Bible Questions and Answers
Published 03.11.2011
My question is about the fourth commandment - the Sabbath. If according to the Bible the seventh day is Saturday, then why do Christians worship God on Sundays and not on Saturdays? If we call our Sundays Sabbaths, then are we going against God's commandment about the Sabbath?
Remember that the Sabbath is a special day. Work six days, but the seventh day is a day of rest in honor of the Lord your God, and therefore no one should work on this day: not you, not your sons and daughters, not your male and female servants. Even your livestock and the strangers living in your cities must not work! For the Lord worked for six days and created the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything in them, but on the seventh day God rested, thereby blessing the Sabbath day, the day of rest, and making it a special day. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Answer:
Why is the seventh day Saturday in the Bible?
Yes, you are right that the seventh day is Saturday. In fact, Saturday is from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. It was so in the Old Testament and so it is in Israel today! But Christians were never commanded to keep the Sabbath, quite the contrary - Colossians 2:16-18.
So let no one dictate what you eat and drink, and also about Jewish customs: how you celebrate holidays, the new moon or the Sabbath day - after all, this is all just a shadow of the future, and the present belongs to Christ. So let none of those who themselves find pleasure in self-abasement and worship of angels condemn you on the basis of what they saw during initiation. Such a person is puffed up with pride without any reason, guided by the mind of his flesh, (Colossians 2:16-18)
I can recommend an excellent book on this topic - Anthony A. Hoekema, "Seventh Day Adventism" (In English). In ancient times, Sunday was a work day (at least in the early second century), so Christians met at dawn and then in the evening after work.
Douglas Jacoby
How to spend Sunday as a Christian
Having established on unshakable grounds the need to celebrate Sunday, we will now talk about how it should be celebrated.
Holiday time is a time of special service to God. And since God especially dwells in the temple, on holidays it is necessary to visit the temple of God.
With what zeal must we respond to the invitation of the Heavenly King, to whom every holiday, every Sunday, with special strength and insistence, the Holy Church calls us to the house of God, where the Heavenly King Himself is present with His grace! “For those people,” says Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, who, out of weakness, out of need, out of duty of obedience during sacred times, are forced to remain in their homes, we must say: at least when they hear the sublime voice of the bell, announcing the high moment of bloodless sacrifice, let them send to the church, a reverent thought, a pious desire, let them sanctify themselves with the sign of the cross, as if together with those standing at the altar; the angel of the temple will meet them and in the distance will number them among those who are really coming and will lift up their memory on the altar of the Lord.”
Returning home from church, a Christian must maintain a prayerful mood here too.
If on weekdays, when a person is entertained by everyday worries and labors, he cannot always devote a lot of time to prayer, which is so necessary for his soul, then on Sundays and holidays he must devote most of his day to this pious and saving activity.
Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh, went to church almost every day for Liturgy and Vespers and sang himself in the choir. He spent nights without sleep and went to bed at dawn.
Prophet David prayed at the beginning of the night, got up to pray at midnight, prayed in the morning, evening and at noon.
Therefore he said: by day of the seven days we praised Thee (Ps. 119:164).
Abba Dula, a disciple of the Monk Vissarion, said: “I entered my elder’s cell and found him standing in prayer; his hands were stretched out to heaven, and he remained in this feat for fourteen days.”
Prayer is a reverent conversation between the human soul and God. On holidays, it is quite decent to have a conversation with people, but, of course, not every conversation, but only about divine objects.
After pious conversations, the soul is filled with holy thoughts, feelings and desires. The mind becomes clearer, brighter; Regret for the poorly spent past penetrates into the heart - the will would like to do only one thing that is pleasing before God.
Oh, that each of us would love to talk and listen more about what concerns God and the soul; then we would not have faith and virtue only in words, but would be the life and property of the heart, of our entire being.
Both conducting soul-saving conversations and reading soul-saving books are equally useful and saving. The Holy Apostle Paul commands his beloved disciple, Bishop Timothy, to read holy and soul-helping books as one of the main means for success in spiritual life. Listen to the reading (1 Tim. 4:13), he writes to him. And the holy fathers, following the Apostle, command everyone to read holy books, as one of the important means to spiritual improvement.
It is especially helpful to read the Holy Scriptures. “If we read the Holy Scriptures with faith,” says St. Basil the Great, “we feel that we see and hear Christ Himself. What needs do we need—who speaks to us through a living voice or through scripture? It's all the same. So in the Holy Scriptures God speaks to us as truly as we speak to Him through prayer.”
It is very useful and soul-saving to do charity on holidays. The Holy Apostle Paul advised the Christians of the Corinthian church to establish a constant collection for the benefit of the needy: do as I established in the churches of Galatia. On the first day of the week (that is, every Sunday - Ed.), let each of you set aside and collect as much as his fortune allows (1 Cor. 16:1-2). Saint John Chrysostom, instilling this commandment in the Christians of Constantinople, says: “Let us build in our house an ark for the poor, which should be located near the place where you stand for prayer. Let everyone put aside the Lord's money at home on Sunday. If we make it a rule for ourselves on Sunday to put something aside for the benefit of the poor, we will not break this rule. A craftsman, having sold one of his works, should bring the firstfruits of the price to God and share this part with God. I don’t ask for much, I just ask you to put aside at least a tenth. Do the same not only when selling, but also when buying. Let all who acquire righteousness observe these rules.”
Ancient Christians lovingly honored holidays with abundant offerings to the church, one part of which went to support church employees and church needs, and the other to help the poor. “These offerings,” says one ancient Christian writer, “serve as a guarantee of piety; because they do not go to feasts, not to drunkenness, not to overeat, but to feed and bury the poor, to boys and girls who have lost their property and parents, to elders who, due to weakness, can no longer leave the house and do work, and also to those who suffered misfortune and were imprisoned for their faith in mines, islands and dungeons.”
Many of the people who were sufficient to honor the holidays themselves distributed generous alms to the poor brethren, fed the hungry, looked after the strange and went to hospitals, trying with words of consolation and various services to alleviate the suffering of the sick. Thus, the writer of the life of St. Martha, talking about how she revered the divine holidays, among other things, says: “she was indescribably merciful to the poor, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Often entering hospitals, serving with your own hands to the sick, giving burial services to those dying from your labors, and also giving white clothes from your handicraft to those being baptized.”
The general custom of ancient Christians was to arrange holiday meals for orphans, strangers and all the poor. In the first times of Christianity, meals of this kind were established at churches and tombs of martyrs; but later they began to be hosted by benefactors only in their own homes. The generosity of some Christians extended to the point that sometimes, due to a large crowd of beggars, they organized several meals one after another on one holiday. Thus, it is known that one Christ-loving brother, named Isaiah, was distinguished by his special charity during the holidays: having created a hospice and a hospital, he tried to give peace to everyone who came to him and served the sick with all zeal: “on Saturdays and on weekdays, two , three and four meals are presented to the poor for the sake of the poor.” If one of your relatives or friends is sick, go to the sick person and console him as best you can. Maybe someone close to your heart is lying in the cemetery. Go to the grave of the deceased, pray for him. Now, on holidays, many churches organize non-liturgical interviews between pastors and people. It's good to visit them too.
This is how a Christian should spend a Sunday or holiday. But is this how we really spend it?
Many Christians, dissatisfied with their constant income, also devote time of sacred rest to their work, thinking through this to increase their wealth. But they are in vain to think so. The Prologue contains such a story.
Two artisans lived nearby, who both practiced the same craft: they were tailors. One of them had a wife, father, mother and many children; but he went to church every day. However, despite the fact that through this he took a lot of time from himself to work at his craft, he sufficiently supported and fed himself and his entire family, thanks to the blessing of God, sought daily for his work and his home. The other devoted too much to his craft, so that often on holidays, which should be dedicated to serving God, he was not in the temple of God, but sat at work, but was not rich and had difficulty feeding himself. So he began to envy the first; One day he couldn’t stand it and asked his neighbor with irritation: “Why is this and how do you get rich? after all, I work harder than you, but I’m poor.”
And he, wanting his neighbor to remember God more often, replied: “Here I am, going to church every day, often finding gold along the way; and little by little I am gaining. If you want, we’ll go to church together, I’ll call you every day; but only divide everything that each of us finds in half.” The poor man believed, agreed, and together they began to visit the temple of God every day, where the soul is involuntarily disposed to prayer and where the grace of God invisibly touches the human heart; The other one soon got used to such a pious custom. But what? God apparently blessed him and his work: he began to get better and get richer. Then the first one to give a good thought admitted to his neighbor: “I didn’t tell you the whole truth before, but what I said for the sake of God and your salvation is of what benefit to your soul and to your property! Believe me, I didn’t find anything on earth, no gold, and I didn’t visit the temple of God because of gold, but precisely because God said: seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6: 33). However, if I said that I found gold, I did not sin: after all, you found it and acquired it.” - Thus, the blessing of the Lord on those who sacredly honor the Lord serves as the best and most reliable accomplice to their labors.
Those who disrespect holy holidays can always suffer God's punishment. After all, having a holiday completely free from work, they are too lazy to even go to the temple of God, and even if they come, they stand in the church of God absent-mindedly, praying carelessly, thinking about how they can spend the holiday more cheerfully. And when they come home, they indulge in unbridled fun.
Of course, there is no sin in innocent pleasures and complete rest from constant work. The Monk Anthony the Great often said to his disciples: “just as one cannot constantly and strongly strain a bow, otherwise it will burst, so a person cannot be constantly under tension, but he also needs rest.” But the best joy for a Christian is in God - therefore, the best joy of a Christian on the day of the holiday should be the joy of reading soul-saving books, conducting pious conversations and performing godly deeds. However, not only is a Christian not prohibited from any reasonable entertainment on this day, such as visiting any museum or exhibition, visiting relatives or friends, etc., but these healthy and useful entertainments are even strongly recommended. But it is completely inconsistent with the holiness of Sunday to indulge in drunkenness, sing disorderly songs and indulge in excesses of all kinds. Saint John Chrysostom says: “The holiday is not for us to commit outrages and multiply our sins, but to cleanse those that we have.”
Once the Lord God, through the mouth of His prophet, spoke to the Jews, who spent their holidays in the service of one sensuality: My soul hates your holidays (Is. 1:14). This is a scary word. Let us fear the wrath of God, let us spend the holidays holy, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor sensuality and debauchery, nor quarrels and envy (Rom. 13:13), but let us spend the holidays in purity and righteousness.
Why do Christians meet on Sundays?
I noticed that He blessed this day. Why? We hold Christian meetings on Sundays, as I understand it, this tradition came to us from Catholicism? Can you help me understand this issue? And why do Seventh-day Adventists keep the Sabbath day?
Answer:
Let me make a few comments first before I answer. The Catholic Church was not the pioneer of Sunday worship. We all know from church history that from the very beginning the church met on Sundays. It was known as the eighth day. This worship is mentioned in Revelation 1:10, where John calls Sunday “the Lord's day.”
Synodal translation:
I was in the spirit on Sunday , and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet, which said: I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last; (Revelation 1:10)
Modern translation:
On the day of the Lord the Spirit took possession of me, and I heard a loud voice behind me, like the sound of a trumpet. (Revelation 1:10)
Christian literature is united in the fact that it considers Sunday to be “the Lord’s day.” Acts 20:7 provides more biblical evidence. Paul worshiped with the church on the first day of the week. This does not give us evidence that this was a major day of worship, but it certainly suggests it.
God sanctified the seventh day. He also commanded sacrifices. Jesus did not break the Law of Moses, but fulfilled it - Matthew 5:17. We are no longer obligated to keep the Sabbath, including Sunday for that matter - Colossians 2:16-19.
From a Christian perspective this is a simple question. Because of His righteous life, through sacrifice for us, Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law - Matthew 5:17-18. So we are free from the Law. We are not obligated to follow the Law of Moses. We are not subject to it. Including instructions about the Sabbath. This is the clear teaching of the entire New Testament. For example, see Mark 7:14-19, where Jesus Christ said that we are free from what goes into us, but are more responsible for what comes out.
It is often stated that "God instituted the Sabbath in Eden" because of the connection between the Sabbath and creation in Exodus 20:11. Although God's "rest" on the seventh day (Genesis 2:3) predetermined the future Sabbath law, the Bible does not record a Sabbath before the exodus of the descendants of Israel from Egypt. Nowhere in Scripture is there any hint that the Sabbath was kept from Adam to Moses.
The Word of God makes it clear that keeping the Sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel: “Moses went up to God on the mountain, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou speak to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians. , and how I bore you, as it were, on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Me; Therefore, if you will obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you will be My own possession above all nations, for the whole earth is Mine” (Exodus 19:3-5). “And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, keeping the Sabbath throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant; This is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever, because in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:16-17).
In Deuteronomy 5, Moses restates the Ten Commandments for the subsequent generation of Israelites. Here, after the instruction to keep the Sabbath in verses 12-14, he explains why the Sabbath was given to the nation of Israel: “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, because and the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day and to keep it holy” (Deuteronomy 5:15). Notice the word “because.” God's intention in instituting the Sabbath for Israel was not for them to remember creation, but rather to remember their slavery in Egypt and the Lord's deliverance. Note also the requirements for keeping the Sabbath: a person under the Sabbath law could not leave his home on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:29), he could not light a fire (Exodus 35:3), and he could not force anyone to work (Deuteronomy 5:14 ). Those who transgressed the Sabbath law were to die (Exodus 31:15; Numbers 15:32-35). When studying the New Testament texts, four important points are obvious:
1. Whenever the risen Christ appears and when a day is mentioned, it is always the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1, 9-10; Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1, 13, 15; John 20:19, 26) .
2. The only time the Sabbath is mentioned, from the book of Acts to Revelation, is associated with the evangelization of the Jews and this happened in the synagogue (chapters 13-18 of Acts). Paul wrote, “I became as a Jew to the Jews, that I might win the Jews” (1 Corinthians 9:20). Paul did not go to the synagogue for the fellowship and instruction of the saints, but to convince and save the lost.
3. From the moment Paul said, “from now on I go to the Gentiles” (Acts 18:6), the Sabbath is no longer mentioned.
4. Instead of commanding the Sabbath, the rest of the New Testament implies the opposite (including the only exception to the previous point, found in Colossians 2:16).
Looking more closely at point 4, it can be seen that Sabbath keeping is not required of the New Testament believer, and also that defining the resurrection as the “Christian Sabbath” is unbiblical. As stated above, the Sabbath is mentioned only once after Paul began his ministry among the Gentiles: “Let no one therefore judge you in food, or in drink, or in any festival, or in the new moon, or in the Sabbath: these are a shadow of things to come; and the body is in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). Christ abolished the Jewish Sabbath on the cross, “blotting out the handwriting that was against us, which was against us” (Colossians 2:14).
In the New Testament this idea is repeated several times: “One distinguishes day from day, and another judges every day equally. Everyone act according to the evidence of his own mind. He who distinguishes the days distinguishes for the Lord; and he who does not discern the days does not discern for the Lord” (Romans 14:5-6). “Now, having come to know God, or, better yet, having received knowledge from God, why do you return again to the weak and poor material principles and want to enslave yourself to them again? You observe days, months, times and years” (Galatians 4:9-10).
However, some people claim that the Sabbath was "changed" to Sunday by decree of Emperor Constantine in 321 AD. On what day did the Early Church meet for worship? Scripture never mentions any Sabbath service for believers. At the same time, there are unambiguous texts that mention the first day of the week. For example, Acts 20:7 states, “On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread...” In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers: “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay aside and store up, as much as his fortune allows." Since Paul defines giving as “ministry” in 2 Corinthians 9:12, this collection must have referred to the Sunday service of Christians. Historically, Sunday, not Saturday, was the usual day for Christians to gather in church, and this has been the practice since the first century.
The Sabbath was given to Israel, not to the church. The Sabbath is still the same Sabbath, not Sunday, and has never been changed. But the Sabbath is part of the Old Testament law, and Christians are free from its bonds (Galatians 4:1-26; Romans 6:14). Sabbath keeping is not required of Christians, whether it be Saturday or Sunday. The first day of the week, Sunday, glorifies the New Creation with Christ, our risen Head. We are not obligated to follow the Sabbath of Moses, but are free to serve the risen Christ. The Apostle Paul said that each Christian must decide individually whether to keep the Sabbath: “One distinguishes one day from another, and another judges every day alike. Let everyone act according to the evidence of his own understanding” (Romans 14:5). We must worship God daily, not just on Saturday or Sunday.
Christians are not required to keep the Old Testament Sabbath
In Colossians 2:13-19, the Apostle Paul says that Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath or any of the Old Testament laws. Paul says that no one is obligated to keep the Sabbath, but he also says that if someone wants to keep it for their own reasons, there is nothing wrong with that. The person who claims that worship on Sunday is wrong, unlike the Sabbath, is not very well versed in the New Testament.
Sunday worship is not the Old Testament Sabbath. Nowhere in the New Testament is this mentioned. We know from early Christian history that the early church worshiped on Sunday. You can read this from all the writers of the first centuries (Clement, Polycarp, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin Martyr, and dozens of others). This was the first day, sometimes called the “eighth day” or “day of the Lord” (Revelation 1:10).
