— 4th of Bul, 181 JE —
Dear friends, more new light is breaking out from the Sabbath through a deeper study of Scripture.
A literal rendering of Isaiah 58 reveals what the Sabbath Day signifies:
THE HOLINESS OF JEHOVAH!
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
Isaiah 58:13-14
from doing thy will on the day of My holiness;
and call the Sabbath ‘a delight’,
and the holiness of JEHOVAH ‘glorious’;
and shalt glorify Him,
not doing thine own ways,
nor seeking thine own will,
nor speaking thine own words:
then shalt thou delight thyself in JEHOVAH;
and I will cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken it.
The KJV makes it sound as if the Sabbath Day is His sole holy day. LITV understands that that is not the case and makes it “holy days,” which is even less literal. But “Day of My Holiness” is the most literal rendering, and this is noted in the notes of several Bible versions. The Reverence Bible now has it not in the notes, but in the text!
The implications of this are profound. We now have a Bible reference for the fact that the Sabbath in principle is not a day, but after sin is the “holiness of JEHOVAH,” which the day is a sign of, as can be read here:
Verily My Sabbath ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I, JEHOVAH, doth sanctify you.
Exodus 31:!3
The original principle (which has not departed) is perfect creation, since GOD rested from His perfect work on that day. But in the plan of redemption, there must be a re-creation, which is sanctification—a work only JEHOVAH can do, hence, it produces *His* holiness.
The Sabbath Day is the day of His holiness. And this can also be found in the intro of Leviticus 23:
“Six days shall work be done; but in the seventh day shall be a Sabbath of rest, a proclamation of holiness; ye shall do no manner of work; it shall be a Sabbath unto JEHOVAH in all your dwellings.”
Yet there are seven other proclamations of holiness, for the verse before it says:
“Appointed times of JEHOVAH which ye shall proclaim as proclamations of holiness; these are Mine appointed times.”
The Sabbath is listed as the first, or chief, one, for it is the day of JEHOVAH’S holiness, as we saw in our Isaiah text. And the purpose of the seven others is to proclaim more fully what the Sabbath holiness is—that is, the perfect, or finished, righteousness/holiness of the Pesach Lamb lived for each and every one of us on the first holy proclamation day. This is the foundation for the other annual proclamations of holiness. Each one, then, builds on that with the end goal of having a people fully set apart (holy) from sin and sinners.
This is profound, because we now have in-text evidence (based on a literal rendering of Hebrew) that the purpose of the holy days all along was not for animal sacrifices but for communicating holiness. Before the cross, the proclamations were done through types. In fact, the sanctuary, or holy place, is literally ‘the Holiness’ (YLT uses ‘the Holy’). Holiness was veiled in types. And keep in mind that the other name for it was the Tabernacle of Appointed Times, for it was at these times that the services of the parable were held. Hence, in a sense, all of the appointed times, including the ones of the Tamiyd (morning and evening) and the New Moon were for proclaiming holiness in types; but it is especially the Sabbath and seven holy days that holiness is proclaimed. And today we no longer do it in a typical fashion but can proclaim with our voices, pens, and transformed lives.
The plan of redemption is the plan of sanctification, or the process of holiness; and each part of the process is fulfilled on a holy day. The purpose for the holy days, then, is to proclaim this holiness, which collectively proclaim the Sabbath more fully. The end result is a perfect creation—which there was before sin, but better than before, with all creation having a knowledge of good and evil and fully on the side of the former.
Are you still doubting if the holy proclamations are proclaiming the Sabbath (holiness of JEHOVAH) more fully? Ellen White says this in Patriarchs and Prophets, Page 310:
“That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments.”
Then she proceeds to go through some of the additional commandments and on the next page covers the statutes that explain the Sabbath more fully, saying this:
Again the people were reminded of the sacred obligation of the Sabbath. Yearly feasts were appointed, at which all the men of the nation were to assemble before the Lord, bringing to Him their offerings of gratitude and the first fruits of His bounties. The object of all these regulations was stated: they proceeded from no exercise of mere arbitrary sovereignty; all were given for the good of Israel. The Lord said, “Ye shall be holy men unto Me”—worthy to be acknowledged by a holy God.”
Here again we see the principle of holiness. Amazing! And now couple that with this statement referring to when the loud cry is given:
I saw that God had children who do not see and keep the Sabbath. They have not rejected the light upon it. And at the commencement of the time of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully. This enraged the churches and nominal Adventists, as they could not refute the Sabbath truth.
Early Writings, p. 33
In comparing her two statements with the literal rendering of Leviticus, there should be no doubt that the annual proclamations of holiness proclaim the general Sabbath holiness more fully.
And now notice this on the previous page, where she was taken in vision to view the Most Holy Place in Heaven:
“In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a book. Jesus opened them, and I saw the ten commandments written on them with the finger of God. On one table were four, and on the other six. The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six. But the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God’s holy Name. The holy Sabbath looked glorious—a halo of glory was all around it.”
Why was the Sabbath commandment singled out with a great halo of glory? Because of what it represents: the holiness of JEHOVAH! This is the glory! Now, let us go back to the words of Isaiah:
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,
from doing thy will on the day of My holiness;
and call the Sabbath ‘a delight’,
and the holiness of JEHOVAH ‘glorious’;
and shalt glorify Him,
not doing thine own ways,
nor seeking thine own will,
nor speaking thine own words:
then shalt thou delight thyself in JEHOVAH;
and I will cause thee to ride
upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken it.
If the fullness of the Sabbath is not a day but the holiness of JEHOVAH, then this not seeking our own will or speaking our own words and delighting in JEHOVAH is for *every* day. The goal of the Sabbath is to train us into this experience and ultimately produce a remnant of Israel that lightens the earth with the glory of holiness, proclaiming by their lives the last message of mercy to a dying world: the character, the holiness, of JEHOVAH.
Sign of His Holiness
The sacred truth is shining, like dawn breaking through the night,
A call to deepen worship, to walk in His holy light.
Not just a day we keep, but a reflection of His soul,
The holiness of Jehovah, making broken hearts whole.
Chorus
In every breath, in every moment, His glory we desire,
To live in His righteousness, set free from every chain,
The sign of His holiness, written deep within our hearts,
A life transformed and sanctified, forever to remain.
He rested in creation’s beauty, His work was perfect and complete,
Now through His plan of redemption, our souls He’s making free.
Proclaimed in sacred seasons, His holiness we declare,
A message of divine love, beyond all else compare.
Chorus
Not merely a day to honor, but a way of life that shows,
His love and His perfection, in every word that flows.
A halo around the sacred, shining from above,
Reflecting His glory, filling us with love.
So let us walk in holiness, in every step we take,
Proclaim His sacred goodness, for His mercy’s sake.
The sign of His holiness, in all that we pursue,
A witness to the world, of His love pure and true.
