Center for Biblical Theology and Eschatology
There Remains Therefore a Sabbath Rest for the People of God
by Arrie
Hebrews 4:9 What is the Sabbath? Six days for our labor and recreation,
one day to rest in the Lord's provision. Ex. 20:9-11, Deut. 5:12-15. Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the
earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the
seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested
on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He
rested from all His work which God had created and made. Isaiah 58:13 "If you turn away your
foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD
honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor
finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14Then
you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to
ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the
heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has
spoken." Hebrews 4:9 There remains therefore a
Sabbath rest for the people of God.10 For the one who has entered
His rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from
His.11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest
anyone fall, through following the same example of disobedience. Interesting to know that the law was
given to the Isrealites on a Sunday, according to the Jewish
calendar and tradition.(Ex. 19:1) When did the Sabbath cycle
begin? Genesis 2:1-3 Who is "Lord of the
Sabbath day"? The Sabbath of the Lord thy God,(Exodus
20:10) The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
day(Matt. 12:8) Who was the Sabbath for, was
it Isrealites or a requirement for all persons for all time? Gen 2:3, Ex. 20:8-11 & 31:16-17, Lev
16:30-31, Lev. 19:1-3 & 30, Lev. 24:8, Isa. 56:6-7, Matt.
12:8, Mark 2:27-28 And He said unto them, The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath, Therefore, the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Aren't we supposed to live
every day as if it is a Sabbath? Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
to God the Father through Him. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 But we command you,
brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw
from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the
tradition which he received from us.7 For you yourselves know how
you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you;8
nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with
labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to
any of you,9 not because we do not have authority, but to make
ourselves an example of how you should follow us.10 For even when
we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will
not work, neither shall he eat.11 For we hear that there
are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not
working at all, but are busybodies.12 Now those who are
such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that
they work in quietness and eat their own bread.13 But as for you,
brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.14 And
if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that
person and do not keep company with him, that he may be
ashamed.15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as
a brother. What are the markers of a Sabbath from
the OT are-no work for daily provision, a holy convocation(sacred
assembly Lev. 23:36), or meeting in family groups, to worship, to
offer sacrifices and/or feast, and to read from the law of
God.(Deut. 31:10-13.) Before the Ressurection of Christ, the
people of God looked forward with anticipation to the Sabbath
rest all week. Now our week begins with the Sabbath rest, because
of our Dear Lord who conquered death and hell and arose to
proclaim our redemption, has become our assurance of eternal
rest. And we spend the week in thankfulness looking back on what
Christ has accomplished on our behalf. This is what sets Sunday apart for New
Testament believers, only works of necessity and doing good for
others(Matt. 12:1-12), church assembly(ekklesia) to worship in
prayer and song, to celebrate the New Covenant in Christ's
sacrificial blood by the communion table, the wedding feast of
the Lamb(1 Cor. 11:20-34), and to hear and learn from the Word of
God(Acts 20:7). What does the New Testament
say about rest? Hebrews 4:9 There remains therefore a
Sabbath rest for the people of God.10 For the one who has entered
His rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from
His.11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest
anyone fall, through following the same example of disobedience. The word translated simply rest in
Hebrews 3-4 merely means to cease or rest, up until verse 9 where
the word is sabbatismos, or Sabbitism- the practice of
Sabbath keeping. Then again the word in verse 10 goes back to the
former term. How can you be in
"disobedience" if the exhortation to enter that rest
"diligently" is not referring to a divine command? Are the ten commandments for
Chrstians of the New Covenant? Jealous God: Hebrews 10:30 &
12:1-29, Idolatry: Acts 19:26, 1 Cor
10:14, Gal 4:8-9 & 5:20, Col 3:5, 1 John 5:21, Col
2:18(worship of angels) Serve God alone: Matt 4:10 &
6:24, Rom 1:9, 1 Cor 8:5-6, 1 Thess 1:9, 2 Tim 1:3, Heb 9:14
& 12:28 Against Blasphemy (taking the name of
God in vain): Matt. 12:31, Rom 2:24, Col 3:8, 1 Tim 1:20
& 6:1, James 2:7, 1 Peter 4:14, Sabbath rest, church
assembly: Matt 12:1-12 &
18:17-20, (Lev. 10:8-11, Deut 4:10, 1 Cor. 12, Rom 1:9-16 &
16:25-27), Mark 2:28, Luke 6:5, John 20:19& 26, Acts 2:47
& 20:7, Hebrews 3:11-4:11 & 10:15-29, 12:22-26. Do not
forsake the assembly! Heb. 10:19-26 house of God? 1 Tim 3:15,
Hebr. 10:21-25, 1 Peter 2:4-6, 4:16-17. Letters written to church(ekklesia)
assemblies(sunogogue) (Romans 1:6& 16:1-16, 1 Cor. 1:2, 2 Cor
1:1, Galatians 1:2, Eph. 1:1, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2, 1 Thess. 1:1
& 5:27, 2 Thess. 1:2, Hebrews 3:1, James 1:1-2, 1 Peter
1:1-2, 2 Peter 1:1, 1 John 1:7, Jude 1:1, Revelation 1:4. The
rest of the epistles were written to instruct the leaders or
elders of the church, or to specific believers such as 2 John and
Philemon. ------------------------------------ The first four are the summation of the
ways we may show the world that we love God with all of our
heart, mind and strength, the forsaking of them is summed up as
idolotry. The second six are the ways we may show
the world that God's love extends through us to enable us to love
our neighbors as ourselves. (Romans 13:8-10) The forsaking of
them is summed up in lawlessness (1 John 3:4-24). ------------------------------------ Honor parents and authorities:
Matt 15:4-6, Mark 7:10,Luke 2:51, John 5:23, Romans 1:30 &
13:1-7, Eph 6:2,Col 3:20, 1 Tim 5, 2 Tim 3:2, 1 Peter 2:13-17 Adultery: Mark 10:11-12 & 19,
1 Cor 6:9, Gal. 5:19,Heb 13:4, 2 Peter 2:14, James 2:4 (speaking
to the church) Steal: John 10:10 & 12:6, Eph
4:28, 1 Pet 4:15 Murder: James 2:6-13 &
4:1(speaking to the church), Matt 5:21-22 & 19:18, Rom 1:29
& 13:9 Lie and bear false witness: Matt
15:19, Mark 10:19 (even defraud is included by Jesus Leviticus
19:13) Luke 18:20, John 8:44, Acts 5:3, Rom 1:25, Col 3:9, James
3:14, 1 John 1:6 & 2:21 Covet and envy: Luke 12:51, Rom
7:7 & Eph 5:3, Col. 3:5, Hebrews 13:5, James 4:2, Rom 1:29
& 13:13, 1 Cor 3:3 & 13:4, 1 Tim 6:4, Gal 5:21, James
3:14-16, 1 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:3 Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law
through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the
law. Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully
after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 1 John 3:4 Whoever commits sin also
commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. Mat 7:23, 13:41, Rom 6:19, 2 Cor 4:16,
Heb 1:9, =lawlessness. Doesn't the New Testament
say that we are no longer "under the law" and repeal
the Sabbath? There are three uses of the law in
scripture. 1) The use of the law as a righteous
standard that places all humanity under condemnation. No person
is able to keep even a part of it and so it guilty of all of it,
We are not bound by the ceremonial law, the laws of worship and
clean and unclean given to the set the Jews apart from the
nations around. Rom 14:17, 1 Cor 8:8, Col 2:16-23, 1 Tim 1:4-5,
Heb 9:9-15 & 13:8-10. These ordinances are not abolished,
Christ did "not come to abolish the law", they are
instead made New. Those ordinances were in place until the time
of reformation(Hebrews 9:10) Now they are not done away with but
are changed to honor Christ, made new. We still need a blood sacrifice to be
acceptable to God. That blood sacrifice is accomplished once for
all time by Christ, we must have faith in Christ to please God.
(Hebr. 9:11-15 & 10:9-14) We still have a sign and seal that
displays God's name over us as His people, His children, His
friends. Instead of the bloody rite of circumcision it is the
circumcision of the heart symbolized by the water of Baptism.
(Col. 2:11-12) We do not celebrate the feasts in Jewish
tradition, instead we celebrate the Lord's Table with wine as the
New Covenant symbolizing His blood, and bread as the body of
Christ the Lamb of God.( Luke 22:19-20, 1 Cor 11:17-34) We still must come before God in prayers
of thanksgiving, supplication and repentance daily and as His
body corporately to examine ourselves or we will be unclean and
unable to recieve His blessing, instead recieving chastisement
and judgment(Matt. 5:21-24 & 6:14-15, John 13:8-10, 1 Cor
11:27-32, 1 Peter 3:7) We no longer synogogue on the seventh
day to celebrate God's creation rest and the redemption of Jews
from slavery in Egypt, but now epi-sunogogue to celebrate Christ
our God who is light in the darkness of the world(John 1:1-14
& 1 John 1:1-4), who rested on the first day from His work of
redemption. All men are judged when they break the
moral law unbelievers suffering the full consequences Galatians
5:19-21, and Christians chastized Hebrews 12-13. 2) The use of the law to bring us to
Christ, a tutor to display our need for Christ's righteousness. 3) The use of the law to guide us in our
liberty to obey Christ, to do good works, because faith without
works is dead. The Pharisees mistakenly observed the
law to obtain justification, to be made righteous and acceptable
before God. That has always been improper. Love and mercy have
always been the fulfillment of the law(Micah 6:8) and faith in
the promises of God is the key to being justified by Christ's
righteous fulfillment of the law. We do not observe the law so
that God will love us, we fulfill the law because we believe in
Christ's work is efficacious, therefore we love Him and long to
live a life that honors Him. It is amazing to me that evangelicals
are so quick to criticize our government for removing the ten
commands from their standards, yet Christians are just as quick
to set them aside as somehow blotted out by grace. The Sabbath
was given to all of humanity in Genesis 2:1-3. It is not just a
sign it is truly resting in the accomplishments of God on our
behalf. The requirements of the sabbath law were not just resting
one day in seven, it required laboring 6 days. It provided 6 days
for mankind to accomplish his work and recreation bringing
"good" from what is "formless and void". It
provided one day to worship together and come apart as a
testimony to the world around, and to set the whole day aside to
meditate upon God, to hear and speak His words, to do works of
mercy and hallow the name of God. This is the problem with our view of the
commands of God. We see them as cut and dried condemnation of one
thing, instead of a gracious rule for pleasing God. Thou shalt
have no other God's before me, is not selfishness on God's part,
it is for our good that we place God first in everything, because
then the blessings of God can be manifest in everything in our
lives. The second command does not mean we cannot love a statue
as a beautiful display of creativity and glorify God for the gift
of artisans talent. It does not mean that if you treasure any
part of creation that you are an idolator. I am not an idolator
because my husband is the greatest person God ever created, I
glorify God for giving him to me and creating him to be the
perfect half of the whole that we are together. I am not an
idolator because I treasure the written word of God above any
other writing and credit to it's value my salvation, God gave it
that I might be saved. Etc. Etc. The failure of the antinomian
understanding of scripture is that in some way the commandments
are a heavy burden that Christ bore away. His yoke is easy His
burden is light. Each and every command is created for our good
and to make us happy in life as we walk in His paths. Romans 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness. What about Romans 14:5-6? Paul has just reaffirmed the moral law
and it's summation in Romans 13:8-10. Does this verse tell us not
to celebrate the Sabbath? No. It says to celebrate any holy day
as unto the Lord, what kind of holy day is he referring to? A day
where meat is eaten, this points to the sabbath feasts of the Old
Testament. It was not wrong to celebrate those Jewish holy days.
It was only wrong to celebrate them apart from Christ who had
fulfilled their purpose. So, for instance, it is not wrong to
celebrate Passover, unless you do not celebrate Christ the
Passover Lamb. What about Col. 2:16? Clearly this is a matter of festivals
with sabbath days as well. Take a look at Isa. 1:11-14 "your
feasts", "your new moons" and "the
sabbaths" are clearly those of OT Isreal and are associated
with the bloody sacrificial system. Whereas, in the same book
"My Sabbath" is referred to twice in the midst of
prophecying about the NT church practice, Isa. 56:1-7 &
58:13-14 and even in the New Heavens and New Earth beyond the
judgment day in Isa. 66:22-24. Notice in Colossians 2 verse 21-
"do not handle, do not taste, do not touch" those
ordinances were to set Israel apart as a nation but clearly do
not stop the indulgence of the flesh. In verse 19 the body of Christ, the
church, or literally "called out assembly", is our
place. We are to be the body with Christ as Head, which Ephesians
5 and 1 Cor. 12 clearly mark the body of Christ as the gathering
of the church. Within the context this is a call not to be judged
by the What about Galatians 4:9-10?
This, again, condemns the Galatians who
would listen to the Judaizers and think that once you have become
a Christian you must become an Isrealite by observing their
religious calendar. Not one of these verses says that the weekly
Sabbath is no longer a part of the moral law, or a part of our
obedience to Christ-the Lord of the Sabbath day. Shouldn't we have direct
words from Christ or an apostle on the change of the weekly
Sabbath day? Yes, we do have Christ giving a great
deal of instruction of the proper fulfillment of the Sabbath
day-Matt. 12:1-12, Mark 2:23-3:5, and Luke 13:10-17 & 14:1-6,
John 5:9-16, 7:21-23. He clearly declared Himself Lord of the
Sabbath. He did not teach that the weekly Sabbath would end.
Isaiah 66:22-24 clearly give us the Sabbath worship continuing
even after the judgment in the New Heavens and New Earth. Isaiah
56:3-5 is quite strange considering Lev. 21:17-24 & Deut.
23:1-8, it must refer to a New Sabbath when there are new
ordinances that include all nations(Is. 56:7 & 8) and does
not exclude people with diseases and who would have been outcasts
from the worship of God and fellowship with His people. What good is it to be Lord of the
Sabbath if it is going to be gone in a short time? We clearly
have the writer of Hebrews condemning those who continued to
practice the 7th day Sabbath rest. Hebrews 4:3-6. He again fixes
a certain day, "Today,"..."another day" in
verse 8. Clearly the text is speaking not only of the eternal
rest that the disobedient Isrealites would not enter. It is
speaking of a different day to celebrate the
Sabbath. If you take a look at the greek it is not just Sabbaton
it is a Sabbatismos(sabbath keeping) that remains for the people
of God, and if we do not diligently enter it we are disobedient
and will not enter God's eternal rest, just as the disobedient
Isrealites(Hebrews 3). Where is this new day
foreshadowed for the Isrealite believers? First day Sabbath - Ex. 12 The feast of
Tabernacles God tabernacled in flesh, and now we are the temple
of the Holy Spirit, the veil is rent in two. The feast of
tabernacles has both a first and eighth day sabbath rest. There
is clear precedent. Eighth- both the feast of Tabernacles
and the feast of Passover. See also Lev. 23 & Deut. 16. "The
Scripture tells us that God appointed the Jewish Sabbath in
commemoration of the deliverance of the children of Israel from
their task-masters, the Egyptians, and of their rest from their
hard bondage and slavery under them; Deu. 5:14, 15, “That
thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.
And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and
that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty
hand, and by a stretched-out arm: therefore the Lord thy God
commanded thee to keep the sabbath-day.” But the day that
the children of Israel were delivered from their task-masters and
had rest from them, was the day when the children of Israel came
up out of the Red Sea. They had no rest from them till then. For
though they were before come forth on their journey to go out of
the land of Egypt, yet they were pursued by the Egyptians and
were exceedingly perplexed and distressed. But on the morning
that they came up out of the Red sea, they had complete and final
deliverance. Then they had full rest from their taskmasters. Then
God said to them, “The Egyptians which ye have seen this
day, ye shall see no more for ever;” Exo. 14:13. Then they
enjoyed a joyful day of rest, a day of refreshment. Then they
sang the song of Moses, and on that day was their Sabbath of
rest. But this
coming up of the children of Israel out of the Red sea, was only
a type of the resurrection of Christ. That people was the
mystical body of Christ, and Moses was a great type of Christ
himself. And besides, on that day Christ went before the children
of Israel in the pillar of cloud and of fire, as their Savior and
Redeemer. On that morning Christ, in this pillar of cloud and
fire, rose out of the Red sea, as out of great waters, which was
a type of Christ’s rising from a state of death and from
that great humiliation which he suffered in death. The
resurrection of Christ from the dead, is in Scripture represented
by his coming up out of deep waters. So it is in Christ’s
resurrection, as represented by Jonah’s coming out of the
sea, Mat. 12:40. It is also compared to a deliverance out of deep
waters, Psa. 69:1-3, 14, and 15. These things are spoken of
Christ, as is evident from this, that many things in this Psalm
are in the New Testament expressly applied to Christ. [Compare
verse 4 with John 15:25, verse 9 with John 2:17, and verse 2 with
Mat. 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23; John 19:29, and verse 2, with Rom.
11:9, 10, and verse 25 with Acts 1:20.] Therefore, as the Jewish
Sabbath was appointed on the day on which the pillar of cloud and
fire rose out of the Red sea, and on which Moses and the church,
the mystical body of Christ, came up out of the same sea, which
is a type of the resurrection of Christ — it is a great
confirmation that the Christian Sabbath should be kept on the day
of the rising of the real body of Christ from the grave, which is
the antitype. For surely the Scriptures have taught us that the
type should give way to the antitype, and that the shadow should
give way to the substance." Johnathon
Edwards Christ arose on Sunday which was also the Feast
of the Firstfruits, 1 Cor. 15:20, and then 7 weeks later on
Pentacost, the Holy Spirit innagurated the church age, and the
authoritative proclamation of the gospel of Christ's salvation.
So according to Leviticus 23:15-16, even the Holy Spirit was
given as promised by Christ upon the first of the Sabbaths, a Sunday. Isn't the Sabbath clearly
set by God as Saturday the 7th day, why celebrate on Sunday? The Sabbath was set because of the day
which in example God rested from all of his work that he had
created and made. The seventh day Sabbath is a shadow, and those
that clung to it after Christ arose do not enter into God in
Christ's day of rest.(Hebrews 4:4-5) What happened on the first
day of the creation week? Light shone out of darkness. Christ the
Light of the World has come and conquered the forces of
darkness.(John 1:1-14 & 1 John 1:1-4) We celebrate and
worship on the day of the Son of Man who arose as light in the
darkness, the Lord of the Sabbath day. "The Sabbath was made for
man", according to Christ, we need to rest in God's
accomplishments or we will rest in our own. "Man was not
made for the Sabbath", in the context of Matt. 12, clearly
means that the Sabbath is not an institution that God made and
then made man so that the Sabbath would be fulfilled. Any
legalistic Sabbath practice that condemns Christ for healing and
gathering food to eat on that day is losing sight of the purpose
of the Sabbath. It was made to cause men to be refreshed and rest
in God, not to keep men from doing everything but breathing. Christ is Lord of the Sabbath day. Matt.
12:12, and Hebrews gives our rest as "another
day."(4:8) We assemble to celebrate God in Christ
resting from His work of salvation, the initiation of the New
Creation(2 Cor. 5:12), the New Covenant church(ekklesia or
assembly Matt. 18:18-20), which He created and made on the first
day of the week.(John 20:19) To me, to go back to the OT Sabbath
would be to go back to remembering the deliverance of Isrealites
from Egyptian men (Deut. 5:15) and to look back on creation (Ex.
20: 8-11) remembering what was very good become tainted and
cursed. It would be to deny the greater work of God, the work of
Christ the light that penetrates darkness to intiate the New
Creation (2 Cor. 5:17 & Gal. 6:15),
it would be to deny the greater redemption from the bondage of
satan in sin and death to the glorious liberty of Christ (Romans
8:2 & 7-22), with the hope of eternal
rest and resurrection bodies. It would be no different for me
than turning from the Lord's table with bread and wine, back to
the bloody sacrifices of cattle. How is the Sabbath day to be
kept? The apostles customarily: Acts 20:7 1) assembled with the church for
teaching, as Christ did, (Luke 24:27& 36 & 44-45), on
"the first of the Sabbaths"(Matt. 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke
24:1, John 20:1 & 19), and in keeping with the Sabbath law
and as the feast of Tabernacles and Passover feast forshadowed,
seven days later on the eighth day, (John 20:26) the anniversary
day of His resurrection, 2) broke bread(communion)(Acts 20:7 the
first of the Sabbaths) as Christ did with his disciples (Luke
24:30&41), and collected offerings on the first day of the
week(1 Cor. 16:2 the first of the Sabbaths). The implication is
clear and has not been broken since the first century by the
Christian church.(1 Cor. 11:2 & 2 Thess. 2:15). Hebrews is nothing less than clear that
the weekly church assembly(where all the inspired letters
including Hebrews were read, 1 Thess. 5:27) is the replacement of
the synagogue(epi-sunogouge 10:25) and the Sabbath(Sabbat-ismos
4:9) celebration. There was no need to tell the church assembled
on Sunday that the sabbath rest on "another day" which
was not the "seventh day," was the "first
day." It is also interesting that ekklesia is
the word used by Christ in Matt. 18:17, the church, which is the
exact word translated church throughout the Greek New Testament.
And in Hebrew 2:12 ekklesia replaces the assembly of David's
brethren in Psalm 22:22. It is also used of the Isrealites
wandering in the wilderness led by Christ, the Angel, in Acts
7:38. What about "The Lord's
Day?" In Revelation 1:10 John refers
to "the Lord's day." He does not explain but seems to
assume that the 7 churches to which he is writing will understand
the phrase. Well there is biblical warrant, and actually it is
quite wonderful to consider. Psalm 118:21-24 I will
praise You, 1 Peter 1:3....Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to
His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 1 Peter 2:4-10 Coming to
Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by
God and precious, you also, as living stones, are
being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
"Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to
shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those
who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the
chief cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, And a
rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they
also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light; who once were not a people but
are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now
have obtained mercy. From these texts I conclude
that Peter is considering Christ as the author of our salvation
and the Resurrection as the work of Christ that made us "now
the people of God" and "a holy priesthood." The
day that the LORD hath made, can only be the day that Christ
rested from the work of becoming our salvation, having become the
Chief Cornerstone. It would have been necessary to
differentiate Sabbath keeping for the Jews who rejected the
Messiah and continued the OT practice, and Sabbath keeping for
the Messianic Jews. What better way to distinguish the rest of
those who worship the Son of Man who is "Lord of the Sabbath
day" in Matt. 12:8, and refer to it simply as "the
Lord's day." This is historically supported by the writings
of, and about, the early church as well. Isn't keeping the Sabbath
Pharisaical? It certainly can be. The
Pharisees taught how far you could travel (Acts 1:12) etc. many
man made traditions were set up to protect people from breaking
the Sabbath. When Christ was accused of breaking the Sabbath, He
taught the proper meaning of Sabbath rest.(Matt. 9:2-8, 12:1-12; Mark 2:23-3:4, Luke
5:17-26, 6:1-5, 13:14-17, 14:1-6, John 5:9-16, 7:21-23, 9:13-16) Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on
the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck
heads of grain and to eat. 2And when the Pharisees saw
it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what
is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3But He said
to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was
hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he
entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not
lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only
for the priests? 5Or have you not read in the law that
on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and
are blameless? 6Yet I say to you that in this place
there is One greater than the temple. 7But if you had
known what this means, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice,'
you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8For the
Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." 9 Now
when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
10And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And
they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath?"--that they might accuse Him. 11Then He
said to them, "What man is there among you who has one
sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay
hold of it and lift it out? 12Of how much more value
then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do
good on the Sabbath." Even working on the Sabbath, the priests
busiest day, is not forbidden. Works of mercy, such as Medical
care workers, Fire Department, Police, and Soldiers are needed to
work on the Sabbath day. As much as possible we should not
forsake the gathering of ourselves to worship God. On Sunday we
should be especially careful that our actions, words and thoughts
bring glory to God. In the end I think the most wonderful
guideline to keeping the Sabbath is: Isaiah 58:13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From
doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a
delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him,
not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor
speaking your own words, 14Then you shall delight yourself in the
LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the
earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The
mouth of the LORD has spoken."
For You have answered
me,
And have become my
salvation.
The stone
which the builders rejected
Has become the chief
cornerstone.
This was
the LORD's doing;
It is marvelous in our
eyes.
This is the
day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be
glad in it.