Re: How do you want Christians to ~keep~ the Sabbath?

Grace and Peace to you, Cleansoul,

 

 

 

Thank you for directing me to the Word of God—that’s excellent advice.  Thanks also for recommending some links.  I will consider the materials they contain and I do pray that you will also consider the materials in the links I have provided.

 

 

 

I assure you that I am sincerely searching to understand your position as a Christian Saturday Sabbath keeper, I consider you an excellent resource for questions.  I appreciate your answer to me about ‘the doctor’, but I do have some follow up questions that are in need of clarification to your answer. 

 

 

 

Let’s look at the Fourth Commandment:

 

 

 

⁸ "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.  Exodus 20:8

 

 

 

As you know, to violate the Sabbath by working was grounds for the death penalty under the Old Covenant  (Ex 35:2)—so it was a very serious matter to not properly ~keep~ the Sabbath.  Plainly, the 4^th  Commandment forbids work.  I don’t see a doctor exemption there.  However, you rightly went to the New Testament, since we are now under the New Covenant,  and you chose to quote Matthew 10:12-14:

 

 

 

¹⁰and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

 

    ¹¹He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? ¹²How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

 

    ¹³Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.  Mt 12:10-14

 

Ok, now I’m starting to understand.  Doctors have an exemption to the 4^th Commandment and are permitted to WORK on the Sabbath because ‘it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ 

 

At this point you have used the New Testament to establish that SOME people ARE allowed to work on the Sabbath, in spite of what the 4^th Commandment says.  And, I’m sure you also understand how PERFECTLY God expects us to keep HIS LAW.  The question that remains is ‘what people’ are allowed to work on the Sabbath?

 

My first question is this:

 

Why does the verse highlighted above (Mt 12:12) only apply to doctors on the Sabbath? 

What about the janitor who is required to work on the Sabbath?  He needs money for his family, so can his ‘working’ on the Sabbath be considered ‘good’, and therefore lawful, for that same reason?  Can he invoke 1Ti 5:8 here as you invoked Mt 12:12 for the doctor?

 

⁸If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

 

Or, should the janitor file a religious discrimination lawsuit as was advised in one of the links you gave me?

 

Your next statement does clarify things a bit, as you then said that the doctor can ‘work’ on the Sabbath, because ‘Christ healed on the Sabbath.’ 

 

OK, I assume now that the criteria you are using is that a person can work on the Sabbath only if they are healing, as Christ was healing on the Sabbath.    

So, since a janitor is not in the business of ~healing~, he must quit his job or else be in violation of the 4^th  Commandment.

 

Ok, it’s starting to make sense now.  Doctors can ‘work’ on the Sabbath because they are healing, but janitors can’t work on the Sabbath because they are not healing. 

 

One more question for clarification. 

 

What if the janitor works in a hospital? 

Now, he’s not involved in healing, but he is required to work on the Sabbath by the hospital.  Are non-doctor support staff allowed to work on Sabbath if they are working in hospitals, or would they too be in violation of the 4^th Commandment, since they are not doctors who are ~healing as Christ was~, or may they also invoke Matthew 12:12 or 1Ti 5:8?

 

Also, you didn’t address my question about what a Christian CAN and CAN’T do on the Sabbath.  I know you said to look it up in the Bible, but some of these real life situations are not listed in the Bible.   For example, is it a SIN to

 

buy something on the Sabbath  (please give a few examples of some buying do’s and don’ts)--I didn't see anything about that in the 4th Commandment above? 

 

light a fire in the house on the Sabbath?

 

prepare food on the Sabbath?

 

do the dishes on the Sabbath?

buy a newpaper from a machine on the Sabbath?

wash your hair on the Sabbath?

 

watch TV on the Sabbath?

 

can children play on the Sabbath?

 

I ask these questions because some Sabbath keepers have told me that these activities are indeed violations of the Sabbath, and therefore SIN.  And according to them, to violate the Sabbath would condemn me to eternal death. 

 

According to you (or your church), are there any set rules here, or is each person convicted according to their own conscience? 

I'm sincerely not trying to be difficult here.  I am only bringing up some real life situations that some Sabbath keepers painfully wrestle with.