While the Psalms are the prayerbook of the second temple, with its pageant of worship on the Sabbath and other holy days of Judaism, the Sabbath itself goes largely unmentioned. It is mentioned in the Psalms only in the heading of one of them.(Psa 92:1 ) A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.

There is every probability that the entire fourth book of Psalms, the section containing Psalm 92, was compiled for the purpose of Sabbath worship.

The prophets, quite predictably, focus on moral issues in relation to the Sabbath,just as they do in relation to many other aspects of the Law. We see that immediately at the beginning of Isaiah.

(Isa 1:13 ) Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

Here Yahuwah complains through Isaiah about the hypocrisy of maintaining religious forms as a cover for injustice. This is the central theme of most of the prophets,even when other concerns are evident. This text in Isaiah relates especially to the ceremonial aspects of Sabbath observance.

But Isaiah recognizes the moral aspect of the Sabbath as well. Here Isaiah recognizes the role of Sabbath-keeping in fostering righteousness, and its effectiveness for keeping people from doing evil. (Isa 56:2 ) Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

Isaiah recognizes that the Gentile convert to the worship of the true God,Yahuwah, is also responsible to maintain the Sabbath. He is not to make a distinction between himself and Israel. (Isa 56:3 ) Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak,saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

The Jewish and entire Middle Eastern culture considers offspring one of the most important parts of life. Isaiah takes the importance attached to having children in the Middle East and uses it to emphasize the importance of the Sabbath. He shows that Sabbath observance lays up a treasure in heaven that is of even greater importance than having children. (Isa 56:4 ) For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; (Isa 56:5 ) Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. (Isa 56:6 ) Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbathSabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant.

Those who would contend that the Sabbath is abrogated generally focus on the Sabbathas a legal and ceremonial duty. They never focus on its real role as affirming dependence on Yahuwahand safeguarding the non-negotiable rights of subordinates. By the same token, they never discuss the fact that the Sabbath is not a mere obligation,nor even a mere safeguard to human and animal rights, but also a delight. Every true Sabbath-keeper has experienced such delight. Isaiah also notices this aspect of Sabbath observance. (Isa 58:13 ) If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD ,honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words....

Finally,Isaiah points to the future observance of the Sabbath. Depending on one's view of the prophecy, the Sabbath is to be a central part of the delight of the return from captivity on the part of the Jews or in the restored new earth tocome. (Isa 66:23 ) And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah mentions the Sabbath in a more limited context than does Isaiah. He merely reaffirms the principles of Sabbath observance mentioned in Nehemiah. Jeremiah actually wrote before Nehemiah, and no doubt strongly influenced Nehemiah's actions and writing. (Jer 17:21 ) Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day,nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; (Jer 17:22 ) Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.... (Jer 17:24 ) And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein;... (Jer 17:27 ) But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle afire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and its hall not be quenched.

It is also from the writings of Jeremiah that Nehemiah realized the role that the neglect of the Sabbath played in triggering the Babylonian captivity. (Lam1:7 ) Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her Sabbaths. (Lam2:6 ) And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.

Ezekiel brings forward a completely different aspect. He bases his remarks in regard to the Sabbath on Exodus 31:13-16 . He thus emphasizes the Sabbath as a sign between Yahuwah and Israel (Eze 20:12 ) Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them,that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. (Eze20:13 ) But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.... (Eze 20:16 ) Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.... (Eze 20:20 ) And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.

While Ezekiel emphasizes the Sabbath as a sign of the special covenant between Yahuwah and Israel, he also recognizes some other issues in regard to the Sabbath. He especially focuses on idolatry, and the fact that the Sabbath brings a knowledge oYahuwah.   We have already seen how the Sabbath brings knowledge of Yahuwah in a practical way, by showing that humankind is constantly dependent onYahuwah for life and nourishment, and by showing that superiors have limited powers over their subordinates. Ezekiel notes that such knowledge is essential to avoiding idolatry. The idolatry of Israel was associated with neglect of Sabbath observance. There is a direct relationship between the increasing neglect of the Sabbath in the early centuries of Christianity and the rise of a false theory of Yahuwah and the Trinity. These go hand in hand, occurring over the same period of time.

Ezekiel does not fail to describe the results of idolatrous Sabbath-breaking in Israel,with the consequent implications for the same phenomenon among Christians later. (Eze 20:21 ) Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them;they polluted my Sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

Sabbath-breaking idolatry in the book of Ezekiel is also associated with neglect of justice in carrying out divine judgments in cases of dispute. (Eze 20:24 ) Because they had not executed my judgments,but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.

Two chapters later, Ezekiel points out how Sabbath-breaking affects human perceptions, so that a person is incapable of distinguishing between holy and unholy, clean and unclean. Sabbath-breaking goes hand in hand with the idea that uncleanness and Christianity are compatible. Idolatry, Sabbath-breaking, and eating loathsome things without a qualm are seen all around us today, and only repeat what Ezekiel saw in his own day. (Eze 22:8 ) Thou hast despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my Sabbaths... (Eze 22:26 ) Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths,and I am profaned among them. (Eze 23:38 ) Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

Ezekiel returns to the issue of social justice and the Sabbath, which was left rather sketchily stated in chapter 20. In his final predictions of the coming rise of justice, he mentions the reinstatement of Sabbath observance along with justice before the law. (Eze 44:24 ) And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies;and they shall hallow my Sabbaths.

Ezekiel's prediction of the second temple has never been fulfilled in detail. But the restitution of the ceremonial aspects of the Sabbath to some extent were reflected in its services. (Eze 45:17 ) And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the Sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (Eze 46:1 ) Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days;but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. (Eze 46:3 ) Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the Sabbath and in the new moons. (Eze 46:4 ) And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. (Eze 46:12 ) Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east,and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the Sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.

Thus Ezekiel carefully distinguished between the social and moral aspects of the Sabbath on one hand, and the ceremonial and signal aspects on the other. He wrote about both, but in different passages.

Two minor prophets joined their voices to the Sabbath message. Hosea speaks of the cessation of the ceremonial figures. (Hos 2:11 ) I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons,and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

The message of Hosea complements that of Isaiah 1:13 . Because the ceremonies of the faith have been used as a cover for moral and social injustice, they are to betaken away in punishment, and Israel is to be left bare, vulnerable and visible in her unfaithfulness. The Sabbath is a central issue in this matter, simply because it contains both the moral and social elements and the ceremonial ones.Here again there is a striking parallel today. Just as ancient Israel failed to keep in mind the social justice that the Sabbath implied, while all the time maintaining the sacrifices and ceremonies, so too Sabbath-keepers today are strong to contend for the specific day and the Sabbath as a sign of obedience,but generally fail to recognize the Sabbath as a witness to constant human dependence on Yahuwah for life and nourishment and as a practical safeguard to human and animal rights by limiting the powers of superiors.

This social and moral aspect of the Sabbath, so neglected by ancient Sabbath-keepers, is also mentioned by Amos. (Amo 8:5 ) Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

The prophets greatly enhance our understanding of the Sabbath. The first issue the prophets approach is the ceremonial observance of the Sabbath as a form of hypocrisy among those who used it to cloak social injustice. Isaiah, Hosea and Amos emphasis that point. Jeremiah focuses on the Sabbath as a sign of Yahuwah's covenant with Israel. Jeremiah brings more detail into proper Sabbath observance and shows how its neglect helped to cause the Babylonian Captivity.Ezekiel emphasizes the role of the Sabbath as a sign of the special covenant between Yahuwah and Israel. At the same time he shows how neglect of the Sabbath causes idolatry, inability to distinguish between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, and social injustice before the law. He predicts the restitution of the ceremonial aspect of Sabbath observance in the second temple. Isaiah goes on to show that the Sabbath blessings belong to the Gentile convert as well as to Israel, and how Sabbath-keeping is a greater treasure than even the greatest treasure in Middle Eastern thought, offspring. Isaiah points out that the Sabbath is not a burden, but a delight, and he predicts its restitution after the Captivity and in the view of many in the earth made new.