The Seventh Day Sabbath

What is the seventh day Sabbath?

The seventh day of the week, Saturday, observed as the day of rest and worship by the Jews and some Christian sects.

Is it still valid to continue the observance of the seventh day Sabbath?

We, in the INC do not deny that the law on the observance of the seventh day Sabbath was given by God, yet not all people were embraced by this law for the simple fact that only the Israelites were commanded to keep the Sabbath:

“you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.” Deut. 5:15

The people of Israel who were enslaved in and were brought out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God were the ones commanded to keep the Sabbath.

Why were they commanded to observe the Sabbath?

For them to remember that they were once servants in the land of Egypt and that by God’s almighty hand, he took them out of the land of bondage. In spite of the fact that to them were given the law on the observance of Sabbath, yet it is quite revealing that they were not called Seventh day Adventist but Israelites, or simply Israel.

The modern day sabbatharians, although they were not enslaved in Egypt and were not the ones commanded to keep the Sabbath, insist on observing the seventh day Sabbath and had taken for themselves the same Seventh day Adventist. What a misnomer as far as the name of God’s people (to whom the law on Sabbath observance was entrusted) is concerned!

In fairness to seventh day Adventists who insist on the alleged continuing validity on the observance of the seventh day Sabbath, we will make a searching analysis of several verses alluded to by them.

 
Christ entered the synagogue on the Sabbath Day

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16

This is one among the many verses used by seventh day Adventists to prove that our lord jesus Christ allegedly kept the Sabbath. But it should be noted that this particular verse does not say that jesus our lord observed the Sabbath day.

What then was the purpose of Christ jesus in entering the synagogue?
 
“Jesus traveled to Nazareth, where he had grown up. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue, as he always did, and stood up to read. The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him. He opened the book and found the place where this is written: "The Lord has put his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. — Isaiah 61:1

God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly — Isaiah 58:6 and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness." — Isaiah 61:2

Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the assistant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was watching Jesus closely. He began to say to them, "While you heard these words just now, they were coming true!" Luke 4:16-21

Christ’s purpose in entering the synagogue was to read the book of the prophet Isaiah in order to prove his commission as God’s messenger, anointed to preach the good news or the gospel. It was not his purpose to observe the seventh day Sabbath as the modern sabbatharians alleged.

Granting without conceding, but merely for the sake of argument that our lord jesus christ’s purpose in entering the synagogue was to observe the Sabbath as the Adventists allege,

How would these present day sabbatharian comment on Luke 4:28-30?

“When all the people in the synagogue heard these things, they became very angry. They got up, forced Jesus out of town, and took him to the edge of the cliff on which the town was built. They planned to throw him off the edge, but Jesus walked through the crowd and went on his way.”

If, as seventh day Adventist insist, Christ went inside the synagogue to observe the Sabbath day, Why did the jews rise up and put him out of the city with the intention of killing him? This is food for thought for those who insist that Christ allegedly sanctions the observance of the seventh day Sabbath by entering the synagogue on the Sabbath.

“The son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath”

Sabbatharians have an erroneous understanding of what our Lord jesus Christ emphasized—the son of man (Jesus Christ—Mt. 16:13-16) is lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5) They aver that because our lord jesus is the lord of the Sabbath, all people are obligated to observe the Sabbath.

Why did Jesus say he is the lord of the Sabbath?

“At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, "Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day."

Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? He went into God's house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat. And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that.

I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. The Scripture says, 'I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.' You don't really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong. "So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day." Mt. 12:1-8

The above cited verses narrate the event when Christ’s disciples plucked and ate some ears of grain which was not lawful to do on the Sabbath. After informing them what David had done during the time of Abiathar, the highest priest, Christ emphatically declared:

“Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Sabbath day was made to help people; they were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day. So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."” Mk. 2:27-28

Christ justified the actuation of his disciples and yet in so doing he did not sin (I pet. 2:22), thus proving that people in the Christian era are not bounded to observe the Sabbath.

 
Not to abolish the law

There are so many verses of the holy scriptures being used by the present day observers of the seventh day Sabbath. Space limitations prevent us to make a detailed analysis of those verses in order to expose their error in concluding that the continuance of the observance of the seventh day Sabbath is unbroken and valid in this Christian dispensation.

They cite Matthew 5:17 thus:

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,but to fulfill.”

The position of the seventh day Adventist church is that the Sabbath law’s effectively continues to the present because our lord jesus Christ , they alleged, did not come to abolish the Sabbath law but to fulfill it. A close scrutiny of what Christ jesus said revelas no mention of the Sabbath. His words were clear and explicit : “Think not that I come to abolish the law and the prophets;…but to fulfill them.”

What is the proof that this does not concern the Sabbath law?

In luke 24:44-45, this is written:

“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,”

In view of the above clarification made by our lord jesus Christ it is astonishing how seventh day Adventist preachers could have erroneously concluded that the Sabbath law was not meant to be abolished by jesus christ but to fulfilled.

Such an erroneous conclusion can emanate only from pseudo preachers. What our lord jesus Christ was to fulfill was that which was written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms: “…Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.” Nothing, and absolutely nothing was mentioned concerning the observance of the seventh day Sabbath.

What happens now to the vaunted claim of the alleged continuing validity on the observance of the seventh day Sabbath? It remains a claim based on the erroneous understanding of the teachings of the Holy scriptures.

What becomes now of the seventh day Adventist church? Like the many so-called Christian churches which were compared to weeds, it may remain for it was Christ who declared:

“Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At harvest time I will tell the workers, "First gather the weeds and tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my barn." Mt. 13:30

To our friends within the seventh day Adventist church, we invite you to read and make a searching analysis of your own book “The story of our church” and with an open mind on your part, we believe that you will come to understand the impact of the significance of the title and especially the contents leading to the inevitable conclusion that yours is not the church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then why remain sabbatharians?