SUNDAYS AND SABBATHS

Saturday is a day of rest and worship for most religions, but for almost all of Christianity, it is a day of work. Either you work at a paid employment position, or you devote the day to cleaning, grocery shopping, and running errands. It is as though Christians have made a concerted effort to ensure that Saturday is filled with as much work-related activity as possible. That the days of formal worship differ for the various religions is irrelevant to God because true worship occurs everyday. Whether the congregation meets as a body on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday or Saturday is merely a matter of custom, preference, and/or convenience, except for the Israelites for whom it is a command from God that they worship as a body on the seventh day.

The Old Testament indicates that the Sabbath rest should be on Saturday, the seventh day, because God completed his creation of the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. However, the command was meant to commemorate the future Sabbath rest for the earth, the one thousand years of Christ's millennial reign after six thousand years of work, toil and turmoil. The one thousand years is to be a time of rest for the earth, a time when peace would reign, and the pursuit of righteousness would replace the enslavement to sin and death. Others may wish to join in that commemoration of the seventh-day Sabbath, but the Israelites were specifically tasked with being the "placeholder" for that future Sabbath rest. It is similar to placing a mark on the calendar on a day in the future when you expect to be married. God never intended that we view every Saturday, the seventh day of the week, as being imbued with a magical quality such that any physical activity on that day would invoke his wrath. Nor does the command to remember the Sabbath preclude a person or a church from worshipping on any other day of the week.

The Old Testament records instances in which someone was severely punished for violating the Sabbath command. The Israelites understood the seriousness of God's command that they commemorate God's day of rest as well as the future Sabbath by a weekly remembrance every seventh day of the week. Otherwise, the fickleness of human nature would by now have rendered the coming Sabbath nugatory. It is because the Sabbath was deemed an inviolable command that we now know with certainty that the Lord will fulfill his promise of a Sabbath rest for the earth in the seven thousandth year after creation. That hope for a better tomorrow has enabled us to triumph over past trials and tribulations. Its enabling power will continue until the millennial reign begins. We are on the cusp of the beginning of that seven thousandth year.

Scientists may have difficulty believing that the elements of creation are only approximately six thousand years old. They would experience less difficulty if they were to separate and draw a distinction between the age of the earth itself, and the actual timing of the creation process. There is little controversy over the fact that prior to creation the earth existed as formless and empty, perhaps for tens of millions of years. Although humans and animals were created from the earth's dust and water and thus, are expected to reflect that age, the actual creation process occurred much more recently--approximately six thousand years ago, according to the Bible. It is equivalent to separating the age of a plot of land from the date on which a building was constructed on the land, or the date on which a tree was planted.

When you read about or engage in discussions regarding evolution versus creation, refuse to allow them to undermine your hope. Refuse also to become embroiled in discussions about which day of the week is the proper Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day, but worship can occur on any day. Meet with the body of disciples to worship the Lord every day if possible, or any day you choose. No one will be required to change their day of worship if they choose to become a disciple of Jesus. Although you may not have a full and complete understanding of every detail, focus instead on putting the Bible to the test by implementing its principles for a week, a month or a year. You have nothing to lose except one week, one month, or one year in which you have rested from being self-piloted, and from living in accordance with society's views and values. Given the average life-span, if you ultimately decide that you prefer life as it was, without God in control, you easily can reclaim your former life. You should know that in doing so, you will be making a final decision as to your spiritual fate (Hebrews 6:4-8).