The Sabbath

• Why should we take effort to understand whether God wants us to keep the Sabbath?

- If God is still commanding us to practice a literal Sabbath by resting on it, this means that it is important for us to obey Him.

- God has promised us that He will not tempt us beyond what we are able to bare. His extreme examples show us the importance of obedience, and that God always has a way to deliver us from temptation. If the sabbath keeping is important to God, and we don't realize this, than we will be running from the flames and the opportunity to see the true power of God.

 

 

In the sections below we will cover the following topics

• A brief history of the Sabbath
•Opposing views
• Confusing verses
• How the Sabbath equals Worship

 

A Brief History of the Sabbath

This most controversial subject has caused endless strife among christians for the last 2000 years since the Sabbath was changed by Constantine in 321 a.d. Now Christians argue relentlessly against the importance of the true Sabbath, while saying that keeping an actual 24 hours Sabbath just seems too legalistic.

8. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exo 20

50 AD - 364 AD • Despite Constantine's efforts, Christians continued to keep the true sabbath right up until 364 AD when the Council of Laodicea decreed the enforcement of the new Sabbath.

Council of Laodicea. "From the apostles' time until the council of Laodicea, which was about the year 364, the holy observation of the Jews' Sabbath continued, as may be proved out of many authors; yea, notwithstanding the decree of the council against it." Sunday a Sabbath, John Ley, p. 163. London: 1640.

• Soon after in 364 AD, the Cathholic Church went as far as to not only decree that this new sunday sabbath was to be kept, but actually forbaid resting on the saturday sabbath, calling it "Judaizing."

"Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s Day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ." Catholic Church Council in Laodicea, 364AD, Canon 29.

• During the 6th Century, the pressure continued against the Sabbath..

"About 590, Pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day." James T. Ringgold, The Law of Sunday, p. 267.

• In the 8th Century, Christians in India were discovered who went by the name "Thomas Christians." They had never been influenced by Catholicism, and as a result, kept the seventh-day sabbath just as they claimed Thomas had taught them.

"Widespread and enduring was the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath among the believers of the Church of the East and the St. Thomas Christians of India, who never were connected with Rome. It also was maintained among those bodies which broke off from Rome after the Council of Chalcedon namely, the Abyssinians, the Jacobites, the Maronites, and Armenians." Schaff-Herzog, The New Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,

In 1560, after Catholiscism had discovered the heresy of these followers, they took extreme measures to eradicate it.

"The famous Jesuit, Francis Xavier, called for the Inquisition, which was set up in Goa, India, in 1560, to check the 'Jewish wickedness' (Sabbathkeeping)." Adeney, The Greek and Eastern Churches, p. 527-528.

"The council of Trent, (held in northeast Italy, and lasting from 1545 to 1563 A.D.) was called by the Roman Catholic Church to deal with questions arising out of the Reformation. It was at first an apparent possibility that the Council would declare in favour of the reformed doctrines instead of against them. So profound was the impression made this far by the teachings of Luther and other reformers." G.E. Fifield, DD in his incomparable tract, Origin of Sunday as a Christian.

 

 

Q: So why did the reformers sadly fail in their defending their stand on "Sola scriptura"?

The Pope's legate actually wrote to him that there was "strong tendancy to set aside tradition althother, and make the Scriptures the sole standard of appeal." The question was debated day by day, until it was failry brought to standstill. Finaly the Archbishop of Reggio turned the Council against the Reformation by the following arguement:

"The Protestants claim to stand upon the written word only; they profess to hold the Scriptures alone as the standard of faith. They Justify their revolt by the plea that the Church has apostasized from the written word and follows tradition. Now the Protestant's claim that they stand upon the written word alone is not true."

"Their professionn of holding alone as the standard of faith is false. Proof: The written word explicitly enjoins the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. They do not observe the seventh day, but reject it. If they truely hold the Scriptures alone as the standard, they would be observing the seventh day as it is ennjoined in the Scriptures throughout. Yet they do not only reject the observance of the Sabbath as enjoined in the written word, but they have adopted, and do practice, the observance of Sunday, for which they have only the tradition of the Church."

"Consequently, the claim of the Scripture alone as the standard fails and the doctrine of 'Scripture and tradition as essential'is fully established, the protestants themselves being judges." [proceedings of the Council of Trent, Augsburg confession and Encyclopedia Britannica, "Trent, Council of"]

At this argument, the party that stood for the Scripture alone surrendered, and the Council at once unanimously condemned Protestantism, and the whole reformation. It at once proceeded to enact severe decrees to stod its progress.

A: The entire reformation failed because of Sunday observance. After this council, great persecution followed against protestantism, as now the Catholicism felt truely justified in removing the heresy of this sect.

 

 

The following is a quote from a Catholic magazine, The Catholic Mirror, under the supervision of Archbishop James Cardinal Gibbons. [1893]:

"The Catholic Church for over 1,000 years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day [of worship] from Saturday to Sunday. . . . In the Old Testament, reference is made 126 times to the Sabbath, and all these texts conspire harmoniously in voicing the will of God commanding the seventh day to be kept, because God Himself first kept it, making it obligatory on all as 'a perpetual covenant.' Nor can we imagine any one foolhardy enough to question the identity of Saturday with the Sabbath or seventh day, seeing that the people of Israel have been keeping Saturday from the giving of the law 2514 BC to the present . . . Examining the New Testament from cover to cover critically, we find the Sabbath referred to 61 times. We find, too, that the Savior invariably selected the Sabbath (Saturday) to teach in the synagogues and work miracles. The four Gospels refer to the Sabbath (Saturday) 51 times. . . . Hence the conclusion is inevitable . . . that of those who follow the Bible as their guide, the Israelites and the Seventh-day Adventists, have the exclusive weight of evidence on their side, whilst the biblical Protestant has not a word in self-defense for his substitution of Sunday for Saturday. . . . They have ignored and condemned their teacher, the Bible . . . and they have adopted a day [instituted and] kept by the Catholic Church." Official publication of Cardinal Gibbons and the Papacy in the United States, published in Baltimore, Maryland, September 1893.

Since then the The Catholic Mirror Publishers have published 2 succesive books extening this arguement. To read the content in this book, click on the image below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pope john paull II is issueing a stern warning to catholics that they should set aside sunday for worship.. today the vatican is exptected to issue an apostolic letter "dies domini", from the pope further stressing the 3rd commandment. Apostolic letters are encorporated into church rules... "Sunday must be sanctified above all, by participation in the holy mass." In his letterthe pope goes on to say "a violator should be pusnished as a heretic" Detroit News July 7 1998.

 

And just a few months ago, the latest popes recent encyclical took Dies Domini many steps further and included a solemn warning against those who don't keep sunday Holy; [under sonstruction]

 

 

Some Questions you might want to ask yourself..

Q: Why did the Catholic church work so hard to change the Sabbath?

Q: Did God give them the power to change God's Law?

Q: Is the Catholic church right when they charge that everyone who keeps Sunday is paying homage to them?

Q: Does any of this really matter? Does God care about which day we keep?

The next section will help to answer these questions. After reading the above, you may also be asking yourself another question..

As explained on The beast page aswell, these claims by the Catholic church are the fulfillment of the Daniel prophecy of "think to change times and laws."

 

The Opposition Says....

Mainstream Sunday keepers today say that the Law was done away with at the cross and that we are not under the Law. Therefore keeping the Sabbath is not something God requires of us, as it would fall under the category of trying to be saved by works. Before we go into the arguments, we need to explore what exactly works are.

What is the difference between works and obedience? When this world fell into sin Jesus set forth the plan of salvation. Through His death alone, we could be redeemed from the penalty of sin. We as human beings are completely incapable of earning salvation, because as soon as we have sinned once, we are doomed to pay the penalty of sin. Jesus alone could pay the penalty. So since we are incapable of earning our salvation, do we have any part in our redemption?

Lets consider the story of Cain and Abel. Cain and Abel could not earn their salvation, but God commanded them as to how they could tap into the redeeming power of what Jesus would do 4000 years later. Abel obeyed, while Cain believed obedience was not as important as offering what he thought was a better sacrifice. Which brother was guilty of works, and which was merely obedient? The Law commands us to obey 10 precepts, and one of them is keeping the Sabbath day Holy. Do you see the irony emerging here? Being obedient is how we tap into the power of salvation provided by Jesus. Keeping the Sabbath is a form of obedience, while keeping Sunday is actually a form of works.

To us humans, it seems very silly that God would put any importance on a particular day. It seems even more silly that disobeying the Sabbath could prevent us from furthering our relationship with God, or tapping into the redeeming power of what Jesus did 2000 years ago. Stop now and put yourself in Cain's sandals. Imagine how strange the request appeared to take a lamb, place it on an altar, cut its throat, wait till it died, then start it on fire. Cain loved nature, which is evident in his passion for gardening. Now he was told to senselessly destroy life. What he did not comprehend was that it was not about what he was doing, but what Jesus would do. His actions of spilling the blood of an animal was linking him to Jesus' blood that would be placed in "the most Holy Place, once for all.'"

12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebr 9

Some Confusing Verses

Now lets look at some verses that have created some confusion about the Sabbath.

This is the most common verse quoted by christians believing the sabbath is unimportant...

16. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, Col 2

Ah ah there it is! according to this verse, Christians who believe eating healthy and keeping the sabbath are being falsely judgemental in believing all christians should do the same. Well lets read the verses around this proof text.

14. having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
17. which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Col 2

The obsticle here is that in order to understand this verse, you must have a descent understanding of the old testament. When discussing topics today, many Christians want an answer in the form of a short simple verse that can be understood at surface value, which is exactly what is being done to this verse. Typically people read this verse, and only notice the words "food" and "sabbaths," and ignore the other key words like: "handwriting of requirements", "new moons", "festival," "shadows of things to come," and the mention of them being nailed to the cross. What are all these things, and why are they grouped together like this?

First of all, what does the Bible say was nailed to the cross when Jesus died?

27. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. Dan 9

Jesus' death signaled the end of sacrifices and offerings for sin, and just incase the high priest of Israel didn't catch this, an angel tore the curtain in the most holy place from top to bottom.

 

Where were the instruction for sacrifice and offering written in?

10. if you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deut 30

As you can see, these verses require more than a surface understanding. In order to understand it, you need to do allot of reading through fairly dry chapters in Deuteronomy and Leviticus. The book of the law, or"handwriting of requirements" contained both the law of Moses, or "commandments", and the "statutes" or ordinances, which describe how God's people were to keep the feast days. The words "statutes" and "Ordinances" are used interchangeably in the Bible.

OK, so how do we know that the "Book of the law" is different than the 10 Commandments?

26. "Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; Deut 31

As you should know, the 2 tablets of stone were placed on the inside of the Ark where the manna and budding rod of Aaron was.

What were the feast days?... Festivals. What did they do on feast days?... Perform special sacrifices, eat specific foods, like unleavened bread on passover. When did they celebrate these feast days? ....On special sabbaths.

24. "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.' " Levi 23

Every feast included special sabbaths. The feast of trumpets involved an additional sabbath which could fall on any day of the week.

The next question is, what were feast days?... A celebration of things to look forward to. The passover was a prophetic feast and was fulfilled when Jesus became the passover lamb. The Feast of Tabernacles is yet to be fulfilled. In other words they are and were "Shadows of things to come."

1. Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. . .

10. concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
11. But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Heb 9

All these things were done away with at the cross by the death of Jesus, just as Daniel predicted. Sadly, those blinded to the truth, were actually sacrificing the passover lamb as the real passover lamb was dying on a cross. While the high priest was examining the passover lamb for 3 days then announced, "I find no fault in it," Pilate was uttering these same words after Jesus had been tested for 3 days.

 

When the angel tore the veil from top to bottom they had no idea the real passover lamb had just died by their own hands. Sadly their blindness didn't end as they continued to reject Jesus. If Jesus was the true passover lamb, then they were guilty of killing Him. They continued with these, now useless rituals and fiercely taught others to continue in this practice. Galations adresses the confusion with the 10 commandments and the book of the law.

 

It is sad that Christians today feel that they do not need to study the old testament, and then read a single verse in Collossians thinking they have researched this topic adequately.

 

The argument is put forth that when Jesus worked on the Sabbath, He was purposely breaking the Sabbath to teach that it was no longer in effect. I almost want to hang my head and cry when I hear this one, because it reveals that people really can't stand the idea of spending a day with God.

Jesus purposely broke at least 4 of the 200 rules the Pharisees had made for the Sabbath. Once telling the lame man to pick up his bed and walk. Another time chewing on grain in the field. Yet again by mixing mud and putting it in the blind man's eyes. And lastly by healing the man with the withered hand. When confronted by the Pharisees about breaking their definition of work, Jesus explains the true principle of the Sabbath by saying 11."What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12. Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

The reason I want to hang my head and cry, is that to anyone with spiritual discernment, it is obvious that Jesus is teaching HOW to keep the Sabbath. If the Sabbath was to no longer be kept after Jesus' death, why would He take the time, and half a chapter in the Bible to correct how people understood the Sabbath. As discussed in the Power of the Law, the purpose of the commandment is love. The Pharisees had so completely misunderstood the Sabbath to the point of believing that God would want people to suffer on the Sabbath rather than receive help.

 

Why Should we keep the Sabbath?

 

Well first of all, God commanded us to do so in the Law. The first four command us how to worship or love God while the last 6 are for our Human relationships. So in other words, if you Love God, the result would be that you keep the first 4 commandments. God says 'If you love me, keep my commandments." Now stop and brace yourself for what this means.... We, cannot keep the law UNLESS we love God.

Do you see what is happening among Christianity now? Christians have become aware that it is completely useless to try to keep the commandments. So a theology has been adapted to a Christian world that "Love God and Mammon." Because until you love God alone, you are completely incapable of keeping the Law and the Sabbath. And if you aren't keeping the law, its because you quite simply do not love God enough.

1Tim 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. ____________________________________________________________________

1Jn 5:3 For this is the Love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Why would God create a Sabbath and put so much emphasis on keeping it? If the 10 commandments is the Law of love, then how does the keeping the Sabbath fill us with love? I've always appreciated Gary Smalley's analogy of how he used to treat his family like a pit crew. He described how he would become so caught up with his job and the pressures and responsibilities of supporting his family that he became like a race car driver, putting all his focus on the race while sadly reducing his family to the status of his pit crew. There to throw him breakfast and a hug and kiss on his way out the door. If we lose sight of appreciating the love we are receiving, it will damage or destroy our relationships. God has given us everything. Life, nature and food, and all the things that we love and enjoy. But what happens if we lose site of Him as the source of all these things? We will lose our thankfulness towards God and gradually become more and more focused on winning the rat race. Our focus becomes what we can DO with the creations of God rather than thanking and appreciating what God has given us.

So now you may conclude: "well I don't need the Sabbath to be thankfull to God." Well according to God, we do. We need an entire 24 hours a week which He has blessed and set apart for this very purpose.

A Relationship Analogy

If a guy meets the most amazing beautiful woman, then finds out on the 1st date that she has a rare unfortunate medical condition, will he stay with her? Unfortunately he is incapable of overlooking this flaw because he has not yet developed the kind of true love that will last a lifetime, through thick and thin.

Christians take this same approach with God. The Sabbath is seen as this rare medical condition, but instead of knowingly walking away from God for this apparently dysfunctional desire of His to spend 24 hours a week with us, they pretend it doesn't exist. And then focus their distaste for this disorder on those who are foolish enough to placate to this dysfunction. This is similar to how husbands and wives focus their anger at the parents who they see as responsible for their partners' woes. It aslo bares a striking similarity to the anger that Cain felt against his brother when only his sacrifice was respected.

 

So with God do you think, then say to those who keep the Sabbath, "How could God possibly want...."

Have you ever thought of asking Him rather than His obedient followers?

 

Revelations Solemn Warning

Lets look closely at the 4rth commandment.

8. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
11. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Exo 20

Now take a look at this extremely solemn warning in the book of Revelation warning us not to take the mark of the beast, and get the 7 last plagues.

6. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—
7. saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
8. And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
9. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark (charagma; stamp, mark) on his forehead or on his hand,
10. he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Rev 14

The first angel actually quotes the 4rth commandment when telling the world to worship God. If we don't worship God, we receive the mark. Then at the end the saints are defined by those who "keep the commandments."

Also, do not be deceived by those who try to convince you that this warning is only for the poor saps who didn't get raptured prior to the tribulation. There is no pre-trib rapture, this message is for everyone.

Why is the Sabbath so key in worshipping God? Well how do you keep it Holy? Do you flip a switch and become holy just as the Sabbath starts? Of course not. In order to be holy on the Sabbath, we must live Holy lives throughout the week. This means that only God's Saints who keep the commandments continually, CAN keep the Sabbath.

 

In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was referred to as a "sign."

12. Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign (oth; sign, mark) between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. . . .

19. I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
20. hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God'. Eze 20

Romans uses the words "sign" and "seal" interchangeably.

11. And he received the sign (Semeion; sign) of circumcision, a seal (sphragis; mark of genuineness, seal) of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, Rom 4

Here in Revelation 7 we see the same word used for the seal of God...

2. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal (sphragis; mark of genuineness, seal) of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
3. saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." Rev 7

You may call it a stretch if you like but the connection between the Sabbath and sign, and the fact that the words sign and seal are used interchangeably as seen in Romans, and then the angel quoting the 4rth commandment when telling us how to avoid the mark of the beast is more than enough for me.

 

 

If you have read Revelation, you will notice the whole book comes down to one warning. Do not worship the image of the beast. The challenging part about this demand is that you wont be able to buy or sell anything of you don't. There is also the possibility that you may lose your life.

15. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17. and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Rev 13

This will be the ultimate test for God's people to have faith in Him alone. Will we fear men or the God who created men. Will we fear hunger and cold when we cant buy food and lose our homes, or the God who created all the laws of science? During these times we will have only God to save us.

 

Now the sad thing is that as you look at Christians today who make a long list of excuses because deep down they just don't want to keep the sabbath. They are afraid that their christian friends will lose respect for them and call them legalists or extremists. Are afraid of the money they may lose from not working on this day, or even that they may lose their entire job or business. How will it be possible to go from fearing any reliance upon God, to complete reliance upon God?

These tests that God has put in front of us today, as tough as they may seem are there to teach us by baby steps that we can rely upon God for anything. We must have faith so that we choose to follow God's Law rather than fearing the creation and laws of science that He created.