ANSWERS TO SABBATH QUESTIONS

ADDED TO ON 4-18-08

Friends and Fellow Bereans...

Questions And Answers on the Sabbath:

For many folks, a conclusion is simply
the place where they got tired of thinking.

--Was the Sabbath a creation ordinance?

ANSWER: Genesis 2:1-3 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 3, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3, And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

Here in this passage we have the record of GOD resting on the seventh day. Not a word is said of Adam or Eve resting. Nothing is said of God commanding Adam and Eve to rest on this or any other day. This passage will help with the answers to several questions below.

--Did God give the Sabbath as a command in Genesis 1-3? If so, where is it stated?

ANSWER: No God gave no command in Genesis 1-3 regarding the Sabbath. If he did it is not stated or recorded anywhere in the text. An argument from silence will not suffice, we must be careful about reading what the word of God does not say.

--Is there any evidence of anyone from Adam to Noah keeping Sabbath?

ANSWER: No, there is no evidence of anyone in the book of Genesis from Adam to Noah ever keeping the seventh day Sabbath.

--Is there any indication that any of the patriarchs Abraham to Joseph in the book of Genesis ever kept Sabbath?

ANSWER: No, there is no indication that any of the patriarcsh in the book of Genesis ever kept the Sabbath.

--Is the Sabbath even mentioned in the book of Genesis?

ANSWER: No, the sabbath is not once mentioned in the book of Genesis.

--Where is the first mention of the giving of the Sabbath commandment? Is there a record of this?

ANSWER: The first mention of the Sabbath as a command is in Exodus 20 at Mount Sinai.

Nehemiah 9:13-14
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

--What did the Sabbath Commandment actually command?

ANSWER: In the only two accounts of the Sabbath command given in the law, we are told that the Sabbath commmanded to "do no work"> This is the only requirement of the Sabbath. It can be phrased in the positive "to Rest", or in the negative, "Do no work". But bottom line, the only requirement is to refrain from work on the Sabbath; the seventh day; Saturday.

Exodus 20:8-10
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

--Was there ever a command to worship on the Sabbath? If so; where is that found in the scripture?

ANSWER: No there is not a single reference in the law to indicate that the Sabbath was a day of worship. The only references indicate that it is a day of rest and no work. You were not to leave your home on the Sabbath. You would be stoned to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. No Jew was ever commanded to go to public worship on the Sabbath.

However, there were feast days which were set apart as worship, these days were to be treated as Sabbath days even if they did not fall on a Saturday, this is a different type of Sabbath, it is not the 7th day Sabbath commanded in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.

--Was the Sabbath 4th commandment a moral or ceremonial commandment?

ANSWER: With any given covenant there are given covenental "Signs" and "Seals". The sign of the Abrahamic Covenant was the circumcision of every male child. To violate this covenental sign was to incur the wrath of God and bring on the death penalty. There is nothing moral about the signs of the covenants, they are signs that represent covenants but they are not moral, they are ceremonial. The sign of the New Covenant is the Lord's supper. Paul in Corinthians declares that some who ate of this covenental sign ceremony, unworthily were put to sleep...death. The sign of a covenant carries the death penalty. So too the seventh day Sabbath; this is a sign of the entire covenant that God made on Mount Sinai with Israel and it bore the death penalty for violation of that sign. It is much lile a wedding ring; if a man were to walk into his house and throw his wedding ring across the room at his wife and then walk out of the house, that man has violated the wedding covenant by treating the sign of that covenant with such disdain. This is why the man who merely picked up sticks on the Sabbath was put to death. Was it immoral to pick up sticks? Not at all. It was though, a criminal act that showed disdain for God's covenant, and it brought the death penalty. Since the Sabbath was a "Sign" of the MOsaic (Old) covenant it was set aside for all those under that covenant. When the old covenant was replace by the New Covenant, the sign was no longer a valid sign of an active covenant. Below you will find passages declaring the Sabbath to be a sign.

Exodus 31:13
Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.

Exodus 31:16-17
Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

It is interesting to note that the 4th command was placed directly in the middle of the covenant that God made with Israel. The ten commandments, written on stone are the covenant, and the Sabbath is directly in the middle of it.

Exodus 34:27-28
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

--Was the Sabbath ever given to anyone outside of Israel? If so, where is this recorded in scripture?

ANSWER: No, the Sabbath was not given to anyone outside of the Mosaic covenant made with the nation of Israel. There is no verse anywhere in scripture that even hints of the command being given to anyone outside of the covenant. Even Nehemiah when he scolded the Jews for buying and selling on the Sabbath, he never said one word to the gentile traders who were also buying and selling outside of the walls of Jerusalem.

--Is there a difference between the seventh day Sabbath and the yearly Sabbath, and the Sabbath of Jubilee every 50th year?

ANSWER: I see the only difference is the duration of the cermony. It was for the neglect of the yearly Sabbaths that Israel went into captivity in Babylon. All three have the same theme, "Rest-No Work". The year of Jubilee is particualarly poignant in its typification of Christ and the setting at Liberty that he accomplished. We have been set free. We can now rest in Chrst. As pictures of Christ each of the Sabbaths pushed the Old Covenant saints toward the New Covenant of "Rest (In Christ), No Work". There is no work to be done in the New Covenant, Jesus himself said he came to work the works fo the Father, and he declared His work to be FINISHED on the cross. We in the New Covenant can add nothing to that finished work...we are to REST!

--If there is a difference, why are they both enforced with the death penalty?

ANSWER: I believe that they carried the death penalty because the were pictures of Gods rest in the New covenant salvation and to work or to violate any of the Sabbaths was to violate the type that was being shown forth.

--Is there a difference between the seventh day Sabbath and the ceremonial Sabbath days associated with the feasts of Leviticus 23?

ANSWER: No difference except that the feasts were linked to them and to do any servile work on those feast days would incur the death penalty because again, they were instituted to proclaim Christ in elemental form to the Nation of Israel. God seems to be very jealous of guarding the types of the New Covenant in the Old.

--Did Jesus actually break the 4th commandment of “rest, no work”?

ANSWER: If the commandment was to rest and not work, then yes he broke the commandment. Many people say that he only broke the stipulations found in the expanded and legalistic pharisaic code. If this was the case, then why did Jesus not take the Pharisee's to task on their adding to God's command. No he did not do this. Also if he was not actually breaking this commandment, then why did he not defend himself and his disciples from this false charge. No if you read the answer Jesus gives, he does not defend, nor does he tell the pharisees that their interpretation was wrong. What he does is amazing. He claims that HE is Lord of the Sabbath. And just as David allowed his men to eat of the shewbread reserved ONLY for the high priests, so too Jesus a GREATER than David has come and his disciples can do anything he allows. He also references the High Priests of the old covenant and makes the application that these priests VIOLATED (profaned) the Sabbath by lifting the bulls onto the altar. This was truly work, and they did it on the Sabbath. Again, a greater than the High Priest has come. I believe that what Jesus is telling the Pharisees is this. You know that David and the High Priest of old violated ceremonial law and they were not held accountable because David was the King, the Priests were in a position of authority and those positions of authority made it necessary that they not be held to account for this for the greater good. Jesus is the Messiah, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord's and he is LORD of the Sabbath. He cannot be held to answer for this. If he were guilty he would have defended himself...THe bottom line is that a Greater than David, aGreater than the old Covenant High Priest, a Greater than the Sabbath has come. Jesus is greater than the Sabbath, he fulfilled the Sabbath, he reigns as the New Covenant High Priest and King and cannot be called to account for the old shadow that was the Old Covenant Sabbath.

--Did his disciples break that command by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?

ANSWER: See the answer above. As disciples of the Lord of the New Covenant, they would not be held to account for this Old Covenant sign.

--If Jesus and his disciples did not break the 4th commandment, then why did Jesus never defend himself or his disciples from that accusation?

ANSWER: See previous two answers.

--What is the significance of Jesus referring to the High Priest and to King David in his defense of the accusation of Sabbath breaking?

ANSWER: See previous.

--Why did Jesus; instead of defending himself and his disciples, seem to justify the breaking of the Sabbath by himself and his disciples?

ANSWER: See Previous.

--Was the Sabbath ever given to anyone outside of Israel?

ANSWER: NO, There is no text of scripture that shows God giving to any gentile nation or group the Sabbath command. There is no instance in any text of Scripture where God condemns any gentile nation or group for violation of the Sabbath. There is no mention of Sabbath breaking in ANY of the New Testament lists of sins.

--Where in the New Testament can we find apostolic authority for changing the day of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?

ANSWER: No where. There is no evidence in the New Testament of any apostolic word that gave the authority to change the old Covenant Seventh Day Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

--Why is the only reference to Sabbath in the New Testament only speak of Sabbaths plural; as in seventh day Sabbaths, seventh year Sabbaths and jubilee Sabbaths?

ANSWER: Because all old covenant Sabbaths were the same.

--Why is it that this solitary reference to the Sabbath in all the epistles is not supportive of perpetuating the Sabbath in the New Covenant, but is discouraging its perpetuation and seems to be telling us not to condemn people in respect to those practices?

ANSWER: Because in the writing of the New Testament scriptures the old covenant was in the process of passing away, and the New Covenant was coming to light. As the New was ever more evident, so too the Old Covenant with its sacrifice, its priesthood, its temple its nationhood, its law,and its Sabbath were all in the process of passing way once forall forever. The shadows of the old were passing as the reality of the new was being made manifest.

--Why is it that we hear much in the epistles by way of argument and dispute over the circumcision from the judiazers, but not one word of protest over a supposed change in the Holy Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?

ANSWER: Because the Apostles never tried to change the Old Covenant Sabbath as they proclaimed that it was passing away, not being changed.

Please feel free to post your own answers and/or comments.

Any comments, corrections, critiques, condemnations and criticism are welcome.

Happy studying!