Jesus and his disciples were hungry one day on the Sabbath (Saturday), and they went about, as was customary, plucking ears of corn to eat them (Matthew 12:1). It was a normal tradition to do this, especially for the poor. The grain (corn as a grain) fields were available for people to go in and take some to eat if they were hungry.

However, the Pharisees, as the legislators of the land, had harsh legislation for even the most minutia of work on the Sabbath. In fact, most of the categories of “work” which was forbidden on the Sabbath by the Pharisees are not actually found in our Bible, they were invented by the religious leaders. At the time they only had the Old Testament, which was mainly the Torah, which is the first 5 books of the Bible.

Rather, the majority of the Sabbath laws and regulations came from a different source – the Talmud and Mishna, also known as the Oral Law, because they were originally passed down orally from one generation to the next. So, these strict and harsh laws condemning certain activities on the Sabbath with such great detail are not really found in the Bible.

The Pharisees & The Talmud

Perhaps the major reason that the Pharisees were so corrupt and evil is because they followed teachings from this non-biblical source. The Talmud, which has now been compiled in writing, is one of the most vile, vicious, hateful, and satanic texts to ever have been written. If you knew the history, it would not be surprising to you why the Talmud is so similar in its teachings to the Quran, which is the religious text of Islam (for Muslims).

Without going into too much depth in this article, based on well-documented research, the current Talmud originated from the Babylonian Talmud, which ultimately derived from King Nimrod in the Bible who built the Tower of Babel. Babel of course is the predecessor to Babylon. It is a teaching directly from Satan and demons, and is the plot of Satan which still reigns supreme today among the global elite.

The globalists are Talmudic Satan worshipers who follow the Talmud exactly as planned. In fact, the Tower of Babel was the first attempt at globalism, and it succeeded in bringing the entire Earth under global rule until God spread the people out across the Earth and confused their languages. Today with globalism and attempts at world domination through lies about a “pandemic”, we are merely seeing a resurgence of the same Satanic plot of globalism, witchcraft, and satanism. I digress.

There was no usable English version of the Talmud until the Soncino Edition of the Talmud was translated in 1934. Talmudic Jews were instructed via the Talmud that to reveal anything from the Talmud to “Goyim”, that is, non-Jews, had a penalty of death. Therefore it is no surprise that this guarded secret remained hidden to us for thousands of years.

The Sabbath was made for man

Now that you know some history of Pharisaical Sabbath laws, it can be easier to put in context why Jesus condemned them and said this famous line in reply: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

It has been argued in many churches that this statement is proof we do not have to honor the Sabbath. That is a false teaching. Jesus Himself honored the Sabbath; He only argued against the letter of the law taught by the Pharisees. He argued this because the letter of the law was not even biblical, it came from the satanic teachings of the Babylonian Talmud, which the Pharisees enforced with the death penalty for breaking. This is because in Exodus 31:14, the Bible does use the death penalty for Israelites breaking the Sabbath, but the laws that the Pharisees were enforcing were not what the Bible meant, as those laws were not even found in the Bible.

When Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, Jesus was really saying that God created the Sabbath for man’s benefit. God did not create man for the purpose of honoring the Sabbath. What does this mean exactly? It means that the Sabbath is not about following strict laws, it is about a time for rest, a time that God gave us one day per week that we need for our bodies and minds to rest and recover from a long week of toil and labor. It is also about honoring God.

The Sabbath is for our benefit

To honor the Sabbath is a gift from God, but to violate the Sabbath is to harm your own body, because the Sabbath is for your own benefit. To harm your body is to defile the temple of God, which is our body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). To honor the Sabbath provides your body and your mind the rest it needs each week, just like each day you need enough sleep.

That said, to say that the Sabbath is for our benefit does not mean that there is no command to honor it. On the contrary, we are commanded to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. To not honor the Sabbath is sin. Not only is it sin, but it is harmful for you and your life to fail to honor it each week.

When you are overwhelmed and tired and burned out because you do not give your body the rest God designed it for by taking just 1 day off each week, you end up burning out, being less productive, and becoming more distant from God. This is all harmful to both your physical and spiritual health.

By taking the day off just 1 day a week, your body finally gets the rest it needs each week, and your mind can relax and begin to organize the information. This will make you more productive in the long run, because this is how God designed us. What a gift from God to allow us a totally free day from the burdens of life every single week!

By resting, it will also relieve the stress of our day-to-day, and this will have another surprising benefit – replenishment of your willpower, which will give you more mental strength to resist everyday temptations. And if you spend the day with God, then you will gain spiritual health which will benefit you in every area of your life.

Why should we honor the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is not intended to be an oppressive, rule-based law that we have to follow or face hell. It’s a gift from God that allows us to gain much-needed rest, and to recuperate each week. It’s not some hard thing to do, it’s a beautiful thing to be given a full day each week to relax and unburden yourself from the stresses of life. This is a wonderful gift of God.

The question is not whether or not we should honor the Sabbath, because the command is clear that we must. The question is, “What does it mean to honor the Sabbath?” Genesis 2:3 says, “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” This is the reason why we honor the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Exodus 20:10 says, “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates”. This is the clear teaching precisely what to do. Do not work or have anyone else work. Notice it says this is the Sabbath of the Lord, not of the Hebrews. The Sabbath is a day to honor God.

What is work?

The issue in contention is what is defined as work. We are commanded to honor the Sabbath, but the Pharisees misinterpreted it (by using the Talmud), and defined many arbitrary laws, like not being able to pluck an apple from a tree, or carry pebbles in your pocket, with the penalty of death. Such oppressive trivialities are not genuine laws of God, and this is why Jesus cleared it up by saying that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

By following the Sabbath, we are honoring God, and also benefiting our bodies and minds by providing it a time to rest. But most of the “Jewish” laws against the Sabbath with such rigidly defined laws and strict penalties, are not biblical teachings, they are satanic teachings from the Babylonian Talmud.

The question remains then, what is work? I believe work to be generally defined as anything that feels stressful or challenging, difficult or hard, or that requires the expending of energy to achieve some task or goal. This is my personal definition, but essentially I think that anything that takes any considerable amount of effort to do would be considered work. For example, for me, heating up food to eat is not work, but prepping food or doing heavy cooking would be work. But for each person, they should pray and consider what is work for them.

It may not be the same from person to person. What one person considers challenging may feel simple and easy to another person. It is a thing between you and God; and if you take your relationship with God seriously, then you should take honoring the Sabbath seriously.

But taking it seriously does not require following strict and rigid laws that are oppressive and stressful – that would defeat the purpose of the Sabbath, as it was meant as a time of rest. In fact, oppressive laws and regulations may be in themselves considered work, as they are quite difficult to achieve. Can’t do this, can’t do that, have to suffer. These things do not inspire rest and peace.

Doing good on the Sabbath

Jesus’ attitude toward the Sabbath seemed to be to benefit and to rest. Jesus healed people on the Sabbath, to the Pharisees’ dismay; to which He replied, “is it better to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil?” (Mark 3:4) and that if your ox or donkey falls in a ditch on the Sabbath, would you not help it out? (Luke 14:5).

If your dog or cow fell in a ditch, you shouldn’t let it suffer just so that you wouldn’t “work”. If you are hungry, you don’t have to suffer. That wasn’t the purpose of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is meant for a time, in my opinion, of recuperation and recovery. That isn’t to say that you should cook heavily just because you’re hungry, because you can make a small sacrifice and satisfy your needs with something simple, or prepare something more complex the day before which you can simply heat up.

It seems to me that a violation of the Sabbath would fall in three categories: 1. sinning on the Sabbath (not keeping it holy), 2. doing work that prevents you from resting, or 3. having someone else do work that prevents them from resting.

Jobs and the Sabbath

Working to provide income is not necessary on the Sabbath. We are to trust in God to provide for us; not to trust in our own abilities, work, or income. Does not God provide for the birds (Matthew 6:26)? How much then for you, if you have faith.

If you can’t make ends meet without working on the Sabbath (Friday night and Saturday), then there is something wrong with your life priorities. Likewise if you cannot find time each day to pray. This is a lesson for us all. God should come first in your life. If you care about God first, then you’ll find a way, and God will provide the path.

As far as what to do on the Sabbath, as long as it isn’t work (including shopping), then as long as you are resting and not committing sins or acting unholy, then you are honoring the Sabbath. I think that God also intended this day as a spiritual day, for spending more time with God in prayer and Bible study. In this manner, we can rest physically as well as grow spiritually.

Certainly you do not have to follow some strict, rigid, oppressive system designed by the Pharisees and based on the evil Babylonian Talmud. It’s not about following rules, it’s about honoring God, about resting and not working, and about trusting God for your needs, not yourself or the world.

Remember Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” If you trust the Lord with everything, and not yourself; and in everything you do, you do it for the Lord; then you can guarantee that God will provide for your needs, even if it takes some sacrifice, like finding a job or career willing to accommodate your religious views and devotion to God.

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