Subject: Who says the Sabbath is on Sunday |
Bible Note: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (The Fourth Commandment) In Exodus 20:8-11 there is no mention of the word "worship". In the Ten Commandments there is no command to "worship" on the seventh day. In the Ten Commandments the Sabbath was given as a day of complete rest. Exodus 35:2-3 (KJV) Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. [3] Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day. "The seventh-day Sabbath was simply and only a day of complete rest for man and beast, a humane provision for man's needs" (Scofield, C.I. "Scofield Reference Notes on Matthew 12". "Scofield Reference Notes (1917 Edition). (http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/ScofieldReferenceNotes/)) Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: [10] But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: [11] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. On the other hand, there is no New Testament command changing the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. Neither is there any NT command to worship on Sunday. 'Among the several references to the Sabbath in Acts (1:12; 13:14-44; 15:21; 17:2; 18:4; 20:7) there is little evidence to suggest that the earliest Christian communities deviated from the traditional Sabbath observed on the seventh day. The lone reference to a gathering "On the first day of the week" (20:7) most likely reflects an emerging Christian consensus that the first day was an appropriate day on which to meet for worship and celebrating the Lord's Supper' (http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/BakersEvangelicalDictionary/bed.cgi). |