The first time we see the phrase “seventh day” is in Genesis chapter two. Elohim had finished creating the heavens and the earth. We will start in Genesis 2:2-3(NASB) Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. The seventh day is also a gift for us. When Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, He separated it from the rest of the “week”. Exodus 20:10(NASB) but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. What a blessing. Our family has been celebrating the seventh day Sabbath for several years now and we so look forward to this day every week. We clean our houses all day on Friday and make a large meal that we can have leftovers on Saturday. It is a truly blessed time. Exodus 31:13(NASB) "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. To us, the Sabbath is an engagement ring. The purpose in the ring is a “sign” to everyone that you will have a future husband. The seventh day Sabbath is also a “sign” to everyone who our Lord (Adonai), or our future husband, is.
The prophet Isaiah tells us that we will celebrate the seventh day Sabbath even in the New Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:22-23(NASB) "For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure. "And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD.
We can see much resemblance of each one thousand year increment in history to the seven days of creation. For example, what happened on the first day of creation? Light was separated from darkness. In the first one thousand years of time, we had the garden (light) and the fall of man (darkness). On the second day of creation, the heavenly waters were separated from the earthly waters. In the second millennium, we had the flood. On the third day of creation, dry land appeared and plants yielding seed were created. In the third millennium, the “seed” of Abraham was born and Torah was given at Mt. Sinai. (Yeshua compares the Word to seed in his parables.) On the fourth day of creation, the heavenly host or the sun, moon and stars were given. In the fourth millennium, Yeshua came, who is the light of the world. On the fifth day of creation, the birds and the fish were made, which are used to spread the seed just as in the fifth thousand years, we have the apostles and the early “church” or the assembly spreading YHVH’s Word. The sixth day was the day both man and beast were created and we will soon see a man that becomes a beast.
We know that the seventh day or Sabbath is a day of rest, but what does that mean if it lasts one thousand years? Will we be floating around on clouds eating bon bons and wishing we had brought a magazine? We don’t think so. What will happen on the seventh day? We are almost there now, so it would be really nice to find out what is in store for us. The book of Revelation gives us a little insight. Revelation 20:1-5(NASB) Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. On this seventh day, it looks like Satan is bound for a thousand years, a small judgment day takes place, a small resurrection takes place and they reign with “Christ” for a thousand years. We would say that just Satan being bound alone constitutes a rest.
Something that we would like to touch on is that the word “Christ” does not necessarily mean Yeshua. In the original Greek, there is no capitalization. In the Greek, this word is christos and means “anointed one”. It is the same word in Hebrew as mashiyach and in our English translations, we say, “messiah”. This word comes from the root word meaning “to smear or to anoint with a liquid”. There were lots of people that were anointed in Scripture. Aaron and his sons were anointed as priests. Saul, David and Solomon were each anointed as kings. Elisha was anointed as a prophet and yes, Yeshua also had oil poured over Him and He was anointed. So, is it possible that the millennial reign will be with David and not Yeshua? Jeremiah 30:9 (NASB) 'But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. We don’t have any idea, but only offering food for thought. It is also interesting that in all of the Scriptures that talk about David being king in the millennium, if you look at the Hebrew version, the letters Aleph and Tav also appear somewhere in those verses. So, will it be David or Yeshua that will reign as king on earth during that time? At this point in our studies, we think we will have to wait and see.
Another way to get an idea on what might happen on the seventh day is to look at what Yeshua would do on the seventh day or the Sabbath while He was walking on the face of the earth. Mark 1:21 (NASB) They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. We believe that this seventh day millennium will be a time of teaching. Remember, the word Jerusalem in Hebrew means "teaching of Peace". What else did Yeshua do on the seventh day? Luke 6:1 (NASB) Now it happened that he was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. This is a picture of the fortunes being restored back to the house of Israel and is told to us in Jeremiah 31:12 (NASB)“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD— Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd; And their life will be like a watered garden, And they will never languish again. We believe that the seventh day will be a time of great bounty for YHVH's people. The last thing that we see Yeshua doing over and over is healing people on the Sabbath. Luke 14:3-4 (NASB) And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. Some people use these verses to show that we no longer need to observe the seventh day Sabbath, but that is not what Yeshua is doing here. Remember, He could never do something against the Torah because He is the Torah. Obviously, healing a person on Shabbat was not against Torah. We believe that this is also showing what will happen in the seventh day millennium - we will receive complete healing. We think that this seventh day will have two sets of healings and two sets of resurrections in it. The first one will be at the beginning of the seventh day for just a few. Revelation 20:4 (NASB)Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is a small healing. At the end of the seventh day millennium, there will be a larger healing and resurrection. Revelation 20:5 (NASB) The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Yeshua was not trying to annoy the Pharisees by healing people on the Sabbath and eating heads of grain. Instead, He was showing us what will take place on the "seventh day". We see this same picture in 2 Kings chapter 4 when Ejlisha heals a lad of a Shunnamite woman. The boy was dead and he sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. A picture of a seventh day resurrection. Although this seventh day will be from the years 6,000 - 6,999 from creation, it is also the "third day" from Yeshua's first coming and we see over and over pictures of "third day' healings and resurrections. Yeshua, Himself, rose on the third day. If we take a look at the third day of creation, we can see that it was also divided into two parts. First, the waters were gathered and dry land appeared and Elohim said that it was good. Then, it says that the seed bearing plant was created and again, He said it was good. Twice on that day, Elohim said it was good. The Jewish people call this day "tov tov", meaning "good good" and some of them use this day for weddings because it has a "double blessing of good". We think that this is showing two separate times that people will be healed and resurrected - one at the beginning of the seventh day and one at the end. And, let's not forget that it also shows a gathering that takes place. The waters were gathered and dry land appeared just as Israel will be gathered back to her land.
The book of Hosea gives us an interesting insight into this "third day resurrection". Hosea 6:1 (NASB) "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. We believe that he is talking about "a day is as a thousand years".
Something else that we see frequently is the recovery of sight for the blind on the third day. Remember, Paul is blinded on the road to Damascus and is healed on the third day. We, from Christian backgrounds, are quick to point out that Judah is blinded to her Messiah right now, but doesn't Paul say that all of Israel has been blinded in part? Romans 11:25 (KJV) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Blindness "in part". Could this mean that the House of Judah was blinded to their Messiah coming in the flesh, but the House of Israel was blinded to the fact that Yeshua is the Torah in the flesh? Either way, the third day is used for the healing of the blind.
How long was Yeshua's flesh in the grave, but did not see decay? Three days. Could this be a picture of the first covenant fading away after 3,000 years? It was sentenced to death a very long time ago, but it has not seen decay yet. We are given a picture of when Moses or Moshe died in Deuteronomy 34:7 "Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated." We don't think that this is a slow fading. We think it will be like Moses in that the first covenant will be here and then it will be gone without its "vigor abating". In other words, we don't think that bits and pieces of it will go away a little at a time. It will go away all at once and until it does, we still should be following Torah until the end. One argument for the one king placed over us being Yeshua is the picture we are given of Moses dying before entering the promised land and it is Joshua (Yeshua) that bring the children of Israel over the Jordan river. Some people use the fact that Moses lived for one hundred and twenty years as a mathematical equation to help prove this. Moses lasted for 120 years or possibly 120 jubilees, which are 50 years each. (120 x 50 = 6,000). Moses, as the written word or the written Torah was to last for 6,000 years, but then the living Torah, which is Yeshua would take us through the end of the 7,000 years or the 7th day. Again, we do not know the answer, but are offering food for thought.
A word of caution here: as people are slowly being brought back to Torah or as the Jewish people are beginning to see Yeshua as their Messiah, we must remember that this is a walk. We need to allow the Spirit to operate in each person We won't understand all of the laws at the same time or even observe them the same way. Maybe one person believes that fulfilling the commandment of wearing tassels on the four corners of their garments with a cord of blue simply means tying a blue thread to the four corners of their undergarments. After all, shouldn't we remind ourselves first to keep the commandments before we can teach others? But, maybe another person believes that it must be tied with a certain number of knots to spell out YHVH's Name and must be worn on the outside of their garment. After all, didn't Yeshua wear His on the outside? We remember as we first celebrated Passover and we cleaned out the "leaven" in our homes - we took this to mean throwing out the jar of yeast and the rest of the loaf of bread. The next year, we felt that it meant to also get rid of baking soda and baking powder. The following year, we began checking labels and were shocked to see that it even included cans of soup among many other things. We started to see that this was a picture of how the Spirit cleanses us with the water of the Word. As we read through Torah (and the rest of the Word) every year, the Spirit lays a deeper understanding and a deeper cleansing of our sins. Leaven is a picture of sin and we saw that with each year we celebrated Passover, we got rid of more and more items. Maybe some people feel more comfortable using the guidance of some of the Talmud because of the Scripture in Zechariah 8:23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." And maybe others do not because of the verse that says in Mark 7:8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." We must have an incredible amount of grace with each other on this walk. After all, isn't this what Paul is talking about when he says we are to serve in newness of spirit rather than in the oldness of the letter? We don't think that we will have it all totally right until the Messiah, the living Torah, comes and shows us the proper ways of doing things.
A quick note at this point....is everyone that calls themselves a Jew part of the "House of Judah"? We don't believe so. We are cautioned in the book of Revelation 2:9b(NASB)...those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. We must be very careful in deciding who is who. Doesn't Yeshua give us a picture of these wolves in sheep's clothing with Judas? (His name in Hebrew is "Judah") and he is called the "son of perdition". We are also given the same picture with some of the Pharisees that Yeshua encounters. Remember that at the time of Herod (he was an Edomite), the priesthood was not being handed down to the Levites as Torah commanded, but instead, was being sold to the highest bidder according to historians. That is why Yeshua says in John 8:41- 42, 44a (NASB) "“You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me..... “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him....." We believe that we will know them by their fruit. Are they speaking Torah AND by their actions following it? Some believe that the true "House of Judah" will be believers in Yeshua as the Messiah and we believe that is true eventually. However, Paul's "blindness " is not healed until the "third day", so we think that although some have come to Him now, all will not be healed of their blindness until the "third day". It is also the same on the flip side with people that profess to be Christians. We need to use caution. Are all of them part of the "House of Israel"?
Back to the seventh and eighth days.....The problem with trying to figure out exactly what will happen on the seventh day and what will occur on the eighth day is that there really isn’t a dividing line for those two days. In Genesis, when Elohim created the seven days of the week, on the first six days, He would say “there was evening and morning the first day” or “there was evening and morning the second day” and so on. He never said this on the seventh day. It will be difficult for us to really know for sure what will happen on the seventh day or maybe even to know when it begins or when it ends. There is no "evening and morning" on that day.
We really believe that the earth will be as it has always been during the seventh day, but we think YHVH’s people will be gathered back to the land and will be taught and ruled by either David or Yeshua Himself. One argument for it being David might be because the Scriptures tell us that when Yeshua comes back, He will come back as God. Zechariah 14:3-4(NASB) Then the LORD (YHVH) will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. We see the same thing with Yeshua’s return. Act 1:10-12(NASB) And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into `heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet…Yeshua will also come and stand on the Mount of Olives when He returns. And just as YHVH will go forth to fight against the nations that come up to Jerusalem, so will Yeshua. Revelation 17:14 (NASB) "These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." We believe that the Word, at some point, will go back into YHVH’s mouth and they become one again. Zechariah 14:9 (NASB) And the LORD (YHVH) will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD (YHVH) will be the only one, and His name the only one. At some point, there can only be one Lord of Lords and King of Kings and there is only one throne. In Revelation, we see that Yeshua becomes the Word of God again. Revelation 19:11-13, 15a(NASB) And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations.. Yeshua is the sharp sword from YHVH’s mouth. He is the Word of YHVH. Revelation 21:5(NASB) And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
We are inclined to believe that these things take place on the eighth day. We do know that the Levitical High Priest will step down on that day and the sin sacrifice will no longer be found. We are given this hint in the Torah. It is interesting that it is Moses (also called Torah) that ordains his brother Aaron as the high priest. Leviticus 9:1,22 (NASB) Now it came about on the eighth day…Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. On the same day, they cannot find the sin offering. Leviticus 10:16(NASB) But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! Remember that this is also the center Torah portion. We think that YHVH is showing us that on this day, the eighth day, the priesthood on earth will no longer be the Levitical priesthood and He is also showing us that on the same day, the sacrifices and offerings will stop forever – it was burned up.
What parts of the Old Testament will die and what will remain? The entire Torah will not fade away ever. The land covenant that was given to Abraham in the Torah will not die. Psalm 37:29(NASB) The righteous will inherit the land And dwell in it forever. The Hebrew word used here that is translated as “forever”, is the word ad and it simply means eternity. According to Strong’s, the word means “perpetuity, for ever, continuing future”. It comes from the root word adah, which means “to pass on, advance, go on, pass by, remove”. This same word is also contained in the Hebrew word edah, which is the congregation. The congregation will go on into eternity.
There are two words in the TaNaKh that are translated as “forever”. One is ad and the other is olam. Strong’s translates this word as “long duration, antiquity, futurity, old, ancient, world”. We believe this word should have been translated as “age”. The Talmud has two terms called the Olam HaZeh, which is used to describe “this world” or “this age” that we are living in now and the Olam Haba – the “world or age to come”. We think that this is what David was saying in Psalm 41:13(NASB) Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. Everlasting to Everlasting is the Hebrew words olam to olam. We believe he is saying “in this age and in the age to come”. Yeshua says the same thing in Luke 18:29-30(NASB) And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."Olam to olam. The word on its own, olam, would not necessarily mean forever, but the word ad, does seem to mean eternity.
There are things in the first covenant that are forever – ad. Jeremiah 31:33(NASB) "But this is the covenant which I will make with the House of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
We do not know for sure, what will fade away and what is permanent. We are given a picture in the Old Testament that Moses (who is a picture of the Torah) will not enter into the Promised Land . Remember, he dies and is buried on Mt. Nebo, which means “prophet” and Joshua, (Yeshua in Hebrew) leads the people into the land. Torah is our tutor until the time comes that we will no longer need a tutor because we will have the real Torah in the form of Yeshua.
Some of the laws, after we are given the New Covenant, will be rendered useless simply because we have new bodies. We believe that these new bodies will be incorruptible, so the laws pertaining to leprosy and disease will no longer be needed. Or the laws pertaining to the sacrifices, at a certain time, will no longer be needed.
We know that the feast days will be permanent. On the fourth day of creation, the sun, moon and stars were created. Since light was given on the first day, why would we need the sun, moon and stars? Genesis 1:14(NASB) Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years” Upon closer inspection, we can see that the word that was translated as “seasons” in Hebrew is moed. The definition of this word is “an appointed time or a feast day”. If we break down the word moed, we have a letter mem (which means “from”), the letter vav (which means “and”) and the letters ayin and dalet (which is the Hebrew word ad and it means eternity). To quote a Torah teacher, Hollisa Alewine, “God’s seven feast days came from eternity and will also go back into eternity.” The sun, moon and stars were given to tell us when to celebrate these beautiful days. Although these feast days are talked about in the first covenant, they are eternal. They were created well before there ever was a House of Israel or a House of Judah. Remember, there is a percentage of blood that is made up of water. The feast days have a part in both the water and the blood. Why would we ever want to stop celebrating these beautiful holy days? After all, they are a complete picture of our Messiah. He was nailed to the tree on Passover, He was in the grave on Unleavened Bread and He rose again on the Feast of First Fruits. He sent us the Holy Spirit on Shavuot (also called Pentecost in Greek), so the last three will be fulfilled with as much precision as the first four were, but this time, it will be at His second coming. These are theories on how it might work: the trumpet will sound on the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) to announce His return and the dead will rise. Judgement Day just might be on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and quite possibly the "wedding supper of the Lamb" will be served on the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). Why would we ever want to trade these beautiful pictures of our Messiah for holidays that were originally designed to celebrate pagan gods? Instead, we have stamped His name upon those "gifts from former husbands". Even more, each of these feasts also give us a picture of what the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of wrath might look like in the book of Revelation. Just as each feast day has a specific detail in it that relate to the seven days of creation, they also contain pictures of the "Day of the Lord". (For a much deeper teaching on this, please see video teachings done by Hollisa Alewine on the "Creation Gospel" that are shown at The Hebraic Roots Network. We have provided a link below.)
We really do not know what laws will stay and what laws will go after we receive the New Covenant, but if we are happily abiding by them to the best of our ability now, we don't think it will matter. After all, weren't all of the laws written, originally, for our own good? Just as our own earthly fathers create rules to keep us safe and secure, wouldn't it stand to reason that our Heavenly Father, out of His vast amount of love for us, is doing the same thing? We don't believe that there is such a thing as Grace vs. Law or that we are in an "age of grace". After all, isn't His Grace all over in His Law? He told us about the eighth day or the New Covenant right in the center of the Torah. It was always about His Grace - from the beginning or from the Aleph Tav.
Thank you for joining us on this study and please, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us by email. Our email address is covenantpeace@yahoo.com. We will try, to the best of our ability, to answer any questions that you may have. Check back with us often as we will try to post more studies and may you all be blessed indeed in Yeshua, our Messiah! Baruch attah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha olam! Blessed are You, Oh Lord our God, King of the Universe!