sabbath keeping

[jenna]

Why does God command keeping the Sabbath (Saturday) but most "christians" keep Sunday? Are they not breaking God's commandment? Someone help me here and give me some feedback.

[Enigma7457]

I could be wrong since i do not have a whole lot of scripture to back me up. I, also, struggled with this myself and i came to a conclusion:

I don't really think God cares what day we set aside, as long as it is set aside. Many local churches have started to have a service on saturday afternoon as well. Calenders change. For example, in the jewish calender, the day started at 7pm and ended at 7pm. So saturday was actually from friday at 7pm to saturday at 7pm.

All in all, i don't think it matters what day (just my 2 cents).

[jenna]

I could be wrong since i do not have a whole lot of scripture to back me up. I, also, struggled with this myself and i came to a conclusion:

I don't really think God cares what day we set aside, as long as it is set aside. Many local churches have started to have a service on saturday afternoon as well. Calenders change. For example, in the jewish calender, the day started at 7pm and ended at 7pm. So saturday was actually from friday at 7pm to saturday at 7pm.

All in all, i don't think it matters what day (just my 2 cents).

Just one question. If it doesn't matter, then why the COMMANDMENT to keep the Sabbath?

[Enigma7457]

Why did God command we keep the SABBATH and not the SATURDAY? I'm sure if he cared what day it was, the commandment would have read: Remember to rest on SATURDAY and keep it holy.

[jenna]

Why did God command we keep the SABBATH and not the SATURDAY? I'm sure if he cared what day it was, the commandment would have read: Remember to rest on SATURDAY and keep it holy.

Because God did not name the days of the week, man did. The seven-day cycle has never been changed, so the Sabbath would have been Saturday then just as it is now.

[Enigma7457]

But when the commandment was given, the hebrews had already named the days. If God really cared what day it was, he would have specified. "Worship on Saturday." He is very clear in all of the OT laws, why not specify the day?

[jenna]

But when the commandment was given, the hebrews had already named the days. If God really cared what day it was, he would have specified. "Worship on Saturday." He is very clear in all of the OT laws, why not specify the day?

Where in scripture does it say the days were already named? I havent read this yet.

[edwardamo]

Many Christians (including me) do not believe the command to keep the Sabbath applies to Christians. We do have the Lord's Day, but that is a different thing entirely than keeping the Sabbath. For my own brief explanation of this, see http://www.noble-minded.org/sabbath.html. (Or if you're really ambitious, read the book "From Sabbath to Lord's Day," edited by D. A. Carson.)

[jenna]

Your post brings up interesting points. However saying the Sabbath was made for the nation of Israel, and not for mankind in general, I have to question that. Mark 2:27-28 says that the Sabbath was made for MAN, not man for the Sabbath. Does this not mean EVERYONE? Also Jesus Himself kept the Sabbath and even called Himself "Lord of the Sabbath". So would that not make it holy and to still be kept today? As far as the "Lord's Day", doesn't that refer to the day of God's wrath, instead of the day of worship?

[edwardamo]

Well, I would say yes, the sabbath was made for everyone in that it is intended as a symbol of the rest God has made available to everyone who will enter it by faith. (See Heb. 4:9 - "There remains a sabbath rest for the people of God," referring to the rest we find in Christ's finished work when we believe in Him (v. 3), not the OT rest of the 7th day.) The keeping of the sabbath as an actual day of rest in the OT was only a symbol of that real sabbath-rest, and that symbolic observance was not intended to be continued after the fulfillment had come. I believe the paper I referred to shows pretty conclusively that the sabbath was NOT kept as a day of rest in the NT, after the death and resurrection of the Lord and the formation of the NT church.

As far as the "Lord's Day" being the day of God's wrath, there are a few who hold that view, but I do not think it is defensible. "The Day of the Lord" (referred to many times in the OT and NT) is certainly the day of God's wrath, but the "Lord's Day" (referred to only in Rev. 1:10, which has nothing to do with God's wrath) is a different grammatical construction, and was used by the early Christians with reference to the 1st day of the week. (Though whether or not this is the right interpretation of the "Lord's Day" really doesn't matter as far as the issue of sabbath-keeping is concerned.)

Hope that helps.

[jenna]

So are you saying that the Sabbath was not kept as a day of rest after Jesus died? Then why did He call Himself "Lord of the Sabbath?" Instead of "Lord of the Sabbath- but only while I'm alive"? (Not trying to be sarcastic here)

[edwardamo]

Christ is still Lord of the Sabbath; He is Lord of all. But this doesn't in any way imply the Sabbath commandment is still in effect. Rather, it means He has precedence and authority over the Sabbath commandment that the Pharisees claimed His disciples were breaking (Matt. 12:1-8). In His response He pointed out that the service of the temple took precedence over the Sabbath commandment (v. 5), and then He said He was even greater than the temple (v. 6), so He took precedence as well. At this point His purpose was not to debate how long the Sabbath commandment was to be in force, but simply to establish His authority to take precedence over it (which violently angered the Pharisees--v. 14). Actually, this authority extends to all the commands, which is why He can declare foods clean that were previously unclean (Mark 7:19, Acts 10:9-15), as well as why He can say through Paul, "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."

As far as whether the Sabbath was still kept as a day of rest after Jesus died, sure the unbelieving Jews still kept it, and I suppose many of the Jews who became Christians also continued to keep it for the sake of not offending their families and fellow Jews. But it was no longer a commandment. Nor was their worship on Sunday ever thought of as keeping the Sabbath. In other words, those who continued to keep the Sabbath would have rested on Saturday (along with perhaps going to the local Jewish synagogue to evangelize, as was Paul's custom--Acts 13:14, 18:4), but worshipped on Sunday (Acts 20:7). It is unfortunate that so many people today confuse the NT practice of worshipping God on Sunday with the OT practice of keeping the Sabbath--they are not the same!

[jenna]

But in the new testament also the Sabbath was kept on Saturday, not Sunday! Where in the N.T. does it say that Sunday was the day of worship? Also Christ Himself created the Sabbath, not God or man.

[edwardamo]

Hey jenwat, with all due respect, I don't think you've been listening--I did NOT say that the Sabbath was kept on Sunday; I specifically said it was kept on Saturday. (Even in the NT, by any who chose to still keep it, though this was no longer required.) In answer to your question, once again, Acts 20:7 is the main passage where we learn that the Christians gathered together on Sunday to worship, a practice with which the historical writings of the early Christians confirm.

I have no idea what you mean by your last statement that the Sabbath was created by Christ, not God. Where did you get that idea? And more importantly, do you not believe in the Deity of Christ? Christ is called God in John 20:28. If you do not believe that, then I don't see how you can even call yourself a Christian, much less why you'd be worried about what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath.

[jenna]

Ok, I have been listening.And first of all, I do not appreciate you telling me I'm not a christian without bothering to find what my beliefs actually are. I said Christ made the sabbath, not God, and I'll stick to that saying. However, that doesn't mean that I don't think Christ is God, so get your facts straight before you jump on me or call me un-christian! There Is God The Father and God the Son. God the Son,Jesus, is the one who made the Sabbath, not God the Father. And to address acts 20:7. This account does,in fact, speak of a religious meeting on Sunday. But the last phrase shows that it had grown dark. This was because Paul had continued his Sabbath preaching until midnight. Since God counts days from sunset to sunset, this is what we would have called Saturday night. It had nothing to do with a Sunday morning worship service. Paul was a visiting apostle. Such an evet was special, and people wanted to hear him preach as long as possible. And it was a farewell sermon.