I was first introduced to Adele Ahlberg Calhoun through a book called, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook Practices that Transform Us. Even today, I reference the handbook because it contains a wealth of knowledge about the disciplines. It was through this book I learned an abundance of spiritual disciplines which I practiced until I found the ones that resonated with me. What’s so interesting is that, even as a new Christian, I was already doing some of them. But now, I have a name for them… Spiritual Disciplines. The key: these disciplines truly are “practices that transform” your life and inform your routines.

Fast forward to today, I read through Invitations From God Accepting God’s Offer to Rest, Weep, Forgive, Wait, Remember and More by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. So you know I was excited, especially when it contained the emotions we are going through this year. 

She starts the book off with two of the most thought-provoking statements:

• “Invitations shape who we know, where we go, what we do and who we become. Invitations can challenge and remake us. They can erode and devastate. And they can also heal and restore us. Being wanted, welcomed, invited and included are some of the most mending experiences on the planet.”

 

• “The things we say yes to and the things we say no to determine the terrain of our future.”

Although this book is about invitations, but specifically invitations sent to you by God, it’s through the spiritual disciplines that you recognize these invitations. They allow you to be still, to seek God’s presence, and transform your heart as you hang out with Him. 

Here’s what I mean. There’s a chapter called Invitation to Rest, where Adele shares roadblocks, scriptures, and a description of this invitation. Then she includes a spiritual discipline that she refers to as “practices”. Guess what is the practice for this chapter? Yea, Sabbath. 

I interviewed Adele about the Sabbath because, as you know, I’ve been studying up on this, she shared an unforgettable nugget, “Sabbath is a STOP TIME for busy people.” Whoa… Saints, God’s invited us to STOP WORKING for a day and focus on Him. 

It’s OK to not work every day.

It’s OK to be unproductive, relaxed, lazy, and chilli-out for one day of the week.

Saints, you need to read this book. God is not only inviting us to Sabbath but also to Himself. Begin practicing the spiritual discipline of Sabbath. Spend time with your God. He’s constantly sending you invitations. Don’t let work or selfish desires stand in your way.  

Listen to Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast episode, Sabbath: Free Day or Slave Day, for more of my conversation with Adele Calhoun around the Sabbath and Rest.

For more of my study around the Sabbath, listen to this week’s Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast, on how I practice the Sabbath and the last blog on why I changed my Sabbath from Sunday to Saturday. Shalom!

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Saints, I had every intention of writing this post and simply sharing my different ways of having a Sabbath. Then I thought, “Let’s see how others celebrate the Sabbath, especially the Jews during the Old Testament and compare it to today.” So I did.

What I found was not what I expected. There is a debut that has been brewing ever since the Catholic Church changed the day we practice the Sabbath. Here’s the controversy:

•  Which day is the Sabbath, Saturday (its original day) or Sunday (established by the Catholic Church)?
• And should we celebrate it at all?

A few facts:

•   God established the Sabbath right after he created everything. (Genesis 2:2-3)
•   The Sabbath is a day of rest from work. (Genesis 2:2-3)     
•   “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” written in the Ten Commandments by God’s hand. (Exodus 20:4)
•   Jesus kept the Sabbath. It was his custom. (Mark 2:27-28 and Luke 4:16)
•   Jesus taught on the Sabbath. (Mark 1:21, 6:2 and Luke 4:31, 13:10)       
•    Apostle Paul taught on the Sabbath. (Acts 13:14-15, 42, 44 and Acts 17:2)
•   Jesus died after the Sabbath. Jesus’ resurrection occurred after the Sabbath. (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1 and John 20:1)

Questions that I pondered and researched:

•    If the Sabbath day is to be changed, why didn’t Jesus make that clear to us?
•    Is the day important or making sure, that after 6 days of working to rest, which God calls the Sabbath?
•    What day is actually a Sunday or Saturday, because the calendar has changed so many times throughout             history?     
•   We are taught that midnight is the end of a day and dawn of a new day, but scripture considers sunset the       beginning and ending of a day. So how does that impact when we take part in the Sabbath, or does it?
•   How or why would the actual date that the Old Testament and New Testament people held sacred, Saturday,  a day of rest,     be changed?
•   If I and others are wrong about the Sabbath, what else have I been believing that has been changed by mankind to suit himself?
•  What else is celebrated on Sunday, other than going to church? Do people celebrate pagan gods on this day, so someone thought it would be a good idea to put everyone on the same day focusing on their God?
•   Are the words Sunday or Saturday written in the Bible?
•   A person who works from Wednesday to Monday, can they celebrate the Sabbath on Tuesday because they     worked 6 days?
•   Is not celebrating the Sabbath on Saturday, like the early church, a sin?
•   Can we keep any day as the Sabbath?
•   Is the Bible specific about Saturday as the 7th day and not after 6 days of working, any day, then the next day   should be your Sabbath?
•   Is the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day?
•   Does the Bible say anything about or commanding us to gather on the first day of the week?
•   Why did the Catholic Church agree to change the day?
•   If the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, then why can’t we change the day and keep the 7th day after working 6 days holy?
•   Christ being resurrected after the Sabbath, is that important?
•   When did they take Jesus down off the cross? Was it before the Sabbath?
•   Is there a difference between ceremonial Sabbaths and weekly Sabbaths?

As you can see I had a lot of questions. I know you have a few also. So here is my conclusion, but please, share your comments below. I’d like to hear what you think.

Found during research:

·         Nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about keeping the Sabbath on the first day of the week, the first day being holy, or observing the day of Christ’s resurrection. (Now, that’s another blog) Nor does it command any observances on Sunday. The New Testament believers broke bread every day (Acts 2:26), so how can we say that Sunday is the Sabbath?

 

·        Roman Emperor Constantine I, made a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor. He stated: All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun.

 

·         Ten Commandments: 2 Versions:

The first version from the Bible Exodus 20:1-17

And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 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.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.[c]

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Second Versions from Sunday School classes and other places:

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall make no idols.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Keep the Sabbath day holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet.

 

Do you see the difference?

When you shorten things, you have a tendency to dismiss the importance of the other words. The Lord’s Day is the Sabbath, but according to God, the Israelites, Jesus our Savior and Paul the Apostle they all practice the Sabbath on a Saturday. Here’s the sad part, (I put a link below so you can check it out for yourself.) the Catholic Church stated that the Sabbath is on Saturday but they still changed it to Sunday. 

The Sabbath Day begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. God in Genesis established that the beginning and ending of a day is at sundown. So why did mankind change it? 

These are the keys for me: Genesis 2:3 reads, “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it…;” (Exodus 16:26-29, Exodus 20:10, Ezekiel 22:26); concerning the Gentiles: Ephesians 2: 11-13:19, Isaiah 56:6-7, Matthew 5: 17-19; it was customary for Jesus to keep the Sabbath (Mark 2:26-28); and Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1). He practiced the Sabbath on Saturday.

The change came because the early Christians believed it was more important to celebrate the day Jesus rose from the dead and in doing so combined the Sabbath. The Catholic Church decreed Sunday as the Sabbath which then fell in line with the world’s work day. Then you have Christians going back and forth between Saturday and Sunday, like we do today, until they fell in line with the world’s view of Sunday as a day of rest from work. Then the belief, like I had, “just as long as you have a Sabbath, who cares what day it is?” Saints, this is why studying the Bible for yourself is so important.

How can you take one command out of the commandments and change it? If we change the one, let’s change all of them. Right? No. It’s 10 Commandments and they come as a whole, not pieces. Believers, yes, we DO and SHOULD celebrate the Sabbath. It’s our God-given right!

Enough with the research and hearing what others are saying. I prayed and this is what I believe God gave to me. My conclusion:

• Jesus practice the Sabbath on a Saturday.
• Jesus is the LORD of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8)
• Jesus never said change it.
• Paul the apostle and all Jesus disciples practiced the Sabbath on a Saturday.
• Who am I or man to take one part of the Ten Commandments and change it to meet my needs or the needs of the governing party?
• God established the Sabbath after 6 days of working.
• Today, our calendar has Sunday as the first day of the week and Saturday as the 7th.
• Will I follow Christ, or man? How will my family and church members view my decision if I change my Sabbath to Saturday? Will I be shunned? Who cares? A long time ago, I decided to follow Jesus.
• Jesus disciplines picked and ate corn on the Sabbath because they were hungry.
• God never stated a specific day in the 10 Commandments. He said, “day(s)”.

 

 Now, I know everyone is not going to agree with me. That’s OK. The Sabbath is to be practiced after 6 days of work. Rather your 6 days begin on a Tuesday or a Sunday. Make sure you practice the Sabbath on the 7^th day.  The key isn’t the specific day. The key is 6 days of work. Can anyone tell me the exact day God created the heavens and the earth? Nope. You can speculate, but no one knows. That’s because days weren’t established as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. or whatever symbol was being used during B.C. days.

After saying all that, I changed my Sabbath from Sunday to Saturday. My Sabbath will begin Saturday, September 5, 2020. Why? I want to follow Christ Jesus.

Are you going to keep the Sabbath Day? Are you going to keep it holy on the 7th day after working 6 days of the week, or not? It’s your choice.

Saints, check out the podcast, Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast, episode, “Sabbath:Free Day or Slave Day,” which came out today. Adele Ahlberg Calhoun is speaking on Sabbath and Rest. She’s the author of Spiritual Discipline Handbook Practices that Transform us. Then in two weeks, listen as I share what to do on Sabbath Day. Our day of Rest.

References:

Thetrumpet.com “Did Christ Abolish the Sabbath?”

YouTube: “Should Christians Keep the Sabbath?” The Beat by Allen Parr

YouTube: “Should Christians keep the Sabbath or Sunday?” Unlearn the Lies

YouTube: “The Sabbath Debate with Doug Batchelor and Steve Gregg”

Logos Bible Software: Sabbath

 

Shalom!