SABBATH DAY
When I
started to attend an evangelical church and heard the gospel, I
accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour.
As a result of this I began to read the bible with great
enthusiasm. When I read
the bible through I discovered among other things that the followers
of Jesus in Bible times were keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Luke 23
v 56:
“And they returned and prepared spices and
ointments and rested the
Sabbath day according to the commandment”.
Paul
in Acts 18 v 4:
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the
Jews and the Greeks”.
The
churches now are almost all meeting on the first day of the week.
I was so keen to learn all about the Bible that I asked my
pastor why the Christians now meet on the first day of the week
instead of the seventh. He told me that the first day replaced the
Sabbath when Jesus arose from the dead.
When I asked where I could read about this in the Bible he
couldn’t show me, I was most bewildered. I then asked the same
question to a lot of Christian leaders from all different
denominations and got quite a variation of answers:
I was
surprised to say the least at all these different opinions and
disappointed that Christians were not all in agreement with this
issue which I found very confusing as a young Christian.
I was then left with no alternative but to study the Bible
for myself to see which of these opinions, if any, I had been given
was correct.
In
Genesis ch 2 v 2 & 3:
“And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and rested
on the seventh day from all his work
which he had made, and God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God created and made…”
Exodus ch
16 v 16-28 which is talking about the manna which God sent to the
children of Israel in the wilderness:
“…Six
days shall ye gather it but on the seventh day which is the Sabbath
on it there shall be none.
And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on
the seventh day for to gather and they found none.
And the Lord said unto Moses, how long refuse ye to keep my
commandments and my laws”.
Exodus
20 v 8-11:
“Remember
the Sabbath day to keep it holy for in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh
day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it”.
Exodus
ch 16 v 23:
“…Tomorrow is a rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord…”
Isaiah
ch 58 v 13:
“If
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thine own
pleasure
on my holy day and shall call the
Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord…”
There are
many other scriptures in the Old Testament about the Sabbath, the
ones already mentioned are sufficient to establish that the
Sabbath is the seventh day and is a memorial of God’s creation.
In the
New Testament Jesus had debates with the Pharisees about the
Sabbath, Matt ch 12 v 1-13 Luke ch 6 v 1-9.
These debates were not about whether the Sabbath was still
valid or not, but what was permissible on it.
In Matt ch 5 v 17 & 18 Jesus said:
“Think
not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets, I am not come
to destroy but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you until heaven and earth pass
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law till all be fulfilled”.
Luke
ch 16 v 17:
“And
it
is easier for heaven and earth to pass (away) than
one tittle of the law to fail”.
It
is obvious from Matt ch 5 v 19 that Jesus is referring to the law of
commandments, and from the scriptures we have just quoted, all ten
of them are going to remain intact.
Luke ch
23 v 55 & 56:
“And
the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and
beheld the sepulchre and how his body was laid, and they returned
and prepared spices and ointments and
rested the
Sabbath day according to the commandment”.
This
confirms that Jesus’ followers were resting on the Sabbath day at
the time of Jesus’ death.
Luke ch 24 v 1:
“Now
upon the first day of the week very early in the morning they came
unto the sepulchre…”
Jesus was
already risen. This is
where the Sabbath day was supposed to have been terminated and
replaced by the first day of the week as a memorial to the
resurrection. If that is
the case one would expect to find the first day of the week with its
new title in future writings, either a new commandment to keep the
first day of the week holy in memory of the resurrection or such
titles as the Lord’s day or the Christian Sabbath, or to facilitate
the statement not under law but under grace, the abolishing of the
total law of commandments altogether.
The rest of this study should support which opinion is
correct and eliminate those that are not.
As I continued to read through the New Testament when I came
to Acts ch 13 v 14 where Paul and his company
“… went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down”.
Here the
Sabbath day is mentioned many years after the resurrection and
obviously hasn’t changed places with the first day of the week.
Also in
Acts 13 v 42:
“And
when the Jews were gone out of the
synagogue the
Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the
next
Sabbath”.
It is
obvious from these scriptures that the Sabbath is not
for the Jews only - the Gentiles were meeting on it weekly as well.
Acts 13 v
44:
“And
the next
Sabbath came almost the whole city to hear
the word of God”.
In Acts
16 v 13:
“And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by the riverside where
prayer was wont to be made and we sat down and spake unto the women
which resorted thither”.
Acts 17 v
2:
“And
Paul as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbath days
reasoned with them out of the scriptures”.
Acts 18 v
4:
“And
he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every
Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks”.
The
writer of the Acts of the Apostles is acknowledging the Sabbath day
as a continuing weekly event.
At this stage I would like to draw your attention to the
consistency between what Jesus did on the Sabbath days and what Paul
did.
WHAT JESUS DID ON THE SABBATH
Mark ch 1 v 2:
“…
And straightway on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and
taught”
Mark ch 6 v 2:
“And
when the Sabbath day was come he began to teach in the
Synagogue…”
Luke ch 4 v 16:
“…He
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for
to read”
Luke ch 4 v 31:
“…
And taught them on the Sabbath days”
Luke ch 6 v 6:
“… Also on another
Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and
taught…”
Luke 13 v 10:
“And
he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath”
WHAT PAUL DID ON THE SABBATH
Acts ch 13 v 14:
“…
And went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down”
Acts ch 13 v 42:
“When
the Jews were gone out of the synagogue the Gentiles”
besought (Paul) that these words might be preached to
them the next Sabbath”
Acts ch 13 v 44:
“And
the next Sabbath came almost the whole city to hear (Paul)
preach the word of God”
Acts ch 16 v 13:
“And
on the Sabbath (Paul) went out of the city by a riverside and
spake unto the women…”
Acts ch 17 v 2:
“And
Paul as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbath
days reasoned with them out of the scriptures”
Acts ch 18 v 4:
“And
he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the
Jews and the Greeks”.
Jesus and
Paul were doing the very same thing on the Sabbath day, Jesus before
the resurrection and Paul many years after the resurrection, which
should convince anyone that there was no change to the Sabbath day
at the resurrection as was supposed.
As I continued reading in the New Testament and came to Acts
ch 20 v 7 which reads:
“And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together
to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the
morrow.”
This event took place on Paul’s third missionary journey which was
at least twenty years after the resurrection and it was still the
first day of the week no change.
With the calendar in use at that time the first day of the
week began after sunset on the seventh day, and Paul preached until
midnight, then went down and raised Eutychus from the dead and
afterwards went up again and broke bread, and after he had
eaten he talked until morning and then walked twenty miles from
Troas to Assos on Sunday.
UNDER LAW OR UNDER GRACE
Paul
said in Romans 6 v 1 & 2:
“…Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound, God
forbid…”?
Romans
ch 6 v 15:
“What
then, shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace,
God forbid?”
Because
we are saved by grace sin has to be discontinued.
1st
John 3 v 4:
“…For
sin is a transgression of the law”
Romans 3
v 20:
“...For
by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
If
we had no law we wouldn’t know what sin is.
Also by reading Matthew ch 5 and many other scriptures in the
New Testament a higher standard of behaviour is required under grace
than was under the Old Testament law, e.g. Matthew 5 verses 43 & 44.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said; Thou shalt love thy
neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your
enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and
pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you”.
Jesus
himself recognized the Sabbath still to be in existence many years
after the resurrection, Matthew 24 v 20:
“But
pray that your flight be not in winter neither on the
Sabbath day”.
Jesus
was prophesying about the destruction of the temple and the
abomination of desolation, which took place approximately AD.70.
When this would take place Jesus told the inhabitants to flee to the
mountains and to pray that their flight would not be in winter
neither on the Sabbath day.
Paul
called it the Sabbath day Acts ch 13 v 27.
Did Paul not know, or should we believe modern teachers?.
Luke
writing as late as A.D.62 called it the Sabbath day - Acts ch 13 v
44.
The
Gentile converts called it the Sabbath - Acts ch 13 v 42.
In the
Great Christian Council about A.D. 49 in the presence of the
apostles and the disciples James called it the Sabbath day – Acts ch
15 v 21.
There was
never any dispute between the Christians and the Jews about the
Sabbath day, this is more evidence that the Christians observed the
same day as the Jews.
And
for those who think they can choose their own day to keep holy, only
God can make a day holy, and he showed the children of Israel which
day was his holy day by sending them no manna on it, Exodus ch 16 v
26. God made only one
day of the week holy and only that one can be kept holy.
SABBATH:
In Principle only?
With
comments such as the Principal of keeping a Sabbath.
The Bible always refers to the Sabbath - not
a Sabbath, e.g. Jesus said, I am the Way,
the Truth and the Life, not a
Way. The Sabbath is not freedom of choice; it is a command of
God, a specific day, a memorial of God’s creation.
When the
writer of the Acts of the Apostles, mentions the Sabbath day and the
first day of the week, it just seems normal procedure and the same
as it always was.
Because these two days are mentioned together in the same book it is
obvious that they are two different days.
There is no mention anywhere in the Bible where God made the
first day of the week holy or instructed us to observe it, but in
contrast God made the Sabbath day holy and did give us definite
instructions to keep it holy.
There is no divine authority or instruction given in the
Bible to keep the first day of the week holy instead of the Sabbath
day, therefore I would have to conclude that it had its origin
elsewhere and is a counterfeit of Gods fourth commandment.
We do know in Mark ch 7 v 7-13 how Jesus reacted to the
Pharisees who had just made some alterations to the fifth
commandment; verse 7
reads: –
“Howbeit
in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrine the commandments of
men.”
We could
only then imagine how God would react to one of his holy
commandments being totally removed and replaced by a man - made one.
Not only is the day changed, but the times of the days are
changed as well, which would fulfil the prophecy of Daniel ch 7
verse 25 very well which speaks about a King which should arise
after the ten Kings.
“And
he shall speak great things against the Most High and shall wear out
the saints of the most High, and think to change times
and laws…”
This
prophecy was not fulfilled during the time that the New Testament
was written, I had to look into history to see if I could find where
this prophecy was fulfilled.
HISTORICAL EVENTS RELATING TO THE SABBATH
I found
that in the fourth century a Roman emperor called Constantine made a
decree which may have initiated Sunday observance.
The
English translation of the decree is as follows – Constantine to
Elpidius: All judges,
city folk and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun.
But countrymen may without impediment attend to agriculture,
because it often happens that this is the most appropriate day for
sowing grain or planting vines, so that the opportunity afforded by
divine providence may not be lost, for the right season is of short
duration.
The days
of the week are all now named after the planets, and the venerable
day of the Sun is Sunday.
The times of the days and nights in the Bible are from sunset
to sunset with the night preceeding the day. Leviticus ch 23 v 32
speaking about the day of Atonement,
“It
shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest in the ninth day of the month at
even,
from even to even shall ye celebrate your
Sabbath”.
Now our days and nights start at 12 o’clock midnight which is
halfway through the dark period.
Half of the dark period belongs to one date and the other
half to the next date.
It is only common sense that a dark period followed by a light
period makes one night and one day which make a 24 hour cycle.
Constantine by his decrees was obviously a sun worshipper.
Sun worship was nothing new and the worship of the hosts of
heaven i.e. planets was practised right through the Bible times.
In
Deuteronomy ch 17 v 2-5:
“If
there be found among you man or woman that hath wrought
wickedness in the sight of the Lord Thy God in transgressing
his covenant and hath gone and served other Gods and worshipped
them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of Heaven which I
have not commanded, then shalt thou bring forth that man or that
woman which hath committed that wicked thing unto thy gates and
stone them with stones till they die”.
In 2nd
Kings ch 23 verse 5:
“And
he put down the idolatrous priest whom the Kings of Judah had
ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah
and in the places round about Jerusalem, them also that burned
incense unto Baal to the Sun and to the Planets and to all the Hosts
of Heaven”.
Also in Jeremiah ch 8 verses 1 & 2 Ezekiel ch 8 verses 13-16 Acts ch 14 verses 12 & 13 and Acts ch 19 verse 35. This practice of Sun worship was being adhered to down through the ages into the New Testament and beyond, the sad thing about it is Christians worldwide are giving their allegiance to Sunday following the flow of man’s traditions. Paul warned young Timothy about these sorts of things in 2nd Timothy ch 4 verses 3 & 4.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having
itchy ears and they shall
turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto
fables”.
To observe the 1st day of the week in memory of the
resurrection believing that instructions have come from God to do so
is definitely a fable.
Daniel ch
7 v 25:
“…And he
shall wear out the saints of the Most High…”
Most
biblical scholars that I have spoken to all try to defend the
observance of the 1st day of the week by any means. Most
of the ideas used to do this are listed at the outset of this study,
but I will list some of them again to show the disagreement among
Christian leaders each with their own individual ideas. These ideas
are then transferred to their congregations, who debate among
themselves which is the right reason for upholding this day.
It should be obvious from this study so far that there is no
valid reason for observing the 1st day of the week.
Here is a list again of some of the ideas why Christians keep
the 1st day of the week instead of the Sabbath.
1
As long as we keep any one day in seven
2
The first day of the week became the Sabbath day after the
resurrection
3
Because John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, Rev ch 1 verse 10,
the first day
of the week is now the Lord’s day
4
1st
Corinthians ch 16 v 2:
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you
5 Romans chapter 14 v 5: One man esteemeth one day above another and another esteemeth every day alike which adds up to keeping any day we like, or none at all.
6
Acts ch 20 v 7: And upon the first day of the week when the
disciples came together
to break bread…” this is surely an example for us Christians to
follow. You might as well say that Acts ch 2 v 46 where they broke
bread every day was
7
The Sabbath was only for the Jews.
The Sabbath was made over 2000 years before there was a Jew.
8
We are not under law but under grace, suggesting that the
commandments do not
KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS
Paul
says in Romans ch 6 verses 1 & 2:
“ What shall we say then, shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound, God forbid…”
Sin is a
transgression of the law i.e. the breaking of the commandments.
Keeping the commandments is mentioned many times in the New
Testament. I will list
just a few.
John ch
14 v 15 & 21
lst Corinthians ch 7 v 19
John ch
15 v 10
James ch 2 v 8 - 12
Romans
ch 3 v 31
lst John ch 2 v 3 & 4
Romans
13 v 8 – 10
lst John ch 3 v 22 – 24
lst John
ch 5 verses 2 & 3
Revelation ch 14 v 12:
“Here
is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ”.
This
verse is a simple answer to this whole study and is similar to
Solomon’s conclusion of his writings Ecclesiastes ch 12 v 13:
“Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his
commandments…”
The
commandments are listed from they were given in the Old Testament
right through to Revelation in the New Testament. Most preachers and
teachers avoid speaking about the commandments or tip toe through
them and are reluctant to mention them at all, and generally avoid
reading any passages that contain any of them, all because they have
to avoid the fourth one.
I have heard one or two good teachers of the word teach brilliantly
about nine of the commandments but were unable to explain the fourth
one correctly. I believe
all this debating about observing the first day of the week, which
has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Bible teaching is
part of wearing out the saints of the Most High.
John ch 14 v 15 says:
“If ye
love me keep my commandments”
…
not just some of them.
The
readers will understand that this study is all Bible based except
the historical part about the Roman Emperor Constantine on which I
am not putting much emphasis, only as a possible origin of Sunday
observance. I am relying only on the word of God which I have used
right through this study and found no God given authority for his
fourth command to be changed or to be abolished.
No one should now be in any doubt that observing the first
day of the week is a breach of God’s law and may even fall into the
category of idolatry.
I would
ask any Christian that is involved in this observance to repent of
it and to keep the only day of the week holy that God made holy, the
seventh day, Friday evening sunset until Saturday evening
sunset. If anyone needs
help to achieve this, or copies of this study, they can be obtained
from:
BACK TO BASICS TEACHING