The "Sabbath" in Biblical Hebrew is "Shabbat" which is a verb meaning "to cease" or "to REST," its noun form meaning a time or day of cessation or REST. The "Shabbat" Anglicized pronunciation is Sabbath.
If one literally "kept" the Law of the Sabbath Day there would be NO CHURCH gatherings on the Sabbath Day.
The Law COMMANDS to "Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day" (Ex. 16:26, 16:29)! All the Old Testament Sabbath Day believers were COMMANDED to stay at home, stay in their place, and NOT to travel to church. Seven Old Testament Biblical Feasts are based on Leviticus 23:4-43.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Fourth of the Ten Commandments as well as the Old Testament Feast of Booths and Tabernacles. To enter into Jesus and the Holy of Holies is to enter the spiritual "Rest" given by the Father.
Matthew 11:28 [Jesus said,] "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you REST. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find REST for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Come to God through Jesus and invite Him into your heart to be your Lord and Master and He will help you to have a "Life more Abundantly." All Christians are commanded to "see the Face of Jesus" (1Cor. 13:12). Therefore it is possible, if Christians patiently pray and seek His Face (2Chron. 7:14). Personally, I see a warm spiritual presence in the midst of Worshipping Christians, the "Shekinah Glory," where somewhere in the "Shekinah Glory" Jesus is keeping His Promise of being there and standing in the midst of two or three believers (Mt. 18:18-20). Therefore I see the Face of Jesus by faith and do not see physical details such as nose, eyes, etc.
Fortunately for the literalists, Scripture understanding is built upon ALL relevant Bible verses. For those who God is teaching, they must learn doctrine is built on "line upon line" (Isaiah 28:10).
Isaiah 28:9 "Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast? 10 For they hear: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there.” 11 Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues, He will speak to this people 12 to whom He has said: “This is the place of REST, let the weary REST; this is the place of REPOSE.”
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh Day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He RESTED. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath Day and set it apart as holy."
Of the "Ten Commandments" of God (Exodus 20:2–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21), The Fourth Commandment of keeping the Sabbath is being fulfilled today in the New Testament Covenant by Jesus having fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths and "remaining in place" inside Jesus every day! Christians are always to be clothed in Christ, inside the Armor of God walking with Jesus as Adam did in the Garden of Eden.
With Jesus and His Father dwelling in each believer it is a relationship, eternal fellowship with God and Jesus every day (Romans 14:5), and ENTERING into His Spiritual REST (Hebrews 4:3-5).
Hebrews 4:9 "Consequently, there remains a Sabbath REST for the people of God. 10 For the one who has ENTERED His REST has himself also RESTED from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let’s make every effort to ENTER that REST, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the WORD of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Luke 2:49 “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s HOUSE?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them." Jesus was commanded to be in His Father's HOUSE. Jesus is God's Temple of the Godhead of His Father today. Jesus is the Tabernacle fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is our eternal dwelling place, the "Tabernacle." All Christians are commanded to be "clothed with Christ," clothed with "the armor of God. Jesus is the "HOUSE" and "Tabernacle" of all Christians who are commanded to remain inside Him on the Sabbath and remain inside Him every day.
"We are created for His Pleasure). Therefore, learning to become "perfect" as our Heavenly Father is Perfect because learning to become "perfect" pleasures God (Mt. 5:48). After all it is His Commandment.
Ephesians 2:1 "In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit."
This is the loving relationship with God our Father through the mediator Jesus Christ that God and Jesus are calling all men, women, and children to dwell in.
Isaiah 56:7 "Even those I will bring [them] to My Holy mountain, And make them joyful in My HOUSE of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My HOUSE will be called a HOUSE of prayer for all the peoples.”
In the New Testament Christians worship in Heavenly Places "Heavenly places" or "Heavenly realms" (Ephesians 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). We "stay in place" in Our HOUSE and inside the spiritual Tabernacle of staying "clothed with Christ" who sits on His Heavenly Throne at the "Right Hand" of His Father's Throne.
Jesus said, "My Father's HOUSE shall be a HOUSE of prayer."
Hebrews 4:4 "For He has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God RESTED on the seventh day from all His works.” 5 And again in this passage He said, “They shall not ENTER My REST.” 6 Since therefore it remains for some to ENTER it, and those who formerly received THE GOOD NEWS failed to ENTER because of disobedience, 7 again He appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted: “Today if you hear His Voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them REST, God would not have spoken of ANOTHER DAY later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath REST for the people of God, 10 for whoever has ENTERED God's REST has also RESTED from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore strive to ENTER that REST, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience."
Col. 2:16 "Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or Sabbaths. 17 These are a Shadow of the things to come, but the Body that casts [the Shadow] it belongs to Christ!"
Which do you want? The Shadow of Christ or do you want Jesus Himself? Nobody wants to be married to a "shadow." People want to be married to a flesh and blood mate and not to a mere shadow of Jesus. Christians are married to Jesus and NOT to His Shadow of the O.T.
The Law is a Schoolmaster leading us to Christ. Which do you want, the Schoolmaster that leads to Jesus or be married to Christ Jesus Himself as "The Bride of Christ?"
We are Alive in Christ: Colossians 2:6 "Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [inside] Him, 7 having been rooted and being built up in Him, and being strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding with thanksgiving. 8 Take heed lest there will be anyone taking you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily. 10 And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority, 11 in whom also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised with Him through the faith of the working of God, the One having raised Him out from the dead. 13 And you being dead in the trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 having blotted out the handwriting in the decrees against us, which was adverse to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed the rulers and the authorities, He made a show of them in public, having triumphed over them in it."
Col. 2:16 "Therefore let no one judge you in regard to food, or in regard to drinking, or in regard to a feast, or a New Moon, or Sabbaths, 17 which are a SHADOW OF THE THINGS coming. But the body [casting the SHADOW] is of Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, detailing what he has seen, being puffed up vainly by his mind of the flesh."
It is common for those that want ceremonial day observance of the days of the Sabbaths to falsely claim those that who did NOT believe in keeping the Sabbath Day are going to Hell and will lose their souls.
Paul writes these are "self-imposed worship" restrictions that Christ died to free Christians from. Which would you rather have, the "Shadow" of the darkness of O.T. ceremonial Sabbaths, or possess the Light of God of the Body of Jesus Christ Himself who casts the shadow of the Old Covenant Testament?
Apostle Paul writes the ceremonial Sabbath Day worship restrictions are as wrong as the worship of angels is wrong (Col 2:18). One should always be led by the Holy Spirit and rejoice in the liberty of Christ that makes you free, Amen.
The Law of Liberty of Jesus is discussed in Romans 14:4 "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master, he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards a CERTAIN DAY ABOVE the others, while someone else considers EVERY DAY ALIKE. Each one should be FULLY CONVINCED in his own mind. 6 He who observes a SPECIAL DAY does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who ABSTAINS does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God."
True Sabbath worship is daily worship in the REST of the Holy Spirit of God which carries your spirit in His Spirit for the Sabbath REST every day (Romans 14:5). Jesus said God requires Him to be worshipped "in Spirit and in Truth." God demands true worshipers to be "clothed in Christ" as they worship Him.
Psalm 95:10 "For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.” 11 So I swore on Oath in My anger, “They shall never ENTER My REST.” Israel KEPT THE WEEKLY SABBATH but they were negligent to ENTER the true SABBATH of the spiritual REST OF GOD!
There is NO SABBATH REST for the disobedient...
Hebrews 4:2 "For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it. 3 Now we who have believed ENTER that REST. As for the others, it is just as God has said: “So I swore on oath in My anger, ‘They shall NEVER ENTER My REST.’” And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world. 4 For somewhere He has spoken about the Seventh Day in this manner: “And on the Seventh Day God RESTED from ALL His works.”
Hebrews 4:5b “They shall NEVER ENTER My REST [Sabbath].” 6 Since, then, it remains for some to ENTER His REST, and since those who formerly heard the Good News [The Gospel] did not ENTER because of their disobedience, 7 God again designated a certain day as “Today,” when a long time later He spoke through David as was just stated: “Today if you hear His Voice, do NOT harden your hearts.”
Hebrews 3:17 "And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would never ENTER His REST? Was it not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to ENTER."
Hebrews 3:11 "So I swore on oath in My anger, 'They shall never ENTER My REST.'" The true Sabbath REST of the Holy Spirit of God is the true Sabbath and is God's REST.
The Sabbath Day is the Fourth of the Ten Commandments and will continue to exist as the Seventh Day (Saturday). The Sabbath Day observance is justified, good, and acceptable to God for believers to OBEY Jesus and gather together and worship GOD in Spirit and in Truth together as the Body of Christ.
Jesus is "the Lord of the Sabbath."
Jesus said that saving animals and other humanitarian activities were acceptable on the Sabbath. This is why Jesus and His disciples were journeying and harvesting wheat to eat on the Sabbath and NOT "staying in place" as the literal Commandment has written (Mt. 12:1-8).
Matthew 12:7 "If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Repent of your sins and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart and you will experience the true Sabbath REST every day (Romans 14:5; Acts 2:38). Amen