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Chapter I - The Old Testament Law
Chapter II - The Transition
Chapter III - Jesus and The Spirit or Intention Behind The Law
Chapter IV - The Sabbath
ON THIS PAGE
Emphasis Mine In Bible Verses
More Information HERE
It is well worth noting that eight of the Ten Commandments, were specifically renewed under the New Covenant. (In light of the First Commandment, the third regarding not taking the Lord's name in vain did not need to be repeated)
However, the silence is deafening when it comes to the Seventh Day Commandment. This brings up a number of questions
Who Was The Sabbath Law Given To And For How Long?
The Sabbath Law Was given to the "Sons Of Israel" (Jacobs descendants)
"But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. (Exodus 31:13 NASB)
'So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.' "It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." (Exodus 31:16-17 NASB)
And for a limited period of time
"But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. (Exodus 31:13 NASB)
Therefore, it makes absolute sense that after the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles and more and more of them became Christians, the Sabbath commandment was not repeated in the New Testament.
In fact, the verse below makes it clear that the Sabbath is not applicable to New Testament Christians, certainly not to those who are Gentiles. As it says, God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, therefore (or because of that) God commanded them to observe the Sabbath Day. Neither we, nor our ancestors, were slaves in Egypt rescued by God's mighty hand.
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15 NASB)
Keeping The Sabbath As God Ordained
The problem is keeping the Sabbath and the other festivals of the Old Covenant is not quite as simple as it sounds - in fact to keep them in the manner God ordained is completely impossible. In the words of pastor Tim Warner, (All Emphasis Added)
Lets get one thing straight right up front. Keeping the Feasts according to the Torah requires offering animal sacrifices. There is no avoiding this conclusion. And, any changes to the festivals by rabbis to accommodate the fact that there is no longer a Temple or Levitical priesthood, or, any changes by Messianic Christians to accommodate the fact that the New Testament says Christ's sacrifice has ended the animal sacrifices, makes it impossible to observe these feasts according to the Torah. What we are left with is a lot of man-made tradition as a substitute to what God commanded. Some of these traditions include things like substituting eggs for the Passover lamb on the Seder. How is this any different from people using "Easter eggs?"
Synagogue worship on Sabbath was never commanded by God. According to the Torah, all males must travel to Jerusalem 3 times a year to worship on the festival seasons. That was the worship God commanded in the Torah. No Jew or Messianic Christian on earth observes the feasts according to the Torah. And, there is a very good reason for this. The Temple was destroyed exactly 40 years (one generation) after Jesus began preaching, and the Levitical priesthood, which is necessary to observe the festivals, has been lost. So, how do Jews and Messianic Christians observe the feasts instead? Simply by following man's traditions, established by rabbis who flatly rejected Jesus as the Messiah. ([01]
These laws were given to a very tiny nation, the sheer smallness of which made possible the physical keeping of some of the laws, i.e. they could travel to Jerusalem when obliged to do so. Once Peter took the Gospel to the Gentiles many of the laws became very difficult to keep. In fact, as the Gospel spread to the furthermost corners of the earth and the number of Christians mushroomed, and we became more industrialized many of the Old Testament laws became completely unworkable.
The destruction of the Temple dealt the final blow to the physical keeping of the Law. If God intended the animal sacrifices to continue, why in the world would He allow the Romans to raze the Temple. Even if it were still standing how long do you think it would be before the sheer weight of numbers of Christians converging on Jerusalem three times a year, would make the Israeli authorities throw up their hands in horror and shut down the airports. Chaos doesn't even begin to describe the situation.
The Penalty For Not Keeping The Sabbath as the Father Instructed
The very term "Sabbath" derives from the Hebrew Shabbat which means "to cease". It was a day to cease from work and fellowship with the Creator. Starting at sundown on Friday until the sky gets dark enough for three stars to be visible on Saturday night. the Sabbath severely limits what can be done on that day. For example, all types of commerce were forbidden (Amos 8:5. Nehemiah 10:31), as was seeking your own pleasure (Isaiah 58:13-14), traveling (Exodus 16:29-30) and all work (Exodus 31:15 )
If you believe the Sabbath is still binding today, you have to believe that the punishment for violating it is also in effect. Here is what the Lord said about those who failed to properly observe the Sabbath.
'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 31:15 NASB)
And we know of one that was. In Numbers 15:32-36 a man was executed for gathering wood on the Sabbath See Why
Sabbath Substitutions
Modern Judaism-
After the temple was destroyed the Rabbis not knowing what to do about the animal sacrifices decided that "one who puts on phylacteries, recites the Shema, and offered prayer to God would be regarded as having sacrificed upon the great altar". See Judaism And The Atonement
Christianity - Sunday services
One has to very much doubt that Moses would have accepted Sunday services as a substitute for keeping the Saturday Sabbath that was far more involved than simply going to church for an hour or two. (This is not a discussion as to why Sunday worship is appropriate).
And don't get me wrong - If you wish to keep a version of the Sabbath and set aside a day of rest that is also devoted to the Father, it says a lot for your faith that you esteem Him so highly. What I dispute is that any Christian is obliged to keep the Sabbath. However, based on Exodus 31:16, there are many that claim that the Sabbath is still in effect. The verse reads 'So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual (Heb. ôlâm) covenant.' See Footnote I - A 'Perpetual' Covenant?
Jesus and The Spirit of The Sabbath
The Pharisees had laid down rigid rules as to how the Sabbath was to be kept, making it more of a burden than the blessing it was originally intended to be. A day of rest was virtually unheard of in ancient times, but the Sabbath was more than just that. It was also a time for the people to draw closer to God, remembering how He had set them free from slavery in Egypt.
However as time passed the rules became so stringent that they did little but set people up for failure.
The Law lays it down that the Sabbath Day is to be kept holy, and that on it no work is to be done. That is a great principle. But these Jewish legalists had a passion for definition. So they asked: What is work? All kinds of things were classified as work. For instance, to carry a burden on the Sabbath Day is to work. But next a burden has to be defined.
So the Scribal Law lays it down that a burden is 'food equal in weight to a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, honey enough to put upon a wound, oil enough to anoint a small member, water enough to moisten an eye-salve, paper enough to write a customs house notice upon, ink enough to write two letters of the alphabet, reed enough to make a pen' - and so on endlessly. [02]
However, Jesus' insight into the divine purpose behind this day of rest, caused Him not only to heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-12), but to even allow his disciples to pick some grain on the Sabbath day. When criticized by the Pharisees, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). This statement did not mean that man could do what he wished on the Sabbath, but that the institution was made for man's benefit and was never intended to be kept at his expense.
Footnote I
A 'Perpetual' Covenant?
Based on Exodus 31:16 many that claim that the Sabbath is still in effect. The verse reads
'So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual (Heb. ôlâm) covenant.' (NASB)
The Hebrew word ôlâm, used over 400 times in the Old Testament, is defined by Strong's Lexicon as being "generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity". Obviously why it is translated into the English everlasting, forever, perpetual etc.'
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting (Heb. ôlâm) God. (Genesis 21:33 NASB)
God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever (Heb. ôlâm) , and this is My memorial-name to all generations. (Exodus 3:15 NASB)
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting (Heb. ôlâm) God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. (Isaiah 40:28 NASB)
However, there are verses where ôlâm cannot be understood quite as literally, but refers to a long, indefinite period. For example,
then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently (Heb. ôlâm) . (Exodus 21:6 NASB)
Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times (Heb. ôlâm) your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. (Joshua 24:2 NASB)
But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, "I will not go up until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord and stay there forever (Heb. ôlâm). (1 Samuel 1:22 NASB)
End Notes
[01] Pastor Tim Warner. Should Christians Celebrate the Jewish Feasts? Article is no longer available
[02] Bob Deffinbaugh. The Sabbath Controversy in the Gospels. Bible.org.
https://bible.org/seriespage/sabbath-controversy-gospels
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