The call to reinstate blue laws and restore Sunday as a special day of rest is coming from many voices all across our country. The motive is to provide much-needed time for rest, family, and church. The underlying objective is to popularize blue laws in a way that is attractive and to present them as a necessary good that can contribute to reducing stress and enhancing mental and physical health.
On January 3, 2023, the Aurora News-Register, located in Hamilton County, Nebraska, published an article that gave such a lovely overview of the blue laws. The article said, in part:
• “On Christmas Day there’s nobody rushing off to work or the store, the incessant semi truck traffic has all but stopped and the world seems covered with a blanket of calm. If you think about it, this doesn’t really happen any other day of the year, but on Christmas, the frantic pace of life seems to slow dramatically.” [1]
• “There was a time in our national life when every Sunday was like that, at least to some extent. Because of Blue Laws, commerce pretty much ceased on the first day of the week and the day was given over to family dinners, relaxation, recreation and worship.” [1]
• “If I could, I would go back to those days in a heartbeat. I think our drive to do it all and achieve it all and experience it all in this culture is killing us.” [1]
• “I find it instructive that when God wrote down those 10 Commandments on tablets of stone and handed them to Moses, He had to order the Children of Israel to take a day off once a week. ‘Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work’.” (Ex. 20:9-10) [1]
• “Now I’m not suggesting that we get legalistic about making one day a week our sabbath. After all, Jesus said, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.’ But I believe taking time for rest and reflection is a principle we ignore at our own peril. Rest, relaxation, rejoicing and rejuvenation are things we have to make time for and schedule, just like we schedule all the other responsibilities in our lives or we risk suffering from illness and burnout.” [1]
Something that all the proponents of blue laws consistently fail to mention is that the Puritans imposed Sunday observance, or blue laws, with penalties, and many offenses carried the death penalty. Violating the blue laws was seen as a religious offense that merited capital punishment. This means that there was no religious freedom to defend the rights of nonconformists, minorities, or others who observed Saturday as the biblical Sabbath in early colonial America.
These blue laws were established as a result of the union of church and state. Ancient Babylonia, Egypt, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome—both papal and pagan—all engaged in similar practices. This is the reason why the three Hebrew boys were thrown into the fiery furnace, Daniel was cast into the lion’s den, and the Holy Roman Inquisition claimed millions of lives.
In societies where there is no civil or religious freedom, laws are passed that favor the religious prerogatives of the majority, and absolute obedience is required. It doesn’t matter whether or not the law is just or unjust, or whether it is in conflict with the law of God in heaven. Whenever you have a union of church and state, the popular church becomes supreme in all things, both temporal and spiritual, and your personal conscience or convictions have no value. You either submit or die as a heretic.
The problem with Sunday laws, as with most other religious laws, is that these laws are in direct conflict with the Commandments of God. This is a dishonest attempt to elevate the day of worship that was invented by Rome. God says, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy” and “the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exodus 20:8, 10). While the entire world is wondering after the beast of Revelation 13, God will have a people who will keep His commandments, not man’s (Revelation 12:17, 14:12, 22:14).
Seventh-day Adventists should be especially aware of the push for Sunday rest laws because this is one of the last signs that point to Jesus’ imminent return. While many other prophecies that point to Christ’s second coming have already come to pass, the following one is currently being developed:
“The substitution of the laws of men for the law of God, the exaltation, by merely human authority, of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath, is the last act in the drama. When this substitution becomes universal, God will reveal Himself. He will arise in His majesty to shake terribly the earth. He will come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity” (Testimonies, Vol. 7, p. 141).
Part of the push to impose Sunday—the man-made day of rest—through civil law involves calling for the reinstatement of blue laws. There’s no doubt about it: Sunday law advocates won’t stop fighting until their goals are achieved. The entire world will be involved in this conflict, including governments, labor unions, churches, secular organizations, and the media.
“The whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 428).
Sources
[1] https://www.auroranewsregister.com/commentary/holiday-sabbath-reflection
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“It matters whether or not the law is just or unjust, or whether it is in conflict with the law of God in heaven.”
Should it not be “it doesn’t matter”?
You’re right, thanks.
It’s coming soon, no doubt about it.