#249 The Sabbath & Blue Laws

Program #249 “The Sabbath & Blue Laws – 8/7/2016 – Synopsis

Is there still a Christian Sabbath? Has the Sabbath moved from Saturday to Sunday? Does God command governments to close down businesses on Sunday (Blue Laws) even though governments are not churches? In Program #249 I attempt to give some Biblical answers to these difficult questions. I begin by briefly explaining the history of Blue Laws in America
and the gradual abandonment of setting a day aside for God as the nation grew more secular. Ancient Israel took a similar path.

I then go on to explain how the Sabbath principle was laid down in the creation order, and therefore, it is timeless and incumbent upon all the descendants of Adam – which includes everyone. Although Gentiles are not under the temporary Old Covenant Sabbatical regulations, they are under the basic Sabbath principle of Genesis 2:3.

The resurrection of Christ, being the focal point of all history, switched the Sabbath to the first day of the week. The early church considered the Sunday Sabbath to be the celebration of the eighth day – a type of eternity. The most important truth in all this is that a nation, a family, or an individual that sets time aside for God will “ride on the heights of the earth” (Isaiah 58:13).

Scripture References: Isaiah 58:13, Nehemiah 13:15-22; Exodus 20:9-10; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10; Mark 16:9; Romans 14:5-6; Colossians 2:16-17; Leviticus 12:2-3, 22:27, 14:8-10; Ezekiel 43:26-27; Revelation 1:10; Genesis 2:3; Matthew 24:20; Mark 2:27