The Sabbath Day 9-Jul-09

For the Jews of the pre Christian era, the sabbath was to be strictly adhered to. For
the Christian, it seems to me that the sabbath is now for all other souls, and I as a
believer, must hold all days Holy. However, not every Christian is in agreement on
this matter. Of course, our conscience should not accuse us of sin, but the church
should be in agreement on all matters, not just something so petty as this. However,
with all the divisions under the umbrella of Christianity, it seems highly unlikely
that the Christians will be of one mind, unless these walls of division are demolished
and a common office of information be established for all Christians.

Legend: My words are in bold blue, [my entries], Christ' words are in red, Words in
black are text lifted from reference material. Caps, boldfaced type and/or underlining
are my personal added emphasis. Numbers preceded with the letters "H" or "G"
represent the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance reference numbers.

The arguments surrounding the Sabbath day, even in our time, should indicate just
how strong Christianity really is. It appears that we can not even agree as to
whether or not we are obliged to observe it or not.

I suppose if you were to ask the average Christian on the street whether they are to
keep it holy, most would probably answer "Yes"; so not all is lost. But it would seem
only natural for me to think that after nearly 2000 years, the "Church" would not
be further divided on such an issue as "The Sabbath". Obviously the fault is not to
be laid on the "Church" but on Christian men who continue to allow division within
the church. In other words, it’s our own fault. However, it should be the goal of most
Christians to somehow work together to close the gaps that exist when they become
aware of them. So, this Sabbath argument is just one of many topics that should be
studied in order to put to rest and heal the wound caused by this dividing force
which can not be from God.

Here then is my humble opinion:

Acts 13:14 Says: "But when they departed from Perga, they came to
Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and
sat down."

Judging from the context of the preceding verses, it seems quite clear that this was a
typical Sabbath meeting, so we can safely say that Paul observed the Jewish
Sabbath. In that most of the initial Christians of the first century came from the
Jews whether inside out outside of Palestine, there is no reason to assume that the
early Christians did not observe that same day as the Lord's Holy Day. Therefore, it
would only seem natural that Paul or any of the others would work through the
synagogues to preach God’s good News seeing that this message was initially for the
"Lost Sheep of Israel". It was only afterwards that they turned after the Gentiles.
Ref

Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was
necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but
seeing ye put it from you [the Jews], and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

We aslo read that Jesus must have intended for his followers to observe a sabbath
for he makes this remark concerning the time towards the end:

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the
sabbath day: [What ever these reasons were for him to say this is not
mentioned but it could easily have meant that having to contend with
violating the sabbath in some way while trying to take cover from
potential/eminent disaster.

Jesus also makes this remark:

Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? [It would
seem that a true Christian, being in the service of God would be also
"blameless" as the Priests for working on the day of rest. However, it
should be understood that as Christians, we are working in the service
to God seven days a week.]

In Rev 1:10 we read:

"I was in the Spirit on "the Lord's day", and heard behind me a great voice,
as of a trumpet," [This is the only place this combination is used in the
KJV and could be referred to as the Lord Jesus' day or the Lord
YHWH's day. But in any case it was most likely referring to the
weekly sabbath. To conclude that John was projected into the future
to the Lord's rest, is stretching things a bit.]

In Isa 58:13-14 we read concerning "my Holy Day", spoken by YHWH, it is the
sabbath:

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on
my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD,
honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight
thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of
 the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth
of the LORD hath spoken it. [I am therefore led to believe that there is
in fact a reason behind this "Gift" that God has given us. So to me to
treat it any other way than Holy, would be in a way, showing
contempt. Even if it is not law, it would only seem right to honor it
even if we don't fully understand it.]

When we read that the land also must have it's sabbath rest, it makes sense that we
too would function better if we charged our battery periodically, say, once a week.
Ref

Lev 26:34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth
desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest,
and enjoy her sabbaths.

We also read that even the Gentiles were willing to observed this sabbath along with
the Jews. Ref

Acts 13:42-45 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the
Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next
sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews
and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to
them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next
sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and
blaspheming.

Acts 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 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded
the Jews and the Greeks.

This next verse indicates that Jesus never taught that the sabbath was no longer to
be observed for those women closest to him kept it according to the commandment..
Ref:

Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and
rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Jesus simply has this to say:

Mark 2:27-28 & Lk 6:5 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also
of the sabbath.
The following is submitted for your consideration to offer support from an historic
and not scriptural standpoint. Caution here. I can not validate this following info
but it is in line with what I have read in The Encarta Ency. offered by Microsoft.

"The keeping of the first day as the Sabbath by Christians can be traced to
Constantine, a sun-worshipping emperor of Rome, who gave an edict that
changed the Sabbath to SUNday. When you read his proclamation, please
notice how it honors the sun-god instead of The Creator:

"On the Venerable day of the SUN 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; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for
grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment
for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.

Given the seventh day of March [AD 321] Crispus and Constantine being
consuls each of them for the second time."

Reference: The First Sunday Law of Constantine 1, in "Codex Justinianus"

A comment by the provider of the above info:

With the Sunday Law, Constantine tried to unite the Mithra (Sun God)
worshipping pagans and his new-found friends, the Christians. Those who
honor SUNday unknowingly honor the god of the sun - not the God of
creation who said: Keep Holy the Sabbath etc."

The commandment goes like this:

Deu 5:12-14 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God
hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy
maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant
may rest as well as thou. [And: Exo 20:8-10.]

This commandment was part of the Mosaic Law and is thought to be no longer
binding to the Christian as it was for the Jew. Probably due to the fact that Jesus,
nor any of his immediate followers specifies or expresses it as a command from our
Lord Jesus, there is no reason to oblige Christians to adhere to it.

Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a
change also of the law.

Christ's instructions were these:

Mat 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

When one looks at the Ten Commandments as they appear in Deut 5, we can see
that the first three are dedicated to God, the next one to man (keep holy the
sabbath), and the last six to one's neighbor. With Christianity, Jesus boils it all down
to just two; Loving God and Loving neighbor. In that the Christian is a twenty four
hour a day, seven days a week person, their can not be a separate day for
worshiping God different from any other. Therefore, a law for Sabbath observance
for the Christian is not warranted by NT scripture, IMHO. But the Sabbath law
should be respected and allowed for all other persons and beasts as a day of rest.
Moreover, YHWH Himself kept the Sabbath, in the strictest sense, so it would seem
to be good advice to follow his example. It is a gift from God, and should be enjoyed
by all of mankind.

Here's something that I got from the internet: Attention 

The Lord's Day, Sunday, was celebrated much earlier than Constantine.
Ignatius
of Antioch (died approx 115 a.d.) said:

... 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
and by His death. (Ep. Magnesians, IX)

You can read the whole document at:

Ignatius was the leader of the church at Antioch, where they were first
called
Christians.
It's more than likely that the Christians began to celebrate the day after the Jewish
sabbath as the Lord's Day in honor of his resurrection on that day or Jesus' first
appearance with his desciples on the day after the Jewish Sabbath. However this
gesture was most probably done through a Church Leader and then passed on by
tradition.

The “Seventh Day rest” is the Lord’s but this is not IMO, addressing the weekly
sabbath.

Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I
have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the
works were finished from the foundation of the world. [These words
come from Psa 95:11 and were spoken by YHWH.]

It appears however, that Paul began to hold his church meetings on the first day of
the week with this verse:

1 Cor 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. [Therefore it seems reasonable to conclude that maybe from the
early beginning of Christianity this became a church tradition.]

Paul kind of gives definition to this case in the following verse:

Rom 14:4-8 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own
master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to
make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another: another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own
mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that
regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth,
eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the
Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to
himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto
the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live
therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

To conclude, I am convinced that a Christian is not obliged to observe this sabbath,

1 Tim 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart,
and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

I also observe it as a means to strengthen my faith in this sense: I used to study his
words seven days a week thinking that it was necessary if I wanted to arrive at a
higher level of understanding. Now I think that if God wants to give me a better
understanding, he will do it because of our closeness and not my exerted efforts. So I
praise him and thank him for his sabbath while I struggle trying to keep it. One
final thought: God has given much of the world two days off from each week, one
from the Jews and one from the Christians. How much nicer it is than having no
sabbaths at all. Some people need a break after a week on the job. I did. God really
does bless us, so we should thank him for his sabbath. Not necessarily for our
benefits, but for the benefit of all others; animals included.

May God bless you.

--

simply "Christian"