The millions of unemployed here in the U.S. would be grateful to have work on any day. Economics is what drives the work force. No institution can make work, or stop work, but they have a voice to spread their purposes.

Such a law has no religious overtones, although it is being supported by religions. It has minor influence with the European population.

I have live in Europe for many a year, David. You are right in that "social cohesion" is code for dealing with racial and religious minorities. I doubt very much your conclusion that the ultimate objective is ecclesiastical. Just the opposite, the ecclesiastical objective is merely another tool for the social objective which is to force the immigrants into assimilating rather than bringing in what many "mainstream" citizens consider to be aspects of their culture and religion that threatens European cultures and societies.

This is not a sign of the end. This is a sign of what's to come as the Islamic "threat" spreads throughout Europe, then North America and then South America over the next two generations. If EGW were alive today, she would be writing The Great Controversy, not about the RCC, but about Islam.

There exist several National Sunday Alliances in Europe. In some European states we have already since ages quite strict Sunday laws and live very well with it. Nobody forces us to work on Saturday or forbids divine services on Sabbath nor are we forced to worship on Sunday. Don't panic bcause the inception of the European Sunday Alliance has taken place. Adventists always tend to bring political events in line with their prophetic interpretation and if it doesn't fit we make it fit.

The launch of the European Sunday Alliance was poorly covered by the media in Europe, - with the exception of the Adventist media and they are read by Adventists.
People in Europe are secular and withdraw in huge numbers their church memership because of church taxation and especially because of the many cases of sexual abuse in the RCC - and unfortunately not because of the loud cry of Adventists "go our of it" (Rev 18:4). Adventists are barely existing in the perception of the European public. So the masses that go out of it don't join the Adventists.

In 2010 some members of the European Parliament (MEP) have not been successful to introdce in an amendment of the EU-working-time-directive the same sentence that was already 1993 in that directive: "The minimum rest period [24 hours] in accordance with paragraph 1 generally includes Sunday.“ But in 1993 nobody - and no Adventist either - knew about this sentence and nobody paniced. It has been there in 1993 and no Sunday law has been established. Now the MEPs try again to introduce this sentence with the additional support of the European Sunday Alliance.

I have made the experience that as long as there is a common knowledge in the society about the weekly 7-day rhythm we as Adventists have much better chances to find understanding and support if we ask for Sabbath-free in the workplace or for exams at the Universities. The fight for Sunday in a secular society helps also Adventists in tis regard.

By the way: As Adventists we could learn a lot from the down to earth social, economical, ecological etc. approach and the arguments of the benefits of a work free day (It is Sabbath theology!): time for family, everybody has the right to rest, we work to live and we dont live to work... We have mainly argued which is the biblical restday but barely have we shown the public the benefits of Sabbath for our live, health, family, society, ecology.

Don't panic in the US in regards to what happens over here in Europe - don't you know that a Sunday law (if ever it will come as we have expected it) will be launched by some other players than the EU?

How can this possibly be happening "Liberty Mag" and others? Europe doesn't even have a "religious rt." or Tea Party! :>)

6 day shalt thou labour and do all thy work

- interesting how we use that to demand one day off for worship and rest, but don't use it to demand everyone work all 6 days. For many of us it is 5 day for labour, one for rest and one for play. Although life is getting tougher and more and more work 6 or even 7 days.

"Brothers and sisters, Jesus is coming very soon. There are people who currently see what is happening in the world. The Holy Spirit is directing them to get ready. Get ready! Get ready!! I have no doubt that the Sunday laws that have been predicted are on the way."

Faithful Disciples

Spoken by faithful disciples every day of every year since the Great Controversy was first published:
1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 ... 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 etc etc ad infinitum

To be ready:

Eschew al personal sin. Ask forgiveness then show true repentance by no doing them again, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Devoting your time to reading the Red Books and the Bible and praying. If reading other books, to not read anything that is fictional, and definitely not read anything that is written and published by non0SDAs.

This means being vegetarian and preferably vegan, abstaining from anything relating to coffee, tea, cocoa, refined foods ...

Not watching TV except 3ABN and not going to the cinema. Sharing evangelistic DVDs not watching commercial ones.

Wearing clothes that show minimal flesh.

Finding ways every day to witness about Adventism and to confront the sinful world with it's evilness.

Except when witnessing, keep away from unbelievers and lax Adventists in order to be uncorrupted by the world and to stay pure.

To only use the KJV and a concordance when studying the Bible. Academic scholarship is liberal and leads to doubt and eternal damnation.

Use only hymns in worship and avoid any music that makes your feet want to tap or your body move. Worship only to piano and organ (and maybe orchestral instruments).

Spend time seeking out and confessing every sin in your life.

Sabbath afternoon is only for bushwalking, Bible studies or letter boxing evangelistic materials.

Accept historic adventism without any doubts and believe 100% that it is divinely appointed by God as the unquestionable truth.

Don't dance or play sport or participate in other frivolous activities.

This is just the start of what I was taught. What are some others?

I'm a very happy and humorous person!

But the church programming I got when a child and youth would have killed me if I hadn't rejected it and turned into a very happy liberated and very liberal Adventist!!!

Liberty Magazine featured this as part of a recent round table discussion. You can read some of the responses here: http://www.libertymagazine.org/index.php?id=1760

“…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…” (2 Peter 3:3, 4, 8-10, 14, 17 NKJV)

Brothers and Sisters, Jesus IS coming soon. Please get ready! I'm sure people thought Noah was a kook too, but there were plenty of signs that destruction was coming then, just as there are today.

Europe is currently being over run by Muslim immigration. Various countries are starting to push back, distancing themselves from accommodating, what they see as, intrusion on their cultures. It's not surprising that Sunday vs Friday issue is coming up. Holland, I believe, has demanded the veil be lifted for identity purposes etc.

From the SDA perspective, I think we would be disappointed if Sunday laws didn't come to the US. There's nothing like standing true under perceived persecution to bolster up our identity as "the remnant" . Never mind if we lie, steal or cheat, at least we keep the right day - or do we?

(Can't resist in bringing up, again, the fact that Saturday Sabbath is NOT the biblical Sabbath as the Hebrews kept it before the Romans changed their calendar, making this discussion "much ado about nothing".)

Sirje, you obviously don't understand how the calendar works. The flow of days did not get disrupted, only the numbering of days got changed. The weekly cycle has continued unbroken since Creation in around 4004BC until now. Especially ever since Christ's time, it's there is clear evidence that the cycle is unbroken.

Conservatives in this country argue that Europe is being taken over my Islam. On a recent thread about the Norwegian massacre, SDA conservative David Read and others made this point repeatedly. Given this fact, I hope they will not pop up on this thread arguing that Sunday legislation is right around the corner in Europe. You can't have it both ways.

The reality of the matter is that secular Europeans have always liked Sunday as a day off. In Norway stores are almost all closed on Sunday. This, however, has nothing whatsoever to do with religion, although it's an echo of an ancient creed, and the thought that any European, short of lunatics such as "Christian" mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, would support legislation banning worship on either Friday or Saturday reveals a profound lack of understanding the European way of thinking.

For sure Adventism can be faulted on its emphasis on "getting ready" and the soon return of Jesus.

It is the check list mentality and the fear motive that are open to critical comment.

I recall shortly after sundown on a Sabbath. I was a student at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry. That Sabbath, I attended Sabbath School and Church a Broadview Academy and spent the afternoon with friends on campus. Shortly after sundown, a crowd of students were gathered a the curb of the highway in front of the campus. I decided to walk over to see what the great interest was.

I was told, I just missed it. A recent graduate had stopped by on his new motorcycle. Just as I arrived
he took off in a cloud of dust. Moments later, a breathless student arrived and said. The cyclist was dead! Seems that two block up the highway was a stop light. The rider couldn't stop. He hit the rear of the car ahead. The rider was thrown over the car, landed on his head on the pavement and was dead on impact.

To that rider the return of Jesus is just a nano-second away. Was he ready? Did he have his check-list up to date?

A much better view of the Christian life is expressed by Dr. Fred Craddock Professor Emeritus of homilectics at Emory. He says: "He always takes the doxology with him!"

I first learned of the return of Jesus some 80 years ago. For me that return will occur within the decade.

There is a gospel song that has a line. "Can the world see Jesus in you?"

While in the army, fellow soldiers would give me the raspberries, until the infiltration course or in combat when the risks were high. Then they would say: "Tom, can I stay close to you?" The first time I answered: "of course, but why?" The reply would be because, the Lord won't let anything bad happen to you, so I want to be as close as possible." I laughed and would say: I don't think it works that way for either of us.

Sanctification is taking the doxology with you every where you go. "Our lives are in His hands who said: ' a whole I planned, see all and be not afraid!"

Yes scoff at check lists and human predictions---but take the doxology with you.

Tom Z

Dick,
in one of the links you sent me it was explained that the weekly cycle functioned completely independent of the new moon/festival cycle.

Right now it does. The first day of each month started with the appearance of the new crescent moon. There are a couple of days each month when the moon is not visible at all. So when it appeared again, the ancient Hebrews started counting by sevens to identifiably the Sabbaths for that month. If you were to check the weekly cycle set up by the moon even now, you would find that the Sabbath would come on different days (by our calendar) each month. Those calendars are available in The Farmer's Almanac and, of course, the INTERNET.

The first one should read:

http://www.lunarsabbath.com/

Anonymous1
And, of course, incredibly impractical, which is probably why the Jewish community opted for the Roman calendar. But it also shows that if Adventists want to keep on talking about "the little horn" changing the commandments of God relative to the day of worship, they will have to include themselves as participants in that supposed conspiracy against the will of God. Nobody today keeps the Biblical sabbath.

Michael,
Unless someone was designated to sit in a tent and count by sevens, starting with Adam, there is no way a continued cycle of sevens has remained throughout history. If you were stranded on an island without your ipad how would you keep the weekly cycle?

I know its difficult to realize that the day the Sabbath is being kept has changed as much as the day of worship (Sunday). We are going to fight tooth and nail to prove it doesn't matter - just like the Sunday keepers when presented with the Sabbath, but you must admit the irony of our position about Sunday is inescapable.

As for your problem about those lost days when the moon isn't visible - well, too bad. That is the way it was set up in the Bible.

If we today were to use the exact formula that the Jews used when the sabbath was first given them, we would end up worshiping every day of the week.

Only because it became impractical, were the changes made, as Sirje wrote, in the early years of the Christian era.

To state, as has so often been repeated, that the 7-day weekly cycle has never been broken, may be correct, but the Sabbath was calculated by the cycles of the moon, which everyone knows, does not equal the same cycles of our modern calendar. Without calendars, the Jews used the moon for most of their feasts, of which the Sabbath was one. "He made the moon for the seasons" (Ps.104:19), (See Lev. 23 for the method of calculating all of the solemn festivals--all calculated by the month, which, in turn, was by the moon.

Before the Roman calendar, each month started with the appearance of the "new moon." The Sabbath was calculated from that day. Compared to our calendar, the Sabbath, there, would fall on different days each month.

With the availability of the internet, no longer can such erroneous statements be made that the Sabbath has been unchanged and the same day since Creation. It has been celebrated every day of the week. Where is the evidence?

Hmmm, is calculating the Sabbath's by the moon any more legalistic than calculating it by the calendar?

To have community rituals and celebrations tied in with natural phenomena is a beautiful way to be connected to nature and the cycles of life and makes lots of sense in any society, but especially pre-literacy ones.

Why, then, in all moslem countries sundays (and christmas day) are the official weekly holidays--but why not fridays?
Remember, God raised up Islam centuries ago to protect Protestanism from being persecuted. BTW, that's why God allowed the ignorance up. Another extrem La ila ha illa or whatever something like that...they always proclaiming that there is only one God.
However, before the close of probation, Islam will not excluded from polarization. There must be only 2 groups of people: God's people or Evil's

The fact that Jesus kept the 7th day Sabbath on the same day as the Jews in his time proves that it was the correct day to keep the Sabbath on. And ever since then the Jews being meticulous time keepers never lost count of which day the Sabbath falls.

Alicia - I think I love you. I know Jesus loves the both of us. Best regards - Tony Romeo, Pastor / NYC

Whatever the questions about the origins of the seven-day week, I think we need better scholarship than what's being offered by Lunar Sabbath groups.

On the originator--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_David_Brown

There comes a time where you just have to let it go and live as you know God is calling you. I grew up SDA, and experienced many of the same things, but I don't adhere to everything, and I don't throw stones at it either. There is much truth in what you say, even if said tongue-in-cheek.

Sirje, that is indeed the point. Nobody follows the ancient Hebrew way of calculating time, and there is no reason anybody should, given that we have more practical ways of organizing time. But that also means, as you point out, that creating a religious identity around keeping the 7th day of the Roman calendar is misguided.

Maybe God is hoping we'll finally see something he's been trying to show us for millennia.

I think so. That something is the Gospel message, minus the "holier than thou because I keep the correct day" attitude - not, necessarily of each SDA, but of the entire SDA paradigm. It's a haughty message, wrought with scarey tactics that include fire and brimstone, and smidgeon of painful agony thrown in for good measure.

George,
Yes, the operative word is FAITH - that's all there can be. For some the faith is in their church and its message; and fear at the uncertainty makes them even more strident about the manufactured certitude - and lines are drawn - and people are sacrificed at those alters of fear ("believe this or get out").

However, any rational person will have to admit that, as science states - "something can't come from nothing". You're here - I'm here - we both have a modicum of intelligence, enough to know we're here, so I have to have faith that some form of intelligence placed us here - therein is God. Each of us must take it from there ....

Or not .... that is the choice.

George,
"Religious systems" don't allow what you're suggesting; however, there can be, and I believe there is, a community of "faithers" who can have conversations without dogma - where faith in all things good that placed us here, can be trusted to be fair (at a judgment) and gracious (at the foot of the cross).

Someone is going to peg me as an agnostic, but I don't hesitate to acknowledge, perhaps a blind faith, in a risen Christ. It seems that all the other crutches the church passes out to keep us limping through their doors have crumbled, and all I'm, left with is the cross and the empty tomb. That may not be the answer for you (I don't know); but we each have to deal with these things alone, perhaps in the middle of a dark night. - Wow, I'm sounding morose - don't mean to. The point is, we have to struggle with these issue individually, and help each other deal with it. Most "religious systems" end up working for their own survival and miss the point of their existence.

There is much about unitarian-universalism that I find attractive. But after being a life-long SDA member, when I left some 25 years ago I've never once regretted the move and have no intention of ever being affiliated with any particular religion. Why? I can think of no possible reason.

The best of Adventist values leads me to affirm these principles of UU. The worst in Adventism would condemn it because it is not Adventism!

Although the Lord's Day (the weekly Easter) is a very special day for Christ-followers around the world, there are no holy days in the Christian calendar in the sense that the festal, weekly Sabbath (Lev. 23:1-3) was for the Hebrew people. The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is the true Sabbath Rest (Matt.11:28-30; Rom. 14:5, Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 4:9-10). Those who still insist upon observing any shadow pointing to Cross are actually denying the reality of Christ. Indeed, the inspired writers of the New Testament never even once listed "Sabbath-breaking" as a sin.

The SDA teaching of an imminent National Sunday Law is more remote and unthinkable today than ever before. With separate Jewish and Islamic days of rest, these major religions are certainly not about to observe the Lord's Day instead. Interestingly, Ellen White never warned her followers about the Islamic invasion happening today.

I requested of Yisrael on the facebook lunar sabbath group many months ago any scholarly work that he was aware of that supported the notion of the lunar sabbath. The response was more screeds of the stuff that people with a fire and brimstone mentality are likely to foist upon the uncommited. I'm not saying what I received was fire and brimstone - it was simply as well thought through, or not, as the stuff that usually passes as well researched among the laity.

If there is any scholarly material on the lunar sabbath, I would like to see it.

billman,

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Rosh_Chodesh.html

See also Hope-of-israel.org/sabfloat.htm
RF

billman,
We can't be promoting something like the Saturday Sabbath by default, basing it on a lack of opposition. Who ever thinks of lunar calendars these days. The seven day cycle is in the Bible and the Roman calendar. The issue is when do you start the count - which day is the first day of the month? Without a calendar popping up on your computer you wouldn't know. These guys had only the sun, moon, and stars to navigate by and to tell the passing of time. Besides that, the Bible clearly sets up the moon as the basis for setting their festivals and their Sabbaths.

As I've said before, I'm not out to change the Sabbath to a lunar Sabbath - just pointing out that the Sabbath we keep is just as much the invention of Rome as is Sunday worship. Who wants to cast the first stone?

"Deuteronomy and Leviticus would like to cast the first stone, as well as the enemies of Jesus!"

Whatever that means?!?

How many evangelists have reminded listeners that there has never been a break in the weely cycle and the same seventh day kept by God in Eden, is exactly the seventh which is observed today! Sadly, how many gullible have believed this--which is an impossibility for several reasons:

No one kept a record from Creation to Sinai as no one observed the seventh day UNTIL Sinai. When it was given there, it was always computed by the moon, the only possible metric those people had without clocks or calendars. The sun marked the year and days and the moon marked the Sabbath, which were it observed that way today would be falling on every day of the week.

Today, most people begin the year on the fictitious date of Jan 1st, which has nothing to do with the sun or moon. Months vary between 28-31 days instead of according to the actual lunar cycle of 29.5 days (20 or 30 altermately. Many begin their day at 12:00 AM rather than sunset.

When the International Date Line (man-made) was finalized, it was man who arbitrarily decided when the Sabbath began and ends. In essence, man places himself in the place of God as the one sets apart, or sanctifies a day.

Each individual who has an allegiance to observing the Fourth Commandment, should do his own research, which is simple with the internet today, and there are almost endless sources on many sites (many of which Sirje has supplied and I have read) for a thorough evaluation. Even the Jewish calendar is shown for those Orthodox Jews who observe the lunar calendar. There is no end of ignorance regarding Sabbath and its true origin that those who are much better informed are unable to give any credibility to those who choose to remain in ignorance.

Since it is impossible to maintain a seven-day week since Creation, how important is a 7th day when it is God who should be worshiped and not reverence for a day which no one validate is a continual 7-day sequential day since then? Does God not accept our time unless it is specified by the calendar?
Has the sabbath been made an icon with more reverence than the One who should be worshiped?

Since Seventh-day Adventist officials in Samoa have recently voted to observe Sunday for their weekly day of worship, will they change "Sabbath School" to "Sunday School" as well? Moreover, with both non-Adventists and Adventists now worshiping on Sunday in Samoa, the threat of the "mark of the beast" loses its power and punch. Obviously, Samoan non-Adventists can no longer be rudely referred to as the "whores of Babylon" and as "apostate Protestants" by their SDA friends.

Dennis Fischer
Lincoln, Nebraska USA

Hello Elaine,

You said “Each individual who has an allegiance to observing the Fourth Commandment, should do his own research…”

First, you just said the “key” words, “Fourth Commandment”. Thus, it is a COMMANDMENT. Just like the other nine. God gave Ten Commandments in his law, therefore, if his law still stands then his Commandments do as well, all of them.

Christ said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil…Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”.

You also said "No one kept a record from Creation to Sinai as no one observed the seventh day UNTIL Sinai"

Answer: God kept record of the sabbath, and he reminded his people of the Sabbath even before they left Egypt (Exodus 5:4-5). Also, after leaving Egypt, while in the wilderness (Exodus chapter 16)

You also said "There is no end of ignorance regarding Sabbath and its true originis matter.

We don't need to be ignorant on this matter:

1.God commanded us to keep the seventh day Sabbath according to the fourth Commandment. God would never command us to do so if we could not possibly know how or what day.

2.Adam and Eve knew and kept the Sabbath (Genesis 2:3). The Jews of the Old Testament knew and kept the Sabbath (Exodus 16:25). Jesus knew and kept that same Sabbath (Luke 4:16). The apostles even kept the Sabbath AFTER Jesus death and resurrection (Acts 17:2).

3.The Sabbath is traced throughout bible history and passed down to their children and children’s children. Therefore, because the Sabbath is passed down to the succeeding generations, it is impossible for an entire nation to lose track of a day, unless the ENTIRE nation fell of the face of the earth at the same time.

Finally, you say “Has the Sabbath been made an icon with more reverence than the One who should be worshiped”

The Sabbath does not have more reverence than the One who made the day. However, the One who made the day gave it relevance. For God said “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” Exodus 20:8. It’s not about the day it’s about the God that sanctified the day. It’s about loving and obeying God, and because it’s a commandment it must and should be obeyed. The Sabbath points to God as the Creator. For it reads “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11. The Sabbath is a memorial of creation (“when God rested from all that HE created and made”. Genesis 2:3), even as 4th of July is a memorial of independence. Therefore, when we honor the Sabbath we honor the God of creation, even as those that keep the 4th of July honor this country’s independence. Let it be known, we should ALWAYS honor God everyday; however, the Sabbath is a day in which we honor AND REST to spend COMPLETELY WITH GOD. Not on any day we choose, but on the day which God commands, because that is his special day. God call it "his holy day" Isaiah 58:13 & Revelation 1:10.

Jason, I apologize for addressing you as John.

Christians are not so adamant about Sunday observance, certainly not as certain as Adventists about Sabbath. I agree, it shouldn't matter what day is observed, and Paul gave that freedom: "Let everyone be persuaded in his own mind." He also instructed the Gentile believers: 'Let no one act as your judge in reegard to food or drink in respect to a festival or a new moon or sabbath day." Each time the Bible has such a list it is always in this order: yearly, monthly and weekly events or reverse order: Daily, monthly or yearly events.

How do you explain Paul's statements to new Gentile Christians? Is the Old Testament to be our most important guide to living, or the New Testament that fully reveals Christ?

This thread is evidence of the evolution and spread of Calvinistic antinomianism

Hello Elaine, it's Ok you called me John. (I know this is alot, but please read this Elaine,please)

You say “There is nothing at all in Gen. 2:3 about Adam and Eve observing sabbath. Ony that God completed his work and He rested, no mention of the pair doing the same”.

Christ said “The Sabbath was made for man” Mark 2:27. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and then the very next day, God instituted the Sabbath. That is why Christ said that it was made for man because it was made for the first man and woman, and there seed after them. God would not have instituted the Sabbath at that time unless it applied at that time.

You say “Please trace the record of sabbath being observed until Sinai (chapter and verse)”.

Answer: First, remember how God started off the fourth commandment by saying “REMEMBER”. To say “remember” means they were already aware of it. It means to “recall” something. Before God even gave the Ten Commandment law in the wilderness (Exodus chapter 20), the Jews were aware of the Sabbath before they left Egypt (Exodus 5:4-5). Also, Exodus 16 was before Sinai as well. Also, God said about Abraham “Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws (Genesis 26:5). This also proves that God’s law was made known before Sinai. Also, God said “keep it holy”. God already made it holy when he “sanctified” it after the six days of creation and told them to “keep it” the way he made it.

Also you say “Jesus came to FULFILL the law. When a law or covenant is fulfilled, all the obligations have been met and it is no longer applicable. If you owe a debt, under the law you are obligated to pay that debt. Once it is paid, that law no longer applies to you. Jesus said on the cross: "It is finished." He finished, fulfilled, and completed all the demands of the Law”.

Let me first start this one by saying, the debt Christ paid was not the law, but the transgression of the law. Christ did not die to give us a license to sin. The law is applicable for Christ said that he did come to “destroy the law”. Therefore, the word “fulfill” does not mean to destroy or do away with, it means to “fill to the full”.

There was a law that was nailed to the cross, but it was not the law of God.
It is written “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). According to this verse it was the “handwriting of ordinances” that was nailed to the cross, not the handwriting of God. These “handwriting of ordinances” are declared to be the handwriting of Moses. For it is written “Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses (2 Chronicles 33:8). However, the Ten Commandments were the writing of God, and not of Moses. For it is written; “the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables” (Exodus 32:16).
It is most important to understand the difference between these two laws. Again, one law was upon “two tables of stone written with the finger of God” (Deuteronomy 9:10). The other law was written by the hand of Moses. For it is written “when Moses made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26).
Notice according to Deuteronomy 31:24-25 how the law that Moses wrote with his own hand was placed “in the side of the ark of the covenant”. However, the law that God wrote was placed “INTO the ark”, not in the side. For it is written; “And thou shalt put INTO the ark, the testimony which I shall give” (Exodus 25:16). Now, just to be clear that this “testimony” that was placed INTO the ark was the Ten Commandments, let’s read Exodus 31:18; “And he (God) gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God”. So, according to scripture, these “two tables of testimony” are indeed the tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments.

Now, just to recap, we have a law written with “the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18) and a law written by “the hand of Moses” (2 Chronicles 33:8). The law written by God was written on “tables of stone” (Exodus 31:18); the law written by Moses was written in a “book” (Deuteronomy 31:24). The law written by God was placed “INTO the ark” (Exodus 25:16), and the law written by Moses was placed “in the side of the ark” (Deuteronomy 31:26).

Now listen closely; it is recorded that the law written by Moses was placed in the side of the ark “that it may be there for a witness against thee”. This law that placed in the side of the ark was against them as a “witness” because that law contained the judgments and curses against any that transgressed the law of God which was in the ark. For it is written “all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him” (Daniel 9:11). And that is why Paul said in Colossians 2:14 that “the handwriting of ordinances was against us” because these “ordinances by the hand of Moses” were placed “in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee”.

Therefore, this “handwriting of ordinances” which was against us, which scripture declares to be the written “ordinances by the hand of Moses” was what was nailed to the cross, according to Colossians 2:14, not the Ten Commandments which were the writing of God. These ordinances which Moses wrote which were “against us and contrary to us” for transgressing God’s law was nailed to the cross of Christ, because Christ paid the penalty for us, so the penalty won’t have to be against us. Therefore, by Christ suffering the penalty that was against us, FOR US, he “took it out of the way nailing it to his cross”. Therefore, Paul says in verse 16-17 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”. God’s Ten Commandments did not have anything in them pertaining to “meat or drink”. Therefore, that is one clue that this law is not the one being referred to in Colossians 2:14-17. Also, the “Sabbath days” being referred to here is not the Seventh day Sabbath That God wrote with his own finger in his ten commandment law, but, these sabbaths are referring to the Sabbaths that were written in the law of Moses, recorded in (Leviticus 23:24,27, and 32). Therefore, because the Law of Moses was abolished, which is the hand writing of ordinances, those Sabbath days contained in Moses’ law were abolished along with it (Ephesians 2:15). Also, all of those meat and drink festivals contained in that law were also abolished with that law. Because that law passed away, everything that was contained in that law came to an end.
It should also be pointed out that the law of God was never against us, for scripture declares “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12). Notice how the Law of God still “IS”. For Paul says the law IS holy, IS just, IS good. While the Law of Moses is past tense and referred to as “WAS”. For God’s law is the eternal law; for it is, and always will be the standard of righteousness and the measure of our love. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3). Yea, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

I've been mostly living in Germany for the past eight years. Initiatives such as these are driven by social forces. As many nationalities do, German's deeply value their cultural traditions. These include all those church holidays and free Sundays. To them, it doesn't matter that the churches are empty on Sunday, but culturally this is how a German should live. Entering into the EU, they naturally wish to impose as much German culture as they can get away with.

There is a severe backlash to the rapid influx of a Turkish population. Germans also look across the pond at America and think we are somehow insane with our incessant drive to work so hard and accumulate stuff. They don't want their society to become Turkish, and in this global economy, they also don't want it to become the capitalistic monstrosity that is "America". They see it as a threat that will subtly take them over...perhaps for good reason.

I moved there in 2004. The vast majority of restaurants would close between 2p.m. and 6:30p.m. Many other stores would simply close for lunch. By 6p.m., all normal stores were locked up tight. On Sunday, if you wanted to buy something, you had to go to the gas station or the train station, everything else was closed.

This has been changing steadily. Now, many restaurants remain open during the day. In a 'traditional' town, most stores are open until 8p.m. In a city, there will be several grocery stores that stay open until midnight. Train stations have been built up into mini-malls to get around the exception of Sunday laws. The society is swiftly starting to look more and more like a capitalistic, consumeristic one.

Younger Germans see this as progress, but the older ones view it as an attack on their cultural way. They want businesses to do business in the German way...or don't come there. They want foreigners to adopt German cultural ways, or go away.

As for religion...the day is built on a religious tradition. But the people only pay lip service to the religion. December 24th is the best attended church service...beyond that...not much. In this area, SDAs look fantastic in Germany...we actually go to church on purpose! To indoctrinate their children, religious education is carried out in the schools. 1st grade is universal Christianity. 2nd grade divides up into Catholicism and Evangelische (Lutheran). Once the children have finished their religious education, the school even goes to the churches for their special services of becoming a member. In the theater, Sunday matinees are not uncommon. A matinee begins at 11:00 a.m. The society values its free time, but has replaced it with all sorts of events beyond 'church'. As for the church holidays...to a German, those have essentially become an accepted day for drunken partying.

If such a law was passed and I refused to obey what would be the penalty?