A Story About God's Sabbath
"A Sabbath well spent, brings a week of content, and health for the joys of tomorrow,
But a Sabbath profaned, whatever be gained, is a sure forerunner of sorrow."
Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676)
"As we keep or break the Sabbath day, we nobly save or meanly lose the last and best
hope by which mankind arises."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Collier's Encyclopedia: Saturday, seventh day of the week.
The following is an interpretation based on the Bible and history, in a simplistic form.
Page last updated: 9 May 2020
Way back in time, the Ruler of the universe [God], who was a loving, merciful, and just Ruler, became aware of a problem in His peaceful kingdom [Heaven]. A being [angel] called Lucifer, whom He had put in charge of the inhabitants [angels] of His kingdom, and who held the highest position that could be given to any other inhabitant of the Ruler’s kingdom, had gradually become discontented. He was jealous of the Ruler. He felt that he should be equal in position with the Ruler
(Isa 14:12-14). He even went so far as to try and convince as
many inhabitants as possible to support him, and made false claims
about the Ruler, claiming also that he would run things better. The Ruler
first tried to convince Lucifer of his error, encouraged him to repent,
and then warned him of the consequences of such behaviour. But
Lucifer continued on, and his discontent and jealousy eventually
developed into a rebellion [war] (Rev 12:7). The Ruler who of course was mightier, and who had good on His side, overcame Lucifer and a third of the inhabitants [angels] who had sided with him (and who thus became evil too). He then banished them from His kingdom (Rev 12:7-9,4; Isa 14:12-14). The Ruler knew that if He were to destroy Lucifer immediately, the remaining inhabitants would follow Him out of fear, and not because of love for Him. The Ruler did not want anyone to fear Him. Respect Him, yes, but not fear Him. He also wanted everyone to have the freedom to be able to think and choose for themselves. He wasn’t a dictator who wanted mere robots. The Ruler knew that He would have to let the full impact of Lucifer’s actions be shown, what they would finally lead to, that is, and He knew that would take some time. But that way, the remaining inhabitants of His kingdom, and the inhabitants of other worlds He had created (Heb 1:2; 11:3), would be able to see that He was right and not Lucifer.
Sometime after this event had occurred, the Ruler decided that He would take one of His empty planets and fashion it into a beautiful habitat for humans that He would create next (Gen 1:1). After He had finished fashioning that planet [earth], which took 6 literal days (Ex 20:11), He turned the 7th day [Saturday] into a memorial [like a birthday] of what He
had done (Ps 135:13, KJV; Ex 20:11). During any of the other six
days humans could do their own thing, so to speak, but not on the 7th
day (Isa 58:13,14; Lev 23:32). On the 7th day He wanted everyone to come together and worship Him, because by so doing, they would always remember who their Ruler was — the Creator of earth (Ezek 20:20). This day would also provide them with time to get to know their Creator/Ruler more fully, to learn more of His wisdom, and His desires for them, which would aid them in becoming like Him in character and action. Being a very holy Ruler (Rev 15:4; Lev 19:2), it was only natural that He made this day for worshiping Him a holy day also (Ex 20:8), upon which He
wanted no personal pleasure or work of their own to take place, for the
whole 24 hours (Isa 58:13,14). This day started at sunset on the
Friday night and ended at sunset on the Saturday night (Lev 23:32; Gen
1:5; Luke 23:54). The Ruler called this day “the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27,28; Ex 20:8). The Ruler had now become the ‘Lord of the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:28). Though this special day was His day (Rev 1:10; Isa 58:13), it was designed for the benefit of the humans that He had created (Mark 2:27). The 7 day cycle now existed only as a result of the Ruler’s creation week. The Ruler knew that because there was no astronomical or natural reason for the seven day weekly cycle [or Sabbath], it would point to Him as it’s Creator.
Lucifer, now labeled "Satan" and "the devil" (Rev 12:9), and who was watching
all this, decided that he would attempt to get control of these humans
and the planet they were living on (1 Peter 5:8; Eph 6:12). Having been
newly created he knew they would be easy prey. The Ruler knew that the devil would try and attempt such a thing and warned Earth’s new inhabitants. The Ruler had to be sure of the loyalty of earth’s inhabitants. He placed two trees in the middle of a beautiful garden He
had created for them, called Eden (Gen 2:8,9). One tree was called the
“tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” They were told never to eat
its fruit, or they would die (Gen 2:17). That would be the price they
would pay as a result. This tree would be a test of their
loyalty. There was also another tree placed in the garden of
Eden. That tree was called the “tree of life” (Gen
2:9). Eating of the fruit of this tree would see their life
continue forever. One day, the devil hid himself in the “tree of
the knowledge of good and evil,” disguised as a beautiful, talking,
flying serpent (Rev 12:9; Gen chap 3). He managed to trick (Gen
3:1,13) the new inhabitant (called Eve) into eating its fruit, which then
led to her husband (called Adam) disobeying also. (Gen chap 3).
As a result of this, which their unfaithfulness and disobedience to
their Ruler had caused, they were not allowed access to the “tree of life” anymore (Gen 3:24). In fact, they were banished from the garden.
An evil force was now operating on the planet [sin and death]
(Gen chap 3; Rom 5:12). Earth was now beginning to slowly
decay and breakdown. This force infected humans with selfishness,
and manifested itself in a natural rebelliousness towards their Ruler (Ps 51:5; 58:3; Jer 17:9, KJV; Isa 64:6, KJV). However, because the Ruler was such a loving and merciful Ruler (Ex 34:6) He didn’t want to see them die and remain dead forever, so He told them of a plan that had been kept as a backup should something like this happen. He told them that sometime way in the future He Himself would suffer the punishment that they deserved, which was death, and that if they remained loyal to Him in future, and did as He said, not the devil, then He would eventually restore eternal life to them and renew their decaying habitat after this great controversy between good [God] and evil [the devil] reached its final climax. He told them that in the meantime He would allow them to remain on Earth [though not in Eden],
but that they and their offspring would now only live very short
lives. Once they died, they would no longer exist in any form at
all (Ezek 18:20,KJV; James 5:20; Acts 2:29,34; Job 14:12; Ps 115:17;
6:5). It would not be until sometime far in the future (Heb
11:39,40) that the Ruler would bring them back to life; He
called that time the ‘Resurrection’ or ‘His Second Coming’ (John 11:24;
1Peter 5:4, NKJV; Rev 22:12; 20:6; 2 Tim 4:8; John 6:40; 11:24;
14:2,3). The Ruler metaphorically called this waiting
period a “sleep” (Dan 12:2; 1 Thess 4:13, KJV), in an effort to
reassure them. In the mean time they would unfortunately have to put up
with much suffering and hardship, and would now have the added problem
of dealing with the selfish and rebellious spirit that lay within them
(Ps 51:5; 58:3), which only He could help them overcome via the help of the Holy Spirit, who ruled with Him and His
Father (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:13). These three were known as the
Trinity or Godhead. They ruled the universe together (Phil 4:13;
2:13; John 15:5), working co-operatively for the happiness of earth’s
inhabitants.
The devil, once again observing, made up his mind to do all in his
power to prevent as many as possible from being loyal and obedient and
thereby saved. His plan was to always hassle the inhabitants of
earth so that they would become discouraged and give up. If that
didn’t work he would tempt them with personal interests and pleasures
so that they would be so caught up in what they were doing that by the
time they woke up, if they did, that is, it would be too late he
hoped. If that didn’t work, he would mix error with truth to
throw them off track. Finally, if that didn’t work, he would get
persecutors to frighten them away from doing what the Ruler wanted.
Sadly, the devils approach was very successful, because time and again the Ruler
was let down. Trouble started again, Satan having caused the first
trouble, and Adam the second, but this time, the trouble started with
Adam’s son, called Cain, who murdered his brother, called Abel (Gen
4:1,2). Abel did his best to do exactly what the Ruler wanted, which pleased the Ruler, but Cain wasn’t so particular, which was disappointing to the Ruler
(Gen 4:2-7; 1 Sam 15:23). One day, in a fit of jealousy and
anger, Cain killed his brother Abel (Gen 4:8). As time went by
and more humans began to populate the earth, humans tended either
towards Abel or Cain in character and behaviour. Unfortunately,
the humans who were more like Abel began to marry those who were more
like Cain (Gen 6:1-4). As a result humans became more and more
rebellious [anti the Ruler], and dreadfully evil, until they were beyond being changed for the better (Gen 6:5,11-12), which upset the Ruler greatly (Gen 6:6). Eventually, the Ruler found that there were only eight humans on the earth, Noah and his family, who had remained loyal to Him, and whom there was hope for (Gen 6:8; 7:1), so He
decided to destroy the rest with a worldwide flood (Gen 6:7,13,17),
having given them 120 years to repent (Gen 6:3). The loyal ones He kept safe on a specially made boat, called an ark, until the flood was over (Gen 6:14-16; 7:1,17; Chap 8).
However, it wasn’t long before the descendants of those eight people fell into two groups again. Those who followed the Ruler — that is, did His will like Abel, and those who did not follow the Ruler — that is, were rebellious like Cain. In other words, they were anti the Ruler. Sadly, some from the group that was trying to do what the Ruler wanted soon began to carelessly mingle with the other group (e.g. Gen 13:8-13). This increased with time. The Ruler
was very displeased and sent a famine as punishment (Gen 41:54). This
eventually forced them to seek help from Egyptians, belonging to the
other group (Gen chap 42-45). As a result, they eventually ended up
living in the Egyptians territory (Gen 45:8-11). The Pharaoh, who ruled
the Egyptians they had sought help from, soon died. The new Pharaoh was
a nasty character and they soon found themselves enslaved (Ex chap
1,2). After 430 years had passed, the merciful and longsuffering Ruler came to their rescue and got them away from the anti-Ruler Egyptians (Ex 3:7-9; 12:40,41,51; 13:3; 20:1,2).
Sadly, they had been heavily influenced for the worse, and much had been forgotten of what the Ruler had previously passed on. In an attempt to not let them forget again, He, amidst an awesome scene (Ex 20:18), reminded them, but this time in the form of commandments, ten of them, which He called His Law (Ex chap 20), and which He wrote on two tablets of stone with His own finger (Ex 31:18; Deut 4:13) — that’s how important these commandments were! He
also had them put inside a special container called the ‘ark of the
covenant’ (1 Kings 8:9). This Law contained the standard of
conduct He had always wanted from earth’s inhabitants (1 Cor 7:19; James 1:25; 2:24,26), but which He wanted done out of love for Him (John 14:15;1 John 2:4; Rom 7:22), not mere ritual. He
wanted everyone to make sure they kept all of the commandments, the
whole ten (James 2:10,11; Matt 22:36-40; Rom 13:8-10). Keeping
them would also give proof of their genuineness (Matt 7:20). Thus
why the Ruler would be judging all earth’s inhabitants by them
(James 2:12; Rev 22:12; Heb 10:26,27). Surrounded by nine of
these commandments was the fourth one (Ex 20:8-11) which reminded them
(Ex 20:8) to keep the 7th day Saturday Sabbath that He had installed at the end of His fashioning of the earth (Ex 20:11; Gen 2:1-3). It was His sign that He was the Creator of earth and its inhabitants and therefore was deserving of their homage/worship. It distinguished Him from any who might claim that they were the Ruler
(Ezek 20:20). In fact, only this commandment showed who the author of
the Ten Commandments was (Ex 20: 8-11). That alone gave it great
importance! Thus the 7th day Saturday Sabbath became a test of
loyalty. Every government needs laws, and for laws to work they
must be enforced. The Ruler’s law had in fact been there all along. The Ruler called breaking His law, “lawlessness” [disloyalty, disobedience, rebellion, sin]
(1 John 3:4; James 4:17), and the devil and the earth’s very first
inhabitants, Adam and Eve, had been lawless right from the beginning [no law—no sin!]
(1 John 3:8; 2 Peter 2:4; Rom 5:12). The principles of His
governments great law had been arranged and expressed in the form of
the Ten Commandments to fit the fallen human situation.
The Ruler even gave then a temporary law, which He called the ‘ceremonial’ law. This ceremonial law would end when He would sometime later come to die for them. The Ruler
got a human by the name of Moses to write this law in a book (Deut
31:9; Ex 24:4; 2 Chron 35:12), and got him to place it beside the 'ark
of the covenant,' not inside the ark like the Ten Commandments (Deut
31:2). The ceremonial law was to be distinct from the Ten
Commandments. It covered religious activities that took place in a
sanctuary [temple] that He later got them to build so that they would have somewhere to worship Him. These important activities symbolically pointed forward to the time when the Ruler
would come and die on their behalf. The ceremonial law also
covered everyday matters, such as hygiene, court procedures, and so on,
some of which for practical reasons [e.g. those regarding hygiene,
health] would continue after the Ruler's death.
The Ruler attempted to turn this group of humans [Hebrews, which were later called Jews] into a special nation, that He
called Israel (Gen 12:1,2; 46:3). This group was to be very
distinct from any anti-Ruler group. By now there were many
different anti-Ruler groups everywhere. Some anti-Ruler groups
were aggressive while others were content to let any group do their own
thing unhindered. The Ruler's special nation was to communicate the Ruler's wishes to all who were anti the Ruler, wherever they might be (Deut 28:9,10; 7:6). He wanted Israel to let others know about His truth’s, His law, His wisdom, His love for them, and about His plan whereby all might be saved from eternal death. The Ruler desired that via Israel the anti-Rulers would see the benefit of doing things His way and would join Israel in doing the right things.
Sadly, the group He had chosen, kept letting Him down, and badly so (Ezek 22:26). They began to keep His Sabbath ritualistically, instead of willingly from the heart, which upset the Ruler very much. He
warned them time and again about all their wrongdoings, and the
consequences that could come as a result, but it didn’t work. So He
allowed them to be taken into slavery again by anti-Rulers, hoping that
would bring them to their senses. First they were attacked by the
anti-Ruler Assyrians [722 BC (2 Kings 17:6,18)] and many were taken as slaves. Later, the rest were attacked, and more than once, [605 BC, 597 BC, 588-586 BC (Jer 25:8,9; 2 Kings 25:1; 2 Chron 36:17,20)],
but this time by anti-Ruler Babylonians, who had conquered the
Assyrians. They were taken away as slaves. They ended up being
slaves for 70 years (Jer 25:1-12). At the end of the 70 years the Ruler rescued them again and gave them one more chance, a probationary period in which to change (Dan 9:24-27) [see under my poem ‘Oh, Ancient Israel’].
But they still weren’t changing, except for a tiny minority. By
now, another anti-Ruler group was controlling the scene — one called
pagan Rome. It was an iron fisted one, known for its cruelty, one
that crushed and trampled all in its way (Dan 7:7; 2:40).
The Ruler [Christ] now came to earth, as He’d promised, where He stayed for 33 years. While on earth, the Ruler not only kept the 7th day Saturday Sabbath also (Luke 4:16), but He made it clear that He had not come to do away with His Law that contained this Sabbath (Luke 16:17; Matt 5:17-19; Rev 11:19). He attempted to convey to Israel, and to any anti-Ruler, how much He loved them, and how He desired that all follow Him, correctly that is, and be saved. Just near the end of Israel’s probationary period (Dan 9:27), the Ruler, as promised, suffered the punishment that humans deserved — death [AD 31] (Rom 6:23). This had to happen because His
Law (James 4:12), that humans had broken, could not be set aside (Matt
5:17-19). Incredulously, the leaders of Israel refused to acknowledge
that He was in fact their true Ruler and they even convinced the pagan Rome anti-Rulers, that were over them at that time, to hang Him
on a cross to die (John 8:44; Matt chap 27), which happened. This
fulfilled the promise given to Adam — the first human (Gen 3:15). On
the third day after the Ruler's death, the Ruler who had power over life and death, came back to life again.
Forty days later He returned to His kingdom where at an appointed time (Acts 17:31) in the future He would begin putting together a list of all the loyal humans He would eventually give eternal life to when He came back again (Dan 7:9-10; Rev 3:5; 13:8; Phil 4:3; Mal 3:16) — what He called His Second Coming (1 Peter 5:4; Rev 22:12; 2 Tim 4:8; Heb 11:39,40). In the meantime, and right up until He came back to earth again, He would always consult with His Father, as an advocate and mediator, on behalf of any human who wanted to follow Him and receive eternal life (Heb 7:25,26; 9:24; 1 Tim 2:5,6). All any human had to do, was to genuinely accept Him as their Ruler, and what He had done for them [via the cross], display genuine sorrow for any wrong on their behalf, commit themselves to doing His will (John 14:15), and right then, right at that moment, they would secure for themselves eternal life. Only His death on the cross made this possible, His wonderful act of mercy [grace], and it was free. No one could receive eternal life by keeping His commandments. The Ten Commandments were simply the standard of conduct He expected of them, as His witnesses. Naturally of course, if they didn’t bother to keep His
Ten Commandments, they would thus show that they weren’t really genuine
after all, and not deserving of eternal life (Matt 7:21; 1 John 2:4;
Heb 10:26,27).
The Ruler, with amazing love,
mercy, and patience, waited to see if there might still be a chance
that Israel would turn around, but sadly, the leaders of Israel killed
one of His messengers [AD 34], called Stephen (Acts 7:54-60;
Matt23:37), showing clearly that they had not changed. This
marked the end of their probationary period. The Ruler quickly disowned Israel as His special nation, permanently (Matt 21:33-41; 23:37,38; 22:2-9; 24:1,2). After all, any special privileges He had promised them were conditional (Ex 19:3-6; Deut 28:9; Jer 18:9,10). However, the Ruler made the following proclamation: Any from the nation of Israel, who were sorry as individuals, and would follow Him correctly in future, along with any anti-Ruler individuals [Gentiles] who also genuinely wanted to follow Him, He would now treat, symbolically, as His
special nation — they would not be a literal nation. This new
special nation would be called the ‘Christian church’, and naturally,
those within it, would be called Christians (Eph 3:10,11; 1:22,23; Matt
16:18; Gal 3:28; 1 Peter 2:9; Col 3:11; Rom 9:8; 2:28,29; Gal 4:28;
Phil 3:3).
Most within the nation of Israel, who were continuing to behave the opposite to what the Ruler wanted, amazingly continued to act as though they were still the Ruler's
special nation, even keeping the 7th day Saturday Sabbath, but as
usual, not from the heart. They got so upset about being
controlled by the pagan Rome anti-Ruler group that was over them, that
they started warring with them. This displayed itself in a number
of revolts [AD 66 — AD 135]. The powerful pagan Rome
anti-Ruler group that these Jews had greatly angered soon began to deal
with them. The anti-Ruler groups emperor at the time, called
Hadrian, outlawed their observance of the 7th day Saturday Sabbath [AD 135], among other things.
This turn of events greatly worried the Christians, because they also kept the Ruler's 7th
day Saturday Sabbath. Many Christians, especially those who worshiped
at the church close to the watchful eyes of the anti-Ruler Emperor,
decided that in order to avoid getting persecuted like the troublesome
Jews, they should make themselves look as different as possible from
them. So, losing the plot, many of them gradually started keeping
the 1st day of the week as their Sabbath, instead of the seventh
day. They had sadly put concern for themselves ahead of their Ruler's wishes, thus going contrary to the Ruler's
fourth Commandment (Matt 16:25). The devil was pleased with this
development, that he had masterminded, because by keeping Sunday they
would effectively be paying homage to him instead of the Ruler.
Eventually, Satan would help them come up with all sorts of reasons in
defense of keeping Sunday as the Sabbath. Ultimately, the devil
wanted everyone to keep Sunday so that ‘all’ would be paying homage to
him.
By now, popularity and personal power began more
and more to determine the choice of leaders in the Christian church,
who, first assumed increasing authority within the local church, then
sought to extend their authority over neighbouring churches (Acts
20:29,30). Thus leadership thought only of ruling the church
instead of serving it (James 3:16; Luke 14:11). It wasn’t long
before the devil had certain ambitious and influential ones within the
Christian church trying to take control (James 3:16). The
strongest supporters of the move to Sunday worship were the leaders
of the church that had been closest to the watchful eyes of the
pagan Rome anti-Ruler emperor. That is, they lived and worshiped
where he ruled. This church had a lot of clout! In time,
these ambitious leaders would gain control of the Christian church,
eventually changing it into something much different to what it had
been. In the meantime, their efforts were aided by a new leader
of the pagan Rome anti-Ruler group controlling the scene, an emperor
called Constantine, who, being sympathetic to what was now a hijacked
Christian church, and being concerned about his own group that was
starting to fall apart, sought to strengthen his own group by
incorporating both. He therefore made Sunday a public holiday [AD 321]
which pleased both groups, just like He thought it would, because
Sunday was now popular with both. Many anti-Rulers worshiped the Sun on
their Sun Day [Sunday]. This turn of events now made it
easier for Christians to keep Sunday because Sunday had never been
protected like that before. The pagan Rome anti-Ruler group was
now having a big say in Christian affairs — enter church and state [politics and religion combining].
The eventual removal of the political [governing]
capital from Rome to Constantinople in AD 330 by the pagan
Rome anti-ruler Constantine, left someone who'd been appointed as
head of the Christian
church [the Bishop of Rome] pretty much free of imperial control [interference from emperors].
Thus the Bishop of Rome was more able to do his own thing. As a result,
he introduced the keeping of Sunday for worship, in place of
Saturday, as one of the Church’s rules [it was made Church law in AD 364 at the Council of Laodicea, a Roman Catholic council, Canon 29]. Years before, the Ruler, who could predict the future, warned a very faithful Jew called Daniel, that this attempt to alter His Sabbath and thereby His commandments, would happen (Dan 7:25). Daniel was given this information via vision.
By now, of course, the Christian church was hardly the Christian church
anymore. For sometime the Christian church and the pagan Rome
anti-Ruler group continued to operate together. Eventually, the
pagan Rome anti-Ruler group that was calling the shots, began to come
under many attacks [AD 476]
from other anti-Rulers known as Germanic barbarian tribes (Dan 2:33,41;
7:24). As a result of all this, the Christian church, which by
now had incorporated much from the pagan Rome anti-Ruler group into its
own system, eventually managed to succeed in gaining the reigns of
power [AD 538] in the same territory, by using the strong
military might of one of the barbarian tribes that had decided to join
it. The Christian church was now a large controlling
political-religious power, Papal Rome, (Dan 7:8,24,25). The leader of this
power even considered himself equal with the Ruler (Dan 7:25;
Thess 2:3,4; Rev 13:6). This empire soon became a persecuting
power (Dan 7:21,25; Rev 13:7). It attempted to force everyone it
could get its hands on, to do as it said, like worshiping on Sunday
only, and if they didn’t, it simply killed them (Rev 17:6). Many
fled as far away from it as they possibly could [like the Waldenses, etc] (Rev 12:6). Its terrible reign lasted hundreds of years [see under my poem "Those Beasts"] until another anti-Ruler group, whose leader was called Napoleon, attacked it, and broke the power it had over everyone [AD 1798] (Rev 13:3).
Sometime around AD 1517, before the persecuting power was finally
crushed, many had managed to break away from it, and had been openly
opposing it. These ‘protesters’ who had broken away from the
persecuting power, sadly, and oddly, still kept Sunday as the day for
worshiping the Ruler — the day that was set up in place of the Ruler's true day [Saturday] (Mark 7:9). However, a small number of them, decided that they were going to keep the Ruler's sign, the 7th day Saturday Sabbath (Jer 6:16; Ps 11:3). They became known as 7th day Sabbath keepers. The Ruler, who was delighted, obviously wanted [wouldn’t you] these 7th day Saturday Sabbath keepers to still communicate His will to everyone, like He
had expected of Israel (Rev 12:17; 19:10). The 7th day Saturday
Sabbath keepers were not only to clearly warn the earth’s inhabitants
against following the anti-Ruler day — Sunday (Rev 14:9-12; 18:4), but
also to warn, that the Creator Ruler at His next return to earth (James 5:8), would deal with all who had gone against His will, once and for all. This was the last chance He was giving the inhabitants of earth to accept and follow Him correctly, to stop their wrong behaviour (Rev 14:6,7; Rev 22:12).
The devil was much angrier now. He had failed to achieve his
ultimate goal — control over everything and everyone, which included
making all come together on Sunday instead of Saturday, to effectively
worship him, not the Ruler.
He was particularly angry with those still keeping the 7th day Saturday
Sabbath (Heb 4:1-11), along with the other nine commandments of the Ruler (Rev 12:17; Rom 3:31; 7:7). This group contained very loyal supporters of the Ruler and they kept the Ruler's
commands willingly (Heb 8:10). They stood out like sore thumbs
which made it harder for the devil to completely wipe the 7th day
Saturday Sabbath from the memory of humans. This was necessary if
he wanted all to worship him instead of the Creator Ruler.
So they became his main focus of attention. He was out to get
them, big time! He knew that he would have to come up with
another plan, one that would ensure things went his way this time.
“Then [after his failure] the dragon [Satan]
was wroth with the woman [the Christian church], and went to make war
with [persecute, that is] the remnant [the faithful] of her seed, which
keep [all] the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ [according to Rev 19:10 the ‘testimony of Jesus Christ’ is the
gift of prophecy in their midst]” (Rev 12:17, KJV).
Will Satan try to enforce his day of worship again, via another
religious-political persecuting power. Perhaps one that looks
like it has the interests of all at heart?
Will he attempt to wipe out those who refuse to keep his false Sabbath?
“And it [the new power] was allowed to give breath to the image [copy] of the beast [past power] so that the image of the beast [the new power] could even speak [through its laws and enactment’s] and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed [would introduce such legislation]” (Rev 13:15).
What could Satan’s new plan be?
Lets have a look at the rest of the story ...
Now there were effectively four groups in operation:
anti-Rulers; the persecuting power which had been acting like an
anti-Ruler power and which was gradually picking itself up again after
its set back (Rev 13:3,13); the breakaway Sunday keepers; and 7th day
Saturday Sabbath keepers. The devil commended himself on how well the
persecuting power had actually worked that he had originally set up. So
as time went by he set to work on a new plan that would eventually see
another religious-political persecuting power finally achieving his
aim, a power just like the first one, a copy [image] (Rev 13:15), but this time with a surprising twist. This is how it all went —
A) He destroyed as many books as he possibly could that documented the
past persecuting powers evil reign, including its atrocities.
B) He got this same power to come up with alternate views regarding
biblical prophecy that pointed to it, its evil reign, demise, revival,
and future action on the world scene. Sadly, most breakaway Sunday
keepers accepted these alternate views, even though they had once
accepted that biblical prophecy did in fact point to this power.
B) He convinced humans to play around with the printing of calendars so
that whenever humans looked at a calendar they would see Monday as the
first day of the week, and Sunday as the 7th day, even though Saturday
throughout history had always been the seventh day. He convinced people
to do this in the interests of planning their business week, etc. This
helped to blur the 7th day Saturday Sabbath because humans now began to
link Sunday with the 7th day.
C) Satan convinced the breakaway Sunday keepers to ridicule the 7th day
Saturday Sabbath by saying that it had just been for Israel that was
once the Ruler’s
special nation. Sadly, because most failed to seriously check this out,
they didn’t get to see that the 7th day Saturday Sabbath was instituted
and kept (Ex 16:28-30; Gen 26:5) long before Israel existed, and that
it was made for all humans, and nor did they see the clear distinction
between the Ruler’s ‘moral law’ and Israel’s ‘ceremonial law’, and that only the ceremonial law had ended.
D) Satan convinced them that throughout earth’s history the calendar
had undergone many changes, which was historically untrue, and that the
original Saturday Sabbath would be different to that now kept. Sadly,
because most failed to seriously check this out also, they didn’t get
to see that the changes that did occur never made the slightest
difference to the sequence of the days of the week; that the week rests
on an immovable, unshakeable foundation of divine origin.
E) Satan made the 7th day Saturday Sabbath keepers appear as though
they were going in opposition to the interests and well-being of
society as a whole, even though they were simply following the Ruler’s
instructions (Matt 7:21; 1 John 2:4,5; Jer 6:16; Ps 11:3; Isa 58:12,
KJV). He also painted them as legalists, troublemakers, a cult, and
actually a danger. He pointed out that many breakaway Sunday keepers
were joining them. Soon they were more and more disliked, blame was
leveled at them, and everyone was wanting them dealt with somehow.
F) Satan convinced the breakaway Sunday keepers, who had split into
various faiths, that their differing beliefs were getting in the way of
Christian togetherness; that the Ruler’s instructions weren’t all to be followed to the letter; that much mentioned in His
holy Book, called the Bible, wasn’t applicable anymore, that a lot of
it was just cultural, some of it not even factual, and that human
reasoning should prevail. Sadly, because most failed to seriously check
this out, they didn’t get to see that the Ruler bound love and truth together, that He commanded His followers to abide by His truth, and that all of His
holy book was sound and trustworthy (Prov 30:5,6; 12:17; John 17:17;
Gal 1:8,9,10; Jer 6:16; Ps 11:3; 1 Thess 2:13; Isa 62:6, KJV; 2 Tim
3:7,16,17; 4:3,4; 2:15; 1:13; 2 Peter 3:16; 1 Peter 1:22; Eph 4:14;
6:14; 3 John 3,4; Titus 2:1; 1:9; Jude 3; Rom 16:17,18; 1 Cor 2:10).
G) Satan convinced them to forget the past, to put it behind them, and
to join hands as it were, with the previous persecuting power as well (reunification),
which wasn’t looking that way any more. He had them call all this
‘church unity.’ This helped reverse the very thing that had helped
topple Satan’s previous persecuting power thus ensuring that history
would be repeated. Ironically, history would be repeated this time by
the very ones who had opposed the past persecuting power — a
cunning power that had now infiltrated their ranks and key
postions in the civil arena.
H)
Satan convinced them to take their observance of the human-made
Sabbath, Sunday, more seriously than they had been. Soon they desired
to see this day free of all business activity and pushed again for its
legal implementation stating how beneficial it would be for all. Even
many anti-Rulers saw a benefit. This common goal strengthened their
togetherness.
I) Satan convinced the breakaway Sunday keepers to become more like the
anti-Rulers, that is, to compromise, fooling them into thinking that
such an action would more likely attract the anti-Rulers into following
the Ruler. This way it was easier for Satan to achieve an alliance between those who followed the Ruler, and those who were anti the Ruler
(Matt 6:24; 5:13; 12:25; Ezek 22:26; James 4:4,5). After all, he had
used a similar alliance, via the pagan Rome anti-ruler leader
Constantine, to bring about the first political-religious persecuting
power. Sadly, because most failed to seriously check this out, they
didn’t get to see how offensive such compromising action was to the Ruler (1 Cor 10:20-22; 5:6; Matt 6:24; Gal 1:10; Ezek 22:26; 2 Cor 6:16,17; Isa 31:1; Rev 18:4; Deut 12:20; 2 Chron 36:14-16).
J) Satan convinced breakaway Sunday keepers, who were living in what had become a very strong and large territory on earth [one with plenty of worldwide clout, and presence], America, to get a hold of, or a share in, its government, so that they could eventually carry out their wishes [via laws] which Satan had them wrongly think were the Ruler’s
wishes, when they were actually his wishes (Rev 13:11,12; John 18:36),
e.g., Sunday legislation. (And they not realizing that that same evil
power that had infiltrated their ranks had also infiltrated their
government). Sadly, because most failed to seriously check
things out, they didn’t get to see that the Ruler
desired no such involvement (John 18:36, KJV; Luke 20:25; Isa 31:1), that
they were to be separate (Rev 18:4; 2 Cor 6:17), and to function
differently (Luke 20:25), that ancient Israel had been a ‘theocracy’ [that is, God ruled it Himself] which had ended when it claimed as its leader an anti- Ruler called Caesar, instead of the Ruler (John 19:15), and that the only kingdom the Ruler was interested in setting up on earth was His which He wouldn’t be setting up until after His Second Coming (Rev 21:1-4; Dan 2:34,35).
K) Satan convinced the inhabitants of earth in general, who were worried about the state of the world [lawlessness, terrorism, wars, natural disasters, etc], that something was needed to bring peace and harmony to the earth, that all should get behind a worldwide plan [his plan, of course],
that was good for everyone, even if it meant some had to lose a freedom
or two or three or...yes, well. Sadly, because most of earths
inhabitants had written off the past, and had failed to do some serious
homework, they went along with this New World Order — a coming together
of various elements.
L) Satan conditioned, via humanistic
reasoning, paganism, spiritualism, New Age, mysticism, fantasy, etc,
most of the inhabitants of earth, in preparation for his coming
deceptions. Once used to such things, they wouldn’t so easily notice
his falsehood and trickery.
M) Satan then surrounded all this effort with amazing supernatural signs [including fire appearing to come down from Heaven], and healings, and he used charismatic orators [e.g. false prophets (1 John 4:1; Matt 24:24)]
to make it look like this new religious-political system-power was on
the right track (Rev 16:13,14; 13:14; 2 Thess 2:9-11; Matt 7:22, 23; 1
Tim 4:1). That all should get behind it. A religious-political
system-power that the past power had infiltrated and in time would even
dominate.
This fooled most of the
inhabitants of the earth. They really thought that what they were
getting behind, and doing, was for the best, but of course it wasn’t.
The Ruler had also warned, via His Word, how wicked things would misguidedly be done by many professing to follow Him (John 16:2); how even His
true followers could be fooled if they weren’t extremely careful (Matt
24:24; Note Hosea 4:6; Acts 17:11). It wasn’t long before this power,
continuing the efforts of the previous persecuting power, and even
aided by it (Rev 13:11,12,3), got a strangle hold on all the
inhabitants of earth. Using various methods, it forced them to go along
with its wishes (Rev 13:16,17).
“This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus” (Rev 14:12).
Soon a law was introduced stating that no work was to be done on Sunday. Because earth’s state of affairs just continued to get worse, like the Ruler had warned (Luke 17:26; 21:25-27; 2 Tim 3:1-5; Matt 24:6,7,12,21,22; 1 Thess 5:3), it was stated that this was because the Ruler wasn’t pleased due to the fact that some were still keeping the 7th day Saturday Sabbath. So another law was introduced, stating that worshiping the Ruler was only to be done on Sunday, followed quickly by another stating that any who worshiped on the 7th day Saturday Sabbath would be killed.
“And it [the new religious-political power] was allowed to give breath to the image [copy] of the beast [past persecuting power] so that the image of the beast could even speak [through its laws and enactment’s] and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev 13:15).
“...Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering worship to God [will think that they are doing God’s will]” (John 16:2).
But the loyal commandment keepers (James 1:25) [the remnant (Rev 12:17,KJV)] kept on keeping the Ruler’s fourth commandment — the 7th day Saturday Sabbath. This pleased the Ruler very much, who placed a seal (Rev 7:3) upon these commandment keepers and upholders of His 7th day Saturday Sabbath, so that they were prevented from being killed. As we know, the seal of a law gives the name of the lawgiver [e.g., Lord], his official title [e.g., Creator], and the extent of his dominion [e.g., heaven, earth, sea], which is exactly what the Ruler’s fourth commandment conveyed. The 7th day Saturday Sabbath was not only the Ruler’s sign of His right to rule, but its observance met the seal of His approval, because it displayed loyalty to Him [a test in fact].
Around this time the Ruler intervened. The devil’s ultimate plan and evil had now been exposed to the watching universe. The Ruler
returned to earth (Matt 24:30) in spectacular fashion (Luke
17:29,30,34; 1 Thess 4:16; Ps 53; Rev 6:15-17) and with great power
destroyed all those who were not doing His will (2 Thess 1:7,8; Luke 17:29,30; Matt 7:21), the ones who had gone along with the new persecuting power (Rev 14:9,10). The Ruler took the loyal ones still alive at the time of His intervention, and the loyal ones who had died throughout earth’s history, which He now brought back to life (Acts 24:15; Heb 11:39,40), back to His kingdom [Heaven]
(John 14:1-3). They were given eternal life. They had met the test.
There they stayed for a thousand years (Rev 20:6). During this time
they studied the Ruler’s records (Rev 20:12; Dan
7:10) to see why certain ones deserved to be destroyed (Rev 20:12; 1
Cor 6:2,3). When they had seen how right He was, they, along with their Ruler, at the end of the thousand years, returned to earth (Rev 20:1-3). As they were nearing the earth, the Ruler brought to life the wicked that He had previously destroyed at His
Second Coming, or who had died throughout earth’s history (John
5:28,29; Rev 20:5; John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15). They all attempted to
attack Him (Rev 20:7,8,9), and those with Him, as they descended via the new Jerusalem [the capital of the renewed earth] (Rev 21:1-3), but the Ruler
consumed them all with fire, including the devil and the foolish angels
who had followed him (Rev 20:6,9,10,14,15;19:20; John 5:28,29). No
longer would they exist in any form (Mal 4:1,3; Matt 10:28; 2 Peter
2:6; 3:7). He couldn’t finally destroy the anti-Rulers, and false Christians, until everyone had had a chance to see that He was right. That’s how fair the Ruler was. Now true peace and harmony reigned forever. Good had triumphed over evil. The loving Ruler, who hated all evil and violence (Prov 6:16-19; Ps 11:5), now remained on earth [that He renewed] to live with His subjects who adored Him (Rev 21:1-4), and worshiped Him every Sabbath (Isa 66:22,23).
End of story.
This story ties in with:
The End-Time.
Things About God's Law That We Need To Know.
(both in purple boxes).
Mary, Mother Of Jesus.
Lawless Saints?
An Interview With Satan.
God's Ten Commandments, Paraphrased-Expanded
(all in orange boxes so titled).
