Today's Article focuses on whether or not a Christian has to observe the sabbath in order to be saved, as well as cover other passages of scripture that deals with the sabbath.
About Keeping / Remembering It
In the book of Exodus after God has Moses lead Israel out of Egypt we then see the children of Israel receiving the Ten commandments. Among them is the command to keep the Sabbath (Exo 20:8 -11), in it God references the beginning of the book of Genesis that tells us that he made the world in six days and rested on the seventh (Gen 2:2-3). Obviously he didn't need to rest because he doesn't grow weary (Isa 40:28). Therefore we see that he did this an an example for us to follow.
By taking a look at Exo 16:23 -30 we see that the children of Israel weren't supposed to cook on this day nor go out of their "place". When is the sabbath? According to a link below the Sabbath starts on Friday at sundown and ends on Saturday Night
(Lev 23:32).
Furthermore we see that it was a sign between God and the Children of Israel and those that defiled it back in the Old Testament would be put to death (Exo 31:13 -17, Exo 35:2,
Num 15:32 -36, Deu 5:12 -15, Eze 20:12, Eze 20:20).
Additionally we see in the book of Nehemiah that he was zealous over the sabbath day when we see him contending with the nobles of Judah over the matter of profaning it, this book also shows him condemning the buying and selling of things on this day also (Nehe 10:31, Neh 13:15 -22).
We see in Isaiah that the Lord blesses the eunuchs and sons of the strangers for observing his sabbaths (Isa 56:2 -7). We see in Ezekiel Chapter 20 that the children of Israel had a disregard for keeping the sabbath as God says at least four times in this chapter alone that they polluted it (Eze 20:13, Eze 20:16, Eze 20:21, Eze 20:24).
We can also see that the sabbath was kept right up to near the end of the book of Luke when the women kept it after seeing Jesus' sepulcher (Luk 23:56).
See also: Exo 23:12, Lev 19:3, Lev 19:30, Lev 23:3, Lev 26:2,
By taking a look at Exo 16:23 -30 we see that the children of Israel weren't supposed to cook on this day nor go out of their "place". When is the sabbath? According to a link below the Sabbath starts on Friday at sundown and ends on Saturday Night
(Lev 23:32).
Furthermore we see that it was a sign between God and the Children of Israel and those that defiled it back in the Old Testament would be put to death (Exo 31:13 -17, Exo 35:2,
Num 15:32 -36, Deu 5:12 -15, Eze 20:12, Eze 20:20).
Additionally we see in the book of Nehemiah that he was zealous over the sabbath day when we see him contending with the nobles of Judah over the matter of profaning it, this book also shows him condemning the buying and selling of things on this day also (Nehe 10:31, Neh 13:15 -22).
We see in Isaiah that the Lord blesses the eunuchs and sons of the strangers for observing his sabbaths (Isa 56:2 -7). We see in Ezekiel Chapter 20 that the children of Israel had a disregard for keeping the sabbath as God says at least four times in this chapter alone that they polluted it (Eze 20:13, Eze 20:16, Eze 20:21, Eze 20:24).
We can also see that the sabbath was kept right up to near the end of the book of Luke when the women kept it after seeing Jesus' sepulcher (Luk 23:56).
See also: Exo 23:12, Lev 19:3, Lev 19:30, Lev 23:3, Lev 26:2,
Jer 17:21 -27, Eze 44:24
What was Lawful to do on the Sabbath?
Although the Sabbath was created so man could rest, there are some activities that are still considered lawful to do on this day. We see from the books of Luke and Acts that reading and teaching was ok to do on the sabbath (Luk 4:16, Luk 4:31, Act 13:14 -15, Act 13:27). We see also from Acts 13:42-44 that preaching also is lawful to do on the sabbath too. See also Act 17:2.
We see that the offering of sacrifices was done on the sabbath(s) (Num 28:9-10, 1 Ch 23:31, 2Ch 2:4, 2Ch 8:13, 2 Ch 31:3), the sons of the Kohathites were said to prepare the shewbread every sabbath (1Ch 9:32), and we see that the Israelites didn't consider guarding the king as breaking the sabbath (2 Ki 11:5-8). There is also the account of some of the priest/levites being porters of the doors on the sabbath, Jesus even pointed out in the law that even though the priest profane the sabbath they are considered blameless (2 Ch 23:4, Matt 12:5).
Even though Jesus perfectly kept the law (Gal 4:4-5, 1 Joh 3:4-5), he was falsely accused of breaking the sabbath day. We have instances of him healing a man with a withered hand (Mat 12:10-13, Mar 3:1-5, Luk 6:6-10), a woman who was bowed together (Luk 13:10 -17), and an impotent man on this day (Joh 5:7-18). Jesus makes some good points, if people lifted their sheep out of pits, watered their beasts, and circumcised on the sabbath, then why couldn't he heal people (Joh 7:22-24)? Also another thing to consider, because Jesus created the Sabbath couldn't he break it and still remain guiltless if he wanted to (Luk 6:5)?
Additionally we see that it wasn't a sin to pluck corn on the sabbath because Jesus defended his disciples who were doing so on this day (Mat 12:1-9, Mar 2:23-28, Luk 6:1-5). The Pharisees were known to make many man made extra-biblical rules concerning the sabbath, so that doing just about any tiny little thing on the sabbath constituted breaking it. We can infer from Mark 3:4-5 that it is lawful to do good on the sabbath days, for we know that there is no law against love and goodness (Gal 5:22-23). In fact all the law is summed up by the saying thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Gal 5:14).
The Big Question / Conclusion !
And now to answer the question of the title of this article. Do Christians have to keep the Sabbath under the New Testament?
The short answer is No, for we are under the New Testament and nowhere in the NT does it say that we have to observe it. Also as I mentioned earlier it was a sign between God and the children of Israel, we see from Acts 15 that the gentiles were not required to keep the old testament mosiac laws in order to be saved.
The Pauline epistles tell us not to judge others on the basis of whether or not they regard days such as the sabbath, the sabbath was actually a type of foreshadowing of Christ who is the one who gives us rest (Rom 14:5-6, Col 2:16-17, Mat 11:28, Heb 4:3-11).
The short answer is No, for we are under the New Testament and nowhere in the NT does it say that we have to observe it. Also as I mentioned earlier it was a sign between God and the children of Israel, we see from Acts 15 that the gentiles were not required to keep the old testament mosiac laws in order to be saved.
The Pauline epistles tell us not to judge others on the basis of whether or not they regard days such as the sabbath, the sabbath was actually a type of foreshadowing of Christ who is the one who gives us rest (Rom 14:5-6, Col 2:16-17, Mat 11:28, Heb 4:3-11).
Extra Verses on the Sabbath: 2Ki 4:23, 2 Ch 36:21, Neh 9:14, Isa 1:13, Isa 58:13 -14, Eze 22:8, Mat 24:20, Mat 28:1, Joh 19:31
References:
https://www.sabbathtruth.com/free-resources/article-library/id/915/when-does-the-sabbath-start
https://bible.org/seriespage/18-great-sabbath-controversy-luke-61-11
http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/mark/2_23-28.htm
References:
https://www.sabbathtruth.com/free-resources/article-library/id/915/when-does-the-sabbath-start
https://bible.org/seriespage/18-great-sabbath-controversy-luke-61-11
http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/mark/2_23-28.htm
You might find my article on the topic to be enlightening, as I get a little deeper into the reason, and the fact that the entire 10 Commandments was only for Israel.
ReplyDeletehttps://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2010/05/are-christians-required-to-keep-sabbath.html
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteThis article might be a useful supplement to your post regarding the Sabbath:
https://rationalchristiandiscernment.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-lords-day-saturday-or-sunday.html