Many Sabbaths
2. Many Sabbaths.
Many people are not aware that Jehovah had given other Sabbath Days, contained in the ceremonial laws. The Feast of Trumpets, which fell on the first day of the seventh month, was called a Sabbath. Leviticus 23:24-25 states,
"...In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a SABBATH, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do NO SERVILE WORK therein." The Day of Atonement was called a Sabbath, as we read in Leviticus 16:29; Leviticus 16:31,
"...In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and DO NO WORK AT ALL, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you. (29) It shall be a SABBATH OF REST unto you..." (31) Notice in Leviticus 23:27-28; Leviticus 23:30-32, concerning the same feast,
"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you...And ye shall do NO WORK in that same day...And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do NO MANNER OF WORK...It shall be unto you a SABBATH of REST..."
We have the same with the Feast of Passover, as recorded in Leviticus 23:7, "In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do NO SERVILE WORK therein." The same was true concerning the Feast of Pentecost, as given in Leviticus 23:21. The Feast of Tabernacles was also called a Sabbath. It lasted seven days and no work was to be done on the first day, nor on the eighth day, which was the day after the feast. Look at Leviticus 23:34-35; Leviticus 23:39.
"Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do NO SERVILE WORK therein... (34,35) On the first day shall be a SABBATH, and on the eighth day shall be a SABBATH." (39) A Sabbath for the Land to Rest. We have this recorded in Leviticus 25:1-4 a.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
(1) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a SABBATH unto the LORD. (2) Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; (3) But in the seventh year shall be a SABBATH OF REST unto the land..." (Leviticus 25:1-4). So far, we have found that God had given many Sabbaths, besides just the seventh day, weekly Sabbath, to the nation of Israel. One can easily determine, by the context, which Sabbath the Lord has reference to. Something else we have seen thus far is that ALL the SABBATHS were REST DAYS, including the Sabbath of the Land, the seventh-day Sabbath, and the ceremonial Sabbaths.