THE SABBATH
DAY THEN AND
NOW
Many people are taught and believe
that God instituted the seventh day Sabbath back in the Garden of Eden, because
He rested on the seventh day.1 God’s
resting on the seventh day
foreshadowed a future Sabbath Law.
There is no biblical record
of the Sabbath Day being
practiced before the children of Israel left the land of Egypt.2 Scripture does not mention if there was
Sabbath Day keeping practices
from Adam’s time to Moses. The Sabbath
Day was required by Law under
Moses, and was kept by the Jews
prior to the Age of Grace being
celebrated on Saturday.3 The Sabbath Day observance was a special sign between God and Israel.4
The Bible says, “Wherefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath to observe it throughout their generations, as a perpetual Covenant. It (the Sabbath Day) is a sign between Me and the
Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the Heavens and Earth, and on
the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed”.5
Moses introduced the Sabbath law commanding Sabbath Day observance. Moses
restates the Ten Commandments
to the next generation of Israelites and gives the reasons why the Sabbath Day
was given to the nation of Israel6. Under
the Sabbath-Day Law there were
strenuous requirements that were to be followed:
Ø
A
person under Sabbath Law could
not leave home on the Sabbath
Ø
He
could not work on the Sabbath Day, or
Ø
Cause
anyone else to work (Exodus 16: 29, 35: 3; Deuteronomy 5: 14)
Any person
breaking the Sabbath Day Law
was put to death.7 For the Jews, the
Sabbath Day was the first and
most important of their sacred festivals. The Sabbath Day signified rest
because God rested on the seventh day from
all of His works of Creation. The fourth command was to be a sign between God
and Israel throughout her generations forever.8
Under the Jewish economy there were two Sabbath
Days that need to be addressed and understood by believers.
Ø The seventh-day Sabbath, which was established at Creation. It embodied the Law of God,
and was celebrated on Saturday
Ø
The
yearly ceremonial Sabbaths were instituted as part of the sanctuary services that were observed
by Jews and points forward to Christ Jesus. These yearly ceremonial Sabbaths were not set on a fixed day;
they could fall on any day of the week.
The Sabbath Day of the Ten
Commandments points back to Creation
reminding Israel to remember the Sabbath Day and what God had done for them.9 The word Sabbath means, rest,
and in the Jewish economy there were several yearly feast days on which all the
Jewish people rested; and the Passover
was another. The Passover came
on the 14th day of the first Jewish month each year. In Old
Testament times the lamb that was selected in preparation of Passover was taken
into the individual’s home where it remained for four days to be examined for
flaws. 10 This was later changed
to mean that the Priest in the Temple had to inspect and approve of
the lamb. The same day that the Jews were presenting their lambs to be
inspected for the Passover; our
own Passover Lamb was
presenting Himself to the people of Jerusalem for inspection as their long awaited
King. The people accepted Him, shouting hosanna - but not their leaders. Christ
Jesus was observed by:
Ø
The
chief priests
Ø
The
teachers of the Law
Ø
The
Elders
Ø
Pharisees
Ø
Sadducees,
and
Ø
The
Herodians
(Matthew 22: 16 parallel
Mark 12: 13; 3:6)
None of the groups
who were in opposition of Christ Jesus could find any fault with Him, so they
relied on the false testimonies they received in order to convict and crucify
Him. The Passover as well as
the yearly feasts point forward
to Christ Jesus and His ministry and had no more significance after He came.
The Passover Sabbath was
prophecy foretelling the day of Christ’s
crucifixion. He died on the day of the Passover, at the moment of the
slaying of the lamb. Christ Jesus is
the true Passover Lamb.11
Because of the Liberty that believer’s have in Christ, Gentiles were excluded from keeping Jewish customs. Paul said,
not to judge people regarding these ceremonial
Sabbaths; and the Bible makes it clear that the seventh-day Sabbath is a perpetual
memorial for Israel, and does
not include Gentiles.12
Gentiles did not celebrate a Sabbath
Day back then and do not observe the Sabbath Day today. Although the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, the forth commandment which concerns the
keeping of the Sabbath Day is
excluded from the New Testament text. There is no Sabbath Day observance required for Gentiles under Grace.
The exclusion of the Sabbath Day observance under Grace is there because Gentiles were not under the Law and did not participate in the
Sabbath Day rituals prior to the transition of the Dispensation of Law, into Grace.
Christians
must remember God said this Law
was a perpetual Covenant between
Him and Israel. Gentiles are excluded all together from any practice of the Sabbath Days, and the Law. When Christ Jesus came forth
from the grave in Resurrection Power,
the old Jewish Sabbath Day ended establishing a Day of worship for the Gentiles.13 The day for Gentiles to worship and
meet with other believers in the Dispensation
of Grace is the first day
of the week.14 The Jewish Sabbath Day was abolished at the Cross where Christ Jesus wiped
away the handwriting of ordinances that was against believers in Him.15 The first day of the week was given as
a memorial to the Resurrection celebrating Christ’s
victory over Death, Hell, and the Grave. Many Christians believe that since Christ’s death and
resurrection, it no longer matters which day
a person worships on; worship is a daily practice for believers just as dying
to the flesh.
Whenever Christ appeared in His
resurrected form and the day is mentioned, it is always on the first day of the
week.16 When the Sabbath Day is mentioned from the Book of Acts through
Revelation it is mentioned for evangelistic purposes to the Jews and the
setting is usually in a synagogue.17
After the Apostle Paul completed his teaching in the synagogue, he was asked by
Gentiles to come on the next Sabbath Day to teach them. This does not mean that
Gentiles were taught in the synagogue, the synagogue was no place for a Gentile
to be found.18 The point is Paul went
to the synagogue to convert Jews to Christianity. He wrote, “I became as a Jew,
that I might win Jews”.19 Paul
did not go to the synagogue to fellowship with the Jews, he went to convict and
save the lost.20 Once Paul washed his
hands of the Jews, he made his final statement to them and never mentions the Sabbath Day again in his writings.21 There was never an adherence to the Sabbath Day Law for Gentiles; and the remainder of the
New Testament proves it.22
Sunday commemorates Resurrection Day for the Gentiles,
and Sunday is the day when
Christ Jesus began to breathe His
Spirit Life into each of His
Disciples resulting in the birth
of the Christian Church. The
Christian Church would not have been possible prior to the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ because sin had not been dealt with.
Salvation and the building of the church were only possible after the Cross of
Christ Jesus when His Blood paid
for sin. Christ’ resurrection made Salvation
available to all men, providing equality and newness of life to those who
believed. From the beginning, the Sabbath
Day had been set apart for religious services for the Jews and by a special injunction the Hebrews
observed it as a Holy Day.
The Jews were commanded to sanctify it honoring God their Creator, and to keep
it as a memorial of their redemption
from Egyptian slavery.23 Redemption
could not come for the Gentiles
until the cause of bondage was
done away with. Christ Jesus had to:
Ø
Judge
the prince of this world
Ø
Spoil
principalities and powers before a victorious redemption could be effective24
The Passover redemption was not instituted for the Jews until after
the judgments of the plagues
were accomplished against Pharaoh.25
The same is true for Christian’s redemption. Gentiles redemption
was established when Christ Jesus defeated Satan by coming forth from the dead,
alive with the keys of Death, Hell and the Grave in His hands.26 The Sabbath Day was given to Israel
and for them the Sabbath is still honored and celebrated on Saturday. The
Sabbath Day is part of the Old Testament Law, and Christians are free from its
bondage.27 Sabbath Day keeping is
not required or observed by Christians whether it is to be observed on Saturday
or Sunday. The first day of the week, Sunday, is the Lord’s Day and Christians
celebrate Christ as new creations
in His Body, with Christ Jesus as our Resurrected Head.28
Believers are not obligated to follow
the Mosaic Sabbath of resting;
we are free to follow the risen Christ twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week. Every day is a Christ Day! The rules for the Sabbath rest were given
before the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. The Apostle Paul said that each
individual Christian should decide whether to observe a Sabbath rest, because
“one man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all
days alike [sacred]. Paul makes it clear that everyone must be fully convinced
(satisfied) in his own mind”.29
Keeping any part of the Law under Grace changes the whole orientation of Salvation away from God’s Grace to one’s own set of laws.
Those who choose to observe any part of the Law are required under the Law to
observe all of it.30 Law and Grace are two separate
entities designated for two separate dispensations
that are not to be mixed together.31
Christians are to worship God every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday.
Just as the Passover foreshadowed
Christ’s crucifixion, the Jewish Sabbath was a shadow of the redemption that
would be provided in Christ Jesus, symbolizing our rest from works and our
entrance into the rest of God that was provided by His finished work on
Calvary. The reason why the command to set Saturday apart as a day of rest and
worship is not repeated in the New Testament, is because believers are not
under Old Testament Law, not one itty bit of it.32
We live in a different time and dispensation.
Christ
Jesus’ appearances on Sunday were incessant and the descent of the Holy Spirit
was also on Sunday, all of these occurrences gave the early church its pattern
for Sunday worship.33 The
early church met regularly on Sunday in the homes of believers.34 Our Lord further hallowed Sunday
worship when He appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos in the last and greatest
vision given to the Church. This revelation vision was given to John on the Lord’s Day.35
1(Exodus 20: 11)
2(Genesis 2: 3)
3(Genesis 2: 2-3; Exodus 20: 8-11)
4(Exodus 19: 3-5)
5(Exodus 31: 16–17)
Luke 19: 28-47; John 12: 12-18)
11(I Corinthians 5: 7; I Corinthians 5:
7b; John 1: 29)
12(Exodus 31: 16; Colossians 2: 16- 17)
13(Hosea 2: 11)
14(Matthew
28: 1; Mark 16: 9; Luke 24: 1; John 20: 1, 19; Acts 20: 7;
I Corinthians 16: 1-2; Colossians 2: 16-17)
15(Colossians 2: 14)
16(Matthew 28: 1, 9- 10; Mark 16: 9;
Luke 24: 1, 13, 15; John 20: 19, 26)
17(Acts Chapters 13-18)
18(Acts 13: 42)
19(I Corinthians 9: 20)
20(I Corinthians 9: 22-23)
21(Acts 18: 6)
22(Colossians 2: 16-17)
23(Exodus 20: 8-11; Deuteronomy 5:
12-15)
24(John 12: 31; Colossians 2: 15)
25(Exodus 7: 1-12)
26(Revelation 1: 18; Romans 14: 5-6a;
Galatians 4: 9-10)
27(Galatians 4: 1-26; Romans 6: 14)
28(Revelation 1: 10)
29(Exodus
20: 8-11; Deuteronomy 5: 14; Leviticus 26: 2; Numbers 15: 32-33;
Romans 14: 5)
30(Romans 3: 31)
31(Galatians 2: 14-16, 3: 10-12)
32(Colossians 2: 16; Romans 6: 14;
Galatians 3: 24-25;
II Corinthians 3: 7, 11, 13; Hebrews 7: 12)
33(Matthew 28: 1; John 20: 26; Acts 2:
1)
34(Acts 20: 7; I Corinthians 16: 2)
35(Revelation 1: 10)
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