The Sabbath A Journey of Discovery

By Ken McCarver

The Sabbath, the first in the Journey of Discovery series, will guide you through the scriptures with a perspective that you have not likely seen before. Taking a closer look at some doctrinal issues that have been long accepted as truths throughout mainstream Christianity. The question is; do they really line up with scripture? Find out wh

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Nov 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781643679747

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The Sabbath A Journey of Discovery

Copyright © 2019 by Ken McCarver. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

This novel is a work of non-fiction Biblical studies. Names, descriptions, entities and incidents included in this publication are of Biblical and secular historical fact. All which is easily searched out and corroborated as documented fact and not a product of interpretation or imagination.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of URLink Print and Media.

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Published in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-64367-975-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64367-974-7 (Digital)

23.10.19

Kirkus Reviews

Book Review

An impassioned argument for observance of the Christian Sabbath on Saturday.

McCarver (Is Buffy in Heaven?, 2012) enjoins the ancient Sabbatarian argument with an unusual level of fervor. His overarching claim is that the Catholic Church changed the weekly Christian Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday against scriptural evidence, and that most Protestant churches have not corrected, or even noticed, this error. Readers may have a hard time grasping McCarver’s main point until well into the book, as he first focuses on the larger issues of obedience and perception. For example, he sees the Sabbath day issue as a prime example of widespread disobedience to God, and as a test of each Christian’s resolve to reject false teachings. As he gravely notes, Purposeful and willful disobedience (which is rebellion) against the standard of God’s righteousness will keep you out of his kingdom! McCarver begins by rejecting the idea that Sunday commemorates the day of Jesus’ resurrection, instead providing a detailed alternative reading of Scripture that asserts that the resurrection occurred on a Saturday. Further, he argues against the idea that Christians are free from Sabbath Law as defined for Judaism (such as dietary laws) by stating that Old Testament scriptures, Jesus’ teachings, and original church practice all retained it unchanged. He concludes that the church must eradicate the venom of the lie. Many readers, reflecting upon current practices, will ask why McCarver focuses so vehemently on the day of the week, yet says very little about believers’ lack of Sabbath observance at all on Saturday or Sunday. This would seem to be a natural point to make, in addition to stating his belief in Saturday observance. Although some readers may be aware that the question of the Sabbath’s proper day has arisen through church history, few will have thought much about it, and McCarver’s zeal—not to mention his lengthy mathematic and scientific explanations, especially in Chapters 6 and 7—may be overwhelming and even off-putting.

Detailed and fervent, yet likely to ring hollow for many contemporary Christians.

From Introduction to Epilog, this book is a real page turner. So much so, that I have also ordered a copy for my brother who lives in North Carolina.

He is of the Catholic persuasion, so it will be interesting to see what he thinks of your take on the Sabbath, Versus that of the Catholic Church. I can’t wait!

Again, thank you for creating a wonderful work of inspiration and thought, and I wish you much success with the book.

—Anonymous

I dedicate this endeavor to the memory of my mother.

Through vigilance in faith, her example for life, and inexhaustible prayer coverage, she has sustained us in;

mercy and love, even to a thousand generations.

To the one, whom without her influence, I may not have come to this day.

MY DEEPEST APPRECIATION

… … … … … … .

To the LORD, for giving me this privilege and the guidance in this opportunity.

To my wife Wendy, for her patient endurance and loving support throughout this journey. You are truly my gift!

For my long time encouraging confidant, award winning author and writer, Ed Back.

Many thanks to you my friend for all your guidance and influence and especially for being who you are.

CONTENTS

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Deception

Chapter 2: Obedience

Chapter 3: God’s law

Chapter 4: Sabbath Perception

Chapter 5: The Lord’s Day

Chapter 6: Seventy Sevens

Chapter 7: Jesus’ Crucifixion Day And Date

Chapter 8: God’s Rest

Chapter 9: Thou Shalt Not Steal

Chapter 10; Rest for the Weary

Chapter 11: Sunday Worship History

Chapter 12: Jeshurun

Epilog

PREFACE

From the beginning of my committed walk with the Lord I have struggled with the issue of the Sabbath day.

Since early childhood, I had been reared under the influence of a very Godly mother in the traditions of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, along with the impressions of a Pentecostal father.

Finding yourself caught in such a crossfire of perceptions with the Bible in the center, can leave you confused and curious in a multi-entry intersection.

And so the battle began.

What you are about to read is the end of the road on a long journey of struggle, confusion, misinformation, and deception, and the list goes on, but it all comes to rest on the final authority of the truth of known reality, God’s written word!

To which I have heard, as many of you have as well throughout the years, that regarding the scriptures, so much truth has been lost in the multiple translations, or that not all scripture is divinely inspired, leaving one to believe the scriptures are open to interpretation.

If any of this were even minutely possible the only intelligent response would be:

Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!

Is not our God, God? All powerful? All mighty?

I simply cannot bring myself, regardless of any state of mind or heart, to believe that our God, when leaving us a physically tangible and inspired record of the existence of himself and his kingdom, would allow any force, whether it be physical or spiritual, to alter in any way, his inspired written word to us.

If this could be true we might as well toss the Bible into the trash, because we could not honestly trust any of it to be true under those conditions.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to witness a true miracle of God when the Dead Sea scrolls were on tour. Now, no matter who you are or how scientifically you can explain the endurance of those scrolls, it seems impossible for animal skins to survive nearly two thousand years and remain in the condition they are. That whole situation is covered with the fingerprints of God. Which leaves any witness with the realization, that besides a few minor grammatical variances, the scriptures are the same as they were when our Lord walked the earth.

With that being said, if God’s word has not changed, has His Commands changed?

1 Samuel 15:29

He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.

Malachi 3:6

I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The misdirection’s and deceptions are not in the written word of God. But the confusion is found in man’s interpretations and viewpoints based on the level of received truth and understanding through his avenues of learning. The percentage of self-discovery and realization weighs heavily on the scales of truth.

Main stream Christianity, since the earliest centuries of the Church, has recognized the first day of the week as the Sabbath or the Lord’s day. But is that what The Lord established? Is that what He commanded? Were his commands temporal?

It is interesting to analyze what we have accepted in our doctrines in light of what the scriptures really say to us, sometimes actually amazing.

Have we been snake bit?

Could our lack of personal study and our dependence on our shepherds for guidance have allowed an open door for deception?

Are we willing to challenge our beliefs when the truth as we understand it, has been proven wrong by the Bible? That can be a painful concept for some.

Can we leave our theology and denominational views at the door while we examine these beliefs?

Beliefs that can cut to the core of our foundations, what we have always accepted as truth and effect what we perceive as our spiritual comfort.

Can we look below the surface of man to the underlying truth of God?

To seek to know why we believe what we believe, and to make that discovery ourselves?

Or will we allow ourselves to remain apathetically comfortable in what we have received.

These are important questions to some dire issues that require accurate answers.

I have heard it said that, Destiny finds those who listen, and fate finds the rest.

The Winds of Fate

One ship drives east and another drives west With the selfsame winds that blow.

’Tis the set of the sails, And not the gales,

That tells us the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate; As we voyage along through life,

’Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal,

And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I believe the Lord has convicted and motivated me to this endeavor: to search out, to understand and to share his truth in the matter of the Sabbath.

To embark on a Journey of Discovery!

~ Ken McCarver

FOREWORD

Ken McCarver was raised in a religiously diverse family. From this he learned at an early age that different doctrines place different interpretations on some areas of the bible. He often wondered how this could be, until a short time ago when he decided to research the situation more thoroughly.

The first thing he learned was that since the writing of the original scriptures, God has yet to change his mind about any of them, especially the Ten Commandments. But different bibles say different things, or so we are taught, depending upon which religious organization we associate with. But how can this be? God says, Thou shall have no other gods before me. Which to Ken was a pretty straight forward statement. How could statements so direct, and so clear be totally misunderstood. Apparently they could be, for Ken saw the same thing happening again and again as he studied his bible and compared it to church doctrines he was familiar with.

Then he ran headlong into the Fourth Commandment; Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy Too simple to be misunderstood, and too direct to be ignored. Yet he found that in many churches today, it is either misunderstood or ignored, or both. This was the spark that ignited Ken McCarver’s burning quest for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God!

The Sabbath, A Journey of Discovery is Ken’s way of sharing with us the discoveries he made along the way during that journey. Some

are probably negligible, some are more profound, some are indeed frightening. And Ken has done our homework for us. Each iteration of the Fourth Commandment’s transition is thoroughly documented and referenced to the extent that would satisfy any professor on the subject.

But will it satisfy you? The only sure way to find out is to read on, dear reader, read on!

Edward D. Back

Arlington, Washington

February 23, 2012

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of time, truth has always created controversy because perception has been reality.

Looking out onto Christendom one can see the varying interpretations of God’s word that are there; they are real, and really anchored.

But the amazing, as well as confusing thing to me has been, they all originated from the same written word! How can that be? They can’t all be right! Or is it that the many are wrong? Is that possible? Could a lack of Godly wisdom and discernment and even deception create such a phenomenon that it would mature to this elevation?

I have seen that it is just this kind of confusion and disunity in the children of God, that has brought some new believers to the point of giving up on the faith and walking away. Only because they see that believers in the same God cannot agree on what that same God has said. Leaving them to question who is really right or are any of them?

Or to the other extreme of long time believers falling into haughtiness of heart, believing that their interpretation is in line with scripture, and their hearts are transparent in their claim.

Once again, disunity. This should not exist!

Is this to be our legacy to the unbelieving world?

How was this possible?

How was this allowed?

Can truth be known and will we accept it?

Will we allow truth to unify us?

Is there not one truth? one faith?, one God?

Anyone with a purposeful faith will not deny the reality of disunity in the family of believers within the Judeo-Christian faith. But do they really understand why? Or is it just accepted that the others are in error?

Within the subject of the Sabbath, it is the purpose of this writing to pull back the curtain on the issues that pertain not only to disunity on the accepted Sabbath day, but to examine other aspects of the Sabbath that are often never considered.

With no recorded scripture commanding us to recognize the Sabbath day as the day of worship within the Old or New Testament, how are we to perceive this? What is it that the