Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV)
{20:8} Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. {20:9} Six days
shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: {20:10} But the
seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it]
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy
cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: {20:11}
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.
The forth Commandment, for some reason this commandment appears to be a mystery to me. The more I research this subject the more perplexed I become. Why do we not pay more attention to the Sabbath of the LORD?
We know that Jesus nailed the law and it’s ordinances to the cross. However, I was always taught that the law and ordinances nailed to the cross were the ceremonial laws of Moses not the Law of God. Most don’t draw this distinction. The Law of Moses was the ceremonial observances given to Israel typifying God’s holiness and the process of the atonement for sin for the nation. However, the Law of God is the expression of God’s holiness and God’s moral commandments for all mankind for all times. No one would argue that it’s okay to violate any of the other nine commandments… yet when it comes to this commandment it appears that most stutter and stumble, justifying their departure from its clear wording and intention.
The Sabbath was hollowed in Creation. For in six days God created the heavens and the earth and rested on the seventh. Therefore the Sabbath’s holiness and sacred ordination dates back long before the ceremonial laws of Moses. The Ten Commandments were written by God upon the stones of the Testimony given to Moses, the Law of Moses was written on paper to the nation of Israel. Regarding the Sabbath it is written,
Exodus 31:12-17
{31:12} And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
{31:13} Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying,
Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between
me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know
that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you. {31:14} Ye
shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it [is] holy unto you:
every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for
whosoever doeth [any] work therein, that soul shall be cut
off from among his people. {31:15} Six days may work be
done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the
LORD: whosoever doeth [any] work in the sabbath day, he
shall surely be put to death. {31:16} Wherefore the children
of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath
throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant.
{31:17} It [is] a sign between me and the children of Israel
for ever: for [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
The Sabbath was of such importance that violators were to be put to death. The Sabbath was a GIFT to man. On the Sabbath man was to rest from his toils and labors and hallow the day for worship and adoration of God. But observing the Sabbath the observer acknowledges God as his or her creator and God. To this day the Jewish people observe the Sabbath of the LORD. Though they have no temple or priesthood, the Sabbath serves as a “temple in time” wherein they can spiritually commune with God. Please note, observance of the Sabbath had a sanctifying effect in that when observed, the observer took upon themselves the sign that they were indeed God’s people.
Leviticus 19:30
{19:30} Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my
sanctuary: I [am] the LORD.
We know that the LORD doesn’t dwell in temples of men’s hands… however here the keeping of the Sabbath is equated with reverencing God’s sanctuary. In this sense the location or structure isn’t the point… the observance of the Sabbath becomes the reverence of the LORD’s sanctuary… a sanctuary in time, spiritually entered into on the seventh day of the week throughout the generations.
Ezekiel 20:12-13
{20:12} Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a
sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am]
the LORD that sanctify them. {20:13} But the house of
Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not
in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which [if]
a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they
greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon
them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Speaking of the Seventh Day Sabbaths of the LORD, the LORD states that it was to be a sign between Him and His people, that they might know that He was the LORD that sanctifies them. But was we see Israel rebelled against God and walked not in His statues, the despised His judgments given to man to live therein, and His Sabbaths they greatly polluted. So because of Israel’s pollution of the Sabbath Day God decided to pour out fearsome judgment.
Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus observing the Sabbath and teaching in the synagogues,
Mark 1:21-22
{1:21} And they went into
Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered
into the synagogue, and taught. {1:22} And they were
astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that
had authority, and not as the scribes.
Mark 6:1-2
{6:1} And he went out from thence, and came into his
own country; and his disciples follow him. {6:2} And when
the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the
synagogue: and many hearing [him] were astonished,
saying, From whence hath this [man] these things? and what
wisdom [is] this which is given unto him, that even such
mighty works are wrought by his hands?
Luke 4:16
{4:16} And he came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the
synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luke 4:31-32
{4:31} And came down to Capernaum, a city
of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. {4:32}
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was
with power.
Luke 13:10
{13:10}
And he (Jesus) was teaching in one of the synagogues on the
sabbath.
We also read that Paul observed the Sabbath,
Acts 13:14
{13:14} But when they departed from Perga, they came to
Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the
sabbath day, and sat down.
Acts 13:42
{13:42} And
when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles
besought that these words might be preached to them the
next sabbath.
Acts 13:44
{13:44} And the next sabbath day came almost the whole
city together to hear the word of God.
Acts 16:13
{16:13} And on the
sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer
was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the
women which resorted [thither].
Acts 17:1
{17:1} Now when they had passed through Amphipolis
and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a
synagogue of the Jews: {17:2} And Paul, as his manner
was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned
with them out of the scriptures,
Acts 18:4
{18:4} And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath,
and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
It becomes evident that Paul’s manner of preaching took place primarily on the Sabbath day.
Acts 20:7
{20:7} 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; and continued his speech until midnight.
Please note that this states that on the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them. We have to remember that their calendar marked the beginning of the day at sunset, not sunrise. It becomes evident that they had come together on Saturday evening just after Sunset, thus the first day of the week. Paul preached all night on Saturday leading up until midnight.
There is one other passage often used to indicate that the early church gathered on the first day of the week. Let us look closely at this one….
I Corinthians 16:1-2
{16:1} Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I
have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
{16:2} Upon the first [day] of the week let every one of you
lay by him in store, as [God] hath prospered him, that there
be no gatherings when I come.
Some have taught that this indicates that the collection was taken up in a public gathering on the first day of the week. However, upon closer examination this text indicates that Paul told the Galatians and Corinthian Christians to set aside a portion for collection “in store” that there be no gatherings of money when he comes. Essentially the Christians were to begin setting aside a collection at home, “laying it in store”, so that when Paul did come (on the Sabbath, as his manner was, Acts 17:1) there would be no need to race and gather funds. This verse doesn’t demand that their meeting was on the first day of the week as so many suppose. In fact, in light of Scripture, it reveals the need for Christians to set aside a portion for offering as their week begins (on the first day) so that they can give when they do gather. For if the collection was actually taken on the first day, there would be no need to lay the portion up in store.
Paul wrote,
Colossians 2:16
{2:16} 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: ]{2:17} Which
are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
Here many believe Paul is saying that it isn’t important to keep the Sabbath. However, Paul is most likely referring to the ceremonial “sabbaths” instituted by the Law of Moses which were feast days of the OT. Essentially Paul was admonishing Gentile Christians in Colossae not to allow the anyone to judge them because they don’t keep the Jewish Feast days. This has nothing to do with the “Sabbath of the LORD”.
Finally we read of John being in the Spirit… on the LORD’s Day,
Revelation
{1:10} I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice,
as of a trumpet,
Many propose that John was in the Spirit in Sunday, however, given the deep Hebraic symbolism of the Book of Revelation, it’s hard to see John as speaking of any day as “the Lord’s day” but the Sabbath.
So, how did the Christian notion of Sabbath get changed from the Seventh Day (Saturday) to Sunday?
History is clear. We read history concerning Jesus name baptism and see where the baptismal formula was changed into the triune Trinitarian formula according to historians,
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (1962), I 351: "The evidence… suggests that baptism in early Christianity was administered, not in the threefold name, but 'in the name of Jesus Christ' or 'in the name of the Lord Jesus.'"
Otto Heick, A History of Christian Thought (1965), I, 53: "At first baptism was administered in the name of Jesus, but gradually in the name of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (1898). I, 241: "[One explanation is that] the original form of words was "into the name of Jesus Christ" or 'the Lord Jesus,' Baptism into the name of the Trinity was a later development."
Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church (1947), page 58: "The trinitarian baptismal formula,,, was displacing the older baptism in the name of Christ."
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1957), I, 435: "The New Testament knows only baptism in the name of Jesus… which still occurs even in the second and third centuries."
Canney's Encyclopedia of Religions (1970), page 53: "Persons were baptized at first 'in the name of Jesus Christ' … or 'in the name of the Lord Jesus'… Afterwards, with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, they were baptized 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.'"
Encyclopedia Biblica (1899), I, 473: "It is natural to conclude that baptism was administered in the earliest times 'in the name of Jesus Christ,' or in that 'of the Lord Jesus.' This view is confirmed by the fact that the earliest forms of the baptismal confession appear to have been single-not triple, as was the later creed."
Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1920), II 365: "The trinitarian formula and trine immersion were not uniformly used from the beginning… Bapti[sm] into the name of the Lord [was] the normal formula of the New Testament. In the 3rd century baptism in the name of Christ was still so widespread that Pope Stephen, in opposition to Cyprian of Carthage, declared it to be valid."
Please be informed that history is equally as clear regarding the changing of the Sabbath to Sunday,
“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.” Rome’s Challenge www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003
“Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).
“Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code (ten commandments) was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai...Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5)...The (Catholic) Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day...He (God) claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy...”The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 4, “The Ten Commandments”, 1908 edition by Robert Appleton Company; and 1999 Online edition by Kevin Knight, Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
“Had she (the Roman Catholic Church) not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism On the Obedience Due to the Church, 3rd edition, Chapter 2, p. 174 (Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York).
“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
“Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday...Now the Church...instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday.” Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927 edition, p. 136.
“Question - Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957.
“Question. - How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“Answer. - By the very act of changing Sabbath into Sunday which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
“Question. - How prove you that?
“Answer. - Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, composed by Henry Tuberville, p. 58.
“Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The (Roman Catholic) Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.” John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies, 1936 edition, vol. 1, p. 51.
“The Sunday...is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.”American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883.
“Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900.
“It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church.” Priest Brady, in an address reported in The News, Elizabeth, New Jersey, March 18, 1903.
“From this we may understand how great is the authority of the church in interpreting or explaining to us the commandments of God - an authority which is acknowledged by the universal practice of the whole Christian world, even of those sects which profess to take the holy Scriptures as their sole rule of faith, since they observe as the day of rest not the seventh day of the week demanded by the Bible, but the first day. Which we know is to be kept holy, only from the tradition and teaching of the Catholic church.” Henry Gibson, Catechism Made Easy, #2, 9th edition, vol. 1, p. 341-342.
“It was the Catholic church which...has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Therefore the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) church.” Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p. 213.
“Sunday is our mark or authority...the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923.
“Protestants...accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change...But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that...In observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.” Our Sunday Visitor, February 15, 1950.
“The (Roman Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.” The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.
“Sunday is founded, not of scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic institution. As there is no scripture for the transfer of the day of rest from the last to the first day of the week, Protestants ought to keep their Sabbath on Saturday and thus leave Catholics in full possession of Sunday.” Catholic Record, September 17, 1893.
“It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible.” Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Magazine, USA (1975), Chicago, Illinois, “Under the blessing of the Pope Pius XI”
With this much history and admission to the change of the Sabbath by the Roman Catholic Church, how can we as Apostolics deny that the LORD’s Day is indeed the Seventh Day which was hallowed by our Creator in Genesis? How can we deny the Fourth Commandment and it’s implications regarding our Apostolic Faith?
Before us is set a Tabernacle in Time. A blessed gift provided by our Creator. A day in which HE ordained to observe, in that we might come near Him and be sanctified a blessed and holy people.
Should we enter in? If we should... will we enter in?
The subject has greatly troubled and challenged me. What are some of your thoughts?
The Sabbath was a universal understanding and is a natural law stemming from creation before the fall. Thus it is applicable to all times. They observed the Sabbath before Sinai.
Sabbath was literal for the jews, symbolic for the church. It's not about a day for us, rather what it signified.
hmmm that would go against the very nature of what the Sabbath was before the JEWS. The law of God was before Sinai. The Sabbath is for our benefit as is all of God's righteous teachings(Torah) It is what is best.
Last edited by TheLegalist; 02-16-2010 at 10:18 AM.
The sabbath was a rest. It was also a seal and gift just as Aquila said.
We have all those in the Holy Ghost. No need of a day anymore. We have the gift of the holy ghost. We are sealed by his spirit. It is the rest for the weary.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
The sabbath was a rest. It was also a seal and gift just as Aquila said.
We have all those in the Holy Ghost. No need of a day anymore. We have the gift of the holy ghost. We are sealed by his spirit. It is the rest for the weary.
Yes, the HS is our spiritual rest but that has nothing to do with physical rest. Show me where the Sabbath was ever said to be done away. you are grabbing one end and ignoring the other.
interesting God rested from his labor.... yet somehow we don't naturally rest from ours with your thinking....hmmmmm
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