God's Sabbath Day - Saturday or Sunday?

by brofromzion 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • brofromzion
    brofromzion

    God bless you. So you worship God on Sunday? Didn't God commanded us to keep the Sabbath day? Let's look at the Bible if God really told us to keep the Sabbath day:

    Jer. 17:24-27 ["But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD...keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it,...this city will be inhabited forever.... But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses."]

    Exodus 20:11 [For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.]

    So God commanded us, through the Bible, to keep the Sabbath day holy by giving this day to Him to worship Him. Now let's find out when is the Sabbath day through the Bible:

    Mark 16:9 [When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.]

    So we celebrate Jesus resurrection on Sunday. The Bible says that Jesus rose on the "first day of the week". So that makes Saturday the seventh day of the week. Let's even look at our own Dictionary online to see the meaning of Sunday and Saturday:

    Saturday - seventh day of the week, following Friday.

    Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Saturday

    Sunday - first day of the week, observed as the Sabbath by most Christian sects.

    Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sunday

    So why most Christians are keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, as the Sabbath day when God Himself made Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the rest day and made it holy for Him. Now did Jesus and His Apostles kept the Sabbath day?

    Matthew 12:8 [For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.]

    Luke 6:5 [Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."]

    Luke 4:16 [He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom....]

    Acts 17:2 [As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures...]

    Clearly, Jesus and His Apostles kept the Sabbath day as God's custom. So how did it change from the seventh to the first day?

    After the apostles died, Christianity spread to western regions, including Rome. The gospel was preached to sun-god worshipers, and in the early 4th century, even the Roman emperor had heard the message of Christ. The emperor happened to be a leader of the sun-god worshipers, and when he converted to Christianity, many sun-god worshipers began to attend Church. As time passed, the faith of the Christians weakened, and they began to accept the customs of the sun-god worshipers. During this turn-over, they even began to rest and to worship on the first day of the week [Sunday]. In A.D. 321, Constantine, a Roman emperor, decreed an edict:

    "All judges, city-people and craftsmen shall rest on the venerable day of the Sun."

    Some argue that the abolishment of the Sabbath compelled many people to convert to Christianity, but we must not forget that altering God's commandments was Satan's scheme. Satan, the devil, opposes God and has historically harassed God's people, using various methods.

    So if most Christians are worshipping God on Sunday, are they following God's tradition or rules taught by men:

    Mark 7:6-9 [He [Jesus] replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"]

    I hope it's clear to you. God bless you.

  • digderidoo
    digderidoo

    Are you trying to spam this? You will notice you're only allowed to start 2 threads

    Paul

  • brofromzion
    brofromzion

    God bless you. I'm just showing what " the Bible really testifies" and not a man made teachings used to worship God. Only the Bible has the answers. Now if you call this 'spamming' then how can you preach that your church is the true church? Shouldn't we let the Bible speaks for itself? True Christians keep the Word of God, the Bible, as absolute and not just a partial of it. Let's follow the examples of Christ.

  • BurnTheShips
    BurnTheShips

    Regarding the Sabbath:

    Colossians 2:16-17
    Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

    Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, from earliest times it has been the traditional day of Christian worship, however, you can worship any day of the week.

    Regarding Sunday worship we are told in Acts 20:7,

    "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight."

    Why did they come together on the first day of the week? Here we see the church in the first century came together on the first day of every week to break bread, which is the Lord’s Supper. Their primary reason of coming together on the first day of the week was to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

    1 Corinthians 16:1-2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: on the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside."

    Other early witnesses attesting to the early date of Sunday worship:

    The Didache, 70AD

    "But every Lord’s day . . . gather yourselves together and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned"

    The epistle of Barnabas, 74AD

    "We keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead"

    Ignatius' Letter to the Magnesians, 110 AD

    "Those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death"

    Etc. There are many other early witnesses of the practice of worship on Sunday.

    BTS

  • dawg
    dawg

    If you guys spent half your reading time on things that are relevant, then you'd not look silly questioning which day of the week the so called sabbath is on. Who gives a rat's behind? To read you guys quoting nonsense is such a kick...LOL!

    I know, lets debate whether Mickey Mouse gets it on with Minny next... LOL!

  • mouthy
    mouthy

    but that was law. we are not under law today

  • Mary
    Mary

    The actual Sabbath has always been from Friday after sundown to Saturday after sundown and that's the way the Jews have celebrated it for thousands of years. The scriptures clearly tell us that Jesus, being a Jew, observed the Sabbath as well (though obviously with not the same zeal as the Pharisees). Since the earliest followers of Jesus were Jews, it simply follows suit that they would have observed the Sabbath as well, even after his death as shown by Acts 17:2: "As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures..."

    Acts 20:7 shows that the disciples "came together" on the first day of the week to "break bread" and to talk about spiritual matters----a clear reference to Sunday. I think it's fair to say that in those early days, the followers of Jesus still observed the Jewish Sabbath (as there was great debate over it) and in addition, began meeting on Sundays to 'celebrate' His resurrection. As the division between the Pharisaic Jews and Christians grew wider, the latter group sought to distance themselves from many of the laws they had been under and the Sabbath was certainly one of those areas. Over time, it became the Christian tradition to meet on Sundays as opposed to Saturdays. As Christians, they felt that they were no longer under the Mosaic Law and did not have to observe the Sabbath; however it appears that there were still those (most likely those with Jewish roots), who did not want to abandon this law and apparently still celebrated it.

    Colossians 2:16-17 is probably the best scripture that shows that the early Christian church was not against many of the Jewish traditions, but that they were not binding on Christians.

    dawg said: If you guys spent half your reading time on things that are relevant, then you'd not look silly questioning which day of the week the so called sabbath is on. Who gives a rat's behind? To read you guys quoting nonsense is such a kick...LOL!

    dawg, I've refrained from saying anything about the numerous times you hackle anyone who believes in God, but give it a rest. No one needs your smart-assed comments every single time a thread is started about a religious topic that you don't happen to personally believe in. I don't attack your atheist beliefs on here and rarely, if ever, get into the debates about evolution vs. creation because it's simply futile. This particular thread is not about religion vs. evolution-----maybe we can keep it that way.

  • dawg
    dawg

    Mary, this is an open forum.... sorry, but I can say what the hell I want.

  • james_woods
    james_woods

    What I have always wondered about this is whether or not we can really prove continuity of the literal 24-hour day (by that I mean earth's actual rotations) to what occurred back in ancient times.

    Calenders have been redone and days of the week renamed enough times to make it pretty sure that we know not at all what day of the week Jesus was born, nor what day on which he died, nor what day of the week the Christians worshipped...(if indeed they actually did worship only one day a week.)

    This sounds like a frustrated Seventh Day Adventist issuance to me.

  • aniron
    aniron
    Mary, this is an open forum.... sorry, but I can say what the hell I want.

    Maybe so. But it can be done with respect for other peoples beliefs and feelings. It doesn't take a great mind just to be insulting to someone.

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