Re: The Lord's day---the sabbath day?
Bick said:
Jay T; I find it hard to believe that when "the Lord" is speaking through the prophets in the OT that you interpret this as Christ speaking.
OK, let's start at the beginning (pun intended), as in Genesis.
Who created the world ?
Wasn't it Christ ?
And if you need scripture to support that fact, here goes........
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name [was] John.
1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all [men] through him might believe.
1:8 He was not that Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of that Light.
1:9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
Are we in agreement that this is refering to Christ ?
AGAIN.....
Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son:
1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:
1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Is this speaking of Christ, or not ?
Let's just assume that Christ (as God) created this world and everything in it, OK ?
If Christ created the world in 6 days, what did He do on the 7th day ?
Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2:2 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.
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.
Dod you understand that God 'blessed' this one day ?
Do you understand that God (Christ) 'sanctified' this one day, and that the word 'sanctified' means, to make something ....HOLY ?
Later in scripture the Bible tells us the Christ calls the sabbath....'my' sabbath.
WHY ?
Because He alone can make anything HOLY, and He made the 7th day HOLY......which gives Him the absolute right, to call it HIS, do you see that point ?
It's true, "Christ" is from the Greek "Christos" meaning "annointed", and there were many men annointed for service, such as King David, but "Christ" is only a NT word.
Having said that, your post helped motivate me to research this subject, and I will give my views.
As you quoted from Gen.2:2, God ended His creating and on the seventh day he ceased from all His work. He blessed it and set it apart, made it holy, for on that day He ceased from all His work of creating.
Now, isn't it interesting, there is nothing said in the rest of Genesis, that I've found, that anyone worshipped, or set apart the seventh day of the week as something special. And this covered thousands of years.
Have you ever heard of communication of knowledge, by word of mouth ?
Try reading what the 4th commandment says, as the very first word is ....'Remember'......then, towards the end of the 4th commandment, it says when...it was established....
Exodus 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy".
20:9 "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work"
20:10 "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:
20:11 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".
Also, you left the impression that no one, had kept it.....
Genesis 26:5 "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws". Don't forget what I said, about communication by word of mouth.
It is only when the whole Mosaic system of laws and regulations are established that God tells Moses to instruct the tribes of Israel that the seventh day is blessed, sactified (set apart). See Exod. 20:8-11 etc.
Are you forgetting about the sabbath commandment, having been known before....Mt Sinai ?
God people had been tested on that very subject in Exodus 16, before.... arriving at Mt Sinai !
The sabbath is a sign or a covenant between God and the children of Israel, that God sets them apart for all generations. Exod. 31:13; Lev.24:8; Ezek. 24:12, etc. He doesn't say "for all humanity".
'not' for all humanity, you imply ?
Are you aware that the 7th day sabbath was established some 2300+ years....BEFORE....there ever was a Jew ?
As you know, no work was to be done on the sabbath; no fires kindled; no long distance walked, etc. And the penalty for defiling the sabbath was death. Exod. 31:14,15, etc.
And can you find a Bible verse which states the Christ ever changed that ?
Is that what you want to live under, Jay T?
If it was such a 'bad' thing, then why did Christ say this.....
Isaiah 56:2 "Blessed [is] the man [that] doeth this, and the son of man [that] layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil".
God pronounced a blessing...on the person who kept the sabbath ?
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and [call the sabbath a delight], the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words:
58:14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]. [/color]
Did you see the word...'delight' in there ?
Is that the wrong thing to have been said ?
OR...is it because satan has convince people to see the 7th day sabbath in a false light ?
I mean after all, satsn is at ...WAR...with God's commandments, and those people who love Christ enough to keep them.....
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make [war] with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I'm assumming you know that other days in the week could be a sabbath day.
NO, they cannot !
The Bible points out the sabbath day clear enough, so NO ONE will ever get it wrong.
Luke 23:54-24:3 tells us thhat the sabbath comes the day before...Christ arose from the grave.
And everyone knows that Sunday, the 1st day of the week is when Christ arose, from the dead.
Passover involved a week of feasts, all called sabbaths, because there were certain things they were to cease from.
The Passover is the sabbath found in the Law of Moses which has been ABOLISHED...at the cross of Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 2:15 & Colossians 2:2:14-16)
Starting in Acts and following Paul on his journeys, we find that right up to the end of the Acts period, he went to the local synagogue on the sabbath, for that is when they met. But, as time and again the bulk of the Jews rejected him and his message, he turned to preach only to the nations. But, there were no churches. There were the God fearing gentiles who were delighted to hear the gospel. And since they knew or believed in the God of Israel, they met for prayer by a river, as recorded in Acts 16:15.
And later in his journeys, Paul, in the city of Troas, preached to the disciples who met on the first of the week, to fellowship and break bread. Acts 20:7.
Also, we read in 1 Cor. 16:1,2 that Paul wrote of the needs of the saints in Jerusalem, and encouraged the believers in Corinth to bring their donations when they met on the first of the week.
OK, find just one command to keep the day (Sunday) as a day of worship, OK ?
So, I believe that the early gentile churches met on the first day of the week, our Sunday.
Please supply a Bible verse which will then make Jesus Christ words, of no effect.
As it is written:
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen.
Since Jesus Christ NEVER mentioned anything about Sunday worship services....how can they teach otherwise ?
As for me, I believe each day is holy, set apart to the Lord. If I met on Saturday for fellowship, so be it. We are not under law, but under grace.
AH......and that is the trouble !
Few realize that grace is an important element in the plan of salvation, which requires 'OBEDIENCE', to what the Bible says.....
Romans 1:5 "By whom we have received grace....for obedience....to the faith among all nations, for his name"
