What Day Of The Week Is The Sabbath?

[Yusuf Evans]

I'd like to know what day of the week is the Sabbath and I don't want to hear the seventh day. Is it Saturday?

 

[JimfromOhio]

I'd like to know what day of the week is the Sabbath and I don't want to hear the seventh day. Is it Saturday?

Saturday was not mentioned in the book of Genesis. I understand that God rested on the seventh day as a pattern of work six days and rest one day which is binding for everyone since God did not rest for Himself, but for us. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul explicitly refers to the Sabbath as a shadow of Christ, which is no longer binding since the substance (Christ) has come. It is quite clear in those verses that the weekly Sabbath is in view. The phrase "a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day" refers to the annual, monthly, and weekly holy days of the Jewish calendar (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11). If Paul were referring to special ceremonial dates of rest in that passage, why would he have used the word "Sabbath?" He had already mentioned the ceremonial dates when he spoke of festivals and new moons.

 

[DeaconDean]

Oh no, not this question again. (sighs)

 

[Yusuf Evans]

Oh no, not this question again. (sighs)

I just thought I'd throw this out there to all those SDAs who keep saying Saturday is the Sabbath. Unfortunately, anyone who is Christian in Japan enjoys the Sabbath on the seventh day of their week, aka Sunday.

 

[Tonks]

Oh no, not this question again. (sighs)

My sentiments exactly.

 

[TheDag]

I agree with Jim that we are told in the NT not to let people have a go at us simply because of the day of the week we celebrate the sabbath. It makes it appear that in those times different people were celebrating the sabbath on different days and Paul says it doesn't matter which day as long as you do.

 

[winslow]

Hebrews 4:9

 

[DeaconDean]

No offesnse friend, but you watch, and others here will back me up, watch the fuss this question will generate. This question has been asked at least 6 times over the last year and very heated debates ensue shortly thereafter. I'm going to stay neutral, or rather, with past experience, I'm staying out of this one. God Bless you and your quest.

 

[BrightCandle]

I just thought I'd throw this out there to all those SDAs who keep saying Saturday is the Sabbath. Unfortunately, anyone who is Christian in Japan enjoys the Sabbath on the seventh day of their week, aka Sunday.

Jesus would not write a commandment in stone, and then add the word "Remember" to it knowing that it would be impossible to keep the 7th day wherever a person was on planet earth. The Sabbath is on the 7th day, the 7th day according to the biblical reckoning of time (see Genesis 1), starts at sundown and ends at sundown. So using the name given the days in our Anglo-Saxon culture, the 7th day would start on Friday sundown and end on Saturday sundown. The International Date Line was added thousands of years after the 7th day Sabbath was given in the garden of Eden (6,000 years ago), and after Noah's flood took place about 4,000 years ago, and his three sons left Mt. Arat and went to the four corners of the earth, do you think that they had a problem keeping the 7th day? No, they would just rest every 7th day no matter how far they were away from Mt. Ararat. The whole issue of people living in Japan keeping what we would call Sunday because of time and day shifts as you travel and circumvent the earth at supersonic speed. That is a relatively new invention to deal with our global travel and communications. All that Jesus asks is that you keep the 7th day wherever you happen to be on planet earth, along with all of the other 9 commandments, and don't make excuses why they can't be kept. The devil is the one who invents every possible objection to the keeping God's holy law.

 

[holo]

But does that mean that it's ok for the Japanese to keep the sabbath on another day, since it's their seventh day?

 

[tall73]

I just thought I'd throw this out there to all those SDAs who keep saying Saturday is the Sabbath. Unfortunately, anyone who is Christian in Japan enjoys the Sabbath on the seventh day of their week, aka Sunday.

A. There are hundreds of Sabbath keeping organizations of which the SDA are only one.

B. The issue of what they keep in Japan is inconsequential. The real questions would seem t obe.

- need any day be kept at all:?
- What was the practice of the early church?
- What do the Scriptures say?

Of course within that there are a number of other complexities...

the covenants, law and grace, Christ's relation to the law, Ecclesial authority, etc.

 

[Yusuf Evans]

A. There are hundreds of Sabbath keeping organizations of which the SDA are only one.

B. The issue of what they keep in Japan is inconsequential. The real questions would seem t obe.

- need any day be kept at all:?
- What was the practice of the early church?
- What do the Scriptures say?

Of course within that there are a number of other complexities...

the covenants, law and grace, Christ's relation to the law, Ecclesial authority, etc.

So if I were to ascribe to the Sabbath as being on Sunday and treat it as such, would I be in defiance of the Ten Commandments?

 

[YourChild]

So if I were to ascribe to the Sabbath as being on Sunday and treat it as such, would I be in defiance of the Ten Commandments?

I would think so. Why wouldnt you be? God specifically said the Sabbath Day is the 7th day of the week, which is Saturday, since Sunday is the first day of the week. And you are deliberately defying His law by replacing Saturday with Sunday. I don't understand why should there be so much fussing and confusion over this. Its as simple and plain as it is. Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is the Sabbath Day. And I don't know whats up with some people saying they don't have to observe the Sabbath Day, yet they are wilingly accepting Christ's free gift of Salvation. Christ sacraficed Himself and withstand all that torture and suffering for you. Yet, you cannot put out 1 hr of each week to attend Church to pay your respect?

 

[Stan53]

Sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Go read Genesis. That's what God gave us the ability to read. Oh, and He gave us brains to use. Inteligence also, or so I am told.

 

[Splayd]

I've heard 4 common answers to this:

1. The OT Biblical Sabbath is clearly Friday sundown to Saturday sundown. There's no escaping this. It's just a fact!

2. We have no Sabbath day as such any more. It was just a pointer to Jesus. He is our Sabbath rest now. In Him every day is Holy.

3. We're no longer under the letter of the law but the spirit of the law is to set aside one day in seven for God. Whether it's Saturday, Sunday or any of Monday through Friday is irrelevant. It's the simple act of setting aside a day that matters.

4. It was changed to Sunday because that's the Lord's day.

The opinions will vary depending on one's understanding of Scripture and/or tradition but to be frank - while I can see some scriptural merit in all of the first 3, there is none whatsoever in the fourth answer. It's purely based on mans tradition and has no presedence in scripture. I believe it's an invalid response.

Of course if you believe the 3rd answer to be completely spot on, you can celebrate the Sabbath on the Sunday... because you'd be free to celebrate it any day, but that wouldn't mean the Sabbath actually IS Sunday.

If you believe the 2nd answer is complete you can meet together on Sundays for worship by all means - but you wouldn't insist it is the Sabbath.

If you believe in keeping the Sabbath as a specific day, set aside by God as Holy - the only Biblically correct answer could be the first one: Friday evening till Saturday evening.

 

[Cliff2]

I'd like to know what day of the week is the Sabbath and I don't want to hear the seventh day. Is it Saturday?

You must have been absent for the last few years not to know the answer to your question.

Thread after thread for year after year. The same question but not many want to follow the Bible.

 

[BrightCandle]

But does that mean that it's ok for the Japanese to keep the sabbath on another day, since it's their seventh day?

Yes, it is. Where they are in planet earth, it is the 7th day, that is the important thing, not what day it is on the otherside of the planet!

 

[holo]

OK, but the dateline we're using was invented and determined by men. It's not very likely that it starts at at the exact same place as the very first day God created. So, in reality, you can't actually be sure that you're keeping sabbath on the correct day.

 

[holo]

Or, if that doesn't matter, then why does it matter that one keeps sabbath on sundays for example in Western Europe, where the week actually starts on monday?

 

[ThreeAM]

My sentiments exactly.

Then why rush over to the thread and post??