Forget the Sabbath - Pay the Tithe

The organized church has abandoned God’s Sabbath. The biblical Sabbath falls from Friday night to Saturday night. Sunday was adopted when the Roman Church abolished the observance of the Sabbath in AD 364, at the Council of Laodicea.

Some people use the following passage to say that we shouldn’t keep the Sabbath.  But that is not what the passage says.  It says not to let anyone judge you regarding the things of the written code - the law – such as the Sabbath.  Let’s read it and understand.

He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 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 (Colossians 2:13-17).

The Holy Spirit was not saying to abandon the Sabbath and the law any more than He was in the Old Testament. Let’s compare the passage above to what God said through Isaiah in this passage below.

When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." (Isaiah 1:12-20)

See the similarity? It’s almost as though Paul was referencing this passage in Isaiah. In both the Holy Spirit is saying that we are not to judge based on these things. The Holy Spirit is saying judge based on the Spirit of God. Under the New Covenant we are told outright that the followers of Christ are not under the law, if they are led by the Spirit.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law (Galatians 5:18).

That does not mean we shouldn’t be mindful of the Law of God, the law is good, the Spirit of the law is good. We even find in prophecy that the New Moon Feasts of God and the Sabbath will be practiced during the Millennial Kingdom of God on earth. Isaiah wrote,

From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind” (Isaiah 66:23-24).

Clearly, honoring the Sabbath, remembering the Seven Feasts of God and obeying the Ten Commandments has not become unimportant and man needs to understand them. Yet, many in the organized church have forgotten what they stand for. The people of God should be mindful of the things of God, including His Law. However, the most important thing has always been, for the people of God, to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Many, who disregard the Sabbath, preach religiously about paying the Tithe even though the Tithe is part of the written code. In an attempt to justify their teaching they say that before the Law, Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek. Meaning a tithe was given before the Law. Therefore, the tithe is something we should continue to follow, religiously, today.

However, the principle of the Sabbath was established by God from the very beginning (see Genesis 2) long before the Law was given. The people who teach the tithe because it predates the Law, have abandoned the Sabbath even though it predates all others covenants.

Who are we to follow, the teachings of man or God?

Richard H Perry