Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sabbath to Sun-Day

Do you know why the day of Worship for the followers of Yeshua (Jesus) was changed from the Sabbath to Sunday? We are going to spend a few days looking at the change and why it occurred. There are three main verses in the New Testament that are used to justify the change:
1. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2: "Now about the collection for the set-apart people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made."
2. Acts 20: 7-11: "On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. 'Don’t be alarmed,' he said. “He’s alive!” Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left."
3. Revelation 1:10: "On YHVH's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet...."

Regarding the verse in Corinthians, is the verse about the procedure for taking an offering, or about the removal of the Fourth Commandment? Exogesis is "Reading out of the scriptures". Isogesis is "Reading into the scriptures". If you come to the verse in Corinthians with your mind made up that the Fourth Commandment has been changed, you are likely to read into the verse what you want it to say. On the other hand, if you read out of the verse, a different result can be concluded. Paul is giving directions about taking an offering, and nothing more.

Regarding the verses in Acts set forth above, also consider chapter 2:46: "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts...." This verse informs us that the Jerusalem community of believers continued to meet in the Temple. Afterwards, they would go and break bread together. Now, reread verses 7-11. Do the verses actually suggest that the Fourth Commandment has been changed? Or, is the passage about the power of G-d acting through Paul to bring about a physical healing?

Regarding the passage in Revelations, do you read anything that instructs us that the Fourth Commandment has been changed. Regarding YHVH's Day consider Isaiah 13:6,9" 'Wail, for the day of YHVH is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. See, the day of YHVH is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it." Is the "Lord's Day" a substitute for the Sabbath? Perhaps the "Lord's Day" has more to do with the coming of YHVH than a change of the day of worship. Either way, the text does not "read out" a change of the Sabbath. The only way you can reach that interpretation is to read into the passage.

The Sabbath has not been changed. We will examine the reasons for the change over the next few posts.

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