Why So Many Christians Reject Sabbath

[phkrause]

Oblivious to the obvious.

Clifford Goldstein

https://adventistreview.org/perspectives/why-so-many-christians-reject-sabbath/

[Gustave]

I think the general reasoning is that it [the Sabbath commandment] is "ceremonial" as to the timing. 

Leviticus 23 identifies the feasts of the Lord. These feasts are not commanded by nature and therefore are ceremonial because one has to be supernaturally informed of them. I do believe that we are commanded by nature to show respect worship to God and this can be observed by all ancient cultures so the obligation to dedicate some time to paying honor is indeed "moral" or "natural" but the timing is not. 

After Christ resurrected the ceremonial laws of Israel were fulfilled. It's true that the New Testament "commands" Christians to assemble "THEMSELVES TOGETHER" and this would preclude assembling with Jews practicing / observing those same ceremonial laws the early Church clearly said terminated on account of Christ. The day Christians (early Church) assembled themselves together was the 1st day of the week. 

Would there be a problem with Christians assembling themselves together on the Sabbath (Saturday)? Obviously not. My wife and I often attend Church on Saturday and based on the number of people I've seen at the Churches I've attended on Saturday I'm certain that there are far more Catholics who go to Church on Saturday than there are SDA's going to Church on Saturday. 

The questions should be what is worship? Is it someone playing an electric guitar, is it an hour long homily or is it something deeper? I think it's something deeper. An interesting question would be if a Seventh-day Adventist attended Mass on Saturday what would the argument be then? Would it be the Nicene Creed / Profession of Faith that's read at each Mass? 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

A fundamental error that many Christians engage in, including SDAs, is to consider the main focus of the Sabbath to  be that of worship.  The purpose of the Sabbath, as it began in Eden, was to spend a day with God and to grow spiritually.  It was a day separate from the routine duties that Adam and  Eve  had in Eden.  Rather the focus was on God and getting to know God better in a close association with God.  Worship is a small part of that, even if important.  Worship can be on multiple days of the week.  I have probably conducted more worship services on Sundays, than I have on Saturdays.  Adventists often have worship services in a series of meetings that are held on multiple days of the week.  There is nothing wrong with either my holding worship services on Sunday mornings, or with SDA clergy holding revival meetings on days other than the Sabbath.

The spiritual error occurs with Christians, whether Adventist or otherwise, fail to understand the spiritual blessing that we experience in spending the day with God, on the Sabbath that God has established as a special day to commune with us.

[Gustave]

Admittedly my understanding of the Genesis account is somewhat different than an SDA's but I'll offer it in the interest of fellowship and understanding. 

The Jewish understanding of Eden was that Adam and Eve sinned on the same day that they were created and never entered into God's rest. God's literal 1st commandment was to multiply and perpetuate mankind and we know from the Genesis text that Adam & Eve didn't even have sex until AFTER they had been expelled from Eden. One would think if Adam and Eve had been operating in the Garden of Eden for days, weeks or months and blew off God's commandment that they should multiply this in itself would have most certainly been a violation of God's law by our 1st Parents, would it not? 

In this Jewish understanding (which would have been the Apostles understanding) the 7th day Sabbath was more of a "state" than a literal 24-hour period of time. Adam and Eve, along with their posterity were intended to live in "God's rest" perpetually - i.e. the Sabbath was therefore never intended to cycle out of it's perfection. Our 1st parents sinned by taking of the fruit and were expelled OUT of the Garden, essentially out of God's rest. This had to have happened literally immediately as Adam and Eve would have sinned had they goofed off for days, weeks, months or years prior to doing what God said about populating the earth and subduing it. 

My understanding of Scripture is the story of the trials and tribulations of humanity getting back into God's rest by the sacrifice of Christ. This is where the concept of Christ being the fullness which casts the shadow which was known by the Hebrew people as "the Sabbath day". It is in this sense that Christ is understood to be the Sabbath (rest) of God for those who put their faith in Him are in that sacred rest. 

The Apostolic Command for Christians to "assemble THEMSELVES together" can be identified in Scripture and history as a mass of believers in Christ coming together and this can happen at any time but traditionally is understood to have taken place on the 1st day of the week. 

I'm not understanding how God established a Gregorian Saturday as a ceremonial day on which to spend the day with God. All ceremonial laws require instruction as they are outside of nature (mans natural ability to understand them). Man is not commanded by nature to observe the day of atonement like man is commanded by nature to not steal, commit adultery, etc. My understanding is that man has never been commanded by nature to observe ceremonial laws of any kind. 

I would be the last one to argue that dedicating a day to spend time with God is a bad thing - that would always be the right thing to do - I'm not seeing the natural aspect of it however. 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

Gustave's comments on the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath are totally new to me.  I   have never heard of such. 

* The idea that Adam and Eve sinned on the first day of their creation.

* The idea that Adam and Eve did not have sex until they had been expelled from Edon.

The above does not reflect SDA thinking.   I would like for Gustave to give us additional support for his thinking that the above is Jewish thought.

[Gustave]

The Jewish new year celebration of Rosh Hashana is believed [by Jews] to coincide with the literal 6th day of creation, the day on which they believe Adam and Eve sinned & were expelled from Paradise.  

Genesis 1, 27 says that God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply after they were created. Adam and Eve appear to fulfill that directive only after expulsion from Eden. To me this would indicate that the Jewish view is more likely than not to be correct. Adam and Eve sinned very soon after they were created and were booted from God's Rest. It's called God's rest because the State existed because of the work of God and after God had everything perfect He ceased, He "rested". Humanity was meant to live in this Rest of God, a perpetual sabbath if you will. 

[Gustave]

https://www.ou.org/holidays/the_first_rosh_hashanah/

https://www.mayimachronim.com/secrets-of-rosh-hashanah/

"Rosh Hashanah commemorates the day that God fashioned Adam and Eve. On that same day, the first couple consumed the Forbidden Fruit, were judged, and banished from the Garden of Eden. Originally, they had been made immortal. Now, they had brought death into the world, and God decreed that their earthly life would have an end. Adam and Eve were, not surprisingly, the first people to be inscribed in the Book of Death. Each year since, on the anniversary of man’s creation and judgement, every single human being (Jewish or not) is judged in the Heavenly Court, and inscribed in the Book of Life, or the Book of Death."

 

[Gregory Matthews]

In a post that I made above, last Friday, I talked about a fundamental error that Christians often make about the Sabbath.  The Adventist Review has posted that comment of mine on their website.  You may access it at:

https://adventistreview.org/perspectives/why-so-many-christians-reject-sabbath/#comment-6518375766

 

[FLO]

Adam had Seth when he was 130 years old.   Seth had his first son when he was 105 years old.   Just because Adam and Eve didn't have children right away when God told them to be fruitful and multiple doesn't necessarily mean that they sinned on the first day that they were there.  

With regards to the ceremonial laws, attached is a good explanation of that from Dr. Sidney Davis when he was asked to review a chapter called "The Two Laws" in the book L'Chaym.  Hopefully, it's a thought provoking explanation, one that is usually missing from mainstream SDA thought processes. 

LChaymBookReview.pdf

[Kevin H]

Tradition, any tradition, once something becomes a tradition, it is hard to give up. We are no different, for example:

There is a fair amount of evidence that Mrs. White ended up disagreeing with Uriah Smith about the 7 trumpets and that she saw them as corresponding to the plagues and that both the trumpets and plagues are future. I was taught this in college with the evidence presented. In Seminary, they taught the tradition, but most were open to the possibility that the tradition might be wrong and that we may have to place it in the future. Today, you constantly hear Smith's view presented and defended. 

At the seminary, in my Daniel class the image of Daniel 2 was presented as 7 parts. I noticed that Stephen Haskell's book on Daniel presented it as basically the same 7 parts. It is interesting that these 7 parts happened to correspond to what I was taught as the 7 heads of the beast in Revelation 13 (which is also taught in George McCready Price "the Time of the End.") These 7 parts are: Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece Rome, the feet of iron and clay (God molds the clay, but here it is being molded by the iron instead of God, a description of a church-state, and the empire we see was in the far east Islam, then Eastern orthodox, Roman Catholic, then within Roman Catholic was the Reformed Roman Catholics i.e. Protestants) then the toes of iron and clay = the deadly wound, no great world empire but independent nations, some more lamblike and more freedom, others more beastlike and controlling, then the toes to join together, the deadly wound is healed. 

But attend an evangelistic meeting and you hear Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece, Rome and the Pope. Haskell's book was first published in 1901, George McCready Price in 1967, and in class in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

Tradition is always hard to change. 

[Joe Knapp]

On 8/3/2024 at 11:59 AM, Gustave said:

The Jewish understanding of Eden was that Adam and Eve sinned on the same day that they were created and never entered into God's rest.

I have not heard that before. I know many Adventist who believe it was in the first week.  Very interesting. 

On 8/3/2024 at 11:59 AM, Gustave said:

God's literal 1st commandment was to multiply and perpetuate mankind and we know from the Genesis text that Adam & Eve didn't even have sex until AFTER they had been expelled from Eden.

How do we know that? 

I believe they did have sex before sin, and that is partially why Adam sinned.  He understood Eve had sinned and that the serpent was the one they were warned about, but he did not want to lose Eve, so he ate the fruit too. 

But I could be wrong. The bible is not specific about when. 

[Gustave]

Quote

Joe Knapp said: I have not heard that before. I know many Adventist who believe it was in the first week.  Very interesting. 

Have you heard of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year)? 

Rosh Hashanah Theology and Themes | My Jewish Learning

How Soon Did They Sin? - Rashi Studies (Advanced) - Parshah

If you think about it God commanded Adam and Eve and immediately afterwards "commands" them to multiply (Genesis 1, 28). Had our 1st parents lived in Eden, busting sod and "weeding" for 6 days and observing a planetary Sabbath they would have already transgressed the commandment of God but that's not the Scriptures say. It wasn't until after Adam and Eve sinned and they were expelled (prevented) from entering God's rest that Adam had sex with Eve. 

I was taught that creation of the world and in particular the customized nature of Eden was totally the work of God. Once God was done there was nothing else to do because perfection had been attained and once this "state" was reached God "rested" (ceased). This "state" of perfection was "God's Rest". Scripture is very clear that ONLY the good things grew in Eden. It wasn't until Adam and Eve were removed that the ground started bursting with thorns and thistles. 

in any event if you have any Jews or better yet Rabbis in your area they will tell you it's Jewish belief that Adam and Eve were created and sinned on the same day they were created. 

[Hanseng]

Many Christians reject the Sabbath because of Romans 14. The history of the Jewish sojourn in Rome explains why:

The Jews were from time to time expelled from Rome. They were expelled in A.D. 19 by an edict from Tiberius. It was brought about by a fraud perpetuated upon a wealthy proselyte.

They had returned is sufficient numbers by the time Claudius began huis reign ~A.D. 40. At that time, rather than expel them, Claudius, he limited their ability to practice their ancestral way of life. This limitation of their activity may have had to do with their proselytizing, especially in light of their previous expulsion related to a proselyte.

Claudius was finally compelled to expel the Jews from Rome  ~ A.D. 49, due to rioting over "Chrestus." Priscilla and Aquilla were included in that banishment, as recorded in Acts 18.2. This expulsion included all Jews, Christians or not. When the Jewish Christians returned to Rome, years later, they found that the Gentile believers were not careful in observance of Jewish tradition that had been incorporated into Christian worship. This would have included both Sabbath observance and dietary practices. Conflict erupted between Jewish and Gentile Christian believers in Rome. Paul wrote Romas 14 in response to this conflict, arguing that fellowship in Christ, respect for one another as fellow Christians, superseded other practices, e.g., Sabbath observance.  Paul downplays the importance of Sabbath observance to fledgling believers. Paul affirmed both groups, those who observed a day and those who did not.

We have presented the Sabbath as part of a  legalistic scheme, even though it was originally given prior to Moses. In my experience as an SDA, the Sabbath was more important than Jesus, in certain respects. Most Christians view the Sabbath as an invitation to legalism, rather than a celebration of the gospel; consequently, they reject it.

The historical account is taken from New Testament History by F.F. Bruce

[Gustave]

I'm not remembering any issue that the Romans had with "Sabbath". I've understood it to be based off Leviticus 23 and several other Scriptures that identify it [the Sabbath] as a ceremonial law. 

[Hanseng]

Doesn't matter what law it is. Thomas Aquinas and Reformation academics divided the law into parts, some of which were binding [Decalogue] and some which were not [ceremonial]. It is actually the Papacy with which Adventism shares affinity, in this regard. Like circumcision, the Sabbath was a pre-Mosaic institution.  Paul labored to destroy ciricumcision. as a religious requirement. He did not do so regarding the Sabbath. Sabbath was not subject to Mosaic certification, either as a moral or ceremonial requirement. Instituted in Eden, reaffirmed prior to Sinai, it stands apart as a sanctified weekly institution.

The historical context of Romans regarding the expulsion of Jewish Christians and their return to Gentile dominated congregations in Rome assures conflict of the kind Paul discussed in Romans 14. There were similar issues in Galatia when men associated with James regarding table fellowship and circumcision.

Paul simply said, regarding the Sabbath, what Luther later, more or less, said regarding the use of images. When the people are ready, they will do the right thing. Reformed believers were interested in destroying images, which led to a violent response. Not so much in Germany. Luther came out against the iconoclasts.

Justification in Christ frees us from legal obligations ,as spirit filled believers.