It’s an election year. So you know what that means- Believers everywhere will voice their choice (the donkey or the elephant), but they will also proclaim their faith in the Lamb all while professing 2 Corinthians 7:14: “If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Okay, all this is fine and dandy, at first glance. But, let’s break this down a bit, shall we?
“If My people, which are called by My Name.” Who are His people? According to Scripture His people are no longer Jew nor Greek (gentile) (Gal 3:28; Romans 9: 25-26) but branches grafted in to the vine (Romans 11: 16-20); His people are of Messiah and Abraham’s seed (Gal 3:29) (side note- Abraham was not a Jew, He was Hebrew); His people are chosen and set-apart (1 Peter 2: 9-10); His people hear His voice, know Him, and follow Him (John 10: 27) ; His people believe and confess the name of Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah (John 3:16); His people are Sabbath keepers (Heb 4:9)
“Sabbath keepers?” Yes, those who are called “My people” are Sabbath Keepers.
“For somewhere He has said this about the seventh day, ‘And Elohim rested on the seventh day from all His works,’ (Gen 2:2) and in this again, ‘If they shall enter into my rest (Psalms 95:11).’ Since then it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly received the Good News did not enter in because of disobedience, He again defines a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying, through Dawid (David) so much later, as it has been said, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Ps 95: 7-8). For if Yehoshua (Joshua) had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath-keeping for the people of Elohim. For the one, having entered into His rest, has himself also rested from his works, as Elohim rested from His own. Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience. For the Word of Elohim is living, and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through even to the dividing of being and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4: 4-12
“But, wasn’t the Sabbath changed to Sunday?” The short answer is- no. You will not find anywhere in scripture where Yahovah our Elohim changes His set-apart Sabbath day of rest from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week. That change was made by Emperor Constantine centuries after the deaths of the apostles (who kept the seventh day Sabbath). Our Elohim does not change, “For I am Yahovah, I change not.” Malachi 3:6
“Thus the heavens and the earth were complete, and all their array. And in the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested in the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.” Gen 2: 1-3
For more information on Constantine and the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday in honor of the venerable day of the sun, check out my Holy vs Profane series.
Keeping the Sabbath is a sign forever between Yahovah our Elohim and His people. Who are His people? Neither Jew nor Greek, but the vine and the branches; the children of Yisra’el and Abraham’s seed; those who confess Yahshua; and Sabbath-keepers. However, it is the single act of obedience in guarding the Sabbath that is the outward sign that we are His people in an everlasting covenant with Him throughout our generations. And, I can prove it with one passage.
“And Yahovah (God) spoke to Mosheh (Moses), saying, ‘And you, speak to the children of Yisra’el saying, ‘My Sabbaths you are to guard, by all means, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, to know that I, Yah, am setting you apart. And you shall guard the Sabbath, for it is set-apart to you. Everyone who profanes it shall certainly be put to death, for anyone who does work on it, that being shall be cut off from among his people. Six days work is done and on the seventh is a Sabbath of rest, set-apart to Yah. Everyone doing work on the Sabbath day shall certainly be put to death. And the children of Yisra’el shall guard the Sabbath throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant. Between Me and the children of Yisra’el it is a sign forever. For in six days Yah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” Exodus: 31: 12-18
As always, I must make note: obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the root. The root of salvation is by faith in Yahshua the Messiah. Do not confuse being obedient to keeping the Sabbath as the means to salvation with obedience as the fruit of salvation. Keeping the Sabbath shows the fruit of your salvation. Faith without works is dead (James 2:26)
In further breakdown of the passage in 2 Chronicles: if we “humble ourselves and pray, and turn from our wicked ways…” What are our wicked ways? Sin. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. And that includes this exceedingly important fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart. Six days you labour, and shall do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yah your Elohim. You do not do any work you, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your sojourner who is within your gates.” Exodus: 20 8-10
But, let’s dig deeper in that passage in 2 Chronicles in order to gain a bit more context and understanding:
“If I shut up the heavens and there is no rain, or if I send pestilence among My people and My people upon whom My Name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I shall hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin and heal their land. Now, My eyes are open and My ears attentive to the prayer of this place. And now, I have chosen and set this house apart for My Name to be there forever. And My eyes and My heart shall always be there. And you, if you walk before Me as your father Dawid (David) walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you guard My laws and My right-rulings, then I shall establish the throne of your reign, as I covenanted with Dawid your father, saying, ‘There is not to cease a man of yours as ruler in Yisra’el.’ But if you turn away and forsake My laws and My commands which I have set before you, and you shall go and serve other mighty ones (gods) and bow yourself to them, then I shall pluck them from My land, which I have given them, and this house which I have set apart for My Name I shall cast out of My sight and make it to be a proverb and a mockery among all peoples.” 2 Chronicles 7: 13- 20
So, who are His people referenced in 2 Chronicles 7:14? Those who keep His laws and right-rulings (also known as the Torah), which includes the everlasting covenant established at creation- the Sabbath, a law forever.
If we’re going to proclaim 2 Chronicles 7: 14 over our land, we must accept 2 Chronicles 7: 15-20 as well. We must forsake other gods, which is often ourselves and/ or money. We must keep and guard His commands. And what is the sign that we are His people keeping and guarding His commands? That we keep and guard His Sabbath. Resting, not working, not making money, keeping the day set- apart (holy) shows our Elohim in Whom we trust and Who is our God. As someone once said regarding our nation’s motto, “In God we trust is the subtle reminder that money is not to be trusted.”
Believers will arbitrarily voice their disdain over the wretchedness we witness across our land today and often think it is the sinner committing these acts that needs to pray 2 Chronicles 7. But, it is not. Those sinners are just doing what sinners do- which is commit sin. That verse if for His people! For those who call themselves children of God. It is His people who need to repent and turn from their wicked ways in order to see healing in our land. And His people must keep the Sabbath, which is the sign that we are His people! Otherwise He will “cast out of My sight this house which I have set apart for My Name.”
He will cast out of His sight and make our land a proverb and a mockery if we forsake the Sabbath- His sign forever that we are His people. Do you want to see our land healed? Then, do not pray 2 Chronicles in vain by not keeping the Sabbath.
Therefore, if “My people,” both the vine and the branches, repent of their transgression of the commands of Yah our Elohim, then (which means: at that time) He will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.
The seventh day Sabbath is forever. Of all the signs that we are His people, keeping the Sabbath as a set-apart (holy) day of rest is one of the most important acts of obedience in all of Scripture that shows we are, indeed, His People.
Are you His people?
In His Service,
Rebecca Hamilton, Founder/ Executive Director
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!