What happens if work gets in the way of Sabbath day?

[Milos]

I haven't started working since I'm still in school. My Church is open until 8pm for worship, but I hear you aren't supposed to work this day.

Are there ways around this? I think I need to be looking forward to the future.

 

[AvgJoe]

Question: "Is working on Sunday a sin?"

Answer: Working on Sunday is definitely not a sin. Working on Sunday is not prohibited in the Bible. The idea that Christians should not be working on Sunday comes from a misunderstanding of Old Testament Sabbath-keeping for the Israelites and its relation to Sunday worship for Christians. According to Exodus 20:8–11, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week on which the Israelites were to rest in remembrance that God created the universe in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day. “Keeping the Sabbath holy” was defined as not working on the Sabbath.

When God provided manna in the desert during the Exodus wanderings, He commanded that the manna was to be gathered for six days only with enough gathered on the sixth day to feed the people during the Sabbath rest. Gathering the manna was considered to be work, just as planting and harvesting was considered work. Exodus 31:14–16 and 35:2 prescribed death for anyone who worked on the Sabbath. Buying and selling on the Sabbath day was also considered a desecration of the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15–17). Clearly, keeping the Sabbath day “holy” required the cessation of all work for the Israelites.

The Sabbath day was established so the Israelites would rest from their labors, only to begin again after a one-day rest. Why, then, do Christians not have to observe the same law? The key to understanding this is to see that the various elements of the Sabbath symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would fulfill the Law by providing a permanent—as opposed to a one-day—rest for His people. With the establishment of the Old Testament Law, the Jews were constantly “laboring” to make themselves acceptable to God. Their labors included trying to obey all the commandments of the ceremonial law, the temple law, and the sacrificial law. Of course, they couldn’t possibly keep all those laws, so God provided an array of sin offerings and sacrifices so they could come to Him for forgiveness and restore fellowship with Him, but only temporarily.

Just as they began their physical labors after a one-day rest, so, too, did they have to continue to offer sacrifices. Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the law “can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” But these sacrifices were offered in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice—He ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever. Because of what He did, we no longer have to “labor” in Law-keeping in order to be justified in the sight of God, and this includes the observance of the Sabbath. Jesus was sent so that we might rest in God and in what He has provided.

By saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as Jesus came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works. We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favor. Jesus is our rest from works now, just as He is the door to heaven, where we will rest in Him forever. There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for sin. He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labor of our own works.

In Colossians 2:16–17 the apostle Paul declares, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” We are no longer commanded to cease working on the Sabbath, nor is Sunday now the “Christian Sabbath.” Although many Christians prefer to take Sunday off and spend at least part of it in corporate worship, working on Sunday is not sin. Many Christians, such as doctors and nurses, have no choice but to work on Sunday and, as a society, we should be very grateful to them. But Christians who work on Sunday should do so with the understanding that worship is not limited to any one day of the week but is to be an ongoing part of their lives.

www.gotquestions.org/working-on-Sunday.html

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Question: "Is working on Sunday a sin?"

The Sabbath day in Orthodoxy is still the 7th day. Sunday is the Lord's day.

 

[Serving Zion]

I don't know any Christian who isn't ashamed to say that they think that the Ten Commandments are no longer relevant. It's just that most Christians have more fear of losing their job for choosing to keep His commandments. I'll just say that if an employer chooses to not employ you because you insist on honouring God's plan for your life, then it is for your own best interests that you are not going under their management, and pay attention to the spirit that enters their business as a result.

.. having said that, if it so happens that they have an emergency on The Sabbath and they call upon you, keep in mind Matthew 12:11 and Titus 2:6-8.

 

[Milos]

Is it common for management not to respect someone's religion? My professor told me in the business field to anticipate working long hours when asked, he didn't really mention weekends.

 

[Serving Zion]

Is it common for management not to respect someone's religion? My professor told me in the business field to anticipate working long hours when asked, he didn't really mention weekends.

It depends largely on times and places. A secular worldview thinks of religion as a choice of lifestyle, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't respect religion. We who are convinced know that it is a matter of Matthew 6:24, whereas a secular employer probably couldn't appreciate that so much

 

[Dave-W]

Is it common for management not to respect someone's religion?

Very common. Also illegal in the US if the business is over a certain size.

 

[bcbsr]

I haven't started working since I'm still in school. My Church is open until 8pm for worship, but I hear you aren't supposed to work this day.

Are there ways around this? I think I need to be looking forward to the future.

Since Sabbath in scripture is from Friday 6:00pm to Sat 6:00pm It's not going to interfere with church unless you're a 7th day Adventist. And as for 8:00pm Sunday, that would actually be Monday in the scriptures, which goes Sunday 6:00pm to Monday 6:00pm. So you're covered either way.

 

[LoricaLady]

I haven't started working since I'm still in school. My Church is open until 8pm for worship, but I hear you aren't supposed to work this day.

Are there ways around this? I think I need to be looking forward to the future.

The Bible says to not work on the Sabbath, not to have servants (think saleclerks and waitresses) to work for you on the Sabbath, not to have guests in your home to work, and that not even animals should work then.

In Isaiah we are also shown we are not to buy and sell then and that we are to keep the day holy to the Lord.

Of course if you are in a job where lives are at stake, like with EMS, in a hospital, Coast Guard etc., then I think it is fine to work then if you have to. Messiah talked about how it was okay when people pulled animals out of a well on the Sabbath, and that people are even more important than animals, like the woman he healed in the Synagogue on the Sabbath.

If you currently don't have a job that is like one of those described above, then I would say pray to find one where you can take off on the Sabbath.

You might want to research to to be very sure when the Sabbath actually is, too.

 

[LoricaLady]

MILOS P.S. Here is one perspective on the Sabbath:

Yes, we are saved solely by faith in the Isaiah 53 Savior. However, He said "If you love Me, keep My Commandments." His Commandments are the same as His Father's as They are One. . The Bible says that the Almighty "will not alter what goes out of His mouth." If that is not true, the Bible is not reliable. At Mt. Sinai, to the ears of the terrified Israelites below, He audibly spoke the 10 Commandments. This included a Fri. nightfall to Sat. nightfall Sabbath. NOTHING in the Bible says the Sabbath was changed to Sunday..

People say "Paul said....Paul said..." But Paul said to follow the Savior, not him, and anyway Paul never said the Sabbath was changed and certainly had no authority to change what was audibly spoken by our Creator and written on stone with His very finger. When he said "Let no man judge you" he was talking to new converts and encouraging them in their observance, not NON observance, of the Biblical holy days, i.e. to not give into pagan peer pressures.

Throughout the New Testament you can see that the apostles, including Paul, actually kept the Mosaic Law. In Acts 15, for example, "even" the food laws are upheld and yes, for NON Jewish converts. We see there that blood is still forbidden and that the new converts are expected to be, as was the tradition, in Synagogues, on the Sabbath, to learn the rest of the Law of Moses. In Acts 21 we see that Paul, and all those in the Jerusalem Council, upheld the Law of Moses and Paul took an oath to demonstrate that.

Read the false accusations spoken against Stephen. He was falsely accused of saying that our Savior came to do away with the Law of Moses. Acts 6:11-14. Further, our Savior affirmed the Sabbath by telling his followers, about the time when the Temple would be destroyed - after His Ascension - "Pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath." He wanted them to be able to rest on the Sabbath in the future, as always in the past. . You can see some RCC leaders online admitting to the fact that the Bible does not sanction a Sunday Sabbath, but that Protestants keep it anyway since - guess who changed it? ROME, under the pagan sun worshipper Constantine, changed it over a millenium ago. Constantine said that Christians were to be executed if they kept the true Sabbath and said they needed to rest "on the venerable day of the sun." Check it out.

Sun...day.

However, the Father of Mercies knows we are all confused children. We need not to turn on others about it, therefore, but to show love. If we do not, no matter what we do it's all a waste, certainly not the path to Heaven. Yet, if you want to move away from "traditions of men" to the real truths of the real Bible, I recommend 119 Ministries' vids, starting with The Pauline Paradox. . And yes, you can rest or worship on any day of the week, but you are not supposed to...work...or cook...on the Sabbath - neither you nor those in your home, nor any servants (think waitresses and sales clerks etc.). Not even animals are to work then, or be penned up then. In fact, in Isaiah we are told to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord and also not to buy or sell on that day.

The Sabbath is the longest Commandment and is stated in the Bible to be the very sign given to Israel of their Covenant with Him. (The New Testament tells us to be grafted into what? Israel.) Other nations had laws against murder and theft for example. Only those who wanted to Covenant with YHWH, aka God, were asked to keep the Sabbath. In the New Testament we are told to be grafted into Israel.. The 4th Commandment is not a suggestion.

(If anyone wants to debate this with me, I will not do it. This is not a debate forum and we are to address our comments to the OP. I gave my perspective. You are free to give yours, but to him, not to me.)

 

[Stringfellow_Hawke]

Question: "Is working on Sunday a sin?"

Answer: Working on Sunday is definitely not a sin. Working on Sunday is not prohibited in the Bible. The idea that Christians should not be working on Sunday comes from a misunderstanding of Old Testament Sabbath-keeping for the Israelites and its relation to Sunday worship for Christians. According to Exodus 20:8–11, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week on which the Israelites were to rest in remembrance that God created the universe in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day. “Keeping the Sabbath holy” was defined as not working on the Sabbath.

When God provided manna in the desert during the Exodus wanderings, He commanded that the manna was to be gathered for six days only with enough gathered on the sixth day to feed the people during the Sabbath rest. Gathering the manna was considered to be work, just as planting and harvesting was considered work. Exodus 31:14–16 and 35:2 prescribed death for anyone who worked on the Sabbath. Buying and selling on the Sabbath day was also considered a desecration of the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:15–17). Clearly, keeping the Sabbath day “holy” required the cessation of all work for the Israelites.

The Sabbath day was established so the Israelites would rest from their labors, only to begin again after a one-day rest. Why, then, do Christians not have to observe the same law? The key to understanding this is to see that the various elements of the Sabbath symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would fulfill the Law by providing a permanent—as opposed to a one-day—rest for His people. With the establishment of the Old Testament Law, the Jews were constantly “laboring” to make themselves acceptable to God. Their labors included trying to obey all the commandments of the ceremonial law, the temple law, and the sacrificial law. Of course, they couldn’t possibly keep all those laws, so God provided an array of sin offerings and sacrifices so they could come to Him for forgiveness and restore fellowship with Him, but only temporarily.

Just as they began their physical labors after a one-day rest, so, too, did they have to continue to offer sacrifices. Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the law “can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” But these sacrifices were offered in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). Jesus rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice—He ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever. Because of what He did, we no longer have to “labor” in Law-keeping in order to be justified in the sight of God, and this includes the observance of the Sabbath. Jesus was sent so that we might rest in God and in what He has provided.

By saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as Jesus came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works. We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favor. Jesus is our rest from works now, just as He is the door to heaven, where we will rest in Him forever. There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus. He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law, and He alone provides the sacrifice that atones for sin. He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labor of our own works.

In Colossians 2:16–17 the apostle Paul declares, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” We are no longer commanded to cease working on the Sabbath, nor is Sunday now the “Christian Sabbath.” Although many Christians prefer to take Sunday off and spend at least part of it in corporate worship, working on Sunday is not sin. Many Christians, such as doctors and nurses, have no choice but to work on Sunday and, as a society, we should be very grateful to them. But Christians who work on Sunday should do so with the understanding that worship is not limited to any one day of the week but is to be an ongoing part of their lives.

www.gotquestions.org/working-on-Sunday.html

^^^THIS^^^