Which is the Jewish Sabbath - Saturday or Lunar?

First of all, the Sabbath was never changed to Sunday. Second, the Sabbath was never given to the Church. The sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel.

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. (Exodus 31:12-18)

God first gave the sabbath as a duty to man in the book of Exodus. It is true that the sabbath originated at the completion of the creation (Ge 2:1-3), but that was God's rest, not man's. There is no record in Genesis that God gave the sabbath to man, and there is no record of men keeping the sabbath before Israel in the wilderness. Ne 9:13-14 plainly states that the sabbath was first given to Israel. Seventh-day Adventists teach that men kept the sabbath from the days of Adam onward, but this is contrary to the Bible's own record.

It is also important to note that the sabbath will be an eternal possession of Israel (Ex 31:16). This sign will never be annulled or transferred to another people. This explains why the prophets foretell that Israel will keep the sabbath even after the kingdom of Christ is established on earth (Isa 66:23). It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Mt 24:20). Israelites in the land of Palestine still keep the sabbath today.

In their writings to the churches, the Apostles only mentioned the sabbath three times. (1) The sabbath is a symbol of salvation rest in Christ (Heb. 4) . (2) The N.T. believer is not bound to keep the sabbath (Col 2:9-17) . (3) The N.T. believer has liberty in the matter of holy days (Ro 14:1-23) . Those who teach that the sabbath is binding upon the Christian, are going contrary to what the Apostles taught.

Why, then, did Jesus keep the Sabbath? He kept the sabbath for the same reason He kept all the other Mosaic laws. He also observed the feasts. Jesus did these things because He was born a Jew, born under the law, that He might fulfill it and redeem His people from its penalty and bondage (Ga 4:4; Ro 9:5).
Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible

 

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. (Genesis 2:2-3)

This Sabbath was God's rest--there is nothing in those verses about God giving the Sabbath to man--that didn't happen until God gave the Sabbath to Israel in the wilderness in Exodus, as it states in Nehemiah 9:13-14:

Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: (Nehemiah 9:13-14)

The Sabbath is an eternal possession to Israel (Exodus 31:16), not the Church.

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (Exodus 31:16)

 

In Exodus 20 the point is made "by God" that the Genesis 2:3 "facts ALONE" have already established Christ the Creator's own Memorial of His creative act - for mankind.

The text does not say "I now bless, sanctify and give to you a holy day". In Lev 23 we do see God "giving Holy days" to Israel - many of them "for the first time".

But in the special case of Christ the Creator's memorial of Creation HE says - that the Gen 2:3 "facts alone" establish its binding obligation.

Christ in Mark 2:27 says that when the Sabbath was made it was "made for mankind".

In Isaiah 66 God says that even for eternity "future" in the new heavens and new earth "ALL mankind" will come before Me to worship "from Sabbath to Sabbath".

Good exegesis demands that we see that weekly Sabbath in the context in which the writer (Isaiah) was writing. It is the 7th day Holy day - Christ the Creator's memorial of His act in making the earth and all life on it "In Six days" and resting the Seventh-day.

In Christ,

Bob

 

There is no case in all of scripture where God "Sanctifies something" for "himself to obey". In every case in all of scripture what God sanctifies is binding upon mankind to honor.

In Christ,

Bob

 

Another goofy sacred name site.

Isaiah 1
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear [them].

 

No Alternative

What are the possible "alternatives" to simply accepting the Mark 2, Gen 2:3 and Isaiah 66 statements on the scope of Sabbath applying to “All Mankind”?

When “else” would you apply it?

#1. Would it be to argue that when God "Made the Sabbath for mankind" in Gen 2:3 He "kept the 7-day week and the 7th-day weekly Holy day of Christ our Creator a secret from all mankind."? Was this supposed time of keeping the memorial of creation a secret from mankind – the time when “Sabbath was made for mankind” but not the time when God expected “All mankind to come before Him to worship”?

#2. Is it in the OT days after the fall of Adam - when some claim that "God only gave the Sabbath to the Jews and NOT all mankind"?

#3. Is it post Cross - when some say that it actually displeases God if we obey Him and honor His 7th-day memorial of the creation of mankind – since in fact – He is not even asking us to honor His own memorial of Creation that He blessed and Sanctified in Gen 2:3 making it “For mankind”.

#3. Or is it sometime after the 2nd coming - when Isaiah 66 described the New Earth and "All mankind" coming before God to worship? Is it some post-2nd-coming “New Earth” as God describes in Rev 21?

#4. Or will the claim be that the People of God were kept so far in the dark in all of these areas - that they had no hope of having any understanding of the "New Heavens and New Earth" or when it would be and so any application of anything in that mythical - unknown time can not be counted on - even when the message comes from God Himself? Since (after all) the Jews were confused.

Basically there is no compelling alternative to suggest for Isaiah 66 let alone make a solid case for. So then we accept the Isaiah 66 reference to the New Earth as fully consistent with the Rev 21 reference and we also accept the “All mankind” – scope – as real, authoritative, divinely inspired and true – even though it is spoken in Isaiah to a rebellious Israel.

 

Since when should all mankind pay attention to what Christ the Creator says about his own memorial of creation?

#1. Since Christ the Creator gave mankind the 7-day week in Gen 2:3. For it was ” Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made”. A 7-day week - not a 6-day week for mankind. Christ the Creator makes his holy 7th day memorial of His creative action in making mankind – “for mankind” when he MAKES it “holy” – sanctified in Gen 2:3 before the fall of mankind.

Notice that God gives mankind the “reason” for the week and it’s seven days at the very start.

#2. Since Christ the Creator said His own holy 7th-day memorial of Creation was "The Sabbath was Made FOR mankind" in Mark 2. This places the scope of “all mankind” on the very “start” at the “making” of the holy 7th-day memorial of creation.

#3. Since the Creator's own Exodus 20:8-11 summary of the Creation week "event" shows it to have been made holy, sanctified and blessed by virtue of God’s own act of resting – that “alone” is given as the basis for the command. The commandment is in the format “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…For in Six days God…. Therefore He Blessed, sanctified and made holy the Seventh day”.

Here it is in full as – God framed it at Sinai speaking directly to the People of God, He said

#4. Since God Himself declares that in the New Heavens and New Earth "from Sabbath to Sabbath shall All mankind come before Me to Worship". Isaiah 66. Then God gives us “even more detail about the when and the where of the New Earth” in Rev 21.

#5. In John 14 Christ the Creator said to His followers “IF you love Me KEEP My commandments” 14:15. This Pre-Cross statement of Christ was spoken at a time when all agree that Christ the Creator’s own 7th-day memorial of creation was in full effect. Indeed we see his faithful followers resting “according to the commandment” Luke 23:56 “and on The Sabbath they Rested according to The Commandment”.

 

So Bob, are you a proponent of the LUNAR Sabbath then? Because it is my understanding, that using the lunar Sabbath rules, the Sabbath is not always based on a seven day cycle. Please correct me if I am wrong. All this stuff puts the focus on man and his "works", and not on Christ.

 

There is no question at all in scripture that the Ten Commandments "Are of God". Christ said "IF you Love Me KEEP My commandments" John 14 - PreCROSS!

The argument that seeks to discredit God's Ten Commandments as being "Something of man" not only dumps the Word of God in the OT - it also trashes the Gospels themselves. I say "don't go there".

BOTH Lunar and weekly Sabbaths (and yearly annual Sabbaths of Lev 23) were kept in the OT. There is no such thing as an "either-or" trade off where you might keep a Lunar Sabbath but not the weekly Sabbath.

But only the weekly Sabbath is mentioned in the Ten Commandments and only IT is "sanctificed and blessed by God" for all mankind in Gen 2:3.

In Mark 2:27 Christ's reference to the Sabbath is clearly the weekly Sabbath. In Exodus 20 it is obviously the weekly Sabbath "FOR in SIX days the Lord made the heavens and the earth... and rested on the Seventh day... therefore He MADE it Holy".

It does not say "therefore I NOW MAKE it holy" as many had hoped.

Christ the Creator is the one that GAVE his own memorial of creation TO mankind having made it FOR mankind. The idea that to HONOR the Word of Christ is really to deny him - does not come from scripture.

In Christ,

Bob

 

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. (Genesis 2:2-3)

There is no place in Gen.2:2-3 where God says that He "sanctifies" the Sabbath to "obey" it. The word "sanctify" means to "set apart".

"God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. ... The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God" (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 386)

The sabbath, though mentioned in Ge 2:2-3, was not given to man until it was given to Israel in the wilderness (Ne 9:13-14). The sabbath was given, not to mankind in general, but to Israel alone as a special covenant sign between her and God (Ex 31:13,17). Ellen White added to Scripture in teaching that Adam and the patriarchs kept the sabbath. The Bible says absolutely nothing about this. In fact, it cannot be true. If the sabbath had been kept by mankind in general from the creation, it could not have been given as a special sign to Israel. The Apostles, in their writings, placed absolutely no importance on the sabbath.

Way of Life Encylopedia of the Bible

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17)

Jesus is my Sabbath

 

Notice – what follows will be a pointer BACK to Creation week. In fact a summary of Genesis 1-2:3 (no mention of "I hereby make a holy day - the 7th day a holy day and call it Sabbath".)

Rather we are already to "remember it" and then are pointed back in time to when it was made the holy day of God.

.

Again notice the format.

The action commanded - the reason that establishes the commandment, the same unit of time applied to BOTH the timeline for Genesis 1 and the timeline for humanity at the foot of Sinai. Notice the order – it is “because” God DID what He did in Gen 2:3 that Christ the Creator’s own Holy Day has significance. He did not “bless and sanctify THEN rest on that day to Obey Himself”. RATHER it is “because” HE chose to Rest that the day is “blessed and sanctified”. He simply stamps “binding obligation” for mankind after His own CHOICE to rest on that day. He “rested” THEREFORE the Lord “blessed”.

[quote
for in six days the Lord... And rested on the seventh-day therefore the Lord blessed, ...and made it holy
[/quote]
Some are required by their traditions to turn a blind eye to this. But many - many others see this text, read it just as it is written and accept its clear concise format showing that the commandment is based on summary of the Gen 1-2:3 facts that God gives - not man.
In that summary God "locks in" the "time unit" so that even the most blind can not miss "seeing" that the same author in the same context applies the same time unit to BOTH the people at Sinai and God in Genesis 1.

Oh that everyone would embrace God's Word just as it reads.

 

Notice – what follows will be a pointer BACK to Creation week. In fact a summary of Genesis 1-2:3 (no mention of "I hereby make a holy day - the 7th day a holy day and call it Sabbath".)

Rather we are already to "remember it" and then are pointed back in time to when it was made the holy day of God.

.

Again notice the format.

The action commanded - the reason that establishes the commandment, the same unit of time applied to BOTH the timeline for Genesis 1 and the timeline for humanity at the foot of Sinai. Notice the order – it is “because” God DID what He did in Gen 2:3 that Christ the Creator’s own Holy Day has significance. He did not “bless and sanctify THEN rest on that day to Obey Himself”. RATHER it is “because” HE chose to Rest that the day is “blessed and sanctified”. He simply stamps “binding obligation” for mankind after His own CHOICE to rest on that day. He “rested” THEREFORE the Lord “blessed”.

[quote
for in six days the Lord... And rested on the seventh-day therefore the Lord blessed, ...and made it holy
</font>[/QUOTE]Some are required by their traditions to turn a blind eye to this. But many - many others see this text, read it just as it is written and accept its clear concise format showing that the commandment is based on summary of the Gen 1-2:3 facts that God gives - not man.
In that summary God "locks in" the "time unit" so that even the most blind can not miss "seeing" that the same author in the same context applies the same time unit to BOTH the people at Sinai and God in Genesis 1.

Oh that everyone would embrace God's Word just as it reads. [/QUOTE]

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Sorry to burst your bubble, Bob, but the Ten Commandments were given to ISRAEL. The Sabbath was given to ISRAEL, not to mankind in general. As believers in Christ, Jesus becomes our "rest/Sabbath" (Heb. 4).

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? (Matthew 19:16)

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Matthew 19:17)

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, (Matthew 19:18)

Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Matthew 19:19)

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? (Matthew 19:20)

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. (Matthew 19:21)

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:22)

The Sabbath for the Christian is a type of salvation--we rest in the completed work of Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:9-10)

 

If that was true Bob, then what would we do with Ellen White and her failed predictions according to the Torah? Would it still be allowable to call her a latter day prophet? If a person wants to worship on the Sabbath/Shabbat, I have absolutely no problem with that, but it is time for the SDA's to examine some of the things that they have been holding onto according to the tradition of the SDA church. This is also greatly needed in the mainstream church as well.

Now, onto the Lunar Sabbath Deception.It is a mess, and is huge among the sacred name groups. They can't even agree among themselves on what is correct. As I said earlier, all this stuff is a disctraction for people, which keeps them from building their relationship with Christ.

P.S.

The Jews follow the calendar established by Hillel in the diaspora. It bases the Sabbath on a seven day cycle.

 

"That" is an excuse for ignoring what Christ said about His own Holy day - memorial of creation?

Surely you can do better. In Exodus God "HIMSELF" says "Tomorrow IS the Sabbath". In Exodus "God's voice thunders from Sinai".

You seem to imagine that God was just "Borrowing" -- how odd.

In Christ,

Bob

 

In Mark 2:27 Christ states that the Sabbath WHEN MADE was MADE for mankind!

So you are right to observe that in Exodus 20 God is not "Making" the Sabbath - rather He is pointing back to it - back to Gen 2:3 and stating that the seventh-day of the week in Gen 2:3 where God blessed the day and MADE it Holy is when the day was MADE.

So WHEN was the day "MADE FOR MANKIND" as Christ said in Mark 2:27 if not then?

What are you proprosing??

Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was Made for MANKIND”.

When was this true? Where did this begin?

No Alternative

What are the possible "alternatives" to simply accepting the Mark 2:27 , Gen 2:3 and Isaiah 66 statements on the scope of Sabbath applying to “All Mankind”?

When “else” would you apply it?

#1. Would it be to argue that when God "Made the Sabbath for mankind" in Gen 2:3 He "kept the 7-day week and the 7th-day weekly Holy day of Christ our Creator a secret from all mankind."? Was this supposed time of keeping the memorial of creation a secret from mankind – the time when “Sabbath was made for mankind” but not the time when God expected “All mankind to come before Him to worship”?

#2. Is it in the OT days after the fall of Adam - when some claim that "God only gave the Sabbath to the Jews and NOT all mankind"?

#3. Is it post Cross - when some say that it actually displeases God if we obey Him and honor His 7th-day memorial of the creation of mankind – since in fact – He is not even asking us to honor His own memorial of Creation that He blessed and Sanctified in Gen 2:3 making it “For mankind”.

#3. Or is it sometime after the 2nd coming - when Isaiah 66 described the New Earth and "All mankind" coming before God to worship? Is it some post-2nd-coming “New Earth” as God describes in Rev 21?

#4. Or will the claim be that the People of God were kept so far in the dark in all of these areas - that they had no hope of having any understanding of the "New Heavens and New Earth" or when it would be and so any application of anything in that mythical - unknown time can not be counted on - even when the message comes from God Himself? Since (after all) the Jews were confused.

Basically there is no compelling alternative to suggest for Isaiah 66 let alone make a solid case for. So then we accept the Isaiah 66 reference to the New Earth as fully consistent with the Rev 21 reference and we also accept the “All mankind” – scope – as real, authoritative, divinely inspired and true – even though it is spoken in Isaiah to a rebellious Israel.

 

Here is what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath--this is what we need to use--NOT Ellen G. White's interpretation.

WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES:

1. The N.T. is the only infallible guide of what part of the Mosaic law continues to be important for the church age believer. The N.T. plainly teaches the believer today is not bound to the sabbath law! "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col 2:16-17).

2. According to the N.T. epistles, the sabbath question has no relevance to the church. In all the instruction God gave the churches in the epistles, there is only one mention of the sabbath- Col. 2:16-and that one mention was only to show that it is not binding upon N.T. believers. Is it not strange, in light of the fact that the N.T. epistles mention the sabbath only once and that to show it is not now binding, that Seventh-day Adventism makes such a big deal over sabbath observance? Surely, the SDA denomination has a very different understanding of the sabbath and of the things of God than did the Apostles! The Apostles, in their writings, placed absolutely no importance on the sabbath. The SDA, in their writings, place great importance upon it. With one of their correspondence courses, the SDA sent me a lovely printing of the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This was printed on expensive gold paper stock, and the sabbath was highlighted, supposedly as it was highlighted in Ellen White's visions. I assume I was supposed to treasure this. No, my friends, I do not glory in the sabbath. The Apostle Paul said the sabbath is not for me.

3. The sabbath was a type of salvation. "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his" (Heb 4:9-10). Adventists admit that the O.T. types and shadows, such as the Levitical offerings, were fulfilled in the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet, they maintain that the weekly sabbath was not a type which was fulfilled by Christ. In Hebrews 4, though, the sabbath is presented as a type of salvation. As God rested on the seventh day from His work of creation, the true believer today rests in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to enter into God's rest, a person must quietly accept God's work. He must cease from his own work. Salvation is God's gift.

WHAT ADVENTISM TEACHES:

The Sabbath law has been changed, with the harsh demands of the Mosaic system no longer binding. Adventists do not keep the O.T. conditions of the sabbath, but they claim they do not have to because the conditions pertaining to the sabbath have changed in this age. One of Ellen White's visions is offered as proof for this.

"In the most holy place she saw the ark that contains the law, and was amazed to note that `the fourth, the Sabbath commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God's holy name...' There was also shown her the change of the Sabbath, the significance of Sabbath observance..." (Messenger to the Remnant, p. 34).

"The institutions that God has established are for the benefit of mankind. ... The law of Ten Commandments, of which the Sabbath forms a part, God gave to His people as a blessing..." (Ellen White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 245-246).
Way of Life Encyclopedia

I choose to believe what the Bible teaches.

 

Sadly this abuse of the text of scripture is debunked in both NT and OT.

In the NT we are told that "ALL SCRIPTURE" is given by inspiration from God. (Some may think of that as "Ellen White says" but you will find in 2 Tim 3).

#1. “All Scripture” not just “some scripture.
#2. Scripture in this case read to Timothy by his Jewish parents as a child.
#3. All is profitable for “Teaching, reproof, correction, doctrine, training

What a far cry from the “some scripture” downsizing that some would make of the Bible.

In the NT we find NO justification for the abuse of scripture suggested at the top of this post -- "Slice and dice the OT text of God's Word whenever you find a passage not duplicated in the NT"!!

In fact that notion must completely ignore exegesis history and context. The NT is simply "letters" and never does it claim in ANY LETTER that 'this letter replaces your scriptures so you can toss them out and read this instead'.

Though some do "imagine it" - it is not there.

Having said that - IT is more than just a "little" coincidental that such wild ideas surface whenever you get on the subject of Christ the Creator's own Holy Day.

In Christ,

Bob

 

Where do we find the Sabbath commandment quoted in the NT?

As in the case of the 2nd commandment – quoted in the NT but only in part, so we find the unique language of 4th commandment quoted in part in the NT.

God’s commandments endorsed by Christ –

Made for mankind

With all the hype about the “good news of NOT keeping God’s commandments” one begins to wonder what you would find if you just did an unrestricted search on the NT with the words “Keep Commandments”. Would it be 50/50 pro and against? Would the Bible list reasons why this is a bad thing 60% of the time, and reasons why it is good 40%??

Or would it be 100% to zero? A complete shutout?