This issue in speaking to other Christians isn't concerning the fact that the Jews kept the 7th day Sabbath (Saturday).
They don't question the fact that the Jews met in their synagogues on Saturdays.
Their argument is that yes, Saturday was the Jewish Sabbath, but that Paul met with the Gentiles on Sunday. (and they quote Acts 20:6, 1 Cor. 16:20, Romans 14:5, Col. 2:16, and other verses) They say, he did not require the Gentiles to keep Saturday, and that Sunday was preferred, and that the day didn't really matter.

When presenting the Sabbath to other Christians, how this text is read does make a BIG DIFFERENCE.

I am talking from experience, for the changed words place this text into the same basket which Sunday Christians use to dismiss all the Sabbath texts in ACTS.

The argument goes -- Paul first talked to the Jews, so of course he had to go to their synagogues on Saturdays, that's when the Jews met, but that doesn't mean he didn't give the Gentiles Sunday as a better option for the "Lord's day" to get away from the problem of Judiazing.

So to simply say, the Jews wanted Paul to speak to them the next Sabbath, means absolutely nothing to them. Of course that is what Jews would do. (But it WASN'T the Jews who wanted to hear more)


When we show that Luke purposely used the word for GENTILES here it totally changes the pictures.

After the JEWS left the synagogue it was the GENTILE proselytes that beg Paul to come (not to the synagogue this time) but to a meeting for their Gentile friends and neighbors THE NEXT SABBATH.

If the Sunday Christian's theories were correct, Paul would have said -- "no need to wait for the Jewish Sabbath".

Yet the next Sabbath -- we don't see Paul and the Gentiles in the synagogue --
13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

Even though the earlier verses dealing with the previous Sabbath were very specific that it was in the synagogue, here we see NO MENTION of any synagogue.

And the Jews are envious and mad, not because their synagogue was overflowing with people, but because it was nearly empty, so they go and start trying to make trouble at the big meeting, (they were losing most of their members and didn't like it) and Paul tells them --

"It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

This is a very specific account dealing with GENTILES while separating from Jews, still worshipping on Saturday, NOT concerning JEWS worshipping on their regular Sabbath.

And the "other" Christian reads the NIV and sees your use of the KJV as strange and your insistence on it will be suspect by them. But you can still use Acts 13 in THEIR version. Acts 13:44 NIV84 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Acts 13:44 LEB And on the coming Sabbath, nearly the whole city came together to hear the word of the Lord. Acts 13:44 GNB The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord. The whole town was not Jewish.

No, without clarifying WHICH people were requesting the next meeting, Sunday Christians just discard the event as an overflow meeting of the Jews, with lots of visitors from down town, therefore not binding on Gentiles. They were coming to a Jewish meeting (which of course would be on Saturday) to see what Paul was talking about.

So which people requested the meeting on the next Sabbath?
Jews? (who would naturally ask for Sabbath)
Or Gentiles? (To whom Paul could easily have suggested a new day)

The NIV leaves the option open -- the KJV clarifies it.
Thus they aren't contradicting, but the KJV is more specific.



KJV
13:42 And when the Jews "loudaios" were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles "ethnos" besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

NIV
As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

What people?

Compare it with the Greek.


The word "loudaios" which is translated 193 times as "Jews" in scripture lets us know the Jews were leaving the synagogue.


Who are the "people" begging Paul to teach next Sabbath?

"ethnos" is the word used here, which is
translated Gentiles 93, nation 64, heathen 5, people 2


The Greek word for people is "ochlos" or "laos"

But Luke doesn't use those words, he chose the word "ethnos"
"ethnos" is Greek word you will usually find when the English word Gentiles is seen your Bibles.

Do not neglect the fact that Evangelicals often do not see a need for the KJV and your insistence on it does not further the cause, they may not listen to you...

That's not insisting on the KJV, it's seeking the meaning of the words. Does the Greek give us clearer information on who these "people" are? Yes, it does!
Evangelics usually have no problem with comparing the different versions.

Another text in the New Testament that deals with the Sabbath is found in Hebrews

4:9 There remains therefore a rest to the people of God.

Hebrews 3 and 4 has considerable to say about "rest" and it usually doesn't take long, when someone present Hebrews 4:9, before they encounter the following argument:

--The 4th commandment Sabbath was only a shadow of the rest in Christ. Hebrews is talking about finding rest in Christ, it's not telling us to keep the Sabbath.

But Hebrews does not say that!
It does not say "Today come out of the shadow of the old Sabbath and enter into the rest of Christ.

Instead Hebrews says:

TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR MY VOICE
DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART IN REBELLION

Three times the author repeats this phrase: (3:8. 3:15, 4:7)
What are we to do today? We are to hear God's voice and not harden our hearts in rebellion!

Do we find rest by setting aside the law? No, the Bible say in Psalms 119.165:
"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."
It also says in Isaiah 57.20-21 "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."

It's very true that Hebrews 3-4 ALSO refers to the spiritual resting in Christ. But it links the two together, it doesn't' separate them.
We are invited into the rest of fully depending on Christ
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)

The Sabbath is an illustration of this rest. It is a time when we put aside our own pursuits, daily jobs, business, etc. and rest in Christ.

So Hebrews chapters 3-4 is speaking of "resting in Christ" type of "rest".


The word most often used is "katapausis"
In fact it is used eight times in that passage.
It means a calming rest.

Therefore a Rest Remains for the people of God. (Hebs. 4:9)

Is this the Sabbath rest,
or just a "resting in Christ"?

The English word "rest" doesn't differentiate from the previous texts on "rest", but the Greek word does!

The word for "rest" in Hebrews 4:9 is (sabbatismos).
The term (sabbatismos) is seen in the writings of ancient Greek authors, and each time the term denotes the observance of the Sabbath.

So the text is saying, that Sabbath observance remains for the people of God.

This should make the NIV people happy --
For the NIV reads:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God

Good points.

In Heb 10 we have the "take away" model "He takes away the first to establish the second" when it comes to animal sacrifice laws -- ended by Christ.

In Heb 4 we have the "There REMAINS" model when Law from the time of the Psalms "remains for the people of God".

Notice that in the OT - "The GOSPEL was preached to THEM Just as it was to US" Heb 4:2.

Notice that in the OT - "They all drank from the same spiritual ROCK and that ROCK was Christ" 1Cor 10.

In the book of Hebrews it is the OT saints in Heb 11 that are held up as models for us - after the cross.

So then - did David "stop keeping the 7th day Sabbath" in Psalms since the saints in the OT were true saved-by-faith Christians? No - he was saved AND the "Sabbath Remained".

In fact Is 66:23 in heaven -- in the New Earth "from Sabbath to Sabbath shall ALL mankind come before Me to bow down" -- surely all are saved in that picture - yet all keep the actual Sabbath that "remains".

And of course you can always use the NASB - which most non-SDAs freely admit is more correct than the NIV in many cases where exact word translation is of interest.

in Christ,

Bob

Gentiles asking for a "next Sabbath Sermon" even while Jews are rejecting the message - is odd since it just means more Gospel to reluctant Jews in the Synagogue when of course they should have been talking about "come meet with us this Lord's Day - tomorrow for more Gospel sermons and no need to hear all this complaining among the Jews".

Acts 13

14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, ""Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.''
16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, ""Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:




42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath.


43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.

46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ""It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47 ""For so the Lord has commanded us, " I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.'''
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

We see gentiles in "Sabbath after Sabbath" synagogue worship services in Acts 13, and Acts 17 and Acts 18... is it any wonder that in Acts 15 when James wants to settle the issue about Gentiles he points out "Moses is preached every Sabbath in the synagogues"?? -- even the non-christian "God fearing Gentiles" were in the synagogues each Sabbath not just the Christian ones.

in Christ,

Bob

The most obvious and natural reading is not that the Jews went out and got the whole city interested in hearing Paul - and then became jealous that they were so good at getting the whole city to come out.

Rather it is that the gentiles got their many other gentile non-convert, non-Christian, non-jewish-anything friends to show up.

I have this discussion with non-SDAs at least once every week or every two weeks - they never argue that no gentiles were in the synagogue that first Sabbath Paul preached. OR that it is not the gentiles that are responding positively while most of the Jews are in rejection.