What About The Sabbath

The Reason For My Faith ^ | 3/3/24 | Chuck Ness

[OneVike]

Throughout His ministry, Jesus never once broke the fourth commandment which required that all Jews observe the Sabbath. He was after all Jew. However, He did give us a clue that a change to the Sabbath was coming. To make my point, you must first understand that the original manuscripts of the Scriptures were not divided into verses and chapters.

The Old Testament manuscripts were written by scribes for the religious leaders to study. The New Testament manuscripts were letters originally written to be dispersed amongst the believers to read. They were like the letters you receive today. Just a document written in sentences and paragraphs with no verse or chapter numbers.

So you really had to know the transcripts well in order find any information you needed. Finally in the mid 16th century a Frenchman named, Robert Estienne (better known as Robertus Stephanus), would divide the Scriptures into chapters and verses. So today we can find passages by memorizing chapters and verses.

Now I must say, that while I do believe every Word of the Bible is the inspired Word of God, I do not believe that Stephanus's choices of where he decided to split some sentences up into different verses or chapters were inspired. I say so, because there are many instances in the Scriptures where a reader can be distracted or even misled as to what the passage is conveying.

Case in point is chapters 11 and 12 of Matthew's Gospel. I personally believe that he made a mistake by ending Matthew chapter 11 at verse 30. It's my belief that chapter 11 should have had 8 more verses for a total of 38. Thus it would end after the following statement by Jesus,

“For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
(Matthew 12:8)

The following information is quite valuable in the apologetical debate on why so many are mistaken in their belief that Christians should observe Saturday as the Sabbath. Continuing on Jesus' statement in Matthew 12:8, I take you back to the end of Matthew chapter 11. Jesus had just finished telling the crowd that no one born of a woman is greater than John the Baptist, when He started telling everyone to come to Him for rest.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)

By speaking about the concept of rest, the audience He is speaking to would automatically think of the Sabbath rest which God gave them. They were first told about this gift when Moses presented the Ten Commandments God handed to Him for the people to follow. As Moses read the tablets, he said,

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
(Exodus 20:8-11)

By the time Jesus started His ministry, the Israelites had been observing the Sabbath for almost 1480 years. They understood that it was a day of rest, even for the animals. A day they were to be free from the labors of life that kept them from communing with God. So, when Jesus starts talking about rest at the end of chapter 11, he continues his thought process on through to verse 8 of chapter 12. So when He calls them to come to Him for rest, and then claims He is the Lord of the Sabbath, it goes without saying that this is all one thought process and thus chapter 11 should have ended at verse 38, with chapter 12 actually beginning at verse 9 where Matthew wrote,

Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
(Matthew 12:9)

The next 20 verses do continue the matter of a rest, but not until Jesus moved to another site. Thus it then makes sense to split the chapter after Jesus made His statement about Him being the Lord of the Sabbath, and after he had arrived at a different location.

This is important, because when Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law, including the one that calls for us to obey the Sabbath, since as He stated, He is our Sabbath. Just as we are not bound by going through a High Priest by offering a sacrifice, we too do not need to follow the Jewish Law. We can reach God through Christ, on any day at anytime we so desire. Without going through the commandments of the law which Christ abolished.

After 1480 years, the Jews showed they could not follow the Law, and with Christ fulfilling it and the ceremonial ones, we are free from it. So with Jesus, being the Lord of the Sabbath, we are free to chose any day, and anytime to gather for communion and celebration of Him with no more legalistic requirements to follow the old obsolete law.

Any Christian following any portion of the Law, is doing what Paul preached against when he chastised the Judaizers who tried to put the Christians back into bondage to the Law. This is one of the things he wrote to the Colossians about when he said,

Let no one judge you in food or in drink,
or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths
(Colossians 2:16)

Paul also wrote that, if you observe any part of the Old Law, then you must follow it all. Does anyone truly want to be bound by the full weight of a law that God's own people could never follow? The answer is a resounding NO. Praise God, because we are free to worship HIM anywhere, on any day, at anytime by going through the One who fulfilled and abolished the law. Thus setting us free from a Law we could never dream of keeping.

The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
(Galatians 5:17:18)

Thus if you are not under the law, you are not under any obligations to any of the ceremonial requirements either. Nor are you bound by the Jewish Sabbath as I pointed out above from Paul's letter to the Colossians. Anyone who feels obligated to an abolished symbolism of the Old Law is keeping themselves from truly enjoying all the freedom God offers us through His Son's death and Resurrection.

I now offer two more pieces of evidence. One comes from the mouth of our LORD Jesus Himself, when the rich young ruler asked, "what must i do to have eternal life?" Jesus replied to him;

You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
(Matthew 19:18-19)

The second one comes from Paul's letter to the Jewish Christians in Rome, we learn, not from what he wrote, but rather what he did not write when he listed the commandments we should obey. Mind you, Paul was once a Pharisee of Pharisees, a man who persecuted Jewish converts to Christianity for violating the commandments. So, let us look at what Paul left out when he wrote about the commandments we are to obey in his letter to the Romans.

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
(Romans 13:8-11)

It should be enough to read what Jesus said on this matter, but we also see Paul then teach that which our LORD HIMSELF said. So I ask you, what is NOT included in this list of commandments from Jesus and then Paul about which commandments we should obey to have eternal life? It is the Sabbath. If Paul himself is not obeying the Sabbath, than why would any born again Christian want to follow a regulation from a law that is obsolete? Obsolete, because Jesus fulfilled the letter of the law and became our Sabbath rest.

So many fail to understand that as a Jew, Jesus had to fulfill both the legal laws and ceremonial laws in order to abolish them, because all the high priests and all the blood they spilled never satisfied the law completely so it was never fulfilled. Yet the nano second he died, the curtain separating the inner and outer room was torn by GOD from top to bottom. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law. Thus the new dispensation began that set us free from the law written on stone and the ceremonial regulations. Today we are justified, "Just As If We Have Not Sinned." We are cleansed by HIS blood and freed by the atoning work on the Cross.

Thank GOD we are free, free at last. Free from observing anything the old law said we had to do. Thus our Sabbath in now in Jesus, Who allows us to come straight through HIM as our mediator to GOD. Jesus is our traveling Tabernacle who resides in us, and thus our Sabbath it eternal. Eternal in that everyday is a Sabbath for us, and at any moment we can worship HIM, because we now worship HIM in Spirit and in Truth.

Yet there is more, because when we read what the author of Hebrews wrote, which most scholars agree was an epistle specifically written to the Jewish believers who were still struggling with the confines of the Mosaic law.

In that He say,  "A NEW COVENANT, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. 
(Hebrews 8:13)

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
(Hebrews 4:9-11)

Finally, I share with you what was in the letter from the first council ever held by the elders of the church when the question arose about whether or not Gentile believers should be circumcised. In the letter they pointed out what they should follow, and keeping the Sabbath was NOT among the things they were instructed to follow. Anyone who claims the Sabbath must be kept by Christians, I would suggest you take it up with Peter and James who oversaw the council meeting on what rules the Gentile believers should follow.

Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
(Acts 15:27-29)

Praise God we are free from the bondage of a system that not only whitewashed our sin until a new animal was slain for it's blood to be spilled and sprinkled upon the mercy seat inside the inner room behind a curtain, but also held us hostage to worshipping together only on the sabbath. Once that curtain in the inner room was torn from top to bottom by GOD HIMSELF, we were set free to now enter into the presence of our LORD through our LORD, and commune with our LORD at any time on any day. Thank you JESUS!

[Seven_0]

And of course understanding how it really is remarkable that a 13th month wouldn’t seem so out of line when Christ and His 12 totaled 13..

I have been looking at numbers for a long time. Have you noticed that there are 14 apostles and 14 tribes even though they are referred to as the twelve.

[delchiante]

I have not seen them as 14..
But the number 14 is not an insignificant number.

Are you adding Matthias and Paul to the 12 or are you seeing something different?

As for the tribes, 13 is a definite, thanks to Joseph sons and Levi..

Are you to count Joseph by himself as the 14th to get to the 14?

That’s the best guess I’ve got so far.

Warm or cold?

[Seven_0]

Rev 7:8

[delchiante]

There it is..

That’s a place where I read that list of 12, and think of Dan..

:)

[Seven_0]

Ephraim is missing also. One of the original 12 and one of the added ones, just like the apostles.

[delchiante]

Nothing new under the sun for sure..

[Seven_0]

The cross might be an exception to that rule.

[delchiante]

The Passover Lamb in Egypt was the picture of the cross..

And that deliverance from the bondage of slavery has its own 30,60 and 100 markers, which would be a great blessing for the Church in the wilderness to understand.

The same spiritual journey begins in the New Testament as it did in the Old Testament.

On the 14th Day of His 1st month.
In Egypt in the time of Moses, and in the Heart of the Earth, Jerusalem, with the cross,about 2,000 years ago..

[Philsworld]

Yes, a 13th month was added every few years to line up lunar and solar calendars.

Seven_0 from post 249: You are saying that the little horn ruled from 538AD to 1798AD or 1260 years.
What allows you to use 365.24 day per year instead of the 360 days per year that you insist on?

• Solar year = 365 days or 12 months/lunations long.
• 1st Lunar year = 354 days long, or 12 lunations long. (Eleven days shorter than the solar year.)
• 2nd Lunar year = 354 days or 12 lunations long. (Now 22 days shorter than the solar year.)
• 3rd Lunar year = 384 days or 13 lunations long. This now catches up with the solar year.

Read the evidence in Ezekiel for yourself. And, IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, read what other people have written on the subject, who do. (Del/7)

https://www.creationcalendar.com/CalendarIssue/15-The13thMonthInEzekiel.pdf

https://calendarofscripture.com/2018/10/17/do-we-ever-find-a-13th-month-in-scripture/

https://www.worldslastchance.com/the-thirteenth-month-in-ezekiel.html

https://www.worldslastchance.com/yahuwahs-calendar/a-13th-month-the-divine-precision-of-the-luni-solar-calendar.html

https://thescripturalcalendar.com/364-day-360-day-and-365-day-calendars/

https://www.the13thenumeration.com/Blog13/2013/08/11/ezekiels-13th-month/

(part 1 of 1-3)
https://www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org/cn1a-360calendar-40year_cycles.htm

(part 2 of 1-3)
https://www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org/cn1b-360calendar-40year_cycles.htm

(part 3 of 1-3)
https://www.1260-1290-days-bible-prophecy.org/cn1c-360calendar-40year_cycles.htm

[delchiante]

An interesting thing can also be seen with 1260,1290,1335 if one knows what day Christ was born.

One of those numbers can represent His birth day.

The other numbers can represent other Appointments He taught Israel..

And blessed is he that waits and comes to the 1335 days..

[Philsworld]

Nothing you just wrote has anything to do with the biblical 1260 YEARS of persecution.

3 1/2 Times - Rev 12:14, Dan 7:25, Dan 12:7
1260 days - Rev 11:3, Rev 12:6
42 Months - Rev 11:2, Rev 13:5

[delchiante]

I simply noted that day 1260, day 1290 and day 1335 can be seen as 3 appointments He taught Israel..

The middle appointment 30 days from the first and 45 days from the last.

What’s really interesting is the Church misses all three appointments, when at least one is their own ‘birth day..

Fleeing Babylon has benefits beyond seeing the past line up. It lines up the present and future quite remarkably,too.

[Philsworld]

This is the topic, not appointments Christ taught in Israel.

Seven_0 from post 249: You are saying that the little horn ruled from 538AD to 1798AD or 1260 years.
What allows you to use 365.24 day per year instead of the 360 days per year that you insist on?

(13th month of Ve-Adar, etc...)

Any comment on that?

[delchiante]

My comment would be that the little horn has a false Christ today that causes the whole world to worship the Beast..

And the corruption of the Kingdom on earth has been about 2,000 years, detailed as cubits in the Old Testament and detailed as demon possesed swine in the New Testament.

And the ultimate topic of the forum is the Sabbath, an appointment He taught Israel.

Which can’t be found keeping the Beast’s Friday,Saturday and Sunday.

Because the little horn hasn’t stopped being a vessel for Satan..
That’s the price of following the Good Friday lamb vs following the Passover Lamb..

Lots of arguing that still leads to a little horn false Christ that can deceive if possible, the very elect..

[Philsworld]

Looks like you won’t comment on what I asked, so I’ll leave it at that.

[delchiante]

What’s to comment?

You are using the 1260 days to describe 1260 years.

The other poster appears to look at 1260 days as 1260 days in light of a 365 day Pope Gregory year.

I accept the premise that the bad guys in the end are Rome and the Papacy.

That includes their calendar and catechism,their false Christ and their false gospel..

How does that change the 1260 days= 1260 years doctrine that you really want to hammer away at?

You trying to win a debate for your harlot daughter church?

[Philsworld]

——>You are using the 1260 days to describe 1260 years.

Prophetic time is day/year. It is biblical and well established. Time, times, and a dividing of time, 42 months, 1260 days. Daniel’s 70 weeks = 490 years.

The Little Horn (Papacy) persecutes for 1260 YEARS, which is conclusively proven HISTORICALLY, as I’ve pointed out. The SDA church is correct on that, being the remnant church that they are. Harlot daughter churches don’t keep the commandments of God. The SDA church does, including God’s 7th-day-Sabbath, established at creation and kept continuously since.

1260, 1290, 1335, 2300 YEARS. They all start and end at specific times. Those rapture folks are in total darkness, fumbling around for answers.

https://www.biblelightinfo.com/times.htm

https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?httpsredir=1&article=1002&context=jigr

https://www.biblelightinfo.com/1260years.htm

[delchiante]

Your harlot daughter keeps Antichrist Judaism’s Pope approved Sabbath..

That’s two Antichrists SDA follows:
Judaism who denies the Son and
Papacy that says Christ didn’t come in the flesh

Some might dare see that as the blind leading the blind.

Or the Antichrist religions relying on each other to peddle false doctrines and a false Christ and false first importance of the gospel, that Paul and the first disciples, didn’t share with modern Church..

As I’ve stated before, one bible verse blows your false doctrine of a perpetual 7 days from Creation, entrusted to the benevolent (/s) Roman Beast and Antichrist, to hell where doctrines of demons will end up.
Along with the Beast and Antichrist false gospel of Friday,Saturday and Sunday..

It appears your remnant church looks and feels a lot like a Roman daughter at heart, mind and soul.

[Philsworld]

——>As I’ve stated before, one bible verse blows your false doctrine of a perpetual 7 days from Creation

Please list that verse.

[Philsworld]

——>It appears your remnant church looks and feels a lot like a Roman daughter at heart, mind and soul.

Difficult for me, (or anyone) to understand what your cryptic biblical butchery means. Everyone EXCEPT YOU understands that EVERYONE that has ever kept God’s 7th-day-Sabbath has kept it ON THE SEVENTH DAY, because that’s what God commanded. The issue they have is not what day it fell on, but instead whether or not it applies to Christians. Your reasoning makes no sense whatsoever.

If you want to understand God’s remnant, be my guest. If not, you are welcome to remain in darkness.

Rev 12:17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1321&context=jats