To Remember or Forget?

I would think it is safe to say (at least I would hope) that most churches around the world would agree that it is good to...

Put God first in your life and not have any other priorities above Him.
Not have idols or graven images.
Not take the name of God in vain
Honor your father and mother
Not murder
Not commit adultery
Not steal
Not bear false witness
Not covet

Most of us would agree on this.

Those of you who are familiar with Exodus 20 will recognize this list as 9 of the ten commandments. What about the missing commandment? The fourth commandment states in Exodus 20:8-11
     “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

To steal a phrase used by another, why is it that we seem to think that the only commandment out of the ten that starts with the word "Remember" just happens to be the one that modern Christianity says to forget?

Arguments such as, "I keep a Sabbath." "The Lord changed the Sabbath to Sunday."  or even worse, "The church changed the Sabbath."  just don't fly when stood next to scripture.

The word Christian means a follower of Christ. In Hebrew traditions a disciple of a rabbi or a "follower" would live with their teacher and try to mirror him as fully as possible.
     Likewise as a follower of Christ we are to try and mirror Him as fully as humanly possible. So what He did we do, what He wants we want, what he preached we preach.
     So if our Messiah is our blueprint for life and He kept the Sabbath, how then can we ignore it?

Many say our Messiah changed it by His resurrection on the first day of the week. Scripture tells us that the women went to the tomb early on the first day and he had already risen. The exact time of his resurrection is unknown.
     But lets assume for arguments sake that he rose on the first day and that changed the Sabbath. We are then saying that all the followers up until approximately 300 years after the death of Messiah were worshiping on the wrong day.
     Versus such as Acts 16:13 and 17:2 show us Paul's custom was to go into the synagogue on the Sabbath. A custom being something done on a regular basis we can confidently say that Messiah's death and resurrection didn't seem to change the day Paul observed.

Some will bring up versus like 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. This is the saints dealing with money, something they did not do on the Sabbath...and Paul told them why they were to gather on the first day. "That there be no gathering when I come."

Acts 20:7 will be used also. However if we understand that Jewish days start at Sundown, not at midnight we can see it is logical that all the apostles and believers would be gathered on Sabbath for their meeting and then as sundown approached (Saturday night for us) this would be the first day. A Sabbath meeting lasting past sundown, an evening meal, and continued fellowship into the first day was common.

Finally we have Romans 14:5-6 and Colossians 2:16-17
     Colossians 2 tells us that we are not to let anyone judge us when we keep the when you eat and drink and keep the holy days and Sabbaths. Though many would say he is speaking against them it is clear from reading context before and after that his message is "When you keep the Sabbath do not let them judge you." (in a paraphrase)

Romans 14, as I see it, in it's simplest form is the principle "Worry about your own walk with God before you try and change someone else's"
     But he says  "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it." THE day in Jewish culture would logically be the Sabbath.  So if he who regards the day regarded it to the Lord, then how does this too not support observing the Sabbath?

Scripturally I think the case is made that the biblical Sabbath was the seventh day. Historical records show no change of the seven day cycle  so our seventh day (to the best of our knowledge) is still the seventh day. This aside Exodus 20 tells us why it is to be the seventh day. It is a memorial of God as Creator.

" For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

So if God hallowed and blessed the seventh day, how can we as humans or a church change that blessing and hallowed day? We can not. No man can change the work of God. It is not A Sabbath God tells us to observe it is THE Sabbath, because only the seventh day is blessed and hallowed in that way, if we were to keep Sabbath on any other day God will not meet us there in the same way as He will on His holy day.

We can go to church on Sunday, we can worship God any day we want... but it is not keeping the Sabbath. And very few who go to church even observe Sunday as a Sabbath day. (Biblical laws regarding Sabbath observance are quite detailed)

James tells us in Chapter 2 verse 10  "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."

The law that James is speaking of is the Torah, the first five books of Moses. The new testament was not part of the "Bible" back then. So if James was talking about the first five books, which include the Ten Commandments it stands to reason that if we keep the whole law and fail to keep the one regarding Sabbath we are guilty of breaking all.

Isaiah 66:23 references us keeping the Sabbath in the end of times.

So if Messiah and His followers kept it before, during and after His death and we will be keeping it in the future...why would God want us to forget it today?

Now there are more resources out there and more verses out there on the subject. I would, as always encourage all to research the issue for yourself, pray, and seek God's will with a willing heart.  "Not MY will Lord by YOURS be done."

I leave you with the information, a choice in your own hands, and a prayer that Messiah will lead you as He sees fit.

Thanks for reading,
Jason