#173 Sabbath

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 NIV

There has been much written about the Sabbath, and much contention over the day. I am still learning about it, and praying that in every instance my opinion and practice will be shaped by what God's word is saying about it, in my understanding of both the Spirit and the Letter. First, I would like to look at the physical element of it. After six days of creation, it says God rested on the seventh day. He set it apart as holy, but also included in its observance that not only Israel, but Israel's servants and visitors as well, shall not work. The Bible tells us: how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" 27Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28"So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." Matthew 2: 26-28. Men could conduct business and all that needed done in the six days leading up to the Sabbath, but the seventh day was to be set apart for the rest of man. Not only Israel, but those bonded to them in service were to receive this rest. You could not therefore gain a day of business on the back of your servant or hire a visitor to do your work. Israel has just been set free of the burdens of Egypt, but they are men and men quickly forget who they are and where they come from. It is easy, for the love of money, for a man to think himself entitled to the fruits of the backs of others. Governments have to make provisions against the abuse of labor, and yet it continues still, and it is against creatures made in the image of God. A man could say that he is born to this entitlement as a part of Israel, or that he is religious and therefore deserves this rest, but not according to this; it is extended to all. In its moral essence, it protects all, even from those who are outwardly religious, yet inwardly corrupt. However, any moral implication here would not appear to be about the day itself.

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." What was remembered about this day and on this day? God is the creator of all things, God is holy, God is just, God is merciful, He delivered them from Egypt and established His moral law here on the mount. They remember the Passover through a feast, and all these things that would foreshadow Christ. 

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. Colossians 2:13-19. Man is not merely physical though, and there is a part of him that needs, not just rest from labor, but the time set apart to those things eternal. It becomes clear in the gospel message and in Paul's letters that this part was set aside by those preferring the appearance of holiness and adding to the law.12 “Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12

The pharisees attacked those coming to be healed on the Sabbath and would attempt to charge our Lord upon the letter of their ignorance of the Sabbath. 

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. Luke 13:10-17

It is only in Christ we are new creatures; it is only in Christ that we have offerings fit for a Holy God. The observance of the Sabbath was not to the merit of Israel, nor to those, who would argue over a day, in this time. 

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,

‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:1-13

Well, I will not be defending or arguing a day in particular. The Sabbath of the Old covenant, the law, stood upon the seventh day, and shall stay standing there in my memory. I shall remember and speak of the God, who in six days created the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day rested. He instituted this law for men to remember Him, and made it holy. There is still a higher, spiritual implication here that rests upon things eternal. What happens when we forget God?  20Thus they exchanged their glory For the image of an ox that eats grass. 21They forgot God their Savior, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22Wonders in the land of Ham And awesome things by the Red Sea.…Psalm 106:20-22

I was approached by a gentleman while fishing the other night, and he wanted to hand me a track. I declined and tried to appear busy, but he asked if I was a Christian, to which I answered yes. He then tried to give me the track again, and so I asked him what organization he was with. He would not answer so I was admittedly rude and tried once again to walk away. He asked me what brand of Theology did I subscribe to, and so I told him, the Bible and I am a reformed Christian. I asked him why he was too embarrassed to cut the chase and tell me what religion he belonged to, and he answered that he believed the Bible too. He said he would most likely differ with me upon the Sabbath, and told me he was a Seventh Day Adventist. I thought as much, but nonetheless a touch of guilt would lead me to apologize, for I was very rude. Now, I don't think it is ever in me to change a persons mind. Most people in these instances are very much set upon what they believe, and are never much inclined to listen, both sides mostly thinking about what they will say next. I have been told to have an answer for the hope that is in me, to study and rightly divide the Word of truth, and so I spent the next 30 minutes discussing the Sabbath, and he stated, "so you think it is Sunday?" Well when we see the early church first meet, it is on Sunday and this is the day that our Lord was resurrected, fulfilling the law and completing the work that would allow us to enter His rest, and so many Christians meet on that day. But, to answer your question, no, I don't believe Sunday is the Sabbath. The Bible says that God must be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth, and  If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? 31Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God;…1 Corinthians 10:30-32. So in the end to me it is no longer the seventh day, but rather seven days, and we are to meet with other believers as commanded, to brake bread and remember. In the remembering we are to tell others of their position in sin and point them to Christ, not a day, for He is Lord of that day. And to my new friend, I apologize, while we may differ, I was rude and for that I am sorry.