Just What IS the Fourth Commandment?

BY JACK M. LANE

(this article is an excerpt from the Jan-Feb 1999 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

“There are a number of Sabbath keeping churches and congregations around the world. At times the only discernible difference between people who go to church on Sunday and those who go to church on Saturday is the Sabbath doctrine. The Sabbath observers’ point to the fourth commandment, showing that it says the seventh-day is the Sabbath of Yahweh. The Sunday observers follow the teaching that the church (specifically, the Roman Catholic Church) had the authority to change the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week, even enforcing the change by the edge of the sword. Many “Sunday keepers” and “Sabbath keepers” alike have inaccurately learned the fourth commandment. It seems most church-going people are confident that the commandment says, “Keep the Sabbath.”

As just mentioned, we speak about “keeping the Sabbath” as opposed to “keeping Sunday.” What does it mean to “keep” one day or the other? Does it mean to “keep” the day in a certain way? Does it mean to observe the day, or hold onto the day? How does one “keep the Sabbath”? Whether we favor Saturday or Sunday as our Sabbath day, perhaps it’s time to examine this oft-used phrase, “keeping the Sabbath,” more closely, so we can gain a better understanding of what it is God wants us to do with one specific day out of seven….”

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 10, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/tss/475/tss_475.pdf