I am going to ask you to read the scriptures below carefully and try and notice the difference between a Day and a Sabbath.
But first, I am praying that the Sabbatarians all over the world will look into this objectively and be frank enough to endorse the Sabbath at the expense of a DAY.
The fourth Law in which Seventh-Day observing religions pride in and base their rationale of confusing the DAY for the REST (Sabbath) has three elements.
- Verse 8 = remember the Sabbath…remember to rest.
- Verse 9 = you are commanded to work
- Verse 11 = for six days and observe your productivity on the seventh day.
So basically the law presents two factors”
- TIME: (7TH DAY)
- EVENT: (REST/SABBATH)
Now let me take you through CRITICAL and SPIRIT-FILLED THINKING.
FIRST: It is common information that while figure 7 might mean time to the modern reader.
To the Jewish author and his community, seven was symbolic and essentially Event communicating as opposed to time. In the Hebrew understanding there is no time if it is not preceded by a particular event. Seven means COMPLETION/FULFILLMENT. In Genesis 2:1-3 we have the author counting due to the Event of CREATION.
In Luke 23:50-56 because of the Death of the Man who had claimed to be the messiah and promised a resurrection from death.
And we all know that in the Old Testament the seventh-day in the Hebrew calendar (which does not tarry with our modern Gregorian calendar), is observed for fundamentally three reasons:
- Creation: Gen 2:1-3 (Yahweh is the creator god)=Exodus 20:10-11
- Redemption from Egypt: Deut. 5:15 (Yahweh got us from Egypt the land of slavely)
- National Emblem: Ezek. 20:12,20 (We are an exclusive tribe of Yawheh)
Because of these events the Israelites observed the seventh-day of their week (by the way, we shouldn’t conclude that the Hebrew seventh-day is the modern 7th day if their October is our January).
So the seventh-day is a symbol, and we all know that: SIGN-POSTS ARE IMPORTANT TO ONLY THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW WHERE OR WHAT IT IS…BUT TO THOSE WHO DO, THERE IS NO NEED.
SECONDLY: the SEVENTH-DAY is a commemoration of the SABBATH but not the SABBATH. It is the WHEN of the SABBATH but not the WHAT of the Sabbath. That is to say, the 7th-day of the week is the day upon which the Israelites for reasons above observed the sabbath but the day ain’t the Sabbath.
Look at these verses:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished 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 hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3). Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8, 11).
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. (Exodus 20:11).
I was born on 1st-1-1986 and that is my BIRTH-DATE. If God commanded me that: REMEMBER YOUR BIRTHDAY TO KEEP IT HOLY, and as I do every 1st/January of any year I am alive. Am not observing the BIRTH ITSELF, am remembering the BIRTH on that particular date. 1st January is not my BIRTH (THE WHAT), but rather the TIME of my BIRTH (THE WHEN). It the time not the event, the possibility is that you can be in the right time without the event. 1st-January has a particular significance for me and not necessarily for others.
THIRDLY: Let me draw your attention to Hebrews 4:1-11. The author distinguishes the two: 1-the 7th Day and 2-The Sabbath-Rest…please read those eleven verses and if need be, begin from chapter 3. When you look at chapter 4:4-6 it seem to argue that you can be in the DAY (TIME) but not in the SABBATH (EVENT), just like the Jews were, due to unbelief.
Now when you look at verse 9: So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God” …For the people of God remains not a SABBATH DAY but a SABBATH-REST….did you see that in the text?
Later, the author of Hebrews reminds all of us obsessed with TIME instead of the EVENT that time is not restricted to the 7th Day but it is TODAY (Hebrews 4:7), in other words you can decide to receive your REST in Jesus Christ Today and you don’t have to wait for the 7th Day. He continues to tell us that those who were strict with the 7th-Day as an exclusive time of the event never experienced the real rest and they needed another day (time) to have rest (Hebrews 4:8). You can believe Jesus Christ TODAY and come to him, he is the event that you need to experience in your life TODAY (Mathew 11:28).
Good people of God, am not against any institution, nor any person, am just opposed to anything not rhyming with what the Bible teaches.
The Seventh-Day (depending on your calender) is just but a SYMBOL of the REALITY. Let me give you an example.
How Independent are you?
The Independence DATE (note: INDEPENDENCE then DATE) of the republic of Uganda is 9th –October- 1962. Now think with me, 9th-October-1962 is not the INDEPENDENCE, but instead a DATE of the first time Uganda was politically independent. That date is just TIME and the independence is the EVENT on that DATE.
As Ugandans we ought to ask a question: in reference to what happened on the 9th –October-1962, are we really INDEPENDENT? How independent are we? these questions really have nothing to do with the right date but with the reality on the ground. Now I ask you who observed particular sacred religious days, are you really independent and free?
Apostle Paul asks all of us believers in Christ who are still threatened by religious traditions that: Stand fast therefore in the freedom by which Christ has made us Free, and do not be entangled with a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1).
Dear student, you can write your exams on Saturday and still go to church after. You can attend to your sick person (Luke 14:1-4), you can cook for food before you go to church (Mark 2:23) always remember that you were not made (to be used) for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for you (Mark 2:27).
Remember
Remember, there still remains a SABBATH for the people of God to cease their righteousness by works (Hebrews 4:9) and that SABBATH could be TODAY (Hebrews 4:7, 2Corinthisns 6:2) if you believe Jesus Christ as your creator and redeemer and be set free from the LEGALISM of the shadows of dietary laws, religious festivals and sacred days (Colossians 2:16-17,) for these are principalities (Colosiams 2:15).
FOR THE LAW HAVING A SHADOW OF THE GOOD THINGS TO COME, AND NOT THE VERY IMAGE OF THE THINGS CAN NEVER WITH THESE SAME SACRIFICES, WHICH THEY OFFER CONTINUALLY YEAR BY YEAR, MAKE THOSE WHO APPROACH PERFECT (Hebrews 10:1).
We now have received Jesus Christ as the pure rest of our lives from legalism and now we anticipate the final rest from this sinful environment we live in at his second coming.
God bless you, I invoke Truth, Wisdom and Faith.
Priest M.I.T White (+256 775822833)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
Questioning to Believe, Believing to Live
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 