Saturday or Sunday

Which Is the Sabbath?

BY DAVID C. PACK

Most professing Christians observe Sunday. Yet, the Jewish people (and a few others) keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Was this day only for the Jews, or only for ancient Israel? Does the New Testament establish Sunday as the Lord’s Day—or is the Sabbath still in effect? Does it make any difference? If so, which day is the Christian Sabbath? Can it be PROVEN?

Chapter One – Astonishing Admission
Chapter Two – From the Beginning
Chapter Three – Has Time Been Lost?
Chapter Four – Law of God, Not Moses
Chapter Five – The Perpetual Sabbath Covenant
Chapter Six – The Church Christ Heads!
Chapter Seven – Israel and Judah Go Into Slavery—and Why!
Chapter Eight – The Mark of the Beast
Chapter Nine – Sabbath or Sunday in the New Testament?
Chapter Ten – Christ’s Resurrection Was Not on Sunday
Chapter Eleven – Sabbath Assembly and Fellowship
Chapter Twelve – How to Make the Sabbath a Delight

INTRODUCTION The subject of which day is the Christian Sabbath is one of the longest running debates about any Bible teaching. Theologians and ministers of every background and theology have offered their opinion about the “Saturday or Sunday” question. Most begin with the assumption that traditional, orthodox Christianity is the place to start the discussion. While human opinion does not count, astonishingly, few seem to use the Bible as the authority. Not only is God’s Word the place to begin the study of this subject, as well as that of every other doctrine of God, but the “which day is holy” question already arises at the very beginning of the Bible.

The book of Genesis—the name means “beginnings”—speaks almost immediately about the subject of the Sabbath—the seventh day of the week. It is as though God wanted this issue clearly established in the minds of the Bible’s readers from the outset of their study of Scripture. Near the book’s beginning, immediately after the “Creation chapter” concludes, the Bible states this: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He RESTED on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God BLESSED the seventh day, and SANCTIFIED it: because that in it He had RESTED from all His work which God created and made” (Gen. 2:1-3).

While no one should have missed, or misunderstood, the weight of this passage, almost everyone has. And rather than examine it, and the many others on the subject, most merely swallow popular thinking without resistance because it is easy.

You will learn that while the subject of which day to observe as the Christian Sabbath should be a burning issue on the minds of millions, it is not. In fact, almost no one seems to care what the Bible's teaching—the only correct teaching—is on this subject. Blow the dust off your Bible, and make yourself come to grips with one of its greatest doctrines.

There is the question in the minds of some regarding the Jews, and whether these only were, or still are, to observe the Sabbath. Others wonder which is the seventh day of the week in the modern calendar, and can we really know which day should be observed. Still others recognize that Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath, but believe that this was only to “keep it for us” or “He did it because He was a Jew.” And still others believe that the Sabbath is and has always been the seventh day of the week, but that “the Roman church,” under the supposed authority granted to Peter, held the right to change observance to the first day of the week.

Even those who do observe the Sabbath, after one fashion or another, have little understanding of what is really at stake for those who keep the correct day—and for those who do not. Latter chapters present chilling understanding of why you must understand this subject—of why you cannot permit yourself to misunderstand the Bible’s towering Fourth Commandment.

After proving the Sabbath’s validity today, there still remains a host of related questions pertaining to how to observe the seventh day of the week correctly. Since it is God who established the Sabbath, we must look in His Word for guidelines revealing how to keep it in a way pleasing to Him.

Understand that this book takes a very thorough view. In fact, you will find that it is almost certainly the strongest and most complete book on the Sabbath ever written. It examines the Sabbath question as you have never seen it before. Nearly every question, argument, and issue that have been raised about the Sabbath are covered in detail—chapter by chapter. The reader will not have arrived at a full comprehension of all that is at stake within the subject of whether Saturday or Sunday observance is binding on Christians until he has read every page of this book.

All of the chapters presented have been prepared in the sequence that they appear for a reason. Each chapter builds off the previous one and prepares the way for the next. Unless the reader understands this method of construction at the outset—why the book was written as it was—comprehending the overall picture of the subject as God intended will be more difficult.

Also, recognize that some chapters are essentially insets. These are included for important reasons that will be understood as the full scope of the subject is carefully spread before the reader.

May God help you understand the awesome importance of all that you are about to read!

Saturday or Sunday

Which Is the Sabbath?

TABLE OF CONTENTS