Sabbath

Jamison SG

THE SABBATH & SUNDAYby Pastor J. Mark Martin

WHEN THE COUNSEL OF ACTS 15 CONVENED to determine what Gentile Christians must observe, SABBATH KEEPING IS CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT. Peter exhorts the leadership of the Church not to place the Gentiles under the Law:

Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." Acts 15:10-11.

The final judgment of the Jerusalem Council contains no reference to Sabbath keeping. Circumcision was discussed and deemed unnecessary (vss. 5-6; 19-20). If Sabbath keeping were to be an essential part of the New Covenant relationship with God it would have been mentioned in the discussion because it would have been an unfamiliar practice to the Gentiles. Sabbath keeping was not even discussed because it is not a requirement for New Covenant believers:

"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials; that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." (Acts 15:28-29).

NOTICE that the Holy Spirit told them NOT to lay upon the Gentiles any greater burden than THOSE ESSENTIALS. OBVIOUSLY THE HOLY SPIRIT DID NOT THINK SABBATH KEEPING WAS AN ESSENTIAL THING ANYMORE!

The 7 post-resurrection appearances of Christ show that Jesus purposefully chose the first day of the week to meet with His disciples to encourage and exhort them. The evidence shows that five of these appearances occurred on a Sunday, the first day of the week. We do no have a record of what the actual day on which the other appearances (John 21 and Acts 1:6-10) occurred to His disciples. What we can say with accuracy is this, after Jesus' resurrection whenever He met with His disciples and the day is identified, it is NOT the Sabbath, it is the first day of the week!

1). To Mary, On the morning of the resurrection - Matthew 28:8-10; Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18
2). To two disciples going to Emmaus - Luke 24:13-33; Mark 16:12-13
3). To Simon (Peter) - Luke 24:31-35.
4). To the eleven disciples on the evening of Resurrection Sunday - Mark 16:14-18;
Luke 24:36-44; John 20:19-23

5). To the Eleven disciples "Eight days later" - John 20:26-29
Pentecost happened on the first day of the week! The Church was born on the first day of the week! That doesn't make Sunday the Sabbath, it just tells you that after the resurrection of Jesus, the Sabbath is not emphasized.
When a day is mentioned in connection with the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus, it is always the first day of the week. Look at the extremely important events that occurred in the life of the first followers of Christ on the first day of the week.

1). Jesus startled them by appearing to them on the first day (John 20:19).
2). Jesus received worship from Thomas (John 20:27-2 Cool .
3). Sunday evening Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to His disciples evidently like He had in instituting the communion meal (Luke 22:19) and their "eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24:31).

4). Sunday evening Jesus blessed His disciples twice saying "Peace be with you" (John 20:20; 26).

5). That same Sunday evening Jesus "...breathed on them and said, 'receive the Holy Spirit'" John 20:22.

6). On Sunday evening Jesus gave His disciples the ecclesiastical authority to proclaim forgiveness to those who believe in Him through the Gospel (John 20:23).

NOTE: Why did the Disciples meet on Sunday?

1). Because it now carried a special symbolic/anti-typical significance for them

2). Even if it didn't and was by chance, --Jesus still chose to reveal Himself to them only on Sunday, when we know what day it is. That must also hold some kind of Divine significance.

3). Jesus could have chosen to meet with His disciple on the Sabbath. This would have clearly set a New Covenant precedent. He did not chose to do this. The Sabbath was the sign of a fulfilled covenant (see Exodus 31:17 & Hebrews 8:13).

1). To worship the Lord God only (1st commandment): no less than 50 times
2). Idolatry (2nd commandment): condemned 12 times
3). Profanity (3rd commandment): condemned 4 times
4). Honoring parents (5th commandment) is taught 6 times
5). Murder (6th commandment) condemned 6 times
6). Adultery (7th commandment) condemned 12 times
7). Theft (8th commandment) condemned 4 times
Cool . False Witness (9th commandment) condemned 4 times
9). Covetousness (10th commandment) condemned 9 times
* see references here *

Why is it that the duty to keep the Seventh day as Sabbath is not mentioned ONCE in the New Testament?

WHEN THE NEW TESTAMENT LISTS SINS, SABBATH BREAKING IS CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT:
In Mark 7:21-22 13 sins are listed. Jesus did not mention breaking the Sabbath.
In Romans 1:29-32 20 sins are listed and not one of them is Sabbath breaking.
In Galatians 5:19-21 a list of 15 sins are given,
In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 there's a list of 18 sins, but not once is Sabbath breaking mentioned!

WHY IS IT THAT NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS IT TAUGHT THAT THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT MUST BE OBSERVED?

-Why is it that nowhere in the New Testament is failure to keep the Sabbath day condemned as sin?
-Why is the fourth commandment itself not repeated even ONCE in the New Testament?

-If the Sabbath keeping is so important for a disciple of Christ, why was it not mentioned in His sermon on the Mount or in ANY of His teachings?
-Why didn't Jesus command Sabbath keeping?
-Why didn't any of the Apostles command Sabbath keeping?
-Why didn't the Jerusalem counsel command Sabbath keeping or condemn Sabbath breaking? (Acts 15)

Some answer that the Jews already knew about the Sabbath so it was taken for granted that they would continue to keep it, but then why were the other nine commandments reiterated? Would they not be taken for granted as well? It would also seem that with so many Gentiles coming into the Church, that if keeping the Sabbath was so important there would be instruction in the New Testament Epistles somewhere concerning it. There are instructions for them concerning morality, ethics, worship, Church order and family lifestyle. Why would something as important as Sabbath keeping be ignored? Circumcision, which predates the Law and the Sabbath commandment was an issue in the New Testament Church and is addressed repeatedly in the New Testament Epistles and by the Jerusalem Counsel.

Sabbath keepers argue that it is the example of Jesus that gives us the reason for keeping the Sabbath. "He kept the Sabbath, so I must keep the Sabbath. Jesus is my example," they say. Well this kind of reasoning is flawed because it only chooses Jesus' Sabbath keeping and rejects the rest of His Jewish lifestyle. Jesus also kept Kosher laws. He kept the Passover, Sukkot, Hanukkah, and worshipped in the temple. Are we to follow everything He did?
Galatians 4:4-5 says that Jesus lived under the Law to redeem us from the Law.

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." (NIV)

JESUS WAS ALSO ACCUSED OF SABBATH BREAKING. Why, if He wanted to be our "example" in Sabbath keeping didn't He make it clear that He was not breaking the Sabbath? Instead He clearly admits to it. He also admits that His disciples were breaking the Sabbath and He defends them. Read Matthew 12:1- 14 carefully. Jesus is clearly saying that His disciples are like the priests who may work in the temple every Sabbath and be innocent of breaking the Sabbath. When Jesus says that He is "Lord of the Sabbath" He is declaring that He is above the Sabbath. He may do what He wishes on the Sabbath and therefore His disciples may do whatever they wish as well.
Apparently Jesus did break the Sabbath: "Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."..." John 9:15. If Jesus did not want us to understand that He was breaking the Sabbath why did He not speak against these accusations. It's because Jesus had the right and the authority to break the Sabbath because He is Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath does not bind Him. Think about this, if it does not bind Him, are we not "in Christ"? Why would it be any more binding upon us. (Again Read Matthew 12:1-14 carefully).

One of the issues that needs to be honestly faced is the fact that Jesus never commanded anyone to keep the Sabbath and none of His apostles ever commanded anyone to keep it either. Not once in the New Testament are we told to keep the Sabbath. Those commands to the Church are conspicuously absent from the teachings of the New Testament.

EVERY MENTION OF THE SABBATH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS without a single exception is in connection with Jewish worship on that day and not Christian celebration. Paul's evangelistic strategy was to go to the Jews first in a community and share the Gospel with them. Sabbath is the day when he knew he would find the most Jews gathering for worship. He knew he would have his best opportunity of sharing the good news of the Messiah to the Jews on Sabbath. It was not because he was meeting with a group of believing Christians. He was meeting with non-Christian Jews.

IS THE TEN COMMANDMENT LAW ETERNAL?

No, the Law is not eternal. Galatians 3:19 gives the purpose of the Law. It says: "What, then, was the purpose of he law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come."
The law was given 430 years after Abraham. "What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise." Galatians 3:17-18.
The Law had a definite beginning time (430 years after Abraham) and a definite ending time, --When the promised Seed (Christ, vs. 16) came.
Other Scriptures such as Romans 5:12-14 indicate that there can be sin in the world, even BEFORE the Law was given. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned -- for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's offense, who is a type of Him who was to come."

CREATION & THE SABBATH: The Scriptures are very clear that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment was not given before Moses:

The Ten Commandments was not made with the fathers. Deuteronomy 5:2-3 says
"The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today."

Nehemiah 9:13-14 says: "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses." (NIV).

WAS THE SABBATH GIVEN FOR ALL MANKIND TO KEEP PERPETUALLY?

No, - Though Genesis 2:1-3 says that after the Lord had ended all His work He rested on the seventh day and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, there is not a word about it being given to Adam and Eve as a commandment. You don't hear another word about the Sabbath in the entire book of Genesis. All fifty chapters are silent about the Sabbath.
You do not hear that the righteous Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob kept the Sabbath. There is a conspicuous silence for 2,500 years after the Fall of man. It is not until after the redemption of God's people Israel out of Egypt when they are safely on the other side of the Red Sea that you read in the Book of Exodus that the Sabbath is mentioned again. (Exodus 16:22-30). Abraham was given commandments and ordinances, but the Sabbath is never mentioned as one of them.

Then the Sabbath is given to Israel and Israel alone. The Sabbath is a covenant sign between God and the nation of Israel. "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 'Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he ceased from labor, and was refreshed." Exodus 31:12-17

Notice that the reason why the Lord links the Sabbath to creation is that He is identifying Himself to Israel as the true and living Creator God. He is separate and apart from all of the other gods of Egypt and of the Gentile world. "Keep the Sabbath, worship Me, for I AM the true, living Creator of the Universe."
Notice also that this Sabbath "SIGN" (Exodus 31:13) is between God and "the sons of Israel" (Exodus 12:15,17) and not for all of mankind.

Nehemiah 9:13-14 indicates that the Sabbath was not given to be kept by anyone until it was given to Israel in the wilderness. "You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses." (NIV).

DOESN'T THE BIBLE SAY THAT THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN?

"And He was saying to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27. Sabbatarians often use this verse to say that the Sabbath was made for all mankind, but the text doesn't say that. It doesn't say, "The Sabbath was made for "mankind", it says, "the Sabbath was made for man". When the Scripture is meant to be inclusive of all mankind it is clear. See Matthew 28:19; John 3:16; Acts 2:17; I Timothy 2:4; Titus 2:11. These verses clearly indicate that when God offers something to all mankind He clearly offers it to all.

The Sabbath was not offered to all the nations. It was given only to the nation of Israel. Look at Deuteronomy 5:1-15 which gives the commandments to Israel. It is clearly stated that God did not give the Sabbath or other commandments to the fathers before (see verses 2-3).

One writer has brought up the point that this text shows that the Sabbath was not a part of the "moral" Law to be kept by all mankind from the beginning, for it had to be made. It was made in Exodus 16-20. Notice also that this text does not say it was made for man from the "beginning," as was marriage (cf Matthew 19:4ff). WHICH OTHER OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS HAD TO BE MADE? --NOT ONE! (Gerald N. Wright, Sabbatarian Concordance & Commentary, Star Bible & Tract Corp., 1977, pp. 78-79).

Wright commenting on this passage says: "The other nine [commandments] were (and are) inherently right from the beginning, reflecting God's righteous nature and being naturally a part of man's moral character, who was made in the image of God (cf Romans 2:14). Which command other than the sabbath is lower than man--subject to being set aside under certain circumstances? When, or under what circumstances, can man lawfully commit adultery? Obviously, never! Man's life is not above God's holy and moral laws. Yet even a sheep's life is more important than rigid enforcement of the sabbath (Matthew 12:10-12)!

NO "BURGER KING" SABBATHS - You can't "Have It Your Way" with the Sabbath. God specifies how it was to be kept.
-It was to be kept from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32)
-No burden was to be carried (Jer. 17:21)
-No fire kindled (Ex. 35:3)
-No Cooking done (Ex. 16:23)
-The penalty for doing any of these things during the Sabbath was DEATH (Numbers 15).

NO "INSPIRED" WRITER MAKES ANY DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE "MORAL" LAW & THE "CEREMONIAL" LAWS.

"(2) The Sabbath in its nature, is itself a ceremonial law: the moral law is all law which appeals to the conscience, and needs no written revelation; but as to which day to observe, or whether to observe any day at all, conscience is silent. If we are to distinguish between the moral and the ceremonial law, on the ground that one is passed, and the other still in force, then--as the Sabbath is purely ceremonial law--it is passed. But the most important point still remains. (3) I, as a Christian, obey all law that is moral in the Decalogue, not because it is in the Law, but because it is in the Gospel. Worship of God only is enjoined fifty times in the New Testament; idolatry is forbidden twelve times; profanity four times; honor of father and mother is commanded six times; adultery is forbidden twelve; theft six; false witness four; and covetousness, nine times. "The Ten Commandments," as Luther says, "do not apply to us Gentiles and Christians, but only to the Jews." So the Sabbath--except in a single passage where, classing it with the entire law, he declares it has been totally abolished. So the early Church held."

--D. M. Panton, cited in Heresies Exposed, Compiled by Irvine, pp. 164-165.
SOME SABBATARIANS CLAIM THAT THE SABBATH IS THE SEAL OF GOD
The Seal of God is NOT the Sabbath! The Bible tells us clearly that the Seal of God is the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer the moment he is saved.
Ephesians 1:13 says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory."
Ephesians 4:30 warns, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 states "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge."

IS A SABBATH KEEPING CHURCH THE "REMNANT" OR COMMANDMENT KEEPING CHURCH THAT IS SPOKEN OF IN REVELATION 12:17?

Rev. 12:17 says, "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
In the New Covenant, what are the "Commandments" of God? Does this mean Ten Commandments? NO! The Greek word used for the Ten Commandments is "NOMOS". That word is not used here. The word used here is "ENTELE" and means "teachings".
John clarifies this and actually tells us what the "commandments" are that we are to keep:

I John 5:1-3 says, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome."
These verses are often used to teach people that they must keep the Ten Commandments, especially the Sabbath. However, the Apostle John defines the "commandments" for us. In the prior chapter he defines them explicitly. "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in is sight. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him..."
I John 3:21-24a.

THE ASSERTION BY SABBATARIANS THAT AT THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH changed the Sabbath from the Seventh day to the First day is not true. The Sabbath was not changed at that Council.
What did take place at that Council was an anti-semetic move to make it illegal for a Christian to worship on Saturday. But one needs to note that there were thousands of Christians already worshiping on Sunday, the first day of the week. Many in the early Church worshipped on Sunday:
"Anti-Judaism played its part in second-century Christian polemic against Jewish Sabbath observance, but it does not follow that it motivated the introduction of Christian Sunday worship. For we have already argued that Sunday worship dates back to the first century, while few second-century writers compare and contrast the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday. Derogatory discussions of the Jewish Sabbath do not usually refer to the Christian Sunday. If Sunday were a recent substitute for the Jewish Sabbath, we should expect far more discussion of the superiority of Sunday to the Sabbath." R. J. Bauckham, From Sabbath to Lord's Day, p. 271, edited by D.A. Carson.

WHO CHANGED THE SABBATH FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY? WAS IT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH?

"Often the question is asked, "Isn't it paying homage to the Roman Catholic church to worship on Sunday because didn't Constantine change the day of worship?"
It is claimed that Constantine's edict of March 7, 321 changed the day. Constantine's edict reads:
"On the venerable Day of The Sun [venerablili dei Solis] let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits Codex Justinianus, book 3, title 12,3, trans. in Schaff, History of the Christian Church 5th ed. (New York: Charles Scribner, 1902), vol. 3, p. 380, note 1.
PLINY'S LETTER, AD 107
Pliny was governor of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, from AD 106-108. He wrote in AD 107 to Trajan, the emperor, concerning the Christians. This is what he said:
They were wont to meet together, on a stated day before it was light, and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to Christ as God....When these things were performed, it was their custom to separate and then to come together again to a meal which they ate in common without any disorder."
We know the day the early church broke bread on was Sunday. "Upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread" Acts 20:7.
IN AD 120 THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS says in chapter 2:
"Incense is a vain abomination unto me, and your new moons and Sabbaths I cannot endure. He has, therefore, abolished these things.
When he speaks of the first day of the week, Barnabas says: "Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day, also, on which Jesusrose again from the dead" Chapter 25.
JUSTIN MARTYR (140 AD)
Justin's 'Apology' was written at Rome about the year 140, only 44 years after the apostle John received the vision of The Revelation at Patmos.
The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge says this about Justin's works:
"In these works Justin professes to present the system of doctrine held by all Christians and seeks to be orthodox on all points. The only difference he knows of as existing between Christians concerned the millennium. Thus Justin is an incontrovertible witness for the unity of the faith in the Church of his day, and the fact that the Gentile type of Christianity prevailed." Quoted by Canright in The Compete Testimony of the Early Fathers, Fleming H. Revell, 1916, pp. 24-25.
NOTE: At this early date, AD 140, the only major difference among Christians was concerning the millennium. At that time they had no disagreement in keeping Sunday, and as you will see, Justin says that was the day on which all Christians worshipped.
In chapter 67 of his first Apology, entitled, "Weekly Worship of the Christians,"writing to the pagan emperor, Justin states:
"...we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought...But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought the change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead."The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, pp. 185-186 (emphasis added).
DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF CORINTH IN GREECE, (AD 170)
Dionysius was Bishop of Corinth, the Church which Paul raised up and to which he gave the command about Sunday collections, in I Corinthians 16:1-2. He says:
"We passed this holy Lord's Day, in which we read your letter, from the constant reading of which we shall be able to draw admonition." Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Bk. 4, Chapt. 23 (emphasis added).
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, in Egypt, (AD 194)
Clement, writing around AD 194 says:
"He, in fulfillment of the precept, keeps the Lord's day when he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes that of the Gnostic, glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself" Book 7, Chapter 12 (emphasis added).
IGNATIUS, the third bishop of Antioch, who died in AD 108, wrote:
"If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him... Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat."...let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]" "Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians," The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, pp. 62-63 (emphasis added).
TERTULLIAN of Africa, wrote around AD 200:
In his Apology, Chapter 16, Tertullian says:
"We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradistinction to those who call this day their Sabbath, and devote it to ease and eating, deviating from the old Jewish customs, which they are now very ignorant of."
"Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the sun is the god of the Christian, because it is a well- known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity" The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, p. 123 (emphasis added).
NOTE: The early church explained why they prayed toward the east. It was because, "as the lightning which lighteneth from the east and is seen even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be:" that by this we might know and understand that He will appear from the east suddenly" Ancient Syriac Documents, The Ante- Nicene Fathers, vol. 8, p. 668.

DO WE EVEN KNOW THE REAL SABBATH?

In 1582 Gregory XIII found a miscalculation in the calendar and decreed to drop October 5-14 and to drop 3 leap years in every century. In England 11 days (September 3-13) were dropped in 1752, in addition to other changes. (See Heresies Exposed, p. 167).

NEW LIGHT ON CEREMONIAL SABBATHS AND COLOSSIANS 2:16

An unbiased reading of Colossians 2:16 will show that this is talking about not just "ceremonial Sabbaths." The words "ton sabbaton" or "sabbath days"; are the same words translated "Sabbath day" in Exodus 20:8 in the Septuagint (the Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek).
Look at Paul's reasoning, "Let no one judge you regarding a,
festival - yearly Sabbaths,
a new moon - monthly Sabbaths,
or a Sabbath day - weekly Sabbaths (or if you wish Sabbath days)"
CHRIST, he goes on to say is the "Substance", these things were shadows.
When this passage is compared with Galatians 4:9 an obvious connection in Paul's teaching is revealed:
"But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years."
Verse 10 flatly states, "you observe...",
days (weekly Sabbaths, corresponding to "Sabbath days in Colossians 2)
months (new moons, corresponding to "a new moon" in Colossians 2)
seasons (the 7 feasts, corresponding to "festivals" in Colossians 2)
and years (the sabbatical year and the 50th year of Jubilee)
Obviously Paul is clearing speaking about the observances of all Jewish holy day, including the Sabbath.
SABBATARIANS have long challenged, "Find one verse in the Bible that shows the day of worship has been changed from Sabbath to Sunday."
Well, that statement is part of building a straw man. It is not the issue. The New Testament makes that a moot point because it says it doesn't matter what day you worship on.
Romans 14:5
"One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind."
Galatians 4:9-11 "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."
Colossians 2:16-17 "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day--things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."

SABBATARIANS ASK FOR ONE TEXT IN THE BIBLE THAT COMMANDS SUNDAY WORSHIP, HERE IT IS:

LEVITICUS 23:5-11 - Look at verse 11: "'And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.'" The day after the Sabbath is Sunday.
Read on specifically looking at Leviticus 23:15 - "'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the DAY AFTER THE SEVENTH SABBATH; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.'" This is the Feast of Pentecost. It was one of the compulsory feasts of Israel.
Note on the day of Pentecost, a Sunday God's people were commanded to worship. God says, "On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations." Leviticus 23:21.

If you think this is only applying to "ceremonial" days, Leviticus 23 starts out talking about the weekly Sabbath (see Lev. 23:1-4). It is called an appointed time and a holy convocation, along with all the other feast days of Israel. No distinction is made by God between these holy days and the weekly Sabbath. He includes them as being equally holy. This would mean that under the Old Covenant the First Fruits Sunday and the Pentecost Sunday were as holy and sanctified as Saturday.

If you think this only applies to Israel, that's our point. The Ten Commandment Covenant, --the Old Covenant was made with Israel, and NOT with the Gentiles.

Look at Exodus 31:13, 16 and 17: "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you....So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever;..."

References for the 9 "moral" commandments reiterated in the New Testament:
1st - Worship God -
(53 times) Matthew 2:2; 2:8; 2:11; 4:9; 4:10; 14:33; 15:9; 28:9; 28:17, Mark 7:7, Luke 4:7; 4:8; 24:52, John 4:20,21,22(x2),23,24(x2); 9:38; 12:20, Acts 7:43; 8:27; 16:14; 17:23(x2); 18:7; 18:13; 19:27; 24:11, Romans 1:25; 12:1, 1 Corinthians 14:25, Philippians 3:3, Colossians 2:18, Hebrews 1:6; 9:1; 9:6; 10:2; 11:21, Revelation 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1; 11:16; 14:7; 15:4; 19:4; 19:10; 22:8; 22:9
2nd - No Idolatry -
(20 times) Acts 15:20,29, Romans 1:25, 1 Corinthians 6:9; Chapter 8; 10:7,14; 12:2, 2 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, Galatians 5:20, Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5, 1 Peter 4:3, 1 John 5:21, Revelation 2:14, 20; 9:20; 21:8; 22:15
3rd - No Profanity -
(4 times) Matthew 12:36, Ephesians 5:4, Romans 2:24, Revelation 16:9
5th - Honor Parents -
(6 times) Matthew 15:5, Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10; 10:19, Luke 18:20, Ephesians 6:2
6th - Murder -
(7 times) Matthew 5:21; 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Romans 1:29; 13:9, James 2:11
7th - Adultery -
(12 times) Matthew 5:27,28,32; 19:9,18, Mark 10:11,19, Luke 16:18; 18:20, Romans 13:9, James 2:11, 2 Peter 2:14
8th - Stealing -
(6 times) Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20, Romans 2:21; 13:9, Ephesians 4:28
9th - Lying -
(4 times) Matthew 15:9; 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20
10th - Don't Covet -
(9 times) Mark 7:22, Luke 12:15, Romans 1:29; 7:7; 13:9, Ephesians 5:3, Colossians 3:5, Hebrews 13:5, 2 Peter 2:14

Chin Eng SG

Interesting post.... from an anti-7th Day Adventist website too....

Anyone else interested, its from: http://www.sdaoutreach.org/Home/Sabbath/tabid/53/Default.aspx

What follows on this thread should be really interesting.... Laughing

ben1xy SG

the article soooooo long Shocked

Chin Eng SG

yup, but a good read. Persnally, I think that it is quite well written.

very interesting that in the two POVs, one focuses on the OT and the other on the NT.

I think length of article is a trend here in DT. Laughing

ben1xy SG

i like the early Church Father's article i posted in the other thread! Twisted Evil

i am biased.. i admit

hahaa

Chin Eng SG

"Church Father"? sounds like a taboo word here in DT... Laughing supposed to have been responsible in wiping out all the Hebrew influences among the early believers (I can't even use the word Christian anymore here!)

breytonhartge SG

all of us a biased. Wink

breytonhartge SG

Sabbath is Messianic Part 1

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he who observes Torah, happy is he. - Proverbs 29:18

A pastor I know was visiting a rabbi friend, when the pastor asked, What do you believe heaven is like? The rabbi responded, Where the righteous dwell for eternity, one may study Torah all day long, without ever having need to stop for sleeping or eating or anything. The pastor then asked, And what do you believe hell will be like? The rabbi responded, The wicked will have to study Torah all day long, without being able to stop to rest or drink or anything.

The goal of Sabbath keeping is to know and love Messiah.

The Apostle Paul said,[1] Messiah is the goal of the Torah, to make righteous everyone that believes. This was written after Yeshua's crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension; it says that the goal of the Torah is (still) Messiah.

A famous orthodox rabbi said similarly,[2] The coming of Mashiach is not a peripheral addendum to the Jewish people's service of G-d through the Torah and its commandments; rather, the coming of Mashiach is its core, the goal to which all else leads. So long as Mashiach has not yet come, the intent of creation has not been realized, and the universe has not fulfilled its destiny.

Yeshua said[3] that all of the law and prophets hang on these two commandments: Love Yahweh your God and your neighbor as yourself. The first five of the Ten Commandments show how we are to love God. The last five show how we are to love our neighbor. Observing Sabbath, the fourth commandment, is a part of loving God, according to Messiahs own words.

Messiah is the goal of the Torahs Sabbaths!

1. The Sabbath Day is a memorial to Messiah as creator and sustainer.

For by Him (Messiah) were all things created and by Him all things are sustained - Colossians 1:16-17. This is what we remember by keeping Gods Sabbath.

The faith that is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8 ) produces action, for faith without works is dead (James 2:20, 26). The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) indicate the nature of actions that are the fruit of faith: "whatsoever is not of faith" (Romans 14:23), is the transgression of the law (I John 3:4), these two statements being synonymous definitions of sin.

1. The first commandment requires belief in God.
2. The second forbids idol worship. It is the fruit of believing Yahweh is one, the only God.
3. The third forbids vain use of His Name. It is the fruit of revering His character.
4a. The fourth commandment, as stated in Exodus, tells us to remember the Sabbath, to keep it separate as the fruit of believing that He created the world in six days, and blessed the seventh day and .made it separate. Thus the Sabbath is an eternal memorial of God as the creator.
4b The fourth commandment, as stated in Deuteronomy, tells us to observe the Sabbath Day and keep it separate, in remembrance of our deliverance from Egypt. This is a memorial of the God who is involved in the affairs of men, the God who created with purpose. On this day we are told to abstain from common labor: to rest.

In what sense do we rest?

Elohim did not need rest after six days of creating (Isaiah 40:28 ). Adam should not have needed to rest immediately following his creation at the end of the sixth day. So why then are various categories[4] of work forbidden on Sabbath?

Primarily, the Sabbath is to be kept holy. That means that it is a day to set aside for the worship of our creator and savior, set aside from our usual weekly labors. Work on the Sabbath should basically be limited to worship activities, and those things that are necessary to sustain life such as preparation of food and medical care that cannot be performed on previous days. The first six days of the week are for preparation for worship on the Sabbath, Sabbath being the goal of the week.

God rested from creating on the Seventh Day. So we are to rest from using our creative intelligence and skill. We are to be at peace with creation for the day. Then we can understand the greeting of Sabbath peace, Shabbat shalom! (from Aryeh Kaplan)

God finished His creation on the Seventh Day (Genesis 2:2). The Midrash asks, If God rested on the Seventh Day, how could He have finished on the same day? It answers, on the Seventh Day He created rest. God does not change. Therefore, serenity and tranquility are an imitation of His attributes. On the Seventh Day, God added tranquility and harmony to the world. It was no longer in the process of change, and so partook of God's serenity, and became Holy and Blessed.

The Sabbath thus was able to partake of God's timelessness. Without evening and morning,[5] it represents the Day of Eternity (Exodus 31:17). The Hebrew word Shabbat (Sabbath) is related to the word shevet - to dwell; on the Sabbath, God made the world His dwellingplace.

A major Sabbath mitzvah (commandment) is rest - not doing. All other mitzvot require our efforts to be holy. In reserving the Sabbath[6] for worship, when we rest, it is God that makes us holy: You shall keep My Sabbaths . . . that you may know that I am Yahweh (the Eternal who is gracious), who makes you holy (Exodus 31:13).

breytonhartge SG

2. The Sabbath Day is a prophetic picture of the Messianic Kingdom

The Apostle Paul said to a gentile congregation, as we read in Colossians 2:16-17,

Let no man condemn you for observing the Torah Festivals, Rosh Hodesh (Head-of-the-month), or Sabbaths, for these are a prophetic shadow of things to come, and Messiah (for whom we are looking) is the body casting the shadow!

The KJV translation reads, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." This is sometimes used to teach that we may freely choose whatever days we wish for holydays and sabbaths, and no one has a right to question our judgment. However, the term judgment here means condemnation, and refers to condemnation of gentile believers for keeping Jewish - or rather Biblical - Festivals and Sabbaths.

The Messianic Kingdom age is the millennial (thousand year) period when Satan will be bound and Messiah Yeshua will reign on this earth. Ancient Hebrew literature frequently speaks of this being the seventh millennium. Technically, that would begin with the Year of the World 6001; we are now approaching the end of the sixth millennium - AM 5766[7] by the most accepted calendar calculation from scripture. However, we may be much closer to the Messianic Age than this Hebrew calendar year would imply.

God commands us, Sanctify (make separate) My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.[8] On Erev Shabbat, that is on Friday before sunset as the Sabbath approaches each week, we pronounce a blessing and light Sabbath candles. For Havdallah, that is after Saturdays sunset at the end of each Sabbath, we pronounce a blessing and light a special bright candle, then extinguish it in a glass of grape juice or wine. By lighting fires just before and after the Sabbaths, we symbolically make separate (Gods) Sabbaths during which we are forbidden to light fires.[9]

This ancient symbolic means of sanctifying the Sabbath seems prophetic: the Sabbath Millennium will be preceded by the fires of war of the great tribulation (Erev Shabbat). It will be followed by fire from heaven being quenched in the blood of the wicked (Havdallah). There will be a thousand years of Shabbat Shalom (Sabbath peace) between the fires that make the Sabbath separate.[10]

The messianic age is called Yom SheKulo Shabbat - the day when all will be Sabbath. The weekly Sabbath is a rehearsal for that great day. As the Talmud says, He who prepares on Friday will eat on the Sabbath, so should we prepare for the age to come. Emmanuel (God with us) is coming to shevet / dwell on earth with us!

The Sabbath Day is a picture of the Messianic Kingdom. It is not a detailed picture, but a prophetic shadow picture.

Sabbath: Day of Eternity

In the Genesis account of creation, the seventh day had no evening and morning. God's rest from His creative activity has continued to this day. In the Revelation account, those who are raised in the first resurrection will live through the Millennial Sabbath on this earth, and then through eternity on the New Earth; that is, their Sabbath will extend into eternity.

We read repeatedly in Psalm 37, which was quoted by Yeshua in Matthew 5, that the meek shall inherit the earth, and dwell therein forever, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace - the shalom of the Sabbath Day of eternity.

In John 14:2 we read that Yeshua was going to prepare a place for us. In Revelation 21 we read that the prepared place - the New Jerusalem, is coming to an earth renewed by fire, where God (Emmanuel) will dwell with His people and be their God. We also find here that the items mentioned in Genesis as being in the Garden of Eden are restored to earth, such as the tree of life, and the river of living water (Rev 22). In this restored Garden of Eden (also called Paradise)[11] our Sabbath will continue to eternity.

breytonhartge SG

3. Today is our Preparation Day for the Sabbath of Messiah

We also read in Revelation 21:7-8, He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. We must be prepared if we are to enter that great Sabbath, which will continue into eternity for the righteous.

One cannot know Sabbath by reading lists of prohibitions; one must prepare ahead for the needs of the day and then enter into rest. So also, concerning the coming millennial rest, it is written, Let us labor therefore to enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:11). We prepare by learning to trust Messiah and by following His Word by overcoming sin, and thus growing in faith.

The purpose of resting on the Sabbath is for setting the whole day apart to worship God. It is for becoming spiritually renewed for the coming week. It is not given for recuperating from the previous six-days mundane work.

The goal of Sabbath observance is to see a vision of the Messiah who created the world in seven days, and to see a vision of the Messiahs coming kingdom. The goal of the Torah is Messiah. Sabbath is a shadow picture concerning Messiah. And when we are in the Messianic Kingdom, we will still observe the memorial seventh day Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23).

Do we delight to do something that is a memorial to Yeshua as creator, and also prophetic of His coming kingdom, and that keeps a picture of Him before us?

Shabbat Shalom - May your Sabbath be peaceful and spiritually prosperous!

Time Relationships

The weekly Sabbath may be seen as the most important of the Biblical Holy Days, and is the only one requiring the death penalty for non-observance. It is the one most obviously applying to the whole world: God created man just before the Holy Sabbath, and Yeshua said that the Sabbath was created for man.

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. . . . And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made Genesis 1:27-31, 2:2-3.

Yeshua said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath Mark 2:27.

Observing the weekly Sabbath is rehearsing the whole seven millennium outline of the worlds history, past to future. Observing the other festivals is rehearsing, in greater detail, incidents of shorter duration within the seven millennium span.

Partaking in the Passover seder is particularly a memorial of Yeshuas crucifixion (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), as well as Israels deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:3), which portrays our deliverance from sin by Yeshua. It may be considered fulfilled, though there are aspects that are yet to be fulfilled.

The celebration of Yom Teruah / the Day of Trumpeting is a rehearsal for Yeshuas prophetic return at the Last Trump, when the righteous dead will be raised and crown Him King. If this is already fulfilled, then we must have missed the return of Messiah and the resurrection of the righteous!

breytonhartge SG

The following chart is to show the relationship of the Biblical week of creation to the seven-millennium span of the world.

The following chart is to show the relationship of the Biblical week of creation to the seven-millennium span of the world.

http://www.messianic.ws/millennial.htm

breytonhartge SG

Explanations / Responses to Objections:

Shabbat Definitions

Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat. The same root word applies to the number seven, and also to rest. Shabbat usually refers to the seventh day of the week the day being from sunset to sunset. It is also used to refer to the week itself: the first day of the week is called the first of the sabbath, the second day the second of the sabbath, and so on. While the weekly Sabbath is always a Holy Day, there are seven other Holy Days that are fixed annual dates; these Holy Days are days for worship, like the weekly Sabbath rest days, and are thus occasionally referred to as Sabbaths or High Sabbaths, though they may fall on varying days of the week.

The same three Hebrew letters (shin-bet-tav) that spell Shabbat (Sabbath) also spell shevet (seven) only the pronunciation differs.

Shabbat shabbaton translates Sabbath of rest: see Exodus 31:15, 35:2, Leviticus 23:3 which refers to the Seventh Day; Leviticus 16:31, 23:32 which refers to the Day of the Atonements (which may fall on various days of the week); and Leviticus 25:4 which refers to the Sabbatical Year.

For examples of sabbath meaning week: Psalm 24 for Sunday is called The Psalm for the first day of the sabbath, Psalm 48 for Monday is called The Psalm for the second day of the sabbath, and etcetera Talmud: Sukkah. The related Hebrew word shabua is also used for week, as in Genesis 29:27.
Ancient Syriac, Chaldee (Persia), Urdu (India), and Pashto (Afghanistan) retained similar terms for days of the week, which translate one-of-the-sabbath, two-of-the-sabbath, and etcetera.

The seventh-day Sabbath has been called The Day of Yahweh for thousands of years, based upon Torah. This is sometimes translated The Lords Day (Revelation 1:10 ) by those who substitute (Greek) Adonai / (English) Lord for Gods memorial name. Interpreting the term as Sunday is a corruption that started after Yeshuas time on earth. The term Day of Yahweh is also used in reference to the Sabbath Millennium, which will be great and terrible, or awesome and glorious, depending upon ones situation. The millennial Sabbath of peace will be preceded by war, famine, and disease through which most people on earth will die; it will be followed by fire from heaven that will consume the nations armies.

Concerning the Sabbath Day: call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy Day of Yahweh honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word. Isaiah 58:13.

Concerning the Sabbath Millennium: The Day of Yahweh will be great and very awesome Joel 2:11.

The prelude and postlude: Behold, the Day of Yahweh is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation, and He will exterminate its sinners from it Isaiah 13:9.

For the Day of Yahweh draws near on all nations . . . And it will be holy, and the House of Jacob (Israel) will possess their possessions . . . But the House of Esau will be stubble, and they will set fire on them and consume them Obadiah 1:15-18.

Judaism & Synagogue versus Christianity & Church

Yeshua came 2000 years ago as the prophesied Jewish Messiah; He did not come to start a new religion. Messiah and Christ are synonymous, meaning anointed to be Prophet, Priest, and/or King. Christians are properly those who accept Yeshua as Prophet of Jerusalem (from whence Gods Word emanates), Priest of the Most High God (Who bears their sins and is to lead their worship), and King of Israel (Who is to rule in their hearts and activities).

The Biblical Hebrew word qehal was translated variously as sunagoge and ekklesia in the Greek Septuagint, and thence as synagogue and church (among other terms) in English. The church has been in existence for more than 3700 years, since the exodus from Egypt. Yeshua said that He would build up His church (Matthew 16:18 ), not start a new one. The ordinances of the church make up one of three categories (judgments, ordinances, and statutes) of Torah commandments, and this category includes instructions for Yahwehs Feasts (Lords Supper being a translation of Yahwehs Feast), immersion in a miqvah (baptism), Sabbath observance, and other outward portrayals of spiritual matters. Paul, the Hebrew apostle to gentile churches, said, keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you 1 Corinthians 11:2. A new gentile church does not replace an ancient Hebrew Israel; the church, from its ancient beginning, was composed of Hebrews and gentiles, and was called Israel.

Moses and David are among the real early church fathers (rather than some who lived as recently as 20 centuries ago). They are the ones to whom God gave specific instructions for order of worship in the Tabernacle for the church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38 ), and in Temple of the Holy One, which order is a pattern for the little sanctuary the synagogue/church (qehal).

(Moses) is the one who was in the church (ekklesia) in the wilderness and he received living oracles to pass on to you Acts 7:38.
Moses passed on this living oracle for the church: For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of rest (Shabbat shabbaton), a sacred assembly (qodesh miqra). (Leviticus 23:3).

Through David preparations were made to build the house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7), and through David worship service instructions were given.

Solomon brought in the things that were dedicated by his father David and he put them in the treasuries of the House of Yahweh 1 Kings 7:51.
David set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals 1 Chronicles 25:1.
These are the last words of Davidthe man anointed by the God of Jacob, David, the sweet psalmist of Israel: The Spirit of Yahweh speaks through me; His Words are upon my tongue 2 Samuel 23:1-2.

David wrote Psalm 92: A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day.

The Prophets took up Gods purview of the Holy Sabbath.

Sanctify (Qadash make holy) My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. Ezekiel 20:20

Her (Jerusalems) priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them Ezekiel 22:26.

God does not tolerate desecration of His ordinances, such as performing them with erroneous purpose or including idolatrous practices. He says, Bring your worthless offerings no longer, your incense is an abomination to Me. Your heads-of-the-month and Sabbath assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly Isaiah 1:13. In Amos 5:21, 26 God said I hate, I reject your festivals . . . because of the inclusion of idolatry.

Yeshua and His apostles observed the Sabbaths, their customs including the sacred assembly synagogue attendance. Paul participated in the traditional havdallah service.

(Yeshua) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read Luke 4:16.

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together Acts 20:7-8. This is a traditional havdallah service, with breaking of bread, use of lamps, and teaching, that follows the end of the Sabbath on Saturday night: On the first day of the week . . . until midnight was the first six hours of the first day of the week which we now call Saturday night.

But going from Perga, (Paul and his companions) arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down Acts 13:14.

breytonhartge SG

Yeshuas Resurrection Day

Though no Scripture indicates such a change, a common reason given for changing from Sabbath to Sunday is that Yeshua was raised from the grave on Sunday at sunrise. The Holy Scriptures do not even state that Yeshua was raised on the first day of the week. [Our Passover Hagaddah teaches how Yeshua was raised late on the Sabbath, three days and three nights after a Wednesday afternoon crucifixion.] Note, that according to all four Gospels, Yeshua was raised and gone when the women came before sunrise on the first day of the week.

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first-of-the-sabbath (before the twelfth hour of the night on the first day of the week), Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Yeshua who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you. Matthew 28:1-7.

Very early on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), they came to the tomb . . . He is not here . . . He is going ahead of you to Galilee Mark 16:2, 6-7.

Now after He had risen, early on the first-of-the-week . . . Mark 16:9. This verse is sometimes translated to sound like He had risen early on the first-of-the-week: such interpretation cannot be backed by the Greek text.

But on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), at early dawn, they came to the tomb . . . Two angels said, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here . . . Luke 24:1, 5-6.

Now on the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week), Mary of Magdala came early to the tomb while it was still dark (before the twelfth hour of the night). She said, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him John 20:1,13.

Yeshua was buried at the end of a Preparation Day of the Passover (Wednesday afternoon), just before the High Sabbath. He was raised after three days and three nights, at the end of the weekly Sabbath.

Now it was the Day of Preparation for the Passover . . . There they crucified Him. Because it was the Day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a High Day) . . . John 19:14, 18, 21

Yeshua said, No sign will be given to (this evil generation), but the sign of the Prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth Matthew 12:39-40.

Yeshua used a complaint about healing on the Sabbath to prophesy of His own Sabbath resurrection, saying: What man among you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit, will he not raise it out on the Sabbath? Matthew 12:11. God was among them, and His Lamb was in a pit for three days, and He raised it out on the Sabbath.

The Hebrew term deficient day may be applied to violating a Sabbath prohibition as breaking the whole Sabbath; it cannot be applied to Friday night to Sunday morning as three days and three nights. There was no such way of counting, and it would have made Yeshuas only sign a farce.

breytonhartge SG

Apostolic Instruction concerning Sabbath

Paul taught Sabbath observance as it relates to tithing. The apostles agreed that gentiles should learn Torah at synagogue Sabbath services. [Halachic rulings are made by the judges of the synagogue (or of the Sanhedrin); these are determinations of how we should walk (halach) to fulfill Torah.] Paul told Gentiles to teach from the Psalms, which are songs about Torah observance.

On the first-of-the-sabbath (the first day of the week) each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no separations be made when I come 1 Corinthians 16:2. This is the ancient halachic rule for Sabbath-keepers, that concerning income during the six working days, one rests on the Sabbath (no commercial or monetary dealings), and separates the tithe on the first day of the following week (Mishnah: Shabbat). There is nothing about a Sunday meeting or public collection here.

Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath Acts 15:19-21. This is the apostolic halachic ruling for Gentiles who are turning from idolatry to God. They are to leave their former gross idolatrous practices, then learn Gods instruction (Torah) each Sabbath in synagogue, as they are not expected to immediately know how to walk. A Jewish group called The Circumcision was promoting a requirement of complete Torah observance for salvation. James is not implying that Torah is inapplicable to Gentiles.

One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike Rom 14:5. There is no question here about whether or not Sabbaths and annual Holy Days should be observed. A question of the period was: is one kind of Holy Day superior to another? Do weekly Sabbath regulations override annual Holy Day regulations, or vice versa, or are they equal? Are some ordinances for an annual Holy Day forbidden if it falls on the weekly Sabbath, or do they override Sabbath prohibitions? These questions only arise if one is observing Holy Days, and these questions arise in observant groups to this day.

Colossians 2 is dealing with traditions of men (v.8 ) in contrast to the ordinances of God (v.16) the seventh-day Sabbath, the head-of-the-month observance, and the annual Feasts of Yahweh (see Leviticus 23). We are taught here to let neither traditions of men nor the condemnation of men to sway us from observing Gods ordinances which constitute an eternal (Leviticus 23:14, 21, 31, 41) shadow-picture cast by Messiah Himself.

Paul taught that believers should teach and admonish one another with Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs Colossians 3:16. The 150 Psalms are divided into five books: Psalms 1-41 and 42-72 are two Books of Psalms, Psalms 73-89 make up the Book of Hymns, and Psalms 90-106 and 107-150 are the two Books of Spiritual Songs. Teaching and admonishing with these Psalms means teaching Torah observance, including Sabbath observance, since that is what the Psalms are about.

breytonhartge SG

Future Sabbath Observance Ordained

God Himself gave instructions to observe Sabbaths, heads-of-the-months, and His Feasts in the future Messianic age.

When I bring (the House of Israel) back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer.
Concerning the Millennial Temple, Thus says Lord Yahweh, The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the Sabbath day and opened on the day of the head-of-the-month. The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate. Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before Yahweh on the Sabbaths and on the heads-of-the-months. The elevation offering which the prince shall offer to Yahweh on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah. On the day of the head-of-the-month he shall offer a young bull without blemish, also six lambs and a ram, which shall be without blemish Ezekiel 39:27-28; 46:1-7.

God Himself gave instructions to observe Sabbaths, heads-of-the-months, and His Feasts on the future New Earth.

For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me, declares Yahweh, so your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from head-of-the-month to head-of-the-month and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me, says Yahweh Isaiah 66:22-23.

Notes:

[1] Romans 10:4 The KJV translation, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," is often used to teach the annihilation of the law. This is contrary to Yeshua's words in Matthew 5:17-19, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law . . ."; the words "end of the law" refer to the goal of the Torah, not the commandments being abolished.
[2] From Exile to Freedom by the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, page xx.
[3] Matthew 22:36-40.
[4] The Aryeh Kaplan Anthology II, Sabbath Day of Eternity page 133 provides a simple listing of these scriptural prohibitions.
[5] The Sabbath was the only day without evening and morning in the creation account. See Genesis 2:1-3.
[6] How can we be sure of the Day?
Just before the giving of the Torah at Mt.Sinai, three million people saw, for forty years, bread (manna) from heaven for six days with a cessation on the Sabbath. Nineteen-hundred years ago, Yeshua affirmed the Sabbath (Luke 4:16) as it had been observed since that time.
[7] AM stands for Anno Mundi - Year of the World.
For the complete rabbinic calculation with scriptures, see The Sequence of Events in the Old Testament by Eliezer Shulman.
[8] Ezekiel 20:20, see also 44:24.
[9] Exodus 35:3.
[10] Revelation 16 (war), Revelation 20:1-6 (Millennium), Revelation 20:7-9 (fire from heaven).
[11] Paradise is from the Greek word Paradeisos, used in the Septuagint (Greek translation of O.T.) for Gan Eden - Garden of Eden.

© 2005 Beikvot HaMashiach
(Followers of the Messiah)

breytonhartge SG

I have posted the article Sabbath is Messianic in response to the threadstarters posts, it is not to cause a fight but to give another point of view.

It is my sincere hope that you will read both and allow Yahweh to guide you in the making of your choice on whether to keep Shabbat or not.

In my personal opinion, we should, but then again this is a free world and you have the freedom to choose.

Shalom and blessings!

Chin Eng SG

hey brey! same smiley problem…..

breytonhartge SG

fixed!

breytonhartge SG

hey you can become the technical officer for this forum! Mr. Green

breytonhartge SG

Hey Jamison...

can you kind of split up your long posts? Kind of helps with the reading...

Shalom!

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