God's Law
Part Two
There’s something that I would like to share, regarding a Holy day,
One that God made a Commandment, and said remember to obey.
It’s one of Ten He has given, but only this Commandment shows
Who in fact the author is of these Ten that every Christian knows.
Thus, the other nine Commandments depend for their authority
Upon the facts that are contained in this Fourth Commandment we see.
Which therefore means this Fourth Commandment, (regarding God's Holy day),
Is most critical to the Ten, and hence still relevant today.
This seventh day of the week, our God made Holy at creation,
Thus, instituting it well before the ancient Jewish nation.
It was kept before Mount Sinai and the Ceremonial Law,
And Scripture clearly shows us that we are to keep it as before.
This Sabbath is a memorial of our God’s creative act,
Hence why His hallowing and blessing it is an established fact.
For no other day He has hallowed, no other day He has blessed,
But simply just the seventh day, upon which our God chose to rest.
This day that's just for Holy worship, He has chosen to install
Like an ever flying flag that's reminding that He is Lord of all.
Such says that He is our Creator, who in six literal days,
The heavens and earth created, and here, His ownership displays.
We are told that up in Heaven we will still keep God’s Holy day,
As He’s the Lord of the Sabbath, and Lord of it He will stay,
For such worship will continue, as forever He will be due
The loyalty and homage that He so deserves from me and you.
Nowhere in God’s Holy Word does it say that He has changed His day,
But instead, it says that His Law (as it's laid down) we’re to obey.
It also tells us that no one is to attempt to change this Law,
And that this Law's forever, as God's character is at its core.
Yet, incredibly, man has — that is, attempted to change God’s Law,
And hence why the Fourth Commandment most are not keeping anymore.
Our God warned that this would happen, and history has proved it so,
For God’s Holy seventh day — Saturday — Satan’s sought to overthrow.
Yes, the seventh day is Saturday, not Sunday, or some other,
Although there are certain calendars that this fact clearly smother.
You see, the devil’s a Law breaker, the Holy Throne pretender,
Thus, hiding the true Sabbath just aids his anti-Christ agenda.
The devil has coveted worship that to God alone is due,
And hence his own flag that’s flying now — one that’s not entitled to.
Therefore, many folk who are sincere are observing the wrong day,
Unwittingly endorsing the old devil's cunning power play.
Yes, there’s really quite a story hidden beneath this change of day,
But one that is soon uncovered if we much diligence display.
For discovered within the records that cover earth’s history,
Is a trail that soon enlightens those who the truth are keen to see.
Yes, make no mistake, this isn’t just my personal point of view,
For the evidence abounds proving that what is said here is true.
For it was man who changed God’s day, and before Christ comes we will see
Attempts to enforce man’s day — Sunday — worldwide, legislatively.
By Lance Landall
Collier's Encyclopedia: Saturday, seventh day of the week.
The
pagan Roman Emperor, Hadrian, whose military forces had suffered many
casualties because of a Jewish uprising, outlawed in AD 135 the
practice of keeping the seventh day Sabbath.
Many Christians who
had also been keeping the seventh day Sabbath, began keeping Sunday out
of fear, lest Hadrian’s hatred of the Jews encompass them.
Later, the Roman Emperor, Constantine, pursued a policy of blending
paganism and Christianity wherever he could in an effort to unite the
diverse elements within the Empire and thus strengthen his kingdom
which was beginning to fall apart. Christianity became very popular
under Constantine’s rule. More Gentiles came flooding into the church
as a result, bringing with them their pagan ideas and ways. The Day of
the Sun [Sunday] had become very popular among both pagans and Christians by then.
In AD 314, Silvester, Bishop of Rome, officially changed the title of the first day of the week [Sunday] calling it the " Lord’s Day".
Constantine, in AD 321, introduced a law making Sunday a civil holiday,
which effectively aided the Christian move to Sunday worship that had
been occurring since Emperor Hadrian’s rule.
In AD 336, at the Council of Laodicea, Sunday observance instead of Saturday was introduced as church law by the Bishop of Rome [Canon 29] (Dan 7:25).
After the great Protestant Reformation most still clung to the man-honored observance of Sunday instead of the divinely commanded Seventh-day Sabbath.
You might like to read "The Sabbath Change" for a deeper, yet simple, explaination.
The seven day cycle has no other explanation for its existence than the biblical account of the seven day creation sequence. The month can point to the motions of the moon for its period, the year is determined by the revolution of the earth around the sun, but the week has no astronomical or natural source of origin.
You might like to also read my poem: "That Sabbath In God's Law".
If you would like to read "A Story About God's Sabbath" click here.
Eight commonly Misinterpreted Texts, each with an answer.
(More texts may be added as time etc permits, but those already covered serve as samples. Sources available)
“Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, [ceremonial rest days, that is] which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col 2:16,17, NKJV).
Answer:
Paul here, was challenging the authority of the Judaizing false teachers who were imposing regulations (verse 20) on the manner of observing these practices, not the practices as such. Paul here, is not condemning the teachings of Moses, but their perverted use.
“One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God.” (Rom 14:5,6, NASB).
Answer:
The preference over ‘days’ mentioned here was presumably to do with
fast days as the context deals with abstinence. In the Roman world
there was a superstitious belief that certain days were more favourable
than others for undertaking some specific projects and unfortunately
this mentality was adopted by many Christians. The Sabbath is not
specifically mentioned in Paul’s epistle to the Romans, therefore, it
cannot legitimately be read into Rom 14:5,6.
“You are observing [scrupulous care] special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you” (Gal 4:10,11, NIV).
Answer:
Here we see the apostle Paul’s denunciation of false teachers motivated by superstitious beliefs in astral influences
who were wrongly teaching that the observance of days, months and
seasons was necessary to justification [right standing before God] and
salvation, thus perverting the very heart of the gospel.
“I will also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festival assemblies” (Hosea 2:11, NASB).
Answer:
Here we are looking at a backslidden Israel that was into idolatry and
every kind of evil, yet observing the forms of the ritual of days and
seasons given to them at Mount Sinai. God hated their Sabbaths as they
kept them — the observance of a sacred institution with no true spirit
of devotion. The solemn services of religion, when accompanied by a
life of willful sinning and rebellion, are offensive to God. Not the
doing away with the Sabbath, or any other religious service for that
matter, is foretold by these texts but the abolition of a rebellious nation.
Because Israel was into idolatry and every kind of evil, it thus made a
mockery of divinely ordained services bringing upon itself God’s
judgment.
“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is it not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13, NKJV).
Answer:
The lengthening of the day mentioned here, did not disrupt the seven
day cycle, because no new calendar day was gained or lost as a result
of it. The only alteration was the lengthening of the ‘daylight time’
of that day.
It should be noted that it is not the sun that moves in the heavens but
the earth turning on its axis that marks off the day. The writer was
simply using the popular language of the day in describing matters of
science.
“On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come” (1 Cor 16:2, NKJV).
Answer:
There is nothing here that suggests a public meeting, nor anything to endorse the observance of Sunday.
Paul here, was simply asking the Corinthian Christian believers to
remember their poorer brethren, by putting aside ‘individually’ and in
the ‘privacy of their own homes’, a monetary gift, and to do that
before they actually started spending their earnings of the previous
week.
“So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’ ” (John 20:19, NASB).
Answer:
This
meeting took place late at night. The disciples were gathered together
for fear of the Jews, not because it was a Sabbath.
“First day of the week” — that is, Roman time, which reckoned the days
as beginning at midnight. According to Jewish time which reckoned the
day as beginning at sunset, this meeting took place on the second day [Monday].
“On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread [in Troas], Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7, NASB).
Answer:
This meeting occurred on a Saturday night (this is confirmed by the
inter-church panel of scholars who prepared the translation of the New
English Bible). According to Jewish usage the evening before Sunday was
considered as the evening of the first day. This view is supported by
the fact that Luke, even though a Gentile, used the Jewish system in
his gospel when reporting the burial of Christ (Luke 23:54). In Acts he
repeatedly shows his respect for the Jewish calendar and religious
customs.
This was a special meeting, the reason for it being, that Paul was about to leave on a journey.