Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
This passage of scripture teaches us that in the times of ignorance, God winks, meaning that He allows certain courses of action taken by people, which are not His will by any means, but rather lets it slide because folks may not know better. This situation has often occurred in the past, where we have observed that some of the faithful have done things that are contrary to sound doctrine as we now know it, and would make us recoil in horror if the very same actions were permitted in our day.
These issues have often become stumbling blocks for some Christians, who may erroneously conclude that God condones a double standard of righteousness, when this is absolutely not the case.
For instance, David had a plurality of wives, as did Jacob and Abraham, and several of the Old Testament characters, because at that time, polygamy had become so widespread, that it was not only the order of the day, but was generally accepted as the norm by most of society. As a matter of fact, this was one of the reasons why God had to destroy the earth by a flood, for polygamy, and many other sexual perversions had become so widespread, that most people saw nothing wrong with these violations, but rather incorporated them into the contemporary culture of the day. Let's read:
Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Now it is worthy of note, that contrary to the acceptable culture back then, God called the sin of polygamy wickedness, even though this fact did not fully resonate with His people for many hundreds of years, as the practice was again carried on by some of the faithful after the flood. However, in our day, to have more than one wife at a time will be considered ludicrous, for not only is the practice of polygamy banned here in America, but also several people have gone to jail for doing so, and because of the enlightenment given in the scriptures regarding marriage, no one in their right mind would even dare to take a vow between one man and several other women, at least not for the time being.
Thus we have the clearest evidence in practical matters, that in the times of ignorance, God winks, but now that His will is made known in abundantly clear terms, we are left without any excuse. The same is true of the current controversy about the official day of rest, versus the God-ordained Sabbath of the fourth commandment, For there were many centuries during the dark ages, when the Bible was taken away from the multitudes, and reserved only for priests and prelates, and because of this, Sunday worship became the norm for most of Christendom.
But since the reformation, and the invention of the printing press, the scriptures have now been made available to most of humanity, especially here in the west, where many households now have several Bibles at their disposal, in addition to which, all those who now possess any electronic gadgets can now read the Bible for themselves, at the click of a button, literally. So as far as God is concerned, the issue of proper Sabbath observance on the seventh day of the week has now been set in stone, so that as Christians, we cannot have any rational excuse, for doing other than what is plainly stated in the scriptures on this very important subject. Let's read:
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Let us therefore give the word of God the preeminence it deserves, and not be led astray by tradition and fable, into violating what God has now made very plain. In some instances it will require serious efforts to extricate oneself away from the the gravitational pull of tradition and the majority opinion, but the word of God tells us that the way which leads to life eternal will never be popular, and therefore we will have to make a deliberate and unpopular decision to go against the common grain of contemporary Christianity, in order that we may be in total harmony with a "Thus saith The Lord".
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reaffirms to our minds the sacredness and validity of the seventh day Sabbath, and it is the will of God, that all honest- hearted Christians everywhere now step up to the plate and take a resolute stand for the right, though it may put us at odds with the current erroneous theology of the day, for it is better to have the praise and approbation of God, than than that of men. Let's read:
Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer"... "for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!