Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday I received an email response from an American Christian evangelism website and I wanted to share my response to the email with you. It's regarding the Sabbath - is it really Saturday? I've changed the names* for privacy sake, since the topic (not the person / organisation) is what's important. And we'd love to hear your comments and receive your questions about this topic.

Here it is...

Hi Nathan*

Thanks so much for your speedy reply. My answer is lengthy, so I completely understand if your next reply is more delayed ;)

You are right, Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week. Which (interestingly enough) provides more support of His sinless character, since Jesus kept the law perfectly, even in death! He rested (in the tomb) on the 7th day.

The quotes you've given to support a Sunday, 1st day for worship are interesting.

John 20:19  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

So here we read that the disciples were getting together because they were scared of the Jews (who obviously thought they had stolen Jesus' body), not because that was when they worshiped.

Act 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.

The disciples got together to have some dinner, and Paul (who was leaving in the morning) preached. To me it seems clear that he was leaving the next morning, so he preached over dinner, rather than 'it's Sunday now and that's when we get together for preaching'.

Keep in mind too, that each day begins (biblically) at sundown. So our understanding of worship on a Sunday should really be brought back to Saturday night (our time) if you were taking these texts to mean that we should worship on the 1st day (which I don't think they are).

Regarding tithe, the text you've given is
1Co 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.

From my understanding, Sabbath is a time when we don't do any work, and counting up my money (or fruits and grains etc as it would have been for some at this time) would definitely fall into a 'work' category. So it makes sense to do this on another day. For many people now, their work week finishes on a Friday and they have time prior to sundown and the opening of Sabbath to work out their tithe. Paying the tithe on Sabbath isn't a chore, it's God's money anyway, but the counting and 'figuring out' part certainly can be.

Quite right, sabbath means 'rest'. But if we're to 'walk as Jesus walked' (which didn't just mean if you're a Jew, this means everyone) we should follow His example of what to do on the Sabbath day. His example shows us that we should rest, worship and have fellowship (He was often in the temple and teaching his disciples) and do good (healing on Sabbath). The Jews had made the Sabbath a miserable, rule-bound agony (you couldn't even pick up a handkerchief to wipe your nose!), which is why Jesus (quite contrary to your radical claim that He disregarded it) insisted that 'The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath' (Mar 2:27). The Sabbath was our gift from God, not a burden.

In Luke we read about Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth - 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' (Luke 1:6) Here we can see that the commandments and the ordinances are 2 separate entities. In God's sanctuary we know that the tablets, on which God had written (with His finger) the 10 commandments, were kept inside the Ark of the Covenant and that the ordinances (laws written down by Moses from God) were placed to the side of the ark (symbolically showing their subordinance to God's law). The text says 'Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.' (Col 2:14) So clearly the ordinances (handwritten by Moses) have been done away with, but certainly not the 10 commandments (the laws). I can't see anyone accepting the idea that 'it's now ok to sleep around and it's ok to murder! The commandments have been done away with!' That would be ludicrous. But the Sabbath is always casually disregarded, although it's God's central command, the longest command and the only command that tells us that the 10 Commandments are from the Creator God. This never ceases to amaze me. If we continue on from verse 14 and then head down to 16, we can see that the text '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' refers to the ordinances that have now been done away with. There are many sabbaths mentioned in Leviticus for example (just search 'sabbath' in Sword Searcher), but not once does it mention the Sabbath as a direct ordinance. I have seen 2 sections where it is mentioned as an example of how to do something though. For instance,

Exo 23:10  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
Exo 23:11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
Exo 23:12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exo 23:13  And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

Clearly, God was saying 'just as I have commanded you to have a weekly Sabbath, your land needs a full year Sabbath each 7th year'. Verse 13 says that we're not to speak of other Gods, so following your logic, God now permit us to do this? I don't think so. And the next verse goes into the feast days etc. So we're not to judge people according to the ordinances which have been done away with (feast days, specific sabbath days, various foods etc), but this has nothing to do with God's 7th day Sabbath.

You may be interested to know that the Catholic Church has actually claimed authority over the 10 Commandments and transferred Sabbath worship to Sunday worship. You may find this lecture interesting (the speaker is Mark Woodman - I mentioned God's miraculous healing of him through natural remedies from terminal cancer in another recent email to The Site*).

Nathan*, you are quite right my brother, we are under grace (praise God!) but it's so important to remember what Jesus said
'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' (John 14:15) Not 'some' or 'the occasional', but simply keep them.

We are now (thank the Lord) all viewed as equal by Him. So God's law and blessings now extend to us all, not just to the Israelites.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:28-29)

Far from being fulfilled (unlike the feast days) the Sabbath is perpetual (Exo 31:16), and we will even keep the Sabbath in heaven with God.

Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.

May God bless you, your family and all of the team members at The Site*. Your ministry has truly been a blessing to our family and friends, and I hope that this email reaches you in good health :)

Your sister in Christ,
Leah.