Herbert W Armstrong

   I grew up as a Baptist for some 20 years. My embarrassment—preached eight or ten times in the Baptist church. My pleasure—I preached what they didn't like to hear so I got the thumb. Now, most people just get thrown out of the ball game. But I got thrown out of the church and the ministry and everything else. But I don't grieve over that a bit. I thought you could preach anything you found in the Bible, so that's what I proceeded to attempt to do, it doesn't work.

   In Acts chapter two—you find the New Testament Church being founded. But, what on earth is it being founded on an Old Testament Holy Day? That's kind of a ridiculous thing to do if you're going to do away with the Old Testament with this New Testament. What on earth would a being founded this New Testament Church on an Old Testament Holy Day? That is ridiculous. Yet, that's what's done, you can imagine that the birthday of the New Testament Church—the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to man in general—on an Old Testament Holy Day. No wonder they translate it the way they do here, which is ridiculous. Read that and see how ridiculous that is.

   What if you said to your friend, "Uh, say, Bill, uh, we're gonna practice softball this coming Thursday. Uh, when Thursday is fully come, we're going to practice softball." I guarantee you you're gonna have people arriving all hours. When is Thursday fully come? Well, let's see—if it's halfway there, then it's halfway past and halfway to go. Surely it couldn't be at sundown. That would just be barely come; that didn't fully come. When does the day fully come, anyway? That is a weird translation, to say the least.

   But I can just see those 70-some scholars in England back in 1611, as they faced the Greek words here with red faces, wishing they could add to the Bible like Martin Luther could, wishing they could take away from the Bible like others have. But they face this embarrassing scripture, and I guess they fumbled their pens or something because it didn't come out the way it was written in the Greek. So if you read this in different translations, the Companion Bible, whatever, you're gonna find out it says, "When the day of Pentecost..." The Greek word is sumplerouo, sumpleroo that's what's translated "fully come."

   When the day of Pentecost was being accomplished in its purpose—when what it foretold was being filled up. You remember the story where the disciples were in this boat on the Sea of Galilee, and the storm came, and water was coming into that boat, and the disciples came back and told him the boat was being filled up. Same word, the Greek word—exactly.

   Another verse, we're talking about the time for Christ's betrayal when the time had come—when the prescribed days, when the exact day, the tenth day of that first month was there. Same Greek word used there. And that's what this means. But who wants to translate it so you would come to understand that this is an Old Testament day the New Testament church began on?

   "When the day of Pentecost was being accomplished in its purpose. When the day of Pentecost was arriving with its full meaning, when the day of Pentecost was being filled full to the brim." That's really want that translates.

   How many times do they hide away the Holy Days and the Sabbath in the word of God? Not in the real word of God, but in man's translation. I'm sure we're going to be dumbstruck one of these days when God shows us all the things in the Bible that happened on a day that either became a Holy Day or was a Holy Day or was the Sabbath. You're gonna be dumbstruck by how much of it.

   I have a red-letter edition of this Bible, and it's handy a lot of times to know that those red letters are the words Jesus spoke. I'd like to see a blue-letter Bible someday. Everything that happened on a Sabbath day or a Holy Day—blue-letter Bible. I'd like to see that. Then we could have blue laws, and we could have blue letters, and we could have a lot more realization of what the Bible teaches.

   Let's come back to another hidden away. You know, people say, "Why don't you know, the Sabbath was made for the nation of Israel and the Sabbath was given to Israel. Don't you know the Sabbath, the word Sabbath, doesn't even appear until Exodus 20?" Well, is that so? Do you believe that? Somebody misleads you that way. But I'll tell you, you might be surprised if you come back to Genesis 2 and take a little bit of a look here.

   Genesis chapter two. Really, these first three verses should be the last part of chapter one because they are all a summation of the seven days and what happened on those original seven days. And the same name for God is used all the way through verse three of chapter two. And then you have a total separate document that's added, and that begins to carry the name of a particular member of the God family.

   Now, if we were reading this today, we might say in chapter one, "In the beginning, Smith created the heaven and the earth. Smith said, 'Let there be light.' Smith said, 'Let there be a firmament.' Smith said, 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together.'" So all the way through the first chapter, you just have the name Elohim, which we know is the uni-plural name like the word family—it has to include more than one person. And yet as a noun, it's singular. You don't say "the family are going bowling." The family is, yet there are more than one to make up that family. The family is going bowling. So it's uni-plural. That's the same way. The name God, Elohim, I Am, makes it plural. So you've got a plural word for God in Genesis 1.

   Smith is doing all of this, but in verse four of chapter two, all of a sudden it says, "These are the generations in the day that John Smith made the earth." You see there, it's starting to use the first name with the last name Elohim. So now he's telling you which one of the Elohim literally did what, beginning in verse four. He's telling you what the Eternal Elohim did—by Him that the Father did everything. He was the Lagos. He was the worker. He was the being that both in Hebrews 1 and John 1 in Colossians 1, it says all things were made by Him. So God used Him to do the making. Of course, He did it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

   Now, the first three verses of chapter one or chapter two ought to be the last part of chapter one. They're talking about the seventh of the seven days. But look what this verse says—Genesis 2 verse 1: "Thus, the heavens and the earth were brought to perfection," as the Hebrew word really says, "and all the host of them." And on the seventh day, Elohim, showing it's not a day for Israel because he doesn't use the name of God associated in covenant with Israel; he uses the universal name of God, Elohim. So when you realize the first time you run across the seventh day, it's connected with Elohim, not connected with the God of Israel, not connected with Moses, not connected with a nation—not added later time. It's right here in the beginning, first seventh days.

   But you know, brainy technical legalists look at it and say, "Yeah, but it didn't say it was the seventh day there. You know, it just says on the seventh day; never did say the seventh day is the Sabbath in Genesis, those first two chapters." Well now, wait a minute. Did it or didn't it? OK.

   "Thus, the heavens and the earth were brought to perfection and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, Elohim ended His work, which He had made." You know, that's an embarrassment to a lot of people. Does it sound like God was doing some work on the seventh day? Cause it doesn't say on the sixth day He ended His work; it says on the seventh day, God ended His work. So right away, some people try to get around what it really says. So if you read that in the Syriac version, it would literally say in verse two, "on the sixth day," because that's the only way they could understand it. They had to juggle it; they had to change it. But in Hebrew, it literally says, "on the seventh day, God ended His work." But was He doing the same kind of work on the seventh day that He did on the previous six? Doesn't sound like it from verse one, does it?

   Look at verse one: "Thus, the heavens and the earth were brought to perfection." But whatever work He was doing after that was different because He already gave that summary statement that the heavens and the earth were brought to perfection and all the host of them. But now He introduces Elohim's work on the seventh day. What work is He doing? You've got to tell us, you've got to find out.

   Ok, going on then, "which He had made and He rested on the seventh day." Now, a good question to ask is, how come God rested on the seventh day? Did He get tired? No, God doesn't worry. God doesn't get tired. Well, uh, why did God rest?

   Well, if you want to watch drowning lizards running up weeds trying to escape truth—that's what people are when they won't face up to what the Bible really says. You know, it reminds me of the movie, The Living Desert, and these lizards and insects and running up weeds trying to keep from getting drowned by this water that's coming on. That's the way people are—they grab for weeds and anything to run up to hide from what the Bible really says. You know, it just proves they're carnally minded. A carnal mind won't be subject to the law of God. Can't be, won't be, is not, will not be, so they'll get around any way they can.

   Ok, why did God rest on the seventh day? It's kind of funny to read some people's answers. "Well, God was anticipating that 2000 years later, He was going to give the Sabbath to Moses in Israel." Now, you know, that's funnier than Superman or Batman or Robin or anybody else—that God would need to rest 2000 years on a day before He even gave it to man. That's kind of ridiculous. You talk about a weed running up trying to keep from drowning, that's sure one.

   But anyway, that isn't all there is to it. Ask somebody, "Where do we get a seven-day week?" Well, that's ridiculous. A seven-day week doesn't make any sense at all. Now, a month—well, the very English word "month" comes from the word "moon," and a month is very scientific because every 29.5 days you go out and you look up and there's a new moon—very scientific. Years—1978. Here we are, 1978. Very scientific—ties right in with astronomy in the heavens. Unless you can juggle the sun and juggle the moon, you can't change months and years.

   But where on earth did we get a seven-day week? Doesn't make sense. Well, some people, and they are ignorant, say, "Well, Israel must have brought it up out of Egypt when they came out in the Exodus." And that's the way they pictured it in The Ten Commandments movie. Did you see that? Did you notice that in The Ten Commandments movie? Here's Moses observing the bondage of the Children of Israel, and he scratches his head and says, "You know, I bet those people get more done in six days if they got the rest of on the seventh," and then it ends up by saying, "people ought to rest one day in seven." That's the way that movie ended up with the Sabbath Law.

   Any similarity between that and the truth is purely accidental. But anyway, notice what happened here—God did some kind of work on the seventh day. In fact, you talk about how to win friends and influence people. I would entitle Jesus' example in the gospels, as far as the Jews go, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize People," because every time He got a chance, He healed somebody on the Sabbath day, which broke their regulations. Every time He could, He went more than a Sabbath Day's journey on the Sabbath day. Every time you turn around, He's putting water on their Talmud and their traditions and their laws.

   And, you know, at one time, they came and took Jesus to task because He'd healed someone who'd had a withered hand for years on a Sabbath day. And unless it's a matter of life and death, you shouldn't heal on the Sabbath day, according to the Talmud. And surely, someone that had a condition for years shouldn't be healed on the Sabbath day. So they took Jesus to task about it, and you know what His answer was?

   You remember the statement back there? "My Father works hitherto, and I work." In other words, I've been working forever on a Sabbath day. My Father and I have always worked on the Sabbath Day—miracles, interventions, doing good on the Sabbath.

   You know, a lot of people would have you believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath in the New Testament or had His church do it—one of the two. That's kind of ridiculous. I can find 14 laws Jesus gave on how to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament. When I want to know how to keep the Sabbath, I'm gonna turn to the New Testament as well as Isaiah 58 and Exodus 31 and those.

   Now, zero back in on Genesis 2 here, you can't account for the Sabbath any other way. Somebody just had to bring it into existence. And God did. God did back here at the beginning. And just to rest that other lie, when Israel came out of Egypt, the Egyptians had a 10-day week, so they sure didn't bring it out of Egypt. So they had brought a 10-day week. That wasn't what they had; they had a seven-day week.

   But anyway, notice: "On the seventh day, God, Elohim, ended His work which He had made and Elohim Sabbathed." Yeah, that's the word Sabbath right there—"rested" (shabbat in the Hebrew). So the word Sabbath is in Genesis chapter 2, in verse 2. In fact, it's in there twice. You know, even God says, "By the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything is established." So right here, you got two witnesses: "On the seventh day, Elohim ended His work, which He had made, and Elohim Sabbathed on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it—2000 years later? Well, you know, it doesn't say that. You want to add that in there? That's kind of dumb and ridiculous. Why would God need to bless it and sanctify it 2000 years early and not let anybody have to worry about it for 2000 years, and then bring it on somebody 2000 years later? That's ridiculous.

   God, Elohim, blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it, He had Sabbathed—shabbat in the Hebrew language. Now, another interesting thing comes when you check up the word "blessed" and "sanctified," and I really had fun when I read this in the commentary. I couldn't believe it. Three Christian Protestant writers—guys by the name of Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. When they came to Genesis 2, they said, "Uh, well, we hate to have to admit this; uh, surely it doesn't really mean what it seems to say in the original Hebrew. But..." And, you know, after that apology, after that whitewashing, after that kind of escape from the truth, they admitted the word "blessed" and "sanctified" meant "to set apart for bowing down on the knee to worship."

   Now, you know, why did God bless and sanctify the Sabbath? Who's He gonna bow down on His knee and worship? Now that doesn't make much sense. God set apart for bowing down on the knee to worship. Who's He going to bow down on the knee to worship? It couldn't apply to God—those two verbs absolutely can't apply to God. He can't bow on the knee to worship—He is God. And those two verbs require another party to be involved. That this is set apart for bowing down on the knee to worship—anybody that wants to argue with truth, don't argue with carnal minds. You're not gonna get past first base with them.

   I noticed in Genesis chapter 7. Now, somebody might want to argue about this too. But isn't it rather unusual that all the way through the account of the flood, all of these "seven days, seven days, seven days, seven days"—seven again. Is that just Thursday to Thursday to Thursday to Thursday to Thursday to Thursday? No, it isn't either—Sabbath, to Sabbath, to Sabbath, to Sabbath to Sabbath.

   Genesis 7 verse 1: God Almighty is speaking to Noah on a Sabbath day. The Eternal said to Noah on a Sabbath day, "You and all your house come into the Ark. I have seen you righteous." Then He tells him what to do. And then He says, "Next Sabbath, yet seven days, I'm going to cause this rain on the earth. It's gonna rain 40 days and 40 nights." Of course, that number 40 is the number four and 10—4 times 10, which is again, a very significant number in the Bible. The number of judgment, the number 10, and the number 4 is the number God revealing Himself—four gospel writers, you know, four trumpet plays. Four is all the way through the Bible—four living creatures up there before God's throne.

   Now, "yet seven days." And you know, you can read in the Companion Bible, as it mentions that every one of these dates connected with the flood was the Sabbath day except once. And that's the one there in Genesis 8 verse 5 where it says, "on the tenth month, the first day of the tenth month, the mountains are going to be seen." And there again, that's the number of judgments—the tenth month, first day of that tenth month. Judgment always is over, and the top of the mountains begin to be seen, and man sees hope then beginning with the tenth day of the first month. But every other day where it says, like Genesis 7 verse 11, "in the 600th year of Noah's life..." Imagine that—exactly 600, man's number of six, and the number of judgment, 600 years, second month, 17th day of the month. That's a Sabbath day—every date given here that's given on a certain month and a certain day of the month is a Sabbath, except that one I mentioned there in Genesis 8.

   Now, you know, you can find all the way through the Old Testament references to seven. You know, it says Daniel fasted 21 days. Uh, you know why 21 days? Why not 22 or 20 or 17 or 23, or why 21 days? Because that's three weeks? Well, you can't hide from the seven-day week all the way through Genesis.

   One really takes the cake, though. Notice back here in Exodus 16. I don't think most of us have noticed this particular verse, but here is where God reminds Israel of the Sabbath day, which they've long since not been able to observe in bondage and captivity. 215 years, they served in hard labor, so they weren't allowed to rest on the seventh day. But when God's gonna bring them out of Egypt, He's got to get them back to remembering the Sabbath Day. And notice how it's introduced here—it isn't some new law.

   And remember, this is before Exodus 20. This is before they get to Sinai. This is before the Ten Commandments are given. Exodus 16. Well, a sixth day rolled around; they gathered twice as much bread. Then verse 23: Moses says to the people, "This is that which the Eternal has said: Tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Eternal." It's not any new introduction of the new law. All of a sudden, Moses tells them that God is going to rain down manna, get twice as much on the sixth day. Don't go out on the seventh day—there won't be any there. You gather it up and try to save it; it'll rot. Any other day, you can only gather twice as much on the sixth day because tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath.

   Then he says, verse 25: "Eat that today; today is the Sabbath to the Eternal. Six days you gather it; on the seventh day, the Sabbath..." And of course, which is italics, that's added in there by translators. It's a parenthetical thought: "On the seventh day, the Sabbath," you know that, you've already been told that. Is he revealing some new law here? That's ridiculous.

   It came to pass, they went out of the people on the seventh day to gather. So there were some people from Missouri there—show me, State "Seeing is believing," you know. So they went out on the seventh day, and sure enough, like God said, they didn't find any. Look what God said, verse 28: "And the Eternal said to Moses, 'How long refuse you to keep my commandments?'"

   People should have said, "Hey, wait a minute, God, you haven't even given them to us yet. Exodus 20 is on over there. Hey, what do you mean, how long?" But you know, just from the way it comes on the scene, it's obvious they've been told about the Sabbath from the time they went out of Egypt in the Exodus. They knew about the Sabbath before they left Egypt. God revealed it to them in bringing them out of Egypt.

   So now God says, because, some still went out on the seventh day to look around, God says, "How long refuse you to keep my commandments and my laws? The Eternal has given you the Sabbath." You notice that, the Sabbath was made for man; the Sabbath was given to man. The Sabbath wasn't made for the Jews. You look up the word "Jew" in the first place it appears in your Bible—the same chapter you ought to find the Sabbath revealed. No, you don't. But, sure enough, you look at the beginning of man—the very first thing you read after man, on the sixth day, the Sabbath, on the seventh day. Sabbath made for man, wasn't made for the Jews.

   Is there something weird about the Jews? He's just a frail, sickly, freakish, little delicate, dainty character that needs to rest every seventh day. But boy, we heathen pagans, we don't need to rest every seventh day. What kind of a thinking is that? You know, it really is—the carnal mind is insane. It's crazy. It doesn't make sense, just like the clean and unclean food laws.

   You know, what's different about a Jew? You know, you better be careful when you go to the hospital. Don't get a Jewish kidney because they can't eat pork. I mean, get a Gentile kidney—that's okay there. See, they can eat pork. That's just made for the Jews. That's ridiculous. And you let people kid you that way. That's ridiculous.

   Now, look what he goes on to say here: "The Eternal has given you the Sabbath." Not a yoke of bondage. It wasn't added later. It didn't occur, Sabbath was made for man. Therefore, He gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everybody stay in his house on the seventh day—you do that. I obey that scripture. I have not in 26 years gone out of my house on the Sabbath Day together manna. I mean have any of you?

   You know, people can't even read that the way it's written, though. People read that and they say, "You're supposed to stay home all day on a Sabbath," and it says, "Don't go out of your house on the Sabbath day." Yeah, to gather manna—that's what it says. So you people that went out on the seventh day, God gives you twice as much on the sixth day—don't go out there looking for manna on the seventh day. Some of the people shabbat, Sabbath—there's the word Sabbath again before Exodus 20.

   As a matter of fact, when you read about it in Exodus 20, it's about the fifth or sixth time it's been used—not the first time. The word "Sabbath" we read back there in verse 23 of Exodus 16. And people must be blind when they say, "Why, you don't even find the Sabbath until God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses in Exodus 20." I mean, what book have these people been reading? They haven't been reading the Bible.

   Well, anyway, look what it says in verse 35: "And the Children of Israel did eat manna 40 years." Now, 52 Sabbaths a year for 40 years—that's over 2,000 Sabbaths. Go out on the sixth day, get twice as much; go out on the seventh day, there's not gonna be any; go out and get three times as much on Thursday and it'll rot; go out and get twice as much on Friday and it stays over and eat it on the seventh day. For 40 years, God proved that Sabbath again, to them. 52 times a year, over 2,000 Sabbath days. "People say I don't see the Sabbath before Exodus 20." You know, you might as well. Don't argue with the carnal mind—you won't get past first base.

   Well, let's come over to Matthew chapter five. Let's get in the New Testament, but it really isn't. Anyway, you know, you never find in your Bible the term "New Testament" from Matthew to Revelation. Where did you ever get that idea? Who put that in your head? That's not the New Testament. The first place the word admittedly should be translated "covenant." Not "testament" anyway. Nowhere in all your Bible is the word "testament" applied to a collection of books, to a group of books. Never. Ever. Don't let anybody kid you that way.

   Not what the New Testament is, anyway. Matthew chapter five. Notice what it says. "Seeing the multitude, Christ tried to save all of them." No, He didn't either. You know, I can't understand how upside down and backwards the Bible is and what I was taught for 20 years as a Baptist. "Seeing the multitudes, Jesus beat it out of there, went up in the mountain, got away from them." That's sure. You know, I've never been told that before. 20 years, nobody ever told me Christ got away from the multitude.

   Why... You know, most people say, "Well, hey, uh, how come the New Testament Church, uh, in the Book of Acts, even went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day?" Well, that's some question—because that's where all the people were and they wanted them to preached at them. Well, how come Jesus always got away from the multitudes then? How come Christ always said, "Don't tell anybody I feel, keep going, don't tell anybody." Well, even the disciples couldn't believe it. But here Christ is, seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain. And when He was set down, His disciples came to Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them.

   Now, you know, I always wondered about that, and I scratch my head and say, "Wait a minute, one place it says they followed Him three days without having eaten because they wanted to see what He was doing and hear what He was saying." Other places, they followed Him across around the lakes; they jeopardized their lives following because of what the Jews would do to them. And yet here, multitudes got away from them just by going up into the mountains. I wonder how in the world was that so, it seems strange to me that multitude didn't just follow Him right up the mountain; there must have been some reason, they didn't.

   Well, let's just scan and see. Then He opened His mouth, and He taught them. So He gives them the Beatitudes and red letters all the way through chapter five. So Christ is seated up there in the mountains away from the multitudes, teaching the disciples who come to Him. He doesn't go anywhere, and no time changes. In chapter six, red letters go right on through chapter six; red letters go right on through chapter seven. We call that, in the past, the Sermon on the Mount. And I used to say, "Well, that ain't any sermon on the mount. That's Jesus teaching His disciples." Well, what is it? Is it a sermon on the mount, or is it just Jesus teaching His disciples?

   Now, here you have the three very meaty, real peak of spiritual depth of Christ's teaching. He tells them about prayer in chapter six, He tells them about fasting, He tells them about their billfolds, and He tells them all about the important things of spiritual growth in these three chapters.

   Look at verse 28 of chapter seven: "It came to pass when Jesus ended the sayings, the people were astonished." Now, wait a minute, there, when He got up in the mountain and got set, the disciples came to Him saying. By the time He got through with this sermon, this meaty spiritual teaching, it wasn't just disciples there. The people were astonished at His doctrine. Well, you might just say, "Yeah, but I guess the disciples are people." Yeah, except in the Greek, when it changes terms like that, it's teaching you that something happened—that somebody else is there other than the disciples.

   So He started out sitting, teaching the disciples, and you know, really be realistic about these Bible stories. They really happened—they're real events. Said the disciples, those guys are Jews look they go right up that mountain—no lightning struck them. You know, they didn't get stoned. Nobody threw them back down. "I think I'll go up there and see what's going on." So a few more go up, and a few more go up, a few more go up. By the time He got through teaching, there was a lot more than just disciples there. When Jesus ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine because He taught them as having authority, not like scribes.

   Now man makes chapters, read right on. When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes still there—they didn't go anywhere. You no, He saw the multitudes, went up into the mountains, teaches, more come up. When He comes back down, great multitudes still there following. Behold, there comes a leper, worships Him: "If you will, you can make me clean." Jesus put out His hand and touched him and said, "I will—you be clean." And immediately, his leprosy was cleansed. And then Jesus said to go tell everybody about it. No, He said, "See that you tell no man. You go and show yourself to the priest."

   Now, why go show yourself to the priest? Because Jesus still believed in the priesthood and the temple and Judaism and all the rituals—not regress the verse: "Go your way, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them." That's why. Not because He believed in ritual and go ahead and follow it because the temple is still there until it's thrown down. And, uh, we got to go ahead and do all the ritual—that didn't true. Jesus told him to go offer the gift as a witness against those priests.

   Now look what happened. He's come down the mountain, the multitudes are still there. They follow Him. He heals this person. Capernaum is right down at the foot of this mountain there on the Sea of Galilee where this sermon is given. So now Jesus enters into the city of Capernaum, and here comes the centurion, a captain of a hundred, saying, "Lord, heal my servant of the palsy." Jesus said, "OK, I'll come and heal him." Of course, he says, "Just say the word and you don't need to come." Then Jesus said, "Why, that's great faith."

   In verse 14, when Jesus—now He's still at Capernaum after healing the centurion's servant—now He goes into Peter's house, which is at Capernaum, where he fished on the Sea of Galilee, right at the foot of this mountain Jesus gave that sermon. So now Jesus comes into Peter's house and sees Peter's wife's mother laid and sick of the fever. So He touches her hand, and the fever leaves her; she arises and ministers to him.

   Then verse 16 is the giveaway: "When the even was come, they brought to Him many that were possessed with devils, those that were ill; He healed all." Why did they wait until even was come? Well, because the Jews' Talmud said you can't heal anybody on the Sabbath Day unless their life's at stake. Why didn't they go up that mountain to hear Jesus? Because that's more than three-quarters of a mile. That's more than a Sabbath Day's journey. You can't go around climbing mountains on a Sabbath day as a Jew. You know, we had a guy up in Chicago—or in Kansas City—no, it was in Chicago, and he began to delve into Judaism. And he finally felt like Judaism is what he wanted. So he went down to the synagogue, and they told him he couldn't come anymore because he lived more than three-quarters of a mile away. I kind of thought that was really good, he got what he deserved.

   But anyway, they couldn't go up that mountain. You can't go around climbing that mountain up there overlooking the Sea of Galilee on the Sabbath day; you're gonna get stoned, you're gonna get dealt with—you can't do that. But Jesus did, and the disciples did. A few more, I don't know. And then Christ came back down—there they were.

   Now, let me prove to you another way that was the Sabbath Day. You know, people that are skeptical and negative, they say, "Wait a minute. Now, when the even was come, that doesn't prove that was the Sabbath. It might have just been the time flowing, and now it's telling you it went dark and so they got healed." OK, Mark the first chapter—sermon on the Mount was the Sabbath Day teaching, three chapters out of Matthew ought to be in blueprint. I don't know how you'd do it if it's red print and blueprint, both—but it's the teaching of Christ, but it's also a Sabbath day.

   Mark the first chapter—here Christ is calling some of the disciples. Verse 19: He goes a little further; He sees James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. They were in the ship mending their nets. He immediately calls them; they leave their father Zebedee in the ship and went after Him. They went into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day—now, look here: Capernaum on the Sabbath day—that's what we read in Matthew. But is it the same Sabbath day, or was that one in Matthew really a Sabbath day? Well, let's just see.

   Here He is in a synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath day. He enters into the synagogue and teaches. They're astonished at His doctrine. He taught them as one that had authority, not as the scribes. Then in this synagogue, there was a man with an unclean spirit. And of course, Christ cast him out. Verse 27: They were all amazed. "Why, what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? With authority, He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately, His fame spread abroad throughout all the region.

   And forthwith—notice that—immediately right after this casting out of this spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum on the Sabbath day, forthwith they come out of the synagogue, enter into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's wife's mother is sick of a fever—same exact thing. Sermon on the Mount on the Sabbath Day. And I'm sure you've all heard of Palm Saturday, haven't you? Haven't you read back there how Palm Saturday came, and Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Saturday, and they threw all those palm branches down as He rode that little ass into town? And that was Palm Saturday. You've been brainwashed, not Palm Sunday. There isn't any such thing—no, no Palm Sunday on Saturday.

   Sounds weird, doesn't it? It sounds odd. You've been filled in your head so much that it's a Palm Sunday all this time. I didn't either—it's a Palm Saturday.

   Well, I think the biggest whitewash job of all has been done when you come to the Gospel of John. Notice coming to, John. I've never noticed this before, until just the last couple of years—probably in just the last year. But instead of reading John as chapters and verses, I've gotten the Bible, and you can read it as a novel or a story unbroken as an event-by-event happening.

   And you know what? The Gospel of John—I know I've read a lot about what Matthew's Gospel was meant to be mainly for the Jews and ties into the Old Testament and written more from a Jewish angle. And of course, Luke more from a Gentile angle, being a Greek and a physician and stuff like that. And Mark being a young man brings along the striking episode from a young man's viewpoint who was just told it; he wasn't there.

   And then along comes John, and he gives the inside of Jesus—the heart-to-heart man. He's the one that Jesus especially loved. So his gospel gives a different approach to the life of Christ. That all sounds good—that's all right so far. But what man wouldn't want to admit, what nobody would want you to realize, what no one would make it plain for you to see, is that really the Gospel of John is just an accounting of the Sabbath and Holy Days in Jesus' life.

   You mean the whole book? Yeah, I mean, the whole book. You mean there are 21 chapters, and they're tied in with Sabbath and Holy Days? Yeah, that's right. You might not think I can prove that. Well, we'll just see.

   We already know Matthew 5, 6, and 7, part of 8—all that was the Sabbath. The meatiest part of Christian teaching. Now, can you imagine Jesus coming to do away with His Father's law, coming to abolish the Old Testament, and yet giving the very heart and core of His sermon on the Mount three whole chapters of teaching on the Sabbath day? And yet I've had people say, "Well, uh, I can see where Christ magnified not stealing and not killing and not committing adultery, but I don't see where He magnified the Sabbath Day."

   You don't see where He magnified the Sabbath Day? What about the sermon on the mount? It was all given on the Sabbath day. What about the church that was founded on a Holy Day? What about a whole gospel that doesn't do anything but tell about Christ's trips up the Holy days and back down from Holy Days, Sabbath on His way up, Sabbath back at home, Sabbath on His way back down? It's all it does.

   So if you don't think Jesus magnified the Sabbath Day, just grab a hold of those 21 chapters, and let's just rip them right out of our Bible and throw them off somewhere.

   Naturally, you've got an introduction. So John starts out showing you that the Jesus he's talking about is one who was back there in the beginning—the phrase that's used four times in your Bible. Again, it's God's key number of God revealing Himself in the beginning. In the beginning, four times you find that statement. So he ties the Logos in with the God in the beginning and then gives his background of John the Baptist and the Messiah, the Christ. Then he begins in verse 19 to say after his introduction, "This is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem. They asked him, 'Who are you?'"

   So now John begins to relate how his tie-in with the Messiah was. "Are you Elijah?" "No," he said, "I'm not." "What are you, that prophet?" "No, I'm not." Well, the chapter there is basically just an introduction. And what you might not notice—it only covers a few days. The whole first few chapters here only cover a few days. Look at verse 29, "The next day..." The next day after what? Well, the next day after what he's been saying earlier. So he said in verse 28, "These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing." So he told you how they came out and asked him, "Are you this? Are you that? Are you this?" And he said, "No, no, no." And then "the next day," the second day, verse 29, John sees Jesus coming.

   Now imagine this—the very first comment of John for the Messiah, and he calls Him the Lamb of God—ties Him right in with the Passover, ties Him right in with the very first Holy Day of God. So the very first comment that John makes about Christ ties Him right in with that Passover Lamb: "Behold the Lamb of God." And even the word "takes away" in the margin shows that it ties right in with the Day of Atonement where the one of the goats bore away the sin of the people. So the very term "takes away" here is an exact Greek translation of that Hebrew term back there about the Day of Atonement, and he "bears outside the camp," he bears away like the goat on the Day of Atonement, "the sin of the world."

   Then he goes on talking about John and Jesus, and then verse 35, "Again, the next day." Now, why would John be concerned about telling you this first day? Then verse 29, "the second day." Then verse 35, "the third day." Then verse 43, "the fourth day." And then verse 1 of chapter 2, "Three days after that fourth day." He's telling you day by day by day, about seven days. And that's all. In fact, he doesn't even tell you about the whole seven days. He tells you here about the third day. Verse 35: "John stands, and two of his disciples," and they look on Jesus as He walks, and here again, he says, "Behold the Lamb of God," right again, sign Christ right in with that Passover Lamb of the Old Testament.

   Well, Jesus turns and sees them following and asks what they're looking for. Then skipping on down, verse 43, "the day following," that is the fourth day, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and He finds Philip and says to him, "Follow Me." So just showing how Christ is calling the disciples, how Christ related to the God of the Old Testament in the first part of the chapter. And then about John, and now He comes talking about calling the disciples. So Jesus on the fourth day goes about in Galilee and finds Philip. Then, of course, he goes and finds Nathaniel. Then the story about Philip and Nathaniel finishes out the first chapter.

   Now look at chapter two, remembering man added the chapters. Remembering when you read, you need to get into the habit of reading it as a story flow and not as a bunch of chopped-up tidbits of chapters and verses. So, "And the third day," the third day from that fourth day. So after telling you about the fourth day, then he skips over the fifth day and skips over the sixth day. And now he tells you about the seventh day—the third day from that fourth one. There's a marriage in Cana of Galilee; Jesus' mother is there, and Jesus and His disciples are called to the marriage. Of course, it gives you the story about Jesus' first miracle. So now with that type of background of the calling of the disciples and the background of Jesus and the background about John and the first miracle, now look what happened. Verse 13: "And the Jews' Passover was at hand."

   Now, right away, people say, "Uh-huh. Yeah. See, there's the Jews' Passover." You know, why didn't they ever call that in Matthew, Mark, or Luke? You ever look up the word "Jews" in the concordance and realize how many times it's "Jews" in John and how many times it's used in Acts? 70 times—69 times in one of them and 70 times. It's only used five times in the Gospel other than this. And John, why did John, by his time, use the word "Jews"? Well, you know, he wrote about 100 A.D. Where was God's church by 100 A.D.? Well, it's been gone since 69 A.D. Been over there in Pella, and then it went on up into Bithynia. It had long been gone by the time John wrote this Gospel. If you'd have been exiled on an isle of Patmos and God's church had been moved out of there 31 years earlier, what would you have called it? He calls it the Jewish Passover—they're the only people still there in Palestine. God's church wasn't there anymore. It was gone.

   No, people don't want to understand. They just want to get around God's law. They want to do away with God's Holy Days, do away with the Sabbath, get away from obedience because they got a carnal mind.

   So here he's talking about the Passover. It's at hand. So now Jesus is on His way up to Jerusalem, and He finds in the temple up there during this Passover season, and of course, He cleans out the temple. Kind of interesting at this time. Notice verse 16: Jesus calls it "My Father's house." But if you remember Matthew 23 verse 38, He spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees and called it "your house." You ever notice that change? When Christ first came and tried to straighten things out, He called it "My Father's house." But later on, He gave up on it and forsook it, had nothing more to do with it, and He said, "your house."

   Well, verse 18: "Then answered the Jews..." Who are these people referred to as "the Jews"? Now, some commentaries would tell you this is the religious antagonistic element against the New Testament Church. It's not using the term nationalistically; it's not using the term racially. But it's using the term referring to people that are antagonists to the Jewish-Christian New Testament Church. But notice how John uses that term. "The Jews"

   Then answered the Jews, "What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?" Of course, Jesus, standing there during Passover season, says right there in the temple area, "Destroy this temple, and in three days, I'll raise it up." Why, they said, "It took us 46 years to build this temple. You're gonna do it in three days?" But He was speaking about His body.

   Verse 23: "Now, when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast..." showing that there are two separate occasions. So now He is still in Jerusalem, and this time it's Unleavened Bread season—either the first feast day or during that feast. So many begin to believe in His name when they see the miracles, but He didn't commit Himself to them. He didn't need that any should testify of Him.

   And you never imagine the story of Nicodemus happened during the Unleavened Bread feast while Jesus was up at Jerusalem, did you? Sure did. You didn't read about them going anywhere, did you? You didn't read about any time change, did you? Then that happened while Jesus was up there during the Unleavened Bread season.

   But, if you miss that, if you go by chapters and verses. So here you go right on into chapter three, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. You don't think he was in Samaria, do you? You don't think he was up in Galilee, do you? No, he couldn't have been; he had to be down in Jerusalem in Judea. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, comes to Jesus during one of the nights of Unleavened Bread, and all this preaching about being born again happens during the feast of Unleavened Bread.

   What's that got to do with the meaning of the Day of Unleavened Bread? Well it's got plenty to do with it. When you have God's Spirit and you have God passover your sins and you're putting leavening out of your life, you know you're gradually being changed from physical to spiritual, from human to the nature of God. And finally, when you've changed enough, you can be born in the God's family. So the message that Christ teaches during Unleavened Bread to Nicodemus ties in directly with what today means.

   Yet, I've heard people say, "Wonder where that Armstrong invented that meaning on all those holidays, what in the world is he talking about?" I can show you in books written long before Mr. Armstrong came on the seen, but they understood what the Day of Pentecost pictured and what it foreshadowed and what it was going to happen on it.

   Well, going on here, John three verse 22: "After these things, Jesus and His disciples go out of Jerusalem and come into the land of Judea." So now here they are, out of Jerusalem into the land of Judea, on their way back home from that Passover and Unleavened Bread. So they run across—well, here Jesus and the disciples, people get converted and they're baptized. And then a question arises about John's baptism, and then a discussion goes on about that baptism. But you know, there's no time change—they're still in Judea on their way back from Jerusalem, back up to their home area.

   Now, notice then, chapter four—there's no story flow break because chapter three says they were staying and baptizing in Judea. And when the Lord knew how the Pharisees heard Jesus made and baptized more disciples, though He didn't baptize Himself, now He leaves Judea, verse three, and departs again into Galilee. So now He's on His way back home to Galilee, but He's got to go through Sameria. So the story about the woman at the well is on His way back home from Unleavened Bread, going back up to Galilee, going through Sameria. So He tells about Jacob's well and this woman at the well and all the episodes going on through that part of the chapter—all while He's on His way back home from the feast.

   Now, notice verse 43—well, verse 39, still in chapter four, says, "Many of the Samaritans of the city believed on Him." So when the Samaritans come to Him and beseech Him or bethought Him that He'd tarry longer, He stayed two more days. Then verse 43, "After those two days, He departs from Sameria and goes on into Galilee." Then verse 45, "When Christ had come back home into Galilee, Galileans receive Him because they've seen the things He did at Jerusalem at the feast," because all these around Him in Galilee, they also went to the feast. So now they get back from the feast, and they receive Him.

   And Jesus comes into the king of Galilee, where He made the water wine, and heals this nobleman who sent a son. Alright after that one miracle back in His home area. Look at chapter five: "After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." Just got home, just got home, healed one person, back up to Jerusalem. Well, now there is at Jerusalem—now He's telling about Jesus being back up there for this feast, and a lot of people are lying around this pool, not being able to be healed. And there's a certain man there that had been infirm 38 years. "Now, you should surely shouldn't heal that guy on Saturday. Wait one more day, heal him on Sunday. If he's been that way 38 years, one more day isn't gonna hurt him." I mean, if you want to be a good how to win friends and influence people, just wait a day; don't do it on Saterday.

   Jesus sees him lying there—look what it says, "knowing that he had been a long time." Says, "You wanna be made whole?" And he said, "Well, can't anybody help me in there?" Jesus said, "You rise up, take your bed, and walk." Well, you know, He told him three things you can't do on the Sabbath—three things: rise, be healed; pick up your bed—you can't carry your bed on the Sabbath—that's against the law; walk. How far are you telling him to walk? All the way up to the temple, more than three-quarters of a mile if you see where they were. Three things He told him to do that just smashed the Talmud with three hammer blows right there. Be healed, take up your bed, walk all the way up there to the temple.

   Immediately, the man was made whole, took his bed, and walked. On the same day was the Sabbath. So here He is telling you about Jesus going up to Jerusalem to a feast, healing a man on a Sabbath day who'd been infirm 38 years. Well, you know what happened there? The Jews, verse 10, says, "It is the Sabbath Day." Yeah, that didn't surprise Jesus or anybody—they all knew when the Sabbaths was. "It's not lawful for you." Look, they picked the easiest one to prove. You couldn't really prove whether his life was at stake or not, even if he'd been that way 38 years. So they let that one of the three go. They didn't know how far he's going to walk; they caught him pretty quick. So they let that go, but they caught him on the one they could easiest prove, "Uh, we saw you carry that bed."

   So notice they say, "It's not lawful for you to carry your bed." He answered them, "Well, you know, I've been this way 38 years—all you religious people with all your religion hasn't done me a bit of good. Somebody comes along and says, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk,' and I just said, 'How far?'" You know, when you've been down 38 years, you're not going to say, "Well, let me think about that a minute." You know, if Jesus said, "Jump," he'd have just said, "How high?"

   So they say, "Hey, uh, who told you this?" He said, "I don't really know, but I know He healed me, and that's good enough for me." Notice what happened? Verse 16: Look at the term here: "Therefore, did 'the Jews' who does that term the Jews refer to? You think to whole nation got after Jesus now?" Not all, they didn't either. You know who got after Him? The Pharisees and the chief priests and the scribes and the high priests. And how does John use the term? The Jews? You better not interpret it. Boy, you, you might be sticking your neck out but good. You better let the Bible interpret how it uses the word the Jews. There's a good example right there. Therefore did quote the Jews persecute Jesus. Why did they persecute Jesus? Why did they seek to slay Him? Notice this: The very first account of the Jews trying to persecute and kill Jesus was over what? How to keep the Sabbath. He told them three things—all three broke their Talmud—because He had done these things on the Sabbath Day. Boy, I'll tell you, Jesus, you said the wrong thing here. Jesus said, "Look, I've been doing work like that on Sabbath all my life. You don't like what I did on the Sabbath? I've been doing that since creation." I mean, that's raving, waving a red flag in front of a bull. You talk about antagonism.

   When Jesus came, one of His reasons for coming was to straighten out crooked paths. Boy, He's doing it right here. Well, therefore—look at verse 18—"therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill Him because He not only had broken the Sabbath." Is that the Holy Spirit through John telling you that Jesus broke the Sabbath? Let anybody kid you that. That's what that says. OK, wait a minute—read the rest of it—because "He not only had broken the Sabbath but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." Now, are you going to tell me that the Holy Spirit through John is trying to tell you that Jesus made Himself equal with God? Boy you're sure off base if you try to say that. Jesus said, "My Father is greater than I." How many times did Jesus say, "My Father is greater than I"? If you try to say John through the Holy Spirit is bearing witness that Jesus broke the Sabbath, you're also saying John through the Holy Spirit is bearing witness that Jesus made Himself equal with God. And that's a big lie.

   So is it a bigger lie that Jesus broke the Sabbath? He stripped the Sabbath of Talmud tradition. Know maybe the word "broken"—you want to translate it a different way. Strip? OK. That's OK. He stripped the Sabbath, the Talmud. Sure did. I mean, right and left—whack, whack, whack—three licks right there, just one right after the other.

   OK, going on then: Jesus answered. Now, notice there ain't any change—it's still while He's up at Jerusalem for a Holy Day on a weekly Sabbath. He starts talking in verse 19, and He talks all the way through the end of the chapter—all of that is on a Sabbath. Didn't say He went anywhere, didn't say any time got away.

   OK, now chapter six: "After these things," look at those terms always, "Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Tiberias." So now He's back up in His home area across the Sea of Galilee. A great multitude followed Him because they saw His miracles. He went up into a mountain, sits down with His disciples. Look what happens—all of a sudden, just got back up there, and three verses and another Holy Day. Oh, look at that—the Passover, a feast of the Jews, is near. You talk about near—three verses near that, down there, one feast, another feast, another feast, Sabbath Day on the way up, on the way back down Sabbath Day on the way up—all you're reading Sabbath and Holy Days.

   That's a good way to do away with all of it, isn't it? That's ridiculous. He's not doing away with the Sabbath and the Holy Days. The Passover feast of the Jews is near; Jesus lifted up His eyes. Sees a great company coming and says to Philip, "How are we going to feed all these people?" Phil talked about the loaves and the fish and the miracles, and Jesus works the miracle.

   Now, coming on in chapter six, skip on over to verse 59—read all about the teaching of Jesus connected with this trip up for this new feast introduced in chapter six. Then finally, verse 59 says, "These things He said in the synagogue." So here He is, all of those things are on this Sabbath day while He's getting ready to go up to this feast introduced in the first part of the chapter.

   So "these things He said in the synagogue." Do you think that could have been a Thursday? Wouldn't have been anybody there on a Thursday. When you see Jesus said something in the synagogue, you might as well know it's Saturday. It's hard enough to get those Jews in there on Saturday. You know, they hardly—they're not there on Wednesdays and Sundays and Wednesdays and Mondays. When it says Jesus went into the synagogue and taught, you might want to argue that, "I mean, is it a Sabbath, not if you're hard-headed, not if you're a carnal-minded, unconverted, negative skeptic." It doesn't. But, when on earth else would He find anybody in the synagogue? And we said, "Well, He went into the Baptist church and stood up to teach," you know, be well, today on Sunday. You're gonna find them there on Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday? No, they're there on Sunday.

   Well, notice what happened. He said these things in the synagogue. Many of His disciples heard this hard thing—they murmured, "Well, you know where we go; you've got the words of eternal life." Some turned around—they couldn't understand all that, so they left.

   Alright chapter seven says, "After these things," same phrase again, after a few things He told you about a Sabbath in Capernaum. Then He mentioned the Holy Day. Now all of a sudden, "After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee." That's all it tells you—He's at home for a while. Doesn't even tell you what all He's doing at home. It just says, "He walked in Galilee because He had to get out of Judea because the Jews sought to kill Him." Now, "the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles is at hand."

   Why, look at that—one verse and another Holy Day on you. I mean, you can't tell me John isn't just Sabbath and Holy Days—one verb. And here we are—the Feast of Tabernacles. So you know what happened? His brethren said, "Well, you better not go up there; they'll try to kill you." And He said, "Well, you go on up there. I won't go up yet." And verse eight: Then finally, verse 10, "After His brethren were gone up, He also went up to the feast." They knew He'd be there; if you saw Him at the feast, they didn't say, "Will He be there?" They said, "Where is He?" That's kind of an unusual statement if they'd had any doubt whether He believed in them or not. They wonder if He's coming. They didn't say that; they said, "Where is He?"

   Well, there's a lot of murmuring now. Verse 14, "About the midst of the feast, Jesus goes right on up into the temple and starts teaching." So the teaching you get through the rest of chapter seven, you'll find out it's on a Sabbath day during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a Saturday—that Saturday in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles is when He went up into the temple and teaches. How do you know that? Look at verse 18:

   "He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory." Verse 19: "Didn't Moses give you the law?" You want to read the verse nobody believes? Read verse 19: "Did Moses give you Jews the law, and no one of you Jews keeps the law?" Yeah, you can't get anybody to believe that. You try to tell some Protestant person that wants to discuss religion with you that, say, "Didn't you ever read in the Bible that Jesus said the Jews didn't keep the law?" They'll look at you like you lost all your marbles, like you're crazy. And then you turn and show them that verse, and they still won't believe it.

   Moses gave you the law. None of you keeps the law Moses gave you. That's right. What did they keep then? Talmud traditions of their fathers—they make God's law of none effect by their traditions. Sure Moses gave them the law, and none of them kept it though. I mean, I know that, and I know that I know that—you gotta know that too if you read that verse 19.

   Well, notice then in verse 21: "I've done one work, and you all marvel. Moses gave you circumcision—not because it is Moses, but as the fathers—you on the Sabbath day circumcise a man." Now, "If a man on the Sabbath day receives circumcision that the law of Moses shouldn't be broken," so Jesus says, "even here, yeah, go ahead, circumcise your son on the Sabbath day if that's the eighth day. Here, you're angry at Me because I've made a man whole on the Sabbath day." See, that shows that was a Sabbath.

   Now, notice verse 37: "In the last day, that great day of the feast." Now, when is the last day? The great day of the feast begins sundown after the seventh day? The evening, beginning the eighth day. So they had a night service beginning the eighth day, just like we've done. And look what happens here. I can show that to you. "In the last day, Jesus stood and look what His message was. "When the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is fulfilled, it's a day when all the dead are going to be raised and be converted." So what did Jesus say on the last day? "If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink." You think this is the Spirit that would be given to anybody when that last eighth day is accomplished?

   Well, He goes on teaching through the rest of chapter seven. Now notice verse 53: "Every man went unto his own house." They left the night service beginning the eighth day. They go home for the night. Early the next morning, they got to come back for the last eighth day.

   Look at verse one: "Well, Jesus didn't have a home to go to, so He went out to the Mount of Olives and spent that evening of the last night there. Then early in the morning, He comes back again into the temple." All the people come, He starts teaching, and all the teaching in chapter eight is the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles—the eighth day. Now, you can read that all you want. You won't see any geographical change; you won't see any time change. All the way through chapter eight, notice the last verse of chapter eight: "Jesus on this last great eighth day gets antagonism against Him," and He says, "Before Abraham was, I am." Verse 58: "Well, the Jews took up stones to cast at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." So you notice that He'd been all this time on that last eighth great day in the temple. So now this verse says the eighth day isn't over, but it is as far as Him being in the temple.

   So now on that last eighth great day, He goes out of the temple, goes through the midst of this throng that's antagonized, and so passed by. Where did He go, though? Time change? A new location? A new day?

   Now look at nine—chapter nine, verse one: "As Jesus passed by..." So, a man blind from his birth—still on the last eight Great Day, sees this blind man from birth. Jesus heals him. That's a Holy Day too—the eighth last Great Day of the feast. Verse 14 says, "It was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes." Now, that Sabbath day, that last eight Great Day, goes on through the rest of chapter nine.

   Come on over into chapter 10. You won't find any geographical movement; you won't find any time change. All of these things and these teachings and these happenings are happening while He's there on that last eighth Great Day.

   Now, finally, in chapter 10, it says, verse 19: "There was a division, therefore, again among the Jews because of the sayings." He said some said He had a devil, some said He's mad. Some said, "Oh, the devil can't open the eyes of the blind." Still referring back to that man on that Sabbath, healed.

   Now, notice verse 22: It skips all away from that feast account to December. "It was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication"—that's three months later, and the Feast of Tabernacles that had just ended. So it gets three whole months in Jesus' life right there from that last eighth great day all the way down to the Feast of Dedication in December in the winter. Jesus is up there walking in Solomon's porch, Jews come around about Him. So there again, you see the story flow.

   Now, in verse 39 notice: "Therefore, they sought again to take Him, but He escaped out of their hand. And then He went again beyond the Jordan into the place where John at first baptized." So now He leaves Jerusalem, goes beyond Jordan. Many resorted to Him there. And verse 42: "Many believed on Him there." A certain man was sick named Lazarus. Where is that? Down there in Jerusalem, a suburb of Bethany, thereby the Jordan. So here He is in chapter 11, bringing you an account of Lazarus in the miracle there.

   Then, verse seven: After that, He says to His disciples, "Let's go into Judea." Let's get out of Jerusalem environs and get back out into the country surrounding Jerusalem in the land of Judea. And His disciples said, "Well, the Jews have been seeking to stone you." Then, skipping on down, verse 18: "Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles out." Continues this accounting then.

   So, Jesus would go to Jerusalem, back out to Bethany—this is all during that December. He's up there for the Feast of Dedication.

   Now, let's skip on down to verse 55 in chapter 11: "The Jews' Passover is near." So you skip all the way from December all the way to March and April—Holy Day to Holy Day, to Holy Day, with all Sabbaths in between. Now, "the Jews' Passover is near hand," and many are going out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. And then they sought for Jesus. "What do you think, that He will not come to the feast?" because He'd been staying out of Judea because they'd been trying to kill Him. So, now they weren't sure He'd be up there at this feast. So the chief priests and Pharisees had given a commandment: If any knew where He were, He should show it.

   Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, comes to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who'd been dead six days before the Passover. And you know, when would that be? Well, read about Palm Saturday.

   Verse 12: "On the next day, much people that would come up to the feast..." In other words, they'd come down early to get themselves ready for the Passover. And here comes the Saturday—Palm Saturday. And you know the stories about the palm trees and all of those things.

   Now, the rest of chapter 11—or 12, rather—relates to these events while Jesus is up there getting ready. And during this time, right before the Passover. Now, notice chapter 13: "Before the feast of the Passover..." And you know from John 13 on, it is all about the last Passover of Jesus. In fact, all the way through chapter 17 is just a recording of the statement Jesus made on that night of the Passover.

   So, you know, the next time you look at the Gospel of John, I hope you'll come to recognize that sure enough, it is a record of the Holy Days and the Sabbath of Jesus. Let me tell you this too: For years and years, people have known that the way to prove the length of Jesus' ministry is to count the number of Passovers. You want to try that in Matthew? Can't do it. Try that in Mark, Luke? Can't do it. Where do you have to go in order to know that Christ's ministry was 3.5 years? That counts Passovers in John. People have done that for years.

   And yet, you know, you'll never imagine how many times in your Bible God's, Holy Days, and God's Sabbaths are hidden away, buried. You know, when do you think God had Abraham go up to offer Isaac on the altar? When do you think God made the promise to Abraham? When do you think God renewed the promise to Isaac? When do you think God renewed the promise to Jacob? When do you think Israel came out of Egypt? Exactly how many years from a previous day, it says, "on the exact same day"?

   I'm really looking forward to the day when God puts the real flashlight of enlightenment on all the Sabbaths and Holy Days in the Bible. I hope at least this will assure you that you'll be here when Trumpets roll around, you'll be here when the Day of Atonement rolls around. You won't let somebody try to kid you that Jesus did away with all those Holy Days. Jesus did away with the Sabbath when there are 14 different statements Jesus makes in the Gospels about how to keep the Sabbath.

   So, don't let anybody mislead you about the Sabbath and Holy Days. God gave them to us. They're for us, there for man's good. They keep you in mind of God's plan. I can't imagine why anybody would want to get away from the Holy Days. I kept Passover, I think, 27 years; I've kept the Feast of Tabernacles, 26 years so far. I haven't had one feel for bondage. Can you imagine the yoke of bondage—take off for eight days and go somewhere and stay in a nice place and see all the old-timers you're happy to see and have good meals and, you know, enjoy and hear other guys get to preach? How can anybody call that a yoke of bondage unless they're getting dull hearing or unless they just kind of want to be like everybody else and not be restrained on any days without jobs? And people must just be wanting an excuse.

   Yet, I find out people say, "What all can we do on the Sabbath Day?" I don't think you've got enough habits to have to worry about that? Are you so sure you're gonna be ready to be a king and priest when Christ comes back? You can take off fishing on a Sabbath and sit around and watch TV on the Sabbath? Do you think you're so much ready to be a king and a priest that you don't have to get your nose in that Bible and get yourself down on your knees and get your connection with God and your knowledge of God's way?

   I don't have any time on the Sabbath to wade out deep-sea fishing or watching a bunch of ball games on TV. I don't have enough time on the Sabbath to sleep 10 and 12 hours. I don't have enough time. I don't have enough Sabbaths left to come half the time to church. I don't have enough Sabbaths and Holy Days left to come to one service and skip out on the other one. I know. I've heard people say, "Well, you know, when I go to the Feast of Tabernacles, that's my only vacation. I'm sure not going to be there for all those services, I want to take off a day or two or so and go fishing..." Well, you know, you can tell that to Christ when He comes back, "When He says hey uh, we're supposed to make ready the people. How come you're not ready?"

   Well, I just thought I had plenty of time, and, you know, I didn't see any sense of urgency to really study every Sabbath and pray on the Sabbath and, uh, you know, work with my family, and I, you know, I... Sorry. I just thought I had plenty of time, and I just want to know what all I could do on the Sabbath."

   You better be getting yourself ready to be a king and priest because before you know it, God's gonna ship you off to your five cities; you're gonna be scared. I mean, even when you're changed into one of God's sons, you're not going to just go out with all kinds of 1000 years of experience of confidence. You're gonna say, "Boy, oh boy, I better get myself down to brass tacks and close to God so I can have God's power and really be ready to go out and rule over five cities or 10 cities."

   You know, what if that had happened today? If Christ all of a sudden had come back and decided He was going to ship you out over here and let you handle five cities or like Austin and Waco and all of those over in that area—now, what would happen to you if He told you that today? I bet you'd have quaked in your boots. I bet you'd have gotten down with your Bible and you'd have bloodshot eyeballs from reading all day. I'll tell you, time is short, and the time soon when we've got to be ready to be kings and priests.

   So don't be asking me what all you can do on the Sabbath day—or you can study every Sabbath day, and you can pray every Sabbath day. You can make up for lost time. You can fellowship with God's people. You can do good on the Sabbath Day. You can work—spiritual work for charity and kindness and love and brotherliness on a Sabbath day. Jesus has worked on Sabbaths forever—spiritual work.

   Let's use the Sabbath and the Holy Days for what they're given to us for and not become so materialistic and so pleasure-mad that we even rob God's time that He's guaranteed us so we can be ready when the time comes.