How do you keep the Sabbath at the North pole?
Critics of Adventism like to ask this “gotcha” question when debating with Adventists about the Sabbath:
If the Sabbath is binding on New Testament Christians then how do you deal with issues related to global time zones?
The Sabbath falls at different times throughout the globe as the sun sets at different times in different places. The Sabbath in Australia comes a whole day before the Sabbath in North America. If the Sabbath is important then how do people in the North Pole keep a Sabbath as they can go weeks in total darkness without seeing a sunrise or sunset?
To answer this question one has to admit the Sabbath arrives at different times in different places around the planet. The Sabbath in Israel starts six hours after it starts in China and eight hours before San Antonio,Texas.
This is not a hard question to answer since there are only two plausible solutions. Either keep the Sabbath according to one’s immediate location or keep the Sabbath on Israel time.
Judaism encourages its adherents to keep the Sabbath from sunset to sunset according to local time. Adventists have traditionally done the same as the Jewish people.
In areas where time zones change or there is no consistent sunrise or sunset then simply pick the time closest to where there is a consistent Sabbath and keep that time for observing the Holy day.
If God wanted everyone on the planet to keep the Sabbath at the same exact time then He would have made it clear in the Bible. Instead, He allows us to observe the Sabbath according to our immediate time zone and geographical location.
Some have tried other ways to answer this question by suggesting a lunar model of Sabbath Keeping but that is more complicated than simply looking out the window to watch the sunset.
It also helps to remember that Christians are not called to keep the Sabbath in order to be saved. Rather we keep the Sabbath as we rest in Christ who grants us the assurance of Salvation by simple faith.
Stephen Beagles (August 2, 2026)