THE END OF THE SABBATH

THE END OF THE SABBATH

Amo 8:4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 8:5 Saying, When will the NEW MOON be gone, that we may sell corn? AND THE SABBATH, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and FALSIFYING THE BALANCES BY DECEIT? 8:6 That we may BUY THE POOR FOR SILVER, and the NEEDY FOR A PAIR OF SHOES; yea, and SELL THE REFUSE OF THE WHEAT?

There are several expressions in the Bible that are used to denote the LAW OF MOSES without saying the words. Some of the outstanding features of the Law would suffice to get the idea across to whomever a person was conversing with. Some, but not all, of them were: NEW MOON, SABBATH, TRANSGRESSION, MOSES.

Many of the Israelites were NOT HAPPY with the restrictions of the Law, and sought for ways to circumvent it when they could. Indeed, there were many ways to break the Sabbath without actually "breaking" it. It has been said that if a person wanted to make a trip of more than the allowed 3/4 mile on the Sabbath day, he would send his servants out the day before to scatter items of his goods along the way at intervals just under the limit of a Sabbath day journey. Thus, he was never more than the limited distance away from his property, and could go as far as his goods would allow. Who was fooling whom?

I am told that the present version of the Law of Moses has myriads of "loopholes" written into it, designed especially to legalize many of the original prohibitions. Who is fooling whom?

MAL 1:12 ¶ But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD [is] polluted; and the fruit thereof, [even] his meat, [is] contemptible. :13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness [is it]! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought [that which was] torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. :14 But cursed [be] the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I [am] a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name [is] dreadful among the heathen.

In our scripture today, we hear Amos chiding with the people (especially the Priests) who are wondering how much longer the restrictions of the Law are going to be in force. How long would they have to refrain from being deceitful in their commercial and Spiritual dealings? How long would it be until they could "pull shenanigans" on theirsubjects? How long would they have to wait before they could foreclose on a widow's property?

Amos tells them plainly how long it will be.

AMO 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I WILL CAUSE THE SUN TO GO DOWN AT NOON, AND I WILL DARKEN THE EARTH IN THE CLEAR DAY:

When did that happen? WHEN JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED. FROM NOON TO 3:00 PM

Mat 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mar 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Luk 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

The SABBATH WAS ENDED. THE NEW MOON WAS PAST.
THE SCHOOLMASTER (the Law) HAD DONE ALL IT COULD DO TO TEACH THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEEDED TO KNOW.

If people did not want to do what they knew to be right, there was no one to tell them to stop doing wrong. They were "on their own", and could be as deceitful or as honest as they chose to be.

Coincidentally, As God had arranged it, there were TWO SABBATHS observed while Jesus was in the tomb. The first one (the one they had to dodge to get the three victims into the grave before the sundown, was the yearly "PASSOVER SABBATH". The second one was the REGULAR SATURDAY SABBATH. (Two Sabbaths ended by the death of Jesus at Calvary)

I find it rather intriguing that Matthew records the resurrection in the manner he does.

Mat 28:1 In the END OF THE SABBATH, as it began to dawn toward THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

What about the "first day of the week"? The book of Barnabas (from the LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE) says that the early Apostles kept the Saturday Sabbath because they were Israelites, but observed the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK as Christians, because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. They called it "the Lord's Day".

Today, we are "on our own" as far as keeping the Sabbath Day, or the Lord's Day, as a DAY OF WORSHIP TO GOD. If we have not learned a lesson from the Law that JEHOVAH GOD gave through Moses 3500 years ago, there is no one who will force us to do what God desires for us to do. Likewise, there is NO ONE going to FORCE ON US the blessings that will OVERTAKE the willing and the faithful. See Deut 28