- *My personal story
- Watching Chariots of Fire and believing that to be the correct Christian stance
- Football
- I went to a conference were this was also taught
- Running on Sunday
- 100m race on Sunday so he switched to 400m race on Thursday
- Christmas on Sunday
- I remember thinking we were sinning by not going to service one Christmas that happened to be on a Sunday
- Struggling with God calling people to jobs that required working on Sundays such as nursing
- Contemplating possible ideas such as that God could override His Laws
- It wasn't till studying covenants that I came to grips with Scripture on this matter
- But study and practice do not always go hand in hand and I will tell you more about that at the end
- Sabbath concept was applied to more than just people
- Leviticus 25:2-4
- However, for this study we will be focusing on it as it applies to people
- Today I will begin by trying to dispel some myths about the Sabbath and then construct a positive view of what the Sabbath truly is
- Although we can speculate it was earlier (see Bible study on Work), the Sabbath is not officially established till Moses even though it had been declared holy from the beginning
- When is the Sabbath first mentioned?
- Exodus 16:23-29
- What was the restriction?
- Could they have continued working in their occupation?
- Exodus 20:8-11
- What was the restriction?
- Don't work
- Don't make others work for you
- Deuteronomy 5:12-15
- Also note that part of the Sabbath law (as in Exodus 20) is to work for 6 days a week
- Numbers 15:32-36
- Don't gather sticks
- This was not a later invention by Pharisees in Jesus' day but rather established by Moses from the beginning
- Death penalty for breaking the Sabbath
- Nehemiah 13:15-17
- Jeremiah 17:21-22
- Exodus 16:29-31
- Don't leave the house (at least while God kept sending manna)
- Notice that Sabbath was not established as a day of worship or gathering with other children of God
- Exodus 31:13-17
- Who did God want to keep this law?
- Were any exceptions made for certain Israelites?
- Matthew 12:5
- The priests on duty were commanded to work on the Sabbath
- So far we have seen that under the Old Covenant the Israelites were required to work for 6 days every week and rest for one day (Saturday not Sunday)
- The question is since we are not Israelites and since we are not under the Old Covenant do we have to obey this law?
- Have you ever looked for the ten commandments in the new testament?
- Christ's law affirms 9 of them (Matthew 19:18-19, Romans 13:9, 1 John 5:21, Matthew 12:36) and gives murder and adultery, for instance, a much stricter application to inward attitude as well as outward action (Matthew 5:21-22, 5:28)
- The 'skipped' commandment is Sabbath
- In fact:
- Romans 14:5
- Colossians 2:16
- Galatians 4:9-11
- 1 Peter 2: 5, 9
- Are believers priests?
- Did priests in the OT have to obey the Sabbath?
- Did God ever change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?
- Nowhere in the Bible does God ever do that
- Even if we have great reasons and traditions on why we change the Sabbath day it cannot be supported scripturally just as I cannot change tithing to 7% even if I have great reasons for doing so
- Therefore, I hardly know of a single person in my life who keeps the biblical Sabbath on Saturday and who works the other six days
- However, since God never commanded Gentiles to obey the Sabbath (even in the OT) and since the NT never commands anyone to keep it there is no scriptural reason why taking two days off a week and setting Sunday rather than Saturday apart for God is a sin or in any way disobeying God's law for us
- Mark 2:27-28
- The NT does teach that the Sabbath was never meant to be a burden but rather a help and the NT never discourages Sabbath keeping
- Matthew 5:17
- Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath
- So what does that look like now?
- Hebrews 4:9-11
- Matthew 11:28-30
- 1 Peter 5:6-7
- The Sabbath rest is no longer primarily found in a day but rather in the person of Jesus and that is why it is no longer a sin to not rest on the Sabbath but it is a sin to not rest in Jesus
- This is good news
- Hebrews 10:1
- I think this could apply to the other laws Jesus fulfilled such as Sabbath
- Rest in Jesus is better than rest on Saturdays
- Likewise, just as the sacrifice of animals is no longer of as much benefit now that Jesus is our sacrifice, so resting on Saturday is no longer of as much benefit now that Jesus is our rest
- Look at Hebrews 4:9-11 again
- Notice that the works that we now rest from are not weekday careers but rather sins because that is the opposite to resting in Jesus
- Hebrews 3:17-19
- Notice that although the Israelites rested on Saturdays they did not rest in God
- Hebrews 4:1
- We too must enter that rest and Saturday observance will not cut it for us either
- 1 Corinthians 8:9
- If someone with you is bothered by you not keeping the Sabbath then you should consider doing it even if it is not a personal conviction
- My conclusion is this:
- As concerns me personally, observing a day of rest is not required by Jesus but resting in Jesus is required every day. If the Holy Spirit asks me to rest then I must but otherwise I am free to ignore that command just as I ignore laws prohibiting pork unless God told me otherwise. I have learned from Jesus leaving crowds to go rest and from the Disciples who slept while Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane that there is a time to rest physically even where there is much to be done and a time to go without physical rest it even when we are tired. (Mark 6:31, 14:41) So spiritual rest in Jesus is the most important and physical rest comes second and always in addition rather that in substitution. For instance, to rest physically on vacation and leave God behind so to speak is wrong. There were times when God gave Paul physical rest such as in jail and there were times such as in 2 Corinthians 7:5 where Paul went without physical rest on his missionary journey. Physical rest is not wrong and should not be discouraged to those with differing convictions. In fact it is healthy. But just as seafood which was formerly forbidden may still be avoided for health reasons, yet it must never be considered a sin to do otherwise. So feel free to keep the Sabbath but don't teach it as a law that God requires us to keep but rather as a tradition that we choose to keep.
- *Personal testimony
- These last couple weeks I have been feeling convicted on this subject but it wasn't until Tuesday (March 13, 2018) that God made things really clear to me. I have not been physically resting as much as I should and nor have I been resting in Jesus lately. Because of the latter God has not been blessing my physical rest and has been keeping me busy in an effort to bring me back to resting in Him but instead I have just been pushing harder on my own strength. God reminded me to go to Him because I work and am tired, and He will give me rest.