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Which
Day is the New Testament Sabbath?
Does it really matter?
This short article is for those of you who are still "on
the fence" regarding when, or if, we are to observe a special day of rest; and also for you who are firmly
convinced that Sunday is it, but we don't really have to keep it holy, as the Jews were commanded to keep the 7th
day holy.
First, let's establish a few "ground rules." The Bible will be our sole authority, just as most of the
Protestants claim that it is theirs. Second, be aware that the New Testament is an extension of the Old Testament,
not a replacement. It takes both to form a complete book of instructions for us today.
So with that in mind, let us look first at the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. In the third
chapter, we read,
(Mal 3:6) For I am Yahweh, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
So we see that He is not a flighty being, driven by whims and caprice. And His Son, Yahshua, is declared to be
"the same yesterday, today, and forever," Heb. 13:8.
In 2 John 1:9, we see that He came with a doctrine. What was it? "My doctrine is not mine, but His that
sent Me," Yahshua declares in John 7:16.
Part of the Father's doctrine was expressed in the 4th of the 10 Commandments:
(Exo 20:8-11) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. {9} Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{10} But the seventh day is the sabbath of Yahweh thy El: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
{11} For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day:
wherefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
He expounded on this further in Isaiah 58:
(Isa 58:13-14) If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if
you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of Yahweh honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways,
serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; {14} then you shall take delight inYahweh, and I will
make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the
mouth of Yahweh has spoken.
Twice Yahshua is said to be our example. He said it once, and Paul reiterated it:
(John 13:15) For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
(1 Pet 2:21) For even hereunto were ye called: because Messiah also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
ye should follow his steps:
And what was His example?
Luke 4:16, NRSV: When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath
day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,....
Another point, even possibly more significant: He declared unequivocally that He is Lord of the Sabbath - yet modern
religionists insist He is the Lord of Sunday, the so-called "Lord's Day."
(Mark 2:27-28) And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: {28} Therefore
the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. (Also Luke 6:5).
Modern man says that the Sabbath command was done away when Yahshua was resurrected "on Sunday," they
think. Thus Sunday became the new Sabbath to commemorate His arising from the grave on the third day, they teach.
In the first place, scientific calendar evidence as well as Biblical chronology shows that He was not resurrected
on Sunday morning, bur rather late on Sabbath afternoon. Remember He said that the only sign He would leave that
He was the promised Messiah, would be that He was to be in the grave for "three days and three nights."
(Matthew 12:39-40).
This means that if He died Friday afternoon and was resurrected Sunday morning, He was in the grave only half as
long as He predicted; thus he would be a liar, and not our Savior.
But He was in the tomb just as He said. The gospel accounts of His last day on earth show that He died about 3
PM, and was taken down and buried by Joseph of Aramithea just shortly before sundown which would usher in the first
High Day of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Abib. Since three days and three nights later would also be shortly
before sundown (72 hours later than when He was buried), He could not have been resurrected in the morning about
sunrise. The only possible solution is that He died about 3 PM Wednesday the 14 of Abib, and was buried just before
sunset that same day. Counting forward three days and three nights brings us to the weekly Sabbath, again just
before sunset.
When the women arrived, the angel declared that "He is not here; He is risen." He had been resurrected
earlier and was already gone.
But aside from all that, even if He had been raised Sunday morning, it would in NO WAY justify changing one of
Yahweh's Commandments. There is simply no justification for it. Even the Catholic Church agrees that, according
to the Scriptures, Saturday is the Biblical Sabbath. But they claim they have authority to change Biblical laws,
and this is one that they did. They say they changed it from Saturday to Sunday.
(I have two booklets on this subject. Write for either or both. One is "Rome's Challenge," and the other
is "What Catholic and Protestant Authorities say about Sunday.")
The Sabbath dates from creation week, and is a memorial of that event (Exodus 20:6-7). It was kept in Old Testament
times; it was kept in New Testament times; it will be kept in the future. So how could we suppose that it is
not to be kept now?
Here is proof that Yahshua knew the Sabbath would still be in effect after His ascension: The prophecy He gave
in Matthew 24:20 would not be fulfilled for another 39 years after He was taken up into heaven. He told His disciples
to pray that their flight from the armies advancing on Jerusalem would not take place "in the winter, neither
on the Sabbath day." This event did not occur until 70 CE, when the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and
the Temple, killed thousands of Jews, and forced the remainder to flee. They were forbidden to return to Jerusalem.
So we see that the 7th day Sabbath is still in effect today. It lasts for 24 hours from Friday evening until
dark Saturday evening. Write for more details and the free booklets. >FB<
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