“What was taking you so long? I was almost ready to give up on you. We could have stayed dry if you had come when I stopped,” scolded Adam, shaking off his rain soaked cap.
Isaac was silent, still trying to catch his breath and get his shivering under control. Water was coming off his hair in little streams running down his face and neck. Without waiting for a response, Adam had his phone in hand and was snapping a couple pics of his new passenger. Titling them, ‘Wet lost lamb’, he sent them off into cyberspace.
“There, all done,” he said, putting his phone away. “I promised the wife I’d send pics of anyone I pick up. That way she knows who to look for if I don't come home.”
Isaac stuttered with the chills, “I'm not too dangerous.”
Adam had the brakes released and was going through the gears picking up speed quickly as he entered the east bound lanes of the freeway. Between shifts he cranked the heater fan to high and blistering heat began to rush out of the vent holes in the dash. Isaac could watch the colour of his wet denim jeans lighten as they dried out under the fiery blast. He reached out a white wrinkly finger to adjust the vent grills direction away from his scorching knee.
Cracking his side window open a bit to let the condensation escape the tight cab Adam brags. “It won't take long to warm up at 200 degrees. I put in an oversized heater core, and bigger fans. My name's Adam. Where abouts in Kelowna are you headed to?”
Feeling warmed and more comfortable, Isaac introduces himself and asks to be dropped off at the big mall where he would catch a city bus to his parents’ house if they were unable to pick him up.
“Sure, I will be driving right past it,” Adam replied. “What took you so long back there?” he questioned with some irritation.
“Well,” Isaac states, sitting up a bit straighter in the surprisingly comfortable passenger seat. “I didn't want to get a ride from you!”
Without a hint of offence, Adam smiles and asks, “Oh, why not? You afraid of trucks or something. Beggars can't be choosers you know.”
“No, it's nothing like that. I didn't want to ride with you because you seemed like a degenerate person driving a sinfully carnal truck and I was hoping for an uplifting, spirit building trip. In fact I was praying to God that you would go away, when he answered my cry of despair with that cloud burst, forcing me to get in with you.”
The sincere nature of Isaac's statement had no negative affect on Adam's smile as he laughingly said, “Well things aren't always what they appear. That lady on the trailer is just a painting and she has less exposed than most of the fine classical European art people rave about. And even sinners are capable of doing good. I stopped to pick you up didn’t I? And that rain thing, well we get those micro bursts from time to time. But we may be destined for a divine appointment, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what's in store for the trip.”
Caught off guard by Adam's calm response and still hoping to get expelled from this rolling den of iniquity, Isaac pushes Adam for reasons why he was working on the Lords day, a special day set aside for rest and rejuvenation, not only for those who loved and followed God, but for all of mankind. Rounding off his comments for good measure, with statements about how the Old Testament Sabbath breakers were to be stoned for their transgressions.
Adam was quiet for a while formulating his response. Isaac took the pause as a quick moral victory. Finally Adam replied in a slow purposeful cadence.
“You are mixing up the Sabbath day and Sunday as if they weren’t two completely separate things. The Sabbath God gave to Israel was to be kept on the seventh day, our Saturday. Not the first day of the week, which is our Sunday. The Sabbath rules don't apply to Sunday.”
Having practiced in mock debates at school Isaac countered with some rehearsed retorts.
“The Apostles changed the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday when they started preaching to the Gentiles. Like when Paul brought that young man back to life after he fell out of a high window, they were meeting on the first day of the week, that's when they went to church, on Sunday.”
Glancing quickly sideways, then back on the road, Adam saw Isaac furrow his brow and squint his eyes in aggression. Adam softly replies “Well I don't think that passage of the Bible says quite what you think it does.”
Reaching over Adam opens the glove box, revealing a lap top. Closing the music program, he instructs Isaac, “Boot up the Bible study apps that it’s loaded with”.
Grinning, Adam winks at Isaac as he says. “Shouldn't judge a book by the cover. You should be able to find that passage somewhere in there, give it a try.”
Growing uncertain of his first impression, Isaac quickly finds the scriptural passage in question. “Here it is,” he says.
Reading triumphantly aloud for Adam to clearly hear, he brings to life Acts 20:7-14. In the New King James Version “Ministering at Troas,” Isaac hollers, to be herd over the noisy old truck.
“7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. 9 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” 11 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. 12 And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.”
“See,” demanded Isaac. “They were having their communion church service on the first day of the week. The Bible proves it. There are many other scriptures that I can refer too, if you want?”
“No, not quite yet, let’s deal with one section of scripture at a time,” Adam advises. “At first read it does sound compellingly supportive of your position, but the timeline that it gives feels wrong somehow. Let’s go over it again. They came together on the first day of the week and broke bread.”
“Yes, they had a communion service!” Isaac broke in.
“Well it doesn't say that,” said Adam. “To break bread was a common term used for eating a meal with friends. The Church usage of that term for communion, or the Lords supper, didn't come till much later. The first century church pooled their belongings and ate meals together so this would have been a common practice. To dogmatically say that they were having a church service using this text is a stretch. They simply came together for a meal, on the first day of the week.”
The conversation pauses while Isaac verifies Adam's points. A quick Google search of, ‘break bread’, led to several sites supporting Adam's position.
Adam waits a long time for Isaac to stop typing and searching the web. “Can I take your silence as agreement?” Adam asks while giving Isaac a sideways glance. Isaac frowns and mutters illegibly.
“OK, so they came together for a meal on the first day of the week,” Adam starts again. “Paul leaves for a trip the next morning at dawn. But rather than getting a good night’s sleep he talks till midnight when the young guy falls to his death. After bringing him back to life they ate some more, then Paul talked until he departed at dawn. Read on to the end of the story Isaac,” Adam instructs.
Isaac reads the rest of the account aloud to the end of verse 14.
“From Troas to Miletus”
“13 Then we went ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, there intending to take Paul on board; for so he had given orders, intending himself to go on foot. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.”
“Thanks,” said Adam. “That hike Paul left on was twenty one miles over mountainous terrain, between Troas and Assos. You can find some maps of his trips on line there. His companions sailed or rowed the boat around the tip of Asia Minor to Assos. Not a relaxing day either. Neither trip would have been classified as a Sabbaths da
y’s journey by old testament law.”
“That's why they left on their trip the next morning,” interjected Isaac. “They met Sunday night and then left Monday morning.”
Shaking his head Adam replies. “That only works if you keep track of days the way we do now in this modern age. We count days starting at midnight, but the Jewish day started and ended at sunset. Check Genesis chapter one, the days are counted from the evening to evening.
So the first day of the week when they got together to break bread, would have been to us, Saturday evening. Then, Paul talked until midnight of the first day of the week. To us, that would be the start of Sunday at midnight. Then the guy fell down dead. Paul revived him, ate some more, kept on talking till dawn and then did a twenty one mile hike over a mountain. Meanwhile his friends took the boat the long way around to Assos. That doesn't sound like a precedent setting way of modeling the new ‘day of rest’ to the church. Would you agree with that analysis?”
Isaac was silent in thought for a minute, “let me do some checking first,” he said thoughtfully. “I had never thought of it like that before.”
“Take your time,” Adam said, as he adjusted the heater temperature. Then reaching into his cooler for an orange he started to peel it over the steering wheel while using his elbows to make slight course adjustments, keeping the truck speeding along in its proper lane.
After many different searches on the lap-top, Isaac finally broke the silence. “Yes, I suppose that this section of scripture wasn't the best one to prove my point about Sunday being the Lords day. There are others I should have used instead. What about…”
Adam loudly takes over the conversation. “Stop, stop, stop!” he says, holding his hand out, with the palm facing out towards Isaac's face. “We must decide about the last section of scripture before we move on. Does it support the Sabbath or Sunday? To me, it verifies keeping a Saturday Sabbath, not keeping Sunday as the Sabbath. It only supports Sunday if you count the days in an unbiblical way, from midnight to midnight. Do you agree or not?”
Isaac squirms in his seat, then begrudgingly agrees that it doesn't really support Sunday as the day of rest, but upholds Saturday.
“OK then, you can never use it in good conscience again to defend your belief for a Sunday day of rest, can you?”
Isaac hesitates for a moment, then looking straight at Adam says. “No, I don't suppose I can.”
“Alright, what are the next scriptures we need to look at?” Adam asks as he slurps down the last piece of his orange.
“Just a second while I find them,” Isaac says, fingers flying over the old lap top key board. He scrolls through sights until he finds the version he is happy with. “Here it is he blurts,” and starts to read it out loud with renewed vigour.
“1 Corinthians 16:1-4 King James Version
Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.”
“There. You see? They were taking up an offering on the first day of the week to help the brethren in Jerusalem. They were to bring it with them to church. They held their service on the first day of the week, Sunday!” Isaac emphatically stated in exasperation.
“Well again it does appear to be saying that, if you already believe Sunday to be the day of worship, but there is nothing in there stating that Sunday should replace the Sabbath day. Paul was very blunt when he challenged and spearheaded the change to the practice of circumcision. Had he been changing the day of worship to Sunday, one would expect him to be much clearer with his assertion. Your proof is circumstantial at best and at worse misleading. There are other texts that will help clarify what is going on here. Look it up in the next book, 2 Corinthians. Use the New King James Version,” Adam directs.
Scrolling through the book, Isaac scans the screen and quickly finds the passage, then reads it out loud.
“2 Corinthians 9: 1-5 New King James Version, Administering the Gift
Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; 2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. 3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; 4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.
I don't see your point,” Isaac complains.
Adam elaborates his position. “The point is, they were collecting a gift for the brethren in Jerusalem. Not taking up an offering to run the local church. They could have been setting aside their gifts individually every week for a long time. Then bringing them together before Paul came and their offerings were sent to Jerusalem. Paul just didn’t want it to be gathered together when he was there, so it wouldn't look like they were doing it out of duty instead of love. Paul had been boasting to the Macedonian churches about the Corinthians and didn't want it to look bad to any Macedonian church members that might be accompanying him to Corinth. It was all about perceptions, not about the day of worship”.
“Then why did he tell them to set aside their offerings on the first day of the week?” demanded Isaac.
“If you were to give an offering on how much God blessed you every week, wouldn't it make sense to wait until the week ended? Then you could make an accurate tally of the profits generated in the previous week. You could try to guess on Thursday but you would have no way of being sure until the week was over. Setting your offering aside on the first day of the week would make it easy to know how much you could give based upon the previous week. As well, it establishes a regular routine of giving a little at a time,” explained Adam.
Taking the offensive Adam catches Isaac off guard by asking a couple questions. “If Paul was changing the day of worship to Sunday, why is it not recorded anywhere that he did? He kept going to the synagogues on the Sabbath as was his custom. He also kept track of the seasons by referring to the annual Sabbaths when recording Christian history for fellow Christians. If he was replacing these days of worship, why not use the updated days as reference points instead? Do a Google search for yourself and see.”
Isaac is silent in his studies for a while, when he speaks again his voice has a softer tone to it. “I found the verse referring to the season, I think. Was it when he was on the boat trip, got caught in a storm and sunk?”
“Ya that's it,” Replied Adam.
“Well it's not much of a reference. What annual Sabbath is it referring too? I'm not that familiar with the Jewish holy days. I would have never noticed it if you hadn’t pointed it out,” Isaac reads aloud Acts 27:9.
“Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,”
“That's part of my point,” Said Adam. “Why refer to a day that was to fall out of usage and the understanding of it to become lost to his future Christian audience? Why not say, late fall instead? Unless he didn't know those days would become forgotten through lack of use.”
“Well maybe,” Isaac paused to collect his thoughts. “That may be true, but it doesn't make having to keep a Saturday Sabbath binding on Christians today like you’re trying to prove. The Sabbath was part of the law that Jesus did away with.”
“Praise the Lord!” Adam exclaims loudly. “That's the first thing you've said that I can
agree with. I wasn't trying to prove that Christians had to keep the Sabbath. You legalistically said that I was a sinner because I worked on Sunday. You went on to say that Sunday was the new Sabbath and should be kept in a legalistic way. I was pointing out the fact that Saturday was never replaced by Sunday in the Bible. I didn't say Christians had to keep the Sabbath day holy on Saturday, Sunday, or on any other day.
I wish Christians kept Wednesday as a day of worship. That would get them as far away as possible from the idea of having to keep Saturday, Sunday, or any day holy. Maybe then they would be less legalistic about everything else. I was pointing out that you were mixing up your days with no biblical support to back it up.
Jesus fulfilled the law’s requirements for us on the cross. The torn temple veil demonstrates that to us, by making access directly to God possible. The last words Jesus spoke, told us, ‘it is finished’. What was finished?” answering his own question Adam animatedly continues his rant. “The work Jesus came to earth to do, freeing all of humanity from the grip of sin, that, is what was finished. His sinless sacrificial life did that for us all. Christians are free from keeping outward laws that regulate our actions. Instead we are bound by the inward love of God that guides our thoughts and hearts. Our actions display our inward selves for all to see. Paul warned us about getting caught back into legalism in Galatians. ‘Freedom is what we have—Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again’. Slaves to what? Slaves to laws and legalism. ‘Have you not read? The sacrifice God wants is a willing spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for its sin’.”
Nodding in agreement Isaac breaks in. “Yes, the Crucifixion and death of Jesus paid for our sins. His resurrection proof on, Sunday, is why we should keep his day special. The Lords Day, like when John was in the spirit on the Lords Day, when he wrote the book of Revelations. He wrote it on Sunday; we should worship the Lord on his day. Sunday!
Adam takes his eyes off the road for a moment and looks intently into the bright, young, wide eyes of Isaac. Turning his gaze back to the road he lets out a deep, heavy, sigh. “So tell me,” Adam begins slowly. “What makes you so sure Jesus arose from the dead on Sunday?”
Giving Adam a puzzled look Isaac replies in bewilderment. “He arose on the third day. I thought you would have known that. Aren’t you a follower of Jesus? Don't you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? That was the miracle Jesus gave to prove he was the son of God. I was starting to think you were a believer, but now I'm not so sure. Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose in victory over the grave on Sunday, just like the Bible says.”
“I do believe in the resurrection of Jesus, and I do believe he rose just like he said he would.” Adam tells Isaac reassuringly. “The problem is, I don't think you have looked at all of the scriptures to see how they fit together.”
“Yes I have!” irritated, Isaac shoots back. “I have been to one of the best Bible colleges around, with well-trained scholarly professors and doctors of theology who have studied the scriptures for years. Yes, I do know the scriptures about the resurrection, thank you very much, probably better than some old trucker.”
Ignoring Isaac, Adam guides the steering wheel with a slight amount of counter clockwise pressure, maneuvering his rig past, yet another truck in the slow lane. Quickly over taking and passing the slower lumbering semi, Adam checks his right hand mirror as he sings a line from a classic rock song. He provides his own back up instrumentals by making electric guitar and drum sounds with his mouth. “Life in the fast lane, surely you will lose your mind, life in the fast lane. Buna, nuna, nu, nu, nu, do, do do, do.”
Giving Isaac a minute longer to cool down Adam changes the subject. “Those poor guys are stuck with speed limiters so they can't go faster than a hundred clicks. I prefer to at least go the speed limit. The boss tried to make me put one on, but it wouldn't work with my old mechanical engine. It had to be a, drive by wire, for the computer thingy to work.” Laughing Adam adds. “And the boss wonders why I like my old truck. ‘Sometimes the old ways are best’.”
Sensing Isaac's tension starting to dissipate, he starts to talk again about the resurrection of Jesus. Getting no response, he glancing over to see Isaac slouched back in the passenger seat, his head resting against the side window, fast asleep. Time and the miles fly by, unobserved by Isaac.
Chapter 3
Prove It
The Eden Conspiracy Page 2
