Acts 13:42-44 – And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Adventists like to ask about Acts 13:
If Paul observed Sunday and wasn’t keeping the sabbath by preaching in the synagogues on the sabbath, why didn’t he just tell the people to come to his sermon the next day, the first day of the week. They didn’t have to wait for the next sabbath if Paul kept Sunday, surely?
The same question can be asked about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. And for those days even Adventists know that Christians gathered together. That Paul didn’t invite his hearers to join him on those days is the same reason he didn’t invite them on the first day of the week.
If Paul not inviting them to the Sunday gathering is proof that there was no Sunday gathering, then Paul not inviting them to the weekday gatherings is proof that there were no weekday gatherings. But even Adventists will acknowledge that there were. So the argument falls apart.
So, what is the problem here?
It’s simple – the people who came back the next Sabbath to the synagogue were not believers. The believers went with Paul there and then, and would have been included in the daily gatherings thereafter – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.
Let’s count the number of groups mentioned in Acts 13:42-44 as they leave the synagogue:
Acts 13:42-44 – And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue [Jews: group 1], the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation [the rest of the congregation: group 2] was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes [those who accepted Paul’s message and followed him: group 3] followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Three groups:
- Group 1 – Jews who did not believe and did not follow Paul
- Group 2 – Others (Gentiles) who did not believe and did not follow Paul
- Group 3 – Those who did believe and did follow Paul
Note the timeline.
- Group 1 leaves
- Gentiles want to hear more the next week
- Group 2 leaves – these are the people who wanted to hear more the next week
- Group 3 follows Paul
It’s the Gentiles, who do not all follow Paul, that want him to come back the next week. They’d be attending the Jewish sabbath service in the synagogue, and hoped to hear more then. Those who followed Paul and Barnabas immediately didn’t need to wait for the next Jewish service to hear Paul – surely they got to hear more much sooner than that.
Acts 13 refers to a non-Christian event at which Paul was preaching. Those who didn’t convert continued at non-Christian events. Those who converted went with them and joined in all the Christian events thereafter.
This means that the Adventist question is not valid. Unbelievers were not invited to Christian worship services. But the believers went with Paul immediately, and would have attended whatever Christian services that followed over the next few days.
Further reading:
Acts 1 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
Acts 13 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
Acts 15 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
Acts 16 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
Acts 17 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
Acts 18 – do Christians keep the Sabbath in Acts?
