"Presbyterian" Adventist and a Seventh Day Adventist

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

31 May 2010

Sabbath keeping in the Bible is very clear: from evening to evening is one day. Therefore, the Sabbath is from evening to evening. This means that Friday night is the start of the Sabbath and Saturday evening is the end of the Sabbath. Mary came to take Jesus down from the cross before the opening of the Sabbath on Friday evening and refused to balm Jesus on Sabbath despite the absence of refrigerators in those days. There is thus no excuse, that there is no refrigerator and that the food will go bad when it is prepared on Friday already.

There is a style of worship that is known to the Sunday keeping Christians: to go to church for one hour to meet God and the rest of the day they can do their own things.

They go to church for one hour and in the afternoon they can work, paint, work in the garden, work on the farm, work in the factory, go for a business appointment, go for a school function. They can go fishing, picnicking, restaurants, entertainment places like museums, public gardens, public attractions. After all, they think, did the disciples not brake the Jewish Sabbath by plucking the corn on the Sabbath? With Jesus approval?

A Seventh Day Adventist is by definition someone who is keeping the Seventh Day as a Sabbath. He is a Seventh Day Adventist Christian since he/she refuses to do anything on this day covering the period between Friday sundown and Saturday sundown. He will not wash his car. He will not play golf. He will not go to a meeting at the work. He will not continue his weekly work. He will not go to public places where you have to pay entrance fee. He will not want to pay for meals at a restaurant on the Sabbath. The regular functions on the farm is shut down. The day is quiet and without regular activities. No house-cleaning. No packing of the shelves, ordering the room, pulling out weeds in the garden. No pet washing and grooming. A Seventh Day Adventist is one who wishes to meet with God on this day. He/she spends time praying, reading Bible, reading devotional literature, listening to Christian music that elevates the mind to God. There is no TV watching, no news reading of newspapers or TV news watching. There is no desire to enter into politics or sports or fashion topics on the Sabbath. There is a contemplation, reflection, recalling of activities with the church members, God, hospital visitation, prison visitation, pamphlet distribution, organized or private Bible study. 

The focus is not to "party" on the Sabbath. The purpose is not to teach English on Sabbath. The purpose is to open God's Word to anyone, big or small.

What about cooking? Ellen White during a campmeeting let the people prepare their meals on Friday. On Fridays the people of God had to collect twice as much manna, also for the Sabbath. It is biblical.

Presbyterian or Sunday keeping Christians do not want their members to be biblical literalists. "The Bible is spiritual and one should not take everything literal". They also feel that many of the rules were for "those days and do not account for our own day any longer". They feel that their members should follow the "spirit of the Word not the letter". The food taboos like ham, viennas and so forth not to be eaten as Leviticus 11 is saying, is considered by them to be nailed to the cross and no longer valid. A pig may have been unsanitary in ancient times, but it is now clean and healthy.

A Seventh Day Adventist Christian is one who stick to the letter of the Bible. The Bible is God's Word for all times and the principles outlined in the Bible is valid for all times. If there is a change, Jesus would have clearly outlined it and not keep people guessing. Adventists do not eat pork in any of its forms. Seafood in any of its forms. They eat strictly according to the parameters of the Bible.

The unfortunate situation is that there are professors at our University who has a public garden that is open for business on the Sabbath. They are even functioning as elders and even on suggestion to make a plan on Sabbath keeping refused to do so but just changed their attendance to another congregation to avoid change. There are elders who work on Sabbath. They come or do not come on Sabbath in Summer since they have to work. There are deacons who attend the hour worship but then run back to their farms to work on it the rest of the Sabbath day, similar to "Presbyterian Adventists". There are head of schools who just attend the hour worship on a Sabbath, and who is an elder and then  attend public education programs scheduled by the region, either by the government  or the local education departments. They participate in public examinations on Sabbath. Yet they are elders and claim to be a "Seventh day Adventist" when in fact they are just "Presbyterian Adventists".

Then there is the South African situation.

In my local church where I grew up was the headmaster of our local highschool, an elder who was a Seventh Day Adventist.  Elder Jacobs was the head of a public school. Most people in the high school were Calvinist Christians. He was the only Adventist. But, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, he did not attend any meeting, no matter who or by whom.

There is head elder Edgar Torlage of Glencoe church in Kwazulu-Natal. He was the vice-president of his high-school and he was a Seventh Day Adventist. They asked him many times to be the headmaster of the school but he refused because then he cannot excuse himself that easy from public functions on a Sabbath. Sabbath keepers and yet high in public education.

Then there is the case of Sabbath exams.  At Stellenbosch University the Seventh Day Adventist professor at the University arranged with the university that he received all the examinations for that Sabbath and all the students go to his house and take a Sabbath rest and after sundown on Sabbath evening, the Seventh Day Adventist professor administered the examination for them and took it back to the university and delivered it to the various departments. Sabbath keeping.

The Seventh Day Adventist church had a special arrangement with the military that Seventh Day Adventist members in the force were not required to do any Sabbath duties. However, on Sundays when the others are off, they are to  perform their duties on that day instead. Sabbath keepers.

Farmers closed down their farm activities on Sabbath. Brother Meiring Pretorius use to milk his cows in such a way that it was done just after sundown on Sabbath evening. Sabbath keeping farmers. The same can be said of brothers Muhl, Torlage, Gregory, Steenkamps brothers. Factories were closed on Sabbath when the owner is a Seventh Day Adventist. Sabbath keepers.

There is a prophecy dealing with the mark of the beast and the seal of God. God as creator is the seal of God and recognition of that Creatorship of God is resting as He did. It is the Sabbath test in our lives and  the opposite is participating in the Mark of the Beast. It is thus very important for us to align our lives to the Word of God and follow him all the way.

Dear God

You rested on the Sabbath as a memorial of your Creatorship. Even during the Salvation process on the cross you remained in the grave and only rose on Sunday morning. Help us to follow your example in fully resting on Sabbath as a sign of Your salvation for us. Seal us with Your seal. Amen.