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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
It is often claimed that "God instituted the Sabbath in Eden" because of the connection between the Sabbath and creation in Exodus 20:11. Although God's rest on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3) did fo...
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Albert Perkic
Supporter
The Sabbath was instituted at creation week after God had created the land animals and mankind. Then Genesis 2:2,3 says "And on the seventh day God ended 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 " There's no verse in scripture where God withdrew His blessing on that day. Malachi 3:6 says 'For I am The Lord, I do not change' God also said in Isaiah 66:22 that in heaven we will come to worship before God on the sabbath. "For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before me says The Lord.... And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me" says The Lord. The Sabbath is Saturday scripture says Jesus was crucified on Friday (preparation day) Mark 15:42 and rested in the tomb on the Sabbath (saturday) and rose up on Sunday. Luke 23:56 - 24:1 Jesus said "if you love me, keep My commandments. John 14:15 The question is not do we have to, but how much do you love God? In so doing we show the world that we honor our Lord in keeping all His commandments including the fourth commandment, and not just the others that are more 'convenient' in fitting in with our lifestyle.
gaddaparala kumar
Supporter
God Bless You, Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. The Ten Commandments: EExodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Sabbath of the old covenant Numbers 28:9 “‘On the Sabbath day, make an offering of two lambs a year old without defect, together with its drink offering and a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah[c] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. Jesus kept the Sabbath (Sabbath of the New covenant) Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, Luke 4:31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. Jesus commanded to keep the sabbath until the end of the age Mathew 24:3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Mathew 24:20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. Because Jesus is the lord of the Sabbath mathew 12:8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Paul warned to keep the lords day to enter the lords sabbath A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God Heb 41 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.[a] 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”[b] And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.”[c] 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”[d] 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[e] just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
John Smith
Supporter
Why Christians Should Keep (The Sabbath) God's Fourth Commandment. The Sabbath After The Resurrection Many Christians keep Sunday instead of the Sabbath, offering a host of reasons, the main one being the resurrection of Christ. This besides the fact that nothing in the New Testament, including Acts 20:7 and the passages on the Resurrection, teaches that Sunday is to replace Sabbath. Acts 20:17 "And upon the first day of the week when the deciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow and continued his speech until midnight." The biblical day begins at sunset and ends at sunset following. These people met AFTER the Sabbath which using the Roman day system, would be Saturday evening. Paul spoke until mid-night. Sabbath services are not held in the night. This was a meeting to break bread (see Acts 2:46). Christ's words in Matthew 24:20 show that in A.D. 70, forty years after His death, the Sabbath was to be considered as sacred as it had always been. The following New Testament evidence shows the seventh-day Sabbath remained sacred after the resurrection of Christ. Acts 13:14,42. Acts 14:1 Acts 17:1,2 Acts 18:4 Paul, following Jesus's example (Acts 17:2) as apostle to the Gentiles went to the synagogue on Sabbath, to preach to the Jews and to keep holy the Sabbath Day. After the synagogue service was finished, the Gentiles begged Paul to preach the gospel to them. In Acts 13:44 the whole city came together to hear the word of God the next Sabbath.. This is direct documentary evidence that the early church knew nothing of the first day of the week as a replacement for God's Fourth Commandment, Remember The Seventh Day Sabbath. God Bless.
Delores Easthom
Supporter
Jesus kept the Sabbath as the last day of the week, which was Saturday. God changes not. We should keep the Sabbath, as written in God's Word. We should also worship God every day. Man has made numerous pagan feast days. Sunday, we are to lay aside our offerings by coming together and breaking bread. Saturday is the day Jesus taught in the temple, and we also should do the same. Work for 6 days, and rest on the seventh.
Kim Davenport
Supporter
Consider just this one fact: the word Sabbath appears 107 times in the Old Testament and a surprising 68 times in the New Testament. The “first day” of the week, however, is mentioned only eight times in the New Testament, a rather revealing indication about which day was observed then and still commanded as the proper Sabbath for today.
D W
Supporter
We needn't make this difficult or controversial. Suffice it to say that the Sabbath (Saturday) was Jewish, and that on Sunday Christians observe and worship the resurrection of our Savior. That is separate and apart from what happens in the end times and in the New Heaven and new earth. No doubt when that glorious re-creation comes about folks then will worship God any way He desires to be worshiped. They sure won't quibble about it! (grin).....
Ariel HaNaviy
Supporter
I want to answer the questions in reverse order of how they were asked. Q: Do Christians have to observe the Sabbath day? A: As covenant-bound believers in Yeshua (Jesus), and bona fide members in Isra'el, yes, the Torah applies to them. They should be observing the God-given seventh-day Sabbath instead of (or better yet, along with) the man-made replacement called Sunday. Q: What day is the Sabbath, Saturday or Sunday? A: Sabbath is Saturday. Despite its age, if we are to take God’s Word as trustworthy in its original autograph then we can be sure that the biblical Sabbath has been preserved as our modern seventh-day Saturday, based on at least 3500 years of reliable records-keeping and based on an accurate historical, grammatical understanding of the ancient near-Eastern tradition as a whole. According to Old Testament Hebrew reckoning from time immemorial, and in keeping with ancient and Jewish practices, the days of the week are not named but instead are merely numbered, the Sabbath day being the only exception. When, no later than the second century, the Roman government decided to give the days of the week names, surprisingly our modern English-named day ‘Saturday’ has survived as the only day that retains its original connection to ancient Roman mythology; the other days’ modern names find their roots in Germanic polytheism. God established the universal seven-day weekly cycle in Genesis chapter one. This same God entrusted Moses with transmitting this information to greater Isra'el and eventually to her written Torah (Law). This same Torah was verified as accurate for 1500 years of Jewish history until the time that Jesus Christ walked the Earth. Within a few hundred years the emerging Christian Church picked up and continued this accurate transmission of Truth right down to this very day. While not entirely accurate all the time, but nevertheless helpful, Wikipedia has this to say about the weekdays as being numbered from Saturday: “For the majority of the Abrahamic religions the first day of the week is Sunday. Biblical Sabbath (originally corresponding to Saturday), when God rested from six-day Creation, made the day following Sabbath the first day of the week (corresponding to Sunday). Seventh-day Sabbaths were sanctified for celebration and rest. After the week was adopted in early Christian Europe, Sunday remained the first day of the week, but also gradually displaced Saturday as the day of celebration and rest, being considered the Lord's Day. The change of Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday has no biblical foundation.” An additional article from Wikipedia on Saturday has this record: “In Jewish Law, Saturday is the seventh day of the week, called Shabbat. Thus, in many languages the Saturday is named after the Sabbath. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches distinguish between Saturday (Sabbath) and the Lord's Day (Sunday). Some Protestants call Sunday the Sabbath (see Sabbath in Christianity). Quakers traditionally refer to Saturday as "Seventh Day," eschewing the "pagan" origin of the name. In Islamic countries, Fridays are holidays, but they are considered as the sixth day of the week.” Conclusions: Despite the obvious religious differences between Judaism and Christianity, both institutions do in fact agree that the [Old Testament] Scriptures are reliable, accurate, and trustworthy in their original autographs—and this includes the seventh-day Sabbath identity.
Brother Agathiyan
Supporter
Jesus himself transgressed the law of Sabbath John 5:18. But He fulfilled the Law completely Mat 5:17. How? Love is the fulfillment of law. Rom 13:8-10. Jesus did not follow the law literally. If he would have obeyed the law literally then forgiving the prostitute should have been a sin. But he fulfilled the purpose for which the law was given. That was to attain Eternal Life though Love Faith and God's Grace.
Hannah Albarran
Supporter
In my opinion based on the Bible, The Sabbath is the Day that God gave us since the Begining of creation and was established for God and not for men. The Sabbath is the Day that God has made and will last forever. Also in the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath was written as the 4th Commandment (with the Statment saying "Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy.") refering to Saturday and not Sunday.
David Huffman
Supporter
This has a far more complex consequence than the question implies. Whether Messianic Jews or Gentile Christians, we should remember that both love Jesus and He is the not so common denominator. Given the point of God having sanctified the 7th day during Creation week, we should recognize that the knowledge of what to do with that as a commandment was revealed by God to Moses in Exodus. From that point on it became an observable practice to formally worship God specifically for the Hebrews in recognition of their deliverance out of bondage. Another point to mention is that Jesus was present "In the beginning" and was active in the creation (see Jn.1: 1 - 3). So He too rested on the 7th day. That would also mean that He sanctified the day and set it for rest. And He later revealed to Moses that the purpose was to keep it holy and to worship God. So the question is what, if anything, changed? Did Jesus? Did the Law? Ahh, yes. The old law was a covenant between God and Israel (a.k.a. Hebrews, Jews). But Jesus made a New covenant that opened the door of heaven to those outside of the Jewish community, Gentiles. Jesus said in Matt. 5:17, that he came not to abolish the law but fulfill it. Much of Jewish worship was based in ceremonial animal sacrifice according to God's direction. But Jesus death and resurrection eliminated the need for such activity because HE FULFILLED that requirement, once for all. And Messianic Jews and practicing traditional Jews and secular Jews no longer practice blood sacrifice. Clearly something changed. But that change did not eradicate what sin is. We still cannot murder, or steal, or covet, or commit adultery, or worship idols, or not worship God. The problem with making the legal argument for the law is that it tends to limit the revelation of God to just the law. The problem with not making the legal argument for the law is that it tends to make the old testament irrelevant in the eyes of some New Testament believers. I would submit that it is all the Word of God and gives us His revelation by degrees, in progression. The reality is we were never able to keep the law. It's provisions for sin and sacrifice were never able to fully satisfy our need for redemption and were but a covering. Those elements simply pointed to Jesus as the ultimate propitiation for sin. It seems that the Old Covenant revelation sets in motion the nature of God, His attributes, His requirements, instruction, revelation, provision, relationship to man, and man's inadequacies before a Holy God. The new Covenant extends salvation to both Jews and Gentiles (basically pagans) equally and on the requisite of belief in Christ; not animal sacrifice. Therefore, Jewish ceremonial rituals cannot be imposed on anyone. Does it therefore erase the Sabbath commandment (4th) and what it represents? Does it represent the 7th day, or that God rested, or a day set apart to worship the Creator God? All three? Perhaps, but the net importance is about worship and when to do it. Most evangelicals would say I worship everyday, some would say all day, everyday. If possible I think that would be the purest form of fulfilling the 4th commandment. Worshipping God constantly in spirit and in truth is certainly the higher standard. Isn't it just like man to quibble about the day rather than not forsake the assembling of ourselves together to build one another in the faith? Consider this. In the past and today, there were people who assembled on the Sabbath and on Sundays who simply do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior and the message preached will not tell them about Him. In that scenario, how does the proper Sabbath day make a difference before God? First day, last day, which is better? Both, and all the days in between. Worship and prayer is an outward expression of your heart toward God. Why limit it to one day? But, if you want to be right, worship on the Sabbath. If you want to be right and holy, worship daily.
Duku Samuel
Supporter
Sabbath being a Saturday and not a Sunday is known to almost everyone; The Jews, Hebrews are the primary source; even the dictionary plays it the same. The point is no matter what day the Sabbath is, today's Saturdays and Sundays are being observed in a larger extent as days believers gather to worship The LORD. If it's communion that brings people to worship places on these particular days (like in my locality), Jesus did not mention days in which Christians should eat communion (Luke 22:19, saying "...... This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me). Communion has no particular days for eating. So it make no sense if that's the case. I want to conclude that worship days are not limited to these two days. In other words we can do what we always do on Saturdays or Sundays on any other day in the same magnitude. What matters so much is: Do we worship in Spirit and in Truth with humility?
Murray Runge
Supporter
When the Sabbath was given to the Jews one must also consider that there was no such thing as Saturday or Sunday, and the days were calculated by the new moons. So in my opinion, to have an accurate day a person would need to go back in history. Some would call it God's calendar to the time it was originally given, as well as the rules given to the Israelites in how to keep it, prior to man's involvement in the way we calculate the days, months, years and days of celebration now. Since our calendar doesn't match those of the past, how can one determine with accuracy what the Sabbath day even would be unless one kept the same calendar as well? The day of atonement is not on a certain day of the week each year, for instance. For Christians who set aside a day of rest using a man-made system of calculation and put that as a commandment that Christ came to fulfill, well thats another issue that we need to ask: “Why was the law given?” besides when and who it was given to. Galatians 3:19 asks that question. "Why was the law given at all? It was added because of transgression. Until the Seed to whom the promise referred to had come." We are not under the law covenant any longer. If we were, then Christ's sacrifice would not be fulfilling the law. "Before coming of this faith we were held custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by the faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian". Gal 3:23 We are no longer slaves to the law, we are slaves to God, our heavenly Father. We were purchased and sealed by the blood of Christ so that all who believe in Him will inherit the kingdom of God. Ephesians says about the gospel of truth and salvation: "When you 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." 1:13,14 We are under grace not works. We are to love God and love our neighbor. To add works to our faith in Christ is the same as not trusting in Jesus. Our deeds of love and compassion to God and to one another glorify our loving Creator. We demonstrate our faith by our works that God wrote on our hearts, and these works are the treasures we store in heaven. They also help us to evaluate our spiritual growth's progression into sanctification. Gathering and worshiping on any day or every day is to glorify God. It is not a sin or trespass to praise the Lord! Colossians 2:13 says He forgave our sins, cancelled our legal indebtedness, and took it away, nailing it to the cross. Jesus Christ is our rest. We can rest assured and rest easy, not troubling ourselves over past Judaic laws. We know not to worship idols, covet, steal, lie, commit adulatory, disrespect our parents, murder or rape, and how to honor God by not using His Holy name in vain. It all can be blamed on the sin of coveting because it is from inside our hearts, wanting what we do not have a right to, which if not kept in check, can lead us into self pride, sexual immorality, lusts of the flesh. So if my eye offends me I must pluck it out, as Jesus said. Keeping the Sabbath on either Saturday or Sunday is unscriptural and unspiritual. Those who believe Saturday is still to be observed and Sunday worship is the mark of the beast for instance, are teaching a false gospel, used for control and fear. Through God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit we are cleansed of all sin and we will be judged not as those who are condemned already by their unbelief and rejection of Christ our Savior. We are judged to receive our heavenly rewards. Our sins are not just covered as in olden days, they are washed away, completely forgotten. We must not let such false doctrine stumble us on this narrow path we walk with Christ as we await our rapture.
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