Note the following story, as told in the New International Version, of Naaman and Elisha the prophet:
2 Ki 5:1 Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
2 Ki 5:2 Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife.
2 Ki 5:3 She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
2 Ki 5:4 Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.
2 Ki 5:5 "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing.
2 Ki 5:6 The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."
2 Ki 5:7 As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"
2 Ki 5:8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."
2 Ki 5:9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house.
2 Ki 5:10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."
2 Ki 5:11 But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
2 Ki 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.
2 Ki 5:13 Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!"
2 Ki 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
Now I ask you, what if Naaman had gone and washed himself seven times in the one of the rivers of Damascus instead of the Jordan? Surely the rivers of Damascus were cleaner, and deeper, and more convenient for Naaman. Bathing in some other river than the Jordan would surely have washed off the dirt, and maybe even made him feel better. But, would Naaman have been healed of his leprosy by dipping himself seven times in the Abana or Pharpar rivers in Damascus? Is there anyone who would like to say he would have been healed by going to any other river than the Jordan?
With this story, and answer in mind, God has designated the seventh day as the weekly Sabbath, a day set aside as a blessing for the people of God. That day is, without any doubt, Saturday, and begins and ends at the setting of the Sun. Now, in a manner similar to Naaman, some might say, oh but that is so incredibly inconvenient, Sunday is so much better, and more suitable, because Christ was resurrected on that day. Besides, keeping the seventh-day Saturday Sabbath of the Lord would be so legalistic and Pharisaic, and this is not something that really matters to God anyway.
For those who think that way, let me ask you, what difference does the river make?
Sunday
Is Not The Sabbath!
Did The Apostles Keep Sunday?
