A Sabbath Journey from Genesis to Revelation

Recommendations

"The book that you hold in your hands invites you to a journey. We were born to this world as strangers and sometimes we forget where we came from and where we are going. And of course, we need signs which would remind us about these two important issues. And the Sabbath as the day of rest, is the sign which was given to humanity in the Garden of Eden, the place of our origin and which points us to our destination—the New Heaven and New Earth.

Ingrid Wijngaarde will guide you through all books of the Bible and also through the centuries of history, and in a simple and clear manner she reveals the meaning of the Sabbath and the blessings that it can bring to every person in this world." —Feliks Ponyatovskiy, PhD Lecturer of Theology at the Ukrainian Institute of Arts and Science

"What is the use of a book that advocates, on grounds of the Bible, that we ought to acknowledge that the seventh day is meant by God to be the day of rest? Is this only a confirmation for those who are convinced already, or shall it indeed bring new insights to other people?

Ingrid Wijngaarde wants to take us on a journey through the entire Bible. When we plead for keeping the seventh day as day of rest the giving of the law on the Sinai is central. Why are there only nine commandments in effect? Why should only that particular one be named a Jewish tradition and not binding anymore (ch.6)? The author states that all the way back in paradise, God gave Adam and Eve the example of rest on the seventh day (ch.3). An indication that holds significance for all children of Adam! On journey through the Bible moreover, it becomes clear that the Sabbath is not exclusively binding for the people of Israel, but also for the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him (Isa.56:6). The author rightly highlights the fact that the Bible gives no motive to devaluate the Sabbath in favour of de day of the Resurrection of Christ (ch.11). Also, nowhere does the Bible name the first day of the week ‘Day of the Lord’ (ch.12). It was Emperor Constantine the Great who, as a worshipper of the Sun cult, proclaimed Sunday as day of rest in his empire (ch.17). That seemed favourable for the Church. What is shocking to understand, is that Sunday sacredness was introduced because of anti-Jewish motives (ch.19).

Reformed minded persons must contemplate that the change from Sabbath to Sunday was on basis of the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas writes in his Summa Theologica: ‘This is not on ground of a Bible precept, but on ground of Church institution’. Another writer even states that ‘The Church stands above the Bible’. And very challenging, ‘If Protestantism will base its teachings on the Bible alone, they would have to worship on Saturday’(ch.21).

I do very much recommend the study of this book. It is good to learn to doubt the tradition of Sunday keeping. Especially the anti-Jewish motives should ring the alarm to every Christian." —Ds. G. Hette Abma, retired minister of the Dutch Reformed Church.

"A Sabbath Journey From Genesis to Revelation, contributes to the rationale why every year, all over the world, more than a million people come to a better understanding of Gods purpose with the seventh day Sabbath. It provides more than an overview of the biblical, historical, theological and practical significance of the only day God set aside for worship.

The book is short enough to be read in one day, yet profound enough to provide much more than the basics about, Sabbath and Sabbath keeping. I recommend this journey with God, to all who desire an insight into the deep and soul satisfying reasons why God set aside the Sabbath day as a special day for fellowship with Him. This book will also greatly benefit those who wish to review, expand, and confirm their reasons for having made the right decision to worship God on the seventh-day of every week." —Roël G. Blackman, minister of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Suriname Mission.

A Sabbath Journey from Genesis to Revelation

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

THE BIBLICAL SABBATH

Ingrid A. Wijngaarde 

The sign to remember Creation,

ever present redeeming Grace and

the promise of Re-creation

Copyright 2015 © Ingrid A. Wijngaarde

Published by Promise Ministry ®

Johann Faberlaan 33

9744 DE Groningen

The Netherlands

info@promiseministry.nl

+31505566274

Second e-book edition: oktober 2015

ISBN: 9789082272956

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Section I: It is Written

1. The Message of the Bible

2. The Founding Rules of the Kingdom of God

3. Sabbath of the Beginning

4. Sabbath Keeping in Egypt

5. Moses and the Sabbath

6. Sabbath in the Wilderness

7. Laws and Precepts

8. Sabbath in the books of Moses

9. Sabbath in Canaan

10. Jesus and the Sabbath

11. First Day Texts Between Resurrection and Ascension

12. Sabbath in the Early Christian Church

13. Rest, Bless, Sanctify

14. When was the Sabbath blessed and hallowed?

Section II: History and Facts

15. Jewish Sabbaths and Memorial Days

16. Day names throughout the world

17. The Fall of the Early Church

18. The First Sunday Law

19. From Sabbath to Sunday

20. The Sabbath and Sunday from the 2nd through 5th Century

21. ‘And He Shall Think to Change Times and Laws’ (Daniel 7:25)

22. The Lost Debate at the Council of Trent

23. Has Reformation ended?

24. The Heidelberg Catechism of 1611

25. Never on Sunday

26. The Devaluation of the Sabbath Commandment

27. Christian Coercion?

28. The Rediscovery of the Sabbath Commandment

Section III: A Practical Approach

29. Symbols of Rest

30. Legalism, Law-Abiding or Lawlessness

31. Sabbath, a Practical Approach

The Conclusion

Appendix

Sabbath Seminar Series

Help spread the Sabbath message

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I give credit to our Lord, for His enlightenment. I am humbled to write on the truth about the Sabbath, and grateful to readers who have shared their comments on previous editions; those who have helped with correcting grammar, editing and formatting, of which I would like to mention: Feike van der Boom, Kimasha Williams, Nelleke Kraaijeveld, Quentin Styger, Edward Sutton, and Emil Ene, for formatting the e-book, and my husband Benito for his patience; and the many more not mentioned, who have supported and contributed otherwise.

Preface

People often ask, Why should Christians keep the seventh day Sabbath? I believe that such an honest question deserves an honest answer. Sometimes the question reveals a lack of understanding, even among Christians, about the biblical day of rest. When confronted with this question it is sometimes difficult to have a quick, solid, Bible-based answer. One can stumble about the subject as if unaware of truth and this does not have to be the case. The arguments in favour of the seventh day, Saturday, as the Sabbath of the Lord can be found in the pages of the Word of God and are readily accessible to everyone through the Holy Bible. The language may sometimes be regarded as old fashioned, depending upon the translation and perhaps difficult for our 21st century generation, yet it is not altogether impossible to understand! We can see in, William Shakespeare’s, old fashioned but beautiful English, that if we take our time to nourish our thoughts with each word we can achieve understanding of all that is being communicated to us.

When studying God’s Word, it is important for the reader to compare several texts in order to get a better understanding of what is being said. The point of reference must always be, divine inspiration, from Biblical account. Not one person, not even if they’re a scholar, has the authority to give personal explanation and add philosophy fitting their own agenda to the Holy Scriptures. If such a thing were necessary, then only the highly educated would be able to interpret the Bible and the laity would have to take the word of man’s opinion as truth. God did not have this in mind when He revealed His will to us by His word; in fact this was one of the major failings of both the Jewish nation in Christ’s time and what ultimately led to the period in our history known as, the dark ages. The Bible is the revealed truth of God to humankind and the Bible is its own interpreter.

The first printed edition of A Sabbath Journey from Genesis to Revelation in 1996 marked the culmination of a spiritual journey that began with a few pages of personal witness to a fellow Biology student at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands, in the Summer of 1985. In 1990, I started to make the first outlines for this book and by 1992 the work was done. To this day, I marvel on where I found the words. Praise God!

I then stepped on to a long, tiresome, winding road going from Christian publisher to Christian publisher, none of which dared to publish this book, over concern that their Sunday keeping readers would not appreciate the discourse. Finally, I scraped together my savings and chose self-publication in 1996 because of conviction that there is a lifesaving message to tell the world.

God blessed this work marvellously. The first edition was well received by readers; both Sabbath and Sunday keepers alike. Sabbatarians passed the book on to their friends and relatives, en masse. Within ten months, all the books were gone. A lack of funding would hold back further dissemination until 2005 when new editions were published. At the same time, new chapters were included about the latest developments on the Sabbath-Sunday debate. Readers write and call to inform me that because of this effort they had come to value the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and are now keeping the Sabbath.

This year I am blessed. Not only was a completely revised Dutch edition released, but also an English translation, both in print and e-book format. A German translation is being prepared.

It is my prayer that these editions will also find their way to Christians all over the world who want to know more about the seventh day Sabbath of the fourth commandment and that this study will be the following to all:

■ A lifebuoy to those who have no knowledge about the seventh day Sabbath and are adrift among common human opinions;

■ A point for reflection and consideration with those who are of a different opinion concerning Sabbath observance; and

■ A strong affirmation to those who already acknowledge the holiness of the seventh day Sabbath as the Lord’s Day.

It is worth mentioning the structure of the different sections and their purpose:

Section I: the chapters 1-15, introduce us to the inspired word of the Bible. This makes the content readable, contextual, and verifiable for the layperson who has only the Scriptures at hand. In this way, the reader can follow the reasoning by examining the given Bible references. The aim is that the reader should come to the understanding that the Bible has concerning the day of worship prescribed by God from the beginning of creation and after the establishment of His eternal kingdom.

In Section II, chapters 16-28, the reader is invited to glimpse back in time and discover how the history of the early church led to the development of Sunday as the day of rest and worship, using clear, concise, and reasonably indisputable facts.

In the final chapters, 29-32 of Section III, some suggestions concerning the everyday practicality in life of observing the seventh day as the Biblical day of rest, are offered for consideration.

The standard Bible translation used is the King James Version; or when CEV is indicated, the translation is from the 1999 Contemporary English Version. Applied emphases in quoted texts, whether bold, italics, or between square brackets are by me. The language used is British English. The Greek and Hebrew transliteration of the Bible texts is from http://biblehub.com/interlinear, accessed on July 1st 2015.

I hope that this work will be a blessing for all who read it and that it will add to the happiness of those who want to serve the Lord in a way that is pleasing unto Him.

Ingrid A. Wijngaarde

Groningen, September 2015

Section I: It is Written

1. The Message of the Bible

Everyone who holds the Bible in their hands for the very first time wonders whether the book has anything meaningful to say to them or even to humanity in general. Most critics consider the Bible as out-dated, full of contradictions, and difficult to understand. Some glorify it as a masterpiece of literature and the bestseller of all time. The Bible is much more than any of us can truly appreciate. The messages contained within are history, our history. It is part of our common heritage. It informs us about the origins of our earth and our race, the human race. It speaks about the history and origins of the people who have followed and do follow God; individuals who deliberately and willingly choose to live according to God’s will. Many ask, ‘is living according to God’s commands really important?’

Man has made himself into a tower of Babel that reaches sky high. He has elevated himself to be god and worships himself through every venture he pursues by seeking personal gain for his sole benefit first, and maybe others second. He believes he has no need of a personal relationship with the one true living God in this life; faith for him is sometimes an hour a week in church, a consolation when grief hits his heart, or some sort of good deed, pilgrimage, penance, maybe even confession to another man regarding his actions and guilty conscience, the truth is much sadder than all these combined. When man makes himself into a god to be worshipped he can never be satisfied, there is not enough food to eat to be satisfied, there are not enough sensual partners for the flesh to be sated, there is not enough money to have all the power that is desired and the toys designed to provide release of stress lose their lustre quickly, all the life for this person is one of want, not of need, and no peace; many of these same people are among the biggest critics of the Bible and have only read a few passages which they claim by their reason to understand and do not allow the Bible to interpret itself; they quote each other on so called scientific and reasonable elaborations from their traditions and philosophies; they profess to only believe in what they have experienced with their senses and in their dreams or imaginings; they have proven, with often inadequate and fully biased, experiments as to what they understand with their limited minds to explain all of creation. Because they believe their thoughts to be equal or above God’s thoughts, many even believe there is no God, all that they would rather attempt to please themselves in this life by living lawlessly when it comes to the laws of God.

We humans believe many superstitious things which are unseen and we readily accept things that we do not fully understand nor comprehend even with further investigation such as extra-terrestrial life, life after death, psychics, mediums, and the list goes on, not even our most personal experiences can be proven scientifically. Doctors have found their patients miraculously healed without medication but by prayer to a mysterious God. People see, hear, feel and taste things. Educated secular scholars share that they believe in supernatural manifestations and sorcery; many people are superstitious and yet fail to believe in a living, all powerful