Faithful Writers

“Adonai, God, planted a garden toward the east, in ‘Eden, and there he put the person whom he had formed. ”-Genesis 2:8 Here is something you probably haven’t heard your pastor ever talk about. However, it is a pattern that is repeated throughout the Scriptures. The direction East has great spiritual significance and is always associated with holiness. Note that the Garden of Eden was planted in the eastern part of Eden. This should also tell you that the Garden of Eden is NOT the same thing as the Land of Eden. The Garden of Eden was a separate piece of landscape with defined boundaries located inside the Land of Eden. So whenever you encounter the direction East in the Scriptures your antennas should go on high alert because the direction East is almost always connected with holiness. Here are some interesting examples. As I just pointed out, the garden was planted in the east of Eden Cherubim (celestial beings) were stationed on the east side of the Garden of Eden ( this happened after Adam and Eve were kicked out ) Parts of the burnt offering were to be thrown to the east side of the altar ( you probably don’t know what I’m talking about here but you will once we get into the Book of Leviticus ) The tabernacles' entrance faces east Here’s another super interesting point. Look at the below statements and see if you can decipher a logical pattern. -In Ezekiel’s vision God’s glory comes from the east and enters the temple from the east -The same temple faces east with a river flowing east from it -The Messiah is prophesied to come from the east -Cain was exiled to the east after murdering Abel. -People traveled to the east to build the Tower of Babel. -When Abraham and Lot separated from each other, Lot traveled east to the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah -The Tribe of Judah was exiled to Babylon in the east . Did you notice the pattern? The Scriptural pattern is this: Positive, Godly things come FROM the East. But traveling to the East is a bad thing. Or another way to put it is, “Going west is positive while going east is negative. ” CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”-Matthew 24:27 NOTE: What’s odd is that lightning doesn’t usually flash from the east to the west anywhere in the world. This has got to be a prophetic statement of supernatural purport. © Richoka

The serpent said to the woman, “It is not true that you will surely die; because God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God , knowing good and evil.” -Genesis 3:4–5 I once heard a pastor say something quite profound and quite accurate. He pointed out that there are ONLY two religions in the world. One is that man is or can become God. The other one is that ONLY God is God. When I first heard this, I thought it was an oversimplification. But then after thinking about it carefully, I realized he was right. In a broad sense, every religion in the world fits into one of those categories, including atheism. Religions that teach that man can become a god are generally very works based. They will tell you that you have unlimited potential that only needs to be tapped into and they appeal to your ego. This is exactly how Satan tempted Eve in the garden. First, the tree itself was very beautiful. It had an alluring quality to it, similar to how expensive jewelry is very appealing to the eyes. And when the devil told Eve… …”For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and YE SHALL BE AS GODS , knowing good and evil” …the temptation was too much for her. This was what finally tipped Eve over the edge and caused her to reach out and eat from the tree. The opportunity to become a god herself, independent and free from the Father was just too tempting for her. I’ve noticed that followers of “Man-can-become-God” religions tend to have prideful egos (even if disguised under a veil of false humility) and are quick to envy others. On the other hand, when we realize who we are and all that we have come from God and when we surrender to the Biblical truth that we are NOT Gods, nor will we ever be Gods, it results in an instant and healthy humility. This truth is also quite liberating. It frees me from my ego trips (which get the better of me from time to time) and allows me to be more relaxed. Let go and let God! The teaching that man can become a God is at the heart of new age teaching and secular humanism. Mormonism also teaches this Satanic doctrine. © Richoka

So after God finished all His work on the seventh day, we are told His creation was perfect. He did not have to keep on creating again and again week after week. Once created, all living things, plants, animals, and human beings were self-producing at that point. Right here in the second chapter of Genesis is a powerful formula for wealth acquisition. There is one fundamental difference between those who get rich and those who stay poor. The poor usually trade their time for money. They sell themselves out to an employer and get paid x amount of dollars per hour, month or year. On the other hand, the wealthy person will use his or her imagination and work incredibly hard to create an asset, a money tree if you will, that once up and running will continue to generate money automatically. If you think about it, this is exactly what a good investment does. If you want to be rich, you need to become a CREATOR! God created us in His image. He gave each of us creative talents in certain areas and powers of imagination that should not be wasted. Here are some examples of those who used their creativity to generate massive value that was rewarded handsomely. “the guy who created an energy drink to help him stay hydrated during hard exercise and then sold the company for $530 million.” “the guy who built a cell phone application and sold it 50,000 times.” “the woman who invented a mop and sold 500,000 of them on QVC.” “the author who wrote a book about a teenage wizard and went on to become a billionaire.” (arguments about whether this book was inspired by the devil aside) “the teenager who built a website that profited $70,000 a month and later sold it for millions.” The people of the Book, the Jewish people have always understood the importance of effectively leveraging one’s God-given creative powers to achieve remarkable results in many different fields. The facts speak for themselves. -The percentage of Jewish households with income greater than $50,000 is double that of non-Jews. -Forty percent of the top 40 of the Forbes 400 richest Americans are Jewish. -Twenty percent of professors at leading universities are Jewish. -Forty percent of partners in the leading law firms in New York and Washington are Jewish. -Thirty percent of American Nobel Prize winners in science and 25 percent of all American Nobel winners are Jewish. -American Jews have nearly twice the self-employment rate of other ethnic groups in the U.S. Here is small sampling of some incredible Jewish innovators. -Levi Strauss-invented blue jeans -Paul Fireman-developed Reebok athletic shoes for aerobics -Reuben Mattus-created Haagen Dazs ice cream -Howard Shultz-Starbucks Coffee Chain -Salomon Brothers-created Goldman Sachs-investment banking firms -Sergey Brin-Creator of Google, the most popular internet search engine in the universe Lest I be misunderstood, I would like to point out that I am NOT worshipping wealth or the acquisition of wealth. My point is to urge you NOT to waste your God-given talents. Use them to create massive value and contribute to society. Although this may be hard to believe, the aforementioned inventors and entrepreneurs weren’t focused on attaining wealth for wealth’s sake. They were focused on solving a problem. The money that came was a byproduct of their efforts to deliver massive value. CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground . Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘ You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’-Matthew 25:14–30 DON’T WASTE YOUR GOD-GIVEN TALENTS!!! © Richoka

Here’s another one of the those verses the church likes to pull completely out of its Hebrew context to substantiate that the Sabbath has been transferred from Saturday to Sunday. 2 On the first day of every week , each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem .-1 Corinthians 16:2–3 First, the wording here in the Greek is very similar to that in Acts 20. κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου=kata mian sabbatou kata = according to, every, upon, towards main = one Sabbatou = Sabbaths In other words, instead of saying “ on the first day of every week ”, literally it should say something along the lines like “towards one of the Sabbaths ." Interestingly, the Complete Jewish Bible translates 1 Corinthians 16:2 as follows. Every week, on Motza’ei-Shabbat , each of you should set some money aside, according to his resources, and save it up; so that when I come I won’t have to do fundraising. -1 Corinthians 16:2 The term Motzei Shabbat (literally, the going out of the Sabbath ) in Judaism refers to the time in the evening immediately following Shabbat that is Saturday night. It is a time when, following one’s declaration of the intention to end Shabbat, it is permissible to resume weekday activities that are prohibited on Shabbat. This makes sense because one is not supposed to handle money on Shabbat. However, this is incidental. Let’s move on. The next point I want to make is that 1 Corinthians 16 parallels taking up an offering to be taken up to Jerusalem on Pentecost. How do I know this? Compare with this verse from the Torah. "16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:-Deuteronomy 16:16 Since the Lord’s presence was seen as residing above the Ark of the Covenant, then to appear before the Lord meant that one must come to the location of the Ark, which of course was the Tabernacle and later the Temple, which was in Jerusalem. Notice the instruction in 2 Corinthians 16:3: “ Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem .” CONCLUSION: Paul was instructing them based on a command given in the Old Testament regarding a Biblical feast offering. DISCLAIMER: I am well aware that many, many Greek scholars overwhelmingly affirm that the words “Sabbaton” and “Sabbatou” used in these texts should be translated as “week”. This is obvious if one notes that practically every English translation of the New Testament in existence translates this phrase as “the first day of the week”. Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly reject their affirmations. I believe we must eliminate those Greek scholars from the field who learned to translate μια των σαββατων from others who told them that σαββατον meant “week” based on Church tradition. That’s nearly all of them. Then we have to bring in those scholars of secular Greek and the few honest believing Greek scholars left that have set aside Church tradition to objectively study the matter from its linguistic basis and have correctly concluded that the phrase simply means “one day of the sabbaths." I believe that Christians need to know that most dictionaries and Lexicons are propaganda pieces based on church doctrine and steeped in anti-Semitic attitudes. If this charge seems harsh, just go ahead and read the writings of the Gentile church fathers to know that what I am saying is true. © Richoka

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED into his nostrils the BREATH OF LIFE , and man became a LIVING SOUL .” -Genesis 2:7 Let’s take a look at the words I bolded in the above verse. breathed=naphach Breath of Life=Neshemash chayyim Living soul(being)=Chaya nephesh Remember that the Hebrew language is based on root words. From one root word, there are many offshoots with related meanings. Notice the similarity between naphach, neshemah, and nephesh. They all refer to God’s life spirit being supernaturally placed into man. The point here is that life itself comes from outside of our four-dimensional universe and can only originate from God. In this day and age, we have evolutionists and other scientists trying to prove we can take things that are not living, and given enough time (billions and billions of years they say) and the right set of circumstances life can somehow spontaneously erupt minus any divine intervention. However, no scientist has yet had any luck proving their theories of spontaneous generation and never will. Because life comes from God. Let’s take a look at the term “Breath of Life." In Hebrew, it is Neshemah chayyim. Do you recall that whenever you want to make a Hebrew word plural, you add -im to the noun? So technically speaking, this could be translated as the “breath of lives." This indicates more than one life was inserted into Adam. However, what kind of “lives?" Well, this is something theologians have struggled to understand for centuries. One kind of life could be the basic life force common to all living things and another could be the spirit that allows us to commune with God. The Hebrews called this invisible essence that allows man to commune with God the Ruach Hakodesh. Ruach Hakodesh means the “Holy Spirit." Another interesting question Hebrews have struggled with is “ Is the soul the same as the spirit? ” When we look at the original Hebrew, we can see that both animals and humans are nephesh (living beings) . However, only humans can receive the Ruach Hakodesh. So we can conclude from this that only humans can commune with God. © Richoka

In article 2–10 , I provided many quotes from Catholic scholars who all unanimously affirmed that nowhere in the Bible can one find a teaching substantiating the transfer of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Well, how about the Protestant world? Well, hold onto your horses Bucko because in this post, I’m gonna provide some insightful quotes from the world of Protestant scholarship and then I’m going to close this series of articles on the Sabbath. Truthfully, I could go on and on, but I’ve got to move on and there is more than enough ammunition here to refute most false teachings the modern church promotes. However, rest assured this isn’t the last time we will discuss this Sabbath issue. When we get into the Book of Exodus and start discussing the 10 commandments, no doubt this topic will come up again. Well, here goes. Every one of these quotes is pure dynamite that will explode the false notion that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. ‘There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday …into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters…The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday.’-Canon Eyton in The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65 ‘Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history …But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!’-Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, in a paper read before a New York ministers’ conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893 ‘There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance. ’-William Owen Carver in The Lord’s Day in Our Day , p. 49 ‘…it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath…(the) Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday… There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday .’-Dr. R. W. Dale in The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton &Mains), p. 127–129 ‘…the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures , and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath .’-Timothy Dwight in Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258 “‘But,’ say some, ‘it was changed from the seventh to the first day.’ Where? When? And by whom? No man can tell. No; it never was changed, nor could it be , unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed! It is all old wives’ fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio — I think his name is Doctor Antichrist.’-Alexander Campbell in The Christian Baptist , Feb. 2, 1824, vol. 1, no. 7, p. 164, ‘The first day of the week is commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The Sabbath of the Bible was the day just preceding the first day of the week. The first day of the week is never called the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures . It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not in any place in the Bible any intimation of such a change. -First Day Observance , pp. 17, 19 ‘The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance , and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic Church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.’-Dr. Augustus Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church Henr y (1843), p. 186 But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel… These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath . There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect.-John Theodore Mueller in Sabbath or Sunday , pp. 15, 16 ‘But, the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he [Christ] did not take away . It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken …Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.’-John Wesley in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley , John Emory, ed. (New York: Eaton & Mains), Sermon 25, vol. 1, p. 221, ‘Take the matter of Sunday. There are indications in the New Testament as to how the church came to keep the first day of the week as its day of worship, but there is no passage telling Christians to keep that day, or to transfer the Jewish Sabbath to that day .’-Harris Franklin Rall in the Christian Advocate , July 2, 1942, p.26 ‘The Sabbath was binding in Eden, and it has been in force ever since. This fourth commandment begins with the word ‘remember,’ showing that the Sabbath already existed when God wrote the law on the tables of stone at Sinai . How can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? ’-Dwight L. Moody in Weighed and Wanting (Fleming H. Revell Co.: New York), pp. 47, 48 ‘The Sabbath is a part of the decalogue — the Ten Commandments. This alone forever settles the question as to the perpetuity of the institution…Until, therefore, it can be shown that the whole moral law has been repealed, the Sabbath will stand… The teaching of Christ confirms the perpetuity of the Sabbath. ’-T. C. Blake, D.D., in Theology Condensed , pp. 474, 475 © Richoka

Today we’re going to look at a verse that is often used to defend that Sunday is the new Sabbath. “But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”-Acts 20:6–7 In English in verse 7 of Acts chapter 20, it states that the apostles came together on the first day of the week , thus seeming to imply that the Sabbath is now on the first day of the week. Let’s take a look at the original Greek of the phrase “the first day." The original Greek is below followed by the English transliteration. ΜΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΣΑΒΒΑΤΩΝ=mia ton Sabbaton The Greek word “ mia ” means “ one ” NOT “ first ." Actually, the Greek word for “ first ” is “ protos ” which is not even present in this text. If we were to properly render the above Greek into correct English it would read as follows: “One of the Sabbaths” How many pounds of marijuana does a Bible translator have to smoke to get to the translation “the first day ”? It is a colossal error to translate this into “ first day of the week ." The word “ day ” in the Greek is nowhere to be found. Actually, over the years many scholars have come to accept that this is a huge translation mistake. So what does “ one of the Sabbaths ” actually mean? This is where the context of the previous verse 6 is very crucial. “But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread , and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.”-Acts 20:6 Unless one acknowledges the Biblical feast days that God gave us, passages like this can be easily glossed over. So why is mention of this feast day so important? 4 These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast.- Leviticus 23:4–5 Now let’s jump down to verses 15 and 16 of this same chapter of Leviticus. 15 “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks . 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath,and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.-Leviticus 23:15–16 I know this is getting a bit complicated but stay with me. Notice in Acts 20:6, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is mentioned. So what were they doing in Acts 20:7? ANSWER: They were counting the Sabbath weeks as they were instructed as follows. 1st WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 2nd WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 3rd WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 4th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 5th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 6th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH 7th WEEK: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, SABBATH (49th day) The 50th day refers to the verse “ Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath." A proper translation of Acts 20:7 should be rendered as follows: “On one of the Sabbaths, we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”-Acts 20:7 CONCLUSION: In Acts chapter 20, the Apostles were actually keeping one of the Sabbaths listed above as the Sabbath while they were counting the weeks up to the day of Pentecost and NOT the first day of the week as many try to say. © Richoka

Another popular set of verses the church often uses to teach that the Sabbath is no longer valid comes from Galatians. "8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you." -Galatians 4:8–10 Alright homies, let me let you in on a newsflash that you may find quite startling. Verse 10 from above is NOT referring to the Sabbath or the Biblical festivals. Let me say that again. Verse 10 above where it says “You are observing special days and months…” is NOT and I repeat not referring to the Sabbath or Biblical Feasts. How can I be so sure? Well, let’s use our common sense a bit here. Who is Paul talking to here? He’s talking to the Galatians, right? And are the Galatians Jews or Gentiles? 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. Look at verse 8. It clearly states that they “ did NOT know God." Again, this verse CANNOT be referring to the Jews, for if there is any nation that DID know God, it was Israel. Now look at verse 9. It says they (gentiles) are “turning back to those weak and miserable forces?” Now if they are Gentiles, what exactly are these “weak and miserable forces” they are turning back to? They are NOT turning back to the “Old” Testament teachings, because they never knew them in the first place. And it would be kind of ridiculous to think that Paul is referring to the “Old” Testament teachings, the very foundation of our Bibles, as “weak and miserable forces.” Don’t you think so? The answer is that they are turning back to the pagan gods and beliefs that they worshipped and believed BEFORE coming to the true God of Israel through faith in Israel’s messiah. I mean think about it. One who was not observing God’s ways in the first place cannot turn back to His ways. The same goes for the “special days and months and seasons and years ” mentioned in verse 10. This verse means the Galatians’ former “pagan special days and months and seasons and years." I don’t mean to step on any toes here, but don’t you think you could apply these verses to Christmas and Easter? Both are not Biblical festivals, and both originate from pagan beliefs. Am I implying the Christian Church should stop celebrating Christmas and Easter and, in their place, begin celebrating the Biblical feasts that point directly to Christ? Well, I guess I kinda am. But what do you think? © Richoka

Let’s move on to our next Sabbath Scripture teardown by looking at one of the most cherry-picked verses of all time the church uses to substantiate that Sabbath keeping is not for today. I’m talking about the following verse from Romans chapter 14. “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord;[ a ]and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats , eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat , to the Lord he does not eat , and gives God thanks.” -Romans 14:5–6 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. So if this is the case, where is it declared by God that the Sabbath no longer applies? Where can such an instruction be found here? Answer: Nowhere. So what is Paul talking about in Romans chapter 14? Answer: He is talking about fasting. Look at the verses in context. All you have to do is count how many times the word “eat” is used in the first six verses of Romans 14. Go ahead and count them. For example, if you’re reading a King James Bible, the word “eat” is used 10 times. This chapter has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Sabbath. You see, back in those days, there was a heated debated going on concerning what day one should fast on. One camp said this day was the best. Another camp said that day was best. And both sides were condemning each other. It was getting really ugly, so Paul had to step in and say… …”Look, this debate is NOT even biblical!”Fast on whatever day you want!” Even Jesus was confronted about this fasting issue. Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not? ”-Mark 2:18 Besides Yom Kippur, there is NOTHING in the Torah that says one day is preferred over another for fasting. Again, Romans chapter 14 has NOTHING to do with the Sabbath. Let’s not forget that everything Paul taught had to be in harmony with the Old Testament. CONCLUSION: If you’re going to use Romans 14:5–6 to promote the idea that the Sabbath can be any day one wishes, you are using a verse that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Sabbath whatsoever. That’s just a fact folks! © Richoka

The majority of Bible interpretation errors stem from the following principle taught at most Christian seminaries. “The Old Testament should be interpreted in light of the New Testament, NEVER the reverse!” Not only do I believe this statement is false but I feel the opposite is true. First of all, the term “Old Testament” is purely man-made and is a relatively modern title ascribed to that portion of the Bible. 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. It is the stubborn adherence to such a hermeneutic ( method of Bible interpretation ) that has led to the literally thousands of Christian denominations in existence today. Okay, let’s begin our first Scripture teardown of New Testament verses that the modern church uses to show that we are no longer required to keep the Sabbath. Let’s read Colossians 2:16–23 "16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not[ a ] seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 20 Therefore,[ b ] if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations — 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men ? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." Regarding eating and drinking, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc, the common misinterpretation is that Paul was teaching that since Christ has done away with the Law, don’t fall prey to the retarded legalists ( like me ) who insist that Sabbath-keeping and the Biblical festivals etcetera are still valid. Okay, I’m about to destroy and I mean literally destroy this argument by asking one simple question. Who’s rules about eating and drinking, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc, was Paul referring to? Is Paul telling us to ignore God’s rules or man’s rules? Let’s take a good look at the context. VERSE 16: So don’t anyone pass judgement on you. VERSE 18: Let no one cheat you of your reward…such a person is always… VERSE 19: They have lost connection with the head… VERSE 22: which all concern things which perish with the using — according to the commandments and doctrines of men Do you think that Paul is now stating that the Torah was NOT given to Moses by God, but instead are human commands? I don’t think so. Here Paul is saying that it is fine to ignore HUMAN TEACHINGS, but, most certainly NOT God’s teachings. The truth is that men added hundreds of rules about the Sabbath, Biblical feasts, new moons etcetera that were even mixed in with pagan rituals. In many cases, these traditions and observances flat-out replaced Holy Scripture. It was these manmade commands that Paul was condemning. Keep in mind that the Sabbath established at the creation of the universe is NOT a manmade command. God instituted it. Okay, let’s move to a teardown of the following verse: "which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ." So the traditional (incorrect) interpretation of these verses goes something like this: The Sabbath and the Biblical festivals etcetera are just a shadow pointing to Christ. So now that Christ has come we don’t have to worry about them anymore. Now here is the correct interpretation: Since they are a shadow of things to come IN THE FUTURE, the Sabbath and the Biblical festivals are to be followed as reminders of that which is still yet to happen. Think of it like this. The Spring feasts of Passover, First Fruits, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost were Holy Days that happened in the past. But they prophetically pointed to Christ. In other words, their “substance was of Christ." Following this same line of reasoning, this verse points to the future fall feasts of The Day of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles which are Holy Days. However, their substance is of Christ. To translate the verse in plain English: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t keep the Sabbath or the Biblical festivals. They are Holy Days and should be followed. But know that their substance is of Christ.” © Richoka