When is the beginning of a new week
Satan’s
quest to divert attention to himself and claim the honor and the glory that is
due to God is not only expressed in the time one begins a new day but it is also
evident in the time one begins a new week, a new month and a new year. Many people
consider these things to be trivial but they are not because, they attribute to
God the glory and honor due to His name as the Creator. For example;
·
The
weekly Sabbath
The
seventh day of the week is and will always remain as the seventh day of the
week and has been designated by the Creator as the day of rest, for it is
written; “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were
finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed
the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work
which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:1-3).
Here
one can see clearly the rationale and objective for the seventh day of the
week, it is a time that God has sanctified or set apart as a memorial of the
creation. In giving the commandments to Moses the Lord reminded him by saying;
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all
your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you
shall do no work: you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or
your female servant, or your cattle, or your stranger who is within your gates.
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that
is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath
day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
The
seventh day therefore, is a perpetual sign between God and His people in memory
of the creation, for the Lord spoke to Moses saying; “Speak also to the
children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a
sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I
am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it
is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for
whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his
people.’
“Work
shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the
LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to
death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant” It
is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the
LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was
refreshed "(Exodus 31:13-17).
Please
note carefully that, the seventh day Sabbath is a perpetual covenant and a sign
between the Lord and His people forever. The Lord also spoke to the prophet
Ezekiel saying; “Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between
them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
I am the LORD your God:
Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and
they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD
your God” (Ezekiel 20:12, 19-20).
The
seventh day Sabbath is still applicable today for God’s people as alluded to by
the apostle Paul who wrote; “For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would
not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for
the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from
his works as God did from His. Let us
therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the
same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:8-12).
Now
avoid making the mistake in believing that this is only applicable to the Jews
and not to Gentiles because we have been duly admonished saying; “Therefore
receive one another (Jews and Gentiles), just as Christ also received us, to
the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision
for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the
Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this
reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name."
And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!" And again:
"Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples" (Romans
15:7-11).
It
will also continue into the future for we have been duly admonished saying; “For
as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before
Me," says the LORD, "So shall your descendants and your name remain.
And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one
Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the
LORD” (Isaiah
66:22-23).
Now,
it is an abomination to appear before the Lord on days which His has not
appointed, for thus says the Lord; “To what purpose is the multitude of your
sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt
offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of
bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, Who has
required this from your hand, to trample My courts?’
“Bring
no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the
Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies --- I cannot endure iniquity and the
sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They
are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your
hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will
not hear. Your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:11-15).
I therefore beg to ask the question, why the majority of us who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ do not rest on the seventh day, but instead rest on the first day of the week? Who are we honoring and glorifying? Is there partiality with God? Where did the custom and tradition of worshiping on a Sunday come from? What is the rationale and objective for worshiping on that day? Whom or what does this day commemorate?
The onus is on every individual to examine him/herself as to whether we are in the faith, we are to test ourselves because at the end of it all, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account to God, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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