How can we know when the Sabbath is? (Part 1 of 2)

By Kelly McDonald, Jr.

One of the lingering questions regarding the Sabbath is: How can we know when it is?

This is a great question. To answer it, we must start with how the Bible defines a day. Biblical days begin and end at sunset.

Genesis 1:5b reads, “…And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Sunset is the beginning of one day and the ending of another day. Below I have listed a few more examples in the Bible:

Leviticus 23:32b – referring to the Day of Atonement

“From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath.”

Deut. 24:14-15

14 Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it.

2 Samuel 3:35

35 Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”

We can see from these examples that a day in the Bible begins and ends at sunset. Night time is the beginning portion of a day and day time is the concluding portion. Perhaps God did this to show us that He brings our lives out of darkness and into His marvelous light. This helps us define a Biblical day.

As far as which day of the week is the Sabbath, we again want to start with the beginning of the Bible.

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, we learn about the creation of the heavens and the earth. In six days, God formed the face of the earth and fashioned it with animals and other living creatures. During these six days He created. On the seventh day, He rested.

This seven-day cycle was established and later spread throughout the whole world. One evidence of this is that Noah understood the seven-day cycle established at creation. “¹⁰ He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship. ¹¹ The dove came back to him at evening and, behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. ¹² He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.” (Gen. 8:10-12).

Later in Genesis, we learn something very important about Abraham. The Bible tells us that Abraham “…obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5). The Sabbath is listed as a commandment in Exodus 16:28, Exodus 20:8-11, and other places. By inference, we can learn that Abraham kept the commandments of God; this means he kept the Sabbath as well! He did so without having a Bible. He just trusted God and obedience was the result.

When the Israelites went down to Egypt, they lost the Sabbath. The Egyptians had a ten-day work week (Fagan, 202). After God brought them out of Egypt in Exodus chapters 12-14, one of His first acts in the desert was to reveal to them the true Sabbath.

In Exodus 16, the Bible records the miraculous giving of the manna from Heaven. God told the Israelites to gather manna for five days and on the sixth day to gather twice as much. On the seventh day, they were not to gather any. He even said in Exodus 16:29, “Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.” Many people have heard the story of the manna in the desert. Very few know that the entire lesson of the manna was to show them the true Sabbath day!

We will continue this conversation next time by showing which day of the week is the Sabbath!

Bibliography

Fagan, Brian M. ed. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Oxford University Press. New York, 1996. Page 202.

Kelly McDonald Jr.

BSA President – http://www.biblesabbath.org

 

52 Sabbath Activities for Teen Groups

By Don Pate

Here are 52 proven, surefire, guaranteed ─ fun activities to make Sabbath really special for teens! Each activity section gives you step-by-step instructions for making it happen and tells you what preparation and materials you’ll need and the minimum time required for the activity. Whether you’re a youth leader, teacher, or pastor, you’ll find this book a valuable resource for creating Sabbaths that bring teens exciting fellowship with God and Christian friends.

To order this book, just click the link below:

https://biblesabbath.org/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=104&=SID

 

How I Learned About the Sabbath

By Jacquie Chippeaux

My husband, Bob, and I were happily attending a traditional Sunday congregation with a lot of my family members back in the early 1990’s.  One day Bob approached me with a pamphlet that he had found on our front door.  There was going to be a Bible Prophecy seminar in our area, and he wanted us to go and check it out.  I was not thrilled with the idea, thinking it could be some type of cult, but I went while practically digging my heels into the ground.

When we arrived at the big convention center the parking lot, it was packed full of vehicles and church buses.  We thought this must really be something.  As we were walking up to the doors, several people were walking back saying that it was sold out.  I was a bit relieved and we turned around to start leaving. Bob showed the pamphlet to a person and asked if that was what the people were being turned away from.  The man answered no, and that it was a Christian concert that was sold out.  So, my husband was excited and led me up to the front door where we found the room that we needed upstairs.

It ended up being a very interesting study that went on for at least a couple of days a week, for several weeks.  A few days into it, they revealed the Sabbath to us. We could see it right away, and we were convicted.  We couldn’t understand how it seemed like the whole world was not keeping the Sabbath and had no idea of any Sabbath-keeping congregations.  Dr. John Grosboll with Steps to Life, an offshoot of a Seventh Day Adventist congregation, was the Pastor teaching the seminar. Dr. Grosboll and some of the members in his congregation came over to our house a few times for more study after the seminar had concluded.  We really enjoyed each of them.

Soon afterwards, Bob was in the break room at his work and there was a man speaking about one co-worker being a Baptist, another person being a Methodist, and another being Catholic, etc.  Then he said, “And Max, I don’t even know what he is, he keeps the Sabbath or something.”  And let me tell you, Bob’s ears perked up!  Bob saw Max down the hall later and called down the hall, “Max, are you a Sabbath keeper?”  And Max, almost in slow motion, turned around and said, “Yes, I am.”  And we started attending church with him at Wichita Church of God Seventh Day, which came from a Church of God International background.

We attended there for about ten years and then met more of a Messianic congregation that we really enjoyed.  My husband was gifted at blowing the shofar, and our two young daughters loved the music, banners, dancing, and teachings. Now they are both involved in ministry, mostly ministering to the youth and elderly.

The Sabbath is An Opportunity for Action!

It can be easy to look at the Sabbath as simply a “time-out” from the common activities of our lives. We want to avoid looking at this special gift from God as simply a list of things we should not do. Instead, let’s look at the Sabbath as a divine opportunity! What should we do on the Sabbath? Or, better put, what are we free to do now that common burdens are put aside?

While our common work is put aside on the Sabbath, it is the time to take on holy work. Christ said, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4). Christ taught, preached, prayed for people, and publicly read the scriptures on the Sabbath. There are entire chapters in the Gospels devoted to Christ’s holy work on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is the perfect time to read our Bibles, pray, worship alone with the Lord. It is also a time to spend with family (we will have a future blog solely on that subject). It is a special time set apart to engage God in a way and with a focus that we could not during the week because we had work to do. Maybe there is someone in the Body we have not seen or talked to in a while. Perhaps God has even laid this person on your heart during the week. Go speak to that person; even call them. Make that effort to be an instrument for God.

The Sabbath is not a call to inaction; it is a call to action. It is a divine opportunity. When we come together, there is always an opportunity to serve. Someone has to set up the church and prepare it for services. You could always come early to pray in the sanctuary for people to be touched by the Lord. Worldly cares are set aside so that we are free to do more for God, not less.  Someone must lead the music service. Someone must lead prayer at church. Someone must preach the sermon. Someone must teach the Sabbath school classes.

Do not forget that other people in the Body need encouragement and admonishment. Fellowship is so important. We have the freedom to engage one another as our focus is on the Lord. The Sabbath is an opportunity to use the gifts of the Spirit even more.

God is working things out in our lives through our obedience to His Sabbath. There is work that needs to be done, and we are the people He has called to do it. Let’s use this powerful freedom to grow in grace and knowledge.

 

 

Free Family Sabbath Resource – Sabbath Kids!

 

On this website, you will find many resources to help impart life-long lessons from the Word of God into your children on the Sabbath, such as:

–  Videos about Bible Stories

– Online Coloring tools

– Bible-based games

And More!

Just click the link below to access this FREE resource!

 

http://www.sabbathkids.com/

What Difference Does God’s Law Make?

Loren Seibold

(This article is an excerpt from the May – June 2008 edition of the Sabbath Sentinel)

 

“During a few weeks of each year, my back patio becomes a demonstration lab for one of the most famous laws of science: the law of gravity. Above the deck stand several large black walnut trees that produce thousands of hard, heavy walnuts. For a few weeks in the autumn, you relax on the patio at your peril, unless you’re wearing a hard hat! Only the squirrels are delighted. Walnuts fell from trees for centuries before Isaac Newton formulated the law of gravitation (he used apples). Newton’s law doesn’t make the walnuts fall; it only explains why they fall. There are, in fact, hundreds of laws of science. You may have learned some of them in school: for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. You can know either the location of a particle or its momentum, but not both. The laws of science differ from laws made by governments.

A friend was driving above the speed limit when she saw the red and blue flashing lights of a patrol car in the car’s rearview mirror. She was so startled (it was her first encounter with the law) that by the time the patrolman asked her to roll down the window, she was weeping. He took mercy on her and gave her a warning instead of a ticket. A person can sometimes get away with breaking the laws of a government. The laws of science, though, aren’t negotiable. They are invariable facts of the physical world. You would be very foolish to say, “I’ve decided not to follow the law of gravity today,” and then step off the edge of the Grand Canyon. God’s Invariable Laws God is the Originator of the laws of science, in that He created all that we describe by them. Because the laws of science never fail, they help us understand how the physical world works; we make use of them in order to fly an airplane, heat a house, or even hammer in a nail.”

To read the rest of this article, which starts on page 9, click this link:

http://biblesabbath.org/tss/531/tss_531.pdf

The Morality of the Sabbath

by Kelly McDonald, Jr.

When we think about the Sabbath, many Christians will say, “Well, God doesn’t care which day we rest and worship him on. One day in seven is all that matters.” Let’s seriously consider this line of reasoning with two of the other Ten Commandments.

Does God care whose property you have in your possession? (Your own or someone else’s?)

Does God care whose spouse you take home with you? (Your own or someone else’s?)

Again, most Christians would agree that God does care whose property you have in your possession. They will agree that it matters whose spouse you take home with you. For some reason, many will make an exception to the Sabbath. The Ten Commandments are absolute laws.

Just as God cares that we only possess our own property and that we stay faithful to our own spouse, He cares what day we rest upon. Since He saved us, we are called to be like Him (Leviticus 19:1-2).

There is only one day that God set apart for the Sabbath; it is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. If we do not rest on the Sabbath, then we have broken it. The morality of this commandment is set in stone just as are the others.

Kelly McDonald, Jr.

BSA President – http://www.biblesabbath.org

Virginia Beach business fired Seventh Day Adventist improperly

NORFOLK

A chain of self-storage businesses based in Virginia Beach improperly fired a Seventh-day Adventist employee who had complained he should not have to work on his Sabbath, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson ordered Mini Price Storage – also known as Central Drive Mini Storage Inc. – to pay Sean Mohammed $150,730 in back pay, as well as attorneys’ fees and court costs.

“This is vindication,” said Ari Wilkenfeld, one of Mohammed’s lawyers. He noted that his client found it difficult to find work after his termination in 2011 and is now in debt. He said Mohammed was crying the last time they spoke.

“The results are very gratifying,” Wilkenfeld said. “This is life-changing for him.”

To read the rest of the Article, go here:

http://pilotonline.com/news/judge-virginia-beach-business-fired-seventh-day-adventist-improperly/article_66c1add0-4ebc-5334-88aa-eec755e84db3.html