Chapter One

Does It Really Matter Which Day You Observe?

If you were to take a close look at all the many religious organizations in the world today, you would be amazed at all the differing methods, practices and ways in which the populace of the world worship their god(s). In the Christian religious organizations the practices of worship are as divergent as the number of the differing religions.

Why? Why do those who claim to be Christian (Christian means followers of Christ) have so many different ideas of just how the Almighty God should be worshipped? To take a close look at their divergent practices, you would have to ask the questions: are they all reading the same Holy Scriptures? And are they really trying to be followers of Jesus Christ—true Christians? Their conflicting false practices and beliefs testify that they are not.

One vitally important issue is that of the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. Most professing Christians today accept Sunday as the day to observe as the New Testament “Lord’s Day.” Are they right? Is Sunday the true Seventh Day Sabbath? Moslems observe Friday and claim that, that day is the proper day of worship. The 7^th Day Baptists, 7^th Day Adventist, Jews and others claim that Saturday is the true Sabbath. Did God command us to keep Saturday holy? Some religionists keep no day at all.

Who is right?

Which religious organization actually is obeying God’s command in Exodus 20: 8 to “Remember the Sabbath to KEEP IT HOLY?” And for that matter, does it really make any difference?

Some religious organizations boldly claim that observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is still required. They insist that the failure to keep it holy is sin—and that the punishment for that sin is eternal death, unless repented of!

Are they right?

YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS VITALLY IMPORTANT MATTER. YOUR ETERNAL LIFE AND RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD MIGHT WELL BE AT STAKE!

You should look into this matter seriously and find out if you are truly obeying God. Examine it and be sure of what you need to do. Never just ASSUME that what you have been told is the truth of the matter. Look into it for yourself, because it is you who will have to answer to God for what you practice in the conduct of your life. Practice wisdom and get all the facts and then act on what you learn from those facts. IT’S DANGEROUS TO CARELESSLY ASSUME THINGS TO BE SO, WITHOUT ACTUALLY PROVING THEM SO. We are told to “PROVE ALL THINGS” (1 Thessalonians 5:20), and certainly something that may involve living forever or eternal death is something that you should really be certain of.

There was great controversy during the first four centuries of the Christian era concerning the Sabbath/Sunday conflict. Throughout history many have been tortured and even put to death over this serious question.

In order for us to have a proper understanding of this vital matter, we must first get a full over-view of the subject. I am sure that many of you will remember how the late Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong told us that he was challenged by his wife concerning the Sabbath. She claimed that she had found in the Bible that the true Sabbath was to be observed from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday. Mr. Armstrong told us about how he spent night and day studying the Bible, trying to find proof that his wife was wrong about that. In his night and day study of God’s word, he came to realize that his wife was right and that, indeed, the vast majority was wrong. All of us should practice that same zeal and eagerness to learn the real truth.

Some people might reason that since the Bible was written so long ago, it doesn’t apply to us today. After all, we live in a completely different world now, different than it was in ancient times. Since we live in modern times shouldn’t we adjust our worship practices to “fit in” with this “modern” world? We can reason around any subject given and rationalize a need to conform to a more “modern” way. However, we will have to give an account to God for every word uttered and every deed done in the conduct of our lives. Wouldn’t it be wise to make absolutely sure that you are at least trying to do what you are commanded, and doing it in a manner in which God commanded you. You can certainly reason your way right into eternal death, while all the while being convinced and assured in your own mind that you are headed for eternal life. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25)

Some have reasoned, “Hasn’t time been lost? How do we know which day is the Sabbath today? How do we know if the seventh day today is the same day as in ancient times? And even if the day is the same, how can a world that has become so organized around the Sunday worship practice, keep the seventh day anyway? It would require the whole world to make drastic changes to their conduct of life. It would be virtually impossible to observe the seventh day in today’s world.” Although that reasoning might sound good, it still doesn’t excuse disobedience to the Sabbath command. We are still required to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy.”

The vast majority of the world has chosen to make Monday their first day of the week and Sunday the seventh day. Are they right? Or is the vast majority wrong and thereby disobeying the Sabbath command?

Ironic as it may sound, we live in a world where the established Christian religious organizations “make a pretense” of observing Sunday as a day of worship, when in reality, most of them do not truly observe any day at all in the true Biblical sense. Some may angrily respond, “so what! It doesn’t make any difference as long as we accept Jesus in our hearts and believe in Him!”

My friend, it DOES MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD and you need to know and understand that. Your eternal life depends on the real truth of the matter and not on what is carelessly assumed or taken for granted.

Is there a Supreme Authority, having the absolute power of life and death over our eternal destiny? If so, did He set forth laws, statutes and judgments and command us to keep them? Can we turn to Him to get the right answers to the questions that we have? Does this Supreme Authority have the power to declare and enforce the right answer? Be very careful that you prove what you believe!

By what authority do Christians observe Sunday? Do you know who decreed Sunday worship and made it so? Is there, after all, any authority or proof to support Friday or Sunday worship? What about those who observe no day at all? By what authority do they practice what they believe? You have the free moral agency to believe what you want to believe, but that does not excuse you or make what you believe right. As for me, I prefer to believe what God has decreed and by His authority practice what He says.

Some do not even believe there is a God. But if there were no God - if we leave God out of the picture - then it would not make any difference. It would certainly be hard to imagine how anyone could rationalize in their own mind, how it would make any difference which day is observed, or if any day is observed at all, if there wasn’t any Supreme Authority. The whole issue would become pointless, to say the least, without a Supreme Authority on the matter.

However, if there were a Supreme Authority for what you believe, wouldn’t it be the prudent thing, to carefully observe what that Supreme Authority has decreed? If He exists should we NOT DEVIATE FROM WHAT HE HAS SET FORTH AND COMMANDED. It is a vitally important matter to make sure you know what the Supreme Authority has commanded, and make sure that you practice His commands in the spirit and the letter.

First, you should prove to yourself the very existence of God beyond doubt.

He does exist and He is very real. You can easily prove His existence. He IS the Supreme Authority, whether mankind wants Him to be or not. God created man. Man did not create God—although up through time man has created his own versions of false gods, and there certainly are many of them.

The Almighty God set in motion living, inexorable, invisible laws. God’s laws are living, active and on going for all eternity. They do not depend on mankind realizing their existence. They continue despite mankind’s ignorance of them. And they affect the lives of everyone, whether they know it or not.

The Eternal God has the power of life and death. It is by Him that your fate is being determined for all eternity! And it should be extremely important to you that you make sure that you are striving to do exactly as He says—without deviation, and with zeal, so that your fate can have the best possible outcome. And that is why it DOES make all the difference in the world WHO, WHAT and HOW you believe and practice what you do. Therefore, we should search the scripture to determine “who is the Supreme Authority”. Then we can properly judge the truth concerning God’s Sabbath Day and which day He commanded as His day of worship. We also need to know and understand what the consequences are for disobeying the Supreme Authority’s command concerning the Sabbath Day.

There is a religious organization that claims to be the sole infallible authority. Through its leadership, it claims that it, by its own authority, substituted Sunday in place of the Sabbath. This religious organization substantiates their claim to sole infallible authority by pointing out that since all the vast Sunday-keeping people, including the whole western world, have accepted Sunday as the day of worship, that it proves that they have the absolute authority over them.

An ecclesiastical authority once stated that you could search the entire word of God from Genesis to Revelation and you would not find one line or verse that supports or authorizes Sunday observance—that, in fact, the Bible supports and strengthens the command to keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath. And then he concludes by stating that the sole authority for Sunday observance is based solely on the decree of men and not God’s Word.

A succession of ecclesiastical leaders, it is claimed, has replaced the authority of Jesus Christ. They claim that Jesus had turned the leadership of the Church over to Peter and up through time through Peter’s successors. Plainly stated, they are saying that Jesus merely stepped out of the picture and gave man the authority to rule in His place, as the Head of the Church.

However, not all accept this concept either. How can we know for sure what the truth really is? It is vitally important that a person proves to their self that God really does exist. Have you done this? Consider it. Are you completely satisfied in your own mind that you have solid proof, beyond all doubt, that God actually exists? It can be proven with solid concrete evidence that God is very real, alive and very active in each of our lives. His authority is Supreme and infallible over everything that He created. He rules supreme over the entire universe!

Only those who “can’t handle the truth” are not willing to accept truth. To some, the real truth of God threatens their previously held beliefs taught by men who have conjured up false doctrines in their own minds, in an attempt to impress others with their “awesome” ability to understand what life is all about. They will not accept God’s truth, thus they have built a solid closed-minded, hard-hearted wall, behind which to stand, so that the truth of God cannot get through to them. Most of them profess to be Christian! They talk like they know all about the Word of God and yet their beliefs and practices are contrary to the ways of God.

Once you actually prove that God really does exist, you can then prove that His Word is absolutely valid and authoritative. In time, you would come to KNOW that His Word is actually His INSTRUCTION BOOK FOR MANKIND so that they would know how to live. When a manufacturer produces a product, they often send along an instruction book with their product, showing how to use it properly. Well, God created mankind and He sent along His instruction Book to show us how we must conduct our lives. That way of life is the only way we can be truly happy and eventually have eternal life. His instruction book, is the Holy Bible, and it is the ABSOLUTE, SOLE, SUPREME AUTHORITY in everything in the whole universe. What He says is rock solid and ironclad! His word on any subject puts to rest, once and for all, what is the real truth.

Jesus Christ, the Founder of the New Testament Church of God, observed the Seventh day Sabbath. He was careful to observe and to do all that was commanded. Jesus Christ did the will of His Father in heaven. If you make any claim to being a “Christian” then you must be striving to do as He did, teach what He taught, and live the same way He lived in obedience to “every word of God.” A Christian will strive to emulate Christ! Paul stated in the book of First Corinthians, imitate me as I imitate Christ. The basic definition of a “Christian” is that a follower would be imitating, living like, following, and doing the same things just as Christ would.

DO YOU LIVE THAT WAY?

When Christ founded the true Church of God, was He still a mortal human, subject to death, or did He found the Church after His ascension to heaven?

The true Church of God was founded on the day of Pentecost, A.D.31. That was after Christ was crucified, placed in a tomb, raised from the dead and had ascended to the very throne of God.

The Apostle Peter, speaking of Christ and the Church, said: “Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, behold, I lay in Sion (the true Church) a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe, He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed” (1 Peter 2:6-8).

Peter was speaking to the Church of God as he quoted from Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation…” Thus the foundation of the Church of God is founded on Christ and no other. That is what is pictured in this passage.

Ephesians 2:20 describes the Church as being: “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [which means the Old Testament prophets], Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.”

Christ, therefore, is the foundation, the Chief [Head] of the Church. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Some church organizations teach that Christ has turned the leadership of the Church over to men. That He went off to heaven and left all authority pertaining to the church with men. Did Jesus simply walk away and leave the Church in the hands of men? The people making that claim have failed to remember that Christ proclaimed: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrew 13:5). Also, in Ephesians 5:23, Christ is plainly said to be the Head of the Church. Read it! “For the husband is the Head of the wife, even as Christ is Head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body.” (see also Ephesians 4:15; 1: 22; Colossians 1:18; 2:19).

Jesus Christ is very much alive today. He is the living Head and the High Priest of the true Church of God. The very Church, the congregation, the called out ones, the household He built and still governs.

On the day of Pentecost in A.D. 31, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, that He had promised (John 16:7), which entered into His disciples, thereby baptizing, plunging them into the Church. It was then that the living, active, Jesus Christ, setting on His Father’s throne, actually founded the New Testament Church of God.

It must be understood that the true Church of God is NOT some building. The true Church of God is the “body of believers.” The word “church” in the Greek is “ekklesia” which means “congregation of people.” The Church of God is the begotten children of God, those to whom God has given His Holy Spirit.

The Church is only those people who have received that Holy Spirit. It is not some building. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, it clearly identifies that “by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” What is the Body? “and He is the Head of the body, the Church…” (Colossians 1:18). The word “baptized” means “plunged into, or inducted into.” When one receives God’s Holy Spirit, it begets that person with God-life. It makes those who receive it able to become partakers of the “divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). It is only those begotten people who make up the true Church of God. That Church, those having God’s Holy Spirit, will become the Kingdom of God when Christ returns.

Jesus Christ has been the Head of the True Church of God for more than 1900 years! He has never turned over His authority to any man. He is still the Head of the Church of God today.

Jesus Christ is the Supreme Authority and the written Word of God; the Holy Bible, is our only source on how we should conduct our lives. So now we can settle the Sabbath question: which day is the true Seventh Day Sabbath? We can prove it from the Infallible Authority of Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures. We can know which day is the true seventh day Sabbath, that twenty-four hour period of time, which God made Holy? We can answer the question; is it really a sin if we fail to “keep it holy?”

Today, God doesn’t seem real to most people. They tend to think of God as a myth and that sin is what they decide is wrong. Therefore, it doesn’t make any difference to them which day is considered the Sabbath. They decide which day to worship on; therefore, it is not a sin to observe “their” day. We live in a world of self-center, self-gratifying, self-willed people. They think only of themselves and what pleases them.

Man was put on this earth for a purpose. God created each of us for an awesome, unique purpose. God gave us laws and decrees that, if obeyed, would help all of us to live a happy, healthy, prosperous life, and eternal life. Obedience, or disobedience, will help to determine your ultimate fate for eternity, whether it is to life or to death. God is very much in the grand picture of our lives.

Often, you’ll hear someone judging someone else and proclaiming that this or that is sin. Some may claim that smoking is sin; to others it may be dancing. While an equal number will claim that those things are not sinful. Just what is sin?

Our Creator planned out the whole universe and made it so. To disobey what He has commanded is sin. In the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, in 1 John 3:4, sin is defined clearly. “Whosoever commiteth sin transgresseth the law, “FOR SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW.” That should plainly answer any questions about what sin is. It is disobeying the Laws given to us by God, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. The laws that God gave to us were meant to provide us a good life. Transgression of those laws will produce misery, heartache, and pain.

God didn’t leave it up to us to decide what is sin or is not. Our part is to choose to obey. He gave us His laws for our good and He intends that we do our best to observe them. He, therefore, determines what is sin. He allows us the freedom to decide whether to obey His laws or not. God has declared “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and thy seed may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

Jesus Christ is the living Head of the True Church. The Holy Bible is the written Word of God and Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God. He is the Supreme Authority. Christ is the author of the Word of God. It is by His Supreme Authority that the question must be answered concerning which day is the True Seventh Day Sabbath. Now we need to go to that Word to see WHICH DAY IS THE TRUE SABBATH OF GOD?

CHAPTER TWO

WHO CREATED THE SABBATH AND WHY?

Jesus came to earth over two thousand years ago preaching the one and only true Gospel. The beginning of His ministry is recorded in Mark chapter one “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, ‘the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel’” (Mark 1:1; 1:15). The word “kingdom” stated in that verse, literally means “government”. The Government of God.

Jesus often said that what He taught came from His Father in heaven. God, therefore, was the Author of that message which Jesus preached.

We are told to “repent and believe the Gospel.” What are we to repent of? SIN! And what does God’s word tell us that sin is? “Sin is the transgression of the law.” (I John 3:4). The Law of God! To repent of sin - disobedience of the law - means to quit disobeying the law. The Ten Commandments are the law of God and one of those laws specifically commands us to “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:18).

Along with repentance, we are told to “believe the Gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God.” The Gospel of the Kingdom of God - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - is the only Gospel we are to believe. There are so many false gospels, purportedly “of Jesus Christ” in this world today, that a person could easily become confused, even become deceived. To avoid becoming confused we are admonished, therefore, to believe only the very same Gospel that Jesus taught.

Jesus taught much about keeping the Sabbath. He Himself, as well as all His disciples, kept the seventh day Sabbath. “Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught” (Mark 1:21). “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16 NKJV).

When Jesus and His disciples walked through the cornfield on the Sabbath day, the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath for merely picking a few ears of corn to eat (Mark 2:23).

While teaching observance of the Sabbath, as part of His Gospel message, Jesus said: “…the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of man is also the Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28). Notice that Jesus said, “the Sabbath was made for man.” Who made it? There has to be a maker, because Jesus stated that it was made (created). “…God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 3:9). John expands on that by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-5, 14). The word, “Word”, used in these verses means “Logos” or “Spokesman.” That Word, of course, was Jesus Christ.

If you were to mention to some people that Jesus was alive in the ancient times of Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses and even for all eternity, they would laugh at you, mock you and probably label you as being “crazy” for thinking that. But these few scriptures in the first chapter of John confirms that truth. That Jesus has been around for all eternity. Of course, His name wasn’t “Jesus Christ” prior to His human birth. “For by Him [Christ] were all things created that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible…and He is the Head of the Body, the Church…” (Colossians 1:16, 18).

Jesus Christ created the Sabbath and that is why He said that He “is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28). God made the Sabbath through, or by Jesus Christ! This fact should be made very plain to you as you read on.

Some may point out, “well, I know the Sabbath was made, but it was made for the Jews and not the rest of the world.” However, Christ plainly stated that “…the Sabbath was made for man…” It does not say that it was made only for the Jews, but man, all of mankind, regardless of race!

Since the Sabbath was made for mankind, it implies that it was made when mankind was created. However, it is always best to seek Biblical authority, and not to just carelessly assume it to be so merely by implication.

“And God said, ‘Let us [note it, “us”, more than one, God and the Word] make man in our image, after our likeness…So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Genesis 1:26-27). And, as we have already seen, God created all things by Jesus Christ (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). Now notice that God created man on the sixth day of the creation (renewing, Psalms 104:30) week. Notice that man was the last thing God created on that day.

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:2-3).

Think about this now, who was doing the speaking when God said, “let Us make man…?” The word “God” here is translated from the Hebrew “Elohim”, and it is a plural word (used as a collective noun), meaning more than one person. God is a family, and this is shown in the fact that God is the Father, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God. This is a Father/Son relationship. A family! Jesus was also the “logos”, the Word or Spokesman. Therefore, Jesus was doing the speaking, when it was said: “let Us make man…etc”. But Jesus only speaks what God the Father tells Him to and, since all things were created by Him [Jesus], it was Jesus who created man!

Now think some more, does it say that God [Jesus] finished creating on the sixth day, completing the creation process? What about the seventh day? Does it say that He ceased creating on the seventh day? NO! “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made” (Genesis 2:2). On the seventh day, God created the Sabbath. There were seven complete days of creation! How did God create the Sabbath?

He created it by resting on it. It was, and still is, a day of rest. Stop and think. God never grows weary or tired. For God “fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah 40:28). It wasn’t necessary for Him to rest. Yet the Scripture says that God “rested on the seventh day.” “…in six days the Lord [Jesus] made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17).

It was a real rest. But if He never grows weary or tired, why then did He rest on the seventh day? He made the Sabbath by resting, but He made all the other things by work. He rested on the seventh day and put His divine presence in that day. The seventh day is the day that we should keep Holy. He left us an example to follow. Notice, He “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” Sanctify means to “SET APART FOR HOLY USE OR PURPOSE.”

His act of resting on the seventh day pictures for us that it was to be the day of rest from our labors and other worldly pursuits and to give us time to reflect on Him. A day set apart from the other days for Holy use—a day to keep Holy. He created that day by resting on it and that ended the “work” of creating. The seventh day Sabbath was the last thing that God created during the “creation” week. God “hallowed” the seventh day (Exodus 20:11). It is the day that is Holy to God and it is a literal day of the week, as it comes just prior to the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1). Therefore, God, by sanctifying, hallowing and blessing the seventh day, set it apart from all other days as “Holy time”. This act made all future seventh day Sabbaths “Holy time” as well. God blessed and sanctified the seventh day and that seventh day comes every seventh day of the week, for all time.

Therefore, it should be very plain to the reader, that ABSOLUTELY no group, or organization has any authority to make any other day Holy. No man can make any day holy, or future days holy. In fact, no man has the power to make anything holy! Only God can make something holy!

The Sabbath consists of that twenty-four hour period of time from sunset on the sixth day [Friday] to sunset on the seventh day [Saturday]. NO OTHER twenty-four period of time is Holy time. Only the seventh day Sabbath was hallowed, sanctified and blessed by God. It is God’s time! Not ours. Although the Sabbath was created for man, it is still God’s Holy time. He commands us to “remember the Sabbath day and to keep it Holy.” (Exodus 20:18). This is God’s day!

God used the sun as the measure of when the Sabbath begins and ends, and therefore, it is by the sun that you determine when you are in Holy time. When the sun sets, wherever you are, at the end of the sixth day that is when the Sabbath begins.

It should be obvious to the reader by now that it does make a difference which twenty-four hour period of time we are to keep Holy. Remember the word “keep” shows a previous condition and only that same twenty-four hour period is what God “blessed and sanctified”. Therefore, the seventh day Sabbath must be kept in its previously created Holy condition. No other day can be substituted! There was no other day that was previously created as Holy time.

If you recall, Moses fled to Midian, near Mt. Sinai, because he had killed an Egyptian guard. While he was herding a flock of sheep, close to Mt. Horeb, he saw a bush on fire, yet not being consumed. When he came close to see why the bush was not consumed, he heard a voice call out to him, saying: “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here am I.” Then the voice said to him, “Do not draw near this place. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is Holy ground.” (Exodus 3:2-5).

Why did God require Moses to remove his sandals? Why was the ground Holy there and not a short distance away? The answers to these questions are a key to understanding why the Sabbath is Holy.

The ground where Moses was standing was Holy because God was present there and not a short distance away. Moses was standing in the very presence of God and God’s presence made the ground Holy. Moses, therefore, was required to respect the Holy ground on which he was standing, by removing his sandals.

Now do you understand how the Sabbath is made Holy? It is because God’s presence is in His Sabbath day. His presence makes it Holy time—a Holy Day! When you observe the seventh day Sabbath you are in the very presence of God! You are in Holy time! Jesus “went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as His custom was.” It was His custom, not only during His physical life, but also in each and every Sabbath up through time, since He created it. He placed His presence in the Sabbath at creation and His presence is still in the Sabbath today and will be forever.

That is why it is vitally important to keep the VERY SAME TWENTY-FOUR HOUR PERIOD of time of the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH. No other day has God’s very presence in it. It was ONLY the Sabbath that was made Holy, and ONLY the seventh day Sabbath can be KEPT HOLY! There is no other day!

Can you accept the authority of Jesus Christ? Do you really believe what your Bible says? It is written: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus declared: “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). Jesus could not have said that unless He was around before Abraham. Do you believe God’s Word?

If Moses had disobeyed God (Jesus) when he was told to take his sandals off on Holy ground, he would have profaned something that was Holy, as well as disobeying God. Both of which are sin, punishable by death.

In like manner, mankind is commanded to take his foot off, from trampling on, and profaning the Sabbath. We are required to treat the Sabbath as Holy, just like Moses was to treat the ground on which he was standing, as holy.

A prophecy for our time reads: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My Holy Day. And call My Sabbath a delight, the Holy Day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

By keeping holy those things, which God has made Holy, we do honor Him. When we say, or even think, wrongly about something God has created Holy, we dishonor Him. The very churches of this world which claim to be Christian, dishonor God by profaning the true Sabbath, and by attempting to keep some day holy which God did not intend, nor create, as being Holy. They hastily make an attempt to justify their actions, by twisting the honorable sure word of God. Trying to “make it” say something that it does not and in that way they are dishonoring God also.

To assume, and accept, without proving, the concept that since most of the entire world is observing Sunday, it must therefore be right, is a terrible mistake. Not just a mistake it is SIN! To those very people God commands: “Take your foot off My Holy time! Quit trampling all over that which is Holy and Sacred to Me! Quit profaning My Holy things—whether it be My Name, My tithe of your income, or My Holy Day!” It is sin to profane that which God has made Holy!

Try as hard as he is able, with all the power that can be available to him, man cannot make Sunday holy! You simply cannot keep something Holy that God has not made Holy, anymore than you can keep cold water hot. God made the seventh day Holy and that is the only day that can be kept Holy!

We are told that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). Our present world, its civilization—consisting of its religions, beliefs and customs—all seem to be centered around that path in life “which seems right.” The ways that seem right to mankind are, in fact, those ways that are sinful. In the end, they will bring eternal death.

If the Bible really were the authority of today’s Christian religions, they would all believe the same thing and follow God’s ways, customs and practices that He ordained. Most of the customs and traditions of traditional Christianity are pagan customs and practices that were renamed with a “Christian” sounding name. If people were to honestly and seriously PROVE what they are being told, believe and practice, they would be totally shocked at what they would find out about their customs and practices! Truly, the world is deceived! (Rev 12:9)

Mankind has continuously “invented” ways that seem right in their own eyes to keep from obeying God’s commandments. That is because “the carnal mind is hostile to God and will not be subject to His ways” (Romans 8:7; Mark 7: 6-9). They have to justify their rebellion, so they invent concepts, beliefs and practices, that “seem right to a man” in order to “seem like” their course of action is right and good. It makes people “feel better” about their disobedience to God. They hate for anyone to know that their ways are really, in truth, rebellion against the Great God of Heaven.

Did you know that Abraham obeyed God’s Commandments 430 years before they were handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai? “Because that Abraham obeyed MY VOICE AND KEPT MY CHARGE, MY COMMANDMENTS, MY STATUTES, MY LAWS… (Genesis 26:5). God (Jesus) is speaking there. He was explaining why He made the promises to Abraham. It was because Abraham was obedient to His commandments. And one of those Commandments is to: “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:8). In James, chapter two, we see that it is a sin to break any one of those Commandments (James 2:10-11).

Some people try to argue that time has been lost. They believe that throughout time the calendar has changed and days were at some point in time changed also, and/or deleted. But the wisdom of God is greater than that of men. He made ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that His Holy Sabbath day “REMAINED” the seventh day.

Take a closer look at your calendar. God provided that the Sabbath day is still the seventh day of the week. Today, we know it as Saturday. And with a little effort of research, it can be fully proved that Saturday, in our modern world, is the very same day as the seventh day Sabbath that God created Holy time. And those who claim that they don’t know which day is the true Christian Sabbath are simply without any excuse. It merely proves that they don’t care enough to take the time to try to find out which day is the Sabbath. They just accept false teaching.

But, let us take a closer look at this subject. Was time every really “lost?” You should prove it for yourself so that it won’t be a stumbling block to you. If one only assumes, that means you are not absolutely sure of it. You can ONLY be absolutely sure of something AFTER you have actually proven it to be true.

Adam knew which day was the Sabbath day. By sunset of the sixth day Adam had already been created and was living. The next day was the Sabbath day. Abel was called “Righteous Abel” (Matt.23:35) by Jesus. So Abel had to have kept the Sabbath. Enoch kept the Sabbath, for we are told that Enoch walked with God. You cannot walk with God and not obey Him. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, so Noah kept the Sabbath. Shem was righteous and so was Abraham. So time had not been lost by the time of Abraham.

Keeping the Sabbath is a commandment of God and if you violate any one of the Commandments, you become a transgressor of the law, and you simply cannot be righteous while disobeying God. So Sabbath-keeping is necessary to be righteous.

There was a time in history when time may have become lost to the Israelites. They went into Egyptian slavery and they were not permitted to keep the Sabbath day by their taskmasters. For about 150 years every day was the same to them. When Moses led them out of Egypt, they had no priest, or any knowledge of religious practices.

Several generations had passed while they were in slavery and everyone that had any knowledge of God’s laws had died. When they came to the wilderness of Sin, God revealed to them by divine, miraculous intervention, which day was the Sabbath day. And that was before they came to Mt. Sinai where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, (Why?) that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily” (Exodus 16: 4-5).

Note it! It was three weeks prior to God handing the law down to Moses. We find that God is testing them to see if they would be obedient to His law or not. God was speaking to them on the Sabbath day. God (who became Jesus Christ) preached to mankind on the first Sabbath. Adam was created on the sixth day and after sunset (the beginning of the seventh day Sabbath) God preached to him and offered him the gift of eternal life (symbolized by the “Tree of Life”). He also warned Adam of the consequences (wages) of sin.

After Israel had spent approximately 150 years in Egypt, it had become necessary to teach them again - and again it was on the Sabbath day. Remember, they were instructed to gather twice as much manna (bread) on the sixth day so that they wouldn’t have to gather any on the seventh day. “And so it was, on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread…Then he said to them, ‘this is what the Lord has said, “tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a Holy Sabbath to God.” …so they laid it up until the morning…then Moses said, “eat that today, for today is the Sabbath to the Lord” (Exodus 16:22-25). God must have instructed them on the Sabbath, so that six days later it was the day before the Sabbath again. God revealed to them which day was the Sabbath day and “if” it was lost to them up to that point in time, they now knew for sure which day was the Sabbath day.

“…[T]here went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none!” (verse 27). God, Himself, kept the Sabbath by resting from providing them the manna. But some of these people didn’t think that it made any difference which day to gather on - they didn’t believe God. When they tried to gather manna on the Sabbath, they found nothing. They were corrected (verses 28-29) and “so the people rested on the Sabbath. (verse 30).

God worked for six days “renewing” the face of the earth (Genesis 1; Psalms 104:30). Then he rested on the seventh day. In like manner, God worked during six days providing manna for the people and then He rested from providing manna on the seventh day.

God revealed to the Israelites by many miracles which day was HIS Sabbath Day. They couldn’t say that they didn’t know which day it was. If knowledge of which day was the Sabbath had of been lost to them while in slavery for approximately 150 years, God now made absolutely sure that they knew which day it was. To disobey His command to keep it Holy, is sin, and sin is punishable by eternal death. Never to live again!

Notice that God said, “the Lord hath given you the Sabbath” (verse 29). Nowhere, in all of God’s sacred word, can you find it written that “the Lord hath given you Sunday,” as a day of worship!

If you are concerned enough to want to know the real truth about Sunday worship, you can find the real truth written in human history. For in it you WILL find it written that mankind has boldly, by actions and decisions, declared that I, man, have given you Sunday as a day of worship. It was man, in rebellion against God who decided to make Sunday the day of worship -a day that cannot be kept Holy. Sunday worship and practices come right out of paganism. And you can find that written in biblical and human history.

I have asked you plainly, what is the real source of your religion? Is it to follow what man decrees and teaches, even when it is totally contrary to what God decrees and teaches? Or is your religion founded on a solid, sure foundation of the Word of God? You should really take the time to seriously study, prove and act on the answer to that question. Because your eternal life (or death) depends on the source of your religious foundation.

If your minister, pastor or religious instructors are trying to teach you something that cannot be found written in the sure Word of God, if they cannot prove by God’s Word what they are telling you, be forewarned. There are many claiming that Jesus is the Christ, yet deceiving many (Matthew 24:4-5). KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WORSHIPPING AND OBEYING GOD IS WRITTEN IN HIS SURE WORD. IF YOU ARE HEARING SOMETHING THAT ISN’T WRITTEN THERE, THEN IT PROBABLY ISN’T TRUE! For instance: something that is so important and of such awesome value as knowing what is the reward for obeying God (and thereby worshipping Him) should be clearly written in His Word. I ask you, my friend, to show me clearly where it is written in the Bible that the reward for obedience is going to heaven. You simply will not find any such statement, or even any implication that is where we go when we die. On the contrary, it is written many times that the reward is to go into a glorious Kingdom, as literal Sons of God, HERE ON EARTH as the reward for obeying God.

Who do you believe? The Word of God, or doctrines of men? When “The Word” was made flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus obeyed the Sabbath command. He kept the Sabbath, as did all of His disciples. So we know that time has not been lost up to the time of the resurrection of Jesus. Was it lost at some point in history between then and our modern time? A careful study of history will prove that it was not. That, in fact, the same day that was the first day of the week, is still the first day of the week and the seventh day is still the seventh day.

True, there was a time in history when days were removed from the calendar. It was getting out of “harmony” with the seasons and it was determined necessary to remove some days from the calendar to bring it back into harmony. However, when they removed the days they were careful to preserve the weekly seven-day cycle. For instance: if they started removing days on a Friday, they made sure that they removed the proper number of days so that it was on a Friday the days resumed again, so as to preserve the exact same weekly cycle. In other words, on Thursday they removed enough days from the calendar, starting with Friday, so that Friday, when they resumed again, would still be the day following Thursday. The calendar weekdays continued as always and the Sabbath remained the same seventh day Sabbath. I do not know the actual day they started on, so I am using Friday as an example of how they did it. I do know that the process was done that way.

Anyone using for an excuse “that they do not know which day is the true Sabbath” are simply refusing to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 AKJV). They are at fault, not God! We are instructed to “prove all things, to make a full proof of our ministry” (1 Thes. 5:21). (“Our ministry” is what a person believes, teaches and practices).

God gave us the Sabbath and commanded us to “keep it Holy” and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that you had BETTER obey what God says. You can assume that what people are telling you is true, without ever trying to prove it and suffer because of it. Or you can believe God, with proof, and be blessed. That decision God leaves up to you! As for me, I intend to build on the solid foundation of the sure Word of God. Holding fast to the faith once delivered.

How about you?

Chapter Three

Who Really Gave The Law?

When the Israelites came out of Egypt in the third month of the sacred year, the Bible tells us that there were 600,000 men, 20 years of age and above, plus the women and children. It has been estimated that there were approximately two million Israelites in all, which came out of Egypt. This vast multitude of Israel’s descendants came to Mt. Sinai, and there they pitched their tents (Exodus 19:2). Perhaps this was the largest ‘tent-city” in the history of man.

“And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children on Israel” (verse 3).

During this meeting, God gave Moses a proposal to offer to the people. We call that proposition the “Old Covenant” Agreement. This agreement was to make the children of Israel God’s very own nation. It would be a theocracy government, with God being their sole Ruler and King. God would be their lawmaker and He would decide who was to be leading men under Him, to execute His orders.

“So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them, all these words which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, ‘all that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord” (verses 7-8).

There was unanimous acceptance to God’s proposal. But it is obvious that the people were only intent on receiving all that God was promising them. God had promised that they would “be a special people to Me above all people.” This nation was promised to be the greatest and most powerful nation on earth. They were so excited about those promises that they didn’t bother to consider any of the “conditions” attached to the promises. They hastily gave acceptance to the proposition without bothering to consider the “if” you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant” (Exodus 19:5).

Then God’s voice thundered the Ten Commandment law to them (Exodus 20). They were terrified (verses 18-21).

Some people may not understand why it was necessary for God to give us His law. It is really very important that we do know and understand why it was necessary.

God is a God of love! Not only is He the Mighty Creator God of everything there is, but He is also the Ruler over all His creation. God loves His creation. It is vitally important to Him that we, as children of God, “grow up” right. He loves each and every one of us. He created and made us in His very own image and He cares about us. He even loves those who are steeped in sin. It is their ways that He hates. He will not tolerate evil. He encourages all sinners to repent and get back to living His way, which produce a happy, prosperous life.

God intended for each and every one of us to be happy, full of joy, peace and really enjoys an abundant life. But the only way that it could be possible for mankind to have the happy, joyful life that He intended, it was necessary to give mankind His living laws. Laws that He knew would produce the absolute best end results one could experience.

His law is an expression of His immense love for mankind. Yet mankind has trampled all over His law and they have suffered grievously throughout human history because of their continued disobedience. God’s laws are living, eternal laws. You obey them; you reap the blessings of joyful abundant living. But if you break any one of them, they will break you. Those laws we know as the Ten Commandments.

You can continue to go against those laws and suffer, or you can turn to God and seek His help to obey those laws, which will produce the happy, joyful life that we all need. God leaves that choice up to you.

Love is so heart-warming and good. It lifts the spirit and makes one feel really good inside. God knew that, and He wanted to make sure that it was available to mankind to enjoy that love to the fullest. He made it possible, if mankind would only strive to obey His living laws that are guaranteed to produce a happy, joyful life. Disobey those laws and you will only experience the sad, sorrowful, seemingly never-ending suffering from disappointment in most every endeavor in life.

The human mind is hostile against God. It was in the times of the Exodus and it still is today. It is the nature of mankind today to give in to the pulls of vanity, lust and self-worth and greed. They want the “end results” of good, but are not willing TO DO what is necessary to achieve that goal. So they become vain in their ways and try to achieve that goal through corrupt means. The ways of selfishness, lust and greed WILL NEVER produce the true end results that they struggled for. Only God’s way produces the end results we all so deeply desire.

Love is an out-going concern for others. It is pointed away from self and that confuses people. They want to be happy and it only seems right to them, that to achieve that happiness they must do everything they can—FOR ONE’S OWN SELF in an effort to achieve happiness. But it doesn’t work that way. Strange as it may seem, there is a lot of truth in the adage “love isn’t love, until you give it away.”

Everything in life, that is good, that we humans desire, comes from God. God, the Creator of the vast universe, is the owner of everything, which He created, including man, gold, silver, and all material and Spiritual things. Even what we use as currency is His. In the agreement with the descendants of Israel, God would be their King and Ruler, and certainly, with God as their King and Ruler, they would become the most powerful nation on earth, and they would be an enormously blessed people with God’s Divine protection, help, guidance and good health. What nation, would dare to even attempt to take a stand against such a tremendously bless nation with an All-powerful, All wise, All-loving God as their King and Ruler!

The people, looking at the enormity of the promises, were quick to accept God’s proposal. They were looking “to get” and did not bother to consider the “giving” that was necessary. So, with their agreement in mind, Moses went back up the mountain to again meet with God and tell Him of their decision. Of course God already knew what it was…right?

After Moses told God of the decision that the people had made, God instructed Moses to “go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow…and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai” (verse 10-11). “then it came to pass on the third day, early in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightings and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.”

“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly” (verses 16, 17, 18). Then God’s voice thundered the Ten Commandments! (Exodus 20:1-17.) It was a powerful and awe-inspiring setting for God to give the people His law.

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightenings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they stood afar off” (verse 16). It was an awesome display of blinding lightening, ear-splitting thunder and smoke, coupled with loud blasts from the trumpet it was such a powerful and terrifying manifestation of the awesome power of God, that the people turned to Moses in tremendous fear and told Moses: “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, least we die” (verse 19).

God wanted the people to realize the tremendous importance of His law, and this tremendous display of some of His awesome mighty power was enough to significantly impress upon them just how important those laws were. It was an expression of God’s deep, enormous love for His creation.

As you can see, it wasn’t Moses who gave the Law, but the Mighty, Powerful Creator God! It was the very first Pentecost (also called the Festival of Weeks; and Festival of Firstfruits).

How significant, since many centuries later on the Day of Pentecost, God gave His Holy Spirit to His people. The Holy Spirit enables God’s people to fulfill that law, which He gave on that very first Pentecost. The Law was given at the founding of the nation that was to be God’s special people. The Holy Spirit was given at the founding of God’s True Church, those who are God’s special people. The law is God’s way of life and the Holy Spirit makes it possible for God’s people to experience that way of life.

I want you to notice carefully that it was not Moses who gave the Ten Commandments, as many people believe today. Moses was himself, hearing the Ten Commandments for the first time, at the very same time that the rest of the people heard them. It was not Moses who was giving the law to the people. It was not the weak, puny voice of Moses that was thundering the Ten Commandments. It was the Almighty, All-powerful, All-wise, All-loving, Ever-living, Great Creator God who shook the earth with His mighty voice as He spoke the Ten Commandments to the people.

Moses refers to this event later to Israel in Deuteronomy 5:4-22. Notice what he said: “the Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire…saying…" then followed the Ten Commandments (verses 6-21).

As you have seen, it was God who gave the Law, not Moses.

Moses stood in front of the people because they were so frightened by the awesome display of God. He explains that in Deuteronomy 5:5. He was one of the people standing in the vast assembly as God spoke the Ten Commandments to ALL the people. He didn’t speak to Moses only!

Moses recounts to the people again, after the rewriting of the words of the Ten Commandments, “these words that Lord spake unto ALL your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me” (verse 22).

Notice that God spoke the words of the Ten Commandments “unto all your assembly.” These people received the Ten Commandments direct from God. That’s probably not what you have been told, but that IS what is written in your own Bible! Be sure to read it so that you can see it for yourself! Don’t just take my word for it! Notice too, it was a COMPLETE law, for we are told that “He added no more.” God’s law is a spiritual law. It is complete! It didn’t need anything more to be added to it. It was not a law given for the “Jews only.” In Acts 7:38 we read that those Israelites “received the lively oracles to give to us.” The “US” is the New Testament Christians of various nationalities, and not just the Jews.

The Israelites were the only people on earth that had not cut themselves off completely from God. All nations were steeped in human vanity, and cut off from the Living God. So God chose these lowly slave Israelites to be His special nation.

They received the Old Covenant Agreement, but later God established a New Covenant. In Hebrews 8:10 we read, “for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.”

Now, does that sound like the Law was done away with at the cross? These words were written AFTER Christ was murdered on the stake, and they speak of something that God will yet do with the Law. It pictures the Law on-going, indelibly written in the minds of everyone, so that everyone will know and understand God’s Law and be able to carefully observe to obey it.

It was not a law for one nation only! And it certainly was not a temporary law that was to end at the cross!

Let’s look carefully at the Sabbath command. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:8). God commands us to “remember” this day. Have you noticed that in the world today, most everyone tries real hard to “forget” the Sabbath and they even attempt to replace it with some other day?

Christ said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law.” However, most professing Christians think that He did destroy it. They teach that the Law ended at the cross. If you closely compare Scriptures with the teachings of the professing Christian world, you would soon notice that there are so many contradictions in what they are teaching that it would make you wonder if they even bothered to read the Word of God, and thereby establish what they believe and teach. They mostly teach the opposite of what God’s word tells us.

Christ said, “swear not”, so most professing Christians raise their right hand and swear an oath. Christ told us “Love your enemies”, so the professing Christian world learns to hate their enemies and often try to kill them in war or just out of plain cold-hearted meanness.

Christ admonished us to “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”, but the professing Christians loudly protest, often in heated anger, that it is impossible to keep God’s law, so how can we be perfect. They profess that Christ kept the law for them and did away with the law at the cross. Human reasoning if not used properly can destroy your life. That is why we need to sincerely, with zeal, make a full proof of what we believe and teach.

It is amazing that when God say’s DO, the so-called Christians DON’T. And when God says DON’T, they DO. We should be very careful to make sure that what we believe doesn’t contradict the word of God, as the practices and beliefs of the professing Christian world do. Believe God’s word and do what He says!

The word “keep” means, “to preserve in the same condition.” We have already seen that it was ONLY the seventh day Sabbath that God made Holy. No other day was made Holy! Therefore, it is ONLY that twenty-four hours of the Sabbath day that we can preserve in the same condition in which God created it. Sunday, the first day of the week, was never made Holy and there is no way in the world, even with all resources available to you, that you can “keep” Sunday in a previously created Holy condition. It would have to be made Holy by God first before you can keep it that way. That is simply an indisputable fact!

Go back to Exodus 20 and notice carefully verses 9 and 10: “six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work…” Now, does this mean that an individual, or religious organization can choose just ANY day and declare it the Sabbath of God? In some months, if you start counting from the first day of the month, day seven will often fall on a weekday. Is it okay to claim that as a Sabbath? NO! It was specifically noted that it was the weekly Seventh day and not just any seventh day.

Notice, Matthew 28:1, “now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn…” Here we see that the Sabbath is a weekday. It was a weekday before the first day of the week. It is specifically speaking of a weekday Sabbath that comes every seventh day of the week. Jesus always referred to the Sabbath as “the Sabbath of the Lord”, and not the Sabbath of the Jewish people. It’s the Lord’s Sabbath and therefore it truly is the “Lord’s day.”

It should be made plain to the reader that the “Lord’s Day” of Revelation 1:10 is not speaking of the weekly Sabbath. Jesus, the true Author of Revelation, refers to the day (a general period of time, not a twenty-four hour day) in which God will directly intervene in world affairs, as the “Lord’s Day.” That same period of time is mentioned in more than 30 prophecies as the “day of the Lord.” He is not speaking of the weekly “Lord’s Day, here in Revelation 1:10 also, there is nothing mentioned in context here to imply that it is Sunday, as some have claimed that it means.

The “Lord’s Day” is any day that the Lord is lord of. A day that is His. Jesus said that He “is Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28), and not Lord of Sunday.”

The Lord’s Day can be as long as He wants it to be. His days are not governed by the movement of the planet around a sun. We are presently living in the “day of man” and it is certainly longer than just twenty-four hours.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all man’s days, but the Sabbath belongs to God. It is His day! In the wording of the commandment of Christ it says that “six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work…” Those six days are given to us. They are our days to do all our labor on, “but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” That is the “Lord’s Day.”

God’s law defines what sin is and in His law is the command to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.” Therefore, since God’s law tell us what sin is, it shows that to transgress this command is to commit sin, punishable by eternal death. Notice Numbers 15:32-36: the children of Israel found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath (verse 32). They brought him before Moses, Aaron and the entire congregation (verse 33). They inquired of God what should be done with him and God said, “the man shall surely be put to death…”(verse 35). The man was stoned to death as punishment for violating the Sabbath command. But sin also has an Eternal punishment as well. That punishment is Eternal death. It is a sin to violate God’s Sabbath command!

As quoted before, John 3:4 defines what sin is: “sin is the transgression of the Law” (Authorized King James Version). If you look at Romans 7:7, it shows what law it is a sin to disobey. The law that says “do not covet.” Now what law do you suppose says “do not covet?” Of course, it is the Ten Commandment Law.

In James 2:9-11 you can again find which law defines sin. It is broken down into points (verse 10) and it shows that one of those points is “Do not commit adultery.” Again, it clearly shows that it is speaking of the Ten Commandment Law. And notice that this is AFTER everything that was to be “nailed to the cross” was nailed to it. Yet, here is the law being defined. Those who believe that the law was “done away” by Christ are sadly mistaken!

Satan wants people to believe that! So, don’t ever let anyone convince you that the Law was “done away.” IT WAS NOT!

In both references stated above, the “do not covet” and the “do not commit adultery”, the writer was quoting from Exodus 20. Also notice that in James 2:10 we are told that to break any one of those points (of the ten point law) we are guilty of sin. And in that same law it is commanded to “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.” That command is just “one point” of that ten point law. So plainly, whoever violates that commandment, commits sin.

Some of you probably never have been taught this strong truth before. It comes right out of your Bible. It is proven by the Word of God and if any wish to argue against this truth, they would do far better to save any arguments that they have for the time when God will judge them according to the Law, in the Judgment. Then they can argue face to face with God-if they dare!

There is one more important fact you should take notice of in Exodus 20. in verse 11, it says: “for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth…and rested on the seventh day: wherefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.” When do you suppose that the Lord blessed and hallowed the Seventh day? He did that on the Seventh day of the original creation week (Genesis 2:3). He did that blessing and hallowing the very next day after creating man. The Sabbath command contains the explanation that “The Lord blessed the Sabbath Day.” Therefore, it was God’s Sabbath Day right from the beginning.

Some have deceptively argued that God did not make the Sabbath until He gave the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. If you will carefully read these Scriptures you will plainly see that 1) God blessed the Sabbath Day and 2) that the time when He blessed the Sabbath day was at its creation during the creation week and 3) that it was well established prior to the giving of the Ten Commandment Law to Moses.

God gave the Law directly to the people at Mt. Sinai. Then He handed it down “twice” in writing to Moses. God created the Sabbath during the creation (or actually re-creation, Psalms 104:30) week, blessed it, hallowed it and made all future Seventh days Holy. All Sabbath Day’s were set apart for Holy use. Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, has commanded us to “Remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.” Will you be found doing the Lord’s will, when He returns?

Chapter Four

IS THE SABBATH A SPECIAL COVENANT?

It is obvious that rebellious man will use every argument that human reasoning can conjure up, just to keep from obeying God’s command to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.”

People, who reason against the Sabbath command, base their arguments on their favorite flawed unscriptural reasoning that the Ten Commandment law was done away with at the cross. But if you carefully look into it, you will see that that argument contradicts Biblical truth. In the attempt to justify now keeping the Sabbath-or any of God’s laws—they use human reasoning to find a way to disobey without feeling bad about it. They twist scriptures around and try to make them say something that it does not say, or they simply insist that it says something that it does not say. That way it becomes “their interpretation of the scripture” or the way they see it, and therefore, it they feel okay about it.

People who argue against keeping the Sabbath do not want to hear the real truth about the subject and will do whatever it takes to “stop up their ears, so that they cannot hear.” They do not want to hear that “IF” the Ten Commandment law was really done away at the cross, that would mean that no one since that time has transgressed the law. Therefore, since no one has sinned since the cross, there is no need for a Saviour!

God commands us to repent! What must we repent of? Sin! And what is the Biblical definition of sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 AKJV).

If the law was done away at the cross, then God’s command to repent from transgressing His law, was in vain. Because, IF the law was truly “nailed to the cross” then that would mean that no one can sin anymore. “For where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15 NKJV). Therefore, it would mean that there is no need for anyone to repent from transgressing a law that no longer exists!

You see how they reason around God’s sacred Word? They insist that the law is no longer binding—done away, nailed to the cross (without scriptural authority), and of course, that thereby makes it “easy” to justify not repenting from disobeying it. I think that you can see that there is a serious flaw in human reasoning against obeying God.

Some people actually teach that God did away with all Ten of the Commandments at the cross and then brought back only nine of them, excluding the Sabbath command, in the New Testament. That to is ridiculous, unscriptural and a clever attempt at deception.

God made the Sabbath a special, eternal, covenant, and it is binding for all eternity.

Recall, now, that when Moses referred to the time when God thundered the Ten Commandments, he said, “and He added no more” (Deut.5:22). The Ten Commandments are a complete law. Therefore, anything commanded later that was not part of the Ten Commandment law, is separate. It would be a separate law, or covenant.

Paul points out that once a law, or covenant, is confirmed, no one can add to it. “though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it” (Galatians 3:15 NKJV).

God added no more to the Ten Commandments. It was complete. The Covenant at Mt Sinai was confirmed. It is recorded in Exodus 24:4-8. No one can add to it. But notice that after both the Ten Commandment law and the Covenant at Mt Sinai were both completed, and activated, put into effect, that God then made another completely separate eternal covenant with His people.

There is a good reason, an important purpose, but man has lost sight of that awesome purpose. Yes, you were created for an awesome purpose of tremendous importance to God.

God made the Sabbath through Jesus “the word” (John 1: 1-3). The Sabbath was made for mankind (Mark 2: 27-28). But have you ever wondered why it was made for man?

Do you know what the purpose was? It is a real important purpose of which mankind has lost knowledge of. In Mark 2: 27-28, Jesus stated, 1) that the Sabbath was made for man and 2) that man was not made for the Sabbath and 3) that the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. He merely revealed the what, for whom, and then declared that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. But, He did not explain the “why!” He didn’t explain the purpose for creating the Sabbath, even though it was created for a tremendously important purpose! The Sabbath is a special, separate, important Covenant.

You can read about that Covenant in Exodus 31:12-17: “and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep…” Notice, that God calls the Sabbaths “My Sabbaths.” They are His days – “the Lord’s day.” They do not belong to us. They are not the “Jewish Sabbaths” and they are not the “Gentile’s Sabbaths.” They belong to God. That twenty-four hour space of time of the seventh day Sabbath, is God’s time, not ours.

It is sin to steal that time from God by doing “our own thing” - work, pleasure, or whatever we want to do for ourselves on that day. It was not created for our own personal use.

God said to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.” God made it Holy time, and commanded us to make sure that we keep it Holy time. We are not to profane what is Holy to God. Continue: “…for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations: that ye may know that I am the Lord that doeth sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13 AKJV).

That statement is packed with meaning. Yet most people read it without actually seeing the tremendous vital truth that it contains. You need to understand!

Notice!! The Sabbath is a sign! The New Webster’s Expanded Dictionary says that “sign” means: “a mark or stamp indicative of something; a token of identity; indication, emblem; a symbol or character.”

A roadside sign might tell you direction, or advertise a place of business. Store signs tell what the business is, and in some cases even who is the owner of the store.

Signs identify!

In the Hebrew language in which Moses wrote, the word which he used was ‘owth,’ and the Hebrew-English dictionary says that it means: “a signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, evidence, etc.—a mark, miracle, sign, token.” A beacon may warn of possible impending danger, or may provide direction by illumination as a guide, “as a beacon in the night to guide a lost individual.” A token is some visible sign that announces an intended meaning, or to make something known, such as the displaying of a white flag in time of war, is a visible sign that serves as a token of surrender.

We are commanded to keep the Sabbath as a sign between God and His people. “…a sing between Me and you,” God commands. The Sabbath is a badge, or token of identity. It identifies “…His people.” It identifies the knowledge of who the people of God are and the knowledge, “that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Remember, sanctify means: set apart for Holy use.

The Sabbath identifies who God is. It is a sign by which we can know that He is the Lord! That He is the One that sanctified His people. Not everyone knows who God is. Remember that the whole world is deceived (Rev. 12:9). A lot of people in the world today “think” that they know who God is, but their deeds and ways show that they don’t really know Him.

The world has a “god” – a false god – Satan the Devil. He is the god of this world (2 Cor.4:4)! He pretends to be “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Satan has a lot of religious organizations all doing their best to help Satan deceive the whole world. Most of them have appropriated the name “Christian.” The Bible says that they are the ministers of Satan. “and no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing that his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

What is an “angel of light?” a holy, righteous angel of God who reveals truth. Satan pretends to be an angel of light, a holy righteous angel revealing truth. However, he is only pretending to be and he has deceived a host of ministers into believing that they are ministers of righteousness, when in fact, they are teaching Satan’s lies, which contradict the Word of God.

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11: 13). Satan’s ministers make themselves out to be apostles of Christ. How do you identify them? They are “deceitful workers!” Any religious or nonreligious organization that practices and teaches anything that is unscriptural, deceitful, untrue, and contradicts God’s Word, well, those ministers are ministers of Satan. They are taking part in Satan’s diabolical evil plan to destroy God’s awesome plan for humanity.

Satan makes himself out to be God, and is referred to as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). He has deceived the world into believing that his ministers are the true ministers of Christ and that they are teaching the truth. Satan inspires his ministers to accuse the true ministers of Christ as being the real “false apostles.” It’s a cunning tactic that Satan utilizes to confuse and mislead people about who the real ministers are, and thereby divert suspicion away from his own “false ministers,” – the one’s that are really teaching the false doctrines and practices. You have to be alert and praying always for help just to see and understand the real truth in everything. You cannot do it alone!

Now, do you see why it is so important to make full proof of what you believe and teach? If you don’t you could easily be swayed by these extremely convincing “doctrines of men” and by the corrupt practices and ways of Satan.

The world is deceived into believing that they know the true God. They are very sincere in that false belief, even though they do not really know the true God. If they really knew the true God they would obey what He commands.

This world has been taught that it’s okay not to obey God. That all you have to do is believe in Jesus and everything will be all right, regardless of one’s behavior, or belief. In other words, it gives the believer of that teaching the freedom to go out and commit whatever abomination their evil minds can invent, and as long as they believe in Jesus, it’s okay. They teach that God’s law was “done away” and now there is no law of God to govern their actions and direction in life. One has to wonder whatever happened to God’s command that we must “live by every word of God” – the whole Bible.

False “Christianity” obeys Satan by their sinful ways.

The Sabbath command identifies who really are the true believers – the people of God, whom God sanctified – set apart for Holy use. God’s true people would be striving to obey the command to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.” It is a sign that God is their God and that they are His true servants.

Likewise, Sunday is Satan’s day. Sunday serves as the sign that the people observing it are acknowledging that Satan is their god and that they are his servants. Even if they don’t know or realize that fact, it is still true!

How does the Sabbath identify who God is? “it is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed” (Exodus 31: 17).

This was a special covenant that was to last forever. God gave man His Sabbath for the purpose of keeping mankind in the true knowledge and true worship of the true God.

If you believe that anything or anyone else can be God - you fail to realize that God created everything that exists and everyone who ever lived - and that He is therefore, far superior than anyone or anything. Creation is the sure proof of God - of His existence. Creation identifies God!

God took a space of time, something that re-occurs every seven days and used it as a memorial of His creation. The Sabbath is the only day which points, constantly, every seven days to the very existence of the Almighty, all-powerful, all-ruling, Eternal God – the Creator!

God took that day and set it apart from all others. He made that day sacred and holy to Him. Then he commanded His people to rest from all their own work and physical pleasure on that day, and to assemble in spiritual fellowship with other obedient worshippers and worship the Almighty Creator God. No other day was set apart as a memorial and reminder of creation. Only the seventh day Sabbath - was sanctioned by God.

Satan has tried in so many ways to discredit that truth and has deceived the many into accepting Sunday. But God’s true servants know the truth and will not accept his clever deception. He has tried for many years to convince people that Christ was resurrected on a Sunday and has deceived many. Satan’s concept is that Jesus was crucified on a Friday and resurrected on Sunday morning, just one and a half days in duration. That, of course, contradicts Jesus’ own word which states that He would be in the grave for three full days and nights. Jesus’ statement exposes the lie of Satan, because there is no way you can get three days and three night between Friday and Sunday morning. If you believe that lie, then you would have to acknowledge that Jesus lied about the duration of time He would be in the grave. Myself, I prefer to believe God’s word on the subject and not some cunning, crafty, deceptive teaching, that was concocted by men under Satanic influence and is so obviously flawed. How can people deny Christ’s word and accept that obviously false teaching?

Did Christ lie when He said that He would be in the grave three days and three nights? Was He only in the grave for the one and a half days as traditional Christianity teaches? Who is right, Christ or men?

The truth is that during the crucifixion week, there was an annual Sabbath. It was the beginning of the spring Holy days. The Passover was not the Sabbath. Passover fell on Wednesday and the next day, on Thursday at sunset, began the annual Sabbath called the First Day of Unleavened Bread. Look it up and see for yourself when the annual Holy Days fell during that time in history.

The Sabbath that is mentioned in Mark 15:42 was an annual Sabbath called the First day of Unleavened Bread, which immediately follows the Passover. “and now when the evening was come, because it was the preparation, that is the day before the Sabbath.”

If you count from Wednesday at sunset, three days and three nights end at sunset on the weekly Sabbath, not on Sunday. Notice, when Mary came to the grave, very early in the morning on the first day of the week (Sunday), Jesus had already risen. He wasn’t there. That is because the night before, Saturday at sunset, Christ was resurrected, three days and three nights, just as He said. In the near future an article will be written on that subject to fully explain that truth.

The seventh day Sabbath points to Creation as proof that God exists. It identifies God as Creator and Ruler over all that He created. And that He is the One that everyone should worship. It identifies who really are God’s true people, the very ones that God sanctified – set apart for His use.

The Sabbath is an Eternal Covenant between God and mankind. The people in Old Testament times were referred to as the Congregation of the House of Israel. But God’s people in the New Testament are those in the true Church – truly converted, Spirit-begotten Christians.

If you are wondering how the Sabbath sets God’s own true people apart from the rest, you should try keeping the Sabbath and then you plainly see how it does. You will automatically be set apart. The world is full of false and counterfeit gods. Satan tries desperately to deceive the world into believing that he is God. In times past, idols were worshipped as gods, and, in fact, still are in some so-called “Christian” religions today. What or whom you serve and obey, is your god!

Jesus said: “and why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 AKJV). The word Lord means “Ruler, Master, Boss” – the one whom you obey! Jesus asked them why they were calling Him Lord, since they did not obey Him. If they do not obey Him, He is not their Lord!

The word of God is very clear on the fact that it is only those who obey God who can be His children, and enter into the Kingdom of God. “Not everyone that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7: 21 AKJV).

“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey…?” (Romans 6: 16 AKJV).

We are told not to make any idols or other counterfeit gods and God commands us, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” –that is, obey them – for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity [disobedience] of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20: 5-6).

The Sabbath command identifies who are the true people of God. It is the only one of the Ten Commandments that is a sign – a TEST command, to show who are the true Christians today. And as we have seen in Revelation, these true, obedient servants of God would also be striving to obey all Ten of the Commandments. But the Sabbath command is the crucial test command of obedience!

God’s true servants will endure persecution, or whatever the cost, just to remain obedient to God. They will not make up wishy-washy excuses in an attempt to justify disobedience.

The Sabbath sign is one that you have to choose to accept or not. But, it is the TEST command on which your very salvation and eternity depends!

Obeying the Sabbath command WILL set you apart all righ! You can count on that! People all around you WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE CLEARLY SET APART.

How is the Sabbath a perpetual, eternal covenant, entirely separate from the “Old Covenant” made at Mt. Sinai? What does the word “covenant” mean?

In the New Webster’s Expanded Dictionary, the word is defined as: “a contract; compact; a writing containing the terms of an agreement.” A covenant is an “agreement between persons and parties.” “a solemn compact.” A covenant is a contract, or agreement, by which one party promises certain rewards or payments, in return for certain stipulated performance by the other party.

God made a covenant at Mt. Sinai between Himself and the children of Israel. That covenant, placed upon the people certain terms and conditions that God expected them to perform - obedience to the Ten Commandments.

Obedience would mean that the children of Israel would become “a nation above all people.” The promises were purely material and national. However, we are told that the New Covenant is founded on BETTER PROMISES (Hebrews 8:6) and would consist of an eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9: 15). Paul pointed out that a covenant “if it be confirmed, no man annulleth, or addeth thereto” (Galatians 3: 15). Once a covenant has been signed, ratified –confirmed, it cannot be added to, nor annulled by anyone. As many of you may know, anything that appears on a contract BELOW a signature, is not legally part of the contract.

God made the contract with the children of Israel. It was a binding, signed, sealed, ratified, confirmed contract! You can read of the making of that contract in Exodus 24: 6-8.

But, realize, now, that the Sabbath covenant doesn’t appear until seven chapters after the covenant at Sinai. It is not part of the “old covenant” agreement. It came later, even though the command to keep the Sabbath was commanded in the “Old Covenant.” There is a Sabbath commandment and a Sabbath Covenant!

God first commanded us to “remember the Sabbath, to keep it Holy.” Then later He made the Sabbath a Covenant agreement – that would be a SIGN of who He was and who His people really are. “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, FOR A PERPETUAL COVENANT” (Exodus 31:16).

The word “perpetual” means that it is to be continuous and unbroken. Then notice the very next verse: “it is to be a SIGN between Me and the children of Israel FOR EVER.” It was to be an Eternal Covenant, to last forever!

What was the condition imposed: “Ye shall KEEP THE SABBATH therefore, FOR IT IS HOLY UNTO YOU…” (Exodus 31: 14). With the condition came a promise of a reward for performing the condition. That reward was to be “set apart” – sanctified by God. The people who perform the Sabbath covenant agreement, will be set apart for Holy use – they, therefore, will be the true people of God. That is why it says that the seventh day Sabbath is “A SIGN” identifying who God is and who are the true people of God. Now that is a tremendous promise!

This Sabbath covenant agreement could not have been “nailed to the cross” because it was a perpetual, Eternal Covenant, to last forever!

The next argument that would immediately come to mind is, “well, yes, it is an eternal covenant, but it was between God and the children of Israel, and not the world as a whole. It was to be throughout Israel’s generations forever.”

Yes, it does, absolutely bind the children of Israel, to keep the Sabbath throughout their generations and forever. Their generations are still going on and therefore they are still required to keep the Sabbath. That is not disputed. That fact is acknowledged and I am sure you will agree!

However, as some of you readers already know, the peoples of the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland and the nations of Northwestern Europe are all, in fact, descendants of the House of Israel. A book will be written in the future on this fascinating subject.

Therefore, being descendants of the House of Israel we are bound to keep the Sabbath covenant forever! As was acknowledged above. The Sabbath Covenant does not apply just to the House of Israel. True Christians are “spiritual” children of Abraham, whose son, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel and they are called the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). These spiritual children of Abraham, are also bound by the Sabbath Covenant!

Since the Sabbath is a SIGN to identify who God’s people really are, why are not our peoples, the descendants of Israel, recognized as God’s chosen people of the House of Israel? Could it be because our peoples are not “remembering the Sabbath, to keep it Holy? We have “lost” our identifying sign by refusing to obey the Sabbath Covenant agreement.

Let me give you a little background into why the House of Israel and the tribe of Judah separated and how the ten tribes of Israel became lost.

These facts have been hidden for centuries, and yet they are astonishing indeed. Do you know why the Sabbath is called the “Jewish Sabbath?” Stranger still, do you know why the whole world thinks that all Israelites are Jews and that the Jews are the whole House of Israel?

It may surprise you that the Jewish people are only a small part – a minority of the House of Israel. The first place in the Bible that the word “Jew” appears we find that the Jews are fighting against the House of Israel (2 Kings 16: 5-6). If the Jews are the House of Israel, then they were fighting against themselves. But that wasn’t the case, as you shall see.

The Kingdom of Israel allied with Syria in a war AGAINST THE JEWS. Yes, Israel was fighting against the Jews. When King Solomon died, the people of the nation of Israel rebelled because of high taxes. Solomon kept raising taxes to pay for his luxurious life style. They demanded that King Rehoboam lower the taxes. But King Rehoboam listened to the unwise advice of his young counselors instead of the wise advice of the older, more mature counselors. The young counselors said to King Rehoboam, “tell the people you will show them who is their master – tax them even higher than your father did.”

The House of Israel staged a rebellion and rejected King Rehoboam and placed Jeroboam as their King. But the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and some of the tribe of Levi remained loyal to King Rehoboam. Thus, the nation was divided into two separate nations.

The Bible is very clear on the fact that the tribe of Judah separated from the House of Israel. The tribe of Judah had it’s capital at Jerusalem and the House of Israel had its capital at Samaria. They became TWO SEPARATE nations. It was ONLY the tribe of Judah that became known as the Jewish people.

However, there were the other ten tribes. They DID NOT BECOME KNOWN AS JEWS. Who are they today? They ARE NOT the Jewish people. They have been referred to as the “lost ten tribes.” They are the House of Israel.

No where in the Bible will you ever find the House of Israel called Jews, or the Jewish people. Jews or Jewish, is a nickname for the people of the tribe, or kingdom of Judah. The tribe of Judah kept their identifying sign – they observe the Sabbath and still do to this day. That is why they are recognized as God’s people.

So now, how did the House of Israel lose it’s identifying sign? The sign to identify them as God’s chosen people.

The whole house of Israel were given annual festivals that they must observe. After the House of Israel and the tribe of Judah split and became two separate nations, King Jeroboam, king over the House of Israel, became afraid that when the Israelite people journeyed to Jerusalem to observe the commanded festivals they would again desire King Rehoboam as their king.

The priests of the House of Israel were the tribe of Levi. They were intelligent, wise and the best educated. Also, the best paid, from the tithes. King Jeroboam immediately demoted them and hired the lowest and most ignorant of the people to be priests. He did that because he could control them. He needed to control the religion, as Gentile kings had done up through time. When Jeroboam demoted the Levites, most of them went back to the tribe of Judah and thus became known as Jews also.

Then King Jeroboam immediately set up false gods, idols, for his people to worship. He directed that the annual fall festivals (including the annual Sabbaths) be observed in the eighth month, at a place of his choosing, in the north – instead of at Jerusalem – the place of God’s choosing. (1 Kings 12: 28-31).

Several kings continued in these basic “twin-sins” of idolatry and Sabbath-breaking of Jeroboam, and even added more evil and sinful practices.

God then caused the Kingdom of Assyria to invade and conquer the House of Israel, because of Israel’s sins. The Assyrians moved the Israelites from their homes and land to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. They became slaves once again!

The Nation of Judah – the Jews – were not invaded until two or three generations later by the Chaldeans (Babylon), ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar.

The House of Israel (only the ten tribes) began to migrate northward soon after Babylon conquered the Assyrians. The House of Israel continued their migration into Western Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and the British Isles. They became known as “the lost ten tribes” because they lost their identifying sign, Sabbath keeping! All the Israelite kings had followed the practice of breaking the Sabbath. However, as long as they remained in their country, as a nation, they did not lose their identify. But after they were removed to Assyria, they were no long known as a nation, but a lowly slave people. As time passed they inherited the language of the Assyrians. They eventually lost the Hebrew language completely. They had lost ALL national identity.

Several generations later the tribe of Joseph divided into the two tribes of Ephraim and Mannassah and migrated to become the British and American people of today. The tribe of Ruben migrated to France. They had lost their national identity, but the French have the very characteristics of their ancestor, Ruben.

The House of Israel lost their identifying sign – Sabbath keeping, and that is why they lost their national identity and their identity as God’s people.

Does history repeat itself? Prophecies reveal that the nations that make up the House of Israel today will in like manner be conquered and taken into slavery, just as their ancestors were and for the most part, for the very same reasons.

Judah kept the Sabbath! They didn’t keep it Holy, nor did they keep it in the manner God commanded. But they did keep it and still do to this day. They have not lost their identity. The whole world still sees them as the chosen people of God! And, of course, the world believes that the Jewish people are the whole House of Israel too! Which simply isn’t true! The tribe of Judah is only one tribe of the whole House of Israel.

The whole world is deceived in more ways that they know or want to know. The truth IS stranger than fiction.

If you want to know where the true Church of God is today, you should start your search with the Identifying sign that would identify God’s people. The true Church of God observes the true seventh day Sabbath and ALL churches who do not hold to this identifying sign, simply are NOT a Church of God. That fact is true and certain and will remain so, regardless of how one wants to look at it.

If you, the reader, are understanding what you are reading, there is a good possibility that God may be calling you into His true Church. You can contact a minister who will answer any questions that you might have, be writing to the address on the last page of this booklet.