Sabbath as a Fulfillment of Rev. 12:17 & 14:12

The context of Revelation 12:17 shows clearly what is meant by it. The chapter opens with the birth of Jesus Christ and a recounting of the fall of Satan. After the war in Heaven, and the fall of Satan, Satan is shown persecuting the saints. But the saints find refuge in the wilderness for a "time, and times, and half a time." |0+|

After the saints are preserved in the wilderness, Satan is even more angry and frustrated; he plans a final assault. It is in the context of this final assault that our text is found.

There are two things that set this final group of saints apart and make Satan so angry with them. The first is that they keep the commandments of God. The second is that they have the testimony of Jesus.

Notice, it doesn't say that they "try" to keep the commandments. They do keep them. It doesn't say that they "all love Jesus." There is more to this group than simply a love for Jesus. If we love Him, we keep His commandments. The thing that especially sets this group apart is that they keep God's commandments, and that makes Satan very angry because he cannot tempt this group into sin.

It is beyond the scope of this web site to delve into the "testimony of Jesus." I am trying to find the time to develop a similar web site that will address the subject of Bible Prophecy; this topic would ultimately be covered there. Our topic now is commandment keeping.

Let's look at our other text, Rev. 14:12. The context of this text is even clearer than the first. This text follows the "three angels' messages", which end with the judgment of God against all the wicked. Thus, the group mentioned in this text are those who have survived the judgment and are counted worthy for translation.

Again, there are two attributes of this group: they keep the commandments and they have the faith of Jesus. What is the common ground between these two texts? Simply this: the last group of saints; the group that sees Jesus come in the clouds; the group that survives Satan's last attack; the group that stands in the judgment, is the group that keeps the commandments of God. This is further clarified as we see who inherits the city of the New Jerusalem: "they that do his commandments." (Rev. 22:14)

Now, we need to know exactly what we are talking about. What commandments are important as we face the judgment? James 2:12 states, "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." We are judged according to how we measure up against the law of liberty. What law is James talking about? He tells us in verse 11: it is the Ten Commandment Law. Of course he does not recite the whole thing, yet, there is no mistaking the specific commandments he does quote.

We must ask now, does anyone really have a problem with the fact that we should not kill? No, of course not. That commandment makes sense, and we can understand why God would make it a universal law of His government. What about stealing? No problem there! It only makes sense. What about worshipping other gods instead of the Lord? Certainly not! It is clear why that commandment is part of God's government.

The only problem modern Christians have with God's unchanging moral law, the transcript of His government, is the fourth commandment. If the prophetic texts we are studying could be fulfilled by saying, "they that keep all the commandments BUT ONE and have the faith of Jesus", there would be a lot more people in that group when the day comes. Most people don't want to kill, lie, steal, and commit adultery. They sincerely desire to keep God's other commandments, just not the fourth one. Yet, the texts we are studying state that the final group of saints keep ALL the commandments.

The Sabbath commandment is the only one that seems sort of arbitrary. The other commandments make sense to us, but the fourth one seems sort of capricious on God's part. Why did He just pick a day and ask us to keep it holy? Friend, we can't answer why God did it. Perhaps it is the true test of loyalty. Perhaps God wants to see who will obey what He says--just because He says it--forget about how sensible it may or may not seem.

God asks for unswerving obedience to His will. Those who will not render it are unsafe to have in the universe. They have cherished the feeling of rebellion, which started with Satan. Only those who have crucified self and live only for God, in obedience to His moral law, are safe to save.

We are not saying here that everyone who died keeping Sunday or another day holy is lost. Not only Sabbath-keepers will be in Heaven, and many Sabbath-keepers will be excluded from Heaven for other reasons. Many people over the ages have not understood all of God's claims upon them. However, those that will be in Heaven will be there because they no longer have a rebellious spirit against God. Those saints who have died without keeping the Sabbath due to ignorance would have kept the Sabbath, had they known it was required of them. Rebellion against God is the issue of the struggle, and those saints who died in ignorance of God's Sabbath Law did not die as rebels. God knows that they are safe to save.

Today it is a different story. The message is going out around the world that Christ is coming back very soon, and He is looking for a peculiar people: a people who keep the commandments--ALL OF THEM. If, after going through this website, and hearing the convicting voice of the Spirit of God, you decide that it really is not important after all; if you decide that it would be inconvenient or even hard to keep the Sabbath, so you won't do it; if you decide that your friends or family might deride you; if you decide that you have other things to do on that day; if the Lord comes and finds you not keeping His commandments, you will both know then that you are not safe to save.

Once there was a little boy who liked to bring his mother flowers. Every day after school, the little boy would pick dandelions on his way home. He would fashion these into a little bouquet and proudly present them to his mother as he came in the door.

Mother always accepted them with joy and kissed her little boy on the top of his head. They both loved each other and tried to show it.

As the boy grew up, Mother told him that she really hated dandelions, but preferred roses instead. At first the boy was crushed. He thought that mother had not even liked his gift all these years. Mother hastened to explain that she understood the motive in her boy's heart and accepted her boy and his love, even though the dandelions were not acceptable to her. He then understood that all those vases of dandelion bouquets were because mother loved him, not his dandelions.

As this was revealed to him, a thought crossed his mind: roses cost money. How could he bring mother roses home all the time? It would break him to do it. Then he thought about how precious his mother was. He considered all that she had done for him, and all that she would yet do. He loved her and wanted to make her happy.

Although the boy couldn't bring home roses every day, once a week he stopped by the flower shop and bought a dozen lovely rose buds. As each new bouquet of roses went into the vase, the boy felt even greater joy because now, not only was he expressing his love for his mother, he was doing it in the very way which made her the most happy. And, the roses seemed to make it through one week before they started to droop, at which time they were replaced by a fresh bouquet.

Now, we have only one question to ask. How would mother have felt, and how would she have handled her son, if after telling him which flowers she loved and which she hated, her boy had just gone on bringing her dandelions?

God has a day that He loves. We don't know all the reasons why, but it doesn't really matter does it? You see, each of us is on trial. We are on trial to see what is in our hearts. If the seeds of rebellion are still there when Jesus comes again, we will not be going home with Him, and there's only one other alternative besides that. We don't keep the Sabbath in order to be saved--Jesus knows a legalistic ploy as He searches our hearts. Those who will be standing in that last group on that last day will be standing because they have decided to keep all the commandments. They have decided to keep them because they love their Master more than anything else and want only to please Him. They keep the Sabbath because they love Jesus and He has said to keep it. It is as simple as that.

Do you love Jesus? If the answer is really "yes" then you want to please Him. In gratitude to Him for His life and death for you, will you bring Him more dandelions? Or, will you seek to please Him in every way, thus putting away spiritual rebellion?