I am the Lord thy God and I have given you ten basic rules to live by - the fifth is to rest on the Sabbath and keep it holy - but my Bible and virtually every word in it is so vague and open to interpretation that you will have to make a best guess as to whether the Sabbath falls on a Saturday or a Sunday - or any of the other five actually - since Adam would have had to have kept a running total of sevens since the first sabbath and that of course would have had to have been faithfully kept by a descendent ever since - and I know of no such running total - if it were possible to determine the proper day of the week - then how EXACTLY would we go about HONORING it - and not to put too fine a point on it - what exactly does REST mean and how does it apply to firemen, police, and hospital workers - just to name a few. I think a few of you will think you have an exact answer to all these questions that arise in my mind over just a very few words (the fifth commandment) - I think many more - devout Christians and others as well - will not be able to answer these questions for themselves with any degree of certainty even after having read the fifth commandment - there are well over 700,000 words in the KJV of the Bible - If the Bible is the inspired word of God - the creator of the universe and all the life and complexity that that contains - why would his BEST EFFORT at conveying only one of the ten rules we are commanded to live by be so vague, contrary, and open to interpretation - Keep in mind that our ETERNAL salvation or damnation depends upon being able to guess the proper meaning of all 700,000+ words - not just the few given in the fifth commandment.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Confusion in just the fifth commandment and implications
- Thread starter TomW1948
- Start date
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
There are actually 613 Commandments given by God as found in Torah (see: http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm ), which obviously includes the Ten Commandments, but only those who are Jewish are obligated to keep them.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
What makes you think that the seventh day has to be the same day of the week for everyone?
I notice the Bible does not say "work Monday through Saturday and rest on Sunday"
It says work six, rest one.
So if your six are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and you rest on Tuesday, you are keeping the Sabbath.
As for what "rest" is, it is that which you do not consider work.
roger1440
I do stuff
My guess is, if the readers didn't know what day of the week the "seventh day" was the author would have explained it.
"For God is not the author of confusion..." (1 Corinthians 14:33) King James Version
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Who said they're "unimportant"? And why do consider that "strange"? Did you notice the link I provided you, plus what the implication of that is? Why would you emphasize the Decalogue but then ignore the remaining 603?
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
Let me just mention that the consensus amongst biblical scholars is that the main Christian observance of a "day of rest" was moved from Saturday to Sunday at some time during the 2nd century, whereas they had been meeting communally for the "agape meal", which is mentioned in the "Didache". Since Gentiles are not required to observe the Mosaiic Law, and since the church became overwhelmingly Gentile, there was no theological problem for them to make the switch.
roger1440
I do stuff
The ten commandments are just as unimportant as the American flag is unimportant to non-Americans or the Canadian national anthem is unimportant to non-Canadians, etc...
People who study the laws will often say they are intended to teach love and unity. The Sabbath is (probably) one day out of each seven set aside for that purpose. Most of us are not keeping the laws, but there are songs in the book Psalms that express how people living by the laws feel about the laws. Its a window into why Jesus would say that they are about love. In particular Psalm 19 is just a song that talks about how nice it is for these people with these laws, living in their country. The Sabbath is a day set aside where all of the busy life and every thing non-essential is put aside. As for which day is the sabbath, it just means '7th day'. I would assume (though can't say for sure) that if someone were to fail to keep the 7th that they would immediately take a Sabbath, then start counting again or take the next sabbath that everyone else was taking around them.
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
Most Christian churches admit that they worship on the first day of the week ( Sunday ). They say the day was changed from Saturday to Sunday because Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday. But God said to observe the seventh day because He worked six days in creating the universe and rested on the seventh. The commandment is saying to remember the seventh day because that is the day God rested and He want people to also rest on that day. It was man's idea to change it to the first day of the week, not God's and those who observe Sunday as a "sabbath" are breaking the commandment. You do not get to pick what day is your "sabbath" God already picked.
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
Well if you read the commandment it says you should work six days and rest on the seventh. So if every day is the sabbath then when do you work? The whole point is to remember the day God rested after working six days. It has nothing to do with remembering every day.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
Please show from scripture that states the Sabbath is Sunday.
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
The Sabbath is NOT Sunday. That is an invention of churches. God worked six days and rested the seventh day ( Saturday ). God wants us to remember that seventh day.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
Please show from scripture that states the Sabbath is Saturday.
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
Saturday is the seventh day and God rested on the seventh day and wants people to remember that day. Scriptures do not use the name Saturday but only the seventh day which is Saturday.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
So all you got to go on is the term "seventh day"?
So I can just as easily argue that the "seventh day" is Wednesday, right?
I mean, it isn't like the scriptures revealed which day of the week is the "seventh day", you are merely proclaiming Saturday to be the "seventh day". right?
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
Have you looked at a calendar recently> The first day of the week is Sunday and the seventh is Saturday. Many churches worship on the first day of the week and will say this is true. I do not think there is anyone who thinks the first day of the week is Tuesday or Wednesday, etc. Please give any source thar says the first day is any other than Sunday.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
What do you have from scripture to support your claim that Saturday is the "seventh day"?
YOU claim that the "seventh day" is Saturday, not me.
I have been trying to get you to support your claim using scripture.
You have failed to do so.
Why is that?
lostwanderingsoul
Well-Known Member
You have not supported your claim that Saturday is not the seventh day. Again, look at a calendar.