A Purim Lesson in Standing up to Evil

When we don’t find the specific answer to a specific question in the Bible, we are not free to add to the commands of Scripture what we have found to be pragmatically correct. There are issues and situations for which God has not provided the precise direction or rules that we sometimes desire. While it may be appropriate for one church to meet at a certain time on Sunday morning, it could be completely appropriate for another church to meet at a different time, because the Bible does not speak directly to the issue of Sunday service times. If one church told the other that they needed to meet at a certain hour, that church would be in sin and would not be demonstrating a belief in the sufficiency of Scripture.

In the same way, with regard to living the Christian life, the sufficiency of Scripture reminds us that nothing is sin that is not forbidden by Scripture either explicitly or by implication. Therefore, we are not to add prohibitions where we don’t believe Scripture is precise enough. There may be situations where it is inappropriate for a Christian to drink wine, caffeine, attend a movie theater, or eat meat offered to idols (see 1 Cor. 8-10). But since there isn’t any specific teaching or some general principle of Scripture that forbids these actions by all Christians at all times, these activities are not in themselves sinful.
We should, therefore, exhibit a humble hesitancy in placing more emphasis on the many of these issues than the Bible does.

The bible is specific about those who worshipped on Saturday. The Apostle Paul always went there on those days to teach about the Lord Jesus to those who did not know him.

Christians, on the other hand, met on a different day for their unique worship. This being Easter season, the reason for it is obvious.

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb" (St. Luke 24, 1-2)
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb" (St. John 20, 1)
Joh 20:19 - On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

The Lord was raised on SonDay, as Christians are wont to think of it. (The Son Rises in the Easter(n) Direction in an interesting Anglo-Saxon word play)

Likewise, the Day of Pentecost, when the Comforter came was on: SonDay -

"You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. " (Leviticus 23:15-16)

7 Sabbaths + 1 = SonDay. This is evident in that the Christians were gathered together and the Jews were wandering around outside being amazed at what was transpiring....rather than being in synagogue or practicing "non-travel" rules.

Note that the Christians were all together.

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place." (Acts 2:1)

They had a habit as early as the first Pentecost after the Resurrection of being together on the 1st day of the week. Surely, it wasn't because the Lord had Risen on that day....could it be!

This continued through the early Church:

"7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.(Acts 20, 7).
"On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that contributions need not be made when I come" (1 Cor. 16, 2)

To all this, one must now add the words Marlowe has mentioned about not being judged on the Sabbaths that are kept, the authority of the church to "loose and bind on earth," and the words of the early Christians, like Ignatius in 110 AD, who clearly indicate that they considered SonDay their day of worship and gathering.

It makes sense: The LORD'S DAY is SonDay.

"I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution...was on the island called Patmos...I was in the spirit on the Lord's day..." (Rev. 1, 9-10)

To hit your points in order:

Resurrection Day - That actually works against you because they went on the first day of the week in order to avoid violating the Sabbath.. They also just so happened to come on the Feast of Firstfruits that year to witness the Firstfruits of the risen dead.

Likewise, the Day of Pentecost, when the Comforter came was on: SonDay

Which again corresponds to a Biblical Feast, Shavuot or Pentecost, so how does this suggest that God's calendar changed? I mean really, xzins, that'd be like me observing that Christmas this year comes on a Thursday, and that Christians came together to pray and worship on Christmas, and therefore that means that God changed the day of worship from Sunday to Thursday, right?

It seems to me that you're making a better case for keeping the Biblical Feasts of Firstfruits and Shavuot than for switching from Sabbath to Sunday.

Acts 20, 7 - Okay, one reference to meeting on the first of the week, at midnight. Four answers:

First, just because you have a Bible study on Wednesday, does that indicate a change in the day of worship? Or does it perhaps indicate a supplemental meeting?

Second, Jews meet to pray and worship on every day of the week, so barring a clear commandment to the contrary, why should we regard this as a change from Sabbath to Sunday? (This was actually true of Christians for most of Church history as well, with set times for morning and evening prayers every day.)

Third, Paul was getting ready to leave, so why wouldn't they have a special farewell meeting regardless of the day of the week?

Fourth, since Jews count days from sundown-to-sundown instead of from midnight-to-midnight or dawn-to-dawn, midnight on the first day would be midnight Saturday, not Sunday. Furthermore, the presence of the lamps would be consistent with a synagogue Havdalah service, when fire is first rekindled after the Sabbath.

1 Cor. 16, 2 - Again, consistent with the continued observance of the Sabbath, since Jews strive to avoid even handling money on the Sabbath. Therefore, it make perfect sense to take up alms on the first day of the week, after the Sabbath had concluded. If Paul considered the Sabbath in any way, sense, or form to be transferred to the first day of the week, he--still a practicing Pharisee--would never have counseled taking up an offering then.

Rev. 1, 9-10 - Since John does not say that the Lord's Day is Sunday--indeed, there was continued dispute about this in the Ekklesia that was only settled by Imperial Decree in the 4th Century--you are simply committing eisegesis here.

Now, since I don't like to remain on the defensive, here are the counter-points:

Luke 4:16 - "He (Yeshua) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. He entered, as was His custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read."

If it was our Lord's custom to be in the house of study, prayer, and worship on the Sabbath, why should it not be ours? "But whoever keeps His word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in Him: he who says he remains in Him ought himself also to walk just like He walked" (1Jn. 2:5-6).

Acts 13-15 - Everyone reads Acts 15 out of context in order to say that the Torah has been done away with, but the preceding chapters disabuse us of that notion. We see that when Paul and Barnabbas declare the Messiah, the initial reception is cautiously warm--until the next Sabbath when the synagogue was overrun by Gentiles who want to hear about this God who loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for them. That's when many of the Jews, and the synagogue leadership, turn on the Gospel message and kick the Emissaries out.

This apparently becomes something of a recurring pattern, exacerbated by a group of troublemakers who made it their life's mission to follow Paul and Barnabas around and stir people up against them.

So then, when we read about the debate in Acts 15 about whether Gentiles must become Jewish via the ritual of circumcision and must keep the whole Torah as prerequisites to salvation and acceptance in fellowship, we need to understand why this debate even came up: Because Gentiles were already coming into the synagogues on the Sabbath to hear about the God of Abraham and His Messiah.

This explains Jacob's otherwise cryptic comment in Acts 15:21, "For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who proclaim him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." He is saying that since the Gentiles were already coming into the synagogues on the Sabbath to learn about God of their own will, then they would only put the minimum requirements on them to make sure that they separated from paganism, and trust the Spirit to take it from there.

(Longer explanation here, if you want it.)

We also have Paul going to synagogue or praying with others on the sabbath in Acts 16:13, 17:2, and 18:4.

And finally, if one actually reads the original Greek and compares the key word to its use in the Septuagint, Heb. 4:10 actually tells us to continue to keep the Sabbath on the seventh day.

Aside from all that, God repeats the command to keep the Sabbath several times in the Torah, and the failure to keep the Sabbath of years was one of the reasons Israel was expelled from the land. That being the case, how can one claim that the Sabbath was moved on the basis of a couple of passages that simply note that believers gathered on the first day, especially when two of those three occasions are Feasts from the Torah?

Xzins, I love you, and on the basis of Rom. 14 and Col. 2 I'm not out to judge you on the basis of an honest disagreement. But I do believe that you are wrong on this matter, and I also believe that by changing the holy day of the week without Biblical warrant, the Church has rebuilt the wall of separation from the other side, separating Jew and Gentile.

Shalom.

Starting at the top: "works against you because they went on the first day of the week in order to avoid violating the Sabbath"

No, it doesn't. It was pre-everything that later transpired. Of course they hadn't started worshipping on the Lord's Day yet. They didn't know at that point the impact of what they were about to witness.

No, it doesn't. It was pre-everything that later transpired.

Xzins, this would be a fine explanation for why the Lord's day changed IF you had a clear statement in the New Testament that it had changed. You don't, as demonstrated by the rest of our interchange.

Tell me, why do you see this event as evidence that we should be gathering and worshiping on Sunday instead of gathering and worshiping on the Feast of Firstfruits according to the Jewish calendar?

Shalom.

I gave you examples demonstrating that a change had taken place. They were in the custom of meeting on the first day of the week.

You also know that they were permitted to loose and bind whatever they wished.

Besides, it makes sense to worship Jesus on Resurrection Day. I’m not sure how this lessens Saturday any????

I gave you examples demonstrating that a change had taken place. They were in the custom of meeting on the first day of the week.

We have one example of them meeting on Saturday night and one of them collecting money after the Sabbath so that the Jewish believers wouldn't have to handle money on the day of rest. We have several examples of them continuing in the synagogues on the Sabbath and Gentiles coming into the synagogues to learn about and worship God on the Sabbath, as well as the Lord's own example to follow.

Why do you see your two examples as overriding my half-dozen, the true teaching of Hebrews 4, and the whole Torah?

You also know that they were permitted to loose and bind whatever they wished.

Then I guess the Catholic Church leaders could just bind us into Marian devotion, purgatory, indulgences, and relics, now couldn't they?

Binding and loosing was limited in its authority. It gives one the authority to make rulings based on the Scriptures, not to override any existing Scriptures.

Besides, it makes sense to worship Jesus on Resurrection Day. I’m not sure how this lessens Saturday any????

It actually doesn't lessen the Sabbath at all to worship on Sunday--provided one does not let it. Again, the practice in traditional, Orthodox Judaism is to gather and worship corporately every day. Such was the practice in the early and medieval Church as well.

So the issue is not whether one may worship on Sunday. Of course you can! But that doesn't change the fact that God commanded that we observe the Sabbath and keep it holy, or that the Sabbath is on the seventh day.

I know Christians (Chuck Missler comes to mind) who continue to worship on Sunday, but who make a point of setting aside the Sabbath to be with their families and to rest in the Lord because they recognize that God especially sanctified that day. I have no problem with that at all; in fact, I see it as a wonderful thing, for they are treating the Sabbath as a delight to enjoy in the Lord rather than a burden to be avoided.

My problem is not with my brethren meeting on Sunday, but with the tradition of men that God either moved or annulled the Sabbath. He has done neither, and I must uphold the Bible above any and all traditions of men.

Shalom.

Hebrews 4 is speaking of entering the rest that is ours through belief in Jesus (4:3 - 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest,)

It is not speaking of any discussion about the Sabbath at all. Therefore, neither is 4:10 -

10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living 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. 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.