WHY DON'T CHRISTIANS OBSERVE THE SABBATH?

Genesis 2:1-3; Matthew 12:6-8

In order for the keeping of the Sabbath Day to be binding on New Testament Christians, it would have to be a commandment which preceded and survived the Law of Moses. If it originated with the Law of Moses, it would be unique to that dispensation and would be binding only upon that dispensation, unless a clear New Testament statement made it also binding upon the church.

That the command to keep the Sabbath Day was for Israel only will be seen by the following. The first mention of the Sabbath in the Bible is Exodus 16:23: “And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seeth that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.”

There is no biblical record before this time of anyone keeping the Sabbath or even being aware of it. The word "remember" in Exodus 20:8 ("Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy") refers back to the command in Exodus 16:23, not to something Israel had previously known, for there is not one Scripture which suggests Israel was aware of the Sabbath before leaving Egypt. No one before Israel knew of the Sabbath: “The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day” (Deuteronomy 5:3).”

The elements of the covenant God made with Israel, including the requirements to keep the Sabbath, had not been given to any previous generation. The covenant in all its aspects originated at Sinai. Not even Israel had heard of it before this time: “Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant” (Nehemiah 9:13-14).

The Law of Moses was a covenant consisting of 613 commandments that God made exclusively with the nation of Israel. These commandments must not be viewed as independent from each other, all of them together formed one covenant. To break one of them was to break the entire covenant; to be responsible for one of them was to be responsible for all of them (James 2:10; Galatians 5:1-40).

THE SABBATH WAS A SIGN (Ezekiel 20:12)

The Sabbath days were given to Israel by God to be a sign between Him and Israel alone: "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." They were never a part of a covenant between God and any other people. “He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: an as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 147:19-20).

The statutes and judgments of the law given to Israel were unique to them; God did not deal in that way with any other nation. Those things were unique to the Law of Moses, therefore, were not binding on other peoples at other places and times.

The Sabbath was a sign between God and Israel only (Exodus 31:12-17). The only way the Sabbath could be a sign between God and Israel would be if it were unique to that relationship, i.e. if God required all men to keep the Sabbath, what kind of a special sign would it have been between Him and Israel? Something is a sign only because it is unique, special. If it is common, it is no sign. The Sabbath was a visible sign which would allow God immediately to test Israel's obedience to HimÉ (Exodus 16:4-5).

A NEW COVENANT

God predicted He would make a new covenant with Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The new covenant God will yet make with Israel will be unlike the covenant He made with them at Sinai. It will not be according to that covenant. The feature of this covenant is a knowledge of God superior to that offered by the Law of Moses. Instead of having to do with days, festivals, offerings, and so forth, this new covenant will feature a deeply personal relationship with God, indicated by having His law written in their hearts. Nothing is said at all about the Sabbath.

GOD’S SEVENTH DAY OF REST

The reference to God's rest on the seventh day in Genesis 2:1-3 indicates that God blessed that specific  day only. A careful examination of this passage will reveal nothing about God blessing every seventh day. He blessed that specific seventh day, the day following the creation of man. This seventh day is not called the Sabbath, nor is it ever referred to as the Sabbath. It was simply the seventh day, and God sanctified that day, or set it apart, for His rest.

That God does not rest every seventh day or on the Jewish Sabbath is seen in John 5:17. Jesus had just healed a man on the Sabbath, for which He was condemned by the Jews. Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The clear implication was that the Father was working on the Sabbath and so was Jesus. This is confirmed in John 5:19: "Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things so ever he doeth, these doeth the Son likewise." Since Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, it was clear the Father was at work also.

While it has been widely assumed that God created the Sabbath day on the seventh day of creation, and that faithful men observed the Sabbath every seventh day from that day forward, there is not one word about this in any Scripture. Never, prior to the exodus from Egypt, is any faithful man seen keeping the Sabbath or even being aware of it. Since God himself was not resting on the Sabbath in the New Testament, the day was clearly to be observed by the Israelites only.

JESUS CAME TO FULFILL PROPHECIES

Jesus Christ did not come to obey the law; He came to fulfill the prophecies contained in the law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17-18). It is commonly reported by modern law keepers that these verses prove Jesus Himself came to obey the law. The word "fulfill" is said to mean "obey." Actually, the Greek word pleroo, translated "fulfill," means to finish, to end, to make complete, to cause to expire.

The key to interpreting the verses is contained within the verses themselves. Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets .... " He came to fulfill both the law and the prophets. Whatever He meant by fulfilling the prophets, He meant the same about fulfilling the law. How could he obey the prophets?

The basic ministry of the prophets was predictive, to tell of coming personages and events, and especially the Messiah. Both the law and the prophets were heavily weighted with elements predictive of the coming Messiah. These Jesus fulfilled (Luke 24:27,44).

The word "law" has a broad use in the Old Testament. It may refer to:

1. The ten commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; 24:12).

2. A regulation within the Law of Moses (Leviticus 7:7).

3. The Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 1:1-5; 27:1-8; Joshua 8:30-35).

4. The entire Pentateuch (Luke 24:44; I Corinthians 14:34 with Genesis 3:16; I Chronicles 16:40).

5. One of the two major sections comprising the entire Hebrew Scriptures (Matthew 5:17).

6. The entire Hebrew Scriptures (Matt. 5:18; Rom. 3:10-19; Isa. 28:11 with I Cor. 14:21; Jn. 5:10 with Jeremiah 17:21).

The use of the word "law" alone in Matthew 5:18 must be understood in light of the context, as must all mentions of the word. The previous verse has already indicated that the subject of Jesus' statement is both the law and the prophets. The second use of the word "law" alone is an abbreviated way to refer to the entire Old Testament.

Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses not by obedience to it but by His role as the object of all the predictive elements of the law. This included the meat offerings, the drink offerings, the holy days, the new moons, the Sabbath days, the Passover, the priesthood, and so forth. (Colossians 2:16-17; I Corinthians 5:7; and Hebrews 10:1-20.)

JESUS BROKE THE SABBATH

Those who believe keeping the Law of Moses is essential to New Testament salvation hotly dispute this claim. But it is the clear teaching of the New Testament. As Jesus visited the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath, He healed an impotent man, commanding him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk" (John 5:8). The man obeyed, totally healed. This action of Jesus on the Sabbath was bitterly condemned by the Jews. In fact, they sought to kill Him, "because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).

Some suggest that the Jews merely supposed Jesus had broken the Sabbath, that the only thing He broke was a commandment or tradition of men. But Jeremiah 17:19-22 records the commandment of Jehovah. The statement of John is clear: "...he...had broken the Sabbath...." He did not say, "The Jews supposed He had broken the Sabbath."

On another occasion when the Pharisees accused Jesus and His disciples because they plucked ears of corn to eat as they walked through a field on the Sabbath, Jesus' answer included this statement, "Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?" (Matthew 12:5). (Numbers 28:9-10; 18-19.) Jesus did not suggest that the priests were exempt from the Sabbath obligations and that therefore their strenuous labor on that day was not a violation of the commandment. Instead, He said, "...the priests...profane the Sabbath...." And yet, He said, they "... are blameless." In other words, even to the nation of Israel under the dispensation of the Law of Moses, there were times and circumstances when the law was not binding!

In His defense of His disciples' plucking the corn on the Sabbath, Jesus also referred the Pharisees to David's clear violation of the law, a violation for which he received no condemnation: "Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?" (Matthew 12:3-4). The shewbread belonged only to Aaron and his sons. It was to be eaten only in the holy place by them. It was most holy unto the Aaronic priesthood. (Leviticus 24:9.) Clearly it was unlawful for David, who was of the tribe of Judah, not Levi, to eat this holy bread. Jesus said it was unlawful. Yet there was no guilt attached to the action. Jesus explained His refusal to condemn the disciples this way:“But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day” (Matthew 12:6-8).

The one greater than the temple is, of course, Jesus Himself. The simple implication of this is that anything done under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and which does not receive condemnation from Him cannot be sinful. Even under the Law of Moses, the supreme desire of God was not the hair-splitting observance of legal technicalities, but the showing of mercy. (Hosea 6:6.) Jesus Christ was Lord even of the Sabbath. In other words, Jesus Himself is greater than any of His commandments. While there is not one account anywhere in Scripture of the Lord failing to deal with a violation of moral law, there are indeed accounts of His refraining from passing judgment on violations of ceremonial law. The Sabbath and all aspects of the tabernacle were ceremonial; that is, they were in some way predictive of the coming Messiah.

GOD WARNED OF VAIN SABBATH KEEPING (Isaiah 1:10-17)

In this passage, the disobedient Israelites are referred to spiritually as Sodom and Gomorrah. (Revelation 11:8.) They went through the motions of the ceremonial law, but it was repulsive to God. The ceremonial aspects of the Law of Moses were never meant by God to be an end in themselves. The law was a schoolmaster to bring Israel to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Those who kept the ceremonial aspects of the law without a heart in right relationship with God were not accepted by Him. On the other hand, Gentiles who may have had a heart right with God could have been accepted by Him, even without the works of the law. (Romans 2:25-29.)

God caused the Sabbaths to cease (Hosea 2:11). The reason for this action was clearly the spiritual adultery of Israel. But had the Sabbath been an end in itself—if the point of the Sabbath was the keeping of the Sabbath—it would seem strange that the same God who commanded it would now stop it.

God caused the Sabbaths to be forgotten (Lamentations 2:6). Again, if the Sabbath was an end in itself, it would seem very strange for the Lord, who commanded the observance of the day, to cause it to now be forgotten. It would seem rather that He would wish to cause it to be remembered. Early Judaizers wanted the Christians to keep the Law of Moses, but the church would not command such a thing (Acts 15:5,24).

A careful reading of Galatians 3, 4, 5 will serve to put the Law of Moses in its proper perspective. It was for the nation of Israel only; it began at Mount Sinai and had no impact whatsoever on any previous covenant God had made with people; it ended with the coming of Christ. The danger of going back under the law is clear (Galatians 4:10-11). Christ fulfilled the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16-17).

The Sabbath, a day of rest, was predictive of the coming Messiah and the spiritual rest believers would find in Him. The Sabbath was merely a shadow; it was no substance in and of itself. (Hebrews 10:1.) Now that the substance has come in the person of Jesus Christ, there is no longer any need for the shadow. Indeed, it would be an insult to Jesus and spiritually dangerous to maintain a fascination with any ceremonial law whose purpose has been served. It would be just as distasteful to God for New Testament Christians to observe the Sabbath as it would be for them to offer the blood of bulls and goats.

AN EXEGESIS OF EXODUS 20:11

This verse is used by law keepers to teach that the Sabbath was created on the seventh day, just after the creation of man. Further, it is taught from this that all faithful men, from Adam on, were obliged to keep the Sabbath. A careful study of the verse will prove otherwise.

The words "seventh" and "Sabbath" are not synonymous. The Hebrew word for "seventh" is shebeee. The word for "Sabbath" is shabbath. The word literally means "intermission." Never in Scripture is shebeee translated "Sabbath," and never is shabbath translated "seventh." They are totally different words. We know of the seventh day from creation, but not the Sabbath. God is not said to have rested on the Sabbath; He is said to have rested on the seventh day. The word "Sabbath" never appears in Scripture until Exodus 16:23.

While the Hebrew word translated "rested" is from the same root as the word transliterated "sabbath," this does not indicate that the seventh day was formally instituted as the Sabbath in Genesis 2. The word simply means "rest" and is used in the Old Testament of rests occurring on other than the Sabbath Day.

The key word is "wherefore". The word "wherefore" is translated from two Hebrew words which seem to carry the meaning "for this reason." In other words, God's rest on the seventh day was the pattern for Israel's rest on the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath is in the seventh “Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest....” (Exodus 31:15). In the beginning it was the seventh day; under the law it became the Sabbath day. The seventh day became the Sabbath for Israel only. There is no absolute guarantee that the Sabbath was on the same day as the original seventh. Time for Israel began in Exodus 12:1-2. Exodus 20:11 say God blessed the seventh in the beginning, not the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3). God blessed the Sabbath in giving the manna. (Exodus 16.)

The practice of worshipping on the seventh day did not arise until the exile, when the Jewish people began to build synagogues and to gather on the Sabbath to read the Scriptures and to pray. The Law of Moses itself contained no commandment to worship on the Sabbath. Instead, it prohibited any kind of work and most kinds of activity on the Sabbath. The Hebrew word translated “”Sabbath” (shabbath) essentially means “to cease.” The commandment was that on the Sabbath all labor was to stop.

THE HEBREW SABBATH AND THE MODERN SATURDAY

It is widely assumed that the modern Saturday is the Hebrew Sabbath which has been observed by orthodox Jews since the exodus from Egypt. All of the discussions about special days are complicated by the fact that there are approximately 40 calendars in use in the world today, and by problems initiated with world travel like the International Date Line.

The calendar of Israel at Sinai was a solar calendar, and it is not to be confused with the modern Jewish solar-lunar calendar of A.D. 359. The Hebrew calendar began its dating from the deliverance from Egypt. The Hebrews retained the Egyptian calendar of 12 months of 30 days, but, instead of adding the five supplementary days at the end of the year, they added three at the end of the sixth month, and two at the end of the twelfth month. The 15th day of Abib, the first month, had to be a Sabbath every year, which meant that the first and eighth of Abib were fixed Sabbaths, as were the seven Sabbaths following the 15th of Abib (Lev. 23:6,7,11,15-16). The 50th day would then be Pentecost:

There is nothing in the Bible to determine the length of a Sabbath. The Scriptures use the same word to describe:

1. A rest one day long (Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15.

2. A rest two days long (Lev. 23:15,16,21).

3. A rest one year long (Lev. 25:4-8).

4. A rest two years long (Lev. 25:8-12).

5. A rest seventy years long (II Chron. 36:21).

Since the Sabbath is not mentioned prior to Israel's exodus from Egypt, since it was given to the nation of Israel only and no one else, since it was a shadow of the coming Messiah, and since the New Testament never enjoins its observance upon the church but rather rejects the Law of Moses as binding upon Christians, we conclude that the Sabbath belonged to the dispensation of the law only. It would be a serious error to bring this dispensational distinctive into the dispensation of grace.