I just can't thank you enough for your answer. My husband and I read it together. Yes, PLEASE go into depth and give more information if you can.
We have really been conditioned to believe Sunday is holy day. And I should know better. I was born a Jew (though never religious) and Saturday was Sabbath day, but not being a true person of faith, it was just another day to me.
In the mid 90's I accepted Christ as Lord as Savior, consider myself Christian (no Jews for Jesus for me - either you're Christian or you're not!, although I respect my heritage)...and I never looked back.
So you see, I've been conditioned by the churches I've attended to believe Sunday is Holy day.
I really need to get into the Bible and start reading about this. I'm ashamed I haven't already!
Thank you so much for your answer. It is so helpful to us, and yes, please don't hesitate to post more information if you have time to do so.
Thank you again! We are leaving for Bible Study and Church soon...on a SATURDAY! Who would've thunk?
Hi again (and HI Brnagain's hubby too!), I'm glad that you want to know more. Once we get a small drink of truth, it seems like we just can't get enough knowledge as Christians, amen?!
My last post was just kind of to let you know that we aren't trying to earn our salvation. That cannot be done. Scripture does give us a very good picture of why we should obey God though, and that's what Adventists try to do.
But hallelujah, I wholeheartedly agree with you, pick up the bible and study it for yourself! It's fascinating stuff for sure and you will NEVER regret that decision, I promise!
I'm almost jealous Brnagain, because there's nothing in the world that can replace what it's like when the Holy Spirit guides you through scripture and your eyes are opened up to a whole new world for the first time. It's life-altering. From there your thirst is just going to get more intense.
Before I say anything else, I'm going to say a prayer that I say the right things and that the Holy Spirit guides me as I speak with you.
The first thing that struck me when I read the bible for myself was that Noah took more than two of each animal onto the ark. He took more of the "clean" animals than the unclean and I was totally puzzled by what a CLEAN animal was. In my mind, I was thinking of cats or other animals that bathe constantly. HA!!!
We don't get to know what the clean and unclean animals are until Leviticus 11, but Noah knew way back in Genesis.
Which brings me to my next point. Noah talked directly with God and so did Abraham.
What you'll hear from the bulk of Christianity is that the Sabbath was instituted and given to the Jews and that it was never a command before Mt. Sinai.
That's just simply not true.
God blessed and sanctified the seventh day at
creation. Long before a Jew even existed, the seventh day was holy.
Genesis 2:3 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.
Abraham obeyed God's commandments before Moses ever went up on Mt. Sinai.
Genesis 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
The word "statutes" is never mentioned in scripture before that verse. In fact, laws and commandments of God aren't mentioned before that verse either, but we know Abraham obeyed them all.
Obviously there are things that Abraham and Noah had FIRSTHAND knowledge of from
speaking with God, that we just don't know about because they aren't in scripture. But we still know they existed.
In fact, in Exodus 16 God instructs Moses to tell the children of Israel (after being rescued from Egypt) that they must keep the seventh day holy. That was before Mt. Sinai. Then God says:
Exodus 16:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
Again, Moses hasn't even gone up to Mt. Sinai at that point to get the laws written on stone, but we know they existed before that and that certain people knew about them.
In Exodus
20 you'll read the account of Moses going up to Mt. Sinai.
Here's when we get to hear the command:
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 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:
10 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.
Why is the Sabbath day important to God's people?
It's a sign between God and His people that we know He's our Creator and Lord.
Exodus 31:13 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.
Modern-day Christianity tries to tell us that the Lord is speaking only to the children of Israel, but we learn in the New Testament that we are drafted in and are heirs to the promise. We
are the seed of Abraham, God's chosen people.
I'm glad that you aren't ashamed of your heritage! You shouldn't be. We are
all spiritual Israel.
And don't let people tell you that Israel is a country either.....Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Jacob became Israel after he wrestled with God all night. It's a person, not a country.
And you brought up a very good point earlier that I wanted to comment on. You mentioned that you were born a Jew but you are now a Christian. Amen!!!
Most modern-day teachings say that Jesus kept the Sabbath only because He was a Jew.
If you ask them what/who a Christian is, they'll tell you that it's anyone that accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior (amen, true). That definition definitely fits Mary, Christ's mother, right?
She accepted Christ as the promised Messiah (how could she NOT?) and followed Him.
So consider this verse:
Luke 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
Christ had already died on the cross. He was in the tomb, dead.
If the Sabbath had been nailed to the cross, why would Mary (a CHRISTIAN at this point just like you are now, even though born Jewish) continue to keep it?
Paul keeps the Sabbath throughout the book of Acts, Hebrews 4 discusses how there remains a Sabbath for the people of God, etc.
You'll hear the Sabbath isn't part of the new covenant. That really isn't true either.
The new covenant is God writing His laws on our HEARTS. The laws didn't go anywhere.
It's really an obvious thing that God's people,
us, are to keep the Sabbath commandment....but satan's counterfeit is Sunday.
I'm going to go ahead and post this since it's getting long and I'll go into a little more detail about Sunday in my next post, okay?
