The Sabbath 

Saturday or Sunday

Does God Really Care Which Day We Keep?

 

Let's take a look at a few passages in the Bible to see if God is particular about how people follow His instructions. As you read through these stories, ask yourself if it was important that people were specific about how they followed God's instructions.

The first example is about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Was God specific in His instructions? What were the consequences of disobeying those instructions?

Gen 2:16-17
16     And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17     but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die ."

Gen 3:1-4, 6, 8, 11, 16-19, 24
1     Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
2     And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3     but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.'"
4     And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die!
6     When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
8     And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
11     And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"
16     To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
17     Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
18     "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field;
19     By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
24     So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

God's instructions to Adam and Eve were specific and very clear. Why did Eve disobey? Perhaps because she was deceived by the serpent. Perhaps also because she didn't think that a bite of fruit was such a big deal. But it was a big deal. One bite of fruit has resulted in 6000 years of sin and separation from God for the entire human race.

Next we see Adam and Eve's son following in their parents' footsteps.

Gen 4:3-5
3     So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.
4     And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
5     but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

Gen 4:10-12
10     And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.
11     "And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12     "When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth."

Prov 14:12
12     There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Heb 9:22
22     And according to the Law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness .

Cain and Able both offered a sacrifice to the Lord to atone for their sins. The entire sacrificial system, in terms of sin sacrifices, pointed forward to Jesus shed blood in atonement for the sins of the world. God's instructions regarding the sin offering were clear. Hebrews tells us that a sin offering has to involve shedding of blood. Cain's offering was of the results of his own labor. This represents works righteousness, which is unacceptable to God. Able's offering was according to God's instructions and pointed forward to Jesus' death on Able's behalf. God rejected Cain's sacrifice, which led Cain to become jealous of his brother and to eventually kill him. Little sins lead to progressively worse sins unless repentance stops the slide.

Now let's look at another instance which is particularly pertinent to the Sabbath issue. Note that this occurs after the exodus of the Israelites from in Egypt but before the Ten Commandments were given on Mount Sinai.

Exod 16:4-5, 19-20, 22-30.
4     Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.
5     "And it will come about on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily ."
19     And Moses said to them, "Let no man leave any of it until morning."
20     But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them.
22     Now it came about on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
23     then he said to them, "This is what the LORD meant: tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD . Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning."
24     So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul, nor was there any worm in it.
25     And Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
26     "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none."
27     And it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
28     Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?
29     "See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. "
30     So the people rested on the seventh day.

Does the Bible say that God was particular about a specific day? Did the Israelites have the option of deciding which day they wanted to observe as the Sabbath? Was any day in seven good enough, as long as they set one aside for God? No! God picked the day. He was very particular about which day it was. He was also very angry with the Israelites when they tried to make their own decisions about which day to keep. The Sabbath day has never changed. God is still as particular about it now as He was then.

Heb 13:8
8     Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever .

Mal 3:6
6     "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.

Matt 5:18
18     "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.

Let's look at a few more examples.

Lev 10:1-2
1     Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
2     And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

It still sounds as if God is particular about His instructions. In the next example, King Saul makes the mistake of not following God's instructions specifically, and God basically fires him from being King over Israel. But Saul doesn't learn his lesson and disobeys God a second time.

1 Sam 15:1-3, 7-9, 10-11, 13-15, 19-23, 26
1     Then Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
2     "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.
3     'Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"
7     So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8     And he captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9     But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
10     Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
11     "I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands." And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night.
13     And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD ."
14     But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
15     And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."
19     "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"
20     Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21     "But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
22     And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
23     "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."

Look at Saul's excuses. First he blames it on the people rather than taking responsibility himself. But even more interesting is the reason that he gives for sparing some of the animals - they kept the best ones to sacrifice to God! That sounds like a noble purpose, doesn't it? Surely God would overlook the disobedience since they had such good intentions. But God says through Samuel, "To obey is better than sacrifice!!"

Do you see this same issue with regard to the Sabbath? Protestants claim to observe Sunday as the Sabbath because that is the day that Jesus rose from the dead and that the Holy Spirit fell on the Disciples at Pentacost. Well that sounds very good, but it is not what God instructed. Nowhere does the Bible ever transfer the solemnity of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. God is still the same, and He is still particular about His instructions.

Later we see that Saul didn't learn his lesson. Once again he disregards God's instructions. The first time God just deposed him as king. Look what happens as a result of continued disobedience.

1 Sam 28:7, 8
7     Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at En-dor."
8     Then Saul disguised himself by putting on other clothes, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said, "Conjure up for me, please, and bring up for me whom I shall name to you."

1 Chr 10:13-14
13     So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the LORD, because of the word of the LORD which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it
14     and did not inquire of the LORD. Therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.

God is serious about His commands. There are dozens of such examples in Scripture. Look at one more example that is significant to the Sunday/Sabbath issue.

Dan 5:1-5, 17, 22-28, 30
1     Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.
2     When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, in order that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
3     Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
4     They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5     Suddenly the fingers of a man's hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.
17     Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.
22     "Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this,
23     but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven ; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.
26     "This is the interpretation of the message: 'MENE'-- God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.
27     "'TEKEL'-- you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient .
28     "'PERES'-- your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
30     That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain .

Remember that the temple utensils and vessels had been consecrated to God's service in the temple. They were sanctified - or set aside for a holy purpose. Belshazzar had used these sanctified things for an unholy purpose. This was an abomination to God. It was compounded by the sins of pride and idolatry. God deposed king Belshazzar, overthrew his kingdom, and killed him on account of his sins. Belshazzar was king of Babylon. Babylon has very significant symbolic end-time meaning in the book of Revelation. God is very serious about things which have been sanctified, or set aside as holy.

Ezek 22:26-28
26     "Her 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.
27     "Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain.
28     "And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD has not spoken.

Gen 2:2-3
2     And 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.
3     Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Exod 20:8-11
8     "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9     "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10     but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11     "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

God blessed and sanctified the seventh day at creation. He has never done the same for another day, nor has he changed the solemnity of the Sabbath and moved it to another day. God is serious about that which is holy. God is particular about His instructions. The real issue is obedience. The following Scripture passages are presented without comment .

Rom 6:16
16     Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey , either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness ?

Matt 7:20-23
20     "So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21     "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven .
22     "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23     "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

Matt 15:3
3     And He answered and said to them, "And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

Mark 7:7-8
7     'But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
8     "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

I Jn 2:3-6
3     And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4     The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5     but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6     the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

By the way, Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath holy .

IKing 18:21
21     And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people did not answer him a word.

Acts 5:29
29     But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.

Rev 14:12
12     Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Rev 12:17
17     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.

II Th 2:10-12
10     and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved .
11     And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,
12     in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

John 3:19-21
19     "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
20     "For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21     "But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

I Jn 1:6-7
6     If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7     but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Acts 17:30
30     "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent,

John 14:15
15     "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments .

I Jn 5:3
3     For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 

 

 

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