Exodus - 47 - Lesson 8 Exod. 20:8-11 Sabbath of the Lord

In lessons 8-11 of podcast 47 on the Ten Commandments we focus on Exod. 20:8-11 or commandment #4 in the Jewish and Protestant list of the Ten Commandments and #3 of the Catholic list.  The commandment is to keep the Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, holy.  In Hebrew to be holy is to be separate or set aside as special.  The commandment is NOT to rest but to make it HOLY.  Matter of fact the Hebrew word for Sabbath is שַׁבָּת Shabbat and it has a conceptual meaning of ceasing, to desist, to stop work for a period of time.  It does not mean taking a nap, laying around in your backyard drinking iced tea, or picking up a book and reading and relaxing.  Many Christians have no idea of the Hebrew and think they can pick their own day to rest and have a break from work.  I agree.  If you want a day off from work and your boss approves, go ahead.  But the 7th day is defined by God and HIS Shabbat (Gen. 2:2-3  and Lev. 23:3), His day where WE cease and desist and do other things to make HIS Shabbat holy.  The better idea is to stop one’s normal weekly activity and to lay it aside and to do “work” that makes the Sabbath holy.  Thus, if one rests all day, if one sleeps for most of the Sabbath, one probably is not doing what needs to be done to make this day HOLY, special, set aside as unique. 

In lesson 8 we will study the Shabbat and consider some basic ideas.  One idea is that where did this 7 day week come from?  Must’ve come from somewhere right?  Some say the Jews stole the 7 day week from the Babylonians.  Consider this.

BABYLON AND THE 7 DAY WEEK

Counting from the new moon, the Babylonians celebrated every seventh day as a "holy-day", also called an "evil-day" (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The lunation of 29 or 30 days basically contained three seven-day weeks, and a final week of eight or nine days inclusive, breaking the continuous seven-day cycle. But, the Sabbath week has nothing to do with the moon.  If the Jews stole it from the Babylonians every full moon of every month would be a Sabbath; for us it’d be a Saturday.  Sorry, it just doesn’t work.  (Pinches, T.G. (1919). "Sabbath (Babylonian)". In Hastings, James (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Selbie, John A., contrib. Charles Scribner's Sons)

Among other theories of Shabbat origin, the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia of Isaac Landman advanced a theory of Assyriologists like Friedrich Delitzsch that Shabbat originally arose from the lunar cycle, containing four weeks ending in Sabbath, plus one or two additional unreckoned days per month. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling the differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Shabbat in any language.  In other words there is no primary sources that in anyway support such a view.  (Sampey, John Richard (1915). "Sabbath: Critical Theories". In Orr, James (ed.). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.)

Also, what might be some reasons to keep the Sabbath?  Oh I know.  It means going to church. Nope.  The Sabbath is HOLY time: a 24 hour period that God set aside as His.  How do we participate in HOLY time? 

So, get ready.  You are in for an amazing “ride” to hear God, to hear The Very Words Of God, and join with HIM to make this 24 hours special and awesome.

Who is this guy, Rev. Ferret? What's his background? Why should we take time to listen to him? Here's a link to check out his background ... - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0