AboutDr Don Howe Expertise I welcome questions that deal with theological issues, relationship issues, church history, world religions, current events from a Christian worldview, "gray areas" that are present today, church growth movements, false prophets, spiritual abuse issues, end time events, prophecy, medical ethical issues, hermeneutical questions, and how Israel fits into God's economy today. I will answer all questions in a grammatical/historical normative interpretation of God's Word. If I can not answer a question, I will do the research and find the answer if available. If you are looking for a liberal theological answer or agrument, do not ask. I am not an expert on church planting or evangelism.
Experience I have over 27 years of experience doing ministry as a bivocational minster/professional nurse. I do ministry as a volunteer with ministries that are nonprofit and not able to pay for ministers. I have experience working with youth, children, elderly in different placement settings, mentally ill and mentally challenged in different settings, felons in state prison and county jails, hospital chaplancy, choir ministry, and deacon ministry. I am an ordained SBC minister. I am a Professional Chaplain. I am currently doing hospital minstry, ministry to shut-ins, and a chaplain with Victim Relief Ministry working with victims of diasters and domestic violence. I work as psychiatric nurse in large county jail system.
Organizations American Association of Christian Counselors, Baptist Nursing Fellowship, Nurses Christian Fellowship, Therpon Institute, Victim Chaplain & Counselor Association of America, International Board of Christian Counselors, American Society of Christian Therapists.
Publications N/A
Education/Credentials PhD, Therapon University, USVI, 12/07 in Biblical Counseling,
DCC, Southwest Bible College & Seminary, Jenning, LA 04/05 in Christian Psychology and Counseling.
ThD, Slidell Baptist Seminary, Slidell, LA 02/04
D.D., Slidell Baptist Seminary, Slidell, LA 07/03
Tyndale Seminary, Fort Worth, TX 2001-2003
BSN, Univ. of Texas in Arlington, Tx 05/93
ADN, Midwestern State Univ., Wichitia Falls, TX 5/77
Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, Externship 08/04-12/05, 4 units of CPE earned.
Awards and Honors Board Certified Christian Counselor by International Board of Christian Counselors. Issued 01/24/06.
Expert: Dr Don Howe Date: 6/18/2008 Subject: Sabbath
Question QUESTION: Hello Dr. Howe,
I noticed you answered a question recently regarding the Ten Commandments. You answered by providing several verses that show that "we are to keep God’s commandments which include the ten commandments." You even mention that "one jot or one tittle in no way shall pass from the law..." But what of the Sabbath command which states to "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy..."?
ANSWER: Good evening Eddie. Thanks for your question. The verse about the jot and tittle is Matthew 5:17-18 which states “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Jesus stated “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil,” here Jesus wants to make it clear that He does not oppose the Law of Moses, but He will free it from the way the Pharisees and Scribes wrongly interpreted the law. He came to fulfil the law perfectly. He never broke the Law.
In reference to the jot and tittle, Jesus goes on and states “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Again, Jesus fulfils the law perfectly in that he fulfilled it three ways: (1) he fulfilled the doctrinal teachings of the law in that He brought full revelation (2) He fulfilled the predictive prophecy of the law in that He is the Promised One, showing the reality behind the shadows, and finally (3) He fulfilled the ethical precepts of the law in that He fully obeyed them and He reinterpreted them in their truth. I hope this helps you understand how Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly every jot and tittle.
The Ten Commandments is also referred to as the Decalogue. The commandment about the Sabbath comes from Ex. 20:8 which states “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.” It is the fourth commandment in the Decalogue. Eddie, we are to keep the Sabbath Day and keep it holy, but it is hard to to keep something holy if you do not understand what it is, where it came from, or why you are to remember it. The word ‘Sabbath’ comes from Hebrew word Sabbat which means day of rest. God tells us about this day of rest (Sabbath) in full text in Exodus 20:8-11 which states “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates: 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.” So on the Sabbath Day (the seventh day of the week) we are to rest and be hallowed. The word hallowed is qadash in Hebrew which means to be set apart, be treated as sacred or to be holy. The Sabbath Day is to be a day of rest, set apart, made holy as God is Holy, because God rested on the seventh day of creation. Gen. 2:2-3 states “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
If the Sabbath is to be a day of rest, no work, and day to be holy or set apart as God is holy, what went wrong? Besides His claim as being the Messiah, there is no subject on which our Lord came into such sharp conflict with the religious leaders of the Jews as in the matter of Sabbath observance. Why was Jesus in such sharp conflict with the Pharisees?
Eddie, here is what happened. With the development of the synagogue the Sabbath became a day of worship and of study of the Law, as well as a day of cessation from all secular employment. But during the period between Ezra and the Christian era that the spirit of Jewish legalism flourished. Innumerable restrictions and rules were formulated for the conduct of life under the Law. Great principles were lost to sight in the mass of petty details. The Pharisees’ legalism placed all these restrictions on the Sabbath. God only said to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, rest, and do not labor on the seventh day. God did not put these restrictions upon the Sabbath, but the Pharisees did.
It was all these Pharisaical restrictions and legalism about the Sabbath day that caused the Lord Jesus to be in such sharp conflict with the Pharisees. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matt. 23:23 that they were so eat up with their legalism and restrictions that you “have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done.”
Jesus set Himself squarely against the current rabbinic restrictions as contrary to the spirit of the original law of the Sabbath. The rabbis seemed to think that the Sabbath was an end in itself, an institution to which the pious Israelite must subject all his personal interests; in other words, that man was made for the Sabbath: man might suffer hardship, but the institution must be preserved inviolate. Jesus, on the contrary, taught that the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit. If there should arise a conflict between man’s needs and the letter of the Law, man’s higher interests and needs must take precedence over the law of the Sabbath. This is shown no better than in Matt. 12:1-14. Jesus even told the Pharisees in 12:8 “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”
Jesus did not discredit the Sabbath in fact it was his custom to come to the synagogue on the Sabbath (Lk. 4:16). Jesus held the Sabbath in high regard. As the Messiah, He was not subject to its restrictions; He could at any moment assert His lordship over the Sabbath (Mt 2:28). Jesus pushed the great moral precepts of the Sabbath. He remembered the Sabbath as “was his custom” (Lk. 4:16) and kept it holy or set apart as He was the God in the Flesh, the Messiah.
Blessing.
Dr. Don Howe, RN, PhD, ThD.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dear Dr. Howe,
It appears that we are in agreement about the everlasting importance of the Sabbath. You took me by surprise. Are you Seventh-Day Baptist? If so, do happen to know the differences in doctrinal beliefs of SDB's and Seventh-Day Adventists? I am an SDA and am curious to know the main differences, other than the obvious belief in the God-inspired writings of Ellen White. Anyways, thank you for a beautiful answer on the importance of keeping the Sabbath out of faith and love for our Savior, rather than out of begrudging obligation.
God Bless!
Eddie
Answer Good Evening Eddie.
I glad we agree on the Sabbath Day as the seventh day of week and is deemed by God to be a day of rest, and to “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it Holy.” God did not say we were to worship on the seventh day, but to rest on the seventh day and keep it holy by keeping our mind on God. I also told you that “during the period between Ezra and the Christian era that the spirit of Jewish legalism flourished. Innumerable restrictions and rules were formulated for the conduct of life under the Law. Great principles were lost to sight in the mass of petty details. The Pharisees’ legalism placed all these restrictions on the Sabbath. God only said to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, rest, and do not labor on the seventh day. God did not put these restrictions upon the Sabbath, but the Pharisees did.
It was all these Pharisaical restrictions and legalism about the Sabbath day that caused the Lord Jesus to be in such sharp conflict with the Pharisees. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matt. 23:23 that they were so eat up with their legalism and restrictions that you “have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done.”
I also stated “ Jesus set Himself squarely against the current rabbinic restrictions as contrary to the spirit of the original law of the Sabbath. The rabbis seemed to think that the Sabbath was an end in itself, an institution to which the pious Israelite must subject all his personal interests; in other words, that man was made for the Sabbath: man might suffer hardship, but the institution must be preserved inviolate. Jesus, on the contrary, taught that the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit. If there should arise a conflict between man’s needs and the letter of the Law, man’s higher interests and needs must take precedence over the law of the Sabbath. This is shown no better than in Matt. 12:1-14. Jesus even told the Pharisees in 12:8 “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”
Jesus did not discredit the Sabbath in fact it was his custom to come to the synagogue on the Sabbath (Lk. 4:16). Jesus held the Sabbath in high regard. As the Messiah, He was not subject to its restrictions; He could at any moment assert His lordship over the Sabbath (Mt 2:28). Jesus pushed the great moral precepts of the Sabbath. He remembered the Sabbath as “was his custom” (Lk. 4:16) and kept it holy or set apart as He was the God in the Flesh, the Messiah.”
Eddie, the early church fathers did teach universally that Sunday was for worship, because the Lord Jesus was resurrected on the Sunday. In 364 A.D., the Council of Laodicea had taught this very doctrine. But authors of From Sabbath to the Lord’s Day shows that Sunday worship was a universal practice of all churches outside the land of Israel by the beginning of the second century. Even Pauline churches in the first century were observing the first day of the week a day of worship. This is apparent in Acts 20:7-8, 11: “And upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” It is clearly pointed out in the first and second century churches, Sunday was only referred as a day of worship, and was not viewed as a Sabbath, which is a day of rest. The New Testament never calls Sunday the Sabbath (a day of rest) but is always the first day of the week and this shown in Acts 20:7-8 as an example.
But according to Church history, later church councils started applying Sabbath rules from the Old Testament to Sunday, and this has lead us to where we are today. The Old Testament day of rest (Sabbath) has been applied to Sunday. Our way of life in America is a result of this in which we worship on Sunday and rest on Sunday. Look at the Blue Laws that were passed in the 1950’s and 1960’s in which stores had to close on Sunday because it was a day of rest and worship. It is incorrect to call Sunday the “Christian Sabbath” as some have called it. The Bible is very exact and does not change, Sunday is called the first day of the week for worship, and the seventh day of the week is called the Sabbath and a day of rest. The bible does not say WE HAVE TO WORSHIP ON SUNCAY, REST ON THE SEVENTH DAY OR VICE VERSA. But the bible tells us that we need to be not deceived by false doctrines concerning the day of worship, false teaching or philosophies concerning the day of worship or Sabbath, and do not follow the traditions of men. God gives us the freedom to worship what day we want but besure it is not according to the traditions of men, principalities of the world, or false prophets, but according to Christ.
Look at Colossians 2:8 which states, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Paul is saying do not be spoiled or esomai which means deceived by things that are not real through strange philosophy, and empty deceit. And do not follow empty philosophies which are based on the traditions of men, or elements of the world because they are not based on Christ. Next look at Col. 2:16 to put this all together which states, “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].” So we are not follow no false teaching, false prophets, false religions, philosophies, empty deceit which are based on the traditions of men, but keep our focus on teaching based on Christ as given in His Holy Word. Let no man judge you based what you eat, what you drink, festival, or of the new moon refers to a new Jewish holiday or could mean a new month, and do not let any man judge of the Sabbath days. No one is tell you that have to worship on first day week, or the last day of week (Sabbath), or that you have to rest on the last day of the week, and that you can not rest on the first day of the week. Because if they do these teachings are based on false religions, false teaching, false prophets, philosophies, legalism, and traditions of men. But you do have to worship whatever day you want based on Christ, and not the traditions of men or false teaching. Eddie you are a SDA and you worship on the Sabbath which is Saturday, but I worship on Sunday which both are okay because “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]” (Col. 2:16). We are not to judge any man based on what day he worships God but we need to besure our worship is based on Christ and His finishing work on the Cross. I hope this explains how Sunday became the day of worship in the Early Church and even today.
Eddie, I am not a Seventh Day Baptist, but I am a biblical Evangelical Southern Baptist who believes in the inspired word of God, and that all expository preaching and teaching should be from the inspired word of God, and nothing else for the New Testament Church. The churches today are being deceived by the Emerging Church, liberalism, feminism, relativism, post-modernism, secular psychology, self-actualization, self-esteem fascination, and getting away of expository teaching, expository preaching, and good grammatical-historical bible interpretation.
Eddie, if I get into the explaining differences between Seventh Day Baptist and SDA, I would have to expose Ellen White as a heretic and false prophet, which she is both. Some of the teaching of SDA and SDB are not biblical at all. I do not want to hurt your feelings. So I will avoid explaining these teachings. Keep on loving the Lord Jesus as your Savior, grow in your relationship in Christ, and keep on serving God in your church and community.
