Easter is here, but Passover and First Fruits have passed: Reflections on the Sabbath

Friday 18th April 2014:

Easter is here but both Passover and First Fruits are past, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is now into it's fifth day. Perhaps this is a good time to reflect on the Hellenistic influence with respect to the Sabbath.

“Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.” – Council of Laodicea – Canon 29 in 364 CE

In the Apostle Paul's day 'Judaizers' were not natural-born Jews, but Gentiles who had converted to Judaism and then argued that all Gentiles accepting Yeshua as Messiah should do the same. The Apostle Paul disagreed with this argument.

See my 'Works of the Law' appendix to my book 'Defending the Apostle Paul: Weighing the Evidence'
http://www.amazon.com/Defending-The-Apostle-Paul-Weighing-ebook/dp/B009TLLK0U/

The appendix is here -http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Works%20of%20the%20Law.pdf

Clearly though, in this edict from the Roman Catholic Church in 364 CE (not long after the Council of Nicea – 325 CE), even observing the Sabbath had come to be seen as an action supporting Judaizing. That is, if Christians rested on the Sabbath (the Saturday), they were effectively becoming Jewish, even though the Apostle Paul encouraged Sabbath observance by Gentile followers of Yeshua – see my article on Colossians 2:16 for the details -http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Col%202%20and%20the%20Sabbath.pdf

This surely demonstrates just have far removed this Hellenistic faith now was from its Hebraic roots.

A separation that had begun around 70 CE and was well under-way by 130-140 CE, was now so far from its origins that it leading adherents thought it ok to change the Fourth Word on the 1st Tablet of the Torah, so that the ‘day of rest’ was now to be the first day of the week, a Sunday.

They were also now ignorant that the ‘Lord’s Day’, a phrase used in the Book of Revelation, actually referred to the Day of Master YHVH, not to the first day of the week.

The Protestant churches would like to have us believe that they have rejected the false Hellenistic doctrines introduced by the Roman Catholic church so long ago, but sadly the continuation of the Sunday ‘Sabbath’ indicates clearly that they have not done so.

For a more detailed look at the relevance of the Sabbath, please see my article ‘The Sabbath: A Re-evaluation’ -http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/Col%202%20and%20the%20Sabbath.pdf

Ultimately though, I pray that regardless of what day you may consider the Sabbath, you do at least put aside a day each week to rest from your normal work routine, and to find time to spend in communion with YHVH and His people.

I also pray that as part of your observing the Sabbath you find time to spend with your family, as this is surely one of the 10 most important principles for happiness - seehttp://globaltruthinternational.com/2013/09/27/the-ten-happiness-principles-3/

Shabbat Shalom!