Are Christians Obligated To Observe The Sabbath Day?
By Gerry W Webb, February 1999.
Revised June 2000.
Introduction
The fourth commandment given by God to the children of Israel recorded in both Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 declares that they were to observe the seventh day of the week as a Sabbath day which was to be kept holy. It was given to the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land. I do not believe Christians are obligated to keep it. The following are my reasons.
We will first look into God's requirements for those who "observe (or remember) the Sabbath." How was it to be kept holy since there is no mention of worship or going to the tabernacle (or synagogue) on the seventh day? We need to be reminded that the seventh day of the week was only one of the "Sabbaths" which Israel was commanded to keep.
A. The Mosaic Requirements on Keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath
The main obligation of the Sabbath-day commandment according to Exodus 20:8-11; 23:10-12; 31:12-18; 34:21; 35:1-3; Num. 15:30-41, and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 was for Israel's families, servants, guests, and animals to do no work on the Sabbath. It was to be a day "of complete rest, holy to the LORD." In fact, according to Exodus 31:14, a person actually "profaned" the Sabbath if he did any kind of work. Even the Sabbath meals were to be prepared beforehand. But what does it mean to rest completely and "do no work"? Does it mean we should stay in bed? Does it mean Jewish and Christian doctors and nurses are not to help the sick on that day? Does it mean farmers cannot tend to their animals? I understand it would do harm to the cows if farmers were not allowed to milk them for even one day. We know that the Israelites were not allowed to cook on the Sabbath, or travel more than one-half a mile (cf. Acts 1:12 with Exod. 16:29 and Num. 35:5). How would that apply today with the use of electricity? Please keep in mind that a car has an internal combustion engine.
The civil aspect of the Mosaic Law regulated many of Israel's moral laws including the seventh-day Sabbath. To what extent should they be enforced today? What about all the ceremonial laws or regulations given in the rest of the Torah? What about the burnt offerings of "two male lambs" which were made on the Sabbath in addition to the daily ones (Num. 28:9-10)? What about certain feast days that were also called Sabbaths unto the LORD?1 (Please note the indefinite article "a" in the following verses: Exodus 16:22-30; 20:10; 31:15; 35:2; and Deuteronomy 5:14. It denotes more than one kind of Sabbath.)
If both Christians and Jews are still required to keep the Sabbath days as given in the Mosaic Covenant, then the Mosaic civil laws which regulate them should also be in force because God (YHWH) commanded both. We know that capital punishment was commanded as punishment for working on the Sabbath, including picking up sticks and lighting a fire in one's home (or dwelling). (Cf. Exod. 31:12-18; 35:1-3; Num. 15:32-36.) This is extreme punishment. Who is going to enforce it? The Jewish synagogue? The Church? A handful of Reconstructionists? The Seventh-day Adventist Church? Or the State? If it is to be the Christian Church, then which denomination? If the State were to enforce the Sabbath laws, it would go against the Anabaptist teaching concerning the wedding of Church and State.
If this Sabbath law was strictly applied today according to Mosaic law, it would mean that our furnaces could not go on even if the temperature gets to minus 40 as it often does during the month of January in Edmonton, Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba. It would not be so bad if one lived in Jerusalem which is about the same latitude as San Diego, California. It would also mean we could not turn on a stove, a light bulb, or a computer between sundown Friday night to sundown on Saturday night, we could not walk further than one-half a mile to church, and we could not even start our cars because that would be lighting a fire.
B. The Ending of Sabbath-day Observance.
We see from the Bible that God's Sabbaths were:
1. Only signs between God and the sons of Israel throughout their generations, and which set them apart from other nations (cf. Exod. 31:12-17; Neh. 9:9-15; Ezek. 20:1-26; Mal. 4:4).
2. Given to remind the sons of Israel that they were slaves in the land of Egypt, and were brought out by the mighty hand of the LORD (cf. Num. 15:30-41; Deut. 5:12-15; Dan. 9:11-16).
3. The seventh-day Sabbath was also associated with God "resting" on the seventh day after creating the universe (cf. Gen. 2:1-3; Exod. 20:8-11; 31:12-18).
4. God’s Sabbaths were to be days of complete rest, not even a little labour to make a fire (cf. Exod. 20:10; 31:14-17; 35:2-3; Lev. 23:3,32; Num. 15:32-36; Deut. 5:14).
5. As part of God’s statutes and ordinances, the seventh-day Sabbath was given to the sons of Israel; it was not given to their forefathers (cf. Deut. 5:1-3,6,12-15,22; Neh. 9:13-15). This means it had not been given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6. God’s Sabbaths were to be obeyed while living in the land of Israel (cf. Lev. 26:1-8; Deut. 4:1-14; 6:1-3). Sabbath begins at sundown Friday evening.
7. God’s Sabbaths were not given to the Christian Church (cf. Acts 15:19-20; Rom. 7:1-6; 9:30-10:4; 14:1-6; Gal. 4:9-11; Heb. 4:1-11). Nowhere in the New Testament are Christians commanded to obey the Sabbath. If Christians were to obey the weekly Sabbath, they would have to celebrate it as a complete day of rest between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday, Israeli time. The Old Mosaic Covenant, not the New Covenant, would also regulate it. Instead, first century Christians began to worship God on “the Lord’s Day” which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday, the first day of the week. They gathered together for worship, listening to the Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, communal meals, prayer, and collection for the saints (cf. Acts 2:41-47; 20:7-8; 1 Cor. 11:17-34; 16:1-2; Heb. 10:25; Rev. 1:10). In actuality, Jesus is Lord of every day.
The whole Mosaic Law (including the Sabbath days) was a "certificate of debt" and was taken out of the way by being spiritually nailed to the cross of Christ (cf. Deut. 27:26; Gal. 3:10‑14; Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 1:20; 2:9‑17.) One cannot say that only the civil and ceremonial parts of the Law constituted the "certificate of debt." It was the moral part of the Mosaic Law which mainly indebted mankind to God. This obligation or "debt" we could never pay. In fact, disobedience to the Law of God brings judgment and death. Because of the death of Christ on the cross, however, God cancelled those decrees that were against us. Colossians 2:11-14 relate to a variety of other passages in Paul's writings which discuss our sinful state as a result of our breaking God's moral laws (e.g. Rom. 6-7; Eph. 2:1-18; Phil. 3:3). Our previous state of being "dead in trespasses and sins" was the result of breaking God's moral laws, not the result of our disobeying Israel's civil and ceremonial laws.
The following reasons from the Bible declare the ending of Sabbath-Day observances:
(i) The old Mosaic "certificate of debt" also included what one ate or drank, and how he or she regarded the religious feasts, or new moon, or a Sabbath day. The English translations of Colossians 2:16 generally read "... or a Sabbath day." The literal translation from the Greek, however, reads: "... or of sabbaths." The word "sabbaths" is plural and means more than the feast days.2 I believe it included the seventh day that was a Sabbath day of rest given only to Israel. All those things were only shadows or types, but the real substance or antitype belongs to Christ, and the types were dispersed or annulled at the cross.
(ii) The whole Mosaic Covenant of Law was only given to the sons of Israel in order to regulate them while in the Promised Land under theocratic rule (e.g. Exod. 20:2; Lev. 26:1-46; Deut. 4:1-14; 5:1-3; 6:1-25). This included God's "seventh-day Sabbaths" which was to be "a sign" between God and them throughout their generations, and also to set them apart from all other nations (cf. Exod. 20:8-10; 23:12; 31:12-18; 35:1-3; Lev. 19:1-4,30; 23:1-3; 26:2; Deut. 4:40,44-46; 5:12-15; Neh. 13:15-22; Ezek. 20:2-24). According to Leviticus 25, the land was to have a "rest" every seven years, and it was also called "a sabbath to the LORD." The main reason the Sabbath-day observance laws were given to the sons of Israel was to remind them that God brought them out of Egypt where they were slaves (Deut. 5:15). In other words, the Sabbath commandment was not just linked to God’s work in creation, but also to His work in Israel’s redemption from Egypt. According to Deuteronomy 5:1-3, the specific Old (Mosaic) Covenant was only given to the sons of Israel; it had not been given to their "fathers." Also, it was never given to the Christian Church, or any other nation to observe.
(iii) The end of Sabbath observance is found within the Decalogue itself. If one looks carefully at Exodus 16:22-30; 20:10; Leviticus 23:1-39, and Deuteronomy 5:14 (NASB), he or she will see that the seventh day was to be "a" sabbath day of the LORD, meaning only one of at least three kinds of sabbaths. Another sabbath was the seventh or "sabbatical year" within which the land was to rest (Lev. 25:1-7). The root of the Hebrew word shabbat (Strong's #7673,7676,7677) is "to sit", and it primarily means "to rest," or to take an intermission from work (cf. Exod. 35:2). These are the sabbaths included in the Sabbath days mentioned in Colossians 2:9-17 which were merely shadows of things to come through Christ.
(iv) If Sabbath-day observances were still required, so would the burnt offerings which went along with them (cf. Lev. 19:30; 23:2-3; Num. 28:1-10; 29:39-40; I Chron. 23:30-31; II Chron. 31:2-4; Isa. 1:13). These were commanded by God to the sons of Israel. If the seventh-day Sabbath was still in affect, then why do not the Sabbatarians seek to obey all that the LORD commanded? How can a person say he keeps a certain law when he keeps only part of it?
(v) If the Sabbath-day laws were still in effect today, then according to Exodus 31:12-18; 35:1-3; and Numbers 15:32-36, anyone who profaned the Sabbath by working, gathering sticks, or kindling a fire in his dwelling from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is to be put to death. Since we do not live under a theocratic state as ancient Israel did, no Sabbatarian can live consistently under the Mosaic regulations. I ask: "If one is not allowed to light a fire on the Sabbath, then how is a man to heat his home if he lives in Edmonton, Alberta during the month of January when the temperature often gets to minus forty?" Not only is this impractical in countries like Canada and Russia, but it would be morally irresponsible and reprehensible to enforce a religious law which would result in many people freezing to death. In addition, if the Mosaic Sabbath-day law is seen as a moral issue along with the other nine commandments, then it would put this fourth commandment against the sixth commandment. In other words, not lighting a fire in one's home on the Sabbath would be more important than one's life.
(vi) As the “Son of Man,” Jesus not only said that He was "Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:5)," but also that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27)." If the harsh Mosaic restrictions concerning the Sabbath-day were still in force today for all Christians, then one would have to contradict Christ and say that man was indeed made for the Sabbath.
(vii) Concerning the issue of healing people on the Sabbath, we need only to look at Jesus' response to the legalistic Pharisees in Matthew 12:1-37 (cf. Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11 and 13:10-17). Jesus was accused of working on the Sabbath when he healed people. As the Son of God, Jesus viewed the welfare of people as more important than religious laws. Principles such as doing good and dispensing mercy and justice were more important to Him than formal outward laws (cf. Ps. 51:16-17; Isa. 42:1-4). In addition, the New Testament taught that the person of Jesus was greater than the physical temple in Jerusalem (cf. Matt. 12:5-8; John 2:19-22).
(viii) In order to get around the problem of the "Sabbath-Day" observance as being part of the Ten Commandments (or Decalogue), some Christians teach that it was part of the Jewish ceremonial law, not the moral. I believe it relates to both.
(ix) Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever fulfilled all the requirements of the Mosaic Law (cf. II Cor. 5:21; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 4:15), including proper observance of the Sabbath. For example, according to Luke 4:16, Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath which "was His custom."
(x) St. Paul said in Galatians 4:9-11: "...You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain."
(xi) In Romans 14:1-23, the Apostle Paul says: "... One man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind...(NASB)." In other words, for the Christian, the Apostle is saying that no day is to be regarded holier than another. Although the Torah was read every Saturday in the synagogues, the early Gentile Christians were never commanded to be circumcised, or to rest on Saturday as the Jews were (cf. Acts 15:1-21).
(xii) The early Christians began to worship God on Sunday (or the Lord's Day), because the first day of the week became associated with Christ's resurrection (cf. Matt. 28:1-10; Luke 24:1; John 20:1; Rev. 1:10). We see from Acts 20:7 and I Corinthians 16:1-3 that the early Church gathered together on the first day of every week in order to "break bread," and also to take up a "collection for the saints." Nowhere in the New Testament is the Church commanded to gather together to worship on the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath. If the early Christians were in the habit of congregating on Saturday, then why would the apostle Paul tell the Corinthian Christians to gather together again the next day just to take up a collection? I believe it is false for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to teach that the Roman Catholic Church originated Christian worship on Sunday.
History records that the early Christians were worshipping on Sunday as far back as the first and second centuries A.D. For example:
"But every Lord's Day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, so that your sacrifice may be pure." (Didache c. 80-140)
"No longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day." (Ignatius, c. 105)3 Ignatius here reveals that the “Lord’s Day” is separate from the Jewish Sabbath.
"I will make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. For that reason, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead." (Barnabas c. 70-130)4
"And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read... But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God... made the world. And Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead on that same day." (Justin Martyr c. 160)5
"There was no need of circumcision before Abraham. Nor was there need of the observance of Sabbaths, or of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses. Accordingly, there is no more need of them now." (Justin Martyr c. 160)
"We do not follow the Jews in their peculiarities in regard to food nor in their sacred days." (Tertullian c. 197)
"Let the one who contends that the Sabbath is still to be observed as a balm of salvation,... prove to us that in times past righteous men kept the Sabbath, or practiced circumcision, and were thereby made 'friends of God.' God created Adam uncircumcised and non-observance of the Sabbath..." (Tertullian c. 197)
"Just as the abolition of fleshly circumcision and of the old Law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary." (Tertullian c. 197)6
"On the day of our Lord's resurrection, which is the Lord's Day, you should meet more diligently, sending praise to God who made the universe by Jesus... On this day, there is the reading of the Prophets, the preaching of the Gospel, the oblation of the sacrifice, and the gift of the holy food." (Apostolic Constitutions, compiled c.390)7
(xiii) Finally, according to Matthew 11:28-30, and Hebrews 3 and 4, the antitype "Sabbath rest for the people of God" is a relationship with God, and it is entered through faith. That is where we find rest for our "souls." In other words, we are to cease from our own works, and instead, rest in God and the completed work of Christ on our behalf (e.g. I Cor. 1:2-9). This is true for both our salvation and our sanctification. Israel as a nation did not enter that rest (cf. Jer. 6:16; Heb. 3:7-19).
In addition to the seventh-day Sabbath, there were other days which were to be "holy" and set apart for rest and worship. They were also "holy convocations" or high sabbaths, and were celebrated as part of the Jewish Feasts (cf. Lev. 23:4-44; I Chron. 23:25-32; II Chron. 2:4; 8:12-13; 31:3; Isa. 1:13-15; Hos. 2:11). These other sabbath days are included in the festivals mentioned in Colossians 2:14-17, and were also merely "shadows" of greater things to come. The fact is, Jesus is the substance that fulfilled the types.
In his book Christian Be Free, a former Seventh-day Adventist minister comments:
Only by accepting the death and resurrection of Jesus as sufficient to redeem us can we again worship God as Creator. Either we accept the righteousness of Jesus as sufficient or we are in as deep trouble as were the Jews who, while observing the Jewish Sabbath, failed to enter into God's Rest. God does not redeem us from the curse contained in the Mosaic Sabbath commandment only to put us back into bondage to that same law again, as Galatians 3:1-4 shows very clearly.
...God's real Rest was the kind offered by Jesus when he said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)... As one looks to Jesus, and trusts him to guide, and is willing to be disciplined and matured through trials and hardships, Jesus will give his Rest.8
The above quote concurs with such verses as Philippians 4:4-9 and I Peter 5:6-7.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a Jewish convert, family therapist, and popular radio talk-show host who gives wise practical advice to callers' problems. In her new book on the Ten Commandments, she writes:
The bridge between the sacred and the mundane or profane is us [mankind]. Adam and Eve were created between all other things on earth and the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is ordained for spirituality, but only our actions can bring that potential to reality or not...
While the Jewish tradition retains the celebration of the Sabbath on the seventh day, Saturday, Christians commonly refer to Sunday as the Sabbath. Both groups find the source of their practice in their Scripture. For Jews, it is primarily based on the commandment in the Decalogue, which, in the book of Exodus, portrays the Sabbath as a commemoration of God's redemptive acts as demonstrated in the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15). For Christians, the Lord's Day is rooted in the Resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1; John 20:1). The two celebrations express different theologies but ultimately circumscribe the same concept of holiness or sanctity.9
The following are my observations of the above quote:
(i) Dr. Laura seems to neglect the major reason for the Jewish Sabbath which was to have a day of "complete rest" (cf. Exod. 31:12-18; 35:2).
(ii) Although the people of Israel were commanded to obey the Decalogue absolutely, Dr. Laura sees spiritual principles in the Sabbath-day commandment. She interprets it according to Jewish tradition, not literally according to the letter.
(iii) She rightly understands that the seventh-day Sabbath was primarily given to the children of Israel in order for them to commemorate weekly "God's redemptive acts" in delivering them from Egypt (cf. Deut. 5:15).
(iv) She rightly understands that Christians set apart the first day of the week, or the Lord's Day, in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus.
Conclusion
We conclude that Christians are not obligated to observe the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath. If there was any celebration of a seventh day between the time of Adam and Moses, it would have been done in order to commemorate God's creation and "resting" on the seventh day after six days of work. However, the first time the word "Sabbath" is mentioned in the Bible is Exodus 16:23, about one month before the Mosaic Law was given at Mount Sinai (cf. Exod. 16:1; 19:1-2). According to Deuteronomy 5, it was given by the LORD God to Moses in order for Israel to commemorate her deliverance from Egypt. The Saturday Sabbath is obviously not for Christians to remember because we do not have ancestors who were delivered from the country of Egypt (cf. Deut. 5:1-15; 6:12). A better alternative is to accept that the whole Mosaic Law has been displaced and superseded by the work of Christ on our behalf.10 The universal moral commandments are repeated in the New Covenant. The seventh-day Jewish Sabbath is not one of them.
Christ's higher commandments and the royal "Law of Love" are now in effect.11 The New Covenant has come with the reception of the Holy Spirit, thus making the Old Covenant with its Sabbath regulations obsolete (Heb. 8:6-10:22). Christians do not put emphasis on outward observance; rather, they worship God in Spirit and in truth (cf. John 1:17; 4:23-24). Christians now worship God on the first day of the week which is a reminder and celebration of new life through the resurrection of Christ. In addition, we find rest for our souls by resting in God and the completed work of Christ on our behalf (cf. Heb. 4:1-11; Phil. 3:8-9).
Many of the Reformers mistakenly held that Sunday (or the Lord's Day) is the replacement of the Jewish Saturday Sabbath. I understand they did this to support their belief that part of the Mosaic Law is still binding on believers. (If that is true, why does not the Church also try to enforce the harsh punishments that God commanded for breaking them? Why have laws if they cannot be enforced?) The Reformers may also have taught this in order for their state church to wield power over its citizens.
Although Christians are not obligated to keep the Jewish Sabbath, they nevertheless should set one day apart every week, usually Sunday, for relaxation or recreation, to have a break from six days of regular work,12 to spend time with their families, and to gather together with other Christians for worship, fellowship, and "breaking of bread." The book of Hebrews is quite clear on this point that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:25). After all, how can we "stimulate one another to love (Heb. 10:24)," unless we meet together with other Christians? As far as the issue of playing sports on the Lord’s Day is concerned, the New Testament seems to be silent. I do not think there is anything wrong with swimming and playing sports on the Lord’s Day because they are forms of recreation and are good for the body. A problem arises, however, when Christians begin to replace the time needed for worship, meditation, fellowship, and the “breaking of bread.”
Addendum A
First of the Sabbaths
How are we to understand the Greek word “sabbatōn” that is translated “week”?
In this essay I have shown that, as a holy day of rest and worship, the seventh-day Sabbath was only given to the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land. I have also given evidence from history that first-century Christians began to worship God on Sunday, the first day of the week, because, as “the Lord’s Day,” it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ (see page 5). How, then, are we to understand the singular Greek word “sabbatou” that is used three times in the New Testament (cf. Mark 16:9; Luke 18:12; 1 Cor 16:2), and the plural Greek word “sabbatōn” that is used six times (cf. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19; Acts 20:7), both of which are translated “week”? First of all, I understand there was a group of Judeans during New Testament times that fasted on two separate days of the week (i.e. Monday & Thursday). Just like the self-righteous Pharisee mentioned in Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:12, did the Judeans fast twice a week, or did they fast twice on the one and the same “Sabbath”? It is recorded in early Christian literature that the Judeans fasted the second and the fifth Sabbaths (see A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, third edition. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2000. Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker, p. 910). The use of the Greek word “sabbatou” (Strong’s Concordance #4521) seems odd because the Jewish Sabbath is observed on Saturday, not on Monday or Thursday. Some Christians believe that not only is Sunday “the Sabbath,” but any day of the week that is regularly set apart “for worship in any of certain other religions, e.g. Friday in the Moslem week” (see The New Lexicon Webster’s Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, Canadian Edition, Lexicon Publications, Inc., New York, 1988, page 875).
Second, the context of Mark 16:9 may help to clear up the problem. Jesus was placed in the tomb the day before the Sabbath (cf. Mark 15:42), “And when the Sabbath was over... very early on the first of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen (16:1-2 NASB).” Mark 16:9 states: “Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene (NASB).” I don't think the translators are in error for translating “first of the week” from the Greek words that literally read, “first of sabbatōn.” Why the use of the word “first (Gr. mia)”? It certainly wouldn’t make sense to relate it to the first hour of the Jewish Sabbath that begins at sundown Friday evening. It seems that Mark 16 verses1-2 and 9 are pivotal in proving that Christ rose early on Sunday morning, the first day of the Sabbath/s (week). There does not seem to be any corresponding word to our English word “week.” Further, with reference to First Corinthians 16:2, what does laying aside on the first of every Sabbath mean? Does it mean that offerings were to be set aside every Saturday or Sunday? According to Acts 20:7, Christians gathered together on “the first day of the week (Gr. sabbatōn)” to break bread. The first day of the week is obviously Sunday, not Saturday. According to Alfred Edersheim, the Jews had a week that was divided into 7 days with the seventh only as having a name; the other days were merely noted with a numeral (cf. The Temple Its Ministry and Services, 1994, p.159).
After all is said and done, observing one day over another doesn't make anyone a better Christian. According to such passages as Matthew 15:7-20; Mark 7:1-23; Acts 10:9-16; Romans 14: 1-19; Galatians 4:9-11, and Colossians 2:16-17, no Christian should pass judgment upon another Christian for eating or not eating certain foods, or esteeming one day above another.
Notes
1. Compare Gen. 2:2-3; Exod. 12:15-16; 13:6; 23:12; 16:23-31; 19:3,30; 31:12-18; 35:1-3; Lev. 19:3,30; 23:1-44; 24:8; 25:1-13; 26:2; Num. 15:32-36; 28:9-10. Compare also with II Kings 11:5-9; I Chron. 9:32; 23:31; II Chron. 2:4; 23:4-8; 31:3; Neh. 10:31; 13:15-22; Isa. 56:2,6; 58:13-14; 66:23; Jer. 17:21-27; Ezek. 20:9-24; 46:1-5, 12; Matt. 12:1-13; Mark 2:23-28.
2. Compare Exod. 16:22-30; 20:8-11; 23:12; 31:12-18; 35:1-3; Lev. 19:1-8; 23:1-44; 24:8; 25:1-55; 26:2; Num. 15:32-36; Deut. 5:12-15; II Chron. 2:4; Ezek. 20:9-24; 23:38; 45:17; Matt. 11:28-12:13; Mark 2:23-28; John 19:31.
3. David W. Bercot, Editor. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998, p. 405.
4. Ibid., p. 227.
5. Ibid., p. 405.
6, Ibid., p. 571-572.
7. Ibid., p. 406.
8. Samuel Pestes. Christian Be Free. Wheaton, Ill: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1981, pp. 26,38,39.
9. Dr. Laura Schlessinger with Rabbi Stewart Vogel. The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life. Harper Collins Publ., 1998, pp. 100-101.
10 Compare Matt. 5:38-42; John 1:17; Rom. 7:4; 8:1-4; 10:1-13; 14:1-23; II Cor. 3:2-18; Gal. 3:1-29; 4:3-11, 21-31; Col. 2:9-17; Heb. 8:6-13. For more information on this issue refer to my essay entitled, "Law And Grace, Or Law Versus Grace?" revised February 1999. As with circumcision, one who puts himself back under any of the Jewish Sabbath laws is "...under obligation to keep the whole [Mosaic] Law (Gal. 5:1-4)."
11 Compare Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37; John 13:34-35; Rom. 12:9-21; 13:8-10; Gal. 5:1-6:2; Eph. 4:17-32; James 2:8.
12. From Genesis 2:2-3 we see a principle that one day in seven should be taken off from work. We should not be legalistic about which day that is (cf. Rom. 14:1-23; Gal. 4:9-11; 5:1-18; Col. 2:9-17). God gave no command concerning the Sabbath until Exodus 16, which is the first time the word "Sabbath" is mentioned. The word "Sabbath" basically means, "to rest;" it does not mean seventh (cf. Exod. 16:22-26; 31:12-15; 35:2; Lev. 23:3,32). If it did mean seven, then the Torah would be wrong because certain feast days held on the first, tenth, fifteenth, and twenty-third day of the seventh month were called "Sabbaths." In fact, the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles was also a sabbath-rest (cf. Lev. 23:23-39). The Jews observe every Saturday as their weekly Sabbath-rest, the Moslems Friday, and most Christians have Sunday or the Lord's Day for relaxation and collective worship. Jesus told the Jews that He was "Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:27-28)." The New Testament goes further and teaches that Jesus is Lord of the universe because He created it (cf. Matt. 28:18-20; John 1:1-4; Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:13-20; 2:9-10; Heb. 1:1-13). In actuality, Jesus is Lord of every day.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed the true intent of the Mosaic Law (cf. Matt. 5:21-22,27-28; 7:12). Jesus is the only human being who has fulfilled both the letter and the intent of the Law. The Jewish Sabbath was a mere type or shadow of what was to come; "but the substance belongs to Christ." The most important thing for us is to come to Jesus for spiritual rest (cf. Ezek. 34:11-31; Matt. 11:22-30; Heb. 3:1-4:16).
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