Chapter 89
In what order do the Sabbath and the first day stand in the week?
"In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." Matthew 28:1.
After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Yahushua?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.
What day is the Sabbath "according to the commandment?"
"But the seventh day is the sabbath of Yahuwah thy Eloah: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Exodus 20:10.
NOTE: Nowhere does Scripture make mention of a "New Testament Sabbath" that is independent of the Seventh Day Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
How did the holy women regard the first day of the week?
"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24:1.
What was the custom of Yahushua in regard to the Sabbath?
"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
In predicting the overthrow of Jerusalem, and the necessity of fleeing from Judea before that time, what did He enjoin upon His disciples regarding the Sabbath?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Matthew 24:20.
NOTE: The destruction of Jerusalem was accomplished by the Romans in 70 A.D.; and the Sabbath, therefore, was certainly commanded by Yahushua as late as that period.
What title does Inspiration give to the day on which the Jews met in the synagogues?
"For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." Acts 15:21.
NOTE: The Jews read Moses in the synagogue only on the seventh day, never on the first day. But these days on which they did read Moses, are said in the text to include every Sabbath day.
To whom was Paul especially commissioned to preach?
"But the Master said unto him, Go thy way: for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." Acts 9:15. (Acts 22:21) (Rom. 1:5).
On what day did he and Barnabas go into the synagogue at Antioch?
"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13:14.
After the sermon had been preached by Paul, and the Jews had all left the synagogue, what did the Gentiles request of the apostles?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath." Acts 13:42.
NOTE: This was as late as 45 A.D. The Jews had all left the meeting, and as Paul was the minister to the Gentiles, there was nothing to deter the apostle from announcing a meeting for them on the following day, Sunday, if that was to be the Christian Sabbath [the "New Testament Sabbath"]. But nothing to this effect is said in the text or its connection.
What was the result of this request of the Gentiles?
"And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of Yahuwah." Acts 13:44.
On what day did the women at Philippi hold their prayer meetings?
"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.
What shows that upon his arrival in the city, the apostle waited for the Sabbath before attempting to hold a meeting?
"And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days." Acts 16:12.
What was Paul's customary day for holding religious services?
"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." Acts 17:1-2.
How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?
"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers." Acts 18:1-3.
What did he do on the Sabbath days?
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
How long did he continue this work?
"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of Yahuwah among them." Acts 18:11.
NOTE: Here were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent making during the six work days (including the first day of the week) and he preached upon the Sabbaths. But if we place with these seventy-eight Sabbaths, the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while he held only one on the first day, and that was only a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. (See: "Sunday Sacredness.") There is no mention anywhere in the inspired record of a "New Testament Sabbath" that is independent of the luni-solar Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Master's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet." Revelation 1:10.
Who is Master of the Sabbath?
"Therefore the Son of man is Master also of the sabbath." Mark 2:28.
Who else besides Yahushua claims the Sabbath as His day?
"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 Yahuwah, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." Isaiah 58:13.
Why does Yahuwah call it His day?
"For in six days Yahuwah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Yahuwah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exodus 20:11.
But how did Yahuwah create the world?
"Yahuwah, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." Hebrews 1:1-2.
We can conclusively say with absolute certainty that the "New Testament Sabbath" is synonymous with the Seventh Day Sabbath established at Creation (See: Genesis 2:2-3). There is only one Seventh Day Sabbath ordained by our Heavenly Father and it will be observed by the redeemed throughout all eternity!
"For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me," says Yahuwah, "So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says Yahuwah. (See: Isaiah 66:22-23)
