Lesson 24 Part 1
Bible Correspondence Course Lesson 24 Part 1 The Truth About God’s Holy Sabbath
What is God’s PURPOSE for His weekly Sabbath? Why do so few understand that keeping the Sabbath brings special BLESSINGS? Let’s learn HOW and WHY New Testament Christians are to keep God’s Sabbath day holy. DOES it really matter on which day of the week we worship God? Is the observance of any day of the week in honor of the Creator equally acceptable?
God commands us to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work" (Exodus 20:8-10). But why should we observe God’s holy Sabbath day? What purpose does the seventh-day Sabbath serve in the 20th century space age? And how does one keep it holy?
Created by Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the member of the God Family through whom God created all things (Ephesians 3:9;Hebrews 1:1-2). But did you know that Christ, the Word (John 1:1-3,John 1:14), also "made" the Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28)and later kept it as a human?
After finishing His work of renewing the face of the earth and creating all physical life upon it in six days, the Word "rested" on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3;Exodus 20:11). By resting on the seventh day, He "sanctified" it, setting it apart for a special purpose. The word "Sabbath" means rest in Hebrew. God intended the seventh day to be a period of rest and relaxation from our regular work of the previous six days. And so God set the example for mankind by ceasing from all work on the seventh day of what is commonly called creation week. By so doing, He made the Sabbath and set apart every future seventh day as a time of rest for man. But the purpose for keeping God’s Sabbath goes far beyond simply resting from our labors every seventh day.
Why the Sabbath? When God does anything, or makes anything, there is a reason—an important purpose.
God created man and put him here on earth for a purpose. But mankind has lost the knowledge of that great purpose.
God, through the Word, made the Sabbath. But why? What purpose does it serve? Mankind has lost knowledge of that important purpose, too!
Jesus Christ said the Sabbath was "made for man" (Mark 2:27), but He did not then say why, or for what great purpose the Sabbath was made, except to serve and benefit man.
God revealed that important purpose to His chosen people about 1,500 years earlier, shortly after delivering them from slavery in Egypt.
After God spoke the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai and His covenant with Israel had been made complete, God made a totally separate and eternally binding covenant with His people (Exodus 31:12-17).
Notice the conditions of this special covenant: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that cloth sanctify you" (Exodus 31:12-13).
Here, then, is the purpose of the Sabbath. It is a "sign." A sign is a badge, symbol or token of identity. God commanded His people to keep His Sabbath as a sign to identify WHO is their God!
God gave man His Sabbath for the purpose of keeping mankind in the true knowledge and true worship of the true God. The Sabbath points back to the creation of the present physical world (Exodus 20:11;Exodus 31:17), and creation is proof of God’s existence. The very day God set aside for assembly and worship points as a memorial to WHOM we are to worship—the Creator and Ruler of all that is! But that is not all.
Sabbath Identifies God’s People The Sabbath was also given as a sign to identify who are the people of God. Not only does this special covenant say, "...that ye may know that I am the LORD...", but "...that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Exodus 31:13). The word "sanctify" means to set apart for a holy use or purpose. On the seventh day of creation week, the Eternal sanctified—that is, He set apart for a holy use—the Sabbath day. The special Sabbath covenant also reveals that the Sabbath is a sign that the Eternal sanctifies His obedient people—sets them apart from other people—for His holy purpose. In Old Testament times, God’s people were the tribes that composed the nation of Israel. In New Testament times, God’s people are spiritual Israelites (Galatians 3:28-29)--those of His own Spirit-led Church—His Spirit-begotten children. And they are being prepared by God for a holy use. For these "firstfruits" (James 1:18)of God’s Master Plan, the Sabbath foreshadows the completion of God’s spiritual creation in them. It pictures their being BORN into the Kingdom or Family of God to be rulers and teachers of His Word in tomorrow’s world (Revelation 5:10). The Test Commandment In Exodus 16:1-36 we find that Sabbath keeping was a test of the Israelites’ obedience to God. God told Moses He was going to "prove them, whether they will walk in my law" (Exodus 16:4).
God’s sign is one we accept voluntarily. But how many do you know who keep the seventh-day Sabbath? It is obvious to the world when one keeps God’s Sabbath. But most people don’t want to be identified as being different from the world.
Many professing Christians are willing at least to acknowledge that the other nine commandments should be kept, but the one commandment they reject and refuse to keep is the Fourth!
Therefore it is the crucial test of obedience, for it identifies those who have truly surrendered to God—who obey all of His commandments regardless of persecution or cost!
God commands us to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). God is giving us a TEST—an examination relevant to our entrance into eternal life in His Kingdom—every week! What kind of grade is God giving you?
Let’s begin an in-depth study of this most important day of the week to make sure we are passing God’s test.
LESSON 24 God’s Special Creation for Man The seventh-day Sabbath was a unique creation. It was not until God’s physical creation, including man, was complete that the Creator brought the Sabbath into existence. The plain truth about God’s holy Sabbath day begins in the second chapter of Genesis.
1. On which day of what is commonly called creation week did God rest? Genesis 2:1-3;Exodus 20:11.Did God rest because He was tired from all the work He had done during the previous six days? Isaiah 40:28.
COMMENT: God is composed of spirit and therefore never becomes tired. God created or "made" (Mark 2:27)the Sabbath by resting, whereas all else was created and made by working. By resting on the seventh day, God also set an example for mankind to follow.
2. What did God do to the seventh day? Genesis 2:3.
COMMENT: Notice that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. By resting on the seventh day of creation week, God put His divine presence in it, making it holy. Therefore He set it apart from the other six days of the week for a holy use. In so doing, He also made every future seventh day of the week holy!
God established the Sabbath as the time from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Each week when that time arrives, we are in holy time! It is GOD’S time, not ours. God made it holy, and in the Fourth Commandment He commands us to keep it holy!
3. Which member of the God Family made that first Sabbath? Colossians 1:13-16;Mark 2:28.Is the seventh-day Sabbath one of the Creator God’s Holy Days? Isaiah 58:13.
COMMENT: As we have proved conclusively from our studies with previous lessons, Jesus Christ was the Lord God who revealed Himself to ancient Israel throughout the Old Testament. God the Father created all things through Him. Jesus Christ is therefore "Lord of the Sabbath" because He made it. So the seventh-day Sabbath is the real "Lord’s Day"!
4. For whom did Jesus say the Sabbath was made? Mark 2:27.Who would that include? Exodus 20:8-10,especially Exodus 20:10.
COMMENT: "The Sabbath was made for man," declared Jesus. Every seventh day from creation week was set apart by God as time to be specially observed by mankind, regardless of race or nationality. The Sabbath was made for Adam and all of his descendants, including everyone today! The seventh-day Sabbath was to benefit all who would ever live—if they would keep it as God intended.
5. How did God intend the Sabbath to benefit mankind? Deuteronomy 5:14;Exodus 23:12.(Notice the words "rest" and "refreshed.")
COMMENT: The word "Sabbath" means rest in Hebrew, the language in which the Old Testament Scriptures were written. Physical rest and mental relaxation after a busy week are obvious reasons for keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. God knew humans would need periodic rest and change from work. But the purpose for keeping God’s Sabbath goes far beyond simply resting on it and being refreshed physically.
6. Is the Sabbath also a reminder of God’s creation? Exodus 20:8-11,especially Exodus 20:11.
COMMENT: Keeping God’s seventh-day Sabbath every week reminds us that God is the Creator of all that exists, including all of humanity. Thus the Sabbath is a memorial of God’s creation, which includes God’s great spiritual purpose for creating mankind. As we will learn later in this lesson, the Sabbath also pictures our eventual spiritual birth as members in God’s divine Family!
God set aside a special or hallowed one-seventh of the week to be a reminder of Him as Creator and of His purpose for our existence. The Sabbath is time in which we can be spiritually rejuvenated by having close spiritual contact with God. It allows us time to think more about God, to pray to and worship Him (both in private and in fellowship with others), and to study the Bible to understand more about His awesome purpose for our lives and how to achieve it!
Sabbath Day Miraculously Revealed to Israel From the time of creation week until the Exodus (about 2,500 years later), we find no specific mention of the Sabbath in the Bible. Obviously, however, "righteous" Abel (Hebrews 11:4), Enoch (who "pleased God"—verse 5), Noah (a "just man" and a "preacher of righteousness"—Genesis 6:9;2 Peter 2:5), Abraham (the father of the faithful—Romans 4:16), Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and others kept God’s Sabbath. These men were righteous in God’s sight, and righteousness is keeping God’s commandments (Psalms 119:172). Let’s especially notice the example of Abraham.
1. Are we told that Abraham kept God’s Law, which would have included His seventh-day Sabbath? Genesis 26:5.
COMMENT: The patriarchs knew and kept God’s Law. God would not have inspired Moses to write that Abraham kept His commandments, statutes and laws if he had kept the wrong day for the Sabbath or had not kept it at all!
2. Was God confident that Abraham would teach his children to keep His Law? Genesis 18:19.
COMMENT: Isaac kept the seventh-day Sabbath, since Sabbath keeping is a part of God’s Law—His way of life. Jacob (whom God later renamed Israel) also kept the Sabbath, following in his father Isaac’s footsteps. However, by the time of Moses, their descendants, the Israelites, had lost much, if not most, of the knowledge of God’s way.
Recall that after the death of Joseph, the children of Israel became slaves in Egypt, a land in which time was not measured by weeks, but only by months and years. The Israelites were forbidden to worship the true God and forced to work seven days a week. For about a century, they were not permitted to keep the Sabbath. But shortly after delivering them from Egypt, God made it absolutely clear to the Israelites exactly which day is His Sabbath by specially revealing it to them.
3. One month after leaving Egypt, and about two weeks before arriving at Mt. Sinai, where God thundered out the Ten Commandments, what did God promise to give the Israelites? Exodus 16:4.What did they call this bread? Exodus 16:15. (Be sure to read all of Exodus 16:1-36 before going any further.)
4. Was the raining of this bread from heaven also to be a test of the Israelites’ willingness to obey God? Exodus 16:4, last part. (Notice that God’s Law existed before He spoke the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.) Were they told not to save manna overnight for the next working day? Exodus 16:19. What happened to the manna the disobedient ones saved for the following day? Exodus 16:20.
5. Were the Israelites to gather twice the normal amount of manna on Friday morning? Exodus 16:5. Was this double portion to be enough for both Friday and Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath? Exodus 16:23.
6. Did the manna saved for the Sabbath stink and breed worms, as it did if saved overnight for any of the previous six days? Exodus 16:24. Was that because God withheld manna from falling on the seventh day, and miraculously preserved the portions saved for the Sabbath? Exodus 16:25-26.
7. But did some of the people disbelieve Moses and disobey God by trying to gather manna on the Sabbath? Exodus 16:27-28. Did God again command them not to work on the Sabbath? Exodus 16:29. What did the people finally do on the Sabbath? Exodus 16:30.
COMMENT: The absence of manna on the seventh day identified exactly which day was the Sabbath on which the Israelites were to rest from all their labors. Thus God miraculously revealed His Sabbath day to them!
Notice that God performed several miracles every week to point out the exact day of the Sabbath to the Israelites. He miraculously gave the people manna on the first six days of the week, including a double portion on the sixth day. And He preserved the leftover portion of Friday’s manna so it could be eaten on the Sabbath, since there would be none to gather on the seventh day, thereby giving the people rest from working on His Holy Day.
Every week God vividly reminded the Israelites of His seventh-day Sabbath. He performed these miracles week after week for forty years! (Exodus 16:35.) This clearly shows how important Sabbath keeping is to God! A Sign of Identification
God has a special sign that identifies His people. That sign of identification is His holy Sabbath day. Let’s understand how it identifies true Christians today.
1. In addition to commanding the Israelites to keep the Sabbath, revealing by the miracles of manna which day it is, and shortly thereafter including it as one of the Ten Commandments, did the One who later became Jesus Christ make Sabbath keeping an additional and separate covenant or agreement with His people? Exodus 31:12-16,especially Exodus 31:16. Was this covenant to be binding forever? Exodus 31:16-17.
2. Was the Sabbath to be a "sign" between the Creator and His people? Exodus 31:11-13, Exodus 31:17. Would He sanctify—set apart for a holy use—the Sabbath keepers? Exodus 31:13, last part.
COMMENT: A sign identifies. A sign may advertise a business’s name and the nature of the business. A sign may also proclaim certain other information. What knowledge does the Sabbath advertise? "That ye may know that I am the LORD" who "made heaven and earth" (Exodus 31:13,Exodus 31:17). The Sabbath identifies who the true God is. It is a reminder of the Creator of the heavens and earth!
God wanted ancient Israel to be sure to remember that He is Creator, Sustainer and Supreme Ruler over all His creation. So He singled out Sabbath observance as the one great sign by which they would always be reminded of who He is. But this special Sabbath covenant of Exodus 31:1-18 reveals that the Sabbath does more than identify the Creator. It is also a sign that identifies the true people of God: "That ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Exodus 31:13). The Sabbath was to point out who they were—His chosen people. It was the one commandment that would make Israel especially stand out from all other nations. As stated earlier in this lesson, most people do not want to be identified as being different from the world. Most simply will not keep the Fourth Commandment unless they truly want to obey all of God’s commandments. Therefore it is the crucial test of obedience today, just as it was for ancient Israel (Exodus 16:4), because it identifies those who have surrendered to God—who obey all of His commandments! And so God doubly commanded Sabbath observance by making it a separate covenant with His people after the covenant commonly called the Old Covenant (which included the Ten Commandments) had been completed, ratified, and put into force and effect. This special Sabbath covenant was to be an everlasting agreement. It was to be the sign that would identify the people of God of all generations, including "spiritual Israel" today—Spirit-begotten members of God’s Church.
3. Does the Bible reveal that a real Christian, regardless of race or nationality, is one who has become a spiritual Israelite—one of Abraham’s "seed" through Jesus Christ? Galatians 3:28-29;Romans 4:16;Ephesians 2:11-13,Ephesians 2:19.
COMMENT: God made the special Sabbath covenant with Abraham’s physical seed—the nation of Israel. It was to be obeyed throughout their generations. Today, all Spirit-begotten children of God—true Christians (Romans 8:9)--regardless of race or national origin, have become Abraham’s spiritual descendants, and therefore keep God’s Sabbath! They have been set apart ("sanctified"—Exodus 31:13)by God as His people.
However, most religious groups that profess to keep God’s seventh-day Sabbath do not keep all of God’s commandments. Therefore they are not part of the Church of God, which is composed of Spirit-begotten children of God. Jesus said that His disciples would keep all of His commandments (John 14:15,John 14:21). And God gives His Holy Spirit only to those who obey Him! (Acts 5:32.)
God’s special Sabbath covenant reveals another important reason why true Christians keep His Sabbath today. Let’s further understand why God wanted to sanctify the Israelites.
4. What were the Israelites to become if they obeyed God? Exodus 19:5-6.Were they to set an example of obedience for the Gentile nations? Deuteronomy 4:5-8.
COMMENT: Israel was to be set apart as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. They, by their example, were to lead the Gentiles to obedience to God so they could also receive the blessings that would result from keeping God’s Law.
God called the ancient Israelites out of slavery not only to fulfill His promises to the patriarchs, but also so that through the Israelites He could reveal Himself to the world—to show that He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe—and to reveal His laws, commandments, promises and blessings to the rest of mankind! So the keeping of God’s Sabbaths was to also be a sign that the Israelites were selected for this purpose.
5. Did the physical descendants of Abraham through Isaac become a holy nation and kingdom of priests? Ezekiel 20:13.(Notice the word "rebelled.") Did they keep God’s Sabbaths? Same verse.
COMMENT: The nation or Congregation of Israel was a physical type of God’s spiritual Church today. Had the Israelites obeyed God, they would have become a holy nation, fit and able to teach other nations. But they failed to keep the Sabbath holy. Therefore they failed to remember the true Creator God and failed to become a holy people and a light to the world.
6. Today, for what special purpose are Spirit-begotten Christians— spiritual Israelites—especially set apart from this present evil world? 1 Peter 2:5,1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:10;Revelation 20:6.Are they the light that ancient Israel failed to become? Matthew 5:14,Matthew 5:16.
COMMENT: As we learned in Lesson 16, the Old Covenant Israelites failed to respond to their calling because they did not have the Holy Spirit to help them recognize or understand this call and carry it out. But we, if we are converted spiritual Israelites, do have the perception and power through the Holy Spirit to recognize our calling and obey God.
It is we who keep God’s Sabbath day holy and keep His other commandments who will become God’s "holy nation" and "kingdom of priests"! We will become this holy nation when we are born into the Kingdom of God at Christ’s soon coming. Christ will then have made us "kings and priests" unto Himself and His Father (Revelation 1:6). As members of the ruling Family of God, we will be prepared to teach, serve and save the world throughout the Millennium and beyond!
True Church Kept God’s Sabbath
Jesus, our perfect example, kept the seventh-day Sabbath properly. So did the Church He founded. The example set by Christ and His apostles is recorded in the Bible for us to follow today.
1. Did Jesus set an example of how we are to live? 1 Peter 2:21;1 John 2:6.
COMMENT: Jesus taught His disciples how to live the Christian way of life. He also showed how He, as Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), intended the Sabbath to be kept. And Jesus shows us today, by His recorded example and teaching, how the Sabbath is to be a great joy and blessing.
2. How do we know Christ kept the Sabbath? Luke 4:16,Luke 4:31.
COMMENT: Jesus regularly attended religious services on the Sabbath day "as his custom was." He obeyed His own command to meet every Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3). This is the day He would naturally have observed, because He is the One who made the Sabbath and ordained that it be kept holy!
3. Did the women who came with Jesus from Galilee observe the Sabbath a few days after He was crucified? Luke 23:55-56.Was the first day of the week (Sunday) still a regular work day? Luke 24:1.
COMMENT: Notice the words according to the commandment" in Luke 23:56.Writing this account perhaps 30 years later, Luke knew the Sabbath commandment was still in effect.
4. Was it also the Apostle Paul’s custom to keep the Sabbath? Acts 17:12.Did Paul keep the Sabbath because he felt like it, or because Jesus Christ dwelt in him through the Holy Spirit? Galatians 2:20.Does Christ’s will remain the same forever? Hebrews 13:8.
COMMENT: It is quite plain that the Apostle Paul observed the same day Christ did. And if Christ lives His life in us today through God’s Spirit, we will also be keeping the same day Jesus kept—the seventh-day Sabbath!
5. Was the Apostle Paul specially taught by Christ in preparation for his ministry? Galatians 1:11-12,Galatians 1:17-18.
COMMENT: Christ trained Paul for his ministry to the Gentiles, apparently during the three years he was in Arabia. Had Christ done away with any of His Father’s laws or changed the Sabbath to some other day, He certainly would have revealed it to Paul. But no changes were made. Paul taught the Church of God exactly what Christ taught him to preach, as the Bible clearly shows! Notice further.
6. Did Paul, even in a predominantly Gentile city, observe the seventh-day Sabbath? Acts 18:1-4,Acts 18:6, Acts 18:11.
COMMENT: For over 18 months in Corinth, Paul labored during the first six days of the week as a tentmaker. Then he preached every Sabbath—on Saturday, the seventh day! Notice how the Sabbath was regarded by Gentile converts in the early Church.
7. On one particular occasion Paul preached to both Jews and Gentiles on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14-42). After the Jews left the synagogue, did the Gentiles ask Paul to preach to them again on the next Sabbath? Acts 13:42. On the next Sabbath, how many came to hear Paul? Acts 13:44.
COMMENT: Notice that it was the practice of many Gentiles to meet with the Jews on the Sabbath. And because these Gentiles were interested in Paul’s message, they asked him to speak about Jesus again on the very next Sabbath.
Even though this would have been a good opportunity to do so, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, did not tell them to cease assembling on the Sabbath for worship!
If we could find even one text in the New Testament giving us as strong authority for Sunday observance as these do for Sabbath keeping, we would have Scriptural authority for observing the first day of the week. But it just isn’t there! The phrase "first day of the week" is found eight times in the New Testament. But in not one of these eight texts is there found any authority for changing the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday, as our free booklet Which Day Is the Christian Sabbath? thoroughly explains. (A future lesson will cover the details of how men, not God, changed the Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week.)
8. Since Paul followed the example of Christ who dwelt in him, what did he command the Gentile Christians at Corinth? 1 Corinthians 11:1.Did he command the Philippians to do likewise? Php 3:17.
COMMENT: Paul taught the converted, Spirit-begotten Gentile Christians to imitate his obedience to God, even as he imitated Christ’s obedience. The Christian Gentiles of the early Church of God always assembled on the Sabbath day, just as Christ did while in the flesh, in order to keep the day God commands in His Word. In like manner today, all Spirit-begotten children of God imitate Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul by keeping the seventh-day Sabbath holy!
9. What did Christ say that indicates His Church would still be keeping the Sabbath even at the time of the end, just before His Second Coming? Matthew 24:20.
COMMENT: Christ clearly shows here that His Church would continue to keep His Sabbath commandment. The early Church of God fled from Jerusalem before the city was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. True Christians were keeping the Sabbath at that time. But this prophecy is dual, and its main fulfillment is yet in the future. It shows that God’s people will then still be keeping His Sabbath! For over 1,900 years, God’s one and only Church has continued to keep the commandments of God, including the seventh-day Sabbath! (Revelation 12:17;Revelation 14:12.) Weekly Cycle Remains Unchanged Would God set apart a certain day of the week, put His blessing on it, make it holy time, command that it be kept holy forever, and then let that holy time become "lost" so we would not know when to keep it today? Absolutely not!
God has seen to it that the knowledge of when to keep His holy Sabbath day has been preserved.
1. What did God entrust the tribe of Judah—the Jews—to preserve? Romans 3:1-2.
COMMENT: Paul shows that God used the Jews to preserve the Hebrew or Old Testament Scriptures ("oracles"). God caused the Jews to preserve this revealed knowledge for His New Testament, Spirit-begotten Church!
2. What did Jesus say that shows the Old Testament Scriptures had been preserved? Matthew 5:17-18;Luke 16:17;John 5:46-47.
COMMENT: The Jews carefully preserved God’s Word. Jesus plainly indicated it was intact in His day and dogmatically stated it would NEVER BE LOST! The Jews also preserved God’s calendar, which includes the weekly cycle and the true Sabbath day, as well as the correct dates for the annual festivals.
3. Can we be absolutely certain that the Jews preserved and observed the right day for the Sabbath up to the time Jesus lived? Luke 4:16.
COMMENT: Notice again that it was Jesus’ "custom" to keep the same Sabbath day the Jews observed. The One who made the Sabbath would not have been keeping the wrong day! Clearly the Jews at that time knew which day of the week was God’s Sabbath.
Notice also that Jesus gave His official approval of the Scriptures the Jews used by reading aloud from them in the synagogues on the Sabbath day! But could time have been "lost" between then and now? After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Jews eventually migrated to all parts of the world. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Jews in China had no way of communicating with the Jews in Africa. Nor could the Jews in Europe communicate with other parts of the world.
If the weekly cycle had been changed or mixed up, the Jews in one part of the world would be observing one day for the Sabbath, while the Jews in another part would be observing another day. But everywhere, in every nation on earth, we find that the Jews have always been observing the same day Jesus kept—the seventh day, Saturday! This practice of the Jews is proof that we have not lost the right day for God’s Sabbath. Even though the Jews in general have lacked spiritual understanding and have disobeyed the Scriptures (John 7:19;Romans 3:3-4), and although they became overly strict in keeping the Sabbath by adding many of their own customs and traditions, the Jews have faithfully retained the knowledge of the correct day for God’s Sabbath. (Request our free booklet Has Time Been Lost? for additional proof that the weekly cycle has not been broken.)