Bible Answers
Back to questions
Is the Sabbath a Jewish custom?
The way we understand truth is proportional to the way we see God. Let us look at certain Bible statements regarding God to ensure that we are not viewing differences in God’s reactions to solve the sin problem. Mal. 3:6 “For I am the LORD, I change not;†This is critical that we deal with a God who is the same in Genesis and the same in Revelation. There is therefore no difference in how Adam and Eve were saved and how we are saved. Heb. 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.†This supports the stance that the way of being saved has not ever altered. The old testament people looked towards Christ’s work on the cross through the tabernacle system as a visual aid to understand it. We look back to Golgotha and claim what Jesus has done for every repentant sinner. In Genesis, there was a simple choice between two trees to confirm where their obedience and loyalty lay. Now, at the end of time, we may again have a simple choice. Christians of our era use varying belief structures of old and new covenant to arrive at so-called different ways to salvation. There is only one way to salvation. 2 Cor. 3: 3 “clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.†Modern Christians equate the 7th day Bible Sabbath as belonging to the Jews. The Sabbath arrived in Eden 2000 years before any Jew was recognized as the followers of the Creator God. Therefore the Sabbath is the Sabbath of the Lord and not the Sabbath of the Jews. There are only 8 texts in the new testament saying something about the first day of the week: Acts 20:7 “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Many quote this, but we must realize that this was our Saturday evening before midnight. Most Sunday keepers do it from midnight to midnight that is entirely against the directions of the Bible. The breaking of bread as described below does not indicate that this was a Sabbath. Acts 2:46 “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,†We do not honour every day as a Sabbath from the use of this verse. It is often true that so-called Christians not adhere to the Sabbath commandment, have no problem with stealing or murder, but the only commandment that would confirm that they are indeed Christian rather than any other religion such as Muslim or Hindu; they choose to ignore and continues following the little horn power. This should be a concern for them. Dan. 7:25 “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.†The only part of the LAW of God dealing with time is the fourth commandment. Reading Ezekiel 8 confirms people doing sun worship from which we have our present Sunday as part of that as one of the abominations. Eze. 8:16 “16So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. The persons not partaking in sun worship is marked as belonging to God. Eze. 9:2 “And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.†5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark, and begin at My sanctuary.†So they began with the elders who were before the temple. Mark 2:28 “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.†Jesus never claimed to be the God of the Sunday, and Jesus stated that in 70 AD, his followers will still be Sabbath keepers. Matt. 24:20 “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.†Heb. 9:15 “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. Christ died on Friday outside the gates of the city, and Sunday came two days too late to be part of any new covenant! James was concerned that Paul may be misunderstood about grace, and he tried to balance this. James 2:10 “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,†also said, “Do not murder.†Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.†When questions arose on the subject of circumcision, a whole council is convened in Jerusalem. Modern anti-Sabbath Christians tend not to find the lack of a similar council strange as the non- occurrence hereof supports that the Sabbath was never in doubt. The last message to man that started in Gen. 3:15 is written in Revelation. Rev. 14:6 “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.†For any person reading this, it forms a quote from Ex. 20, calling people to adhere to the Sabbath observance. The need to call people to worship the Creator on His Sabbath can only occur should the keeping of the Sabbath has been lost. It is sad, that in the garden of Eden, people had the simple choice between two trees next to each other, while we, at the end of time have the choice between two days: the one hallowed by God written with His own finger in stone, and the other inherited from pagan sun worship. Modern Christians try to bring strange fire to worship God. The sons of Aaron Nadab and Abihu were consumed by the fire they ignored. The Reformers walked out of pagan activity, still, one pagan custom remained – Sunday keeping. Rev. 11:19 “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.†People in the early 1800’s wat intrigued by this information. In the ark, they were reintroduced to the decalogue that included the fourth commandment. Ex. 20:8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.†The Sabbath does not save but Jesus of the Sabbath does, and by being obedient we confirm that Jesus is your Creator.