God’s Holy Day and end time events
God’s Holy Day
The Bible which is the inspired Word of God gives the only definition of sin as “the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. Sin entered our world when our first parents in the garden of Eden listened to the originator of sin (Ezekiel 28:14,15), i.e. the Devil, and ate of the forbidden fruit in disobedience to the express command of God not to eat it or otherwise they would die (Genesis 3:3). The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation; their happy estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the Creator’s law. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish. God had made them the recipients of rich blessings; but should they disregard His will, He who spared not the angels that sinned, could not spare them; transgression would forfeit His gifts and bring upon them misery and ruin. And because of disobedience the misery and ruin upon our characters which followed was the inability by our own strength to keep the Holy law of God but were instead under the full control of Satan.
This state of affairs would have remained so if our loving God had not mercifully come to our rescue. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to atone for the broken law and as a result “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:” Isaiah 53:5 so that we may have eternal life (John 3:16). And we are told that “as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” John 1:12. This power is the righteousness of Christ which is imputed upon on all those who accept Him as Lord and Saviour, and gives them strength to overcome sin, i.e. “the transgression of the law”. He gives them strength day by day, hour by hour to no longer transgress the law of God for the promise is “as thy days so shall thy strength be” Deuteronomy 33:25
Now the fourth law of God says: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall thy labour and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, the sea all in them that is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” Exodus 20:8-11
According to these verses, the Sabbath is a day that is to be kept holy by not working on it but to be set aside for worship. The Sabbath is also to be held as a memorial of creation by pointing man to God as the Creator. The Sabbath day was hallowed right from the creation week as shown by these verses, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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.” Genesis 2:1-3. It is the only commandment prefixed with the word “remember” because God knew that finite man will forget or attempt to change it.
But now the question is, which is the seventh day? We want to know and keep it holy and worship God in it and not sin against Him, because if we break one commandment we have broken them all “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” James 2:10
Jesus Christ says “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me” John 14:6. And concerning the day that Jesus kept holy, the Bible says, “He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day” Luke 4:16. Jesus Christ was brought up in Israel where the Sabbath day is Saturday, a non-working day, a day of worship. And since Jesus is the “the way and the truth” and says “I have kept my Father’s commandments” John 15:10, we must follow Him and keep holy the Sabbath day by not working on it except to worship God.
For further confirmation the Bible when speaking about His resurrection, says, “After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices to go and anoint the body of Jesus. Very early on Sunday morning, at sunrise, they went to the tomb…. So they entered the tomb, where they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a white robe, and they were alarmed. ‘Do not be alarmed’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here, He has been raised! Look, here is the place where He was placed’” Mark 6:1-6, Good News Translation.
So the Sabbath, the day to be kept holy is Saturday the day before Sunday as clearly shown by the above verses. The women who were followers of Christ did not want to break the Sabbath (Saturday) so they waited till the Sabbath was over before going to buy the anointments for the body of Jesus. And then on Sunday morning they went to the tomb to go and anoint the body of Jesus only to find that Christ had risen.
Speaking about the blessings that come from keeping holy the Sabbath, the Bible says, “Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer…for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:1,2,6,7.
These words apply in the Christian age, as is shown by the context: “The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him.” Isaiah 56:8. Here is foreshadowed the gathering in of the Gentiles by the gospel. Thus the obligation of the fourth commandment extends past the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, to the time when his servants should preach to all nations the message of glad tidings. That is why Jesus Christ said “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” Mark 2:27. The Sabbath was made for mankind, to be a blessing to him by calling his mind from secular labor to contemplate the goodness and glory of God. God has given man six days in which to do his own work and carry on the usual business of life; but He claims one day, which He has set apart and sanctified. He gives it to man as a day in which he may rest from labour and devote himself to worship and the improvement of his spiritual condition.
So why do most of the world keep holy the first day of the week which is Sunday? Has there been a change in God’s law of the fourth commandment? None of the commandments have been changed because “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever” Psalms 111:7, 8 and Jesus said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” Matthew 5:17
But the Bible however has warned us of a king who would attempt to change God’s law and specifically the Sabbath. This king, says the prophet Daniel would blaspheme God, would war against the saints of God and would “think to change times and laws” Daniel 7:25. Paul also prophesied about this king, that “he is the man of sin” “the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4.
Who is this “man of sin”, the law breaker that has attempted to change God’s law? His church answers:
“The Ten Commandments….Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai….. Christ resumed these Commandments ….He proclaimed them as binding …The Church (Roman Catholic), on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the …. seventh day of the week, to the first, made ….Sunday as the day to be kept holy.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04153a.htm.
From the quotation above and in many other official writings the Roman Catholic church proudly boasts of changing (attempting to change) God’s law. And since the Catholic church is led by a man called the pope, therefore the “man of sin” is the pope. But where did the pope get such power to attempt to change the law of God? The Bible says he got it from Satan, who is also called the dragon (Revelation 12:9), while the Catholic church is symbolised by a beast (Daniel 7:17): “and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” Revelation 13:2.
Why does the Roman Catholic church led by Satan want to change the Sabbath? Because in the Sabbath law is the mark or seal or sign of God “hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.” Ezekiel 20:20, see also Exodus 31:17. The Sabbath law has 3 elements that constitute a seal: (1) The Author of the law is Jehovah. (2) His position is that of Creator. (3) His dominion is heaven and earth and the sea. And since the seventh day of the week (Saturday) is the Sabbath and the mark or seal of God, then the counterfeit sabbath which is the first day of the week (Sunday), is the mark or seal of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the mark of the beast.
The three unholy alliances
We are fast approaching the period spoken of in the book of Revelation 13:15-17 where the beast shall force everyone on earth to receive its mark which is keeping Sunday holy. Major calamities will fill the land and shall be viewed as judgments from God because Sunday is not kept holy. According to the above verses whosoever refuses the mark will not be allowed to buy or sell and further resistance shall be the death penalty. And the Catholic church will not be alone in this work of forcing everyone to receive its mark. It is in partnership with the image of the beast which is also mentioned in Revelation 13. The image of the beast is when all the churches unite upon common points of faith such that they will speak with one voice to influence the State to enforce their decrees and sustain their institutions. Most of the churches have united under the World Council of Churches families (WCC) which has other ecumenical bodies under it such as the Christian World Communion (CWC), National Council of Churches (NCC), etc.. Since they don’t pay taxes, it means they are in effect being sustained by the state. The only thing that is left is for the State to enforce the decrees of the WCC then it will become a persecuting power as was the Roman Catholic church against dissenters in former years, in other words the WCC will be an image of the beast.
Members of the CWC are: The Roman Catholic Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Pentecostal, Baptist, Evangelical, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist churches, etc. https://www.oikoumene.org/church-families
The third partner in this unholy alliance is Protestant America (USA), which is represented in Revelation 13 as the beast with the lamb-like horns. The 2 lamb-like horns are emblems of innocence and gentleness as expressed in its two fundamental principles of Republicanism and Protestantism. But a change happens because “he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” and “that they should make an image to the beast” Rev. 13:11,12,14. It was in the USA that the churches first united under the NCC. Therefore the USA will issue the decree for enforcing Sunday holiness. All these powers are led by Satan who has gathered atheists and all other religions under him that do not profess Christianity.
The Three Angel’s messages
That is why God wants to bring us back to His true worship before these evil powers lead us astray and we are lost for ever. And so God sends us three messages applicable to these times; the first one says, “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come, and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6,7.
This message is asking us to worship God as Creator thus calling our attention to the true Sabbath on which He rested and blessed after creating all things. We give glory to God by accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour and living Christ’s righteous life by faith, which alone will enable us to stand in the “hour of His judgement”.
The second message says, “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8. The term Babylon, derived from Babel (Genesis 11:9), and signifying confusion, is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate religion. So the image of the beast which was mentioned earlier and the Babylon quoted above are the same thing because the churches that make up Babylon or the image of the beast have conflicting creeds and false doctrines, resulting in great confusion. Its moral fall is here announced which is caused by these false doctrines that are likened to intoxicating wine.
The Roman Catholic church is also represented in Revelation 17:1-6 as a woman riding upon a scarlet coloured beast with the title “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS” and “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”. Only the Catholic church fits this description of Babylon, since it is she who so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ for hundreds of years. By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. Her daughters are the ones that make up the image of the beast. So there is Babylon “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS” and Babylon the daughters i.e. the image of the beast.
The third message says, “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12.
Whenever God has punished persons upon the earth it has always been mixed with mercy. But in this warning He says there will be no mixture of wrath and mercy for the evil doer. Therefore we should watch and pray lest we are found worshipping the beast or the image or receiving its mark. According to these verses, soon there will be only 2 groups in the world (1) Those that worship the beast –Papacy, his image–WCC and receive his mark–keeping Sunday holy (2) Those that in contrast to the first group worship God by keeping the commandments of God including the Sabbath because they have the faith in Jesus.
The first group do not heed the warning. And upon them falls the wrath of God unmingled with mercy which are the seven last plagues that are soon to come upon the world. And their final destiny is the lake of fire which is the second death from which there is no resurrection.
The second group heed the warning and obey God at the risk of losing their lives. They accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. And through faith in Jesus they receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. They are not harmed by the seven last plagues because they have the seal of God.
The last call says, “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Revelation 18:1-5.
The sins of Babylon
Chief among the sins of Babylon as already mentioned before is the counterfeit Sabbath (Sunday) which results in her trampling upon the God’s true Sabbath which is Saturday, thus breaking all of God’s law. Babylon teaches that Jesus has kept the law for us and we are no longer under the law but under grace (Romans 6:14). This is misquoting Scripture. This whole chapter is talking about being free from sin, having died to sin and living the new life in Christ Jesus. The verse says, “Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace” Romans 6:14 GNT. The only definition of sin in the Bible is that “sin is a breaking of the law” 1 John 3:4 GNT. So what this verse is saying is that, when the natural habit of breaking God’s law no longer has mastery over you because you have accepted Christ as your personal Saviour and confessed your sins and forsaken them and the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you, then it means that you are no longer under the condemnation of the law but under God’s grace. God’s grace through Christ, now gives you strength to keep His law including keeping the Sabbath holy. That is why Paul says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13 NKJV and Jesus Christ who is “the Way the Truth and Life” says “If you love Me, keep My commandments” John 14:15.
Babylon likes to mix up the ceremonial laws which were shadows and types with the 10 commandments. And they use these verses, “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….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.” Colossians 2:14,16,17
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances” Ephesians 2: 14-15
All the New Testament writers wrote their Testimony after Jesus had died on the cross which means all the ceremonial sabbaths and Jewish festivals mentioned in Leviticus 23 had been abolished except the Sabbath of the 10 commandments, which remained as shown by this verse, “And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:54-56
Since the “law of commandments contained in ordinances” and “handwriting of ordinances” was abolished at the cross then the resting on the “Sabbath day according to the commandment” that Luke refers to above is the Sabbath of the 10 commandments.
Furthermore Jesus when warning His disciples about their escape from Jerusalem when it should be destroyed, He said “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:” Matthew 42:20
The fact that Jesus left His royal throne above, clothed His divinity with humanity, came to a world filled with sorrow and pain, was tempted in all points as we are and yet without sin and died for our sins, the innocent for the guilty, show that the law of God the 10 commandments cannot be changed otherwise God would have changed it to meet man in his fallen condition. And so because the law could not be changed, God sent His Son Jesus to fulfil that which was spoken by the prophet “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.
Another of her false doctrines is that the soul is immortal. This is the belief that when one dies he either goes straight to heaven or to a burning hell. In either case he is supposed to have consciousness in death. Neither of them is true because the Bible says: “The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” “Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun” “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Eccl. 9:5,6,10. Another form of immortality of the soul is the believe that we can only be made perfect when Jesus comes. According to this doctrine, instead of being destroyed with the wicked because of your imperfection, you will be given immortality. However this is contrary to what the Bible says, “We wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells….be zealous therefore to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace” 2 Peter 3:13,14, RSV. When Jesus comes, He does not come to change anyone’s character because He says, “Behold I come quickly and my reward is with Me, to give every man according as his works shall be” Revelation 22:12. When He comes, judgement will have been passed upon our character, whether we are rewarded with eternal life or the lake of fire. Now is the time to build characters after the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of a pre, post, or a-millennium is another false doctrine from Babylon. Post-millennium speaks of a 1000 years of peace in which the world is to be converted before the coming of Jesus. But this doctrine contradicts the Scriptures. Jesus asked the significant question, “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8, because “As it was in the days of Noah,” “even thus shall it be in the days when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:26, 30. In the days of Noah: “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5
Pre-millennium teaches that when Jesus comes He will reign for a 1000 years on earth. This is false in that during these 1000 years the earth will be a desolate wilderness or an abyss caused by the destruction of the 7 last plagues of Revelation 16. The earth at this time is described partially as it was “in the beginning’’ of creation “without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light…there was no man,…a wilderness….all the cities….were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger….the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” Jeremiah 4:23-27.
Here is brief summary of the close of probation and the binding of Satan for 1000 years. When Jesus ceases His role as Mediator in behalf of sinners in the judgement taking place in the heavenly courts above (Daniel 7:9,10,13), then “the time will be at hand” for Him to pronounce the words, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11,12. This means probation will be closed. The 7 last plagues will be poured out which will destroy most of the wicked and the earth (Revelation 16). At the end of the plagues Jesus will come to earth the second time to destroy the rest of the wicked and raise the dead saints and give them together with the living saints immortality (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17). Then Jesus our High Priest will place all the sins of God’s people on Satan as was typically done at the end of the day of atonement which was judgement day for Israel (Leviticus 16:21,22). Satan will be bound by circumstances for 1000 years in that he will be limited to earth and will not have access to other worlds. He will have no one to deceive as the wicked are dead and the saints will go to heaven with Christ and reign with Him and carry out the judgement of the wicked. (Revelation 20:4-6 and 1 Corinthians 6:2,3 and Daniel 7:22)
After the 1000 years are over, Christ and the redeemed will return to earth where He will resurrect the wicked dead to receive their final judgement. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with the same enmity to Christ. They are to have no new probation, in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Now they are fully under Satan’s power and he proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints, and to take possession of the city of God. But they are caught in the very act of treason against the government of God as Christ appears above the city, sitting on a white throne and executes judgement against them. Again the book of life is opened “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:7-15). Thus Satan and his followers perish out of existence.
But our merciful God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of the 7 last plagues, God is calling you out that you should not be a partaker of her sins. Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from Heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon and saying “come out of her my people…that you receive not her plagues” Revelation 18:4
Yours in Christ
Andrei Lesiapeto
16/08/2023
Updated 29/09/2023