A Rabbi Said that Romans 14:5 permits any day for worship. Is this true?

Posted on May 25, 2017July 22, 2021 by YRM

Please help, I can now see clearly that we are to keep the 7th day Sabbath, blessed and set apart by Yahweh at creation and throughout scripture. The calendar was numbered. There is no way to confuse which day it is, Saturday. My husband relented and finally contacted a Rabbi in Louisville, KY. The Rabbi told him that according to Romans 14:5, we can now choose any day. However, Romans 14:5 is about food and fasting. Merging Jewish culture and traditions with gentiles. I cannot find anywhere in scripture that changes Yahweh’s command. Please help. I so appreciate any help or advice you can offer. Thank you and blessings to you.

You are right, the Sabbath has never changed and should be observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Romans 14:5 is not speaking about the Sabbath but to days of fasting, which were not obligatory, but done on a voluntary basis. This is why Paul says it doesn’t matter which day we choose. Fasting is a personal choice and is not limited to any specific day. However, this is not true for the Sabbath. Yahweh hallowed the seventh day and scripturally this has never changed. Yahshua the Messiah and the apostles observed the Sabbath in the New Testament (e.g. Mark 2:23; Acts 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4) and everyone will observe it in the Millennial Kingdom, Isaiah 66:23. Sunday is not biblical but was adopted by the Roman church. For additional information, please see the below booklets:

https://yrm.org/sabbath-keeping-answering-arguments

https://yrm.org/honor-sabbath-day

I have never quite felt right about going out to eat on the Sabbath with my church friends. Does the Bible allow doing such business on the Sabbath day?

Posted on March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 by YRM

I have never quite felt right about going out to eat on the Sabbath with my church friends. Does the Bible allow doing such business on the Sabbath day?

Later Nehemiah had to deal with some backsliders in Judah who broke Yahweh’s laws by conducting such business on the Sabbath:

“In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals…Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?’” (13:17).

Yahshua had to contend as well with the merchants who were buying and selling in the Temple (Mark 11:15-16). Although this was probably not on the Sabbath, the desecration of what was considered a sanctified place is a direct parallel to defiling through worldly business the Sabbath day that is also sanctified.

We are also prohibited from doing our own pleasure on the Sabbath, which going to restaurants would violate as well, forcing our culinary “servants” to work for us on Yahweh’s rest day. The Fourth Commandment specifically says that our servants are not to work on the Sabbath. Causing restaurant workers to serve us on the Sabbath clearly violates this command.

Some have argued that the staff of the restaurant would be there working regardless of whether we are there. Would Yahweh want us to contribute to the law-breaking of others when we are told not to do so?

I have never quite felt right about going out to eat on the Sabbath with my church friends. Does the Bible allow doing such business on the Sabbath day?

Posted on October 26, 2016November 1, 2016 by YRM

I have never quite felt right about going out to eat on the Sabbath with my church friends. Does the Bible allow doing such business on the Sabbath day?

When the nation of Judah returned to True Worship of Yahweh under Nehemiah they vowed, “…And if the people of the land bring ware or victuals [food] on the Sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the Sabbath, or on the holy day…” Nehemiah says in 10:29-31. Later Nehemiah had to deal with some backsliders in Judah who broke Yahweh’s laws by conducting such business on the Sabbath: “In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they sold victuals….Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?’” (13:17).

When we do business on Yahweh’s holy Sabbath we also rob this worship day of its sanctity and violate the Fourth Commandment that sets this day apart from a normal day of work and worldly endeavors.We are also prohibited from doing our own pleasure on the Sabbath, which going to restaurants would violate as well, forcing our culinary “servants” to work for us on Yahweh’s rest day. The Fourth Commandment specifically says that our servants are not to work on the Sabbath. Causing restaurant workers to serve us on the Sabbath clearly violates this command. Some have argued that the staff of the restaurant would be there working regardless of whether we are there. Would Yahweh want us to contribute to the law-breaking of others when we are told not to do so?

Should I work on the Sabbath?

Posted on October 18, 2016June 22, 2018 by YRM

Q. I have a good chance to get work as a bus driver. But the problem is I will have to work on the Sabbath also. Should I take the job or not? My wife is getting tired of seeing me without work and she is pushing me to take the job. For her the Sabbath is not a specific day. According to scripture it is right also to take care of the family. What do you think about this view on Shabbat? The time zones are not in Scripture. Therefore anyone who celebrates the Sabbath at any place other than in Jerusalem, his Sabbath is not official Temple time. And in the north pole, days are 6 months longs, so I don’t know how a person could keep the sabbath in either pole. Of course, if the International Date line was just moved over a little bit, then my Sunday would be a Saturday. Also if you pay close attention to Yahshua’s revelation about the Sabbath you’ll see that it is all focused on what a person does, not when.

A. We’ll answer your points one at a time. Doing any work on the Sabbath violates the Fourth Commandment. We are each working out our own salvation and must never violate Yahweh’s commands in order to please someone. Relatives can pose some of the biggest tests of our faith. Blessings will come if you put Yahweh first. We are indeed commanded to provide for our families, but not at the cost of lawbreaking. We could justify bank robbery with that logic. The Sabbath comes to us when the sun sets at our location on earth. Being thousands of miles away from Jerusalem on his missionary journeys, Paul had to keep the Sabbath at sunset where he was and not when sunset came at Jerusalem. Keeping it when the sun sets in Jerusalem today means we would observe the Sabbath around noon on Friday, which would violate the Biblically mandated end and start of the day at sunset. Besides, there is no Temple and thus no “Temple time” today. Living at either pole presents problems and we must wonder whether Yahweh even intended man to live there, given the extreme weather conditions. We live and act in the context of time and cannot separate actions from when they were done. How else can you keep the Sabbath holy except through your activities? This clearly is a test to see whether you will do your own will or Yahweh’s. The Sabbath is indeed the test commandment both in entering the Truth and in staying in it. We have found through the years that the Sabbath is the first of Yahweh’s laws broken when someone backslides. Observing the weekly Sabbath is what keeps you strong in the faith and is the sign of the True Believer. We pray you will make the right decision of obedience. Know this, Yahweh may close one door but He always opens a far better one.

Help me understand the Biblical Calendar!

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

I would greatly appreciate some help in understanding the biblical calendar. You say that in the Bible the rules for the correct calendar are to use the sun and moon to mark seasons and months, 7 days to a week (7th the Sabbath), months start at the new moon, and Abib is the start of the year. You state that the correct day of the Sabbath is the 7th day which is Saturday. But in looking at your calendar it seems Monday is the 7th day. As you can see I am a bit confused here. On your calendar counting out seven days from the first new moon puts the 7th day on Monday and to count seven more days ends in Monday. This is all rather very confusing to someone who just wants to truly follow [Yahweh’s] Word. How do I know the proper day? Does it matter what day the Sabbath falls on as long as the 7th day is marked as the Sabbath? What about the idea that in marking the months with the moon that the season would steadily slip back through the calendar year. How then would the feasts be kept at the same time. You could see how this can be confusing

In Genesis Yahweh established the Sabbath day by resting on the seventh day of creation. That put in motion the Sabbath that fell every seventh day perpetually up to today, and created the seven-day week throughout history. He called it THE Sabbath, not A Sabbath. The numbering of weekdays in today’s Gregorian (Catholic) calendar does not correspond to the scriptural calendar. Those who accept the lunar Sabbath doctrine are attempting to start not only the month but also the week by the new moon. See http://www.yrm.org/lunarsabbath.htm for a detailed study of this doctrine.

Nowhere in Yahweh’s Word are we instructed to start the week by the moon. Month, yes, but not the week. Yahweh has already done that for us by creating the Sabbath on the seventh day, to which the Jews for thousands of years and Yahshua Himself adhered.

If you are thinking that establishing the Sabbath by the new moon is somehow more scriptural than our wall calendars, consider again that it was Yahweh who made the perpetual Sabbath, which has always been in rotation in the week since the seventh day of creation. You can’t get more accurate than following Yahweh’s own example and practice. Yahshua had no issue with the day the Scribes and Pharisees kept for the Sabbath and never mentioned a problem with the Sabbath calendar. The Jews have since kept the same day Yahshua kept.

By replacing His divinely or-dained week with their own system, lunar proponents are in violation of Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 andRevelation 22:18. The first fatality in this man-made scheme is the erroneous counting of Feast days like Pentecost with partial weeks instead of full weeks (Lev. 23:15), and the automatic creation of leftover days and partial weeks at the end of the month that no one knows what to do with.

As for the seasons’ slipping further and further back in the year, that won’t happen if we use the scriptural Abib barley to begin the year. The seasons take care of themselves when we follow Yahweh’s calendar.

For more in-depth research see:
ABCs of the Biblical Calendar
Sabbath Keeping- Answering the Arguments

Should I attend a wedding, funeral, bridal or baby shower on the Sabbath?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

Should I attend a wedding, funeral, bridal or baby shower on the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is a day when we are to avoid not only work, but also the pursuit of our own words and pleasures (Isa. 58:13). It is a day to focus entirely on Yahweh, which is not possible when one is busy focusing on those in a wedding, funeral, or shower. In specific regard to a funeral superseding a day of worship, Yahshua said, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead,” Matthew 8:22. Yahweh’s days of worship, including His annual Sabbaths (Lev. 23), should always come before our pleasures or personal commitments.

Why did Yahweh rest on the Sabbath? If He is the Creator, He doesn’t need to rest.

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

Being all-powerful, Yahweh did not need to rest on the seventh day. Being sinless, neither did Yahshua need to be immersed for His sins. But both did so as examples for the people of Yahweh.

By resting on the seventh day, Yahweh created and established the Sabbath as the crowning achievement of His creation. What could be more important for us than to observe a day that Yahweh Himself observed. No other day carries that special distinction or honor.

I have heard some teach that the Scriptural day begins at sunrise, rather than the Jewish sunset. Is this true?

Posted on October 18, 2016May 4, 2018 by YRM

Q. I have heard some teach that the Scriptural day begins at sunrise, rather than the Jewish sunset. Is this true?

A. The sunset ending and beginning of a day is not a “Jewish” determination but a Biblical one. The Romans and Egyptians began their day at midnight, as the world does today. The Babylonians began their day at sunrise because they were worshipers of the sun.

We can learn from the Bible itself which is the proper beginning and ending of a day in Yahweh’s sight.

Aside from Leviticus 23:32, which clearly shows that the Sabbath of rest begins at evening and continues until the next evening, the following passages also show that the Biblical day begins and ends at ereb (dusk):

Ex. 12:18: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

Lev. 11:24-25: And for these you shall be unclean: whosoever touches the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. And whosoever bears ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

Lev. 22:6: The soul which has touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

Deut. 16:6: But at the place which Yahweh your Elohim shall choose to place his name in, there you shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt.

Deut. 23:11: But it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.

Deut. 24:13: In any case you shall deliver him the pledge again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness unto you before Yahweh your Elohim.

Jud. 14:12, 18: And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if you can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day *before the sun went down*, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle.
[Samson gave them seven days of the Feast to answer his riddle. When just before sunset on the last day it was answered through a deceitful maneuver, he was furious.}

Neh. 13:19: And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.

Mark 1:32: And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. [They waited until the Sabbath was over at sundown before having Yahshua heal the sick and possessed.]

In the Hebrew, when a passage speaks of sunset, the word is bo, which means when the sun goes down into the horizon. This begins evening, end of one day and the beginning of another (see Gen. 28:11).

There is intriguing evidence that dates back to the first century, showing the observation of the Sabbath starting at evening. The historian Josephus, reports in Wars of the Jews IV,582: “And the last was erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where one of the priests stood of course, and gave a signal beforehand with a trumpet, at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening twilight, as also at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to stop work, and when they were to go to work again.”

Archaeology has confirmed the place of trumpeting to which Josephus was referring. Excavated by B. Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount we find a very unique artifact, a stone from the second temple. In the Biblical Archaeology Review’s July/August 1980 issue we read:

“When we excavated the beautifully paved Herodian street adjacent to the southern wall and near the southwestern corner of the Enclosure Wall, we found a particularly large ashlar block. On the inside was a niche where a man might stand, especially if the ashlar were joined to another which would enlarge the niche.

On the outside was a carefully and elegantly incised Hebrew inscription: LBYT HTKY ’H LHH [RYZ]; “To the place of Trumpeting to (declare).” If the restoration of the world “declare” is correct, the rest of the missing part of the inscription probably went on to tell us more about the declaring of the beginning and the end of the Sabbath.

The stone had been toppled during the Roman destruction of the Temple onto the street below where it had lain for nearly two thousand years until we uncovered it.

It must have originally come from the pinnacle of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount. From a spot on top of the Temple chambers a priest would blow a trumpet on Sabbath Eve, to announce the arrival of the Sabbath and the cessation of all labour, and to announce, on the following evening, the departure of the Sabbath and the resumption of all labor.

The entire city was visible from this spot on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount; the clarion call of the trumpet would reach the farthest markets of the city. Such a scene is recounted by Josephus in his work, The Jewish War. (IV, 582).” Editor, H. S. 2004; 2004.BAR 06:04 (July/Aug 1980). Biblical Archaeology Society

Which day does the Sabbath fall on?

Posted on October 17, 2016November 1, 2016 by YRM

I am trying to discover which day the Sabbath falls on. I know it is defined as the seventh day, but are you sure that the seventh day is our Saturday? What if when they switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar the days of the week get out of phase?

When the Julian calendar was switched to the Gregorian, ten days were omitted from the calendar, and it was decreed that the day following Thursday, October 4, 1582 (which is October 5, 1582, in the old calendar) would thenceforth be known as Friday, October 15, 1582. Although ten days were removed, the proper sequence of days in the week remained unchanged and continuous. Only numbers of the month were changed, not days of the week.
The Jews always kept the Sabbath every week without fail throughout history. Yahshua never corrected them on the day they kept as the Sabbath, and in fact He observed it Himself with other Jews on that same seventh day, Luke 4:16, 31,so we need only go back that far in history for the proper seventh-day sequence.