Devon Dick I WAS flattered that there were three published responses to last week's article, 'Sabbath a blessing from God', which called for a focus on the meaning of Sabbath rather than trying to engage in the futile exercise of trying to ascertain a particular day as Sabbath. The response by Clive Harris of London (May 8) displayed an understanding of the essence of my column and also added value to the discussion while R. Allen of Miami (May 9) and S. Guy (May 10) misunderstood the issue.
Guy claimed that I mixed truth with error but did not give one example of the mixture. Instead he or she only tried to portray error. Guy claimed that 'God is not vain, in that He should ask us to keep a certain day holy, if that day could not be identified'. Indeed, Guy is right in that God is not vain. Deuteronomy 5:12 states, 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy'. The command was not 'Remember Saturday to keep it holy'. The passage clearly states that after six days of working, the seventh day is a Sabbath. For every seven-day cycle the seventh day is a day of rest. In fact, in the early days there were not these organised weekly worship services.
TALK WITH THE JEWS
I support the concept of a seventh day Sabbath however no one knows which of our days was the seventh day of old. Guy advises, 'if one really wants to know which day is the seventh, just ask the Jews'. Obviously this Guy does not know which day it is so he or she recommends that I talk with the Jews. However, I do not know which Jew I should talk to. Should I talk with the Prime Minister of Israel or should I talk with Ainsley Henriques, the head of the Jewish congregation in Jamaica? Unless these Jews were there at the beginning of creation then there is no way they could tell with surety that the seventh day of the creation is equivalent to Saturday. This one is only 'God he knows'.
Furthermore, there is no universal time period called seventh day for all peoples. Different countries experience it at different times. Also, not everyone starts working on the same day of the week, therefore everyone will not have the same seventh day for rest. And Joshua getting the sun to stand still for 24 hours has further complicated the matter.
The word 'Sabbath' might be applied to any sacred season as a time of cessation from labour and is so used of the Day of Atonement, which was observed annually on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 16:31) and also for the Day of Tabernacles, "Also in the thirteenth day of the seventh month, when ye gather in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a SABBATH" (Lev. 23: 32).
ONE WEEK LATER
R. Allen claims that 'If we know when is Good Friday, then we should not have a problem determining when is the Sabbath'. If he or she is right then we have a problem because this year the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches celebrated Good Friday one week later than we did in Jamaica based on the Julian Calendar.
I do not think because Jesus was resurrected on the first day then the Sabbath had to be on the first day. Neither do I believe that because God rested on a particular seventh day then it is only on the seventh day of that cycle that one can experience the Sabbath. It is like saying that we should have a day of worship every Friday because Jesus died on a Friday for our sins.
The Bible does not share this limited focus on a day and the reason for the Sabbath observance. In fact, in Deuteronomy 5 the rationale given for Sabbath observance was, 'Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day' while the Exodus account locates it in Creation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with someone having a Sabbath experience on a Saturday, Sunday or any other day and for whatever reason.
Let me close by quoting the enlightened Clive Harris who states of the seventh day Sabbath, 'It was based on the Hebrew month which has four divisions of seven days each. This cycle was based on cycles of the moon, as the Hebrew year was purely lunar We do not have a lunar year and most of us do not even know when the new moon is, greater still the seventh day from the new moon'.
Let us celebrate the Sabbath in its truest form and keep a day holy, apart, special, separate and different. For me, Sabbath is a rest day and there I rest my case.
The Rev Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church.
