As Church of God members, we believe in the command by God to keep the Sabbath holy. However, this present world was specifically designed by Satan in such a way that it will be difficult, and in most cases greatly disadvantageous, for true believers to keep this identifying Sabbath sign between us and God (Exodus 31:13, 17). Oftentimes, it comes to the question of whether to put God’s command first or not?

This problem should not surprise us because the prophet Daniel was used by God to also prophesy about both the changing of God’s laws, together with tampering with biblical time-reckoning with the ultimate intent of creating a great obstacle for the “saints of the Most High” in obeying God’s Sabbath, and creating deception and confusion among the rest of humanity (Revelation 12:9). This sad condition was predicted to continue to prevail until the Great Tribulation—at the end of this present age of Satan’s misrule (Daniel 7:25).

Therefore, what can Church members do under such circumstances, apart from counseling with your pastor?

Some Man-Made Laws Give Us Certain Rights

We are blessed to be among the few nations on this earth to have a constitution based on the U.S. model and which most importantly also incorporates a “Bill of Rights.”

Article III [Bill of Rights], Section 5 of the present Philippine Constitution states:

Section 5. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights. [Underscoring supplied]

And of course, remember that no law, order, or regulation can be enforced which contradicts any of the Constitutional provisions—which is the foundation of all laws.

To protect his freedom to enjoy life and liberty, the Apostle Paul gave us an example in invoking his Roman citizenship rights. This account is found in Acts 22:25-26:

(25) And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?” (26) When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

Perhaps, in part due to certain favorable laws, the Philippines ranks next in Church of God membership to the modern-day nations descended from Israel, in terms of God’s present calling.

Unknown to most, we have another Philippine law which specifically gives God’s people additional religious rights. This law was enacted due to the influence of the late Herbert W. Armstrong upon the late Blas F. Ople, then Secretary of Labor in this country about 30 years ago. That specific law is quoted hereunder:

Chapter II [Weekly Rest Periods] of the Labor Code of the Philippines, Book III states:

ART. 91. Right to weekly rest day.
(a) It shall be the duty of every employer, whether operating for profit or not, to provide each of his employees a rest period of not less than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours after every six (6) consecutive normal work days.
(b) The employer shall determine and schedule the weekly rest day of his employees subject to collective bargaining agreement and to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of Labor and Employment may provide. However, the employer shall respect the preference of employees as to their weekly rest day when such preference is based on religious grounds. [Underscoring supplied.]

However, employers in collective bargaining agreement have added some qualifiers to the law. Some situations are actually permitted by the spirit of the Sabbath law, like in the case of disasters or where loss of life is at stake (“ox in the ditch” principle). But others could be avoided by better planning and coordination (not putting any ox near any ditch). For your information, copied hereunder is the addenda to the law:

ART. 92. When employer may require work on a rest day.
The employer may require his employees to work on any day:
(a) In case of actual or impending emergencies caused by serious accident, fire, flood, typhoon, earthquake, epidemic or other disaster or calamity to prevent loss of life and property, or imminent danger to public safety;
(b) In cases of urgent work to be performed on the machinery, equipment, or installation, to avoid serious loss which the employer would otherwise suffer;
(c) In the event of abnormal pressure of work due to special circumstances, where the employer cannot ordinarily be expected to resort to other measures;
(d) To prevent loss or damage to perishable goods;
(e) Where the nature of the work requires continuous operations and the stoppage of work may result in irreparable injury or loss to the employer; and
(f) Under other circumstances analogous or similar to the foregoing as determined by the Secretary of Labor and Employment.