WalterandDebbie
Sabbath Overseer
Friday 2-16-24 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Adar 5 5784, 58th. Winter Day
From: A Sabbath Booklet Title A New Look at the SABBATH Is God's Sabbath Abolished with the Old Covenant? Or an Eternal Command of God, Still in Force Today? By William F. Dankenbring
Should God's Sabbath be observed today? Many argue it is abolished with the Old Covenant. One former Sabbath keeper has written a book he calls Sabbath in Crisis. But what is the REAL crisis? As we near the end of this age, with apostasy in exponential growth, it is time we review the proof that God's Sabbath Day is still in force!
It is truly amazing how people sometimes "change" at the drop of a hat! It seems incredible to me how people who have been Sabbath observers for decades, ostensibly having "proved" to themselves years ago that God commands Sabbath observance, suddenly jettison God's holy day, and revert to non-observance like the world around them, and have the audacity to claim their new position on the Sabbath is "new truth."
One man, who used to keep the Sabbath, changed jobs and now drives a truck on God's Sabbath every week. He no longer attends any church. Others go golfing, work, play, or do as they please, saying they have been "liberated" and "set free" from bondage to Sabbath observance!
Truly, God was right when He said to Jeremiah the prophet, "The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgress against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
"Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. For pass over the isles . . . and see . . . and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
"Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer.2:8-13).
The most amazing transformation of any church throughout history, as even Protestant churches and cult-watchers admit, has been the total "about face" of the Worldwide Church of God, which in recent years has not only changed their teachings regarding the nature of God, Bible prophecy, the Trinity, healing, and a host of smaller doctrines, but has also totally rejected the teaching that Sabbath and Holy Day observance are commandments of God which Christians are mandated to observe and obey. They claim that God’s grace means Christians need not keep the Sabbath day.
The vast majority of Worldwide congregations now observe the pagan holidays of Christmas and Easter, and hold church services on Sunday. Thus what God says in His Word no longer matters to them! They are guilty of the very things Jeremiah was told -- "they that handle the law knew me not," God says, and "the pastors also transgressed against me," and "the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit."
Because of this flagrant apostasy, and diabolical deviation from the truth, God has sent His "curse" upon them, and they have had nothing but financial trouble ever since this plunge back into apostasy began. They have had to sell off the Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, and the Ambassador Auditorium has been taken over by a tongues-speaking Pentecostal Church which meets every Sunday. Their church income has plummeted, and soon the church itself may be “history.”
Almighty God thunders, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal.6:7). Hosea prophesied, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" (Hos.8:7).
Because many today are forsaking the truth of God, including the Sabbath commandment, it behooves those of us who desire to remain faithful to God, to be vigilant and watchful, and as the apostle Paul wrote, “PROVE ALL THINGS; hold fast that which is good’ (I Thess.5:21).
In order not to be deceived, or led off into apostasy, following newly devised doctrines of demons, we all need to carefully re-examine our foundation and the bedrock support of our faith. Why do we keep the Sabbath? Is Sabbath observance really required for salvation? Is it still a sin, today, to break the Sabbath? What does GOD say?
In this chapter, I will give you 30 proofs why Sabbath observance is still required of true Christians, God's people, today!
Proof # 1 -- Sabbath Began at Creation We read in Genesis, after God finished creating the heavens and the earth: "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" (Gen.2:2-3).
It seems perfectly plain to me, and should be to anybody with an open mind, willing to be taught, that God blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart ["sanctified" it] from all other days! This is a clear statement that the Sabbath is "HOLY" -- or "sanctified." No other days are holy, but God's Sabbath days! And notice! It was made "HOLY" at CREATION -- not some 2,500 years later, during the time of Moses. It was made "holy" at the creation of MANKIND -- not when God brought one nation -- Israel -- out of captivity to Egypt, 2,500 years later!
Since the Sabbath itself was "created" at the end of creation, when mankind was created, and was "blessed" and "sanctified" by God, and not any other day, this is proof #1 that we should observe it today!
Proof # 2 -- It is a LAW of God In Exodus 20 we read: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy [i.e., "sanctified"]. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work [even as God did, at creation]: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God [it belongs to Him -- it is His day!]: in it thou shalt not do any work . . . 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" (Exo.20:8-11).
Here is a plain "thus-saith-the-LORD" to keep the Sabbath day. God commands us to remember it, and to "keep" it -- to keep it holy, sanctified, "set apart" from all other days. It is a day we are commanded to REST! We cannot "keep" anything "holy" unless it is already HOLY! God had already made the Sabbath holy at Creation -- and here He commands His people to keep it that way! You cannot "keep holy" a day which was never made "holy" by God. Therefore, you cannot "keep" Sunday holy -- for it simply is not and never was "holy"!
Notice also, that we are commanded to "rest" on that day, and do no work. How intriguing! Most people I know say they "hate" work. They would much rather rest and relax. They "work" all their lives, so they can "rest" and take vacations, and "relax." But when God says to "rest" on a particular day? Suddenly they all have some excuse, and want to GO TO WORK on that day! Go figure. When God says "rest," they respond, "NO! I want to WORK!" How perverse is human nature, anyway?
Proof #3 -- in Force Before Sinai Many argue that the Sabbath was only commanded at mount Sinai, and was legislation that was part of the Old Covenant. Therefore, they say, it is now abolished, and we don't have to "rest" on that day -- we can "work" instead! So they change God's "blessing" into a "curse," and bring more work upon themselves. Did the Sabbath command begin at Sinai?
Not at all! Remember, Israel had been in bondage and slavery to the Egyptians for scores of years, working every day of the week in hard toil and forced labor. Because of this, they had forgotten which day of the week was the Sabbath! Therefore, when God brought Israel out of Egypt, God revealed His Sabbath to them at the first opportunity -- exactly one month from the date they left Egypt, and several weeks before they even came to mount Sinai!
In Exodus 16, we read that Israel came to "the wilderness of Sin" on the fifteenth day of the second month (v.1). They left Egypt on the 15th day of the first month (Num.33:3). At this time, God said He would rain "bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in MY LAW, or no" (v.4). They were told to eat what they gathered every day, and not to keep it overnight. But some disobeyed, and in the morning it stank (v.18-20).
God sent them twice as much "manna" on the sixth day, enough for two days, and commanded them not to go out to gather any on the seventh day -- the Sabbath. Moses told the people on the sixth day, when they had gathered double, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD" (v.23). That which they gathered on the sixth day and kept overnight till the seventh day did not stink or spoil!
In this manner, by several miracles, God revealed to His people the true Sabbath -- the seventh day of the week! But some people went out on the seventh day, anyway, to gather. "And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS? See, for that the LORD hath given you the SABBATH . . . let no man go out of his place on the seventh day" (v.28-29).
How plain! The Sabbath was a COMMANDMENT and a LAW of God before mount Sinai was even reached! It was later incorporated into the Old Covenant, but it also existed PRIOR to the Old Covenant! That which the Old Covenant did not bring it could not take away!
To be continued
Love, Walter And Debbie
From: A Sabbath Booklet Title A New Look at the SABBATH Is God's Sabbath Abolished with the Old Covenant? Or an Eternal Command of God, Still in Force Today? By William F. Dankenbring
Should God's Sabbath be observed today? Many argue it is abolished with the Old Covenant. One former Sabbath keeper has written a book he calls Sabbath in Crisis. But what is the REAL crisis? As we near the end of this age, with apostasy in exponential growth, it is time we review the proof that God's Sabbath Day is still in force!
It is truly amazing how people sometimes "change" at the drop of a hat! It seems incredible to me how people who have been Sabbath observers for decades, ostensibly having "proved" to themselves years ago that God commands Sabbath observance, suddenly jettison God's holy day, and revert to non-observance like the world around them, and have the audacity to claim their new position on the Sabbath is "new truth."
One man, who used to keep the Sabbath, changed jobs and now drives a truck on God's Sabbath every week. He no longer attends any church. Others go golfing, work, play, or do as they please, saying they have been "liberated" and "set free" from bondage to Sabbath observance!
Truly, God was right when He said to Jeremiah the prophet, "The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgress against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
"Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. For pass over the isles . . . and see . . . and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
"Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water" (Jer.2:8-13).
The most amazing transformation of any church throughout history, as even Protestant churches and cult-watchers admit, has been the total "about face" of the Worldwide Church of God, which in recent years has not only changed their teachings regarding the nature of God, Bible prophecy, the Trinity, healing, and a host of smaller doctrines, but has also totally rejected the teaching that Sabbath and Holy Day observance are commandments of God which Christians are mandated to observe and obey. They claim that God’s grace means Christians need not keep the Sabbath day.
The vast majority of Worldwide congregations now observe the pagan holidays of Christmas and Easter, and hold church services on Sunday. Thus what God says in His Word no longer matters to them! They are guilty of the very things Jeremiah was told -- "they that handle the law knew me not," God says, and "the pastors also transgressed against me," and "the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit."
Because of this flagrant apostasy, and diabolical deviation from the truth, God has sent His "curse" upon them, and they have had nothing but financial trouble ever since this plunge back into apostasy began. They have had to sell off the Ambassador College campus in Pasadena, and the Ambassador Auditorium has been taken over by a tongues-speaking Pentecostal Church which meets every Sunday. Their church income has plummeted, and soon the church itself may be “history.”
Almighty God thunders, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal.6:7). Hosea prophesied, "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" (Hos.8:7).
Because many today are forsaking the truth of God, including the Sabbath commandment, it behooves those of us who desire to remain faithful to God, to be vigilant and watchful, and as the apostle Paul wrote, “PROVE ALL THINGS; hold fast that which is good’ (I Thess.5:21).
In order not to be deceived, or led off into apostasy, following newly devised doctrines of demons, we all need to carefully re-examine our foundation and the bedrock support of our faith. Why do we keep the Sabbath? Is Sabbath observance really required for salvation? Is it still a sin, today, to break the Sabbath? What does GOD say?
In this chapter, I will give you 30 proofs why Sabbath observance is still required of true Christians, God's people, today!
Proof # 1 -- Sabbath Began at Creation We read in Genesis, after God finished creating the heavens and the earth: "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" (Gen.2:2-3).
It seems perfectly plain to me, and should be to anybody with an open mind, willing to be taught, that God blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart ["sanctified" it] from all other days! This is a clear statement that the Sabbath is "HOLY" -- or "sanctified." No other days are holy, but God's Sabbath days! And notice! It was made "HOLY" at CREATION -- not some 2,500 years later, during the time of Moses. It was made "holy" at the creation of MANKIND -- not when God brought one nation -- Israel -- out of captivity to Egypt, 2,500 years later!
Since the Sabbath itself was "created" at the end of creation, when mankind was created, and was "blessed" and "sanctified" by God, and not any other day, this is proof #1 that we should observe it today!
Proof # 2 -- It is a LAW of God In Exodus 20 we read: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy [i.e., "sanctified"]. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work [even as God did, at creation]: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God [it belongs to Him -- it is His day!]: in it thou shalt not do any work . . . 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" (Exo.20:8-11).
Here is a plain "thus-saith-the-LORD" to keep the Sabbath day. God commands us to remember it, and to "keep" it -- to keep it holy, sanctified, "set apart" from all other days. It is a day we are commanded to REST! We cannot "keep" anything "holy" unless it is already HOLY! God had already made the Sabbath holy at Creation -- and here He commands His people to keep it that way! You cannot "keep holy" a day which was never made "holy" by God. Therefore, you cannot "keep" Sunday holy -- for it simply is not and never was "holy"!
Notice also, that we are commanded to "rest" on that day, and do no work. How intriguing! Most people I know say they "hate" work. They would much rather rest and relax. They "work" all their lives, so they can "rest" and take vacations, and "relax." But when God says to "rest" on a particular day? Suddenly they all have some excuse, and want to GO TO WORK on that day! Go figure. When God says "rest," they respond, "NO! I want to WORK!" How perverse is human nature, anyway?
Proof #3 -- in Force Before Sinai Many argue that the Sabbath was only commanded at mount Sinai, and was legislation that was part of the Old Covenant. Therefore, they say, it is now abolished, and we don't have to "rest" on that day -- we can "work" instead! So they change God's "blessing" into a "curse," and bring more work upon themselves. Did the Sabbath command begin at Sinai?
Not at all! Remember, Israel had been in bondage and slavery to the Egyptians for scores of years, working every day of the week in hard toil and forced labor. Because of this, they had forgotten which day of the week was the Sabbath! Therefore, when God brought Israel out of Egypt, God revealed His Sabbath to them at the first opportunity -- exactly one month from the date they left Egypt, and several weeks before they even came to mount Sinai!
In Exodus 16, we read that Israel came to "the wilderness of Sin" on the fifteenth day of the second month (v.1). They left Egypt on the 15th day of the first month (Num.33:3). At this time, God said He would rain "bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in MY LAW, or no" (v.4). They were told to eat what they gathered every day, and not to keep it overnight. But some disobeyed, and in the morning it stank (v.18-20).
God sent them twice as much "manna" on the sixth day, enough for two days, and commanded them not to go out to gather any on the seventh day -- the Sabbath. Moses told the people on the sixth day, when they had gathered double, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD" (v.23). That which they gathered on the sixth day and kept overnight till the seventh day did not stink or spoil!
In this manner, by several miracles, God revealed to His people the true Sabbath -- the seventh day of the week! But some people went out on the seventh day, anyway, to gather. "And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY LAWS? See, for that the LORD hath given you the SABBATH . . . let no man go out of his place on the seventh day" (v.28-29).
How plain! The Sabbath was a COMMANDMENT and a LAW of God before mount Sinai was even reached! It was later incorporated into the Old Covenant, but it also existed PRIOR to the Old Covenant! That which the Old Covenant did not bring it could not take away!
To be continued
Love, Walter And Debbie