Here, I finished an educational material by Chuck Missler called “Chuck Missler - 7th Day (2000)”. Now I would like to briefly write what I have learned. I apologize in advance to everyone on the forum that I will not quote texts from the Bible because I did not remember them all well and I am relatively new to all this. So I will recount what I learned in my own words.
So let's get started. The first session of this topic was an overview of the seventh day in the Old Testament. Those verses are very strict, so from those verses you can really conclude that the Seventh-day Adventists are right to celebrate the Sabbath regularly.
However, in the second session, when the perspective from the New Testament is introduced, the picture changes drastically, although not completely. In the New Testament, Jesus often confronted the Pharisees and criticized them, explained the Old Testament more clearly to them, and healed several times on the Sabbath. Thus he put the Sabbath in the rank of the ceremonial law. The point of the story is that the needs of the people are more important than the ceremonial law and the Sabbath. It says that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. It even says in the Bible that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, which gives him the authority to change it.
Although Jesus gave us all a good sobering slap in the face, nowhere in the Bible does it say that he completely abolished the Sabbath. The point of the story is that we should not keep the formalities of the ceremonial law, but to change inside, change our hearts, be humble of heart, and only Jesus can do that, we cannot do it alone. Therefore, with his coming, Jesus abolished the ceremonial laws so that they would no longer be a burden to us.
And it is true, indeed, the external law puts pressure on a man if he has not changed internally. Don't get me wrong. A law is needed. Wherever there are more people, the law is needed. But it is not enough unless people change their hearts. Then that law becomes a burden. So the law and Jesus, both are important.
As for Sunday, it is written in the Bible that on the first day of the week, Jesus was resurrected, which is Sunday according to the calendar. Many Christians have taken Sunday as the "Lord's Day", but the question is whether it should be practiced regularly. Although some Christians believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath to Sunday, there is no direct indication in the Bible that he did so.
Regarding Sunday, Constantine is suspected that he was not a sincere Christian, but worshiped the Cult of the Sun, and that is why Sunday was introduced as the main day.
Therefore, the conclusion regarding the seventh day is that it is optional. Whoever wants, can celebrate it. But it is no longer mandatory.
I have a question: why did God give spiritual or ceremonial laws to the Jews if He knew they would misinterpret them, rigidly practice them, and even desecrate them? Was the law given because they were still young in the faith then, so they would not have understood otherwise? Is it the same as a child, to give an example? Therefore, a small child does not know, does not understand, and then the only thing you can do is to set some limits and some "rules", so only when he matures, you can interpret the Holy Scriptures more clearly. Is that what they do here? Thank you.
