The Encourager
“Keeping the Sabbath, by Heath Rogers”
Keeping the Sabbath
by Heath Rogers
Sometimes we are asked about keeping the Sabbath. Such questions may arise from different people for different reasons. Some mistakenly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath or believe Sunday should be observed as the Christian’s Sabbath. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week – Saturday. Others believe the command to keep the Sabbath in the Law of Moses is still binding on believers today. Groups like the Seventh Day Adventists hold this belief and practice.
Keeping the Sabbath was part of the Law of Moses. It was the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:8-11). The observance of the Sabbath was to be a memorial of God’s rest after the six days of creation and a time of remembrance of how God had given them rest from their slavery in Egypt (Deut. 5:15).
The Ten Commandments, as well as the entire Law of Moses, were given to the Nation of Israel, not to all of mankind. The Sabbaths were to be kept as a sign between God and Israel.
“Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed” (Ex. 31:16-17, emphasis mine – HR).
“Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’ Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them” (Ezek. 20:10-12).
The Sabbath Law was given at Mt. Sinai. Some claim the Sabbath was made holy at the time of creation and that all men have been required to keep it. Others have made the argument that the Sabbath was bound in the instructions regarding the collection of the manna (Ex. 16). The Sabbath was not set apart for man to observe until the Law of Moses was given at Mt. Sinai.
“You came down also on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them just ordinances and true laws, good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, by the hand of Moses Your servant” (Neh. 9:13-14).
If the Sabbath was hallowed and commanded to be observed from the time of creation, why don’t we read of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob keeping it? The Sabbath isn’t mentioned by name until the time of Moses (Ex. 16:22-30).
The Sabbath observance was taken away. As with all the Law of Moses, the binding of the Sabbath observance was taken away when Jesus died on the cross. “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). The old covenant that God made with Israel when He brought them out of the land of Egypt has served its purpose and has been taken away (Heb. 8:6-13). A failure to recognize the difference between the Old Testament Law given to Israel and the New Testament Law given to Christians has led to many false beliefs and practices, including the binding of the Sabbath observance.
Because of the Law of Moses is no longer in effect, we are not to allow anyone to judge us as lawbreakers if we do not observe the Sabbath. “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17). Those wanting to bind the Sabbath are living under the shadow of the Old Law. They are living under a law that is no longer recognized by God. It served its purpose and has been taken away in favor of the perfect law that has been obtained by Christ.
We do not read of Christians keeping the Sabbath in the New Testament, but there is a day that was special to them – the first day of the week (Sunday). The church made a practice of assembling on this day to observe the Lord’s Supper and take up a collection (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2).
Why was there a change in emphasis from the seventh day to the first day? Sunday was the day that Jesus rose from the dead (Mark 16:9) and first met with His apostles (John 20:19). Sunday was the day that the church was established (Pentecost always occurred on the first day of the week - Lev. 23:15-16; Acts 2:1). John said he was in the Spirit on “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10), which must have been the first day of the week.
We are not obligated to keep the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Christian’s Sabbath. These truths are seen when one rightly divides the word of God.
