Samoa Seventh-day Adventist Church Issues Statement re Date Line Change
The Seventh Day Adventist Church in Samoa issued a statement to clarify its position on the time zone change, which is happening at midnight on December 29, according to the Samoa Observer (No longer available online).
The planned realignment of Samoa to the western side of the date line was announced by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and reported in the Associated Press on May 9, 2011. (A copy of the release was found on the abc News site, but it is no longer available.)
A statement on the SPD site makes this quixotical claim:
The sequence of days does not change. However in Samoa, because the government has decided to “change times and laws,” by dropping one day from the week, the names of those days will change. Consequently, the preparation day, which is still the sixth day of the week, will then be called Saturday; and the Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week will then be called Sunday; and the first day of the week will then be called Monday. Sunday-keepers will actually be worshipping with us on the true seventh day!
See the copy of Notice re International Date Line Act of 2011 on the Samoan Embassy site (PDF file). Does it change the names of the days of the week, or does it align the country with its original position in regards to the date line, which is the same as that of New Zealand and Australia?
I am so proud of the 7th Day Adventist Church in Samoa for taking this stance. I agree with you entirely.
Lance is my firstborn son, I love him and gave him to the Lord when he was born, like Hannah did with Samuel.
Please pray for him and Merita and Jackson continually, as he honestly feels he is right in doing what he is, he has been influenced by a Samoan Pastor. I showed the group, from the Bible that God created the meridian when he divided the earth into day &; night. .At any one time in the world we have 12 hours day and 12 hours night. A circle has 360 degrees, and half of that is 180 degrees, so that is how the Dateline of 180 degrees came into existence. His group claims it is manmade, but it is Godmade and we have no right to change it.
Lance is honestly believing he is right. Please pray God will open the group’s eyes.To have to call their group “The Lighthouse” shows that they know they can’t call it “7th Day Adventist” because they are not keeping the 7th day. I am pleased to see they intend to pay their tithes and offerings to the SDA Church.
Noeline, I’d be really interested in what you showed the group from the Bible that demonstrated that God created the (Prime?) meridian. I’ve never heard of such a thing before. After all, the Prime Meridian goes through Greenwich, England, and that area didn’t exist until after the great flood. So how can you know that it was God, not man, that decided to put that line through Greenwich? But maybe you know for sure that Britain is God’s country? 😉
As I understand it, the Lighthouse group, where your son Lance preached last Sabbath, is keeping the seventh day in Samoa, while most of the Adventist church members are keeping the seventh day of American Samoa, which is in a different time zone, a full day away. And so they are keeping the local Sunday, going to church together with all other Sunday-keeping churches. I guess I don’t understand what’s there to be proud of for going along with the rest of the world on its day of worship. I mean, what kind of courage does that take?
If I were you, I would be so proud of Lance, for standing up for his convictions of keeping the seventh day of the week right where he is, while others are going along with the world in keeping Sunday. That takes courage and strength of character. And I believe he’s demonstrating that he is God’s man.
I’m praying for the group regularly — that the Holy Spirit will be very close to them and guide them and teach them to react to opposition in the spirit of Jesus. Even if we don’t quite agree, maybe we can pray the same prayer? After all, they can’t go wrong following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, can they?
Yes, the mathematics are correct. 360 degrees, divided into two hemispheres, is 180 degrees.
But, where did God show us where the prime meridian — the starting meridian of 0 degrees — is?
When was the prime meridian established?
Who established it?
Why did they establish it there?
Was it ever considered in other locations?
I have commented before, prior to reading more on the issue above and see that, as God has not shown us where and when and whom did create this prime meridian for us to follow days over, then we would be better to heed divine counsel given to us in Romans ch. 13, regarding the obeying of the higher powers that have been placed there by God Himself. God is wanting to see His people obey Him, and I believe that we can do this by keeping the Saturday Sabbath on the day named Saturday that has been designated by the local govt. Centuries ago, dates and times were altered and 15 days was abolished or removed from the calendar, but the timeline continues on. God will not allow us to be confused over days and months and seasons Col. 2:16. He will show us what day to keep and to be a shining light in a dark place. Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall not work. What needs to be established is “What day is the first day of the week?” Then you can go about defining what day is the seventh day. Hope that helps. My son who lives and works in the United States of America, keeps Sabbath on a different day than I do here in Australia, but we still are both keeping God’s holy seventh day Sabbath.
God bless you Jan today on God’s 7th-Day Sapati. Today is Saturday 6th October, the 7th-Day Sapati as God’s Word tells us. In the US where your son resides it is Friday 5th October. We here in Asia and Australia/New Zealand are (depending where exactly) are according to our respective timezone, 24hours ahead of the US. Your son will worship on the 7th-Day on the 6th October, Saturday, when it will for us, be Sunday 7th October, the 1st-day of the week. So when you refer to your son living and working in the United States of America, you both worship on the same 7th-Day Sapati, Saturday, 6th October, as do all Seventh-Day Adventists that keep God’s Commandments.
The imposition of 7th-Day Sapati sunday worship on the Seventh-Day Adeventist Church in Samoa by the Samoa Tokelau Mission that is condoned by the South Pacific Mission, is without biblical support and against God’s Will.
God’s Rich Blessings on you and your family, today, the true 7th-Day Sapati, Saturday 6th October, 2012. ulalei