Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem several times before its final destruction. Nebuchadnezzar’s second attack came on March 16, 597 BC—a Sabbath. It appears that the end of the siege of Jerusalem following Nebuchadnezzar’s third attack also occurred on a Sabbath. These attacks on the Sabbath occurred more than once during Jerusalem’s history, and point to the Jews’ reluctance to fight and resist on the Sabbath.
In the centuries leading up to the time of Christ, the Sabbath was often chosen by the Jews’ enemies as the preferable day for an…
The word Sabbath literally means “rest,” and the Bible says that God blessed and sanctified, or set apart as holy, this first Sabbath rest day as a memorial of His finished work of creation. This is why the fourth commandment begins with a call to remember the seventh-day Sabbath rest.
Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem and its temple effectively destroyed what had remained of the Israelite nation after the Assyrian destruction of the ten northern tribes…
Many wars are fought over natural resources and food production, and the same technologies that have allowed for tremendous increases in crop yields also exact terrible collateral damage on the environment and on humanity. Tthe Bible’s Sabbath rest on the seventh day of each week, and the principles of wisely using and safeguarding the resources found in our environment, could make a difference for us today.
As the early Christian church grew, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians debated about the continuing relevance of certain institutions and commands dating from Old Testament…
