“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he who observes Torah, happy is he.” -  Proverbs 29:18

A pastor I know was visiting a rabbi friend, when the pastor asked, “What do you believe heaven is like?”  The rabbi responded, “Where the righteous dwell for eternity, one may study Torah all day long, without ever having need to stop for sleeping or eating or anything.” The pastor then asked, “And what do you believe hell will be like?” The rabbi responded, “The wicked will have to study Torah all day long, without being able to stop to rest or drink or anything.”

The goal of Sabbath keeping is to know and love Messiah.

The Apostle Paul said,[1] “Messiah is the goal of the Torah, to make righteous everyone that believes.” This was written after Yeshua's crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension; it says that the goal of the Torah is (still) Messiah.

A famous orthodox rabbi said similarly,[2] “The coming of Mashiach is not a peripheral addendum to the Jewish people's service of G-d through the Torah and its commandments; rather, the coming of Mashiach is its core, the goal to which all else leads.  So long as Mashiach has not yet come, the intent of creation has not been realized, and the universe has not fulfilled its destiny.”

Yeshua said[3] that all of the law and prophets hang on these two commandments: Love Yahweh your God and your neighbor as yourself. The first five of the Ten Commandments show how we are to love God.  The last five show how we are to love our neighbor. Observing Sabbath, the fourth commandment, is a part of loving God, according to Messiah’s own words.

Messiah is the goal of the Torah’s Sabbaths!

1.         The Sabbath Day is a memorial to Messiah as creator and sustainer.

“For by Him (Messiah) were all things created . . . and by Him all things are sustained” -  Colossians 1:16-17. This is what we remember by keeping God’s Sabbath.

The faith that is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8) produces action, for faith without works is dead (James 2:20, 26).  The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) indicate the nature of actions that are the fruit of faith: "whatsoever is not of faith" (Romans 14:23), is “the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4), these two statements being synonymous definitions of sin.

1.     The first commandment requires belief in God.

2.     The second forbids idol worship. It is the fruit of believing Yahweh is one, the only God.

3.     The third forbids vain use of His Name. It is the fruit of revering His character.

4a.   The fourth commandment, as stated in Exodus, tells us to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it separate” as the fruit of believing that He created the world in six days, and blessed the seventh day and .made it separate. Thus the Sabbath is an eternal memorial of God as the creator.

4b.  The fourth commandment, as stated in Deuteronomy, tells us to “observe the Sabbath Day and keep it separate,” in remembrance of our deliverance from Egypt. This is a memorial of the God who is involved in the affairs of men, the God who created with purpose. On this day we are told to abstain from common labor: to rest.

                In what sense do we rest?

Elohim did not need rest after six days of creating (Isaiah 40:28). Adam should not have needed to rest immediately following his creation at the end of the sixth day. So why then are various categories[4] of work forbidden on Sabbath?

Primarily, the Sabbath is to be kept holy. That means that it is a day to set aside for the worship of our creator and savior, set aside from our usual weekly labors. Work on the Sabbath should basically be limited to worship activities, and those things that are necessary to sustain life – such as preparation of food and medical care that cannot be performed on previous days. The first six days of the week are for preparation for worship on the Sabbath, Sabbath being the goal of the week.

God rested from creating on the Seventh Day. So we are to rest from using our creative intelligence and skill. We are to be at peace with creation for the day. Then we can understand the greeting of Sabbath peace, “Shabbat shalom!” (from Aryeh Kaplan)

God finished His creation on the Seventh Day (Genesis 2:2). The Midrash asks, If God rested on the Seventh Day, how could He have finished on the same day? It answers, on the Seventh Day He created rest. God does not change. Therefore, serenity and tranquility are an imitation of His attributes. On the Seventh Day, God added tranquility and harmony to the world. It was no longer in the process of change, and so partook of God's serenity, and became “Holy and Blessed”.

The Sabbath thus was able to partake of God's timelessness. Without evening and morning,[5] it represents the Day of Eternity (Exodus 31:17). The Hebrew word Shabbat (Sabbath) is related to the word shevet - to dwell; on the Sabbath, God made the world His dwellingplace.

A major Sabbath mitzvah (commandment) is rest - not doing.  All other mitzvot require our efforts to be holy. In reserving the Sabbath[6] for worship, when we rest, it is God that makes us holy: “You shall keep My Sabbaths . . . that you may know that I am Yahweh (the Eternal who is gracious), who makes you holy” (Exodus 31:13).

2.         The Sabbath Day is a prophetic picture of the Messianic Kingdom

The Apostle Paul said to a gentile congregation, as we read in Colossians 2:16-17,

“Let no man condemn you . . . for observing the Torah Festivals, Rosh Hodesh (Head-of-the-month), or Sabbaths, for these are a prophetic shadow of things to come, and Messiah (for whom we are looking) is the body casting the shadow!”  

The KJV translation reads,  "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." This is sometimes used to teach that we may freely choose whatever days we wish for holydays and sabbaths, and no one has a right to question our judgment. However, the term “judgment” here means condemnation, and refers to condemnation of gentile believers for keeping Jewish - or rather Biblical - Festivals and Sabbaths.

The Messianic Kingdom age is the millennial (thousand year) period when Satan will be bound and Messiah Yeshua will reign on this earth. Ancient Hebrew literature frequently speaks of this being the seventh millennium. Technically, that would begin with the Year of the World 6001; we are now approaching the end of the sixth millennium - AM 5766[7] by the most accepted calendar calculation from scripture. However, we may be much closer to the Messianic Age than this Hebrew calendar year would imply.

God commands us, “Sanctify (make separate) My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.”[8] On Erev Shabbat, that is on Friday before sunset as the Sabbath approaches each week, we pronounce a blessing and light Sabbath candles. For Havdallah, that is after Saturday’s sunset at the end of each Sabbath, we pronounce a blessing and light a special bright candle, then extinguish it in a glass of grape juice or wine. By lighting fires just before and after the Sabbaths, we symbolically “make separate (God’s) Sabbaths” – during which we are forbidden to light fires.[9]

This ancient symbolic means of sanctifying the Sabbath seems prophetic: the Sabbath Millennium will be preceded by the fires of war of the great tribulation (Erev Shabbat).  It will be followed by fire from heaven being quenched in the blood of the wicked (Havdallah). There will be a thousand years of Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath peace) between the fires that make the Sabbath separate.[10]

The messianic age is called Yom SheKulo Shabbat - the day when all will be Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath is a rehearsal for that great day. As the Talmud says, “He who prepares on Friday will eat on the Sabbath,” so should we prepare for the age to come. Emmanuel (God with us) is coming to shevet  / dwell on earth with us!

The Sabbath Day is a picture of the Messianic Kingdom. It is not a detailed picture, but a prophetic shadow picture.

Sabbath: Day of Eternity

In the Genesis account of creation, the seventh day had no evening and morning. God's rest from His creative activity has continued to this day. In the Revelation account, those who are raised in the first resurrection will live through the Millennial Sabbath on this earth, and then through eternity on the New Earth; that is, their Sabbath will extend into eternity.

We read repeatedly in Psalm 37, which was quoted by Yeshua in Matthew 5, that the meek shall inherit the earth, and dwell therein forever, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace - the shalom of the Sabbath Day of eternity.

In John 14:2 we read that Yeshua was going to prepare a place for us. In Revelation 21 we read that the prepared place - the New Jerusalem, is coming to an earth renewed by fire, where God (Emmanuel) will dwell with His people and be their God. We also find here that the items mentioned in Genesis as being in the Garden of Eden are restored to earth, such as the tree of life, and the river of living water (Rev 22). In this restored Garden of Eden (also called Paradise)[11] our Sabbath will continue to eternity.

3.         Today is our Preparation Day for the Sabbath of Messiah

We also read in Revelation 21:7-8, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” We must be prepared if we are to enter that great Sabbath, which will continue into eternity for the righteous.

One cannot know Sabbath by reading lists of prohibitions; one must prepare ahead for the needs of the day and then enter into rest. So also, concerning the coming millennial rest, it is written, “Let us labor therefore to enter into His rest” (Hebrews 4:11). We prepare by learning to trust Messiah and by following His Word –  by overcoming sin, and thus growing in faith.

The purpose of resting on the Sabbath is for setting the whole day apart to worship God. It is for becoming spiritually renewed for the coming week. It is not given for recuperating from the previous six-day’s mundane work. 

The goal of Sabbath observance is to see a vision of the Messiah who created the world in seven days, and to see a vision of the Messiah’s coming kingdom.  The goal of the Torah is Messiah.  Sabbath is a shadow picture concerning Messiah.  And when we are in the Messianic Kingdom, we will still observe the memorial seventh day Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23).

Do we delight to do something that is a memorial to Yeshua as creator, and also prophetic of His coming kingdom, and that keeps a picture of Him before us?

                Shabbat Shalom - May your Sabbath be peaceful and spiritually prosperous!

Time Relationships

The weekly Sabbath may be seen as the most important of the Biblical Holy Days, and is the only one requiring the death penalty for non-observance. It is the one most obviously applying to the whole world: God created man just before the Holy Sabbath, and Yeshua said that the Sabbath was created for man.

 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. . . . And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” “By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made” – Genesis 1:27-31, 2:2-3.

“Yeshua said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath’ ” – Mark 2:27.

Observing the weekly Sabbath is rehearsing the whole seven millennium outline of the world’s history, past to future. Observing the other festivals is rehearsing, in greater detail, incidents of shorter duration within the seven millennium span.

Partaking in the Passover seder is particularly a memorial of Yeshua’s crucifixion (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), as well as Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:3), which portrays our deliverance from sin by Yeshua. It may be considered “fulfilled,” though there are aspects that are yet to be fulfilled.

The celebration of Yom Teruah / the Day of Trumpeting is a rehearsal for Yeshua’s prophetic return at the Last Trump, when the righteous dead will be raised and crown Him King. If this is “already fulfilled,” then we must have missed the return of Messiah and the resurrection of the righteous!

The following chart is to show the relationship of the Biblical week of creation to the seven-millennium span of the world.

For enlargement see MILLENNIAL SABBATH

Explanations / Responses to Objections:

Shabbat Definitions

“Sabbath” comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat. The same root word applies to the number seven, and also to rest. Shabbat usually refers to the seventh day of the week – the day being from sunset to sunset. It is also used to refer to the week itself: the first day of the week is called “the first of the sabbath,” the second day “the second of the sabbath,” and so on. While the weekly Sabbath is always a Holy Day, there are seven other Holy Days that are fixed annual dates; these Holy Days are days for worship, like the weekly Sabbath – rest days, and are thus occasionally referred to as Sabbaths or High Sabbaths, though they may fall on varying days of the week.

The same three Hebrew letters (shin-bet-tav) that spell Shabbat (Sabbath) also spell shevet (seven) – only the pronunciation differs.

Shabbat shabbaton translates Sabbath of rest: see Exodus 31:15, 35:2, Leviticus 23:3 which refers to the Seventh Day;  Leviticus 16:31, 23:32 which refers to the Day of the Atonements (which may fall on various days of the week);  and Leviticus 25:4 which refers to the Sabbatical Year.

For examples of “sabbath” meaning week: Psalm 24 for “Sunday” is called “The Psalm for the first day of the sabbath”, Psalm 48 for “Monday” is called “The Psalm for the second day of the sabbath”, and etcetera – Talmud: Sukkah. The related Hebrew word “shabua” is also used for week, as in Genesis 29:27.

Ancient Syriac, Chaldee (Persia), Urdu (India), and Pashto (Afghanistan) retained similar terms for days of the week, which translate one-of-the-sabbath, two-of-the-sabbath, and etcetera.

The seventh-day Sabbath has been called “The Day of Yahweh” for thousands of years, based upon Torah.  This is sometimes translated “The Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10) by those who substitute (Greek) “Adonai” / (English) “Lord” for God’s memorial name. Interpreting the term as Sunday is a corruption that started after Yeshua’s time on earth. The term “Day of Yahweh” is also used in reference to the Sabbath Millennium, which will be great and terrible, or awesome and glorious, depending upon one’s situation. The millennial Sabbath of peace will be preceded by war, famine, and disease through which most people on earth will die; it will be followed by fire from heaven that will consume the nations’ armies.

Concerning the Sabbath Day: “ . . call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy Day of Yahweh honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word.” – Isaiah 58:13.

Concerning the Sabbath Millennium: “The Day of Yahweh will be great and very awesome” – Joel 2:11.

The prelude and postlude: “Behold, the Day of Yahweh is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation, and He will exterminate its sinners from it” – Isaiah 13:9.

“For the Day of Yahweh draws near on all nations . . . And it will be holy, and the House of Jacob (Israel) will possess their possessions . . . But the House of Esau will be stubble, and they will set fire on them and consume them” – Obadiah 1:15-18.

Judaism & Synagogue versus Christianity & Church

Yeshua came 2000 years ago as the prophesied Jewish Messiah; He did not come to start a new religion. “Messiah” and “Christ” are synonymous, meaning anointed to be Prophet, Priest, and/or King. “Christians” are properly those who accept Yeshua as Prophet of Jerusalem (from whence God’s Word emanates), Priest of the Most High God (Who bears their sins and is to lead their worship), and King of Israel (Who is to rule in their hearts and activities).

The Biblical Hebrew word qehal was translated variously as sunagoge and ekklesia in the Greek Septuagint, and thence as synagogue and church (among other terms) in English. The church has been in existence for more than 3700 years, since the exodus from Egypt. Yeshua said that He would “build up” His church (Matthew 16:18), not start a new one. The ordinances of the church make up one of three categories (judgments, ordinances, and statutes) of Torah commandments, and this category includes instructions for Yahweh’s Feasts (“Lord’s Supper” being a translation of “Yahweh’s Feast), immersion in a miqvah (baptism), Sabbath observance, and other outward portrayals of spiritual matters. Paul, the Hebrew apostle to gentile churches, said, “keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you” – 1 Corinthians 11:2. A new gentile church does not replace an ancient Hebrew Israel; the church, from its ancient beginning, was composed of Hebrews and gentiles, and was called Israel.

Moses and David are among the real “early church fathers” (rather than some who lived as recently as 20 centuries ago). They are the ones to whom God gave specific instructions for order of worship in the Tabernacle for “the church in the Wilderness” (Acts 7:38), and in Temple of the Holy One, which order is a pattern for the “little sanctuary” – the synagogue/church (qehal).

“(Moses) is the one who was in the church (ekklesia) in the wilderness . . . and he received living oracles to pass on to you” – Acts 7:38.

Moses passed on this living oracle for the church: “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of rest (Shabbat shabbaton), a sacred assembly (qodesh miqra).” – (Leviticus 23:3).

Through David preparations were made to build the “house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7), and through David worship service instructions were given.

“Solomon brought in the things that were dedicated by his father David . . .and he put them in the treasuries of the House of Yahweh” – 1 Kings 7:51.

“David . . . set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals . . .” – 1 Chronicles 25:1.

 ^“These are the last words of David . . . the man anointed by the God of Jacob, David, the sweet psalmist of Israel: ‘The Spirit of Yahweh speaks through me; His Words are upon my tongue’ ” – 2 Samuel 23:1-2.

David wrote Psalm 92: “A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day.”

The Prophets took up God’s purview of the Holy Sabbath.

“Sanctify (Qadash – make holy) My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.” – Ezekiel 20:20

 “Her (Jerusalem’s) priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them” – Ezekiel 22:26.

God does not tolerate desecration of His ordinances, such as performing them with erroneous purpose or including idolatrous practices. He says, “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, your incense is an abomination to Me. Your heads-of-the-month and Sabbath assemblies – I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly” – Isaiah 1:13. In Amos 5:21, 26 God said “I hate, I reject your festivals . . .” because of the inclusion of idolatry.

Yeshua and His apostles observed the Sabbaths, their customs including the “sacred assembly” – synagogue attendance. Paul participated in the traditional havdallah service.

“(Yeshua) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read” – Luke 4:16.

“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.  There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together” – Acts 20:7-8. This is a traditional havdallah service, with breaking of bread, use of lamps, and teaching, that follows the end of the Sabbath on Saturday night: “On the first day of the week . . . until midnight” was the first six hours of the first day of the week – which we now call Saturday night.

“But going from Perga, (Paul and his companions) arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down” – Acts 13:14.

Yeshua’s Resurrection Day

Though no Scripture indicates such a change, a common reason given for changing from Sabbath to Sunday is that Yeshua was raised from the grave on Sunday at sunrise. The Holy Scriptures do not even state that Yeshua was raised on the first day of the week. [Our Passover Hagaddah teaches how Yeshua was raised late on the Sabbath, three days and three nights after a “Wednesday afternoon” crucifixion.] Note, that according to all four Gospels, Yeshua was raised and gone when the women came before sunrise on the first day of the week.

“Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first-of-the-sabbath (before the twelfth hour of the night on the first day of the week), Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Yeshua who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’ ” – Matthew 28:1-7.

“Very early on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), they came to the tomb . . . ‘He is not here . . . He is going ahead of you to Galilee’ ” – Mark 16:2, 6-7.

“Now after He had risen, early on the first-of-the-week . . .” – Mark 16:9. This verse is sometimes translated to sound like He had risen early on the first-of-the-week: such interpretation cannot be backed by the Greek text.

“But on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), at early dawn, they came to the tomb . . .” Two angels said, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here . . .” – Luke 24:1, 5-6.

“Now on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), Mary of Magdala came early to the tomb while it was still dark (before the twelfth hour of the night).” She said, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him” – John 20:1,13.

Yeshua was buried at the end of a Preparation Day of the Passover (Wednesday afternoon), just before the High Sabbath. He was raised after three days and three nights, at the end of the weekly Sabbath.

“Now it was the Day of Preparation for the Passover . . . There they crucified Him”. “Because it was the Day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a High Day) . . .” – John 19:14, 18, 21

Yeshua said, “No sign will be given to (this evil generation), but the sign of the Prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” – Matthew 12:39-40.

Yeshua used a complaint about healing on the Sabbath to prophesy of His own Sabbath resurrection, saying: “What man among you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit, will he not raise it out on the Sabbath?” – Matthew 12:11. God was among them, and His Lamb was in a pit for three days, and He raised it out on the Sabbath.

The Hebrew term “deficient day” may be applied to violating a Sabbath prohibition as breaking the whole Sabbath; it cannot be applied to “Friday night to Sunday morning” as “three days and three nights.” There was no such way of counting, and it would have made Yeshua’s “only sign” a farce.

Apostolic Instruction concerning Sabbath

Paul taught Sabbath observance as it relates to tithing. The apostles agreed that gentiles should learn Torah at synagogue Sabbath services. [Halachic rulings are made by the judges of the synagogue (or of the Sanhedrin); these are determinations of how we should walk (halach) to fulfill Torah.] Paul told Gentiles to teach from the Psalms, which are songs about Torah observance.

“On the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week) each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no separations be made when I come” – 1 Corinthians 16:2. This is the ancient halachic rule for Sabbath-keepers, that concerning income during the six working days, one rests on the Sabbath (no commercial or monetary dealings), and separates the tithe on the first day of the following week (Mishnah: Shabbat). There is nothing about a Sunday meeting or public collection here.

“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” – Acts 15:19-21. This is the apostolic halachic ruling for Gentiles who are turning from idolatry to God. They are to leave their former gross idolatrous practices, then learn God’s instruction (Torah) each Sabbath in synagogue, as they are not expected to immediately know how to walk. A Jewish group called The Circumcision was promoting a requirement of complete Torah observance for salvation. James is not implying that Torah is inapplicable to Gentiles.

^“One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike” – Rom 14:5. There is no question here about whether or not Sabbaths and annual Holy Days should be observed. A question of the period was: is one kind of Holy Day superior to another? Do weekly Sabbath regulations override annual Holy Day regulations, or vice versa, or are they equal? Are some ordinances for an annual Holy Day forbidden if it falls on the weekly Sabbath, or do they override Sabbath prohibitions? These questions only arise if one is observing Holy Days, and these questions arise in observant groups to this day.

Colossians 2 is dealing with “traditions of men” (v.8) in contrast to the ordinances of God (v.16) – the seventh-day Sabbath, the head-of-the-month observance, and the annual “Feasts of Yahweh” (see Leviticus 23). We are taught here to let neither traditions of men nor the condemnation of men to sway us from observing God’s ordinances which constitute an eternal (Leviticus 23:14, 21, 31, 41) shadow-picture cast by Messiah Himself.

Paul taught that believers should “teach and admonish one another with Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs” – Colossians 3:16. The 150 Psalms are divided into five books: Psalms 1-41 and 42-72 are two Books of Psalms, Psalms 73-89 make up the Book of Hymns, and Psalms 90-106 and 107-150 are the two Books of Spiritual Songs. Teaching and admonishing with these Psalms means teaching Torah observance, including Sabbath observance, since that is what the Psalms are about.

Future Sabbath Observance Ordained

God Himself gave instructions to observe Sabbaths, heads-of-the-months, and His Feasts in the future Messianic age.

“ ‘When I bring (the House of Israel) back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.’ ”

Concerning the Millennial Temple, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the head-of-the-month. The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the heads-of-the-months. The elevation offering which the prince shall offer to Yahweh on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;  and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah. On the day of the head-of-the-month he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish’ ” – Ezekiel 39:27-28; 46:1-7.

God Himself gave instructions to observe Sabbaths, heads-of-the-months, and His Feasts on the future New Earth.

 “ ‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘so your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from head-of-the-month to head-of-the-month and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,’ says Yahweh” – Isaiah 66:22-23.

Notes: