EXAMINING SABBATARIANISM
Part 1

William Miller
• In 1816 he began studying OT prophecy in regards to time
• In 1818 he came to the conclusion from Dan. 8:14 and
9:24ff that Jesus would return sometime between March 21,
1843 – March 21, 1844
• He did not make this view public until 1831
• In 1834 he became a Baptist preacher and those who followed him were labeled as Millerites
• When 1843 and 1844 came to pass it was a devastating blow to Miller and his followers

Ellen G. White
• Main person who brought about the beliefs of this denomination
• She suffered a head injury at 9 which began her hallucinations
• Her family became followers of
Miller in 1842 and after the great disappointment in 1844 she claims to have hundreds of visions from God.
• She married a Millerite preacher in 1846 and became the new leader of the Millerite’s
• In 1846 and 1847 she claimed she was taken up into heaven and was allowed to see the heavenly tabernacle and she saw the 10 commandments with the 4 th one having a soft halo of light encircling it

In 1860 they officially became the Seventh Day
Adventist who worshiped God on Saturday instead of Sunday.
The leaders were Hiram Edson, Joseph Bates and
Ellen G. White.

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry,
received with thanksgiving; to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God good, and nothing is to be refused if it is
• She said that Sunday keeping was the mark of the beast and when Jesus comes very soon all those keeping Sunday worship will be lost

Deuteronomy 18:22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
• The ability of prophecy was limited to the 1 st century (1 Cor. 13: 8ff)
• We are warned twice in Gal. 1:8-9 not to receive a person or even an angel that is proclaiming something different than the gospel

They believe there are 2 sets of laws:
The Law of God or
Moral Law which contains the 10 commandments
Moses’ Law or
Ceremonial Law which contains the
600+ Laws

Genesis 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended
His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made
There is not one instance in the 2500 years between creation and the time of Moses where anyone observed Saturday as special day
The first time the word Sabbath is mentioned is in
Exodus 16:23 ff

Nehemiah 9:13 "You came down also on Mount
Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. 14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.

Deuteronomy 5:2 "The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 "The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.
Ezekiel 20:12 "Moreover I also gave them My
Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I sanctifies them. 13 "Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, 'which, if am the LORD who a man does, he shall live by them'; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths.

• There is more to keeping the Sabbath than just resting on Saturday
• Additional Sabbaths were done in accordance with 5 of their festivals found in Lev. 23 – 39
• There was 59 Sabbaths a year and every 7th and 50th year was a Sabbatical year
• A typical Hebrew would observe 5,830 Sabbaths over 50 years, while the average Sabbatarian who only observes Saturday will only keep 2,600
Sabbaths falling short 3,230 Sabbaths that are required by God’s Word

Numbers 28:9 ' And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink offering --
10 'this is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering with its drink offering.

Exodus 16:29 "See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 35:3 "You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

Exodus 35:1… "These are the words which the
LORD has commanded you to do: 2 "Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD.
Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

Exodus 20:8 " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the
LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Mark 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Exodus 31:13 "Speak also to the children of
Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it throughout your generations, that that I am is a sign between Me and you you may know sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; the LORD who sanctifies you. 17 'It is a
Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change;

Exodus 30:8 "And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 12:14 'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the
LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Exodus 40:15 "You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to
Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations."
Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.

Things we learned:
• This denomination was built upon false prophets
• There is a lot more to Sabbath keeping then just resting on Saturday
• We looked at several arguments the
Sabbatarian’s use to justify Sabbath keeping and showed that don’t stand up to scripture
• We have seen how inconsistent they are when it comes to keeping the Sabbath