Why People Fail to Understand Revelation (or the Bible)
When I was younger, I struggled to understand the Book of Revelation. It was so fascinating that I longed to crack its sealed language. But I could not, and nobody could help me.
Today, I do understand it much, much better and now know why I failed to understand before. I had not learned back then that most of the Bible is more literal than we ever imagined. To read literal passages allegorically will lead you to wrong conclusions every time.
But it gets worse. These wrong conclusions will cloud your understanding of still other passages, kind of like a spreading infection. The false views you hold constantly contradict any true interpretations you think of or come across. Because you view truths as wrong, you reject or disregard them. As a result, you are unable to truly understand any of the deeper teachings or mysteries of the Bible properly. This includes the mysterious Book of Revelation.
The Mark of Beast and the Mark of Torah
Revelation’s Mark of the Beast is a good and instructive example in this regard.
Revelation 13:16-17 (HCSB) 16 And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name.
This seems straightforward. A mark consisting of a name or number on either your forehead or right hand. The mark will serve kind of like a credit card does today. Without it you cannot buy or sell everything you want. For example, you cannot rent a car or good hotel room without a credit card.
However, how does your view of Revelation 13’s mark change when you incorporate these verses:
Exodus 13:9 (HCSB) Let it serve as a sign for you on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the Lord’s instruction may be in your mouth; for the Lord brought you out of Egypt with a strong hand.
Deuteronomy 6:8 (HCSB) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead.
It is because of these commands that Orthodox Jews put phylacteries or little Torah scroll boxes and straps on their forehead and hands. That’s a literal interpretation. Yet, most instead see this verse as an injunction by God to make his instructions tied to your thought and your actions always.
Mark of the Beast: Spiritual Mark?
Don’t these verses sound similar to Revelation? They associate God’s commands with the forehead and hand. This can cause you to question your literal view of Revelation’s mark. Perhaps it is not a literal mark, but it is a spiritual mark. Perhaps the mark really represents obeying the commands of the Beast in place of God’s commands?
At least that’s what the Seventh Day Adventist church teaches. They consider the mark of the beast to be symbolic. The symbolic meaning to them is a law to keep Sunday, or “Sunday Law”. Of course, they are the biggest Christian group that believes we are required to keep a Saturday Sabbath. They believe keeping Sunday instead of Sabbath is a serious sin before God.
The SDA interpretation looks reasonable especially with its “let the Bible interpret the Bible” methodology. Yet we will see that it is no accident they spiritualize the mark as they do. Their Sabbath view helps them to gloss over some important differences between the marks of Revelation and Exodus.
Mark of the Beast: Literal Mark
Here’s the main problem with equating Exodus 13:9 with Revelation 13:16. Exodus is taking an abstract thing (God’s instructions) and asking them to be “frontlets,” a “sign” or a “memorial” between the eyes and the hand. The most reasonable way to view this is figuratively as a command to always think and do according to God’s instructions. It is not practical or useful to fit a tiny Torah scroll on those body parts and go around with them in the way all the time.
Revelation, on the other hand, is taking a physical thing (a mark on the skin) and specifying where it can be located on the body. Indeed, all incidences of “mark” in the contexts of Revelation treat it as a physical and visible thing that you receive from the False Prophet. Visibility is required for the mark to work in commerce. One cannot look at you and tell if you kept Sunday when deciding whether to sell you food.
Notice also that Exodus 13:9 does not says “right” hand. Exodus does not specify which hand because it would be odd to do this when either hand is associated with work or action.
Further, in Revelation the mark is always a “mark” on the skin. It is not sometimes a sign, a frontlet, or a “mark” like God’s commandments are characterized by the Torah itself. Revelation 13 even specifies the mark as the name or number of the beast. Names and numbers are commonly written down. They would even fit on a person’s forehead or skin. The definition of the mark as the name or number of the Beast hurts the SDA view. This plain explanation of the mark contradicts assigning any other explanation to it. Their case would be better if the mark was left ambiguous by Revelation. But it is not.
Thus, when we allegorize the mark as “deciding to rest on Sunday instead of Saturday,” we are choosing to ignore the most natural and reasonable interpretation of the mark of the beast. The mark is defined as a mark on the skin consisting of the name or number of the beast.
So why choose to allegorize a text that makes perfect sense naturally as written? There must be some other benefit to choosing a less-defensible interpretation. For SDA’s this “Sunday mark” theory supports their Sabbath day doctrine. It puts additional importance and fear behind their teaching that we must and should keep Sabbath. I can imagine them thinking that by keeping Sabbath today, they are antichrist-proofing themselves later.
Conclusion
Only a Sabbath-keeping religion would come up with the idea that the mark of the beast will be “keeping Sunday instead of Saturday.” This interpretation presupposes that Sabbath is required by God and by not keeping it you are sinning before God. However, the Sabbath was part of the Old Covenant made with the nation of Ancient Israel. SDAs rip this single command out of its original national context and transplant it upon believers today scattered outside the land of the Torah. Ignoring the context of a verse is not the way to to get to “the truth no matter what it says”, as our goal should be.
This goes back to my original point. When you have even one wrong doctrine (e.g. “Sabbath is required”), it will lead you to reject the true meanings of other verses (e.g. the mark is the name or number of the beast) and create even more wrong doctrines (e.g. “the mark is keeping Sunday”). And all of these errors are based on not accepting the Bible for what it plainly says (e.g. the Torah is for the nation of Israel in the land of Israel, not for Gentiles today – Acts 15).
In covering this example, I have not meant to pick on the SDAs. Other groups come up with other meanings that break the literalness of the mark of the beast, too. Indeed, we all fall into allegorizing verses that were meant literally. Hopefully, the next time you catch yourself thinking a verse does not mean what it plainly says you will stop and ask yourself two questions.
- What doctrine do I hold that is causing me to think this verse is not literal?
- Have I proven through diligent study that that doctrine itself is really correct?
See also: Can you Take the Mark of the Beast Today?
See also: What is the Seal of the 144,000?
The Sabbath is required as are ALL of the other 9 Commandments. The commandments haven’t been done away with, and they are never qualified, i.e. “10 for you Jews, 9 for you Gentiles and 7 or 8 for you Catholics.”
Jesus said “If you love me, follow my commmandments”.
John said “If you claim to know him but don’t follow his commandments, then you are a liar”.
Revelation – the last book in the bible, written about a time in the very near future – says “Blessed are the saints, who follow the commandments of God and keep the faith of Jesus”.
And I’m not SDA – I was a Catholic for 50 years and awakened to the Sabbath. I am a member of the United Church of God – An International Organization.
You’re making the common mistake of thinking God has one set of commandments for all, or universal law. This is easily debunked if you just read and see how the commands change even in the Torah from Exodus to Deuteronomy. Specific commands were given to Israel and for the foreigner living with them but are not required on the foreigner living outside Israel.
In Acts 15 Gentiles were told only four things were required. Even specifically they do not have to CIRCUMCISE or keep ANY of the yoke of Torah (Acts 21:25 KJV).
What are Jesus’ commandments? Jesus said the two great commandments are love God and love your neighbor as yourself, the summary commands of the whole Torah. Although he elsewhere cited the last of the six six commandments for how to love your neighbor more specifically, he never repeated the first four commandments. This always bothered me when I thought all ten were required. Then I noticed that those first four nobody would have any way of knowing without special revelation (the Bible) and are really just matters of purity. So how could people be accountable to commands that no one can know without a prophet? They can’t. But the last six are ones that common senses or morality governments or your neighbor will teach you on quickly. They are ones anyone could learn and do without a Bible or prophet. They are the only ones that are truly universal.
12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12.
Where does it say “except The Fourth Commandment?”
So it would be to your benefit (Satan) That I go through life waiting for a microchip or a literal mark to be placed on me to avoid and then i will not focus on the truth of keeping Gods Commands and worship Satan on Sunday! So your telling me that its ok to not follow the commandments, so i can go and kill and steal and worship idols now that the old law is done away with? Pathetic! You will be judged on the day before your Lord! You will Bow before Christ and answer for all the souls you are directing away from Gods Law! God Bless you for you know not what you do! May God have Mercy on you! The Pope is God too right? Whatever! This site is Garbage!
You forgot to ask me “have you stopped beating your wife yet?”, too. Seriously, I don’t teach any of the words you put in my mouth. But I can see you are angry and not looking at what I say impartially without any investment over someone disagreeing with your “Sabbath is required today” view.
I don’t want anyone to do anything except not do damage to the Scripture by twisting a “mark on the skin of a name or number” into “keeping Sunday instead of Saturday”. Peace. Keeping Sabbath is a great blessing. There’s no need to invent more verses to get people to do what you choose to do.
Hi Tim, I wrote a comment yesterday but I think I messed up again and it got erased! I severly detest my computer and am praying for patience! I am learning truth since discovering your site (I am SO glad I did) I am still a bit confused about keeping the Sabbath! Did Jesus mean that for non Jews as well (Keep the Sabbath)? Jesus said you would be blessed for keeping the Sabbath! I might have totally missed your point earlier but anyhow…..
Friday evening, I forgot it was the start of the Sabbath and only remembered it on Sat morn. I guess I still kept it for the most part and will remember to keep it from now on as to be Blessed! OK, that being said, I am a Christian of a certain number of years who knows Jesus personally as Lord and Savior. If one forgets to observe the Sabbath, does one ask for forgiveness or what? Also, not to be rude but is it something that I should continue to observe. I was raised a Catholic and got out back in 1993. Now I am studying in-depth to I guess become a better person in Him and learn His true purpose in my life. I have been recently called back to Him after hearing His voice several times and not listening to it! Lets just say that I back slid ALOT! As a Christian and not a Jew….Tim, do you as a Christian observe the Sabbath and when do you observe it?(From when till when?)
Thanx for your insights again!
Dear Tim,
Really liked your book.
I grew up Catholic and was rebirthed by water and the Spirit some 20+ years ago. I’ve never been inside an SDA church or any other Sabbath church except once with a group of Messianic Jews.
The web address above is not mine but one I reference at the end of this note.
I am glad this Sabbath thing came up. Funny how we have been lied to all these years- How many jokers believe that there are 3 days from Friday to Sunday. You would never buy a vacation that said 3 days in paradise- your plane leaves on Friday at sunset and returns on Sunday at sunrise. Does that sound like a three day vacation to you? Only if you are a Laodicean.
My best advice is: don’t (any longer) fall into the trap of being a Sunday Christian. (Laodicean)
That is one who believes Jesus was crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday. This is a lie; a Muslim confronted me with this lie about “my religion”. First he asked me about the sign of Jonah, as a trap. Luckily I had done my homework and was able to explain to him that the “Sabbath” on that Passover was not a Friday-Saturday Sabbath, it was a Passover-Feast Sabbath. So Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday and raised after sundown on SATURDAY (it is still Saturday after sundown, but if you were a Hebrew it was the first day of the week). I can guarantee that He did not sit in there and wait for Sunday at midnight once the sun was set! His 3 days and 3 nights were done!
So that throws all the “Sunday is the Lord’s day” garbage right out the window where it belongs. See the web address above and below for a better explanation. -No relation to me at all.
No mystery that the Council of Laodicea (who would have guessed) changed the observance of the 7th Day Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday in 336 AD. (So they break the fourth commandment-and maintain that anyone who follows along with this thinking is under the Popes authority.) If the Catholic Church is the mother of harlots- then who are the daughters?
The Sabbath is certainly nothing more than an act of will on the part of a believer- a seal between you and God. It is certainly the “least of these commandments”. I have to say I hope that you are no longer willing to be called “least in the kingdom of God” – Mat 5.
19″Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least (X)in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is LORD of the Sabbath, What an honor to be in charge of the day that many of the people called by His name IGNORE.
After you wrote about Jesus returning in a Sabbath Year I thought you totally “got it”. Evidently not, not yet anyway. Nothing wrong with going to church on Sunday of course, it just is not the Sabbath-never was and never will be. If you are going to second guess what Jesus said about “His commandments you are stepping out on some very thin ice.
One more thing:
The Sabbath starts in Genesis- is it chapter 3. Then the thousand years in the Book of Revelation is the Sabbath Millennium. This Sabbath theme goes all the way through the Bible-so don’t blow it off, it is important.- Rom. 3:31Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
And now a note from the Catholics…
From: http://godkind.org/sunday-2.html
Convert’s Catechism
“Ques. – Which is the Sabbath day?
“Ans. – Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Ques. – Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Ans. – We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
Source: The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, written by Reverend Peter Geiermann, C.S.R., and blessed by Pope Pius X on the 25th of January 1910, Second edition, page 50.
Remember- 3 things
-The 10 commandments tablets were/are kept inside the Arc of the Covenant, the Mosaic law never was inside the Arc.
Rom. 3:31Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. (Not the mosaic law-don’t be confused.)
-The law will not pass way until we are all judged (and probably found guilty) by it (Mat 5 again), THEN the Book of Life is opened.
My best to you,
SR Harris
With all due respect, I perceive you to be confusing two separate arguments as one and the same. One you have correct, the “literal” mark of Revelation, the other I must advise you to reconsider, the importance of observing the Seventh-Day Sabbath. Brian had many good and valid points which you dismissed by confusing ceremonial law (circumcision) for God’s Commandments, which if a man shall keep, he shall surely live. Maybe we should check in with Isaiah, who was echoed & validated by Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 58:13-14
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
As I stated, I agree that the mark of the beast reeferred to in Revelation is a literal mark, that will be openly accepted by many Sunday-worshipping, so-called christians who forgot the Greatest Commandment as proclaimed by Jesus Christ Himself:
Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength
If you say that you do, but you do not honor and respect the day HE set apart, then what does that make you?
3 commandments has God given us that we might show our Love for Him in truth – NOT bowing to idols, NOT using His name in vain, and keeping His Sabbath Holy. The rest we show by how much we love our “neighbors”.
Puffin, thanks for trying to help but unfortunately you are confused as to why I dismissed Brian’s points (and why I must now dismiss yours). You keep speaking as if God gave the Sabbath command to all mankind. He never did. Ancient Israel is the one he made aware of this Sabbath requirement through the miracle of the manna. Then he made them aware of the rest of his covenant requirements for them through giving the written law or Torah. But mankind is not aware of this rest-day requirement. It was never given to them. Those few who do read the Bible today rightly conclude that it was given to the Jews and not required on Gentiles as Acts 15 makes pretty plain.
So you, like Brian, are making the classic exegetical mistake in forgetting who the audience is and then carelessly try to apply what was meant for another audience to people today living in a different time, culture and land.
Another mistake is you seem to imagine that everyone has a Bible and reads it and understands it and is therefore accountable to do things in it. Nobody knows about Sabbath, idols, or his name without revelation and a leader or prophet reminding them of it, like Israel had. We don’t have that today. Even Israel does not have that today. God is not judging people for things he never made them accountable to know. And Israel is not being punished for breaking Torah as they do now and did back in the First Century because they are no longer accountable for it being unable to do it without prophets, priests, judges, altars, temples, red heifers, etc. To say God is makes God very unjust. That is not the God I worship. Think it through.
Excellent point Tim. Enjoy your thoughts, education, understanding and enlightening others.
I am disappointed. Wondering, is this just proding us to better understand, study? Surely you do not think James, Peter or Paul teach that the two houses are lawful and lawless? Why did James say Since the Law of Moses is taught in every City? I think that it acknowledges that the Gentiles would learn the laws of the Government of God even if they were not bound to Ritual observances, not that they did not have to obey God.
Anyway I have learned much from you and will not criticize you, just questioning this article.
Thank you and God Bless
Robert, please do question, I prefer that to judgment =).
If “For Moses is taught…” meant “follow Moses” then that would contradict all the preceding negative comments about keeping circumcision/Moses/Law that fill Acts 15. Acts 15 is pretty plainly against adding the yoke that our fathers could not bear on gentiles. So if you really want to know what the best answer in context for “for Moses is taught” read this: http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/acts/decree1.htm Hint: What wrong conclusion do many Christians fall into who finally bother to read “Moses” (the OT) when they see phrases like “throughout your generations forever” and “the same law for the alien who lives among you”? This is what happens when Moses is read to the novice.
Perhaps it is just my current perspective on this issue. I am preparing a writing on the Torah which will not be completed anytime soon.
My perspective is to look at what God expects of all believers. The Books of Moses was the legal system for the Israelites coming out of Egypt, where the only law they knew was Pagan, Egyptian or Babylonian if you will.
God Himself gave the law to Moses. This law existed from the time of Adam. It was given in such great detail because of all the wrong practices that they were used to. Jesus simplified it by stating the two categories that encompased the whole law in both intent and practicality that is, love the lord you God and love your neighbor as yourself.
I look at the systems of Government of this Earth and say, Do we not need to be corrected and maybe incorporate some of these God given directions into our lives. Not to be saved but to sanctify our selves to God?
I agree that God’s ways in the OT sanctify us. It is good to adopt what you can today that make sense. They are called good and wisdom by the Bible. However, they are not required for salvation or required for any reason. The Bible teaches they are wisdom, but not required. When people say they are required they do not realize they are making themselves accountable to do the whole Torah which is not possible today or in other words cursed sinners (Gal 5:3; Jas 2:10).
Tim, I have also read your book and it has helped me to have a better understanding of prophecy, so thanks for writing it!
My recent understanding of this is that the fourth commandment was NOT a part of the ceremonial laws that was nailed to the cross. The Sabbaths that were part of the ceremonial laws that were done away with are separate from God’s Sabbath. The ceremonial Sabbaths, such as Passover and Yom Kippur were finished at the cross, but God’s Sabbath existed at the very beginning of creation, even before there was sin. God’s Sabbath is a part of The Law – The Ten Commandments.
When Jesus simplified the commandments, he said “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang All the law and the prophets.†Matthew 22: 37-40 note that these two commandments of love sum up “all the law.” All Ten Commandments hang on these two principles of love just as they did in the Old Testament. Notice Jesus did not say “On these two commandments hang all the law EXCEPT the 4th commandment.”
Matthew 5:18 says “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.†This includes the 4th commandment.
Isaiah 66:22-23 also corroborates this stating, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.â€
And don’t forget – Exodus 31:16-17 “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a PERPETUAL covenant. 17 It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel FOR EVER: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.â€
Forever is forever. Today, we ARE Israel.
And, if the Sabbath was no big deal today, why does Matthew 24:20 say “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:” If we no longer needed to keep the Sabbath, why would Jesus warn us to pray that our flight would not occur on the Sabbath day?
BTW, I am not an SDA.
Jesus fulfilled the law. The ten commandments accompany the other 600+ of the mosaic law. Waht about the Roman Centurion or the man next to Christ on the Cross? They were counted worhty because of faith and belief – it had nothing to do with what day they worshipped.
To say that the mark of the beast is Sunday worship means that God knew the Catholic Church would arise and mislead many and that the Sabbath was the key to the kingdon. Simply not true.
Read John 3:16 about 1000 times…so that everyone BELIEVING IN HIM, may have hope.
For the record, I did not say that the mark of the beast is Sunday worship. I don’t know what the mark of the beast is or will be! I was just trying to explain my understanding of the Sabbath law.
So Dennis, are you saying that we no longer need to follow the Ten Commandments, and that all we need to do is believe in Him and we will be saved? That just sounds too easy. What about repentance? If there are no commandments to be broken, then there cannot be be sin, so there would be no need for repentance.
Romans 6:14-15 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.†If the man on the cross next to Christ had survived and lived, would it have been okay for him to continue to sin, as long as he had faith and believed in God? According the the scripture above, no! Romans 3:31 says “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.†Paul asks if the law is nullified for us just because we have had faith in Christ’s saving grace. His answer is that the law is established and reinforced in the life of a grace saved Christian.
If we truly have faith and believe in God, we would naturally want to follow God’s commandments, including keeping His Sabbath day holy. Most do not seem to understand that God’s grace is His unmerited, undeserved favour that is preceded by the act of genuine repentance when we do sin. If there was no law, there would actually be no need for God’s grace.
When Jesus fulfilled the law, he did not abolish it. Matthew 5:17-18 says, “17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
As far as I’m concerned, heaven and earth have not passed since we are all still here, and until then, not a single thing from God’s Law (NOT including the temporary ceremonial laws) shall be changed or removed.
Greetings to all you Sabbath observers and non Sabbath observers alike.
In everything you do give honour and praise to God in heaven.
Let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath… These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgences of the flesh. Colossians 2:16,23.
Know this, that on the day when Jesus returns to earth to establish the Kingdom of God and many are knocking for the door to open, Jesus will be asking the really big questions. How did you treat your neighbour? When he/she was hungry and cold ….did you give them food and clothes…a drink of cold water if they were thirsty?
The many ‘great’ works you did in his name like casting out demons, abstaining from forbidden food and keeping Sabbaths and new moons will count for nothing as Jesus will be looking for the fruit that you have produced….the fruits of the spirit.
Look beyond the elemental spirits of the universe, human precepts and doctrines… instead seek after compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
I think we can all agree that the time is getting short. Let us tend our garden, water our trees and plants, allow them to be pruned now and again and even a little fertilizer to be added along the way, so that we will have good fruit to produce on the day.
Keep up the good work Tim.
Wow!
I like what I’m reading! I know that the Sabbath was in effect before Moses was given them.
I am old enough to know that when they (the commandments) were taken out of our schools and government (a mural of moses crossing the reed Sea was on the walls of both houses of congress and the Supreme Court)how rapidly American culture disintegrated.
Thanks Tim
Thanks. I used to believe the Sabbath began before Moses. Then when I looked for any solid proof of this I came up with none. I even asked Nehemia Gordon, Sabbath keeper and Biblical Hebrew scholar who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls translation project if he believed this idea that Sabbath was required before Exodus 16 and that say Abraham kept Sabbath and he said absolutely not. The evidence for this idea is not much better than the evidence for for a lunar Sabbath.
Dear Tim,
You have done a wonderful job. It is a blessing to have learned so much today reading through some of your articles.
I hope the following scriptures and comments may also be helpful, and have been shared with kindness and respect.
It appears YHWH Elohim desired to include all of us in His Wisdom and Teachings that He revealed in His Torah (i.e., Torah=God’s Teaching and Instructions, not “law”).
The NT teaches us Y’shua HaMoshiach/Jesus Christ is the Torah-giver. These are His commandments that over and over He said if you love me, keep them.
We become His manifest sons by manifesting His image. His image is revealed in His Torah.
By obeying Him to keep His commandments we show Him we do believe Him and every word He said, we show Him we truly love Him; and we avoid calling Him a liar.
And, He said His teachings are not a heavy burden or grievous.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Note: “Yoke” is a Hebrew idiom for His Torah. The Yoke that was impossible was that of the Rabbis or Sadducees who added or took away from God’s word as forbidden in Deut 4:2, Deut 12:32, Prov 30:5-6, Rev 22:18.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
I was surprised to learn in studying His word that His teachings and instructions are all-inclusive, for everyone (whosoever)…Not just for Israelites.
Here are two areas where He made this clear in His Teachings and Instructions.
Deu 29:14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
Deu 29:15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
(This means ALL of us)
Exo 12:49 One law (i.e., Torah) shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Once we’re in Messiah Y’shua we’re no longer under the condemnation of the Torah. However, we are to walk as Y’shua walked. And we know He kept His Torah or He could not have been the Messiah.
Please notice 1 John 2:6 after the intro:
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
I hope none of us want to come before Him as liars as mentioned above in 1Jn2:4. Because we know He has warned us in many places of the destiny of liars, such as in Rev 21:8:
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.)
If we are in Messiah, we are to not sin. Where does the bible define sin?
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law (i.e., Torah/God’s Teachings and Instructions).
Of Messiah, King David was inspired to reveal…
Psa 40:7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Psa 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law (i.e., Torah) is within my heart.
(I.e., Y’shua kept His own Torah. And of course, couldn’t be our Messiah unless He kept it perfectly.)
Psa 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
Psa 40:10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
Without any unkindness toward Nehemia Gordon. He is a very kind and humble Israelite who, although extremely knowledgeable in scripture and in numerous Ancient languages, and is like David having a heart after God, Nehemia has personally and clearly stated in writing in books he has written that you can research for yourself at his site, as well as in comments on the Internet that he does NOT accept Y’shua HaMoshiach/Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Without Messiah/Christ, who must also be spiritually discerned, at this time Nehemia is still slightly blinded and needs our earnest prayers.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
I appreciate much I have learned from Nehemia. And, appreciate it was the Masoretic Karaite scribes who, over the centuries, provided an incredible scribal protection system for the scriptures in the TaNaK (i.e., Old Testament) as used in the KJV bible, et al.
As you teach and admonish throughout all your writings, we need to “literally” understand and obey scriptures. Messiah taught us both in Deut 8:3; and again in Matt 4:4
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
What is the New Covenant?
Hebrews 8:8 reconfirms what the New Covenant is as defined and revealed in Jeremiah 31:31-33. Hebrew 8:8 also states the New Covenant is ONLY for Israel and Judah; and that it is specifically God’s Torah written on our hearts and minds by God.
Therefore, for us to be able to appropriate all that Messiah did for us, we must be “grafted” (or KJV “graffed”) into Israel, the scriptures reveals is the Olive Tree. As gentiles, before being grafted in, we are called the “wild branches.
Then once grafted into the Olive Tree/Israel, we are no longer viewed by God as gentiles. We have been adopted fully by God, just as Jacob/Israel fully adopted Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph, with full rights into the commonwealth of Israel.
If we are adopted in and grafted in, and now fully Israel and heirs to the promises, then, we need to receive the gift of the LORD/YHWH/God writing His Torah on our hearts. Not reject it and say it’s been done away with; and inadvertently calling Him a liar.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
We see in Heb 8:12-13 an understanding that as the Torah is written on our mind and hearts by the Spirit of God, the old written Torah will pass away, as it has been replaced. We will be blessed to have the living water alive within us.
Also, be sure to extensively research the “Marcion Heresy” to understand the damage done to the writings of Paul in the NT when the heretic Marcion decided on what would be in the NT and is responsible for first ordering the NT biblical canon.
I think you will find Marcion wanted the writings of Paul to be preeminent above the other NT content; and that Marcion was very anti-Jewish. And we know God has warned us in His word in the Abrahamic Covenant:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And if we are in Messiah, and the seed of Abraham by faith by grace, we are grafted into Abraham, Isaac and Israel. We certainly don’t want to be cursing ourselves.
Additionally, the NT had NO formal and orderly scribal protection system to guard and protect the NT from changes.
In contrast, the Tanach (i.e., Old Testament) was guarded by a very orderly and intensive scribal protection system (thanks to many Masoretic Karaites) over the centuries as revealed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Additionally, God never breaks covenants. He is not a covenant breaker. We break them.
Praise be to YHWH Elohim (God) that He provided a remedy for this through Messiah Y’shua.
Think it through…Do you still see rainbows after a rain shower? That is evidence that the Noahic covenant is still in force. God is faithful.
Do we still have a King on the throne in Heaven forever? Then we see the Davidic covenant is still in force. God is faithful.
And this goes for all God’s covenants. God builds them one on top of another. They bless us concurrently.
Although there’s so much more to share, the Spirit of YHWH Elohim says this is good for now.
Thank you for your love of Messiah, your diligence in all your research, your generousity in sharing all you have, and for your awesome hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Very appreciative of all you researched and shared.
I’m overwhelmed at the dialogue. My very simplistic question is this: does it matter if a person worships the
messiah on Sunday? To me, He is worthy of worship everyday. Seriously, am I wrong–am I not a child of the King because I worship on Sunday? I read the scripture and pray on Saturday (everyday of the week, too). Are my wife and two children, each of whom believe in Christ Jesus, going to hell because they enjoy going to worship on Sundays? I’m completely frustrated by this topic–it’s a real wrestling match for me. (I guess I had more than one question)
Just Struggling,
No, you are not in trouble with God. The proof is as simple as the fact that you are worried about being so. You clearly want to please God and you confess confusion on this Sabbath issue. No loving and merciful God would condemn you for that. He will not condemn us for not doing anything we are unclear on or for doing anything we are deceived about (as long as we sincerely are seeking to serve and please him, of course). I’m sure that’s what you intend to do judging by your fear, so you cannot be judged on a debatable command in a hard to understand book that the Bible is. The Bible shows that when God wants someone to do something it is clear and if it is not they are allowed to ask for confirmation or clarification and he’s happy to give that. If they don’t have that, they are not required to do anything on penalty of anything. The Bible is seldom clear, and must be translated and interpreted to transmit the meaning from its original language, culture and historical context. It is not enough to obligate us to Sabbath even after we read it.
As for the Sabbath command, as I teach in my book, that’s part of the Torah which the Old Covenant required Ancient Israel alone to keep. It’s a mistake to take that from its original audience and obligate people today with it. It’s taking the command out of its context. When he told that audience he wanted them to do it, he did not give the society a book which they could easily ignore as Christians do (only 5% read the Bible). Instead he put certifiable representatives of his in place to teach and lead them in his ways along with a penalty for disobedience which both He and his prophets duly executed.
If you still have doubts that the Sabbath might be required on you, read what the apostles ruled on another Torah issue in Acts 15: http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/acts/decree1.htm
I gave up on most bible teachers to be honest. I’ve still yet to see two in agreement. Isn’t Jesus our rest? Didn’t He say come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest? Matt 11:28. (study the definitions of ‘rest’
Didn’t he rebuke the religious leaders for weighing down the believing ones with things grievous to be borne? Do you really keep the Sabbath? Really? You don’t cook, don’t drive, don’t walk more than a few steps, etc? Your wife goes into labor “sorry honey, gotta just keep that baby from coming till the morrow, today’s the Sabbath”
John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, Sabbath? We don’t know, and if it was how was he able to rest with all the work he was doing. How could anyone rest in that situation?
There is a lot of confusion on this topic, So I choose not to listen to any man, and I’m sorry Tim, but to think you are correct on everything you Teach, is not keeping your eyes open. I choose the words of the SON OF GOD who came to FULFILL the LAW/TORAH, and said himself, that not one jot shall pass from it. Your argument that we need a prophet to teach us this is silly, We have the BIBLE which is the word of GOD and the Prophets. First question– Does GOD do anything by accident or coincidence? If NO, then why did he choose the word REMEMBER to keep the Sabbath Holy, I believe because he knew it would be forgotten. Second question– Did God write on 2 tablets for the commandments cause he ran out of room on the first. I believe No, the first covers LOVING GOD, the Second LOVING THY NEIGHBOR. Keeping the Sabbath is all about showing your love for GOD, It is not a burden to love GOD. If you break one you break all, isn’t that what the bible teaches. If GOD was going to take away a Commandment he would make it OBVIOUS. The Sabbath I believe is not about physical burdens, if you work on that day for yourself, that is a sin, If you work to exhalt GOD, by helping others not for your own gain, then are you not in turn fulfilling BOTH of the great Commandments, by loving GOD and thy NEIGHBOR. Tim you Teach a lot of Awesome TRUTH, but please remember to stay humble, for you, like I, am a mere sinful man, and none of us has everything completely right, That is why we need Jesus and his grace, Also and very importantly, we have the HOLY SPIRIT to guide us, and we need to have the FAITH that it will, So if we ask in faith for the TRUTH on this matter, will it not be presented to us devinely, I believe it will, as long as we don’t have our minds made up before we ask. With love and great respect, your brother in Christ.
Thanks for your comment. I would like to ask where you saw me say or give the impression that I’m right on everything? In actual fact, I freely admit I do not have all the answers and that I am surely wrong on some of my understandings. I know this because I constantly keep learning and changing my views over time. It never ends. In other words, my eyes are open.
1. Great question. Why did God say “remember the Sabbath”. The answer is quite simple but overlooked universally by Hebraic/Messianic teaching: This is the only command of the 10 that God taught them specifically before Mt. Sinai. He did the miracle of the manna on six days and tested them in whether on the Sabbath day they would rest, stay in their place and not gather manna.
2. I’ll let New American Commentary answer: “This is also the first place in the narrative where the number of the tablets of stone—two—is specified. The reason for the two tablets has nothing to do with the length of the commandments as opposed to the size of the tablets (as if it were necessary to employ two tablets to fit all the commandments onto them, half on one and half on the other). The full text of the Ten Words/Commandments was written on each tablet, one copy being God’s and one copy being Israel’s. This reflects the standard ancient Near Eastern treaty covenant practice of providing a copy of the covenant both to the vassal and to the sovereign. The fact that the two tablets were eventually placed together in the ark (Deut 10:5; 1 Kgs 8:9; Heb 9:4) further symbolized the ark’s role as a point of contact for God and his people, the place where his covenant relationship with them was symbolized by, among other things, the law, obedience to which linked Israel to Yahweh and Yahweh to Israel.”
Krystian, if you want to keep Sabbath then do so with my blessing. The only purpose of this post was to debunk a common misinterpretation of the Mark of the Beast used by some Sabbath keepers to put fear into Sunday keepers. It was not to argue against what you choose to do or to claim I have all the answers on everything.
God bless
To sum up the whole matter. For there is no respect of persons with God. Romans chapter 2. Acts chapter 10. Is Christ divided? Read 1 Corinthians chapter 2,& 3 concerning Spiritual Wisdom and Laborers in God’s Kingdom. Judgement Belongs to God. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Exhort Sound Doctrine, 1 Titus chapters 2, 3,. 2 Timothy chapters 2,3,4.
i would like to be clarified with these
1. what is the meaning of Sabbath? and what day is the Biblical Sabbath?
2. Genesis 2:2,3 (NIV) “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
Does the seventh day mentioned in this text does not mean the Biblical Sabbath?
Please follow Exodus 20:8-11
8 ‘‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. ”
May we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us as we sincerely search the truth and follow Christ our Savior.
I love the Lord but find all of these post very confusing I never know what to think or believe because everyone contradicts everyone else, you can hardly find true agreement in the body of Christ. I am finding it hard to take anybodies views or opinions as sound the only thing that I feel secure in is that Jesus is indeed Lord and that He gave His life for us and that he was resurrected and is now in Heaven waiting to return for His bride. All these opposing views scare me terribly and I can only hope that Jesus will forgive me for my confused state I read the Bible and the Word doesn’t confuse me nowhere near all of the Pastors etc.
Kirk, there is no reason to fear. Perhaps you are scared because you have the common idea of Bible studiers that they have to get it all right and straight in their head. Christians often condemn others for having the wrong doctrine/beliefs, which adds to this fear. I suggest you consider changing your view to see that we are not judged by our understanding, but on our intent to serve God. This is how it must be because none of us has all the answers or a correct understanding and would all fail if we had to figure the Bible out. Not to mention the fact that most of humanity did not live with easy access to the Bible like we have today and take for granted.
Thank you Tim for your answer to my post and for being so interactive with those who post it really sends the message that you are at least reading the post and care enough to respond again thank you may God continue to bless you.
OH, I see your boldness and confidence in leadership! I greatly value your boldness to counteract error with truth here. I am referring to the earlier comment where someone called you satan. I couldn’t believe it. What gross ignorance, to treat a servant of God in that way. It reveals the lack of true Godliness in their life, that if you don’t agree with them, they consider you less than a believer. We know people by their fruits
There is something I’ve really learned from studying King Saul and David. It is that God expects honor for His servants. Everyone that is called to Christian service walks in a mantle of God’s anointing and to ever handle them lightly is a terrible sin. King David had an amalekite killed, who took it lightly to kill King Saul. David had another killed, who killed Abner, the commander of Saul’s army. I think that speaks so much about touching those that God has placed in positions of authority and leadership. Look at what happened to King Saul, because he greatly dishonored David. David refused to kill Saul, when it was in his power to do so twice. Saul still turned on David and we see the kind of death Saul experienced. He was beheaded and hung on a pole. I think that speaks volumes about how God viewed dishonor of his servant, David.
I believe to dishonor a servant of can bring a curse at times or sometimes death. God’s people really need to understand this. I recently left a church where I was one of the Pastors. The Senior Pastor allowed a new person in the church to dishonor me, although I’d been very faithful and enduring there for 2.5yrs. I have no offense about that but I see much ignorance in the church about how to handle God’s servants. I’m so thankful to have learned this and I pray the church will come up a lot higher in this. We know that God never speaks without meaning what He says. When we think we can handle God’s servants any way we desire, even if they’re wrong, it’s gross ignorance and a sin before God. I say even if they’re wrong because God had already repented of making Saul King, but David still honored Saul, refusing to kill him. I think we need to really consider what that means. It means a person that walks in the mantle of God’s anointing still carries honor with God, even if they miss the mark at times. God honors His authority on anyone’s life and expects us to do the same.
Stay strong and know that I honor you and greatly appreciate you as God’s servant. You faithfully dig into the Word, faithfully teaching God’s people. Your rewards are great in the Kingdom!
See you on Facebook. Helen/Dallas, TX.
I don’t understand why so many Christians today are so focused on works as if God judges us using a scale, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph 2:8-9.Not of yourselves why? because it was the Faith of Christ
KJV Gal 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Notice how it reads Faith of Christ and not Faith in Christ it was only because of his faith that we even have faith to begin with so not even faith is of ourselves but a gift of God.
Grace is what seperates Christianity from all other relegions we don’t deserve it, but yet he loves us so much that he gave it to us, so get works and throw it out the window it’s useless for salvation.
So doesn’t God judge people fairly? Some on the Sabbath (Jews) some not (Gentiles)?
If the OT laws are now irrelevant, then also idol worshipping, isn’t it? What then happens to Abomination of Desolation article?
Mumwe, Uh…come again? (I am sensing that your command of English is about as good as my command of Spanish.)
Hi Tim, Thanks for all your research and study into God’s word.
Hebrews 4: 9-11 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
The Old Testament Sabbath was a picture of the New Testament rest we have in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. We keep the Sabbath today by knowing our righteousness comes through faith in Jesus, and not by any work we do ourselves. Ancient Israel was not allowed into the promised land because they failed to believe God’s word, and instead listened to the false report of the spies that lacked faith. Finally it is because we are so grateful that we are not under the law but under grace, and so happy and thankful to be a part of God’s family, that we want to share this love with others through our actions.
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
God Bless you Tim. You may not have everything right, but who does?
Leon, I definitely don’t have all the answers or everything right, but this Sabbath jurisdiction issue is one I’m confident about: the Sabbath was given to ancient Israel not to anyone else, especially people today thousands of years later! No miracle of the manna was given to any other nation to teach them them the right day for the Sabbath. No Moses or other prophet was sent to any nation since Israel to instruct them on the finer points of the Sabbath and to command stoning if they broke it like Moses did. Without all that there is no accountability for people to keep an arcane ritual like Sabbath that they have no way of being sure is required of them.
Certainly the Bible does not work in place of all the above since nobody agrees on what it means for almost any point you could name, including all aspects of the Sabbath (day, length, dos and don’ts). Thus the Bible does not work as an authority on God’s will in place of a Moses or Joshua who were authorities on God’s will. The Bible is not a rule book to all humanity or “owners manual.” The Bible has not always been available to all mankind so it could never serve as a universal rulebook. Hope this helps.
Think of it this way: In ancient Israel under Moses did anyone have a reasonable doubt about them needing to keep the Sabbath? Absolutely not! People were warned by words, fed by manna and stoned by stones because of the Sabbath. They knew beyond any doubt they had to do it, on what day and how. Compare that to any nation today including Israel today where people have every reason to doubt a need to keep Sabbath. No authority tells them to keep it. They have authorities telling them they have to pay their taxes on penalty of fines/jail, not to speed their cars on penalty of fines/jail, etc. The only voices they hear telling them they have to “keep Sabbath” are religious people quoting the Bible neither of which is any authority at all! Until their government/leader tells them they must keep Sabbath (like Moses and Joshua did) they have every reason to ignore it. Religious people tell them lots of things to do that are without authority and questionable in their Scriptural foundation.
If you want any authority to tell us to keep the sabbath, then wait a little bit . America will tell us to keep Sunday as the sabbath.
I beg you in the name of God to read more about the sabbath. And tell us how many commandments we should stop following, together with the 4th. Did God remove only the 4th and left the rest or He removed all ten?
How can you escape being together with the antichrist?.
Duke, who said the “ten commandments” were for all humanity? Jesus never did; Christianity alone does. When asked the requirements for salvation (Mt 19:16), Jesus answered by skipping over the sabbath and 600 other commandments of the Torah including four of “the ten commandments” given to ancient Israel by Moses and focused on the love thy neighbor commandments (Mt 19:17-19). You have to ask yourself do you follow Moses’ words or Jesus’ words?
The Sabbath commandment is for all of God’s people, as the other 9. which are not just for the Jews,
Gentiles should also worship on the Sabbath,
God commanded it:
“Blessed is the man … that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it.” “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, … every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer … for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:2, 6, 7, emphasis added.
Apostles taught it:
“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” “And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.” Acts 13:42, 44, emphasis added. “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Acts 18:4.
The apostles in the early New Testament church taught the converted Gentiles to worship on Sabbath. (strangers, as mentioned above, are gentiles)
Sabbath New Testament.
Hebrews,
4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.†8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also cease from his works as God did from his. Hebrews 4
verse 9 – “a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God”, verse 10 – “God’s people will cease from their works as God did from his”, How did God cease from his works? verse 4 says that God “rested on the 7th-day from all his works”. God’s people will do the same.
If you analyze them carefully, none of those verses tell anyone to keep Sabbath:
1. According to Moses, Gentiles were required to keep Torah while living in the land, to conform to what Israel did there. But not when they were not among them. This Isaiah 56 merely pronounces a blessing for doing so; it certainly does not command them to keep Sabbath, or introduce a expansion of the original statute for them to now be keeping it even outside of Israel.
2. Preaching to crowds on the Sabbath was because people in that culture gathered on that day. They also gathered sometimes on Sundays as Acts records. Should we keep Sabbath on Sunday, too? No. The day when apostles taught does not imply a command to rest.
3. Hebrews 4:9 refers to a “Sabbath rest” not “keeping Sabbath”. Any good commentary will explain how the Sabbath rest there is spiritual (salvation), not the physical rest (7th day Sabbath).
Look it’s very simple. When God wants to tell a people to do something, he says so plainly as he did with the commandments to Israel (“don’t murder,” “keep the Sabbath holy,” etc.). He has not done that for any other people. No one today must keep Sabbath as no one today has been told to like Israel was told to in Exodus 16 by a prophet with miracles to denote the right day and the right way. Not having this commission to our generation is why we have people thinking there is a Lunar Sabbath, Sunday Sabbath, etc.
Keep (or don’t keep) whatever day you wish, just don’t think that passages like those quoted above can substitute for plain, clear “Thou shalt…” type instructions that God used for Israel.
Perry, actually we both teach obedience to God’s commandments; we merely disagree on what the commandments are (although in the past I would have agreed with you on Sabbath keeping). But I see now that your definition assumes everyone has had and understands the Bible, which is not true for 99.9% of humans in history.
Now my definition for God’s commandments is the same one Jesus gave in Mt 19:18-19/Mark 10:19/Lk 1820 to the rich young ruler. Sabbath was purposely left out because it has nothing to do with salvation or anyone but the nation of ancient Israel who received it through the manna miracle in Ex 16.
Isaiah 66 is talking about Sabbath keeping in the Millennium. That’s not for today nor can it be given that no prophet is here like in Ex 16 to instruct people on the right day and the right way. That’s why we have so much confusion on Sunday, Saturday and even “lunar Sabbath.”
Mr writer, did God use his own hand to write the tora?? Hey man read your Bible well. God’s ten commandments still exist. Never will it pass away.
The whole Old Testament still exists and its prophecy will be fulfilled before heaven and earth pass away…but that does not mean everyone needs to read and obey what was told to ancient Israel only, like Sabbath keeping. Jesus only affirmed five of the ten commandments as for entrance into the kingdom.
Tim, you don’t think that keeping the fourth commandment isn’t for us today? I really don’t get that. I don’t agree at all. I’m just surprised to read that.
Sorry there really isn’t a question with the above comment but I truly think that when you love Him with all your heart, mind,soul and strength, you don’t pick and chose what commandments are to be kept. Again, I can’t agree at all, wish I had a question for that.
Tammy, ahh, but everyone who says they keep God’s commands is picking and choosing as well, even you. Are you avoiding all unclean meats and blood? Are you bringing sacrifices to Jerusalem? Are you obeying the laws of Niddah requiring you to do a mikvah after your period ends? Are you paying the temple tax? I bet you’re not. Why not? Because you deem some or all of those not to apply to you.
I’m only doing exactly the same as you. I see that the Ten Commandments as a whole were taught to Israel as part of the Torah, not to anyone else. They are not as a whole and cannot be a universal Decalogue/law as half of those commands require revelation from God to even know about them or how to do them (which day is the Sabbath day, what activities are forbidden on Sabbath, etc., what is God’s actual personal/covenant name to take oaths in properly so you can obey the 3rd commandment, etc.)
You’re sitting here in a privileged position saying people should keep Sabbath because you can erad your own personal copy of what God told ancient Israel. Most people in history have not been able to eavesdrop on it and decide that it was meant for everyone.
Also note that Jesus when teaching people how to enter the kingdom only quoted five commandments from the Torah, four from the Decalogue and left off all the rest of the commands that require revelation only given to Israel. He listed the love God and love your neighbor commands only that everyone can learn and do without a prophet like Israel had. If you never noticed that he never listed the Sabbath or all ten commandments when asked how to enter the Kingdom, that’s why.
So I’m doing what Jesus said, not what Moses said. Make sense?
Tim, I understand what you are saying. Not everyone has been able to read the Bible, or know who Jesus is, but I don’t think that, that is a good enough reason to say that just because millions haven’t heard that God has changed. I don’t know why some get to hear the Word, and read it and others do not, but it doesn’t change His commandments or laws. I know that I am picking and choosing but my prayer is to find out what God expects of me, and for me that is to do as much of what He has said as I can. Maybe Jesus only mentions five of the ten, because the other five were obvious.
Well that’s not the reason I say it is not for us. That’s an explanation to explain why what you’re adopting as universal commands of God could not possibly be that as few have had the privilege you do of having a Bible to hear them all!
The real reason I say you don’t have to worry about these commands is because they were not given to you to keep and you cannot be accountable to keep them. They were taught by a prophet to ancient Israel. Nobody else was taught God’s name, his Sabbath and all those 613 commandments for them.
Finally, my other objection is that you yourself are not keeping all that you can. You’re picking and choosing, too. You’re using different criteria than me but you are doing this out of necessity because none of us can keep everything you find in the Bible given to ancient Israel. Nobody has since 70AD.
Those who say we should, must, or can keep them all have not thought it through and are living in a fantasy believing they are doing the impossible.
The Ten Commandments and The HANDWRITTEN ACCORDINANCES WHICH WERE AGAINST US,(which was nailed to the cross) ‘which contained curses if Israel didn’t obey, is a small booklet that was put on the outside the ark is called the book/law of Moses are two totally different things. All the priestly duties, feast days and sin /free will offerings and civil type laws and punishments are what was written in the book of Moses. Only The Ten Commandments made of stone writen by the finger of God were set inside the ark under the mercy seat where Gods throne was. If there is no law anymore then there can be no grace for anyone born after Christ died. For no law means no grace is needed because no one is condemned by a law that does not exist. And if the 10 commandments were included in what was nailed to the cross what reason is there for a future judgement then if there is no law and if no law then Christ didn’t have to die for our transgressing the law but apparently only for the people who were born before Christ died would be saved then. Christ did not die a brutal death to save us from nothing since we were born after his death and now there is no law for us as you suggest. So we are saved having no law to condemn us. If the 10 commandments plus the book of Moses was nailed to the cross and is no longer valid then we are ALL saved and should immediately resurrect after death and go to heaven and there is no longer a need to be righteous still or wicked still. Ect ect…At this point I even fail to see what reason Christ has for returning to gather his elect from this world and who is he going to destroy with the brightness of his coming if the law (all of it) has been made null and void. I would even go so far as to say there won’t be any need for anti-Christ or a mark of the beast now since all laws have been abolished. There is therefore no sinners here on earth if there is no law to be judged by and therefore nullifying (all) the law you have also nullified Jesus Christ as savior of ALL Men. Just some men. As well as judgement. What standard will Christ use to judge us by. None it seems as you are concerned. Revelations 14: 10-12 clearly shows the mark of the beast in stark contrast to the patience of the saints: “here are those that keep my commandments and the faith of Jesus”. Could it be that The greatest commandment : love the lord with all you heart, soul, mind and might encompass the (first 4 commandments) and love your neighbor as yourself encompass the (last 6 commandments).???
Beware for
Matt 5:19 “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”. I would caution you to rethink your salvation “for behold I come quickly and my reward I bring with me.”
And yet…when Jesus was asked how to enter the Kingdom/have eternal life he did not give 10C. He purposely left out the first four commandments (Mt 19:17-19).
Why? Because each of those first four depend on divine revelation from God given only to Israel only for them to follow (no other nation). The way we love God is not by “keeping the first four commandments” or “the way we love man by keeping the last six.” We love God by keeping any commandments that apply to us (the important context of Mt 5:19) that anyone without divine revelation can intuit (commandments 5-10 are just that). Those commandments all have to do with loving our neighbor. Doing them for God loves God.
If you want to say we need to keep commandments that 99% of people have no understanding how to do and do not apply to them (Sabbath, oaths in God’s name, idols, worship YHWH’s exclusivity–not all the pantheon) then you’re damning them because they have no idea they are supposed to keep these obscure commands that Israel was given for Israel.
Also you’re forgetting that Paul said those without the law become a law unto themselves http://biblehub.com/romans/2-14.htm What laws do nations outside Israel have? The same ones Jesus listed in Mt 19:17-19.
The Sabbath doesn’t save. Only Jesus saves. The repentant thief on the cross was not
promised eternal life because of his Sabbath-keeping or anything else. Eph. 2:8-9,
Acts 16:30-31, and 1 John 5:12 still read the same as they did over 1900 years ago. Any
one making the Sabbath more important than Jesus and condemning others for not
keeping it are simply wrong, and are like Nicodemus before the cross. This is all common sense for anyone who wants to use it.