Sabbath and the International Dateline Problem

 

From a reader:

As a comment to your posting on the Sabbath, I tried to post this comment. But it was too long to be accepted. Nonetheless, Armstrongites in the Western Hemisphere celebrate the Sabbath on the biblical 1^st day of the week here, as I tried to explain:

 

 

Armstrongism and its requiring, for salvation, 7th-day Sabbath observance, is simply wrong; at least in the Western Hemisphere. Churches requiring strict observance of the 7th-day Sabbath in the Western Hemisphere (and in Arctic regions) have a great problem they conveniently never address or resolve, because it disqualifies all of their doctrines based on Sabbath-keeping.

 

How could Sabbath-keeping in the Western Hemisphere be wrong? The seventh day of each week, by scriptural command (at least to Israelites in ancient times), was to be diligently kept. But, among others, one big problem occurred; in 1492. Columbus found the New World, and in subsequent years it was settled and occupied by people from the Old World. That’s the problem.

 

Does the Sabbath-keeping command apply worldwide, to everyone, in all times, in all places? Or, ony to the peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the Old World? Please examine the problem.

 

The problem? The world is a globe, not a flat earth. Although it appears that the sun “rises” in the east each morning and “sets” in the west each evening (except in polar areas), the sun actually doesn’t move. The earth does; it revolves 360 degrees each day. So, to keep track of days, so that they always retain their proper names (Sunday is each week’s Day One; Saturday is Day Seven), there must be, necessarily, somewhere on the globe an “International Dateline.”

 

That’s the problem, which negates the commonly-perceived 7th-day Sabbath in the Western Hemisphere. To accommodate the convenience of commercial interests, the International Dateline, many years ago, was established in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

 

But, Biblically, the dateline, if there is to be one, so that we can know which is the actual 7th day of each week, needs to be in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific. There is absolutely no Biblical justification for the dateline to transect the Pacific, for the following reasons.

 

It must be presumed that the weekdays and the Sabbaths, although not observed, followed the humans who survived The Flood and safely exited the Ark after it landed on Mt. Ararat, as they and their descendants then dispersed across the globe. Every 7th day, without interruption, was the Sabbath, for everyone, everywhere. Can anyone contest the fact that the Sabbath, even though unobserved, went with all peoples, wherever they settled, without gaining or losing even a day, anywhere?

 

Then, in 1492 Columbus landed in the New World. And there were people already living here. “Indians” he thought. Nope, Native Americans, thousands of miles distant from India — because the earth is a globe, with the Western Hemisphere having a calendar different from the one in Spain. 

 

Now none of the Native Americans had a seven-day week that they followed. They didn’t know or care about a Saturday or a Sunday. But their most distant ancestors, through hundreds of generations, after safely leaving the Ark, had the sequence of weekly days necessarily follow them; even if they didn’t know or observe them.

 

That’s the crux of the matter. Even though unknown and unobserved, the 7th-day Sabbath went with the humans from the landing of the Ark all the way to the New World. Not a day could have been gained or lost. The new day started at sundown each day; exactly as described and defined in Scripture. But, the world is a spherical globe. When humans came across from Asia to settle the Western Hemisphere, there was no International Dateline. They never changed the counting of weekly days when they landed here. The weekly Sabbath, even though unknown and unobserved, began at sundown at the end of the 6th day, each “Friday.”

 

That’s the problem. Which Friday, in, say, 1492, or even today, is the biblically correct one? Fact is, in 1492 Columbus’s Friday was the Native American’s Saturday. Because the Western Hemisphere was already settled with humans, descended from original ancestors from the Middle East, or Mt. Ararat, the Sabbath went with them, with never the gain or loss of a day. The sundown that signaled the start of the Sabbath was their “Friday” — which was Columbus’s “Saturday.”

 

It’s very clear, Biblically, as determined by the historical migrations of humans, both to the east and west of Mt. Ararat or the Garden of Eden, that the International Dateline must be placed in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, accurately dividing the Old World from the New World. In the Americas, the observance of the 7th day Sabbath starting at sundown on today’s Friday is off by a day. Biblically, people and churches trying to observe a 7th-day Sabbath starting on the calendar’s Friday evening are actually observing a Biblical 1st-day Sabbath. Biblically, historically, the dateline must be in the Atlantic, not the Pacific. 

 

When I was a member worshiping in the Worldwide Church of God, because I had training in geography and perceived the dateline problem, I asked my local pastor about it. Sure seemed that we were meeting on the wrong Biblical day. His response? “Well, we simply follow the modern calendar and accept the International Dateline where it has been placed.”

 

And, that was the problem. They followed the modern calendar and observed the International Dateline. But that’s not Biblical. Because the 7th-day Sabbath went with all peoples from their ancient origins in the Old World, people observing what they think is the 7th-day Sabbath on today’s calendars in the New World are in error. They are off by a day. If Sabbath-keeping is a pre-condition to salvation, they are condemned. In the New World they’ve been erroneously keeping it on a Biblical, historical 1st day. 

 

Then, of course, is the problem of people living above the Arctic Circle. Examples are the Inuit (“Eskimo”) peoples and the Sami, of northern Europe. Above the Arctic Circle, for varying periods of time each year the sun never sets or rises within 24-hour periods. Biblically, if a new  “day” is started by the sun’s setting, many “days” of the year in the Arctic can be several months long. If 7th-day Sabbath-keeping is a prerequisite for salvation, people living above the Arctic Circle are geographically condemned.  

 

Sorry, Armstrongists in the New World, you’ve been keeping the Sabbath in this half of the globe on the real 1st-day of each Biblical week, modern calendars and the International Dateline notwithstanding. Seems, then, that if proper 7th-day Sabbath-keeping is a pre-condition of salvation, you are condemned, doesn’t it?

 

OR, Biblically, the Sabbath commend was for a specific people, for a specific period of time; in a specific region, until Christ fulfilled the Law for all who believe.

 

Restored Church of God Open House Interview

 

Dawn Blue of How It's Done TV and Marc Cebrian of exrcg.org had a mini-Watch Party across the street from The Restored Church of God Headquarters in Wadsworth, Ohio, on June 25, 2023.

RCG had an Open House event. They invited the residents of Wadsworth to tour the Campus. The event was held from 1pm to 5pm. The total attendance was counted to be 96.

Dawn and I had an impromptu interview while we sat on the grass across the street in the Giant Eagle parking lot.

David C. Pack made a surprise appearance at 18:15.

Marc Cebrian

What do Catholics and Protestants really teach about the Sabbath?

What do Catholics and Protestants 

really teach about the Sabbath?

In his booklet Which Day is the Christian Sabbath?, Herbert Armstrong asserted that human religious leaders influenced by paganism had done away with God's Sabbath and replaced it with Sunday observance. Likewise, in a 1984 article in The Plain Truth magazine (Why Churches Observe Sunday), Armstrong claimed that Catholic and Protestant Christians acknowledged that Scripture taught Sabbath observance, and that men had taken it upon themselves to change the Christian observance to Sunday. Was Herbert Armstrong right? Is that really what Catholics and Protestants teach about Sabbath vs Sunday observance?

In the online Catholic Encyclopedia's very detailed article on the "Sabbath," we find the following statements:

"The Sabbath was a day of rest 'sanctified to the Lord' (Exodus 16:23; 31:15; Deuteronomy 5:14). All work was forbidden, the prohibition including strangers as well as Israelites, beasts as well as men (Exodus 20:8-10; 31:13-17; Deuteronomy 5:12-14)."

"The Sabbath was the consecration of one day of the weekly period to God as the Author of the universe and of time. The day thus being the Lord's, it required that man should abstain from working for his own ends and interests, since by working he would appropriate the day to himself, and that he should devote his activity to God by special acts of positive worship. After the Sinaitic covenant God stood to Israel in the relation of Lord of that covenant. The Sabbath thereby also became a sign, and its observance an acknowledgment of the pact: 'See that thou keep my sabbath; because it is a sign between me and you in your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord, who sanctify you' (Exodus 31:13)."

"Under the influence of pharasaic rigorism a system of minute and burdensome regulations was elaborated, while the higher purpose of the Sabbath was lost sight of. The Mishna treatise Shabbath enumerates thirty-nine main heads of forbidden actions, each with subdivisions. Among the main heads are such trifling actions as weaving two threads, sewing two stitches, writing two letters, etc. To pluck two ears of wheat was considered as reaping, while to rub them was a species of threshing (cf. Matthew 12:1-2; Mark 2:23-24; Luke 6:1-2). To carry an object of the weight of a fig was carrying a burden; hence to carry a bed (John 5:10) was a gross breach of the Sabbath. It was unlawful to cure on the Sabbath, or to apply a remedy unless life was endangered (cf. Matthew 12:10 sqq.; Mark 3:2 sqq.; Luke 6:7 sqq.). This explains why the sick were brought to Christ after sundown (Mark, I, 32)."

"Christ, while observing the Sabbath, set himself in word and act against this absurd rigorism which made man a slave of the day. He reproved the scribes and Pharisees for putting an intolerable burden on men's shoulders (Matthew 23:4), and proclaimed the principle that 'the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath' (Mark 2:27). He cured on the Sabbath, and defended His disciples for plucking ears of corn on that day. In His arguments with the Pharisees on this account He showed that the Sabbath is not broken in cases of necessity or by acts of charity (Matthew 12:3 sqq.; Mark 2:25 sqq.; Luke 6:3 sqq.; 14:5). St. Paul enumerates the Sabbath among the Jewish observances which are not obligatory on Christians (Colossians 2:16; Galatians 4:9-10; Romans 14:5). The gentile converts held their religious meetings on Sunday (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) and with the disappearance of the Jewish Christian churches this day was exclusively observed as the Lord's Day. (See SUNDAY.)"

Likewise, from the Protestant Got Questions online ministry, in their article How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest?, we read:

"The key to understanding how Jesus is our Sabbath rest is the Hebrew word sabat, which means 'to rest or stop or cease from work.' The origin of the Sabbath goes back to Creation. After creating the heavens and the earth in six days, God 'rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made' (Genesis 2:2). This doesn’t mean that God was tired and needed a rest. We know that God is omnipotent, literally 'all-powerful.' He has all the power in the universe, He never tires, and His most arduous expenditure of energy does not diminish His power one bit. So, what does it mean that God rested on the seventh day? Simply that He stopped what He was doing. He ceased from His labors. This is important in understanding the establishment of the Sabbath day and the role of Christ as our Sabbath rest."

"The various elements of the Sabbath symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would provide a permanent rest for His people. Once again the example of resting from our labors comes into play. With the establishment of the Old Testament Law, the Jews were constantly 'laboring' to make themselves acceptable to God. Their labors included trying to obey a myriad of do’s and don’ts of the ceremonial law, the Temple law, the civil law, etc. Of course they couldn’t possibly keep all those laws, so God provided an array of sin offerings and sacrifices so they could come to Him for forgiveness and restore fellowship with Him, but only temporarily. Just as they began their physical labors after a one-day rest, so, too, did they have to continue to offer sacrifices. Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the law 'can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.' But these sacrifices were offered in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who 'after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right of God' (Hebrews 10:12). Just as He rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice, He sat down and rested—ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever. Because of what He did, we no longer have to 'labor' in law-keeping in order to be justified in the sight of God. Jesus was sent so that we might rest in God and in what He has provided."

"Another element of the Sabbath day rest which God instituted as a foreshadowing of our complete rest in Christ is that He blessed it, sanctified it, and made it holy. Here again we see the symbol of Christ as our Sabbath rest—the holy, perfect Son of God who sanctifies and makes holy all who believe in Him. God sanctified Christ, just as He sanctified the Sabbath day, and sent Him into the world (John 10:36) to be our sacrifice for sin. In Him we find complete rest from the labors of our self-effort, because He alone is holy and righteous. 'God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God' (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always."

"Jesus can be our Sabbath rest in part because He is 'Lord of the Sabbath' (Matthew 12:8). As God incarnate, He decides the true meaning of the Sabbath because He created it, and He is our Sabbath rest in the flesh. When the Pharisees criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them that even they, sinful as they were, would not hesitate to pull a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. Because He came to seek and save His sheep who would hear His voice (John 10:3,27) and enter into the Sabbath rest He provided by paying for their sins, He could break the Sabbath rules. He told the Pharisees that people are more important than sheep and the salvation He provided was more important than rules. By saying, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as He came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works. We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favor."

"There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for sin. He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labor of our own works. We dare not reject this one-and-only Way of salvation (John 14:6)."

And, from their article What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath?, we find the following excerpts:

"The phrase 'the Lord of the Sabbath' is found in Matthew 12:8, Mark 2:28, and Luke 6:5. In all three instances Jesus is referring to Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath or, as Mark records it, 'The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath' (Mark 2:28). In these verses, Jesus is proclaiming that He is the One who exercises authority even over the rules and regulations that govern the Sabbath day."

"As such, Jesus was proclaiming to the world, especially to the legalistic Pharisees, that He was greater than the Law and above the laws of the Mosaic Covenant because, as God in flesh, He is the Author of those laws."

"As Creator, Christ was the original Lord of the Sabbath (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10). He had the authority to overrule the Pharisees’ traditions and regulations because He had created the Sabbath—and the Creator is always greater than the creation. Furthermore, Jesus claimed the authority to correctly interpret the meaning of the Sabbath and all the laws pertaining to it. Because Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, He is free to do on it and with it whatever He pleases."

"The Lord of the Sabbath had come, and with His death and resurrection He became the fulfillment of our 'Sabbath rest.' The salvation we have in Christ has made the old law of the Sabbath no longer needed or binding. When Jesus said, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' (Mark 2:27), Jesus was attesting to the fact that, just as the Sabbath day was originally instituted to give man rest from his labors, so did He come to provide us rest from laboring to achieve our own salvation by our works. Because of His sacrifice on the cross, we can now forever cease laboring to attain God’s favor and rest in His mercy and grace."

Hence, from these excerpts, we see that Herbert Armstrong's characterization of Catholic and Protestant attitudes toward God's Sabbath were simplistic and inaccurate. Indeed, the above statements make very clear that Traditional Christianity has a great reverence for the concept of the Sabbath rest, and see Christ as the embodiment and fulfillment of that rest! For these Christians, the Sabbath is clearly viewed through the text of the fourth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. In other words, they look to both Christ and Scripture as the standard for their beliefs about the Sabbath - NOT to pagans or the traditions of men!

Posted by Miller Jones/Lonnie C Hendrix