The Northern Regions and obeying the Sabbath

[Fred]

Number 20 of the fundamental beliefs of the SDA church:
The gracious Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God’s unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God’s kingdom. The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God’s creative and redemptive acts. (Gen. 2:1-3; Exod. 20:8-11; 31:13-17; Lev. 23:32; Deut. 5:12-15; Isa. 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Ezek. 20:12, 20; Matt. 12:1-12; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:16; Heb. 4:1-11.)

https://www.adventist.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ADV-28Beliefs2020.pdf

sunset: the setting or descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening.

Sunset Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Sunset definition, the setting or descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening. See more.

www.dictionary.com

Some may say that they can go by the time (6pm), but Ellen White claimed that in a vision this was not to be done.
TIME TO BEGIN THE SABBATH
I saw that it is even so: "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." Said the angel: "Take the word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is." I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: "Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet." Said the angel: "If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject." I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o'clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at "even," and it was inferred that even was at six. I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together (Testimonies For The Church, Volume 1, Page 116).


Question
How do those in Barrow, Alaska obey the 7th day sabbath command (from "sunset to sunset") when for 2 months in the winter there is no sunset?

 

[Fred]

Question
How do those in Barrow, Alaska obey the 7th day sabbath command (from "sunset to sunset") when for 2 months in the winter there is no sunset?

It's been over a month and no SDA has been able to answer the question I asked above.

Why not?

The only thing I would change is that the name 'Barrow' is now Utqiagvik - same location, but the question still stands.

 

[Formersda]

As per the egw estate website

”Dear ____,

Thank you for contacting the Ellen G. White Estate. The Sabbath needs no justification. God gave it and asked us to keep it, and this is enough justification. The question is how to observe it in non-standard situations. I have never lived in one of those areas, but I think that if I did, I would reason along these lines: as winter approaches, sunrise and sunset come closer together (the days become shorter) until they come at essentially the same time, when the sun only peeks above the horizon and then disappears. Up until that time, Sabbath keepers can tell when "sunset" is. After that, they can use clocks if they have them, or they can use the lightest time of the night to mark the "sunset" and the beginning or end of the Sabbath.

I know of no statement from the Bible that deals with this situation. Mrs. White made the following comment:

God rested on the seventh day, and set it apart for man to observe in honor of His creation of the heavens and the earth in six literal days. He blessed and sanctified and made holy the day of rest. When men are so careful to search and dig to see in regard to the precise period of time, we are to say, God made His Sabbath for a round world; and when the seventh day comes to us in that round world, controlled by the sun that rules the day, it is the time in all countries and lands to observe the Sabbath. In the countries where there is no sunset for months, and again no sunrise for months, the period of time will be calculated by records kept. . . . {3SM 317.1}

The Lord accepts all the obedience of every creature He has made, according to the circumstances of time in the sun-rising and sun-setting world. . . . The Sabbath was made for a round world, and therefore obedience is required of the people that are in perfect consistency with the Lord's created world.--Letter 167, 1900. {3SM 317.2}”

EllenWhite.Org Website - Arctic Sunset

ellenwhite.org

so no specific advice.

 

[Saber Truth Tiger]

It's been over a month and no SDA has been able to answer the question I asked above.

Why not?

The only thing I would change is that the name 'Barrow' is now Utqiagvik - same location, but the question still stands.

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote a book back in the 70s named "Which day is the Christian Sabbath?" and in the very first chapter he brought up objections that people have against the weekly "seventh day" Sabbath over the years. One of the issues was the question Fred asks above in post # 1. Another one HWA brought up what happens to modern society if we have to shut down everything every Sabbath? No electric, no restaurants, no city transit systems, no law enforcements, and so forth. He said, in the very first chapter, that he would address those questions in his book. He didn't. I was very disappointed. I asked a pastor in the church the question about a believer in Alaska and he said they could observe the Sabbath when it was Sabbath in Israel. He also said if they could not reconcile it with their conscience then they should move to a place where the Sabbath is kept every seventh day.

I am glad to say I eventually got out of that cult.

 

[Victor]

Herbert W. Armstrong wrote a book back in the 70s named "Which day is the Christian Sabbath?" and in the very first chapter he brought up objections that people have against the weekly "seventh day" Sabbath over the years. One of the issues was the question Fred asks above in post # 1. Another one HWA brought up what happens to modern society if we have to shut down everything every Sabbath? No electric, no restaurants, no city transit systems, no law enforcements, and so forth. He said, in the very first chapter, that he would address those questions in his book. He didn't. I was very disappointed. I asked a pastor in the church the question about a believer in Alaska and he said they could observe the Sabbath when it was Sabbath in Israel. He also said if they could not reconcile it with their conscience then they should move to a place where the Sabbath is kept every seventh day.

I am glad to say I eventually got out of that cult.

I'm glad that you found your way out!
The notion that there is a "Christian Sabbath" is a oxymoron, for we who believe have entered into His rest (Hebrews 4:3), based on God's singular and never-ending rest established in the creation account, long before the Sabbath was ordained for the children of Israel. Those groups making an issue over a day make errors because they do not understand the liberty God gave us in His adoption.

 

[Saber Truth Tiger]

I'm glad that you found your way out!
The notion that there is a "Christian Sabbath" is a oxymoron, for we who believe have entered into His rest (Hebrews 4:3), based on God's singular and never-ending rest established in the creation account, long before the Sabbath was ordained for the children of Israel. Those groups making an issue over a day make errors because they do not understand the liberty God gave us in His adoption.

Victor,
I am glad I got out of it in the mid 80s. Much later I left religion entirely and spent years roaming the country, traveling coast to coast several times and I went to Pasadena in 1990 to see Ambassador College. By that time HWA was dead and the church was changing, becoming more mainstream under the leadership of Joseph Tkach. I met the love of my life while I was in Pasadena and even though I live on the east coast now and have for years I still keep in touch with her. She is in a nursing home in North Hollywood and I live alone with my two cats. I keep the Sabbath on Saturday but not because I feel the law requires it of me but because it makes me happy. Paul writes one man esteems one day above the others, one man esteems every day the same, let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He also says to not judge a man regarding the Sabbath or the holy days. I do not think I am one bit better than those that keep Sunday. I am just happier keeping Saturday is all. I have spent today reading Gods' word and meditating on what I have read. I have prayed. In my own way I worship God. But I worship God every day I just set aside this day to study and worship and the other six days I do my work. I really appreciate God and his son Jesus Christ.

 

[Saber Truth Tiger]

It's been over a month and no SDA has been able to answer the question I asked above.

Why not?

The only thing I would change is that the name 'Barrow' is now Utqiagvik - same location, but the question still stands.

Hi Fred,
I was in the Worldwide Church of God in the 70s and 80s. They taught the observance of the Saturday Sabbath. I once asked a pastor about people in Alaska and other areas where there was no sunset for weeks or months. He suggested they keep the Sabbath when it was the Sabbath in Israel. He also said if they could not reconcile that with their conscience then they should move to a place where they could keep the weekly Sabbath.

 

[Saber Truth Tiger]

Number 20 of the fundamental beliefs of the SDA church:
The gracious Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God’s unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God’s kingdom. The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God’s creative and redemptive acts. (Gen. 2:1-3; Exod. 20:8-11; 31:13-17; Lev. 23:32; Deut. 5:12-15; Isa. 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Ezek. 20:12, 20; Matt. 12:1-12; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:16; Heb. 4:1-11.)

https://www.adventist.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ADV-28Beliefs2020.pdf

sunset: the setting or descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening.

Sunset Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Sunset definition, the setting or descent of the sun below the horizon in the evening. See more.

www.dictionary.com

Some may say that they can go by the time (6pm), but Ellen White claimed that in a vision this was not to be done.
TIME TO BEGIN THE SABBATH
I saw that it is even so: "From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath." Said the angel: "Take the word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is." I asked the angel if the frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the Sabbath. Said the angel: "Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet." Said the angel: "If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject." I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that the Sabbath commenced at six o'clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at "even," and it was inferred that even was at six. I saw that the servants of God must draw together, press together (Testimonies For The Church, Volume 1, Page 116).


Question
How do those in Barrow, Alaska obey the 7th day sabbath command (from "sunset to sunset") when for 2 months in the winter there is no sunset?

If you are really sincere about obeying the Sabbath commandment and want to worship God on the Sabbath, then you should really consider moving to a city or town where you will be able to obey the Sabbath commandment. If it doesn't bother you enough to move, then don't worry about it. It's not that important. But if you want to keep the Sabbath every seventh day and your heart is really in it, then move. It's really simple. I don't think there are any Sabbath keepers in Utqiagvik, Alaska. Those Sabbath keepers that lived there (if any) have long since moved to a location where they can keep the Sabbath.

 

[Formersda]

Hi Fred,
I was in the Worldwide Church of God in the 70s and 80s. They taught the observance of the Saturday Sabbath. I once asked a pastor about people in Alaska and other areas where there was no sunset for weeks or months. He suggested they keep the Sabbath when it was the Sabbath in Israel. He also said if they could not reconcile that with their conscience then they should move to a place where they could keep the weekly Sabbath.

Egw also said that about people in Alaska sabbath is the most important thing in Adventism