Faithful Writers

The same people who can quote Psalm 23 without a moments hesitation with a faithful adoration in lip service only are willingly choosing to ignore other Scriptures.

In some mysterious way, this number has left an indelible impression on the world and mankind. Our planet has seven continents and seven seas. The rainbow only has seven colors. The entire musical scale consists of only 7 notes. In popular culture, we have Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, The 7 Samurai, and James Bond 007.

In the Genesis account, most people assume the first human created was a male. However, the Scripture isn’t so crystal clear on this point. Let’s take a good look at the text.

The word Adam is also the root word for the color “red” and for the word “soil” or “earth." This makes perfect sense since the Scriptures tell us that God created a human (remember not a “man” but a “human”) from the dust of the ground.

But imagine watching a historical piece or a detective movie from the halfway point. Contextually speaking, you would be completely lost. This is the exact problem one encounters when reading the Bible starting from the New Testament.

In more than a hundred languages of the world, the word for “Sabbath” as meaning a day of rest is actually “Sabbath” and refers to Saturday. For example: Arabic=Sabot, Armenian=Shabat, Spanish=Sabado, Italian=Sabato, etcetera.

I wanted to write Psalms 23 in a way so that when people read it, they see the beauty and meaning behind every translated word chosen for this prayer. And when they pray it next, it is not the mindless chant that it has become in churches. 

The middle of the week of 30 A.D. was a Wednesday Passover. Jesus was to be “cut off” in the middle of the week! He was to be cut off in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, in the middle of God’s 7000 year week and in the middle of the simple seven day week.

Of course God doesn’t have to rest. But He knew we would need one Holy Temple in time where we would need to get away from it all. That is why he rested on the seventh day and separated this day from all other days.

This is fascinating because it tells us that the Sabbath is NOT the result of or a response to sin. Hence, it is part of God’s original plan for all mankind.

This is an issue that the Apostle Paul spent a lifetime trying to break down. How can it be sinful for a Jewish believer to desecrate the Sabbath but not for a Gentile believer? This is nothing less than the creation of two totally different flocks!

You don’t ask why does God allow suffering because you’re curious. You ask it because something inside you is crumbling with anguish. This isn’t really a question born from curiosity. It’s more like a scream we turned into words.

I grew up with the impression that doubt was something to repent of. Like it was mold on your spiritual fruit. But when I look at scripture with fresh eyes, the ones God seemed to draw nearest were often full of questions.

Now an interesting thing you need to know is that there were two groups of people in the synagogue right from the start. There were the “men of Israel” and the “God fearers." The term “God-fearers” is widely regarded by scholars as a special designation for Gentiles who didn’t convert to become Jews but loved the Jewish scriptures and loved the teachings of Judaism.

Jesus’s death did not do away with the Sabbath. Second, and this is the main point I want to make. The earliest that the Book of Luke could have been written was about 62AD or about 30-plus years after the events that are being described here.

However, Jesus makes it clear in this chapter that there will be a whole sequence of events. He talks about the generation that would witness the destruction of the temple in 70AD and he speaks about the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy Place.

Putting arguments aside that “we can make the Sabbath any day we want”, or “Christ did away with the law, so we don’t have to worry about it blah, blah, blah”, or “It’s only for the Jews blah, blah, blah” aside are you willing to concede to this one point?

"We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." What’s really refreshing about this situation is that the Catholic church is perfectly upfront and out in the open about what they’ve done.

Dr. Eck’s refutation of Luther’s accusation was so devastating that it rendered Luther speechless and ultimately caused him to lose the debate. “If you turn from the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept since the beginning of the world.” -Dr. Eck’s Enchiridion pp. 78–79.

Scrolls and a candle on a wooden table under dramatic clouds with sun rays and a cross, creating a serene, spiritual ambiance and He would be contradicting the plain words of His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As far as the Bible is concerned, you should know there is no SUCH THING as an Old Testament. Interpreting the Bible starting from the New Testament is as I’ve said before like trying to make sense of a movie by watching it from its halfway point.

The first point I need to make is that the word “Sabbath” is not even mentioned in the text. Actually, it’s not even mentioned anywhere in the whole book of Romans.

Your life is forever intertwined with the person you are caring for. If you’ve been one or are one, you know exactly what I mean. Being a caregiver can be a whole other type of hell.

The answer is Paul is talking to Gentiles which means in the past they had never observed the Biblical feasts or the Sabbath in the first place.