The Sabbath

[SteelDisciple]

Ok, i've done searches..but nothing has clearly answered my question.

I know that the Sabbath was made FOR man.
Infact, many verses say that...but there is one verse in Isaiah that says that we are to spend that entire day meditating and praying on God's word...

So...that confused me...because if the sabbath is made FOR man...then that would mean that the day is for us to do with as we would like as long as it doesn't go against God...
Otherwise it's like giving someone a gift and then telling them "Ok, I gave you this gift..but you can only use it for me..even though the gift is yours..and made FOR you"

:)

[BigNorsk]

What day of the week can you not do what you like as long as it doesn't go against God?

You seem to have a confusion of the Law and the Gospel, and the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

If you are a christian, under the New Covenant, the Sabbath is not a day of the week, it is the rest from our works that we find in Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant pointed the way to the New, superior Covenant.

The New Covenants law is not like the Old Covenants, it is not written on tablets of stone, but on believers hearts. The New is not fulfilled by going back to the Old, the Old if fulfilled when you accept the New.

Under the Old Covenant, even the observation of the Sabbath, the day of rest, was a work, a law. For breaking the Sabbath, one was executed, though it pointed the way to a true rest, a true Sabbath, it was not the cessation of work, but it itself was a work and one which you better do correctly or else.

The seventh day Sabbath wasn't even the only rest given to the people of God, he gave them the promised land, where, I hope I get this correctly, "they would eat crops they had not planted and live in cities they had not built." Now surely there is rest, to not even need to work at all in order to have things. But that too failed, the Israelites refused to accept the promised land fully so they always have to deal with the wars and problems that come from the peoples around them that would not have been there if they had accepted it.

So we have two major rests in the Old Testament, neither of which brought true rest, both of which teach us about the rest to come.

Now for the new Sabbath the new rest. Jesus came and fulfilled the law, he died in our place on the cross. When we believe, we enter into the new, true Sabbath, a cessation from our labors. A christian doesn't have to work to receive his rest. Each and every day of a christian's life is a Sabbath day a cessation from his own labors that could never bring life.

If you don't enter into this Sabbath you too will die, but not a death of a few stones, eternal death.

You also receive what you did not work for, Jesus did it, not you.

Now if once you receive this everyday rest, this cessation from labors, to turn back to the Old Covenant, the old sabbaths is pretty insulting to God. It is saying that his labors are not enough, that you need to turn to the Law in order to make his labors perfect.

Newsflash: His labors are perfect, you can't make them better with your labors.

Christians don't do things because some law says they should, their labors are labors of love. God fills us with his love and we do what we do as a result of that love. This produces things that go way beyond the Law. The Law is still useful. Let's say you claim to love God and love man and yet you don't even go as far as the Law would demand, never mind the leaps and bounds that love would go beyond the Law. What does that say about your claimed love?

With the Law, we do what we should do, with Love we do what we want to do. The fact that Love goes beyond the law does not mean that christians are under the Law. If we were under the Law then we would die for breaking the Law, any part of it. Some groups still want to make that a part of christianity, yet the bible doesn't tell us we are saved by our deeds but by God grace, through our faith.

The difference is clearly laid out in the book of Hebrews. If you are only going to read part, read chapters 3 & 4. If you are reading in the KJV I would point out verse 4:8 the text of the KJV has Jesus where it should be Joshua (Joshua is in the footnote). What verse 8 is referring to is the rest in the promised land that Joshua led the nation of Israel into. If you read that Jesus can't bring rest that messes up the entire message of rest of the New Testament. The Greek word of the name Joshua and Jesus is the same, so because Jesus is mentioned so much in the New Testament, the natural thing is to assume Jesus but it is clearly Joshua in view here. The problem traces back to Tyndale where he used a word different that either Jesus or Joshua in two places, the Bishop's Bible changed both to Jesus and the KJV follows the Bishop's but did add the footnote at Hebrews 4:8. The other place is Acts 7:45 where the KJV has Jesus bring the tabernacle into the promised land when again it is Joshua in view.

Anyway, I digress a bit, but if you read Hebrews, you will find that the christian sabbath is "Today" for as long as today is called today. If you enter into God's rest, the Sabbath isn't one day out of seven but everyday becomes a true Sabbath.

I hope that explains it.

Marv

[Prophet01]

The word of god is a gift to man too, seems logical that we should spend the day god gave us, submerged in the gift of his word.....

[OnEarth]

I do not believe that the new testament changes the old. It was Jesus that said he was not here to change the laws. He came to be the saviour of man. He was here to lay his body down so that we maybe forgiven.

I think that to many put focus on the New Testament. The old testament is just important. The old is what gives us insight on what Jesus was here to do. You must know the old to understand the new.

[OnEarth]

"And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done" (Genesis 2:2).

When the Creator of the universe had finished creating the heavens and the earth, the moon, the sun and the stars, the living creatures of the sea, the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, after He had created man in His own image He rested. God did not have a problem in celebrating the Sabbath, so why then do those who claim to follow His son have problems with it? Did Jesus, in fact, change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? If so, when did He command it? If not, then why do Christians celebrate it on Sunday instead of Saturday?

In order to understand what our position should be regarding the Sabbath, we need to look at Scripture and find out what it says. That must be the sole basis for our belief for by what other authority are we able to discern the truth?

Sabbath and the Scriptures

At Mount Sinai, approximately 3,500 years ago, God gave the nation of Israel a set of instructions known as the "Torah". The Hebrew word torah means "instruction, direction". This Torah — or set of instructions — was given to Israel to enable them to know how to relate to God and to each other.

Within the Torah is the "ten commandments" (Exodus 20.1-22). Interestingly, these commandments were given directly to the people. The fourth commandment relates to the Sabbath and God's instructions for its observance.

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11)

It was not to be a thing of bondage but of something holy unto the Lord. The fact that this day links God to His work of creation is important to Him. It cannot be easily set aside by stating that this was only for Israel. This is the one commandment that links God to the creation of the heavens and the earth. He blessed it and sanctified it more than 2,000 before Abraham.

Later, He further states:

"For six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings. These are the appointed times of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them" (Leviticus 23.3-4).

Notice that He specifically states that these are the appointed times of the Lord. Notice also that He does not say they are Jewish appointed times. They are His appointed times.

The purpose of the Sabbath is two-fold:

in order for our bodies to be refreshed and revitalized, we need to rest on the seventh day of the week, and
the most important reason, to honor the Creator of the universe.
Let me ask the question again: If God set aside the seventh day — Saturday1 — as the Sabbath, why has mainstream Christianity embraced Sunday as the Sabbath? Where did it get the authority to change the fourth commandment? Does it also have the authority to change the other commandments as well?

Jesus and the Sabbath

Jesus made two very important statements to His disciples with regard to Torah observance. The first one is:

"Do not think that I came to abolish [destroy] the Law [Torah] or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish [destroy] but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18)

The word fulfill used here means "to execute, accomplish, to complete". Many people interpret this to mean that, once Jesus died, the observance of Torah was over. In the first place, if that were true, then anything to do with the prophets was also ended, which we know is not true as prophecy will not be completed until the Father reigns in Jerusalem in the new creation (Revelation 22.3). Second, He just said He was not abolishing (destroying) Torah so how could its observance be over? Especially since He says in the next verse that it will not pass away until all is accomplished. Check around you ... Revelation 21 has not happened yet.

The key to understanding this statement is putting it in its Hebraic context. The words used here — destroy and fulfill are rabbinic terms. To "destroy the Law" meant to misinterpret it; to "fulfill the Law" meant to correctly interpret it2. Taken in that context, Jesus is saying that He came to correctly interpret the Law, to paraphrase this verse, "Do not think that I came to misinterpret the Torah or the Prophets; I did not come to misinterpret them but to correctly interpret them so that they may be properly understood." Think about the context of the situation where He is making this statement — He is explaining Torah to His disciples (Matthew 5-7, sometimes referred to as the "Sermon on the Mount").

The second important statement Jesus made regarding Torah was:

"Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:19)

If He cancelled the Torah, as is taught by many in regards to the previous statement above, then teaching it would be wrong. That would mean that this second statement doesn't make sense. Jesus also stated that "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2.27) and "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28). why would Jesus say He is Lord of the Sabbath if He was cancelling its observance?

Jesus Himself observed the Sabbath:

"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read." (Luke 4:16)

Objections to Sabbath Observance

"We are not under law but under grace."
This statement from Romans 6.14 is one of the least understood yet most used verses in all of Scripture. The interesting aspect of this is that, relative to the 'ten commandments', this verse is only used concerning the fourth commandment, yet that's only a part of Torah ('the Law'). Wouldn't it also apply to the other commandments as well? Are we then free to commit adultery or murder?

Man's relationship to God has always been by grace: from God's covenant with Abraham to the exodus from Egypt; from the sacrifice of the Lamb to the grafting in of the Gentiles. It's Torah that led us to Messiah Jesus. Because of this, we have died to the letter of the Law and now walk in the Spirit (Romans 7.6). The Spirit, by its very nature, walks in the way of Torah: "For we know that the Law is spiritual" (Romans 7.14). "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7.12). This is the very nature of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31.31-34)!

"It's the Jewish Sabbath."
God calls is a "a sabbath day of the Lord your God" (Exodus 20.10; see also Leviticus 23.2-4).

"God is not particular concerning which day we keep."
Nowhere in Scripture does the Father, Jesus, or anyone else say this. God made it quite clear that He sanctified the seventh day and no other. It's the sign that He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Exodus 20.8-11). [For other signs that God used, see Genesis 9.13 and 17.11.]

When God states that something should be done in a particular way, He means it to be done in that precise manner. One example of this is God's judgment against Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron. God had told Moses to command Aaron and his sons to keep a fire continually burning on the altar (Leviticus 6.9,12,13). However, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire (that which was not part of the original fire). Scripture records God's reaction to the changing of His commandment: "And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord" (Leviticus 10.2). We can see by God's action here that He is serious! For other examples read Genesis 3.24; 2 Samuel 6.6-7; and Numbers 4.15,20.

"The 'new testament' does not give any Sabbath command."
(The 'new testament' does not exist separate from the rest of the Scriptures. In fact, there should be no 'old testament' and 'new testament'. They should both be seen as one. The 'new testament' is part of the continuing revelation of the plan of redemption by the God of Israel, which He began immediately following the fall of man [Genesis 3.22]).

Paul clearly shows in Romans 11 and Ephesians 2.12 that we are grafted into Israel. Therefore, if we are grafted into Israel and Jesus said that He did not come to destroy Torah (Matthew 5.17), why would the Lord need to repeat the entire Torah that He had previously given to Israel 1,400 years earlier? The local assembly in Jerusalem concluded that the Gentiles would learn Torah "in the synagogues every Sabbath" (Acts 15.21).

The Changing of the Sabbath

Where then did the authority come from to change the fourth commandment? It obviously did not come from God.

It wasn't until around 100 AD that local assemblies first started meeting to worship on Sunday. It was made a civil law in 321 by Constantine and decreed officially in 337 at the Council of Laodicea (for a comparison of the assembly at Laodicea, see Revelation 3.14-22).

Throughout the years most Christian assemblies have continued the tradition without question. The writings of the Catholic Church truthfully admit that there is no biblical basis for a Sunday observance:

"Sunday is a Catholic institution.... From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first." Catholic Press, August 1900

"For, since we [Catholics] deny that the Bible is the sole truth, we can fall back upon the constant practice and tradition of the Church." Francis Lentz, Catholic priest, 1900

"If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath day. In keeping Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 1920

Even the Protestants themselves admit that Sunday observance is not biblical:

"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish [sic] seventh day Sabbath to the Christian first day observance.... The [Gentiles] brought over the consciousness of various observances in the pagan religions, preeminently the worship of the sun - a sort of Sunday consciousness." W. Carver, professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, 1940.

"... as we meet [on Sunday] with no Scriptural direction for the change, we may conclude it was done by the authority of the church." Episcopal Explanation of Catechism

And the list goes on and on. See also Modern and Historic Statements on the Sabbath.

There is nowhere in Scripture that God gives His called-out assembly, any assembly, the authority to change His word. Yet the Catholic Church illegally did it and the Protestant Church continued it through tradition. Jesus said it quite succinctly to the Pharisees:

"'Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.' He was also saying to them, 'You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.... thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.'" (Mark 7:8-9,13)

Conclusion

So then what is our choice? We can either be biblical and follow the command of God and observe His Shabbat on the last day of the week or we can follow the traditions of man and observe it on the first day of the week as the pagans do in their worship of the sun. Isaiah speaks boldly:

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20 [KJV])


1 The word Saturday is not actually Biblical. It's derived from the Roman god Saturn.
[Return to article]
2 David Bivin, Roy Blizzard, Jr., Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 1983), pp. 111-115
[Return to article]
[ Published: January 8, 2006 :: Written by Lee Underwood :: Permission to reprint is granted with proper credit to author.]

[bannaboat101]

The Sabbath which Is sunday is for men and it is for God. I say the because it is the day for men and woman to lay all things of the week on God and as forgiveness for things that went wrong.

[OnEarth]

The Sabbath which Is sunday is for men and it is for God. I say the because it is the day for men and woman to lay all things of the week on God and as forgiveness for things that went wrong.


Where does scripture say Sunday?

[holo]

I'll play it safe and not observe any day :)

[Randi]

OK, the Sabbath was a day of rest under the Old Covenant (Testament). While the Old Testament is no less important than the New, things are different under the New Covenant (otherwise we'd be sacrificing animals quite often...among many other things)

We are told in the New Testament to worship on the first day of the week. Sunday is now the time to worship.

We no longer observe the sabbath because we are not told to in the New Covenant. :)

[OnEarth]

We no longer observe the sabbath because we are not told to in the New Covenant. :)

That isnt supported by scripture. The new covenant didnt change anything. It told the coming of Christ and what he did for us. We dont sacrifice animals anymore but we pass a collection plate and pay a % of taxes to the church.

Christ observed the sabbath.

[Randi]

Yes, it's supported by Scripture. We are now under the New Law, the only things that are still valid from the Old Testament are the things that were restated in the New.

Heb 8:13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

[OnEarth]

Yes, it's supported by Scripture. We are now under the New Law, the only things that are still valid from the Old Testament are the things that were restated in the New.

Heb 8:13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

So how do you explain this?

"Do not think that I came to abolish [destroy] the Law [Torah] or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish [destroy] but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18

Does that mean that after he died it was okay for us to break all the commandments?

[holo]

Was it ok for anyone to "break the commandments" before the Law came?

We're heirs to Abraham, not Moses. The Mosaic law never had anything to do with us. That doesn't change the nature of right and wrong, and even the gentiles had it in their hearts to not kill and steal, for example. You don't need a commandment to tell you that. The commandment, however, is the power of sin, it allows sin to spring to life and enslave you. It's been like that ever since Eden - she took the fruit. Since "you shall have no other God" - they built a golden calf. And so forth. It's still happening today. Eat not, touch not.

We who are in Christ are free to live in another way. The law may still be, I don't care, because I'm dead to it. I have nothing to do with it. I'm righteous, I belong to another kingdom. I don't have a clue what I should need the law for anyway.

[Advent Christian]

Hello all; :wave: SteelDisciple your original question was that rather we as Christians are instructed to devote the entire Sabbath Day to the study of God’s Word, and observe the Mosaic law restraints or not. Please forgive my loose paraphrase.
Mathew 12 addresses the subject of the Sabbath in rather fine detail.
Jesus was approached by the Pharisees concerning the issue of His disciples picking corn as they walked through a field. Verses 3-8 give the account of our Lord’s reply, with 8 being of significance to this topic.
Mathew 12:8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.
Mark 2 also carries this event and has an expounded statement made by our Lord that being found in
Mark 2:27 And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
I would have to say I personally understand the Scriptures not to be imposing any hard line rules upon man concerning the Sabbath, I personally do not believe Scripture condemns man based on what he dose on any given day but instead based on the life of the man and his standing in reference to our Lord and Savior. Do I believe we should study His Word and praise God on the Sabbath? Absolutely; and if the Sabbath is when we worship God then all days should be Sabbath for us because we all should worship God daily. As always my love to all and May God Bless. :prayer: