The Sabbath Test Command

Next Part Many Other Important Truths

The churches of the world will often admit to making an effort (however half-hearted) at keeping nine of the Ten Commandments. Typically, they will acknowledge that it is wrong to steal, kill, covet, bear false witness, and commit adultery. They will also acknowledge that honouring one’s father and mother, avoiding idolatry and taking God’s Name in vain—while at least claiming to follow the God described in the First Commandment—are basically good things to do. However, most do a poor job of actually keeping these nine Commandments, and officially teach that Christ did away with them and “kept them for us” and “nailed them to the cross.” But most at least tacitly agree that these nine Commandments are “nice principles.”

There is one commandment that people almost universally will not obey. God says that this command sets His people apart from everyone else. The Sabbath Fourth Commandment is the test Command (Ex. 16:1-36): “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labour, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work” (Ex 20:20:8-10). God gave the Sabbath from Mount Sinai, through Moses, to ancient Israel. While most people are familiar with this story, they are not aware that God commanded the Sabbath to be kept FOREVER! It was never meant to be “just for the Jews” or “just for ancient Israel.”

Israel continually refused to remain faithful to God’s Sabbath. They had periods when they did observe it, before neglecting it and falling into the practices of the nations around them.

God told Israel, “Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness: they walked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and My Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them” (Ezek. 20:12-13).

Mankind has been rebelling against the Sabbath ever since. Yet it still remains the sign between God and His true people (Eze 20:20).

The God of the Old Testament declares, “For I am the LORD, I change not,” (Mal. 3:6). Paul was inspired to write, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with various and strange doctrines” (Heb. 13:8-9).

Almost none recognize that the God of the Old Testament was the same Person known as “the Word” in John 1:1-2, 14, who came to earth as Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 10:4 identifies Christ as the “Rock” of the Old Testament. In other words, Christ is the One who inspired both Malachi in the Old Testament and Paul in the New Testament to record that He is a God who does not change! His people are to hold to the truth, avoiding all wrong (“strange”) doctrines.

This permanence applies to the Sabbath. This is why, in the New Testament, Christ said, “Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28).

Theologians and religionists have long taught that the true Sabbath of the Bible is the seventh day. Saturday, not Sunday, is the seventh day of the week. Any good dictionary explains this. The weekly cycle has never been changed. (You may read our booklet The Sabbath – Has Time Been Lost? to see PROOF of the unchanged weekly cycle since the time of creation.) However, the ministers of this world have had to carefully devise seductive “explanations” that dismiss or ignore the many clear scriptures about God’s plain command to keep His Sabbath. They justify Sunday-keeping—even though God’s Word has never justified this!

Instead of letting the clarity of God’s Word change cherished beliefs to conform with His truths, they change the meaning of the Bible to make it fit their beliefs!

Sunday is commonly thought of as the day that Christ was resurrected from the dead. It can be clearly proven that the Bible does not teach this. (Read our booklet Christ’s Resurrection Was Not on Sunday.) But there is an important reason why theologians and many others must conclude that the resurrection occurred on Sunday.

Sunday is commonly referred to as “The Lord’s Day.” While the true Lord’s Day of the Bible is actually the Day of the Lord—the Day of His Wrath (Joel 2:1-11; Rev. 1:10; 15:1, 7; and other places)—the term, The Lord’s Day, has become synonymous with Sunday. But why? The reason is simple. If Sunday can be established as the day that Christ was resurrected, it can be a means of validating and “authorizing” the unauthorized keeping of Sunday by the churches of the world—in place of God’s true Sabbath! You have already seen several scriptural references to the Sabbath. God hallowed it at creation—long before there were any Jews or Israelites to keep it (Gen. 2:1-3). The Sabbath was to be kept “forever”—“continually”—and “throughout your generations” by Israel, God’s intended model nation (Ex. 31:12-17). Christ observed it (Luke 4:16) and said that He was Lord of it, and that it was “made for man” (Mark 2:27-28). He did not say that it was “only made for the Jews.” Paul also kept it (Acts 13:42, 44; 17:2; 18:4).

Much more than just the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition collapses if Christ was really in the grave for 72 hours (starting late Wednesday afternoon and ending late Saturday afternoon) instead of the traditionally taught 36 hours between late Friday afternoon and early Sunday morning. The biggest single reason for the unscriptural tradition (recall Mark 7:7) of Sunday-keeping collapses at the same time. God has always said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). He has never said, “Remember Sunday to keep it holy—and just call it the Lord’s day!”

It was once said, “More than the Jews having kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews”! This could just as easily have been said of God’s true Church, which has been under siege through the ages, in part because of its faithful Sabbath-keeping. One of the single most vital KEYS that identify the one true original Church of God, founded by Jesus Christ, is God’s true Sabbath. Think about this. Prove it for yourself. Sabbath-keeping, as God’s command for true Christians, is a large subject requiring its own extensive book to prove. (Take time to carefully read our book Saturday or Sunday – Which Is the Sabbath?)

The Annual Holy Days

In Ezekiel 20:12-13, God said, “I gave them My Sabbaths.” The word Sabbaths is plural. The weekly Sabbath is not the only Sabbath that God ordained to be kept forever. Leviticus 23:1-44 describes seven annual Holy Days—annual Sabbaths—that God commanded Israel to keep “forever” (stated four times). Like the weekly Sabbath, this subject requires its own lengthy booklet in order to properly outline the proofs that these annual Sabbaths must still be kept today. (Read our free booklet God’s Holy Days or Pagan Holidays?)

Leviticus 23:1-2 calls these Sabbaths “feasts of the LORD.” The terms Holy Day, High Day and Feast Day are all found in the Bible and are synonymous with one another. They are all terms for the annual Sabbaths. They picture the Plan of God, as they are kept each year in sequence.

The two Holy Days known as the First and Last Days of Unleavened Bread were kept by the early New Testament Church (Acts 12:3; 20:6) in conjunction with the Lord’s Supper—the New Testament Passover. (Read our booklet How Often Should the Lord’s Supper Be Taken? to learn more about the Passover and the spring Holy Days.) In late spring is the Day of Pentecost.

Four more annual Sabbaths are kept in the fall. They are known as the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah to the Jews), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth) and the Last Great Day.

When understood, these days depict important events within God’s Plan.

The PASSOVER (not an annual Sabbath) shows God’s mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is the one feast that is not an annual Sabbath.

The seven DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD depict the Christian coming out of sin, just as Israel came out of Egypt after the first Passover of Exodus 12:1-51. The first and last days are Sabbaths. PENTECOST, or the Feast of Firstfruits, representing the early spring harvest in Israel, portrays the first resurrection—of true saints (the firstfruits of God’s Plan)—at Christ’s soon-coming Return.

The FEAST OF TRUMPETS depicts Christ’s Return—with the seven accompanying trumpets of Revelation 8, 9 and 11:15-19 describing what happens when each of these trumpets are blown. The DAY OF ATONEMENT (“at-one-ment”) pictures the whole world finally “at one” with God, because Satan will have been bound and cast into “the bottomless pit” (Rev. 20:2-3), where he can no longer deceive the nations.

The FEAST OF TABERNACLES depicts Christ’s 1,000-year reign on earth with the saints—and a time of peace, happiness, abundance and prosperity for a world that has not known this for 6,000 years. This seven-day feast is immediately followed by the LAST GREAT DAY, which represents a time at the end of the millennium when all human beings who have ever lived will be given a full opportunity to know God’s truth and Plan of Salvation. (You may read our booklet Does the Bible Teach Predestination? to learn the overview of God’s Master Plan!)

Those few being called in this age (John 6:44) have an opportunity to be part of the early spring harvest of Pentecost, while the world learns the truth later, during the time pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.

The Church that Christ built teaches the truth about God’s weekly Sabbath and annual Holy Days, and the scriptures that support their observance.