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Who are the Seventh Day Baptists?

The Sabbath

The Keystone Commandment

Is there any Christian who would worship another god, or a graven image? Is there a Christian who would not call theft or adultery sin? Certainly not, but why are these acts sins? Because the ten commandments, the only words of the Bible literally written by the hand of God, forbids them. So then, why do Christians feel they must obey all of the ten commandments except the fourth? The fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15), is sometimes called the keystone commandment, because it unites the two parts of the ten commandments. The first three commandments concern man's relationship with God, the last six concern our relationship with each other. The fourth commandment bridges these two parts. The fourth commandment starts by expressing our duty to God, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy" and that this day is a Sabbath to the Lord. But this, the longest of the ten commandments, continues on to tell us that we are not to do any work on this day. Not only are we not to work but our sons, our daughters, our employees, and even the foreigner staying with us, are not to work on this day. Not even the animals we own are to work on this day. This commandment also gives the day a name, the Sabbath. No other day of the week is ever given a name in scripture, the are merely noted by how they fall in the week, i.e, the first day for Sunday, the second day for Monday. This is true in both the old and new testaments.

The Sabbath was established in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis. In chapter two, verse three we read, "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." So from this verse we see that this day is special for three reasons. Only on this day does God ever say that He rested and He commands us, in the fourth commandment, to follow His example. It is also the only day that God has ever blessed. The third reason the day is special is that God sanctified it. This means that God set the day aside for holy use. The place where a church service is held is called a sanctuary for that very reason, it is set aside for a holy purpose. From this time on, throughout the Bible, in both the old and the new testaments the day is called the Sabbath of the Lord, never is it called a Jewish or Hebrew sabbath. In Exodus 31:12-17 the Lord stated, "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Isaiah tells us that the Sabbath is not for just the Jews but for all people. In Isaiah we read;

56:6 "And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant--
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." (NIV)

The First Day of the Week

As mentioned earlier the day of the week we call Sunday has no name in all the Bible, it is merely called the first day. The first day has no special place in scripture, it is just another working day (Ezekiel 46:1)

A basic rule of Bible interpretation is, if an idea, event or theme is repeated, the author is showing that it is particularly significant. The first day is only mentioned once in the old testament, during creation in Genesis 1:3-5, when God creates light, but the Sabbath is spoken of seventy seven times. In the new testament the first day is mentioned eight times, and we will cover each of these times, and the Sabbath is referred to sixty times.

If the Lord had intended to transfer the blessing and sanctification of the Sabbath to the first day it would be reasonable to expect to find it in one of the eight references to the first day in the new testament but we find that Christ never mentions Sunday or the first day.

Five references in the New Testament, (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1) refer to the same event, the discovery of the empty tomb. While this was a monumental event for the infant Christian faith the fact remains God blessed the Sabbath and commanded us to remember it to keep it holy. If Christ had wished us to transfer the holiness of the Sabbath to Sunday he would have said so. But he did not. Christ, our example, kept the sabbath all his life and so did the Apostles. (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, 9, Luke 24:1, John 20:1, 19, Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2)

The sixth reference in the new testament occurs later that same day. In John 20:19 we read that the disciples are assembled together in fear of mobs of Jews. Note that this is not for worship, it is because of fear they are huddled together.

The seventh reference, in Acts 20:7, refers to a meeting that began on Saturday evening and extended until midnight. We know this because the Jews started their days at sundown. The first twelve hours of a day is at night and the next twelve hours in daylight. This is why in Genesis we read, "And the evening and the morning were the first day", and so on. Sundown on Saturday is, for the Jews, the start of Sunday. While the meeting referred to in Acts 20:7 is certainly a Christian gathering it appears to have been held because Paul planned to depart the next day, on Sunday during the daylight hours. The reference to the breaking of bread may refer to the Lord Supper, a meal or the Lord's Supper as part of a meal. (See Acts 2:46) All these forms are still done today at Christian gatherings on any day of the week. This text neither mandates or even implies that Christians should forsake the Sabbath. Luke, who wrote both the book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke, was a gentile writing to a gentile, Theophilus, some thirty years after the resurrection and he never mentions a change in worship from the Sabbath to the first day of the week.

The eighth, and last, reference to a first day or, as we call it, Sunday is 1 Corinthians 16:2. This is an instruction from Paul that Christians should set aside some of their money for God's work on each first day of the week so that when he arrives they will not have to collect an offering all at once. In any event this is hardly a mandate for change and is completely understandable if examined in light of the culture that Paul was addressing. Even today orthodox Jewish Synagogues do not take up a collection on the Sabbath in part because they consider it unlawful, under the fourth commandment, to carry anything outside of the home or synagogue. Therefore money can not be brought anywhere on the Sabbath. Paul, addressing a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles, was merely acknowledging that fact and, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, told them to take up their collect on a neutral day, Sunday.

The Lord's Day

In Revelation 1:10 John said that he was in the spirit on the Lord's day. Some claim this is a reference to Sunday. John though was Jewish and he was writing to the Christian Church that was still largely Jewish. This early church still observed the Sabbath and had only what we now call the Old Testament for scripture. In Exodus 20:10, the Ten Commandments, God wrote in stone with his own finger that the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord. This is stated again in Leviticus 23:3. When John wrote "Lord's day" his readers of the first century church would have only thought of the sabbath. Remember, in Mark 2:27-28 Christ is called the Lord of the Sabbath.

As was His Custom

In scripture there are two recorded customs of Christ, teaching the people (Mark 10:1 in any modern translation) and keeping the Sabbath. (Luke 4:16) Although Jesus was constantly challenged on the issue of the Sabbath He never said, or even implied, that the Sabbath, or any of the Ten Commandments was, or ever would be, abolished. Christ clearly stated in Matthew 5:18 that, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled". Christ, our example, kept all ten commandments all of his life.

Some Christians claim that in Matthew 12:1-13 and the corresponding account in Luke 13:10-17 Christ is saying you can ignore the Sabbath. Let's look at the Matthew account.

12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.
11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?
12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

The Pharisees, who must have been watching Christ looking for a chance to discredit him, said that the act of picking grain was harvesting and therefore work. But Christ replies if you are hungry on the Sabbath it is right to eat the food that is available and reminds the Pharisees of King David when he eat the bread reserved for the Priests. (1 Samuel 21:1-6) Also it is lawful, Christ points out, to do God's work on the Sabbath as the priests did. If the priests were guiltless when they worked on the Sabbath could those who work for the Son of God be guilty? (Numbers 28:9,10) Finally, Christ asks us if we would help an animal of ours that was in distress on the Sabbath. If we would then could it be wrong to help another person on the Sabbath? Is it wrong to do good on the Sabbath? Of course not! Christ has in these verses cleared away much of the human clutter that had built up around the fourth commandment and shows us, His followers, how we should observe His Sabbath.

After His death on the cross Christ's body was taken to the tomb provided by Joseph of Arimathea. Mary and others began to prepare the body for burial but "on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." (Luke 23:54,55, Mark 15:46-16:1) Christ's own mother, Mary, believed in the Sabbath to such a degree that she would not prepare her son's body for burial until it was over. Christ never even told His own mother that it was no longer necessary to observe the Sabbath.

In Matthew 24:20 Christ tells us to pray that the destruction of Jerusalem during the tribulation before His return does not fall on the Sabbath. Modern, Sunday keeping, theologians say that Christ is speaking to Jews in this passage. Why would Jews pray about a prophecy by Christ, who they do not believe in, written in a book they generally do not read and do not believe is inspired by God?

From scripture we see that Christ observed the sabbath (Luke 4:16) and did not change the Sabbath to Sunday. In fact he is called the "Lord of the sabbath." (Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28) Christ taught how the sabbath should be observed (Matthew 12:1-13, Luke 13:10-17) and His disciples obeyed. (Luke 23:56) Paul, who became a Christian after the resurrection, also observed the sabbath. (Acts 13:13-14, 42, 44, 16:12-13, 17:1-4, 18:1-4)

The Day Changes

If there is no Biblical authority for changing the day of the Sabbath and if neither Christ or the Apostles changed the Sabbath to Sunday, who did?

In the year 66 the last Roman Procurator of Judea stole vast quantities of silver from the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews of Jerusalem revolted and destroyed the Roman garrison in the city. The Roman Governor of Syria sent in a large force to restore order but these troops were also routed. These two victories convinced the Jews they could cast off the Roman occupation and regain their freedom. Thus began the Jewish revolt of 66-70 A.D. which led to one of the great catastrophes in Jewish history. Rome sent General Vespasian and his legion to restore order. Vespasian did so in a brutal, methodical way. In 68 A.D. he destroyed the Qumran community but not before they hid their scrolls in the caves by the Dead Sea. In 70 A.D. the last major stronghold of the Jews in Jerusalem was destroyed along with the second temple, except for the Western wall or, as it is sometimes called, the Wailing wall. In 73 A.D. the last remanent of free Jews were holding out at the mountain top fortress of Masada. These defenders, along with their wives and children, committed mass suicide rather than surrender to Rome. The Romans then imposed a war reparations tax on all Jews. No one knows how many Jews were raped, tortured or sold into slavery, but it has been estimated, that as many as one million died in the revolt. Christians were still identified as a sect of the Jewish faith at this time. No one will ever know how many Christians living in Judea and Galilee suffered and died with their Jewish neighbors.

The Jews of Judea were blooded but not destroyed. In 132 A.D. Bar-Kokhba lead a revolt against the Romans. Again the Jews were encouraged by early victories but the Romans came back at them with a vengeance. Roman General Severus and his legion began the systematic destruction of Jewish fortresses and walled cities. When the General and his legion were done 50 percent of the population of Judea was dead and tens of thousands of men and women who remained alive were sold into slavery. Jews were forbidden to set foot in Jerusalem and the provence was renamed Palestine. Foreigners were brought in, replacing the rebellious Jews. It was a dark and dangerous time to be to closely identified with the Jewish religion. During this period the predominate day of worship among Christians gradually began to change from the Sabbath to Sunday. The day changed, in part, because of the need to disassociate the Christian movement from the rebellious Jewish nation. Sunday, the day the empty tomb was discovered and already a pagan day of sun worship, was an easy choice.

When the Roman Emperor Constintine legalized the Christian church in 313 A.D. the tradition of Sunday worship was already well established.

Conclusion

Even after the writings of the Apostles became what we now call the New Testament there was no reference to Sunday, or the first day, as the Lord's day or as a Sabbath. The current popular notion that Christ and His apostles changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday is absolutely without any authority in scripture. You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation but you will not find even one verse authorizing the sanctification of Sunday as a Christian Sabbath. After every verse in scripture has been examined there remains three resounding differences between the Sabbath and Sunday; God blessed and sanctified only the Sabbath, God gave us a commandment to observe only the Sabbath, as Christ, His Apostles and the early church did and finally, while Christ is Lord of all, He proclaimed Himself Lord of the Sabbath, not Sunday.

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