Sabbath or Sunday?

QUESTION: What is it, Sabbath or Sunday? ANSWER: 1. The celebration of the Sabbath is a sign that God has given specifically to Israel (Exodus 31:13,17). The Sabbath commandment in the “ten words” applies only to the people whom God delivered “from the house of bondage of Egypt” (Ex.20:1). It is not for mankind, in general. 2. In Lev.23, two ‘high days’ are described which are to be observed on “the day after the weekly Sabbath” (=Sunday). For both of these, no date is given, but only the day of the week: a. the day of the Wave Sheaf (Lev.23: 11); b. the “feast of weeks” after the seventh Sabbath (Lev.23: 15,16). The Lord Jesus Christ rose on the day of the Wave Sheaf: on the day after the Sabbath and the first day of the period in which they would count seven Sabbaths. More info 3. Since the days of the apostle Paul, Israel as a nation, is temporarily put on the sidelines (Rom.11:12,15) and God gathers a people from the Gentiles (Acts.15:14). Amongst these people there is no priority for the Jew, and the “law of commandments, contained in ordinances” is inoperative (Eph.2:15). In the Ecclesia, therefore, there should not be any judging of one another concerning matters of food and drinks (whether or not they are kosher), of a new moon or of a Sabbath (Col.2:16) or of any ritual. 4. Of Israel “are the covenants and the law” (Rom.9:4.5). In the future, when the new covenant for them will come into force, the law will function in a new way. It will then no longer be a burden but a joy, from the heart (Jer 31:33). During the Messianic kingdom, the Sabbath will count as a day of rest (Isa.66:23).　 5. The Sunday commandment, as it has been taught in Christendom since the days of Emperor Constantine, is the result of a hopeless confusion of different issues. Instead of rightly distinguishing what is important, they have mixed up Sabbath and Sunday, Israel and the Ecclesia, old and new covenant, and law and grace. ——————————— translation: Peter Feddema

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