History of the Sabbath Chapter 11, CONCLUDED The Sabbath During the Ministry of the Apostles 1
Romans 14:5 2
These words have often been quoted to show that the observance of the fourth commandment is now a matter of personal choice, for each individual is at liberty to do his pleasure in the matter. (See Andrews page 184.) 3
This idea needs careful scrutiny because... God ordained the sabbath before the fall of man, the sabbath was given a place in the Ten Commandments and is thus vital to the atonement, Jesus spent much time during his ministry explaining its merciful design, 4
Jesus provided against its desecration during the future flight of his people from Judea, by instructing them to pray that their flight be not on the sabbath day, and because the sabbath was expressly recognized after the crucifixion. 5
The answer... Remember, James states that to violate one of the commandments is to transgress the whole (James 2:10). Believing that Paul gives freedom to choose whether to honor the sabbath day or not directly contradicts what he wrote previously in his epistle about the Ten Commandments being holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12) and about sin being determined by the commandment (verse 13). 6
Paul affirmed the perpetuity of the law in Romans 3. It was not something that could be nullified. Paul did not name the sabbath and the fourth commandment in Romans 14:5 and was certainly not speaking of the moral law. The context is of eating different kinds of foods and of refraining from certain things, and the fourth commandment was never associated with these kind of things, but was only associated with the moral law exclusively. 7
In the ceremonial law, associated with the precepts concerning meats, was a large number of festivals, including ceremonial sabbaths, entirely distinct from the sabbath of the Lord. The church of Rome was probably begun with those Jews who were present from Rome on the day of Pentecost at the meeting of elders recorded in Acts 15. 8
The Jewish members at Rome were deeply interested in the decisions made in Jerusalem about what was required of the Gentile members, and this is what Paul was referring to when he spoke of the esteeming of days because... the Jewish members would have felt conscientious to observe all the distinctions of the ceremonial law, while the Gentile members would have felt no such compulsion. Paul, as a result, spoke to the case of both classes, but he was addressing only the ceremonial sabbaths and not the holy sabbath day of the Lord when he spoke of esteeming of days. 9
The Use of Every Day cannot be claimed as proof that the sabbath of the Lord is included by Paul because Exodus 16:4 tells us the Israelites gathered manna every day and Exodus 16:21 says every morning, but verse 27 tells us no manna was available on the sabbath day. Instead, Paul is speaking of the six working days. 10
John wrote about being in the Spirit on the Lord s day (Revelation 1:10) many years after Paul s statement in Romans 14:5 about the choice in esteeming days. This is absolute proof that in the gospel dispensation one day was still claimed by the Most High as his own. 11
The Lord s Day About ten years after Romans was written, the people of God fled the land of Judea. It was not in winter, for it occurred just after the Feast of Tabernacles (some time in October). 12
It was also not on the sabbath, for Josephus records an occasion a few days prior to God s people actually leaving Jerusalem when they utterly forgot it was the sabbath and rushed out to fight the Romans on the that day. It was memorable enough for Josephus to record that it occurred on the sabbath. 13
So, if the exodus from Jerusalem had occurred on the sabbath day, it would seem Josephus would have noted that also; however, he does not give any indication whatsoever that it was on the sabbath day. 14
Twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, John wrote Revelation. He was in the Spirit on the Lord s Day. Revelation shows not only the Lord s tender care for his people in giving them the important information contained in Revelation, but the book also shows his continued value of the sabbath by giving the information on the sabbath day. 15
Long after Romans 14:5 was written, which people claim proves that no distinction is to now be made in the observance of days, Revelation 1:10 shows that the sabbath was still being honored. 16
What Day of the Week Is the Lord s Day? 17
The text does not define which day it is, so we have to look elsewhere in the Bible to define which day th Lord s day is. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul refer to the first day of the week but do so strictly as the first day of the week and not as a day with any sacredness. 18
John wrote his gospel after returning from Patmos, but never in his gospel does he ascribe any sacredness to the first day of the week. This is convincing proof that John did not regard the first day of the week as entitled to be called the Lord s day or to be entitled to any sacredness. Neither the Father nor the Son have ever claimed the first day as theirs in any sense other than it to be one of the six days given to man for labor. 19
Under an all-seeing watchful eye and bearing us, as it were, on the wings of an eagle, God brings us until himself. 20
I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. (Exodus 19:4) 21