Did the Seventh Day of the Week Continue to be the Sabbath in the Early Church?

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HAVING shown in previous articles the origin of the Sabbath at creation, and having examined every scripture in the New Testament in which the first day of the week is mentioned, and seen that there is no hint that the first day of the week had become the Sabbath in place of the seventh day, we will now proceed to examine the testimony of the Scriptures to ascertain whether the original Sabbath of the Lord continued to occupy the same position in the early church it always had. Profoundly convinced that there is not a particle of evidence that the great Jehovah changed his rest day to another day of the week, we now invite attention to the testimony of the Scriptures themselves upon this subject. In the preceding article, in noticing the instance in which the first day of the week is mentioned, upon which Christ arose from the dead, we found that the day preceding it was called the Sabbath just as it always had been. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 23:54-56. These texts positively prove that the crucifixion of Christ had not changed the seventh day of the week into a secular day, or caused it to cease to be the Sabbath of the Lord, else inspiration would not have continued to call it such.

Historical Proofs

In the “Acts of the Apostles,” we have an inspired record of the apostolic church. Immediately following the ascension of their crucified and risen Lord, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which was to fully qualify the ministers of Christ for their great work of preaching the gospel of salvation, it is universally admitted that there has never been an age when Christianity was so pure as it was during the period covered by the record of St. Luke, the writer of the “Acts.”

It was an age of inspiration when all the leading men of the church were under the direct influence of the spirit of truth. In succeeding ages, great apostasy and corruption came in. But in the “Acts of the Apostles,” we have a model church set before us. This history is supposed by the best commentators to have been written some thirty years after the resurrection of Christ, when if any change in the Sabbath was ever made by divine authority, it must have occurred. We cannot for a moment suppose that Luke, an inspired Christian historian, would call a day the Sabbath which was not the Sabbath, or mislead the people on such an important subject. We know every candid reader will gladly accept his testimony. It is the only reliable history of that most interesting and important period we have to which we must look back for the best examples of genuine Christianity.

We will now notice the references to the subject of the Sabbath. We first call attention to Acts 15:21.

“For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.”

The circumstances which called out these words were these: There had been a contention among the believers, not relative to the Sabbath question at all, but concerning circumcision ; and a council had been called to consider it and those questions which related to the ceremonial law. The council decided that the Gentile converts need not practise these things, and stated in this text that the requirements of Moses’ law were read in the Jewish synagogue “every Sabbath day.” St. James calls that day the Sabbath, A.D. 51, in which the Jews read the law of Moses in the synagogue, which everyone knows has always been on the seventh day of the week, and says this was done “every Sabbath.” We all know that it was not the custom of the Jews to read the law in their synagogue on the first day of the week. And as the law was read ” every ” Sabbath, therefore the first day of the week was not the Sabbath when St. Luke penned these lines A.D. 61. But the seventh day was the Sabbath with the Christians of the early church as well as with the Jews; for an inspired Christian historian called it such.

Paul’s Practice

We next notice Acts 13:16

“And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”

This occurred in Phillippi, a Macedonian city where the gospel had never been preached before. St. Paul, summoned thither by the Holy Spirit, hunted up the worshipers of the true God by going to this place where it had been customary to meet for his worship. Those who thus met must have been Jews or Jewish proselytes; for Christianity had never been preached there until this time. This day in which these Jews met at a stated place for prayer and worship is called by the inspired historian the “Sabbath day” (margin, literal Greek). It could not have been the first day of the week; for this was not the day in which the Jews met for worship, and there were no disciples there except Paul and his companions. It was not a place where Christians had met; for there had been no Christians here until this time. Paul there participated in the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath. And as this was the “Sabbath day” the day following it could not have been such.

We next notice Acts 17: 1,2.

“Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews; and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.”

The fact that these meetings were held in the Jewish synagogue is plain proof that it occurred on the Sabbath day which that people had ever kept, the seventh day of the week. The inspired Christian historian, writing this book over sixty years after the birth of Christ, for the benefit of the church in all ages, declared that these three days were Sabbaths. The days, then, which the Jews kept as the Sabbath, and upon which they engaged in worship, must also have been the Sabbath day of the early church; the only historian we have of that church calls it the Sabbath. If another day had become the Sabbath, and the seventh day had ceased to be such, most certainly this historian would have been careful to notice the fact; for when new institutions take the place of those of long-standing, it is absolutely necessary to make such a matter prominent, or the older practice would continue. We may be sure, therefore, that as no mention is made of such a change, it must have occurred after this time. Yes, long after the time of Luke, in the days of apostasy.

This instance, with the one previously mentioned, gives us four occasions in which St. Paul used the seventh-day Sabbath as the day in which he instructed the people in the gospel of Christ. It was his day of religious worship. Mark the expression “as his manner was.” In this particular, he followed the example of Christ. It was his ” custom ” also to use the Sabbath as a day of religious instruction. Luke 4:16. “manner” and “custom” imply their common practice. In using the seventh day of the week, then, as the day of weekly Christian worship, seventh-day keepers have the example of Christ and St. Paul. Surely we can ask no better.

Not a hint can be found in the Scriptures that it was the “manner” or “custom” of either of them, or any of the early church, to use the first day of the week for any such purpose. There is only one instance given in the New Testament when that day was employed in a religious meeting (Acts 20), and that was a night meeting, while the light part of the day was used by St. Paul and his friends in traveling on foot nearly twenty miles. But we see the seventh day was still called the Sabbath, as it always had been for 4,000 years, and was the day employed as the day of religious instruction.

Seventy-Eight Sabbaths

In the 18th chapter of Acts, we have an account of St. Paul’s visit to Corinth, and how he labored there. Verse 4 states that “he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Verse 11 states that he continued to labor in Corinth “a year and six months.” As he continued to thus labor “every Sabbath” for a year and six months, he must have spent seventy-eight Sabbaths in the city of Corinth in bestowing religious instruction upon Jews and Greeks. With the four previously mentioned, we have eighty-two Sabbaths thus employed. Surely it is no wonder that the historian tells us that it was St. Paul’s “manner” to employ the seventh day in this way. We know this was the seventh day of the week; for it was the day the Jews met in their synagogues. Here, again, this day is called “the Sabbath” by the historian of the Christian church.

There is sometimes a very weak objection presented by opposers of the true Sabbath to avoid the force of the apostle’s example in teaching on that day. They say it was only because he could reach the Jews on the seventh day. How do they know this 2 No such statement is made in the record. But Luke says “he persuaded the Greeks” as well as the Jews. Could he not reach the Gentile Greeks on other days? Did they have the same preference for the seventh day that the Jews did? St. Paul employed the seventh day to teach them as well as to teach the Jews.

The Gentiles

In Acts 18, we have two other instances of apostolic example in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, making eighty-four instances in the book of Acts alone. Verse 14 reads as follows: “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.” Paul was asked to speak, and he gave them a lengthy gospel discourse. The Jews were not all pleased with what he said. They became envious, and spoke against Paul, and blasphemed. Verse 42 states that “when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.” Verse 44: ” And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” It was on the seventh-day Sabbath that both these meetings occurred; for the first one was held in the synagogue.

The first of these meetings was one in which both Jews and Gentiles participated. The last one was almost wholly a Gentile meeting, yet it was held on the Sabbath. Had the Sabbath been changed, then, as some would have us believe, how natural it would have been for the apostle, when asked by the Gentiles to speak these words to them on the next seventh day, to have said: “Tomorrow is the Christian Sabbath. Do not wait for a whole week to pass by, but come out on Sunday, and I will speak to you the truths of the gospel.” But not a word or a hint was even given by him that there was any other weekly Sabbath than the one always known as such. This day Paul devoted to teaching the truths of the gospel to Gentiles as well as Jews. It is evident that these two meetings were just one week apart. At the first one, the Gentiles requested that these good words should be spoken to them the “next Sabbath.” ” And the next Sabbath day,” one week later, the whole city came together. It is therefore positively shown that the first day of the week is not the Sabbath; for the “next” one came a week later than that Sabbath in which they first met in the synagogue.

The inspired historian declares that the day the Jews met in the synagogue was the Sabbath in the time of the early church, and if the first day of the week had also become a Sabbath, it would follow that the Bible recognizes two weekly Sabbaths, which would be a great absurdity. But the Bible gives not the slightest hint that the first day of the week was ever regarded as a rest day in the early church. These instances, as recorded in the “Acts of the Apostles,” are of great interest, and they clearly show that the early church still regarded the seventh day as the weekly Sabbath, and as the day set apart for special religious instruction.

Siege of Jerusalem

Another interesting scripture, bearing upon this subject, is Matt. 24:20.

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.”

This chapter is a prophetic discourse of our Saviour, containing a summary of important events till the end of the age. In the connection of the above text, he speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem, and tells them in what way to fly therefrom when it should be surrounded with armies. They were to know then that its desolation was near. They were to flee in great haste from it, and history shows that they did this, escaping to Pella, some sixty miles away, so that none of the disciples perished in that terrible siege. The words of Christ in this chapter were the means of saving from the fearful fate of the Jews the whole of the church at Jerusalem. He tells them to pray beforehand that their “flight be not in the winter,” because it would occasion great hardship in that season of the year for men, women and children to flee in great haste so far.

But they were also to pray that their flight should not occur on the “Sabbath day.” This language was spoken at a time when all admit that the seventh day was the only weekly Sabbath. It was before the crucifixion of Christ, or forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred A.D. 70. The Saviour shows his great regard for the Sabbath by instructing his disciples to pray that they might not be compelled to save their lives by fleeing on that day. The time when Jerusalem might be “compassed by armies” (Luke 21: 20) was uncertain, and the disciples could not make calculations so as to provide for it. Therefore they were to pray that God would help them by his providence, so that they might not have to flee on the Sabbath day. This shows in a beautiful light the care that Christ had for the Sabbath. He had before said he was the Lord of it (Mark 2:28), that is, its protector or guardian. Here he shows his care for it and for the disciples whom he desired should not be seemingly forced to break it in order to save their lives by fleeing away from Jerusalem on that day. No other good reason can be given for this direction which Jesus gave to his disciples.

Objectors have sometimes said that the reason Christ gave this charge was because the Jews would harm them if they fled on that day. But to show the groundlessness of this objection it is only necessary to refer to the actual circumstances as given by Josephus, when Cestius, the general who first led the Roman army against Jerusalem, surrounded that city. Josephus states that, for some ” unaccountable reason,” Cestius suddenly withdrew his army. The Jewish forces, thinking he was afraid, furiously followed him; a battle ensued, and so desperate were they that they continued the struggle and carried on their operations even on the Sabbath day. He also states that as soon as Cestius had withdrawn his forces from the city, many of the better class of citizens “withdrew from Jerusalem as from a sinking ship.” This was the time when the disciples left Jerusalem; for we have no account of a single disciple perishing in its siege. Vespasian and Titus in a short time renewed the siege, and then the Jews suffered more terribly than in any other on record, so that even mothers ate their own children. By heeding the injunction of Christ, his disciples escaped all these calamities.

It is evident, then, that at this time the Jews had no wonderful regard for the Sabbath; for they went out to battle on that day. And such were the circumstances that there was nothing to hinder the disciples from leaving Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore, that objection loses all its force, if it ever had any. We claim that here is strong evidence of Christ’s regard for the Sabbath, and the text shows positively that he recognized it as an existing institution in the year A.D. 70, long after some claim it had ceased to exist. He speaks of the Sabbath day being just as much a reality as the season of winter, and the disciples were to pray just as much that they might not be forced to break it as that they might be preserved from the distress of fleeing for their lives in that unfavorable season. And this was the Sabbath day then in existence when the Saviour spoke, the seventh day of the week. Thus we have the plainest evidence from the New Testament that the ancient Sabbath of the Lord continued to be observed as such by the early church.

Not Sabbath-breakers

Another fact proves this beyond all question. We nowhere find among the many charges brought by the Jews against the apostolic church that of Sabbath-breaking. This would be utterly unaccountable, were it a fact that they had ceased to observe the seventh day. This would have been the best charge to have brought against them. They did accuse Christ of Sabbath-breaking, because he neglected to follow some of their traditions. But he plainly showed them that what he did was “lawful,” that is, according to the law of the Sabbath. He says that he kept his Father’s commandments (John 15:10), of which the Sabbath was one. But this charge is nowhere intimated against the disciples. When we see how quickly they were complained of when they did not practice some of the requirements of the ceremonial law, such as circumcision, divers washings, fasts, etc., we can imagine what an outcry would have been raised had the early church ceased to observe the Sabbath. That no such charge was made proves decisively that they kept the original seventh-day Sabbath.

St. Paul’s language to the Jews in the last chapter in Acts places this beyond question. He had been taken to Rome as a prisoner. When he reached that city, he called the leading Jews together, and told them of his course of life and of the work in which he was engaged. He states positively (verse 17) that he had “committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers.” Would this have been true, if he had for twenty-seven years not been keeping the Sabbath day, but had been observing another day of the week in its stead? Was not the keeping of the seventh day a custom of the Jews for ages? If Paul had not been observing the Sabbath during /the period from his conversion to the time these words were spoken, this statement of his would be utterly untrue. And these Jews themselves, though they had heard the Christians everywhere “spoken against,” had never heard anything against Paul in the line of Sabbath-breaking. Verse 21: “We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.” We therefore conclude that the early church and Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, still kept the Sabbath.

Not Reasonable

There could be no more preposterous idea presented than to suppose that the early church should change the observance of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, and that nothing should be said about it in the teachings of Christ, or of the apostles, or in the history of the church in Acts, or in the charges which the Jews made against them. Such an idea is the veriest assumption, unworthy of the slightest credence. The least reflection should satisfy any person – that this could not be so. The early disciples were themselves Jews, and had always been trained to observe the Sabbath. Christ himself, their great Teacher, had done so. Their sacred writings taught it. It was an age when their nation was universally strict in keeping it, more so than at any previous period of their history, so that Christ had disregarded some of their traditions which they added to the Sabbath law. Christ had given no instruction to change the Sabbath, neither had the apostles. Not a hint of such a thing can be found in the record.

Now to suppose these early disciples should turn about, and set aside all their past experience, their early teaching, the customs of their fathers, the law of God, with no command for it, or a hint that it was their duty so to do, is a conclusion too absurd to be entertained one moment. We have an excellent opportunity to see this point illustrated. Seventh-day Adventists are trying to bring people back to the observance of the Bible Sabbath. Overwhelming evidences are given in its favor. Is it easy to get the people to change their practice from keeping Sunday to keep the Sabbath of the Lord? Ah, no. It is the most difficult thing almost in the world to persuade people to do. Why? Because the customs of society, habits of business, and early education are against it. Were not these just as much against a change in the time of the early church? Most certainly. Why should we think then it was so easy for them to change their practice and so hard now?

But the circumstances were afterward very much changed when the gospel was preached among the heathen. They held in reverence and showed respect as a holiday to the “venerable day of the sun,” as the Emperor Constantine calls the first day of the week. Then all the tendencies were toward a change, and after centuries of apostasy, it was consummated. But this was not so in Judea where the apostolic church was located. Seventh-day Adventists make a great stir when they call for a change of the Sabbath to the day of God’s appointment, and this very fact makes them noted everywhere. So it would have been noted in the early church had they turned from the seventh day to keep another day.

The Sabbath Forever

We give one more scripture.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66: 22, 23.

The time to which this scripture refers is located in the new creation,, after the coming of Christ. Here we learn that all of God’s people will keep the creation Sabbath from week to week. This shows the design of the Sabbath as a universal institution from paradise lost to paradise restored. It spans the history of our earth. It is the memorial of the great Creator which he made for man, In view of such a fact as this, how utterly absurd it is to suppose that after the original Sabbath had been kept for 4,000 years, and is to be kept in the new earth state, another day should be inserted for a brief period by divine authority between these great points without a single command from Scripture, or the example of the church in apostolic times, or any evidence that the apostolic church ever kept this new day. Seeing then we have no evidence from Scripture for such a change in the early church, we are certain it never occurred then; but that the change was made in after ages when men followed heathen practices more than the word of God.

[copied from an old Bible magazine called “The Present Truth.”]

What does it mean in 1 John 3:6,9 where it says that one born of God cannot sin?

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“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. … Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” 1 John 3:6, 9

When a person is born of God in the sense brought to view in the passages which you quote, it can be properly said of him that he cannot sin in the same sense in which it is said that God cannot lie; i. e., it is morally impossible for him to do so. With this explanation, the text can be easily comprehended by allowing the apostle to be understood as employing the word sin “with reference to a deliberate and continued indulgence in the same. It is in this sense that Doddridge and Macknight have regarded the passage, as will be seen from the following citations: “Doth not practice sin ” (Doddridge); “Doth not work sin” (Macknight). The apostle does not mean to say that he who is born of God can never sin under any circumstances, but that it is morally impossible for a person while sustaining that relationship to God to live habitually in the commission of sin. To take any other view would be to deny that anyone had as yet experienced the new birth. Should it be replied that no one has yet been born again, and will not be until the resurrection, and should it be insisted that Christians are only begotten in this life, and are to be born of God in the world to come, we reply that in the New Version the original term for “born” is translated “begotten” wherever it is used in verse 9.

[excerpted from an old Bible magazine]

Does this answer make sense? If not please send us a message and we will attempt to explain it. We also welcome your other Bible questions.

Is Jesus Christ God?

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In this article we will look at the question of whether Jesus Christ is God. There are many people saying that Christ is not God, that He was created, or has not existed forever. What we need to do is look at what the Bible actually says.

In Genesis 1:26 God says, “Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Notice the use of the plural here. This article is not about the trinity but we need to look at this. John 1:3 says that “all things were made by” Christ. If Christ made all things than He must be God.

Now let us look at a couple of Old Testament prophecies of concerning Christ’s birth and coming to this earth.

Isaiah 7:14 says:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This is a prophecy about Jesus Christ. Matthew in his gospel quotes this scripture from Jeremiah and gives an interpretation of the name Immanuel, which is “God with us.” Matt. 1:23. Jesus came to this earth as a man but He was and is God. Paul in 1 Timothy 3:16 speaks of Him as “God manifest in the flesh.”
Again Jeremiah prophesies concerning Him:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
He is called the Mighty God, or the Almighty. The Everlasting Father. He has existed from everlasting to everlasting.
John says of Christ:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2.
The Word is God. Christ is the Word. So Christ is God and He was with God even in the beginning. In verse 4 it says “In him was life.” Only God can have life in himself. In verse 12 He gives “power to as many as received Him to become the sons of God.” Only God can make you a child of God.
 We also have the testimony of the disciples. Even Thomas, “the doubter,” addressed Jesus as “My Lord and my God.” John 20:28. Nathanael said, “Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.” John 1:49. Peter answered Christ’s question “Will ye also go away?” with “We believe and are sure that thou art the Son the living God.”
The Jews of Christ’s day understood very clearly that Christ was claiming divinity when He said that He was the Son of God. After Jesus had healed the impotent man the Jews sought to kill him, because in their eyes “He had not only broken the Sabbath but said also that God was His father, making Himself equal with God.” John 5:19.
Jesus also allowed men to worship Him. The man that was blind “worshiped Him” after finding out that He was the Son of God. Even angels do not accept worship. God is the only one that should be worshiped. Jesus had quoted scripture to the devil: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” And He allowed the man to worship Him. Jesus was accepting worship as God. For a mere man to do so would be blasphemy but Jesus is God.
The Father refers to the Son as “God” in Hebrews chapter 1:
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Heb 1:8-12
We believe the forever here is forever in the past as well as the future. Proving Christ’s divinity is Paul’s primary point in this chapter.
We are going to look at one more text on this (although there are many others):
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.
John 8:58
When Jesus said, “I AM,” He was claiming to be the same self-existent “I AM” of the Old Testament. The Jews understand clearly. As soon as they heard that they took up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. They knew exactly what He was claiming.
There are many other texts we could mention but we believe that these give more than enough evidence that Jesus Christ is God according to the Bible. If you still have any doubts go back to John chapter 1, verse 1.

Did Eve wander away from Adam in the garden of Eden?

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We think this is an interesting question. It may not matter as much as many other questions in the scheme of things but because people have used this question to discredit several eminent writers we think it is important to answer it.

In 1 Timothy 2:14 we see that only Eve was deceived, Adam was not:

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Now this does not lessen Adam’s guilt but increases it because he sinned knowingly.

If we take this verse at it’s plain meaning we will readily see that Adam could not have been with Eve when Satan was tempting her. Since he was not deceived, if he had been there with her, he would have spoke up and warned her not to talk to the serpent.

Read the following words from Genesis chapter 3 carefully:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:1-5.

It says plainly, “the serpent said unto the woman” twice and “the woman said unto the serpent” once. It was a two way conversation. Do you think Adam would have stood there and not spoken at all if he had been there? Wouldn’t the serpent have addressed “them” instead of “the woman” if both had been there?

In Genesis 3:6 we find the reason why many believe that Adam had to have been with Eve while the serpent tempted her:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

It says “gave also unto her husband with her.” Many think this means he had to have been there at the tree with her. But why wouldn’t it just mean that when she gave it to him he was with her. It doesn’t say he was with her the whole time. He could have come looking for her right after she had eaten. It could also mean only that he was with her in the garden. We don’t know.

But what we do know is:

  1. Adam was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:14)
  2. Eve was the only one who talked to the serpent
  3. The serpent addressed Eve only
  4. Adam would have spoken if he had been there, especially since he wasn’t deceived

These facts show that Adam was not there at the tree of knowledge of good and evil when Satan was tempting Eve and that Eve must have wandered away from Adam or at least they were not together.

It is much easier for Satan to deceive one than two. This is one of the reasons God gave marriage. God knew that it would be better to have two so the one could help the other to avoid temptation. When Adam and Eve were separated Satan was able to bring this world into sin.

The significance and importance of the Seventh-day Sabbath

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What is the real reason for the Sabbath? Why did God give it to us?

Most people think of the Sabbath as merely a rule, a law, maybe not even applicable to our day. But the sabbath is not a law alone. There is a great reason for the fourth commandment.

The Sabbath is the memorial of Creation

In the fourth commandment we find the following reason why the Sabbath should be observed:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. (Ex. 20:11).

It is the day when we should remember who the Creator is. The day when we should think of our creation as creatures made in the image of God. He only has the power to create. From the beginning God desired that man would keep in mind who created the earth and how the earth was created but after sin, when the devil began spreading alternate theories of origins, the Sabbath was especially needed to not only remember the Creator but to commune with Him and receive the “treasures of wisdom and knowledge” that He only can give. God knew that we would need one day of every week rest from our work and remember Him as Creator. As long as there is a creation there will be the day on which to worship the Creator.

When God refers to His authority He often uses the title Creator, even though He answers to many other titles. In Isaiah 45:18 He says:

For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

At the end of the 6 days of creation the Bible says that:

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 created and made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God had created and made. Gen. 2:2-3

As we can see from the verses God made the Sabbath holy because that it in it He had rested from His creative work. Let’s take a look at a few other verses where the connection between the Sabbath and Creation is brought out.

Psalm 92 is a song for the Sabbath. Notice as we read the connection with creation:

A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. Ps 92:1-4

On the Sabbath the psalmist would praise God for His creation.

Even in the creation of the new earth the Sabbath is linked with Creation:

For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. Isa 66:22-23

After God creates the new earth all flesh will come before Him every Sabbath for eternity to worship Him as Creator.

The connection between the Sabbath and Creation is very clear. They are inseparable. Satan wants to obscure the Sabbath because it is a sign of God’s creation. There is no reason for a seven day week other than the fact that God created all things on six days and rested on the seventh.

The Sabbath is a day to remember that we were created in the image of God. What a high position! It would do us well to think of what that actually means. We are not gods but were created to be like God in character. And on the other hand to remember that we are but dust in comparison with Him.

Evolution destroys the Sabbath

But Satan has introduced a counterfeit. He is doing all He can to obscure what God has wrought. He wants people to forget who the creator is, to attribute the work of God to evolutionary processes. He wants them to forget the Sabbath because it is a reminder of Creation.

The devil has come up with a compromise: That God created everything but that He used evolution over millions of years. It is called Theistic Evolution. This is what the plurality of people believe right now. We will be looking at the implications of this in the next paragraphs. It limits and weakens our conception of God.

By the way, there are many reasons why Creation is more scientific and makes more sense than Evolution. There is much evidence for Creation. But that is not the topic of this article.

If evolution is true than the first 11 chapters of Genesis are false and God is a liar (or nonexistent). Some say that Genesis is how Moses believed it had happened, not necessarily as God knew it had happened. But Proverbs 30:5 says “Every word of God is true” and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “All scripture is given inspiration of God.”

Evolution teaches that it took millions of years for everything including man to evolve. Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God created all in six literal days. If there are no six days of creation there is no seventh, thus no Sabbath. There would be no creation to remember.

Evolution teaches that everything was not good but is getting better. The Bible teaches that the earth started out very good and has been getting steadily worse. This is something any reasonable person ought to see if he looks at the world honestly. Have humans themselves become better through the years. You can say that we have more knowledge than earlier peoples but certainly not that we are stronger and more fit than previous generations.

Evolution portrays God as having a very mean and cruel character, a God who would put innocent humans and animals through millions of years of evolving, to whom humanity is not worth much. The Bible portrays the very opposite: a God who is loving and kind, who gave Adam and Eve every warning not to fall into sin, a God who gave them an exalted position in the universe, and a God who gave all heaven in the gift of His Son for the redemption of the human race.

Evolution does away with our need for salvation for if death (which the Bible calls “the wages of sin”) occurred before the fall there is nothing to be saved from. Death is required for the evolutionary cycle. It teaches that it is just our portion to die. But God told Adam and Eve that only if they ate of the tree they would die. If death didn’t come from sin than there was no reason for the Son of God to come and die for us. God would have been deceiving them.

Evolution teaches that you do not have a free will but the Bible plainly says that we can choose. If there is no free will but our thoughts and actions are the products of uncontrollable processes we cannot change. The Bible says that we can change, we can be partakers of the divine nature through Christ.

Evolution casts doubt on how God would create the world again (Rev. 21:1) the second time if the first time was by evolution. Would we have to wait millions and billions of years for the new earth to be recreated?

How was the earth created according to the Bible?

God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!…God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” It was so. Gen 1:3,24

God said let there be [light, living creatures, etc.] and “it was so.”

The LORD God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Gen 2:7

He formed man in a different way, after His own image, from the dust of the of the ground. This is to show that God considers man a much greater creation than the animals. Evolution considers man and animals the same, in fact man is a animal, having evolved from other animals.

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. Ps 33:6-9

Again, God made everything by the breath of His mouth. He spake and it was done. “Done” is very plain. It means DONE. It doesn’t mean to start a process. It means to FINISH IT!

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Heb. 11:3

This verse tells us that the things that were created were not made from things that were preexistent. They were created by the Word of God. God’s word is so powerful that whatever He says happens as soon as He says it.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 2 Peter 3:5

Peter predicts that in the last days men would be willingly ignorant of how God created the world.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col 1:16-17

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:3

All things were created by Him and He still upholds them. Nothing was made without Him.

He spake and it was done! The very word of God creates. God didn’t need a gradual evolution. He made everything perfect by His word alone. He created everything better than it is now and it has been gradually getting worse because of sin. He planned His creation, He spake, and it was created just as He spake. But He formed man with His own hands out of the dust of the ground. He did not speak man into existence: for man was made in His image. Thus as we keep the Sabbath we remember the great power that God has in creation. We remember that as Creator He owns everything and has a call on our life. And because He is who He is, we can believe His promises all confidence that what He promises He will do.

When we keep the Sabbath it shows that we believe that He is Creator of all and that we trust His word.

If we can’t believe what He inspired the Bible writers to write about Creation how can we believe what is said about Salvation.

Sabbath and Salvation

The Sabbath also signifies something else:

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Deut 5:15.

And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. Ezek 20:20

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. Exod 31:13

The Sabbath is a time to remember that God has brought us out of bondage and that He is able to sanctify us [make us holy]. Keeping the Sabbath shows that we believe that He can bring us out of bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil, just as He brought the Israelites out of bondage from Egypt.

Healing on the Sabbath

And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.

But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Luke 6:5-11

and

And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Luke 13:10-17

Jesus specifically picked the Sabbath to do some of His miracles that people would the connection between the Sabbath and Salvation. On every Sabbath thereafter that woman would remember that Jesus had brought her out of bondage to Satan. The Sabbath is a day of restoration. Jesus restored these people on the Sabbath to that He wants to restore people on the Sabbath, not only physically by spiritually. Again He spoke the word and immediately they were made whole, just like He created the world!

The Sabbath is a memorial of our deliverance from Satan. Because Jesus rested from His work of salvation in the tomb, we also can rest from our works on the Sabbath. It shows that we believe in His power to save and to provide.

The Sabbath and Creation in the Last Days

While I was thinking about this topic the thought came to me that Creation will actually play a fairly large part in the end time events. We already read what Peter said, that in the last days people will not believe in creation, and that they will scoff and jeer at those who do. Reminds me of Noah’s day. They were all scoffing and then the rain came just as God said it would.

It’s amazing that many Christians, probably even a plurality, are accepting evolution. I saw a poll surveying Evangelical leaders: 41% accept theistic evolution.

The Pope says:

“When we read the account of creation in Genesis, we risk thinking that God was a magician, complete with a magic wand, able to do everything. But it is not like that,” he said. “He created living beings and he let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave each one, so that they would develop and reach their full potential.”

“The Big Bang, which today is held as the beginning of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator, but requires it,” he said. “Evolution in nature is not at odds with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.”

“The scientist must [nevertheless] be moved by a trust in the idea that nature hides, within her evolutionary mechanisms, potentialities that it is the task of intellect and freedom to discover and actuate, in order to achieve the [kind of] development that is in the design of the Creator.”

In the preceding statement from Pope Francis, he says “we risk thinking that God was…able to do anything.” What an amazingly blasphemous statement! The Bible clearly declares that God is all powerful and there is nothing He cannot do. The Pope also says, “nature hides, within her evolutionary mechanisms, potentialities that it is the task of intellect and freedom to discover and actuate.” He is putting nature above God! That God would have to discover potentialities in His creation. Wow!

In Revelation chapter we see what God’s message will be shortly before He comes to reap the world:

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!” Rev 14:6-7

The verse says “Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water.” In other words, The Creator. So just before the coming of Christ there will be preached a message: worship the Creator. This is in a time in earth’s history where nearly everyone, Christians included, are forgetting the Creator. The best way to remember the Creator is the to keep the Sabbath of creation. If we look at the expression used we will immediately think of the fourth commandment. John is here obviously drawing his language from the fourth commandment.

Satan is seeking to destroy the two institutions that God set up in the first week of the history of the world: the Sabbath and Marriage. Satan wants people to forget there is a Creator that we have to answer to, a Creator who knows what is best for us.

At this time in earth’s history marriage is seen as unnecessary unless it is homosexual marriage. Adultery is seen as fine, especially if it is in the thoughts. But God has said, marriage is between a man and a woman for life. Anything else is an abomination in God’s sight. Satan hates marriage because it was set up by God and if rightly entered into marriage honors God and promotes the happiness and well-being of society.

There is another abomination mentioned in scripture. To worship the creation instead of the Creator. It is the devil again seeking to destroy what God has done. You see it all over. Worship yourself. Worship the earth. Worship other people. But only God should be worshiped as He only is Creator and He only upholds all creation. Only He is worthy of worship.

Soon we will be ridiculed, maybe even by other Christians, for believing what the Bible says about Creation. They will say, these people reject clear Science. They are unreasonable. That only fools believe that the earth and its contents were created in six days.

But in the end there will be a people who will hold to the authority and inerrancy of God’s Holy Word. They will honor God as Creator on His Holy Sabbath.  They will glorify His name and power. They will preach the everlasting gospel. Now is the time to proclaim the Creator God by worshiping Him on His Holy Sabbath: for it is a sign that we believe and accept Him as Creator and as Saviour.

This isn’t an exhaustive study of the Sabbath. There are many other aspects of the Sabbath.

If you have questions about something in this article please let me know.

Is the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10 Sunday or Saturday?

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Many people wonder what Revelation 1:10 means when it says John was in the spirit on “The Lord’s Day.” Some say that it was Sunday. Some say Saturday. Others say that the verse is referring to the Second Coming of Christ.

The second coming of Christ has not happened yet so we can safely dismiss that idea. Also, John has a vision of Jesus in the sanctuary in heaven (notice the seven golden candlesticks and the priestly garments). It was not a vision of the last days. The Bible is its own interpreter so let us take a look at some similar verses to see if we can determine what the Bible means by “The Lord’s Day” in this verse.

The first verse I find in the Bible referring to a Lord’s Day is Genesis 2:2-3 where God blessed a specific day:

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.

After His six days of creation God blessed and sanctified (made holy) a certain day, the seventh day, which we know today as Saturday. This intimates that the “Lord’s Day” referred to in Rev. 1:10 could be this one mentioned in Gen. 2 but we need to dig deeper to find out if this is so.

The second passage that talks specifically about a “Lord’s Day” is the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11:

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: 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:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

This verse clearly states that the “seventh day of the sabbath of the LORD thy God.” It isn’t hard to see that God has a day, the seventh day, the sabbath day. If verse 10 were stated differently it would say “The Lord’s Day is the seventh day sabbath.” But some will say, This is the Old Testament. In the New Testament God changed His day to Sunday. Let’s take a look at that assertion.

Here are the words of Jesus:

For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. Matthew 12:8.

In this verse Jesus plainly states that He is “Lord of the sabbath day.” There we have it. Jesus said that The Lord’s Day is the sabbath day. Since He was being accused by the Jews because He healed on the sabbath day we can be sure that it was the seventh day of the week, now called Saturday. There are no verses in the Bible that even hint at Sunday being called the Lord’s day. There is only one day of the week called the Lord’s day in the Bible: the seventh day of the week.