The Seventh-Day Sabbath carries more than either acknowledging or refuting its significance. Do Sabbath-keepers carry sinister motives, when considering obeying God’s commandments? Jesus was silent about keeping or not keeping the Sabbath, except doing God’s work. He categorically stated that He did not come to abolish God’s Laws. Denouncing the Commandments keepers cannot make anyone smarter.
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19 NIV).
Nothing is wrong with Jewish Sabbath-keeping. However, duplicating should be epitomized by understanding, when effectively applying God’s Laws. God’s Commandments are relevant, as encourage good human relations. It is impossible to love God, before showing love to fellow men.
Nevertheless, the Seventh-Day Sabbath-keeping requires understanding. Scriptures reveal approximately seven thousand years of God working with men, starting with Adam. The Biblical account is not necessarily a scientific description of a weekly creation. The weekly creation serves as a parabolic communication to humanity.
This world is a product of God’s creation, but excluding humanity, in that worldly creative pattern. Humans are fundamentally, spiritual, although currently worldly. Marvellous as this world appears to be, it carries nothing compared to the masterpiece of the human creation.
The weekly creative pattern, culminating in the Sabbath rest carries something more profound than humans have ever imagined. God’s Kingdom is not governed by the material universe. This world requires force, before accessing power. God’s Kingdom requires weakness, epitomized in humility, to access power.
The condition of accessing worldly power can be observed in animal kingdoms, portraying the survival of the fittest. This world in its crudest conditions is governed by those able to exercise force, on others. The idea of servitude does not appeal. Hence, Jesus said, that when desiring greatness, one must be willing to serve. But the message was not directed to the living patterns of this world. Before God’s Kingdom, the Son of Man comes with His saints, to exercise force:
“To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like potter—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:26-28 NIV).
The above Scripture refers to the establishment of the throne of David by the Son of Man, typical of this world. Satan would have been banished when the Son of Man enforces His authority on humanity. This portrays the narration in Revelation 20:3-10. Jesus and His saints will enforce authority over nations. But that will be a worldly Kingdom, before God’s Kingdom, that comes afterwards.
Other than focusing on the Sabbath’s rest, examining the significance of six days of human labour, is necessary. The entire Biblical account reveals God’s plan of salvation for humanity. The one-week pattern, ending with a seventh-day Sabbath, portrays something more profound than imagined. Hopefully, this submission will not be adopted as another platform for inflaming Sabbath-keeping controversies.
This is outside the idea of confirming or denouncing the Sabbath-keeping doctrine. There is a six-day term, whose significance, even the Sabbath-keepers may have not appreciated. This is what this article seeks to expose and help objective thinkers. In figurative terms, the seven-day-week can be substituted for Peter’s communicative utterance: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).
The seven-day-week shadows a seven-thousand-year period, according to Peter’s rendition. However, let me hasten to reiterate that the seven-thousand-year citation, should not and is not necessarily in agreement with scientific expositions. With the Lord, even trillions of years could be implied. Time is not necessarily of significance when looking at things from God’s point of view. But these Scriptural references are parabolic, serving to communicate hidden information to those captivated to understand God’s plan of salvation.
As workable on the provable millennial weekly citation, these represent Biblical dispensations. When adopting a day for a thousand years, the entire Bible communicates God’s hidden ideas. The first dispensation started with Adam and ended with Noah’s flood. Noah and his family were saved, to start a new civilization.
The first millennial day is from Adam to Noah. There are latitudes, at the beginning and ending of dispensations, leaving no specificity. The first carried pockets of goodness in people like Abel, Seth and Enoch. The first and second dispensations are linked by Noah’s descendants, culminating in the Babylonian civilization.
As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
But THE LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city (Genesis 11:2-8 NIV).
The above civilization marks the second day of the millennial week. It is not difficult to understand God’s decision to curtail the Babylonian civilization. The human civilization could not have lasted this far, had God sanctioned their nefarious ideas. Misinformed as humanity is; the current world nuclear stockpiles confirm what possibly happens without God’s intervention.
From the Babylonian civilization, God sought to work with Abraham, whose account is well-known in Biblical stories. Abraham was used to plot a third dispensation, leading to Jesus’ birth and crucifixion. From Abraham to Jesus’ birth is estimated two thousand years, depicting the Law and the prophets. Jesus’ death facilitated the setting up of a fourth dispensation, whose initiation followed Jesus’ departure.
Jesus’ death, took place in the middle of the millennial week, remaining in the grave for three days. Jesus was resurrected on the Sabbath end, establishing the significance of being in the grave for three days and three nights. Jesus would not have suggested a seventy-two-hour period, if unimportant. When substituting a thousand years for a day, God’s Kingdom was suspended, for three thousand years, after Jesus’ death, before the resurrection of humanity.
Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:38-40 NIV).
Incredible to some, could be the citation of the publication by one of the most disgraced Christian figures of the 20th Century. His name was Hebert W Armstrong, whose publication, “Resurrection was not on Sunday” has since been relegated to obscurity. However, there was infallible truth in that publication. Many of Armstrong’s teachings were erroneous, which caused many to discard everything he taught.
Not everything that Armstrong taught was erroneous. Which human figure, other than Jesus, could be infallible? Critical analysis reveals that even the first apostles committed errors. The focus should never be on physical humans, but on information, whether truthful or not. Humans should never be judged where God is involved. The apostle Paul mentioned something dismissed by most people and yet highly effective.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).
An objective reviewer discovers peculiar truths from every Christian grouping. There are truths in Catholicism, which also carries glaring falsehoods. There are also truths among the Adventists, just as erroneous in some of their doctrinal beliefs. Any Christian grouping possesses truth, alongside erroneous teachings.
In Christianity, worrying about plagiarizing is unnecessary. Jesus’ information is the source, codified in the New Testament. A truthful person cannot claim to be better than others. The so-called rivals could cover much ground in advancing Christianity if truthfully focused. This includes a willingness to discard erroneous teachings.
Jesus’ burial lasted for three days. Approximately, two thousand years have passed since Jesus’ resurrection. This shadows two days of Jesus’ internment in the grave. Jesus’ first millennial day suggests the Dark Ages, from the fifth to the fourteenth century. The duration is estimated as 900 years by historians. But the duration encompasses Jesus’ murder.
The current Christian dispensation projects the preparation day, before the millennial weekly Sabbath. This confirms the Sabbath-day, after which Jesus rose from the grave substituting a thousand years for a day. The millennial Sabbath, after which Jesus rose from the grave, typifies the resurrection of the entire humanity, before Judgment Day. This one-thousand-year period was cited by the apostle John as covered in Revelation 20.
We are currently on the final stages of the one-thousand-year Christian dispensation. The prophetic Messianic role will be experienced during Jesus’ one-thousand-year reign. God’s Kingdom would have not been established, even during Christ’s millennial reign. The Lord’s Day denotes the weekly Sabbath, without God’s Kingdom. The anticipated Judgment Day comes last:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:31-34 NIV).
The above Scripture refers to the massive resurrection of the entire humanity, after which the planetary end is projected. The weekly plan, ending with the Sabbath, does not project creative activities, afterwards. The physical world ends after the final judgment. God’s Kingdom will not be associated with anything in this world.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:1 NIV).
Jesus was killed for declaring being God’s Son. That declaration invited the death penalty. Hence, Jesus effectively annulled our death penalty, opening the way to God’s Kingdom. Willing humans can now be safely identified as God’s Children. The significance of human potential, fundamentally, caused Jesus’ death, yet being true.
God’s Kingdom is spiritual, while worldly Kingdoms, ending with the Lord’s Day, are physical. After the Lord’s Day, the apostle John highlights the end of God’s enemies, including Satan. But what is more appetizing is the millennial Sabbath rest, now around the corner. The world is under control, for those who have established their relationships with the captain of our salvation.
The millennial Seven-Day-week can be pinned on: 1) Adam’s Garden of Eden incident. 2) Noah’s disastrous flood. 3. Abraham’s calling. 4) Jesus’ crucifixion. 5) Dark ages. 6) Christian dispensation. 7) Jesus’ Second Coming, before the final Judgment, marking the establishment of God’s eternal Kingdom.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99
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