I think the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life and light! Do we know for a fact that the what we call the 7th day of the week is the same day as day 7 of creation? If you answer yes, would you please share what you base that on. I don't think the opposite side of the earth caught Yahweh off guard. Yahweh looks upon the heart. I keep the 7th day of the week as I understand it on the 7th day sundown to sundown in the area where I'm at. I have peace with Yahweh about that. Thanks be to Yahweh!

Bro. Lahry

Which day is the true seventh day God made holy?
Has time been LOST?

Granted, the Bible says the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Granted, that God did, at creation, make the seventh day holy time, and that He has commanded us to keep it holy.

The Questions

But how can we know, today, WHICH day is the true seventh day God blessed and made holy at creation? Has time been lost? Has the calendar been changed? Were not ten days dropped out of it at one time?

And how about living on a round earth? Does not one either "gain a day," or "lose a day" in traveling around the world?

And how about Joshua's long day? Did that change the weekly cycle?

How can we know that the name "Saturday," which is a pagan name, was placed on the seventh day of the week according to the Hebrew calendar?

To all these questions, there is a definite answer -- and many lines of positive proof! God's word says "prove all things." Let us banish all prejudice. Let us throw out preconceived or past opinions. Let us investigate and find the truth.

Past Calendar Changes

The calendar now in use, a Roman calendar, has been changed, but that change did not break the weekly cycle.

Prior to its change, it was called the Julian calendar, because it originated at the time of Julius Caesar, 45 B.C. -- several years before the birth of Christ. The one change was ordered by Pope Gregory, and since then it has been called the Gregorian calendar.

The Julian Calendar was imperfect -- it inserted leap years too frequently. Back in 45 B.C. they supposed the year was exactly 365 1/4 days long, and to take care of the extra one-fourth day each year, added a day to the month of February every four years. But it was found later the year was 12 minutes and 14 seconds shorter than this. Consequently, by the time of Pope Gregory, the calendar had drifted TEN DAYS away from the seasons. The Spring equinox, consequently, fell on March 11th, instead of March 21st.

To correct this, ten days were dropped from the calendar. But they were dropped only from the number of days in the MONTH not from the number of days in the WEEK. A man named Lilius proposed the method which was adopted in making the change. In the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 9, p. 251, under article "Lilius," explaining this change, we read:

"Thus, every imaginable proposition was made, only one idea was never mentioned, viz., the abandonment of the seven-day week."
In the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 740, article "Chronology," we read:

"It is to be noted that in the Christian period, the order of days in the week has never been interrupted. Thus, when Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582, Thursday, 4 October was followed by Friday, 15 October. So in England, in 1752, Wednesday, 2 September, was followed by Thursday, 14 September."
Since the Catholics changed the calendar, the Catholic Encyclopedia is the best historical authority there is on the question, and is proof positive.

So that the reader may clearly understand it, and see how it was worked out on the Calendar, we reproduce below the actual calendar. The change was made in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, in 1582. Here is the calendar for October, 1582!

OCTOBER 1582

Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat.
1 2 3 4 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
You will notice how ten days were dropped out. One day was the 4th, and the very next day was the 15th of October. But the 4th was Thursday, and the next day was FRIDAY.

To make it still plainer, the 29th of September that year was a Sabbath, or Saturday. The 30th was Sunday. The 1st of October was Monday, the 2nd was Tuesday, the 3rd was Wednesday, the 4th was Thursday, and the next day was Friday, but it was not the 5th: it was the 15th. And the following day was Saturday, the 16th. Actually Saturday, the 16th, was just one week of seven days after the preceding Saturday, the 29th of September. There had been exactly seven days, seven sunsets, from one Sabbath to the next. The change in the calendar did not in any way change the sabbath, or the succession of the days of the week.

Now the British countries refused to change the calendar when the pope ordered it. They continued with the old julian calendar until 1752. And while their days of the month were different, yet their days of the week were just the same as in rome. Those who kept the Sabbath in England kept the same saturday that was called saturday in rome. Those who observed Sunday observed the same day, both in Rome where the calendar had been changed, and in London where it had not. The English countries changed the calendar in 1752. By that time it was necessary to drop out 11 days. The change was made in September as follows:

SEPTEMBER 1752

Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat.
1 2 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Now in Russia, the calendar was never changed until relatively recently. Consequently, in the year 1907, the day that we called the 14th of August, the Russians called the 1st of August. Our calendars were 13 days apart. Yet in both countries, we both called that same day SATURDAY. In both countries, SATURDAY fell on the same day of the week. The calendar has since been changed in Russia. And still their Sunday is our Sunday -- their Saturday is our Saturday.

And so we see that the calendar that has been in effect since 45 B.C., which is prior to the birth of Christ, and proves that there has never been any change in the weekly cycle from the time of christ until now. The Saturday of today is the same seventh day of the week as it was in Christ's time. We can, therefore, be sure we keep the same Sabbath day that Christ kept, setting us an example -- the same day He said He was LORD of (Mark 2:28).

Gaining or Losing a Day Traveling Around the World

Next let us consider this argument that we "gain a day" or "lose a day," depending on which way we are traveling, in going around the world.

Did you ever stop to wonder how Jonah came to be out on a wild sea, so he could be swallowed by the great fish? Jonah was commanded of God to perform a certain task. But Jonah did not want to obey. So he embarked on a ship, in an attempt to escape "from the presence of the Lord." Read Jonah 1:1-3. Now wasn't it silly for Jonah to think that by journeying away from home on a boat, he could escape from the command of God? But we have many modern day Jonahs. They try to tell us that a certain command, proclaimed by God's own voice to all His congregation, cannot really be obeyed if we embark on a boat and travel far away from home, either east or west. It is the command which says: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy ... the SEVENTH DAY is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Did God so complicate this command that it would require an astronomer to tell us how to obey?

It might seem to some, who do not stop to think very deeply, that you have lost a day if you travel westward around the world -- or gained a day if you travel eastward. But this loss or gain is apparent, not real.

Think what would happen if this were so. Imagine twin brothers, one traveling westward around the world, the other traveling eastward. If one has really lost a day, while the other gained a day, then after one such journey, one becomes TWO DAYS OLDER than his twin brother. If they took enough trips, one would in time be enough older to be the father of his own twin brother! This is ridiculous, but it illustrates the point.

When a person travels, his days are not of even length. The man who travels from San Francisco to New York in one day by airplane finds that this particular day, for him, is counted as only 21 hours, because the sun sets three hours earlier in New York than in San Francisco, and therefore there is three hours difference in time between these two cities. If the man returns, also by plane, he finds his day on the return trip is computed as 27 hours.

If he leaves San Francisco at 5 A.M., and arrives in New York exactly twelve hours later, his watch will register 5 P.M., but all watches and clocks in New York will register 8 P.M. To compute time as others do there, he will have to set his watch up three hours.

If he kept traveling around the earth, he would have to keep changing his watch, until he had added 24 hours to his watch, by the time he returned to San Francisco. But did he really add A DAY to his life? Of course not. The only change is in the way men COUNT time. This is merely a trick argument designed to confuse people, and justify them in disobeying the commands of God. Sin is the transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4) -- and the wages of sin is DEATH! (Romans 6:23.)

What Is a Day?

The correct Bible definition of a "DAY" is not 24 hours of a man-made watch, but that period of time from sunset to sunset. A day is not measured by the journey of the earth PLUS our journey ON the earth.

The Sabbath is to be observed "from even unto even" (Leviticus 23:32). A day ENDS, and another begins, when the sun sets. (See Mark 1:32; Luke 4:40.). History shows that it was always custom to end and begin days at sunset until a few hundred years after Christ.

We live on a round earth. A day is measured by the revolution of the earth on its axis, in relation to the sun. Since the Sabbath day begins and ends at SUNSET, we observe it here when the sun sets HERE. But the sun sets three hours earlier in New York than on the Pacific Coast, hence Sabbath-keepers there begin their Sabbath three hours earlier than we on the Coast. In London the Sabbath begins nine hours earlier than on the Pacific Coast, if kept according to God's directions.

The answer to it all is, we keep the day [the Sabbath day] when the day comes to us.

Jerusalem is God's headquarters for the earth. That is where Jesus kept the Sabbath, and we know HE had it right! Authorities believe it was by God's guidance that men were caused to set the international "date line" (where, because of a round earth turning on its axis a day must be dropped or added IN COMPUTATION), in the middle of the Pacific where it affects virtually nobody and almost exactly OPPOSITE from Jerusalem.

As time is now computed, Sabbath-keepers the world over keep the same Sabbath, when it comes to them, that is and always has been the seventh day of the week at Jerusalem. But, for the simple reason that the bible tells us to begin our Sabbath at sunset, and the sun does not set at the same time in various parts of the earth, the holy hours of the Sabbath begin, in china, several hours earlier than in Jerusalem -- and likewise, in america several hours later than in Jerusalem. But, beginning in the middle of the pacific, halfway around the earth from Jerusalem, all everywhere on earth keep the same day, as that day comes to them, that is kept at Jerusalem. Sunday observers have no trouble figuring when their Sunday comes to them, anywhere on the earth. We cannot run away from this truth on a boat.

That Long Day of Joshua's

There is still another argument. The long day of Joshua when the sun stood still for "about a whole day" is figured around in a manner to show that Sunday is the seventh day of the week.

The Bible account is found in Joshua 10:12-14.

"Then spake Joshua to the Lord ... and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed ... and hasted not to go down about a whole day."
Based on this is an ingenious argument, accompanied by a diagram, which is supposed to show that today Sunday is actually the continuation of the seventh day from creation. The gist of the argument is this:

"Joshua showed that the sun and the moon were within a few minutes of going into conjunction in the position he placed them when he issued his command. Thus this week contained a twenty-four hour period without a corresponding sunrise and sunset ... Professor Totten has clearly demonstrated that the conjunction was due to occur on Tuesday at 11:13 a.m .... According to the accompanying diagram it is apparent that this particular week, from Sabbath day to Sabbath day, saw only six sunrises and six sunsets, though it contained the nominal seven times twenty-four hour periods .... Numbering according to twenty-four hour periods it is seen that Saturday is the seventh day. If however, we number our days according to the sunsets, then it is clear that Sunday becomes the seventh day from creation."

If Joshua's long day had been counted as two days in actual history --Tuesday and Wednesday as labeled in this trick diagram, and the order of days had come down to us thus, this diagram would be correct. But it was counted ONE DAY. The day labeled "Sun" above we call SATURDAY today, the true 7th day.

Surely the reader can see what is WRONG with this argument, and this diagram. First, it is stated, "according to the accompanying diagram, it is apparent that this particular week, from Sabbath day to Sabbath day, saw only six sunrises and sunsets." That is true, according to this diagram. But not according to God's word! The diagram is in error!

What is wrong? Simply this: God says, "from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath." the days of the week are counted from sunset to sunset, according to the measuring of time in the first chapter of genesis. It is stated each day that "the evening and the morning were the first day" -- "the second day," and so on. Nowhere does God's Word say "The first 24 hours was the first day! and the next 24 hours was the second day, etc. God Does not count time according to man-made watches and clocks! God counts days according to the setting of the sun.

Now in this man-made diagram, the man who designed it called this long day of Joshua's two days -- Tuesday and Wednesday. Is this in harmony with the Bible? Does the Bible call this long day TWO DAYS? Notice, in speaking of it, in Joshua 10:14, it distinctly says "And there was NO DAY like it before or after it." The Bible calls it a DAY -- just ONE DAY. But in order to twist it around to conform to the broad and popular way of observing the pagan Sunday, this one day must be correlated as TWO DAYS. But that is contrary to the scriptures.

Next, this argument ingeniously confuses the reader between numbering according to 24-hour periods and numbering according to sunsets. The author of this argument used 24-hour periods to make Friday appear to be Saturday -- the actual 6th day of the week APPEAR to be Saturday the 7th day. Then he turns around and re-numbers these same days according to sunsets to make Sunday come out the 7th day.

It is clever, but it is a deception. We cannot figure days in terms of 24-hour periods. God counts days from sunsets.

Joshua's long day was approximately 48 hours of a man-made watch, but it was ONE DAY, and the Bible calls it a day, and specifically says it was DIFFERENT FROM other days -- "there was no DAY" -- not "days" but "day" -- "like IT before or after IT." The pronoun "it" is singular. Just one day! God says so!! God's week is not made of seven 24-hour periods, but of seven days counting from sunsets. A diagram showing this as it actually IS, according to the Bible and God's reckoning of time as follows:

Days were reckoned THEN, and down through history to today, according to this diagram, not as in the diagram preceding it. Saturday is TRUE 7th day from Creation.

A Trick Intended to Deceive

Do you notice the trick employed as a means of deception in the first diagram? "Joshua's Long Day," as it is plainly labeled in the diagram -- a day -- one single day -- is marked "Tuesday" and "Wednesday" -- as if it were two days. At the bottom of the diagram, it is numbered the 3rd and the 4th days of the week -- TWO DAYS. Then at the top of the diagram it is re-numbered a different way -- as ONE DAY, the "3rd" day of the week. The day labeled "Saturday" is arrived at by counting Joshua's Long Day as TWO DAYS. Figuring that way, this day is made the 7th day of the week. Then, in the top line by re-numbering this day as ONE day -- the 3rd day of the week-- the day he has called Thursday is the 4th day, Friday is the 5th day, and Saturday is the 6th day of the week. This, of course, brings Sunday out the 7th day.

Now this "Joshua's Long Day" cannot be two days -- the 3rd and the 4th days of the week -- as it is numbered below, and also at the same time be just ONE DAY, the 3rd day, as figured in the top column.

Which is it, the 3rd day of the week -- Tuesday, or the 3rd and the 4th days -- Tuesday AND Wednesday? Since the Bible calls it "A DAY" and not two days, it is only ONE DAY, Tuesday, the 3rd day of the week, as shown in the correct diagram.

The error in the first diagram is in calling this day one day in one place, and two days another time. Actually it was just ONE DAY, Tuesday the 3rd day of the week. The day he has labeled Saturday, therefore, is not Saturday at all, but actually Friday, the 6th day of the week. And the seventh day should not be labeled Sunday as in his diagram, but Saturday, as in the second diagram. And that is exactly the way it actually was counted in history! It is surely plain that this first diagram is a deception and a delusion.

But now, finally, to prove the whole thing, let us remember this: to establish which day is the true Sabbath -- the true seventh day from creation, which God made HOLY time, we need to go back no further than the time of Christ!

For, if this Joshua's long day argument is true, then Jesus profaned the Sabbath God made Holy time, and observed the 6th, not the true 7th day. And if we accuse Jesus of that, we accuse Him of committing sin, for sin is the transgression of the law, and no one will argue that the Sabbath point of the law was abolished during Jesus' lifetime! If he sinned, then we are without hope!

But we know Jesus knew which was the right day. He was the Maker, and Lord of that day (Mark 2:27-28). He kept the true Sabbath, and the calendar record PROVES that the Saturday of today is the exact same seventh day Jesus kept. Certainly we should want to keep the same day Jesus kept!

Was Time Lost from Adam to Moses?

Adam was created and living when sunset came the sixth day of creation week -- when God rested from His work. Adam knew which was the seventh day. Jesus called Abel "righteous" (Matthew 23:35), so Abel kept the Sabbath. Enoch "walked with God," so Enoch kept the Sabbath -- and he was "translated" less than a hundred years before Noah. They knew which day was the same seventh day all through this time. Adam lived 243 years with Methuselah, and until Lamech was 56 years of age. These men knew which day was the seventh day. Methuselah lived 600 years with Noah, and Lamech lived with Noah 595 years.

Noah certainly learned from them, and others, which was the same seventh day. And Noah kept it, because Noah was a preacher of RIGHTEOUSNESS (2 Peter 2:5) -- and "all thy commandments are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172).

Shem was also righteous, and he lived until Abraham was 150 years old. Noah died only about two years before Abraham was born. Abraham kept God's Sabbath (Genesis 18:19; 26:5). So also did his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and his great grandson Joseph -- all of whom were righteous commandment keepers (Psalm 119:172). No, time was not lost down to the time of Joseph.

But, after the death of Joseph, the children of Israel (Jacob) became slaves in Egypt. "Therefore," it is written,

"they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens .... And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage ..." (Exodus 1:11, 13-14).
The Egyptians did not observe the Sabbath. They lashed the Israelites in their slave-labor, on the Sabbaths the same as other days. So these Israelites, for some 150 to 175 years -- several generations -- were not permitted to keep the Sabbath. They had no priesthood. There were no Sabbath or religious services. Probably there was no religious teaching -- certainly none was allowed on an organized scale.

And there was no Bible -- no written record of God's instruction or God's law! The Bible says, "The Word of the Eternal endureth forever." IF any inspired Word of God had been written prior to Moses, it would be in evidence today. The first Scriptures were written by Moses, after the Israelites were delivered out of Egyptian slavery.

The generation of Israelites which Moses led out of Egypt had had no religious instruction or training. Probably they knew little about the Sabbath. Time could have been lost -- to them. But, if so, God revealed it by amazing miracles!

God Revealed the Creation Sabbath to Israel

In the days of Moses, God revealed the true creation Sabbath to all the Children of Israel, in the raining of manna from heaven.

At the wilderness of Sin, two weeks before arriving at Sinai, they grumbled and complained from lack of food. The Lord said,

"Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you ... that I may prove them, whether they will walk in MY LAW or no."
This has to do with whether we will keep God's law. To disobey is SIN. And Moses and Aaron said to the people,

"At even [sunset], then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt: and in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord.

"And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord ... and it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud ... And it came to pass, that at even [dusk], the quails came up, and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host" (Exodus 16:4-13).

Notice, there was a religious assembly on this day, and the glory of the Lord appeared. The quail did not come up until the sun set. WHY? Because this had been a Sabbath day. At sunset, when it ended, the quails came, and the people were privileged to go to work gathering in food to eat.

Next morning the manna fell. This was the FIRST day of the week. If they tried to keep over any manna till the following day, it bred worms and stank (verse 20). On the sixth day (verse 22), twice as much came from heaven and all gathered twice as much.

Then, that sixth day, the Lord said, "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord" (verse 23). They kept it over, and on this day it did not breed worms nor stink.

However, on the seventh day some of the people must have thought time was lost. They were like some people today who were not sure which day was the Sabbath, or whether it makes any difference. They went out to gather on the seventh day (verse 27) and they found none! On this day God did not send any! So, by three miracles God showed them which day was the true Creation Sabbath.

Time could not have been mixed up or lost under the strict Mosaic regime between then and the time of Christ. We have shown that Joshua's Long Day was just ONE day, and it did not change the reckoning of time in any way. If it did, then, as pointed out, Christ kept the wrong day! And so we come to the time of Christ, knowing that time was not lost up to then.

The Proof of the Jewish People

Now if we are convinced that Jesus set us a right example, and that he observed the right seventh day, we need have no further difficulty.

Notice, the day Jesus kept as his custom (Luke 4:16) was the same day all the Jews kept, for they were holding their religious service in the synagogue -- verses 17, 20.

About 43 years after this the Jewish people were driven into every nation on earth. From that time until now, they have been separated, scattered into all nations. Through the Middle Ages, the Jews in China had no way of communicating with the Jews of Africa; the Jews in Europe with those of other parts of the world. Yet today, with communication restored over every part of the world, we do NOT find the Jews all mixed up.

If time had been lost, the Jews of one part of the world would be observing one day, and the Jews of other parts other days. But everywhere -- in every nation on earth, we find the Jewish people have been keeping the same identical day -- the day we call Saturday -- the true seventh day.

The Jewish people are the miracle of all history -- and they are another proof that we have not lost the Sabbath. Ask any orthodox Jew today if HE has lost HIS Sabbath. Why, such an idea would be nonsense to him. He is not in doubt!

The Proof of Reason

And another line of proof. Why should time be lost? How could it be lost? Stop, think! One person might, perhaps, wake up some Saturday morning and think it was Friday, and thus wait until Sunday to keep his Sabbath. But for time to be lost, not only one man, but every other person in his town or city -- every person in every province, state, or county of the whole world -- every person in every nation on earth -- would have to wake up the same morning with the same hallucination! Do you think this possible? Yet you believe this has happened if you believe that time has been lost!

The Testimony of Astronomers

Finally, we have the scientific testimony of astronomers. We quote from the official government statements to the League of Nations, as published August 17, 1926, in an official League document.

The government of Finland presented this observation from one of its astronomers:

"The reform [calendar reform before the League] would break the division of the week, which has been followed for thousands of years, and therefore has been hallowed by immemorial use."
The government of France presented the following statements from two of its leading astronomers:

"One essential point is that of the continuity of the week ... a continuity which has existed for so many centuries." "The continuity of the week ... is without doubt the most ancient scientific institution bequeathed to us by antiquity."
Stated Professor D. Eginitis, director of the Observatory of Athens, a member of the League Committee,

"The continuity of the week ... has crossed the centuries, and all known calendars, still intact."
And we could go on and on. But this is enough. We have presented the proof of history, the proof of the calendar, the proof of the Jewish people, the proof of the martyrs of the true Church, the proof of reason, the testimony of astronomers.

And, we might add, as positive proof as any is that of the Roman Catholic Church, which through the centuries has preserved its Sunday intact, as the day following the seventh-day Sabbath as kept by Jesus and the early apostles. The Catholic priest today is no more in doubt about his Sunday being the true FIRST day of the week, than the Jew is about God's Sabbath.

Would God set apart a certain day, put His blessing on it (Genesis 2:1-3), make it holy time, command that it be kept holy forever, and then let that holy time become so lost we cannot tell when to keep it?
Which day is the true seventh day God made holy?
Has time been LOST?

Has time been LOST? If so, then you and I are lost, for it is sin to profane God's Sabbath!

Sin is the transgression of the Law (1John 3:4), and if we break only one of its points we are guilty sinners (James 2:8-11). The very last recorded words of Jesus say:

"Blessed are they that do His [His Father's] Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life (Revelation 22:14).

http://www.biblestudy.org/godsrest/which-day-is-true-seventh-day-go...

WHERE IS GOD’S INTERNATIONAL DATELINE?
WHERE DOES THE SABBATH BEGIN?

To God, the vicinity of Jerusalem is the center of the universe. This has been taught in God’s true church for decades, perhaps even for two thousand years. The Genesis account of "creation" is actually an account of the renewal of the earth for man’s creation, following the destruction it suffered during Satan’s rage. The scriptural portrayal of this event is viewed from the perspective of a location on the surface of the planet, rather than from some remote location elsewhere in the universe or even beyond the created universe. Every word of the Genesis account indicates that God Himself had been right here on earth during those first six days. That places our small and ‘insignificant’ rotating sphere, which is found orbiting an otherwise insignificant yellow star, which we call our sun, in a remarkable position. The very Creator God chose to position and utilize this planet as the point of origin for His Plan of reproducing the God "kind". Doesn’t this leave one with the impression that Earth may just be, from the perspective of the Creator God, the primary focal point amidst the vast universe around us?

Then we find, from numerous other accounts in the Holy Scriptures, that there is a unique location on this planet, to which time after time, from the beginning of civilization, our attention is unmistakably drawn. This special area is called the land of Palestine. More specifically, it is the city of Jerusalem that lies within that vicinity and upon a mountain called Zion. In this very place each day, from its very inception, even up to this very time, days have begun with a sunset. Each day, since the first, has been delineated and divided by a sunset. The first sundown, as observed from the area we now call Jerusalem, initiated the First Day, as described in Genesis. The second sundown, as observed and from Jerusalem, ended the First Day and began the Second Day. This process continued through the seventh sundown of the week in Jerusalem, which in turn introduced the Seventh Day of the week. That Seventh Day, which began with the seventh sunset of the week in Jerusalem, is designated by God to be Holy time in Jerusalem.

No other day of the week, but the seventh day Sabbath, is ever Holy time except for the annual festivals. The Sabbath day begins at Jerusalem and then proceeds west from there. It is only logical that it must begin somewhere. As that seventh sunset comes to us in the USA our Sabbath begins. As that seventh sunset continues its twenty four hour long westward journey around the earth, this very same seventh sunset continues to initiate the Sabbath as it traverses the globe on its way back to where it began, in Jerusalem. When it arrives back in Jerusalem the Seventh Day Sabbath ends in Jerusalem and the week starts over with a sunset, which begins the First Day of the week. The seven day week chronicling of time has been recognized by all of mankind for its entire recorded history, with one brief and minor exception. Yet we KNOW, from Revelation 12:9, that Satan has deceived the WHOLE world. This must, by definition, include the whole House of Israel, as well as the Gentile nations. What greater deception could Satan foist upon unsuspecting man than to pollute and obscure the significance of God’s true Seventh Day Sabbath? This particular deception, as with all of Satan’s deceptions, is accomplished by subtly co-mingling truth with error! And how has this been done? Satan inspiring man to set an arbitrary, imaginary line from the North Pole of the earth to the South Pole accomplishes it. Man calls this line the "International Date Line". Governments use this line to divide the days, one from another. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, article "The International Date Line", they state:

"The International Date Line is the imaginary line on the Earth that separates two consecutive calendar days. That is the date in the Eastern hemisphere, to the left of the line, is always one day ahead of the date in the Western hemisphere. It has been recognized as a matter of convenience and has no force in international law…. The International Date Line can be anywhere on the globe. But it is most convenient to be 180 degrees away from the defining meridian that goes through Greenwich, England. It is also fortunate that this area is covered, mainly, by empty ocean. However, there have always been zig zags in it to allow for local circumstances."

In addition, the International Date Line divides man’s days at midnight, not sundown! Putting this together, we are left with some obvious questions, which must be answered. Does God’s Holy Word authorize anyone, at any time, to add to or delete from Holy time? Does man have the authority to establish Holy time and then afterward expect for God to comply with him? If the answer to both of these questions is NO, then why should we perpetuate the error concerning when and where the Sabbath begins on earth?

If the International Date Line determines the beginning of the Sabbath on earth, and not Jerusalem, then by what consistent authority do we look? The above article continues:

"Over the years, the position of the International Date Line has changed several times. Until 1845, the Philippines were on the eastern side of it (the same side as the United States). It was on the eastern side of the line because it was a Spanish colony and most Europeans arrived there via the Spanish colonies in South America. Indonesia, almost directly to the South of the Philippines, was a Dutch colony and most European arrivals came via the Cape of Good Hope. Thus Indonesia was to the west of the International Date Line. After the independence of the South American countries, most people traveling to the Philippines also came by way of the Cape of Good Hope, so it was decided to change from the east of the line to the west of the line. Alaska, originally claimed by Russia, was to the west of the International Date Line because most travelers arrived there by way of Siberia. When the United States bought Alaska in 1867 the line was moved to the east of it. The most recent change in the line was in 1995 when Kiribati moved a large segment of it to the east, so that the entire nation would be on the same side of the International Date Line. As with all other changes in the International Date Line, the change was made by a government with local interests. As a result, the line is as far East as 150 degrees, farther east than Honolulu."

Is the Sabbath so trivial that man can place it on the earth where he wills, so that he can worship at his convenience, in a manmade time frame? As recently as 1994, we could have had brethren in Midway Island (US) and Phoenix Island, Kiribati, both keeping the Seventh Day Sabbath together, at exactly the same time, down to the very hour of the same day. Then in 1995, the brethren of Kiribati began keeping the Sabbath twenty-four hours earlier than the brethren on Midway Island! This was a man made convenience. Furthermore, does it even matter whether there were brethren there or not? Even if there were no brethren on either island then, if one were to go there now, when would you keep the Sabbath, the "old" way or the "new" way? Better yet, if YOU were to go there now, which day would YOU keep as the Sabbath? Who decides? Man? God? The Church? The Jews? So far, it would seem that the answer has been man. Man continues to modify the International Date Line to please "his" own needs, and whims.

According to God’s Holy Scriptures, as well as the articles, "Has Time Been Lost", "Which is the Calendar Christ used?" and "Prove God’s Calendar Correct!", all produced under H.W. Armstrong’s watch, Jerusalem is where God’s Holy Sabbath and His Annual Holy Days begin. If this is indeed true, then those who fear and tremble at God’s Sacred Word must not continue in ERROR!

God, from the beginning, opened and closed each day, including the Sabbath, from Jerusalem (Gen. 2). In the Kingdom, will not God ordain that the Sabbath start from Jerusalem? Must we wait for the New Heaven and the New Earth to comply with God, as some suggest? Wouldn’t that be tantamount to our forsaking the Sabbath until the Kingdom comes? When that time finally comes, God will demand that all flesh come and worship before Him, from one new moon to another, and from Sabbath to Sabbath (Is. 66:22-23). Perhaps it would be in our best interest to make sure that we are keeping the Sabbath as God ordained from the beginning. Today is Judgment Day for the Church of God!

Footnote: For practical purposes, we would presume that the Sabbath would technically begin on the eastern border of the original Promised Land, and progress westward marked by the exact shadow of the earth. Otherwise, there would have been people keeping the Sabbath on separate days, depending on which side of the city (or nation) they lived on. Of course there is no Biblical or historical record of that having occurred.

Richard L. Fix

Written in May of 2000.

Updated in January of 2002.

http://www.israelofgod.org/date.htm

A Note on 2 Corinthians 3:6

2 Cor 3:4-6
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
NKJV

This passage has been used to justify antinomianism by many. The argument advanced is that the New Covenant has more glory than the Torah. This is not in dispute. What is in dispute is how one defines "Torah" or "law".

Note: The Greek word nomos, which usually translates 'Torah' in the NT, is entirely absent in 2 Corinthians. This forces us to limit the meaning of "Torah" in this passage to the elements given in the passage, i.e. our exegesis must be entirely contextual. So what is Paul talking about? The written text engraved on stone. What does that do? It works death in order to make people guilty, coming only with a temporary brightness that was already fading away. It is within this written text that Paul contrasts the New Covenant which is accompanied by the Ruach who writes on human hearts giving life, declaring people innocent and which lasts. This is a kal v'chomer argument. BUT there is much more to Torah than a written text so that what Paul says here about Torah does not necessarily apply to all that Torah is.

So how can the Torah both be the letter that "kills" as well as "a tree of life to those who take hold of it" (Prov.3:18). Obviously Proverbs is talking about Wisdom, but since Torah contains Yahweh's Wisdom, this must have application to the Torah itself.

How do we reconcile these two ideas? Simply, it is only as people are filled with the Ruach haQodesh that the Torah then becomes a tree of life and not a ministration of death. The key is, if you like, the "angle of approach". A court of law can, if I am accused, exhonorate me or acquit me, depending what my deeds are. The Torah is the same - it can either be death or life to me, depending what is in my heart.

The commandment to observe the Sabbath at the appointed time is not "death" to me - the only time an observance becomes death is when the Ruach is not present - then it becomes a joy rather than a burden. Yahweh has not cursed time. Rather, He has sanctified it when we observe His appointments IN the Ruach.

One day Yahweh is going to us call up before the Judgment Bar. Dare any of us say: "You're already in me, I'm not coming"?

The International Date Line and the Mark of the Beast

By Samuel V. Mercado

Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1490 – 1535) was the first circumnavigator on Earth to discover that a day was lost when travelling westward. During the westward journey of the survivors of the Victoria back to Spain, the official chronicler of Magellan’s expedition sighted the Cape Verde Islands, located northwest of Africa. Pigafetta noted:

"On Wednesday, the ninth of July [1522], we arrived at one of these islands named Santiago, where we immediately sent the boat ashore to obtain provisions. And we charged our men in the boat that, when they were ashore, they should ask what day it was. They were answered that to the Portuguese it was Thursday, at which they were much amazed, for to us it was Wednesday, and we knew not how we had fallen into error. For every day I, being always in health, had written down each day without any intermission. But, as we were told since, there had been no mistake, for we had always made our voyage westward and had returned to the same place of departure as the sun, wherefore the long voyage had brought the gain of twenty-four hours, as is clearly seen."

Two years and 10 months earlier, Fernando de Magallanes (c. 1480 - 1521), the famous Portuguese explorer and navigator took command of the 270 men in a five ship armada, which departed from San Lucar de Barrameda, Spain on September 20, 1519. The Portuguese colonizers sailed to the Spice Islands and Indonesia via the eastward route that Pope Alexander VI had granted them as their monopoly in 1493. To avoid this papal decree Magellan led his Spanish armada in a search for the Spice Islands via the uncharted west.

While in South America, Magellan lost one ship, the Santiago and its crew, during an exploratory trip. Another ship was lost when the crew of San Antonio mutinied and sailed back to Spain, carrying the fleet’s food supplies with them. With 3 ships remaining, the malnourished Magellan and his starving men discovered the vast Pacific Ocean and its islands, including Guam and the Pearl of the Orient.

In the Philippines, they first anchored a few days in the uninhabited Homonhon Island for replenishment. Sailing in the evening along the coast of southeastern Panaon Island, they saw a bright light shining from another island and headed towards it. The light came from Limasawa, Southern Leyte - "Asia’s Cradle of Christianity." Magellan and his men waited off the island until daybreak. Later on, they exchanged gestures of friendships with Rajah Kulambo. Kulambo and his "barangay" welcomed them with drinks, foods, and festivities. Magellan and Friar Pedro de Valderama introduced Catholicism with a Mass to the inhabitants on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521.

About a week later, they proceeded to Cebu in which Magellan introduced the Santo Nino (The Holy Child) and the cross to Rajah Humabon. Magellan and some of his men unfortunately met their fate in Mactan, a flat island east of Cebu. Lapulapu, the chieftain of Mactan, killed Magellan when the explorer landed on its shore. Juan Sebastian del Cano, a former mutineer against Magellan, assumed command of the few European survivors and a Malayan.
They abandoned and burned the Concepcion for lack of crew. Then they sailed to the Spice Islands and eventually achieved their ultimate goal. Loaded with spices, the Trinidad tried to sail back to the Pacific Ocean to guarantee that one ship would make it home. Strong winds prevented the ship from sailing eastward and the Portuguese later seized it. From Indonesia, the Victoria and its crew sailed westward. They managed to evade and cross their enemies' trade routes in the Indian Ocean, and went around the coast of South Africa…. Finally, they returned to Spain on September 6, 1522. The 18 survivors were the first sailors carrying the flag of Spain to circumnavigate the world.

The inquisitive person might ask, "Who was right? Since Pigafetta and the Portuguese traveled from Southern Europe in opposite directions, was Pigafetta accurate in dating his logbook or was it the Portuguese?"

If both were Jewish or Sabbath-observing Christians and had met on Saturday in accordance with Pigafetta's logbook, the Portuguese in Cape Verde Islands would be working on the day that Pigafetta would be keeping as holy.

International Date Line is non-Biblical

Where in the Bible did Jehovah God say that His people in the East are to observe the Sabbath day ahead of His people in the West? Did He command the Filipinos, the 3rd largest English-speaking nation, to keep the Sabbath nine hours ahead of the United Kingdom, which is the 2nd largest English-speaking nation? Did God order the Australians to worship on the seventh day of rest ahead of the Americans?

When man invented rapid means of transportation and communication, and the industrial revolution spread throughout the world, it became an economic and social necessity to fix a standard date. According to the Encyclopedia Americana, "in August 1884 the U.S. Congress authorized President Chester A. Arthur to convene an International Meridian Conference, which would consider a proposal for a system of world time zones and a common zero degree of longitude, and recommend acceptance of it." They ignored the calendar of the Holy Bible that had been used for almost six millennia.

Man, not God, set the current International Date Line as the standard date change position for the midnight-to-midnight calendar. (For more detail read A History of the International Date Line, at http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/idl/idl.htm

The International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary longitudinal zigzag line running from the North Pole through the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia, going down the middle of the Pacific Ocean and to the South Pole. It deviates eastward to avoid dividing Siberia, westward to include the Aleutian Islands with Alaska, and eastward to make the date of certain islands in the Southwest Pacific the same as in New Zealand.

The IDL is 180 degrees from the Greenwich Meridian – the "zero degree of longitude" - running through Greenwich, England. Areas west of the IDL are one day ahead of areas to the east of the date line. For example, when one travels westward across the date line, they change from Saturday to Sunday. When one travels eastward across the same date line at the same time, they change from Sunday to Saturday.

Physics demonstrates that light travels in straight lines, so naturally the sunset shadow along the IDL should be straight from North to South on the equinoxes. But the zigzags in the IDL alter this. When it is Friday sunset in the Aleutian Islands, it is supposedly Saturday sunset in Eastern Siberia.

In other words, these two groups of Sabbath keepers, despite observing the same sunset at the same moment, are keeping two different seventh days. (The days of the biblical calendar start in the evening. The Sabbath (the seventh day) begins on Friday evening in most of the world. (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31)).

The Creator of planet Earth did not authorize the zigzag International Date Line. The International Meridian Conference authorized it. They were responsible for tampering with God’s sacred calendar! Though light travels in a straight line, for their own convenience they deliberately bent the IDL around Eastern Siberia and the Aleutian Islands.

The Philippines provides an excellent example of the arbitrary nature of the IDL. From 1565 to 1845, since the first Spanish Governor-General Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (c. 1510 – 1572) had established Spain’s Far East colony, the Filipinos had followed the calendar date of the Latinos in Central and South America and the North Americans. Two centuries and 8 decades later, Governor-General Narciso Claveria "issued a proclamation announcing that Monday, 30 December 1844, was to be immediately followed by Wednesday, 1 January 1845." For 280 years, the religious holidays began in Spain, then moved to Latin America and were finally observed in the Philippines. After this date change the religious holidays began in the Philippines, then moved to Spain and were finally observed in Latin America. Both of these date reckoning sequences could not be right.

Violating the Sabbath Day

What then is the significance of the International Date Line? To the non-Sabbath keeping world, to the material-oriented inhabitants of today's society, it has economic and social values. But for the Jews and Seventh-day Christians living in the East, it can cause them to live in sin!

If, as we show below, the present IDL is wrong, it means that the Sabbath-observing churches, synagogues and individuals living west of the IDL and east of the Garden of Eden have been violating the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11). The correct Sabbath observance in the entire region east of Eden and west of the IDL has been lost for centuries!

Observing the true Sabbath, including the annual Sabbaths (Leviticus 23:3-41), is the sign between God and His chosen people throughout their generations (Exodus 31:13-17, Exodus 13:3-10, Hebrews 4:4-10). The Israelites and the converted Gentiles are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it as an everlasting covenant. "It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:17).

From the Far East to parts of the Middle East, the Sabbatarians are unknowingly keeping the Sabbath on the sixth day instead of the seventh day. The Sunday worshipers of these areas are observing around 18 hours of the actual seventh day Sabbath. Nevertheless, those who are working regularly on the Sabbath, including the non-Christians, have part of the Mark of the Beast by virtue of the IDL!

The beast (Satan) that influenced the location of the IDL deceives everyone in the East, famous and insignificant, billionaire and homeless, citizen and foreigner, into receiving the mark (Revelation 13:16-17). On the Sabbaths, Bible-believing Christians avoid buying, selling and working or doing business, which are some of the marks of the beast. (For more information on the Mark of the Beast look at: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/sbs777/prophecy/mob.html ).

The beast has also inspired the European Union to change their calendars so Sunday now appears to be their seventh day of the week. The United Nations plans to copy this beast-inspired calendar. This will make it harder for people to really know which day is the seventh day of the week.

But why should we care about the beast and its mark? Because those who do not worship the beast and refuse to receive its mark will be in the first resurrection. They will be seated on thrones and given authority to judge. They will be the priests in the Kingdom of God on Earth. Those who have God's mark will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Ezekiel 9:1-10, Revelation 20:4-6).

If the current IDL is wrong, where did God originally place His date line, where is it now and where will it be in the future?

First Sabbath started in Eden

Eden was located near Jerusalem, as shown by Genesis 2:10-15. Eden is about 9.5 hours west of the IDL. The Bible shows that God was already in Eden with Adam and Eve on the sixth day (Genesis 1:27-31). He did not need to travel westward from the IDL to rest in Eden after finishing His Creation. The Bible plainly states that, "on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made" (Genesis 2:2).

Prior to the first Sabbath, God had created Adam and Eve on the sixth day. "And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made" (Genesis 2:3). "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed" (Genesis 2:8).

Therefore, the first Sabbath began at the site of Adam and Eve's original home about 6,000 years ago. It did not start at the IDL, which has existed only for a few centuries. The Sabbath was made for man, not for the fish and the whales in the mid-Pacific Ocean (Mark 2:27).

Later God established his Tabernacle in Jerusalem, near Eden. Extending Romans 1:16 suggests that the Sabbath, like the gospel, should go to the Jew first, then to the other nations.

As God's Sabbath began at Eden, the true Date Line must also be there. Moving the date line eastwards to the mid-Pacific Ocean makes the Sabbath begin there - 9.5 hours too early and over a third of the globe too far to the east. Substituting man's International Date Line for God's Date Line through the Garden of Eden means that the people living between Eden and the IDL are observing their Sabbath a day too early.

The Sabbath, which starts in the evening, moves westward from the site of the Garden of Eden, and covers the globe as the Earth rotates on its axis. It takes 24 hours for the seventh-day Sabbath to return back to its point of origin, which then becomes the first day of the week or Sunday. Under the IDL, the seventh day in the East is actually the sixth day of the week, occurring before the real Sabbath begins.

So we see that the first Sabbath of the creation week (Gen. 1:1-31) is the key to understanding how God's Sabbaths work. When the first Sabbath started in Eden (just after Friday sunset according to secular calendars), as it is on the original Date Line, the rest of the world was still in the sixth day. About 12 hours later, as the Earth rotated on its axis and dusk moved westward from the Garden of Eden, the Sabbath had covered everything west of Eden almost to the main Hawaiian Island. Half of the Earth was in the first seventh or Sabbath day, while the other half was still completing the sixth day or Friday.

So the Sabbatarians living west of Eden, occupying most of Africa, Europe and the Americas, must observe the Sabbath day ahead of those living east of Eden. They must rest and worship God on the Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening, the same as they do presently!

Meanwhile, the Sabbatarians living east of Eden (most of Russia, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, etc.) have to work and wait until the seventh-day Sabbath reaches them after moving across most of the world. The Seventh-day keepers in the East must keep the Sabbath behind their brethren in the West.

Thus, the Sabbath keepers living east of Eden and west of the IDL must remember that their secular calendars are one day out. For them, the Seventh-day Sabbath begins at dusk Saturday evening and continues until dusk Sunday evening.

The Annual Sabbaths

The same principle applies to the Annual Sabbaths as well. Indeed, the Annual Sabbaths confirm the use of "Eden" as God's Date Line. The dates of the Annual Sabbaths are determined on the basis of the observance of the New Moon in the evening at Eden/Jerusalem. There are some months where the New Moon will not be visible in Japan or New Zealand at their evening time, but may be visible at Jerusalem 8 or 9 hours later.

If they use the IDL, they will be starting their new month hours before they know if the New moon will be visible in Jerusalem or not. In the case of the seventh month, the first day of the month is the Feast of Trumpets, a Holy Sabbath. It is much better to begin their sacred days after Jerusalem, so they can be sure that they are observing the correct days.

Keeping the Sabbath with the Messiah

When the Messiah returns as the King of Kings and the Lord of the Sabbath, He will establish his headquarters in Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-12, Matthew 12:8 and 24:27-31, Ezekiel 43:1-9). He, His angels, the transformed Christians and the survivors of Armageddon will be the first to observe the weekly and annual holy days in Jerusalem. They will be the first to rest from their work, to celebrate the evening Sabbath, to worship, to enjoy their dinner and fellowship. The following day, they will be the first to have a potluck meal after their daytime Sabbath services. The IDL corrupts this divine order.

If we have electronic communications then, Christ’s sermon will be progressively telecast around the world as the Sabbath moves into each area. Before the Sabbath reaches them, His people in other regions of the globe will be working and preparing for the day of rest. Then they too will observe the Sabbath in their homes and churches as it comes eventually into their respective time zones.

All of the people living east of Jerusalem and west of today's IDL will observe the holy days following the Israelites: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 66:23 KJV). The weekly and annual Sabbaths have not been, and will not be done away with. As an example, God warns us that He will punish the nations that do not keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-19). The Feast of Tabernacles is a foretaste of Christ’s millennial rule on Earth.

The entire world will then acknowledge that God's date line goes through or near the temple in Jerusalem where His Son will be living. Since the Messiah’s calendar is designed for spiritual reasons, unlike the world's system which is made for economic and social purposes, His weekly and annual Sabbaths will enrich the lives of all people, including those living near God's date line. The survivors of the Great Tribulation and the new generations born during the Thousand Years of Peace will be excited and delighted to keep God's Sabbaths in the coming Kingdom of God on Earth.

Sunday Worship and the Resurrection

Many Christians say, "We worship on Sunday because we believe that Christ was resurrected on Sunday. The Sabbath was nailed on the cross!"

They reject the biblical facts: Christ came not to change the law, but to fulfill it (Mathew 5:17). The Bible shows that He was crucified on the Passover day. Even the Encyclopedia Britannica and other respected reference books agree with this. However, in the year of Christ's crucifixion the Passover was on Wednesday, not on the fixed Friday that is observed as part of Easter. Jesus was placed inside the sepulcher just before the evening began the annual Sabbath (not the weekly Sabbath) - This Sabbath was the first holy day of the seven Days of Unleavened Bread (Luke 23:53-54).

Christ's resurrection after being dead for 3 days and 3 nights was the sign that He was and is the Messiah (Mathew 12:39-40). It was early Sunday morning, before dawn, that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the sepulcher and found that it was already empty (Mark 16:1-6). Jesus Christ was resurrected at the end of the Sabbath day - Saturday evening, not on Sunday morning! This is explained in detail in God's Calendar and the Sign of Jonah, available at http://www.chcpublications.net.

Christ’s death and resurrection did not change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Satan has deceived millions of Christians into believing that the seventh-day Sabbath was either changed or nailed on the cross. It was the list of our sins against God's Laws which was nailed to the Cross, not God's Laws! Satan has used the world’s economic, social and religious establishments to convince billions of people to violate Jehovah God's weekly and annual Sabbaths, and thus receive the Mark of the Beast.

Conclusion

In 1522, man discovered that a day was lost when Magellan's surviving crewmen sailed westward and circumnavigated the world. In 1884, men agreed on their International Date Line, which God did not authorize. It deceived all the Sabbath-keepers living east of the Garden of Eden and west of the International Date Line into violating the Fourth Commandment and receiving the Mark of the Beast!

The very first Sabbath originated in Eden, where the Creator put Adam and Eve. It is where the new moons are first observed that begin each month on God's Sacred Calendar. Jerusalem is also the place where Jesus will begin each Sabbath during the Millennium of Peace.

Having God's Holy Spirit and honoring His seventh-day Sabbath are signs between God and His people of the everlasting covenants! Those who love God and keep His commandments do not have the Mark of the Beast. The Word, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and the same One who died for all mankind said, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50 NIV). He also said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

Six millennia ago, the Lord of the Sabbaths rested on the Seventh Day from His works of creation. God began His Sabbath day not at today's International Date Line, but in the beautiful Garden of Eden! Let us follow His example and truly honor God's Sabbaths.

Copyright 1982, 2000, 2001 by Samuel V. Mercado

7th Millennium, Maasin City 6600, Philippines

E-mail: svm7m@hotmail.com

http://www.chcpublications.net/idlmark.htm