Biblical Sabbath Arguments. Some arguments are designed to show the importance of Sunday, while others are intended to diminish the importance of Sabbath. Some of the issues in this section are discussed in other lessons such as "What was nailed to the cross?".

• Jesus Worked On The Sabbath Since Jesus worked on the Sabbath this proves that the Sabbath was now an ordinary work day.
  • Jesus Picked Corn On The Sabbath As part of the poor, Jesus and the disciples had the right to glean or take the left overs from the fields of others as food. However, the fact that they had to glean on Sabbath implies that it was difficult to find food and that they existed in a perpetual state of poverty. Most days were not filled with dinners at Mary and Martha's house or tea with Zaccheus and the rich. Many times the massive crowd of poor people followed Him for food.
  • Jesus Healed on the Sabbath (Act of Mercy) The priests and clergy have to work on Sabbath to do the ministry of God (Matthew 12: 1-15). So, as High Priest and priests of the true temple Jesus and the disciples had the right to eat from the food set aside for God and to work on the Sabbath to perform acts of mercy that point to the work of God.
  Their objections points to the fact that they had lost sight of the meaning and purpose of the Sabbath.
• Worship Every Day. Sabbath objectors imply that Sabbath keepers teach that we should only worship on Sabbath. We should worship God every day. The Jews reduced it to three formal times for worship during the day. The SHEMA requires it and describes continuous worship and devotion to God. While we can continue with ordinary daily functions and daily devotion during the week, the purpose of the Sabbath is to impose a period of rest during which we formally gather as a group to celebrate the power of God as the Creator and Redeemer.
• All Special Days Abolished. In the lesson "What was nailed to the cross?" we will show that these verses refer to the feast days, not the weekly Sabbath.
  » Sabbaths Abolished. You observe days and months and seasons and years ... (Galatians 4: 10)
  » All Days Equal. One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. (Romans 14: 5)
  This implies that we can choose our day of worship, yet the same Paul argues that if God has given us rest He would not have spoken of another day (Hebrews 4: 8-11). We believe that Romans 14 refers to the ceremonial Sabbaths and the feasts associated with them.
  
  The Sabbath is eternal, it has not been abolished or changed by the new covenant. In fact it is the sign of the covenant and the seal of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who does the sealing by making us obedient to God in heart and deeds. This includes obedience to the Sabbath.
• Redeemed From The Law of Bondage.
  » Christ is the "End of the Law". For Christ is the end [goal] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10: 4)
  This is supposed to prove that after Christ all laws ended. However, it simply means that the laws pointed to Christ and were kept by Christ. In fact, Christ says that none of the law will be abolished until heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5: 17-18 and Luke 16: 17). Heaven and earth still exist.
  » Christ "Redeemed us from the Law". In fact, He redeemed us from the "curse" not from the law.
  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us ... (Galatians 3: 13)
  We have some amazing lessons on how Christ suffered the curses and kept the Covenant by becoming a curse.
  » All We Need is Faith in Christ. People say that believing in Christ relieves us of our responsibility to the law. Faith in Christ tells us to be confident that Christ has paid for our past sins and that He has a way to change us so that we are no longer enemies of the law. It does not free us to sin forever because He was obedient. That is nonsense! The Plan of Salvation will make us love the law and obedient to the law.
  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yes we establish the law." (Romans 3: 31)
• Sabbath Replaced by the Holy Spirit. Many variations of this argument claim that we are no longer "under the law but under the Spirit" and are free from the law.
  » We are not "Under the Law", We Are "Under Grace".
  But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. (Galatians 5: 18)
  However, when pressed they cannot define what "under the Spirit means", because you will immediately be arguing for a state of lawlessness where everyone does what is pleasing to them.
  The Holy Spirit gives us rest from sin by helping us to keep the law, not to ignore it.
  » Criminals Under the Law. Like a criminal, when we break the law we are immediately under submission to its punishments and terrors. But when we keep the law we have no fear of being arrested and imprisoned. We are free from the curses and penalties.
  » Pardoned By God. Grace does not abolish the law. Grace provides pardon for law breakers and a permanent method for keeping the law. By writing the law in our hearts, and making it a part of us we will forever keep the law from within the core of our being.
• Sabbath Related to Slavery in Egypt. In Exodus 5: 1,5 Moses tells Pharaoh that the people need to go and have Sabbath feast so that they can rest. Some misquote Exodus 20 claiming that God brought them out of Egypt to keep the Sabbath. Since Christians were never Egyptian slaves we do not have to keep the Sabbath.
  I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20: 2)
  However, those words are the preamble to all the ten commandments not just to the Sabbath.
• Was the Sabbath for the Jews Only? The Sabbath existed at creation, over 2000 years before Abraham, the father of the Jews, and 2500 years before the law was formally given on Sinai.
  Heaven is described in terms of tribes from the son's of Israel. The Bible says that the true sons of Abraham are those who are children by Faith. Genetic connections do not qualify you for heaven - faith does. Therefore, there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles - faith is what connects us all to God.
  Being faithful above the rest of mankind, the Jewish nation was chosen to preserve the law and the ways of God until the Gentiles could see the light.
  There is only one covenant that matters and that is the eternal covenant. Under this covenant we are all the same.

The Purpose of Sunday.
The fact is that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the day when God separated darkness from the light and brought light into the world. But during that same creation week, He did not choose to celebrate that event. Neither did He choose to celebrate on the sixth day when man was created and all His work was finished. Instead, He chose to create another day specifically to rest and celebrate what had been accomplished that week. He created the seventh day and blessed and named the Sabbath as the day that He rested from His works of Creation.
In the same manner, Christ finished His works of recreation during one extraordinary week and rested on Sabbath.

Creation Week - Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Event Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Sabbath Creation Light Water Earth, Food Sun, Moon, Stars Fish, Birds Animals and Man Rest Christ Jesus Confirms the Covenant for One Week Seder Crucifixion Buried New Creation Resurrection Holy Spirit Word of God Prophets Enemies Gather Testing Rest Pentecost The Law is Being Written in Our New Hearts New Body Millennium Symbols Baptism Fasting, Prayer and Bible Study Bread, Wine Baptism

• Celebrating Sunday (The Light Comes). Then He rose on Sunday to institute a new beginning. This new beginnig was also accompanied by light. When Christ rose at the light of dawn on Sunday, He came with a hopeful message, and a new body of light with angels of light that blinded the soldiers guarding the tomb. When the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost which occurred on a Sunday, He came with wind and flaming tongues of fire.
  
  » Baptism Remembers Rest From The Wages of Sin. Yes, Sunday has a lot of hopeful events to celebrate, but baptism symbolizes the death, burial and resurrection. When we get baptized we are showing our committment to Him. Our salvation is not meaningful if Jesus could not resurrect us. But our salvation was not based only on the resurrection.
  When you celebrate Sunday only you are memorializing only one event in the Plan of Salvation.
• Celebrating Friday (Man Restored). Between Sunday and Wednesday Jesus came as a light to the temple, cleansed the temple, gave the food of God to the people as He taught in the temple. Then all these events occurred on the sixth day. Jesus ratified the new covenant at the Passover Seder on Thursday night, obtained our forgiveness in Gethsemane on Friday morning, died as the ransom for sin on Friday afternoon.
  
  » Passover Remembers Rest From The Curse of Sin. The most difficult work was done on Friday and Jesus says we can remember His suffering when we eat the Passover bread and wine. So, if we wanted to argue for a change that honors Christ, a better proof is that Jesus asks us to remember the events of the sixth day.
• Celebrating Sabbath (Creation is Complete). When you celebrate Sabbath you are memorializing every event that He did for six days so that none of the events of the other days are singled out as being more important because Sabbath is a universal symbol of completion by the nature of the purpose for which it was created.
  
  » Sabbath Remembers All Rest. No single event can claim Sabbath. Sabbath was the day created to celebrate the accomplishments of the other six days and to make holy the object that was created (Exodus 31: 13,17).

All indications are that Sunday begins the final steps of our salvation which involve the Holy Spirit writing the laws into our hearts. Our transformation will be complete when we receive our new bodies and will culminate in the biggest Sabbath celebration of all during the millennium.

The Sabbath in Prophecy

The First Sunday Law Let all judges and all city people and all tradesmen rest upon the venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields; since it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain, or the planting of vines; hence, the favorable time should not be allowed to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost. Edict of March 7, 321 AD. Corpus Juris Civilis Cod., lib. 3, tit. 12, Lex. 3. History of the change

The Sabbath appears in several prophecies.

Prophecy: A Change Predicted. The Bible says that a coming power will attempt to change the law.
And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest one. and he will intend to make alterations in times and in laws ... (Daniel 7: 25).

The phrase "He shall think to change times and laws" possibly demonstrates that a change will be made about a law concerning time. The Sabbath is the only law about time. Of all the commandments it is the most vulnerable because it seems to be not based in any known human morals or ethics. This is because its origin is not based only on human relationships. It is based on an eternal covenant relationship with God. It cannot be destroyed. It can only be forgotten.
As we have seen from the blue stone study, the Ten Commandments were carved out of the stone taken from the eternal throne of God.
If you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14: 15)

The Law Had Not Been Changed. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, Until heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whoever 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 whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5: 17-20)

The Catholic View "For several centuries, Christians observed Sunday simply as a day of worship, without being able to give it the specific meaning of Sabbath rest. Only in the fourth century did the civil law of the Roman Empire recognize the weekly recurrence, determining that on "the day of the sun" the judges, the people of the cities and the various trade corporations would not work". Pope John Paul II - DIES DOMINI-Dies Hominis v.64, May 31, 1998



The Antichrist. "That man of sin ... who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God". (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4.)

This system severed the vertical relationship we have with God by changing the first four commandments and our relationship with God. Next, it made the six commandments dealing with our relationships with each other the moral absolutes over which they rule with their earthly priestly system. Then they set themselves up as gods over these six moral realms of our lives.

• Attack on God. By introducing the worship of images and a false Sabbath and prayers to dead saints who must approach God on our behalf, they have removed Christ as our eternal intercessor and they have made the first four commandments void.
  
  Jesus The Only Mediator. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2: 5).
  Jesus The Continual Intercessor. Therefore He is able to also save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7: 25).
  
  They have replaced the continual ministry of Christ on our behalf by saying that we cannot approach God directly. We must access Him through dead "saints", a dead Mary and imperfect priests because we are abhorrent to God. Because God finds communication with us despicable, we might approach Him if we go through these intermediaries. What an insult to the message of the gospel! The good news that God has not abandoned us. That He was willing to die for us while we still hated Him.
  They attacked God by attacking the first four commandments.
  
  

  #	Commandment	Daniel's Prophecy	Revelation 13	Blasphemy
  1	Only One God	Magnified itself to be equal to God (Verse 8: 11)	Worshipped the dragon(Verse 4)	Pray to Mary and saints. Pope is as god on earth.
  2	Idolatry	Show no regard for any God (11: 37)	Created an image to the beast for worship (Verse 14-15)	Idols, scapulars, icons, paintings, beads, relics
  3	Respect for God's name. One Mediator People called by His name.	Removed the daily or the continual from God (7: 25; 8: 11; 11: 36)	Blasphemes and gives the name of the beast (Verse 6, 17)	Removed Christ as the only mediator. Call on Mary, she is the Mediator. Do not talk to God, He does not want to hear us.
  4	Remember the Sabbath	Changes times and laws (7: 25)	Mark of the Beast (Verse 16)	Saturday devoted to Mary. Sunday is the new Sabbath.

• Attack on Man. By claiming to have the authority to grant and withhold forgiveness of sins. By severing our ties to our loving father. They even claim to hold the power over the entrance and length of stay in a fictitious place called purgatory. They in effect control our fears and our personal relationship with God.

Prophecy: The Sabbath Foundation Breached. According to Isaiah, the Sabbath is a breach in the foundation of the creation that will be repaired.
Prophecy: The First Angel's Message. The message of this angel calls the world to remember the creator at the beginning of the judgment. It specifically quotes the fourth commandment.
... Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Revelation 14: 7)
Prophecy: The Siege of Jerusalem. Jesus prayed that those living during the future fall of Jerusalem would not have to flee on the Sabbath day.
But pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath. (Matthew 24: 20).
Prophecy: The Mark of the Beast.

Advocating Civil Law "The Code of Canon Law of 1917 for the first time gathered this tradition into a universal law.(81) The present Code reiterates this, saying that "on Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to attend Mass".(82) This legislation has normally been understood as entailing a grave obligation: this is the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,(83) and it is easy to understand why if we keep in mind how vital Sunday is for the Christian life." Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. In any case, they are obliged in conscience to arrange their Sunday rest in a way which allows them to take part in the Eucharist, refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord's Day, with its characteristic joy and necessary rest for spirit and body. Pope John Paul II - DIES DOMINI May 31, 1998

According to Revelation 13, in the end, the forces of evil will try to change the eternal covenant by changing the first four commandments. They will attempt to make the change in the Sabbath the global test of allegiance to their new laws. These commandments are chosen because they are a visible sign of your loyalty. If Satan can force these two visible displays of loyalty to God then he will be sure that you have abandoned the first four commandments.
• Sabbath. The work commandment that deals with economics causes an economic punishment.
  And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, either the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13: 16-17).
  
  Conspiracy to Trample on the Sabbath. Globally, secular activities are being forced from Sunday on to the Sabbath. As the prophecies are about to be fulfilled we can see that the beast has arranged secular affairs so that Saturday is becoming the only day on the weekend that can be used for shopping, sports, work around the house and all other secular activities that are almost impossible during the week. This places a burden on the Sabbath and makes it less attractive for people to follow. The European Union has already declared that Sunday is the only day of rest that will be legally allowed. The region has already begun a shift from holding sporting events on Sunday. Imagine the power it takes to do that. There have been calls to enforce the blue laws in the United States.

  "All Americans would do well to petition the President and the Congress to make a Federal law - an amendment to the Constitution if need be - to reestablish the Sabbath [Sunday] as a national Day of Rest." CATHOLIC TWIN CIRCLE. "Sacking Sunday." August 25, 1985.

  Some are even making the argument that Sunday breaking will cause national disaster. They even made this claim about the real reason for the cause of the deadly Sunday Tsunami on December 26, 2004.

  There will be no relief from mounting economic disaster until Sunday is strictly enforced by government decrees and action." LIBERTY CONFIDENTIAL NEWSLETTER Volume 5, 1982

  There is no wrong in seeking your legal right to obey the commandments of God. What is wrong is that in having governments enforce Sunday only instead of guaranteeing one day each week of your choice as was the status quo, they are essentially using civil law as a persecuting weapon. So, practically, what we have is an effort from two fronts. The first is civil law and the second is secular pressure.
  
  Ask yourself the following question. In trying to gain their legal right to keep Sunday holy, why are they trying to prevent other people from keeping another day holy?
  
  Prediction. The political and religious organization called Christian Churches Together in the USA, formally open for business in May 2005. I guarantee that at some point they will be trying to advocate more Sunday legislation. When they do this, remind yourself that people already have the right to worship on the day of their choice. The fact that people choose to work or to go shopping or play sports on Sunday is not because of force or necessity, it is a matter of choice and convenience.
• Idolatry. Another visible sign of loyalty is idolatry. People actually break two commandments when they do this. They call on another mediator instead of on the name of the Lord, and they bow before statues and other men.
  And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13: 15).
Prophecy: The Victorious in Heaven. The saints are commandment keepers.
Here is the perseverance of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14: 12)
Blessed are they that do His commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22: 14)

The Eternal Laws of God
In contrast the Bible says the following about God and the permanent nature of His laws.

• Holy Forever. The Sabbath is blessed forever.
  I know that everything God does will remain forever. There is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. (Ecclesiastes 3: 14)
  For you have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed for ever. (1 Chronicles 17: 27)
• Expired Laws. Is there an expiration date for any law of God?
  Until The World Ends. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail. (Luke 16: 17).
  Those are the words of Jesus. The Sabbath and other laws cannot pass away if heaven and earth exist. We still exist. Heaven and earth still exist. Therefore the law has not passed away. When the new heavens and earth are created only the curses will be abolished because they are alien to us (Colossians 2: 14).
  Expired: No More Curses. There will no longer be any curse ... (Revelation 22: 3)
  
  But the Sabbath will still exist in the new earth.
  Eternal: Sabbath Forever. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, said 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, said the Lord. (Isaiah 66: 22-23)
  » Illogical Nonsense (A Segregated Church). Does is make sense for God to make the seventh day the Sabbath, then switch to Sunday for 2000 years then switch back to Saturday for eternity? If you stubbornly want to believe that only the Jews will worship on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday in the new earth then there is no hope of reasoning with you. You are proposing a segregated church and the most segregated time period as the day when God comes to meet His people to celebrate.
• One Law for All People. Some teach that there are and will be different rules for Jews and Gentiles. Common sense tells us that it is illogical, disruptive and unfair to have two different sets of rules.
  Passover. The one law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you. (Exodus 13: 49)
  Blasphemy and Other Laws. There shall be one standard for you. It shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 24: 22)
  One Sabbath and One Covenant. Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. (Isaiah 56: 6-7)
  One Church. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4: 4-6)
• Nine Commandments. Most Christians have no problem with nine of the Ten Commandments. But if you mention the importance of the Sabbath they will quickly say that we are under grace, not the law.
  If this argument were true then adultery and murder would be tolerable now. Or we could substitute partnerships that pleased us. The evil one has attacked the Sabbath because it is the least understood of the laws.
  The truth is we just want to obey nine of the ten commandments. You cannot pick and choose which commandments to obey. God's laws are not based on political correctness, changing times, evolution of morality or man's desires. God's laws are based on His wisdom as the supreme ruler and are the foundation of His government. Removing any law would remove a foundation stone and destroy the whole house.
  All or None. For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2: 10)
• Keeping Tradition. The reason for keeping Sunday can only be traced to a tradition designed by man. The scriptures say it is useless to worship God with the commandments made up by men.
  Lip Service. This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. (Matthew 15: 8-9 )
  Useless Tradition. And He answered and said to them, "why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matthew 15: 3)
  Vain Worship. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men. He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition". (Mark 7: 7-9)
  
  God says this is presumptuous nonsense that is actually violence and insurrection against heaven.
  Violence Against God. Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the clean and the unclean. And they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. (Ezekiel 22: 26)

Keeping The Sabbath
The Sabbath commandment invites us to spend the day with God as a part of a global special time created for this purpose. Resting on that day reminds us that God gives us rest from sin through His own works, not ours. It is a gift from God.
The Lord's Day. Jesus said to them, "the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath". (Mark 2: 27-28)

• When is the Sabbath? The Jewish day starts at sunset. The Sabbath day is the seventh day, starting at sunset Friday to sunset on Saturday.
  The New Testament gives evidence that the Sabbath occurred between the preparation day and the first day of the week. The story of the crucifixion states that Jesus died on the preparation day. The disciples quickly dressed his body temporarily and took it from the cross before the Sabbath began. Then early on the first day (Sunday morning) Mary came to finish the preparation of the body and found that He was risen. See Luke 23: 53-56 and Luke 24: 1-3.
• Do not Work. This applies to you, your home, your guests and anyone who has to work for you (Exodus 20: 8-11).
  Making a Fire. Prepare ahead for any basic care or items that you will need during the Sabbath.
  You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day. (Exodus 35: 3).
  Gathering wood, starting a fire and cooking was so much work, it was forbidden. Does this mean that modern conveniences should remove this prohibition? No. We keep trying to guess what God intended with a law. When we think that we have discovered the reasons, we then proceed to justify why we can bend the law. So instead of going back to the original diet of raw fruits and vegetables for Sabbath meals we prepare elaborate cooked meals which still require too much work to serve.
  
  Maybe we should not kindle a fire in any form because God wants to kindle the fire in us. Maybe when we submit totally to God without trying to avoid His words the Holy Spirit will come in the form of the Latter rain. Perhaps Sabbath reform and the future Sabbath test go hand in hand.
  
  Emergencies and Suffering. The only Sabbath work that is allowed is one that is humanitarian, an unavoidable emergency in which suffering is avoided or life is saved.
  Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not. ... Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a ditch, and will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day? (Luke 14: 3, 5).
  A Day of Mercy and Compassion. But if you had known what this means, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice", you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12: 7-8).
  
  Buying, Selling and Trading. Sabbath breaking has become so prevalent in North America that we find nothing wrong with going to a restaurant on Sabbath. Not only are we buying and selling, we are making others work for us and that is forbidden. Eating out on Sabbath is always avoidable.
  Some Jewish business owners make arrangements with Gentiles to temporarily give up ownership of their stores before the Sabbath and then take possession again after the Sabbath. Besides openly breaking the spirit of the commandment, they forget that the commandment to rest is for the whole land and they are using their power to guarantee a legal case of rest only for themselves. Therefore, inasmuch as giving the animals, people and land rest is within their power, they are breaking the Sabbath by assigning the responsibility to a known Sabbath breaker.
• Personal Interests and Conversation. The day should not be spent on personal goals. It should be centered exclusively on God.
  If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure, And speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth... (Isaiah 58: 13-14).
  
  Sabbath breakers use the excuse of "going out in nature" to celebrate the creation and they regularly go to the beach to meet God in a place where they get their own pleasure. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. He knows your heart. We must choose what pleases God, not simply what pleases us.
  For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. (Isaiah 56: 4-5).
  Others are so in love with the gods of sports that they tape the games so that they can watch them the minute after the Sabbath is over. They are so interested in the end of the Sabbath that it is clear that their priority is not centered on God. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. He knows your intentions. If you spend the day with God as if He was a real person, you will be sad when the Sabbath is over.

History of Sabbath Keeping

Sabbath Existed 132-135 Split 321-788 Time of the End New Earth Creation Flood Abraham Exodus Disciples Bar Kokaba Sunday Laws Today Christians Sunday Keeping Christians No Jews Existed Jews (Israel) Jews and Christians Sabbath Keeping Jews and Christians

The history of the church provides circumstantial and documentary evidence that the Sabbath was changed by man without the approval of God. After the Bar Kokaba revolution the Christians tried to separate themselves from the Jews and Sunday began to be promoted until the church and the state made laws to enforce its keeping.

• Who Kept The Sabbath? If the Sabbath has been changed, why was the entire church keeping it for over 100 years after Jesus died?
  • Adam and Eve. The Sabbath has existed since creation, before the Jews.
    By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2: 2-3)
  • Before Exodus. Moses wanted to go and keep the Sabbath before the exodus. (Exodus 5: 1-5)
  • Before Sinai. God taught the Sabbath truth with the manna before He gave the laws on Sinai (Exodus 16).
  • The Jewish Nation. The Lord reminded them to keep the Sabbath when He formally gave the laws on Sinai.
    Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (Exodus 20: 8)
    The use of the word "remember" points to a preexistence of which they were aware.
    The Creator. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20: 11)
    The commandment points to the creation week as the reason and origin of the Sabbath as the day of rest.
  • Jesus in Life. Luke 4: 16 says it was Jesus' custom to go to the synagogue on Sabbath. Some argue that this was because He was among the Jews and that the old covenant was still in effect. But He issued no commands to change the law. In fact He said that He did not come to change the law. (Matthew 5: 17-20)
  • Jesus in Death. Jesus died on the preparation day (Friday), lay in the grave on Sabbath and rose on the first day of the week, Sunday morning. After His work as creator of the earth, He rested on the Sabbath. After His work as the redeemer, or Creator of a new, born again human He rested again.
    
    How did God rest from His works? He rested after the work of creation (Genesis 2: 2). Then He rested after the work of recreation or redemption when He was in the grave on the Sabbath.
  • The Disciples. They ... rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Luke 23: 54-56.
  • Paul. It was Paul's custom to preach to both Jews and Gentiles on the Sabbath. (Acts 17: 2; Acts 18: 4)
  • The Gentiles. The Gentiles also went to the synagogue on Sabbath. (Acts 18: 4 and Acts 13: 42)
  • Early Christians (31AD-321AD). The early Christians kept the Sabbath until it became unpopular to associate with the Jews around 100 years later. Substituting the Sabbath for Sunday was also a strategy to win over the pagans by honoring their holy day - Sunday. This became official when Emperor Constantine made it legal (321 AD).
• Who Will Keep The Sabbath? If the Sabbath has been changed, why will we keep it in the future and for eternity?
  • Christians Fleeing the Roman Persecution. Speaking of the persecution to come forty years after the new covenant was in force, Jesus prayed that their flight would not be on the Sabbath. (See Matthew 24: 20)
  • The Saints in Heaven. Isaiah 66: 22-23 states that all mankind will come to worship God every Sabbath.
  • The People of God. Hebrews 4: 9 states that there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God.
    For if Joshua has given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4: 8-11)
• Who Does Not Want to Keep The Sabbath?
  As we have seen, the Sabbath was made at creation, before there was ever a Jewish nation. When the law was given at Sinai, God told them to remember the day signifying that it was a custom that was widely known before the Jewish nation was called. It was not introduced at Sinai.
  • So the Jewish nation kept the Sabbath.
  • Jesus and the apostles kept the Sabbath before and after His death.
  • In heaven we will keep the Sabbath. God praises those who keep His commandments.
  So the only ones who do not want to keep the Sabbath are the Christians who have substituted Sunday for Sabbath. Sunday is respected as the day to commemorate the resurrection. But there was no such command given and baptism was the only ceremony given to commemorate the resurrection.
  Buried with Him in baptism, in which also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2: 12; Romans 6:4)

Did it Change? There is no commandment given by Jesus or the disciples to change the commandment. Even if there was the slightest possibility that the correct day was somehow lost, doing our best to follow God would be honoring the day the Jews have faithfully kept as the Sabbath - Saturday.

Obedience is The Issue.
The real issue is, will we worship God in the manner He prescribes or will we substitute our own way?

Cain and Abel both brought sacrifices to God, but only Abel's was accepted. Cain gave his best, but he gave what he wanted to give, not what God had asked for. Fruits and vegetables could not demonstrate the horrible consequences of sin. Only the death of the innocent lamb could do so.

In the end, the beast of Revelation will pronounce the death sentence on those who do not worship him but who worship in the way God commands. Just like Cain killed his brother for obeying God.

The Sabbath Test.
So it will end the way it began, with a simple test. For anyone who would criticize Eve, God gives them their own choice.
Just as a simple fruit was a test to Adam and Eve, so will the Sabbath be a simple test of obedience to God in the end. Unlike other sins which might include a physical craving to commit that sin, the Sabbath has no such pressure. We cannot claim that we have no will power, or that it was physically or mentally hard to follow. In fact, God can demonstrate that the wicked will not even obey a simple commandment designed to make them rest and give them pleasure and improve all their relationships.

Adam and Eve had many fruits to choose from but they had to have this one.
God gives us six days of our own and asks for this one. We think we can have it too.