Shadrach: “Mishael! Aazariah!, glad to meet you both at home” said Hananiah to his two friends now called Meshach and Abednego by the Babylonians. “Tomorrow is the D day”.

Meshach: “Any latest development?”

Shadrach: “How do you mean?”

Abednego: “He wants to know if there is any hope for us. Will the king overlook or pardon us if we fail to bow down to His golden image tomorrow?”
Shadrach: “You know that’s not possible. Dignitaries from all over the world are in town already and the stage is set. We are all going to die.”
Meshach: “Yeah…it’s not necessarily the death that’s on my mind, but death by fire?”
Shadrach: Now, let’s not be sad. Better to die than to worship an idol. Besides, Jehovah is very capable of saving us.

Abednego: “Thou shall have no other gods before me”

Shadrach: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”

Meshach: What if the lord decides not to save us?

Shadrach: Then we shall not bow down. Agreed?

Abednego: Agree

Shadrach: Meshach?

Meshach: “Agree. But I’m thinking of my parents back at home. Did they survive the war? Are they alive? I guess I’ll never know or see them again.” Guess what? One of the priest back home advised me to just bow to the image, while worshipping God in my heart, that He will understands”

Shadrach: So what did you tell him?

Meshach: I simply recited the first and second commandments to him and he walked away shaking his head.”

Abednego: “Sad. But some of our people will do anything abominable to stay alive. I had hope to round up my studies and then settle down. But I’d rather obey Jehovah than anything else.”

Shadrach: “That is the spirit. Remember how Jehovah delivered our parents from Pharaoh? How they crossed River Jordan, the fall of Jericho and how the sun stood still? And how He have been protecting us?”
Meshach: Thanks. I am encouraged. Jehovah will see us through. So what’s our plans for tomorrow?
Shadrach: We shall stand together, but refuse to bow down at the trumpet sound. God help us.
Abednego: Amen. Let us pray. Shadrach, please lead us.

Shadrach: Ok. “Father Jehovah, the ancient of days and the God of our fathers, we worship and adore you, for you are the only true God. Forgive O lord our sins and that of your children. Tomorrow, we stand up for you, feeble and fearful we are. Hide our fears in your love, grant us your courage, and strengthen our resolve that we might be true to your commandments. Protects and care for our love ones wherever they me be. Save us from the burning fiery furnace if it be according to your will. Let your name be glorify in our lives, O lord we pray”.

History, the Bible says would repeat itself. As the battle between God and Satan approaches its climax, the issue of worship will once again assume centre stage. Earthly powers will “…cause the earth and those who dwells in it to WORSHIP the first beast…As many as would not WORSHIP the image of the beast should be killed.” “All who dwell on earth will WORSHIP him, (The beast) whose names have not been written in the book of Life” Revelation 13: 8, 12 & 15
On the other hand, God calls us to fear and give glory to Him because we are in judgement hour and to “WORSHIP Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” Revelation 14:7. He warns us that “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. Revelation 14:9, 10.

Satan desires above every other thing to be worshipped as God. Recall that not content with his exalted position as the first among the covering cherub, he corrupted his wisdom by reason of his beauty. His heart was lifted up with pride and thus desired the worship due only to God as creator. “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north…I will be like the most high” Isaiah 14:13-14. And in the wilderness, after showcasing the kingdoms of this world and all its glory before Jesus, he said “All these will I give You, if You will fall down and WORSHIP me.” Matthew 4:9

But over and over again, the Bible tells us that the reason God alone is worthy of our worship is because He is our Creator. As the psalmist tells us, “O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” – Ps 95:6. Jeremiah tells us “Jehovah is the true God, he is the living God…God made the earth by his power, and he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding” Paul introduced this “unknown God” whom the Athenians ignorantly worshipped as the Creator of the world, (Acts 17:23-24) and Revelation 4:11, the basis for the popular song, “Thou art worthy” says “Thou art worthy, o Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure and they are and were created. ”The point is, God is primarily worthy of our worship because he is our Creator. All other gods are not God because they did not create. - “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”Jer. 10:11
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To commemorate (mark, remember) the fact that he is our CREATOR, and thus worthy of our worship, Jehovah instituted the Sabbath at the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, before the entrance of sin. “By the Seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the Seventh day, he rested from all his work. And God blessed the Seventh day and made it holy…” Divine providence foresaw the possibility of man forgetting and wandering after other gods, and rationalizing his actions by diverse theories of origin. Therefore, God commanded in the clearest possible language to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” Why? “For in six days Jehovah made heavens and the earth…therefore he blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20: 8 & 11. In other words, God says do not forget to keep the Sabbath day, so that you will always know that I am God, your Creator. To argue that the Sabbath day have been abolished therefore is to insinuate that God is no longer the creator!

Q. Are you saying that the Sabbath and worship are connected?

A. Of course they are. God says we should keep the Sabbath because He is our Creator, and He alone is worthy of worship because He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. (Exodus 20:8, 11. Rev 4:1, Psalm 95:6). “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers of God will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24.

Q. But the Sabbath was made for the Jews alone, isn’t it?
A. No it was not. The Sabbath was made for man. God established the Sabbath at the close of creation – more than two thousand years before the Jewish nation came into existence. “Genesis 2:1, 3. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ... And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it He rested from all his work which God created and made”. Besides, the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27

Q. Ok, which day is the Sabbath day?
A. The seventh day of the week. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
Q. That is Sunday, right?
A. No, wrong. Sunday is the first day of the week and Saturday the seventh day. Saturday is therefore the Sabbath day.

Q. How can you be so sure? After all, I don’t think the Bible mentioned Sunday or Saturday by name.
A. Right from creation, God called the days of the week; First day, second day….seventh day. Genesis 1. The Romans were the ones that gave names to our week days. Being pagans, the days were named after their gods. The first day in the Bible was named after their sun god – Sunday, Monday was their moon god, Tuesday for the god of Tyr…to Saturday for their Saturn god. Even our months were named after one Roman deity or personality.

Q. Hasn't the Calendar Been Changed?
A. The calendar was changed once in October 1582, but it did not alter the weekly cycle. Ten dates were omitted from the calendar following October 4, 1582. What would have been Friday, October 5, became Friday, October 15. The diagram below will help you to visualize the change. You will see that it did not change the order of the days of the week. OCTOBER 1582

Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat.
1 2 3. 4 15 16
17. 18 19 20. 21 22 23
24 25 26. 27 28 29 30
31

Q. What is wrong if I choose any of the days as my Sabbath day? Can’t I worship God on any day?
A. Do you remember the story of how God rained down manna from heaven for the Israelites for forty years?
Q. Yes, I do, but what has that got to do with my question?
A. A lot. God says He was going to use the opportunity of giving them manna to see if they would obey His law. The manna he said would fall from the first day of the week to the sixth day. And that they should take only the portion for the day, warning that they should be no leftover for the next day. He however said on the sixth day, they should take double portion as He would not rained down manna on the seventh day being the Sabbath.
Guess what happened?

Some persons took more than one portion only to find their leftovers filled with worms and stinking. While others failed to take double portion on the sixth day and went out on the seventh day, but found no manna. God was not happy and said to Moses “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and My laws? So yes, while we can worship God every day, we must not forget to keep the seventh day Sabbath holy.

Assuming you were there and decided to make the third day as your seventh, would it be the same with God's own? And would He be happy with you?

Q. Hmmnn…of course not. The issue is crystal clear.,
Did Jesus even keep the Sabbath?
A. Of course he did. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as HIS custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. - Luke 4:16. It was the habit of Jesus to worship on the seventh day (Saturday)

Q. Can we be certain that the present seventh day of the week (Saturday) is the same Sabbath day that Jesus kept holy?
A. Yes we can. And that day was the preparation [Friday], and the Sabbath drew on. ... And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning they and certain other women came to the tomb. Luke 23:54-24:1.

Q. Ok, but didn’t the death of Jesus nailed the Sabbath law to the cross?

A. No it did not. If it did, the women who rested in obedience of the Sabbath law a day after He died, wouldn’t have done so. (Luke 23:56)

Acts 18:4 tells us that like Jesus, it was the habit of Paul to worship on the Sabbath. Moreover, the disciples wouldn’t have continued worshipping and keeping the Sabbath as recorded in the book of Acts. (Acts 13:27 & 42, 17:2, 18:4, etc.) In addition, James 2:10-12 says ““For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery” also said “Do not murder”. Now if you commit adultery, but you do not murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

Q. Wow! Seems very clear to me. But did the Bible not say in Colossians 2:16-17 that “So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ?”

A. Yes, it says so. But the “Sabbaths” referred to here are the ceremonial Sabbaths and not the fourth commandment. Apart from the Seventh day Sabbath, Leviticus 23, mentioned at least five Sabbaths namely
1. The first day of the seventh month of the year (verse 24)
2. The tenth day of the seventh month (verse 27, 28 and 32)
3. Starting from the fifteen day of the seventh month, the Israelites shall celebrate the feast of tabernacles for seven days. The first day of the feast shall be a Sabbath.
4. The eight day, after the seven days have ended shall be a Sabbath too. (Verse 39)
5. Seventh year Sabbath after farming the land for six years. (Leviticus 25:2-4)

These Sabbaths and the ceremonial laws “handwriting of ordinances” requiring animal sacrifices for sin were what was nailed to the cross. – Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances (requirements) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross” why? Because they all pointed to Jesus as it was not really possible for the blood of bulls, rams or goats to save us from sin. Hebrew 10:3-4 “But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take sin away”

NOTE:
When you see the shadow of a person, you know it belongs to someone who is near. And when the person comes, there is no need to keep looking or talking to the shadow because the person (substance) is around. Similarly, for centuries, the killing of lambs as sacrifice for sin by the Israelites were a shadow (pointed to Jesus) of Jesus – the real lamb who was to come. His coming therefore render the continued sacrifice of lamb for sin, after his death, useless and unnecessary. It therefore made perfect sense to the Jews, when John on seeing Jesus, pointed out and said “Behold the lamb that takes away the sins of the world” for indeed, He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Q. Thank you very much for clarifying this. Will all of the saved in heaven keep the Sabbath?
A. You are welcome. Yes, they will. Isaiah 66:22, 23 says “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the LORD”.
Q. When does the Sabbath begin and end?
A. Leviticus 23:32. From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” The Sabbath begins from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. Unlike the Romans and our present day, God count the days from evening to evening. See Genesis 1:5, 8, 13 etc.

It is my prayer that the Lord shall help you to not forget but “REMEMBER” to keep the Sabbath day holy. That together with your household, you would be among those that will worship Him in the earth made new forever, in Jesus name.