that keeping a sabbath is not included: “For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep yourselves free from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things killed without draining their blood and from fornication.”—Acts 15:1-29, NW.

But did not Jesus, when on earth, observe the sabbath? Yes, he did. Why? Because he was “made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law”. (Gal. 4:4, 5) But remember that he observed not only the sabbath day but also the passover and all the other features of the Mosaic law. “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill,” he stated, adding that not even the smallest part of the Law would pass away until all had been fulfilled. With the fulfillment of the pictorial features of the Law arrangement by Christ Jesus it passed away, and to take its place he instituted a new covenant.—Matt. 5:17, 18, NW; John 1:29, 36; 1 Cor. 5:7; 2 Cor. 3:5-11, NW.

OTHER SABBATHS

While we thus see that Christians are not obligated to observe a weekly rest day, nevertheless they do have a rest, a sabbath: “So then, there remains a sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever enters God’s rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his.” (Heb. 4:9, 10, RS) God rested from his works, not that he was tired, for he wearies not, but in the sense that he “desisted” from further creative activity as regards this earth. He viewed his creation with exhilarating satisfaction and was “refreshed” thereby.—Gen. 2:1-4, AT; Ex. 31:17.

Does that mean that God is still resting in that sense? Yes, it does. Note Psalm 95:7-11 where God states that he swore that the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness would not enter into his rest, and that was about 2,500 years after creation. And since Paul counsels Christians to enter into God’s rest, it must have continued until his day, 4,000 years after creation. Other scriptures indicate that God’s day will continue until the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, thus giving it a total length of 7,000 years.—Heb. 4:11; 1 Cor. 15:25-28; Rev. 20:5, 6.

Then the days mentioned in Genesis chapter 1 were not 24 hours long? No; remember that the sun did not shine upon the earth until the fourth day and it is the sun that gives us the 24-hour day. Besides, from such sciences as geology it appears that both plant and animal life have been on this earth far more than 6,000 years. Note too that the entire period of creation is referred to as “the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven”. (Gen. 2:4, AS) A day in the Bible is not always 24 hours long; 7,000 years for each of the creative days as well as the rest day is consistent with the Scriptures.—2 Pet. 3:8.

Getting back to God’s rest day. How, then, does the Christian enter that rest? Paul states that the Jews failed to enter it because of disobedience and lack of faith. So “we who have exercised faith do enter into the rest . . . Let us therefore do our utmost to enter into that rest, for fear anyone should fall in the same example of disobedience”. (Heb. 4:3-11, NW) Yes, by exercising faith in God and by following in the footsteps of Christ we will have rest from all selfish works, a rest not just one day a week but every day.

Since the sabbath was a part of the law and the “Law has a shadow of the good things to come”, of what was the sabbath a shadow? Of the grand rest day for all mankind, the 1,000-year reign of Christ, the seventh 1,000 years of God’s rest day. For six thousand years mankind has been toiling and suffering under “the god of this world”, Satan the Devil. In that antitypical sabbath Christ will free men from the bondage of Satan and his demons, from sin, sickness and death, even as he freed a “daughter of Abraham” from the bondage of physical infirmity on a typical sabbath 1,900 years ago.—Heb. 10:1, NW; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 20:1-3; 21:1-4; Luke 13:16.

Learned Truth Before Too Late

ON JUNE 6, 1950, 60-year-old Teodoro Barrameda died in the electric chair at Muntinlupa, Rizal, in the Philippine Islands. He was executed for having been a pro-Japanese collaborator during World War II. His case was very unusual and caused a great stir among the people.

From 1931 to 1933 this man had been a policeman in Lipa. Then he served as a soldier, after which he turned to farming. Shortly before the war he became interested in politics and joined the Filipino Ganap “fifth column” in Batangas. When the Japanese came in he signed up with their occupational police force.

The war over, he was brought to trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment on four counts. He was accused of being involved in the death of four Americans, besides the burning of an aged woman, the cold-blooded killing of two blind boys, and giving aid and comfort to the enemy. These charges, however, he flatly denied as false. When the case was appealed the supreme court turned a jurisprudent handspring and changed the life sentence to the death sentence. Twice he pleaded to President Quirino and twice the president refused to commute the sentence. All human efforts to save his life failed.

Then something happened. During his confinement Barrameda came in contact with the message of the Kingdom and learned of God’s purpose to establish a new world of righteousness under His beloved King Christ Jesus. He began to study the Bible, gained knowledge of the truth, made a consecration, and was baptized June 12, 1949. During the last year of his life he served as one of Jehovah’s witnesses behind prison walls.

The day of execution came, and the formal order of death was read by the prison director. All present were astonished at Barrameda’s composure and calmness. Instead of spending the last few hours weeping and wailing and attending mass, as so many superstitious Catholic prisoners do, this man sang Kingdom songs of praise to Jehovah, thankful that he had had the opportunity to learn the truth before his death. He also talked freely with the prison guards, giving them comfort and hope. His conscience was clear. In ignorance he had become mixed up in politics, but he was entirely innocent of the barbaric crimes for which he was being executed. He declared that he was “a victim of manufactured accusations”, like Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero.

Brought into the death chamber, he refused to take morphine or chloroform, saying: “Only the guilty would want to be anaesthetized.” Unlike hardened criminals that are hateful and bitter, he kindly bade farewell to those that strapped him in the chair, in the spirit of a true Christian.—Matt. 5:44; Acts 7:60; Rom. 12:14; 1 Cor. 4:12, 13.

The mental resoluteness and serenity that come over one who knows he is right made a great impression on those present at Barrameda’s execution. As reporter Virgilio Talusan wrote in the Manila Daily Mirror: “The six newsmen who saw the execution, as well as the other witnesses, were unanimous in praising the courage of the man. But I beg to differ with them. I believe it is not courage but resignation, sustained by a trust in the man’s belief of a judgment in the life hereafter.” Put in better language, Barrameda feared Almighty God, not those who killed his body. His hope was in the resurrection, and, like the evildoer that hung on the torture stake next to Christ, he appealed his case to the Supreme Judge and hopes for life in the new-world paradise of righteousness.—Matt. 10:28; Luke 23:39-43, NW.