The opposite of Holy is Profane. This can also help us determine what it means to set something apart, or make it Holy. We do not treat the seventh day, or Sabbaths, as common things. The Sabbaths are special. They are not just like any day of the week.

Here is the word study for Sabbath and Day below. Take note that the Sabbath can be a day, a year, or an appointment/feast day. The Sabbath can also be food, as in the produce of the Sabbath year.
shabbath {shab-bawth’} intensive from 07673; TWOT – 2323b; n f/m AV – sabbath 107, another 1; 108 1) Sabbath 1a) sabbath 1b) day of atonement 1c) sabbath year 1d) week 1e) produce (in sabbath year)

yowm {yome} from an unused root meaning to be hot; TWOT – 852; n m AV – day 2008, time 64, chronicles + 01697 37, daily 32, ever 17, year 14, continually 10, when 10, as 10, while 8, full 8 always 4, whole 4, alway 4, misc 44; 2274 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day’s journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow

Is the Sabbath blessed?

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. And on the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made. Genesis 2:1-3

In the verse above the word “rested” is the Hebrew word shabat. A more direct translation would be “… and He shabbated on the seventh day…”
shabath {shaw-bath’} a primitive root; TWOT – 2323, 2323c; v AV – cease 47, rest 11, away 3, fail 2, celebrate 1, misc 7; 71 1) to cease, desist, rest 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to cease 1a2) to rest, desist (from labour) 1b) (Niphal) to cease 1c) (Hiphil) 1c1) to cause to cease, put an end to 1c2) to exterminate, destroy 1c3) to cause to desist from 1c4) to remove 1c5) to cause to fail 2) (Qal) to keep or observe the Sabbath

Is the Sabbath a sign? Is the Sabbath a token? Is the Sabbath an oath? Is the Sabbath a seal? Is the Sabbath a Covenant?

“And you, speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a signa between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, יהוה, am setting you apart. Exodus 31:13

The word “sign” in the above verse is the Hebrew word “owt” ‘owth {oth} probably from 0225 (in the sense of appearing); TWOT – 41a; n f AV – sign(s) 60, token(s) 14, ensign(s) 2, miracles 2, mark 1; 79 1) sign, signal 1a) a distinguishing mark 1b) banner 1c) remembrance 1d) miraculous sign 1e) omen 1f) warning 2) token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof
From the word uwth {ooth} a primitive root; TWOT – 53; v AV – consent 4; 4 1) (Niphal) to consent, agree

‘And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. Exodus 31:14

Do we realize, that when we were not keeping the Sabbath, we were cut off? This is difficult to face isn’t it? Yet this is what Yehovah tells us and it is true. Remember, the children of Israel were “saved and delivered” from Egypt and Pharaoh, but many still were to be cut off as they did not keep His Commandments. The same is true for us as we heard the message of Yeshua’s passion and His death and resurrection. Our hearts were moved, we believed, and obtained salvation and deliverance. But this is not the same as being grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Being grafted in to Yehovah’s family of His people requires we live according to His Righteousness and His Government. This requires we keep the Sabbath.

‘And the children of Yisra’ěl shall guard the Sabbath, to perform the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. Exodus 31:16

So the Sabbath is a covenant.

‘Between Me and the children of Yisra’ěl it is a sign forever. For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ” Exodus 31:17

It is no small thing, that the words of Yehovah to Moses and the children of Israel ends with this:

And when He had ended speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Mosheh two tablets of the Witness, tablets of stone, written with the finger of Elohim. Exodus 31:18

And then Moses comes down the mountain to find the children of Israel having a party in honor of the golden calf.

‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a signa between Me and you throughout your generations, Exodus 31:13

And so we can notice in verse 13 that the word Sabbath is plural. Some teach that only the Sabbath day, the weekly seventh day, is the only Sabbath required for our keeping. Yehovah plainly intends all His Sabbaths to be kept. Whenever we read in Scripture Yehovah saying “My Sabbath” this means His Sabbaths, to include a seventh YEAR Sabbath.

We find out later, in Leviticus, that Yehovah also intends for His Holy Appointments, His Feasts, to be Sabbaths.

“And this shall be for you a law forever: In the seventh new moon, on the tenth day of the new moon, you afflict your beings, and do no work, the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. “For on that day he makes atonement for you, to cleanse you, to be clean from all your sins before יהוה. “It is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your beings – a law forever. Leviticus 16:29-31

A Sabbath of rest reads: Shabbat Shabbaton
shabbathown {shab-baw-thone’} from 07676; TWOT – 2323d; n m AV – rest 8, sabbath 3, 11 1) Sabbath observance, sabbatism 1a) of weekly sabbath 1b) day of atonement 1c) sabbatical year 1d) of Feast of Trumpets 1e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles

“Speak to the children of Israel saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you have a rest (a Sabbath), a remembrance of blowing of trumpets, a set-apart gathering. Leviticus 23:24

The first and eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles are Sabbaths.

‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh new moon, when you gather in the fruit of the land, celebrate the festival of יהוה for seven days. On the first day is a rest, and on the eighth day a rest. Leviticus 23:39

The Land Rest

Leviticus 25:1-5 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall observe a Sabbath to יהוה. ‘Six years you sow your field, and six years you prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit, but in the seventh year the land is to have a Sabbath of rest, a Sabbath to יהוה. Do not sow your field and do not prune your vineyard. ‘Do not reap what grows of its own of your harvest, and do not gather the grapes of your unpruned vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.

This particular Sabbath, the Sabbath that is a year long and comes every seven years, is special. It is special because it appears that Yehovah actually uses this Sabbath – the Sabbath year, as a timetable of sorts. We live our lives for six years planting, reaping, harvesting, loaning money, buying and selling, and keeping our servants. In the seventh year – all of this ceases and it is a year of release. As we live through these years, we are to be obedient to our covenant and all its instructions and rulings, but if we do not, Yehovah will use these years to bring upon us things meant to wake us up and chastise us. He tells us that plainly throughout Leviticus chapter 26. Notice the Sabbath cycles as you read the following verses:

Leviticus 26

2 ‘Guard My Sabbaths and reverence My set-apart place. I am יהוה. A blessing to them that keep the commandments

3 ‘If you walk in My laws and guard My commands, and shall do them, 4 then I shall give you rain in its season, and the land shall yield its crops, and the trees of the field yield their fruit. 5 ‘And your threshing shall last till the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time of sowing. And you shall eat your bread until you have enough, and shall dwell in your land safely.

6 ‘And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and no one make you afraid. And I shall clear the land of evil beasts, and not let the sword go through your land. 7 ‘And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 8 ‘And five of you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you pursue ten thousand. And your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.

9 ‘And I shall turn to you and make you fruitful, and shall increase you, and shall establish My covenant with you. 10 ‘And you shall eat the old supply, and clear out the old because of the new. 11 ‘And I shall set My Dwelling Place in your midst, and My being shall not reject you. 12 ‘And I shall walk in your midst, and shall be your Elohim, and you shall be My people. 13 ‘I am יהוה your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from being their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright.

A curse to those that break them

14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not do all these commands, 15 and if you reject My laws, or if your being loathes My right-rulings, so that you do not do all My commands, but break My covenant,

16 I also do this to you: And I shall appoint sudden alarm over you, wasting disease and inflammation, destroying the eyes, and consuming the life. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 ‘And I shall set My face against you, and you shall be smitten before your enemies. And those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.

18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I shall punish you seven times more for your sins. 19 ‘And I shall break the pride of your power, and shall make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 ‘And your strength shall be spent in vain and your land not yield its crops, nor the trees of the land yield their fruit.

21 ‘And if you walk contrary to Me, and refuse to obey Me, I shall bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins, 22 and send wild beasts among you, which shall bereave you of your children. And I shall cut off your livestock, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be deserted.

23 ‘And if you are not instructed by Me by these, but walk contrary to Me, 24 then I also shall walk contrary to you, and I Myself shall strike you seven times for your sins. 25 ‘And I shall bring against you a sword executing the vengeance of My covenant, and you shall gather together in your cities, and I shall send pestilence among you, and you shall be given into the hand of the enemy. 26 ‘When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back to you your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

27 ‘And if in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, 28 then I shall walk contrary to you in wrath. And I Myself shall punish you seven times for your sins. 29 ‘And you shall eat the flesh of your sons, and eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 ‘And I shall destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-pillars, and put your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. And My being shall loathe you. 31 ‘And I shall turn your cities into ruins and lay your set-apart places waste, and not smell your sweet fragrances.

32 ‘And I shall lay the land waste, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. 33 ‘And I shall scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desert and your cities ruins, 34 and the land enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies waste and you are in your enemies’ land. Then the land would rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 ‘As long as it lies waste it rests, for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

36 ‘And as for those of you who are left, I shall send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee. And they shall flee as though retreating from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. 37 ‘And they shall stumble over one another, as from before a sword, when no one pursues. And you shall be unable to stand before your enemies. 38 ‘And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up, 39 and those of you who are left rot away in their crookedness in your enemies’ lands, and also in their fathers’ crookednesses rot away with them.

God promises to remember them that repent

40 ‘But if they confess their crookedness and the crookedness of their fathers, with their trespass in which they trespassed against Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, 41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies – if their uncircumcised heart is then humbled, and they accept the punishment of their crookedness, 42 then I shall remember My covenant with Ya‛aqoḇ, and also My covenant with Yitsḥaq, and also remember My covenant with Aḇraham, and remember the land. 43 ‘For the land was abandoned by them, and enjoying its Sabbaths while lying waste without them, and they were paying for their crookedness, because they rejected My right-rulings and because their being loathed My laws.

44 ‘And yet for all this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I shall not reject them, nor shall I loathe them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them. For I am יהוה their Elohim. 45 ‘Then I shall remember for their sake the covenant of the ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Mitsrayim before the eyes of the nations to be their Elohim. I am יהוה.’ ”
46 These are the laws and the right-rulings and the Torot which יהוה made between Himself and the children of Yisra’ĕl on Mount Sinai by the hand of Mosheh. (Footnote: Torot – plural of Torah – teaching.)

So you can see failure to observe the land rest results in all the curses, including war and captivity by enemy nations. Why? So the land can rest while you refused its rest. However, He does relent and allow for your repentance in your captivity and then a “remembering” of His Covenant and restoration.

Isn’t it interesting how we tend to turn some of these instructions into rules upon rules upon rules? We do this in order to try and get “around” obeying the commandment. But there are some questions we could ask ourselves: 1) does the land “need” to rest? There is always crop rotation to allow a break from minerals and nutrients used up. And what about letting the land rest in just any year? Would that not be similar to keeping Sabbath on any old day of the week? 2) Why does Yehovah care about whether or not our debts are forgiven? 3) Why does He want us to release the slaves every seven years? Certainly it is for our own welfare and to receive the blessings He has promised us that we read above. We never knew about the blessings of keeping the seventh day Sabbath until we kept it. The Sabbath prepares us and keeps us through another whole week. The same is true for the Sabbath year. He wants us to just obey Him.

Nehemiah’s record shares with us his concern about people doing business on the Sabbath. He was zealous to have no business done on the Sabbath. Chapters 10-13 he records other nations bringing their wares into the city for trade on the Sabbath. He was greatly opposed to this and put a stop to it. So much so that he even extended the borders at the city gates so as not to even see them outside just waiting to come in and get back to business. Remember the Sabbath day and set it apart.

Here are more blessings of remembering and keeping the Sabbath:
“Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it, guarding the Sabbath lest he profane it, and guarding his hand from doing any evil.” Isaiah 56:2

And following this verse there is a beautiful promise to the foreigner and the eunuch who guard the Sabbath.

“And let not the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to יהוה speak, saying, ‘יהוה has certainly separated me from His people,’ nor let the eunuch say, ‘Look I am a dry tree.’ ” For thus said יהוה, “To the eunuchs who guard My Sabbaths, and have chosen what pleases Me, and are holding onto My covenant: to them I shall give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters – I give them an everlasting name that is not cut off. Isaiah 56:3-5

Another promise tied to the Sabbath:

“If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ’a delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה ‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Ya‛aqoḇ your father. For the mouth of יהוה has spoken!” Isaiah 58:13-14

And the Sabbath is so eternal and set-apart, we will be keeping the Sabbath day in the Millennial reign:

“And it shall be that from New moon to New moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath,b all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” declares יהוה. Isaiah 66:23

We cannot end this commentary without speaking a little bit concerning the mark of the beast spoken of by Yeshua in the Book of the Revelation. Many people clamour about worrying of an implanted chip of some sort. Yehovah’s Sabbath is to be inscribed upon the palm of our hands and kept in our thoughts. The mark of the beast will also be in the hand and in the forehead of those who submit to it.

Revelation 14:9 “And a third messenger followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Elohim,, which is poured out undiluted into the cup of His wrath.”

Keep the Sabbath, keep the fourth commandment and we shall be kept from receiving this mark.

The Sabbath is an everlasting covenant. It is eternal, like a wedding band. It is the sign and visible oath that we belong to the One who gave us the instruction to remember it and keep it. We proclaim His authority over our lives each week when we keep it and proclaim that Yehovah is in fact – the Creator and Sustainer of this Universe.

If we are not keeping and guarding the Sabbaths, we are not keeping Yehovah’s commandments. Yehovah said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” These commandments, when we keep them, set us apart, they “make” us Holy.

So what do you do now?

Your new to this way of life and have never kept any Sabbaths or you used to keep them and then for some reason or another you went and began to work on them breaking the Sabbath. As we have read; the penalty for breaking the Sabbath is paid for with your life. Your very own life.

Do you now realize just how important they are to Yehovah? And how important they should be to you?

Get on your knees and beg for mercy and ask Yehovah to strengthen you and to help you to keep them from this point forward. If you are serious then He will forgive you, but know for a fact you will be tested again and again to see if you are serious.

You must pass each test as it comes to prove to Yehovah your seriousness. Failure and you can expect to be retested again very soon. Pass and the next tests seem to be easier and easier until at some point they seem to stop.

We are talking about the Weekly Sabbath. You will then also be tested on the Annual Sabbaths; the 7 annual Holy Days found in Lev 23. And then we all have one more chance to be tested on the Sabbatical year in 2016, after which will come the sword. You do not want to fail this test. Keep in mind the penalty for breaking the Sabbath. With war all around you, you will want to be etched in the palm of Yehovah, both you and your family. Those who flee or survive the sword are given another opportunity in 2023 when they go to the nations to preach the Torah. These are the strangers of the Wedding feast parable when Yehovah sends His servants to the ‘highways’ to invite those who want to come.

Do not think that the God you worship will not do such a thing. That He would not kill you. Never forget He did destroy the entire nation of Egypt and the Egyptian army. He also kicked out from His land the ten northern tribes of Israel for not keeping the Sabbaths and also later on Judah for not keeping the Sabbaths and Sabbatical years. You are not any more special than they were that He will not do the same to you and in fact prophecy says He is now doing exactly that. Punishing you with heat and drought and flood and wild fires and terror and soon pestilence and more earthquakes and then war and captivity until you are destroyed off the land.

If you want to be etched in the palm of His hand so that He never forgets you, then you had better etch the Sabbath into your palm so that you never forget Him.

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