The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 33
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Co-Host: Rachel Smith @rachelsmithsmith
Guest: Jay Carper @jaycarper_
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 33 we’re talking about the Sabbath. What it is, why we should follow it, who is called to follow it, and when the weekly Sabbath is. We’re joined by special guest, Jay Carper. He is a pro-Torah Bible teacher living in Brenham, Texas. He’s written hundreds of articles and created hundreds of videos on Biblical topics. More recently, he created two short courses for Bible students, The Chiasm Course on how to find and understand chiastic structures in the Bible, and The Sabbath Series, a 14-video series answering the questions of What, Why, Who, and When of the weekly Sabbath.
You can find these studies on CommonSenseBibleStudy.com and AmericanTorah.com
In This Episode on The Sabbath:
We follow Jay Carper’s journey to discovering the Bible, the Sabbath, the Torah, the Biblical Feasts, and more.
It all started with some research on the Internet and joining a forum. He found other people that were discussing the Bible and it helped him to dive deeper into his study and understanding of the Bible.
God used technology to connect Jay and Rachel in a similar way we’re able to connect with you through this podcast! It can be used for good J
What is the Sabbath?
What it is NOT: a burden.
It takes an adjustment in mindset to take a true day off. In modern society, there is this idea that the Sabbath is a terrible burden. That it’s about rules and about what you can and cannot do. But Jesus questions the Pharisees and Sadducees on this often in the Bible.
Jesus refocused the Sabbath on restoring people. It’s not just about not doing something, it’s in restoring the relationship between people and God.
If you look at creation week, God planned out the whole creation week. He planned each day accordingly, but he put everything in its proper day, meaning he planned it all before it even started. That includes the last day: the Sabbath. He created man on the last day of creation, the 6th day. Then God immediately took the day off to spend with his new creation.
Part of God’s plan from the very beginning was I’m going to create all this stuff as a place to hang out with these special new people that I’m going to create—then I’m going to hang out with them for a day. We’re just going to fellowship. This is the heart of the Sabbath.
What do you do on the Sabbath?
It’s marked by sunset. The night before, make and have a meal together. Pray and have communion together. Then the next day, don’t do any work or talk about work until sunset the next day. This might look like sleeping in, Bible study, listening to teachings, preparing for fellowship, and so on. It’s about relaxing and spending the day with Yahweh.
The focus of the Sabbath is meeting with God.
It’s also about resting from work, but spending time with the Lord is crucial. It’s about finding ways to connect with God and that’s hard to do when we’re focused on our work and other things.
Who is called to follow the Sabbath?
There is a statement in Paul’s letter to the Galatians where he says the law was added because of transgressions. God wants to teach us through example. He wants us to emulate him. To become more like our Creator. Not to become God, but to emulate his compassion, patience, and righteousness.
The first thing Adam witnessed of his Creator was the Sabbath. Then when he gave Israel the command to keep the Sabbath, he said you will rest because I rested. So, he’s making an explicit statement that we’re supposed to copy him. But this idea that the commandments were added because of transgression are because man could not follow God’s example. We couldn’t do what he did so he sent us people like Abraham and Isaac and said okay, here are some more examples for you, more on your level. Copy these guys. And then there’s Paul. He said you can’t copy Jesus? Copy me because I’m copying him. But we couldn’t do that either!
Because we couldn’t do that, he brought it back another level.
Why should we follow the Sabbath the way the Bible describes?
The fourth commandment is the only one that says to remember. Yet, it’s the only one that the church tells us to forget. Some churches might follow the seventh day Sabbath, but most do not. However, we’re told to remember the Sabbath.
When is the weekly Sabbath?
For 1500 or so years, the church has been teaching that the Sabbath was moved to Sunday. Many are taught that Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the last day. It’s almost like the world we live in now was designed in such a way to make us forget which day is the seventh day.
There have always been a core group of people who have kept the seventh day Sabbath. At the end of the 3rd century there was a council in Turkey that argued about when the Sabbath was. They ruled that they needed to stop all the crazy Judaizers from keeping the seventh day Sabbath because they were going to pull Christians back in to Judaism. This shows that centuries after Jesus rose from the grave and returned to heaven that there were still Christian’s keeping the seventh day Sabbath.
The shift of changing the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day really began in the 1st century. There were Romans and Greeks who hated Jews. The Jews were problem makers for the Romans. The Romans did not want to be like them, yet they believed in Jesus so they wanted to do what Jesus did. So, they changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. This trend continued for centuries. And the motivation was antisemitism and people trying not to look Jewish.
However, Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday is the seventh day of the week.
How do you start following the Sabbath?
You just start one day, and you don’t worry about it.
As you can adjust your life, you do. But don’t try to change everything at once. If you get to a point where you feel like the Sabbath is a burden, something has gone wrong. It’s not supposed to feel like that.
Bible Verses Mentioned:
Ezekiel 47:20-23:
On the west side, the Great Sea shall be the boundary to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This shall be the west side.
So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.”
Resources Mentioned:
Subscribe to receive emails from The Radiant Mission
Connect with Jay Carper:
Visit CommonSenseBibleStudy.com
Visit AmericanTorah.com
Watch the Sabbath Series on YouTube
Check out 119 Ministries
Visit SeekingMessiah.org
Visit Sabbathsentinel.org
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