Frequently Asked Questions
"Another Form of Bondage"
Questions
Isn’t the idea of prohibiting God’s people from going to restaurants on the Sabbath just another form of bondage? Aren’t God’s people free from such things?
Our Response:
This is a very serious question. And it deserves a serious answer.
Many of God’s people who believe in dining out on the Sabbath employ a similar argument to the one you have advanced. Even Church of God leaders have offered it as a proof source when arguing this point. Consider what the Restored Church of God said in an essay condemning A Sabbath Test and its authors.
“Yet, the authors [of A Sabbath Test] present a form—a level—of Sabbath bondage that even the Pharisees would not dare enforce! “
Additionally, Mr. David C. Pack, the director of the Restored Church of God, said in an Email to Dennis Fischer, a co-author of A Sabbath Test, that the book was just “your foolish form of bondage.”
But is this true? It certainly was easy enough to make the accusation. But just how easy would it be to prove it? We at Blow the Trumpet have a great respect for the truth, but don’t place much value in mere accusations. With this said, here is our proof that the real promoters of bondage on the Sabbath are those who go to restaurants on this day and teach others to do so. In consideration of this proof we would like to ask a few very telling questions:
- When the children of Israel were led out of Egypt, where was the bondage? We believe it was in Egypt. God actually called Egypt “the house of bondage” Ex. 20:2
- When you were in the world prior to your conversion, were you in bondage? We believe you (and we) were in bondage. Only this time we were in bondage to sin Rom. 6:16). We believe that Egypt was a type of sin.
- Why is this world in bondage to sin? We believe that the world has been deceived by none other than Satan the Devil (Rev. 12:9). That deception has blinded those in the world into profaning God’s Sabbath (2 Cor. 4:4).
- Are restaurants that are open for business on God’s Sabbath In bondage? We think they are. Furthermore, we ache for them because we were once where they are.
- Based on the questions above, who is leading God’s people into bondage: those who lead them into restaurants on the Sabbath, or, those who lead them away? I’m sure you know our answer to this question.
With this in mind, consider some additional Biblical insights into this issue.
The scriptures reveal that just as the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt until God miraculously delivered them, those whom He has called in this present age were also once enslaved in spiritual Egypt. God’s people today were once in bondage. However, our calling reveals that a Great Deliverer has again rescued His people from a world that does not know Him or His way. For this reason, God’s people today should never compel the unbeliever (the slave to sin and its Slave Master) to work on their behalf on the Sabbath. They must refrain from this practice because they were miraculously delivered from this very practice themselves.
With this in mind, God’s people must understand that the Great Deliverer would no more permit His people today to return to this world and its sin than He would permit the Israelites of yesterday to return to Egypt and their sin.
To return to the sin is to return to the bondage.
Respectfully,
Blow the Trumpet
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