Praise God and welcome to the Spiritual Myth Buster. There are many myths, fables, misconceptions and old wives tales about the Holy Bible. This is where we put them to rest. I'll use the wisdom and understanding of the Holy Spirit, knowledge of the scriptures and historic theology to defeat all falsehoods that are of a spiritual nature. I'll deal with each topic in four parts: the Question, Misunderstandings, the Truth, and the Conclusion. I'll be clear and straight to the point. Welcome again to the Spiritual Myth Buster.
Question:
Among the laundry list of highly debated topics in the old covenant versus new covenant conversation, this one probably ranks in the top 5. The question that we will answer today is: Do we have to keep the sabbath under the new covenant?
Misunderstandings:
Many people ask this question but aren't sure what "remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy" really consists of. Going to Sabbath (Saturday) worship service is not the same as keeping or observing the Sabbath according to the commandment of YHWH (the LORD) in the book of Exodus. Lets look at the facts...
Truth:
First, lets deal with what it means to "remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy". According to Strongs concordance the word sabbath in Hebrew is translated as "Shabbat" and it simply means the seventh day but it also refers to the day of atonement and a sabbath year. Lets make it clear that the word sabbath is not the same word for the numerical value of seventh or in the Hebrew tongue "shĕbiy`iy". God created the world in six days and He rested on the seventh according to Genesis 2:2. Exodus 20:11 says God blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8 clearly gives the commandment that was written on a stone tablet by the "finger of God": "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy". In Exodus 16:29, God initially commanded Moses and the Israelites to gather twice as much food on the sixth day because they were forbidden to work or to even "leave their place" on the sabbath day. In fact their servants were not allowed to work or leave their place as well. The sabbath was given by God to be a day of rest for His people. In Exodus 31 YHWH (the LORD) told Moses to tell the children of Israel that His Sabbaths were a sign between He and them throughout their generations. God goes on to say that they shall keep the sabbath because it is holy and anyone that defiles it by doing any work on that day would be put to death and his soul cut off from his people. In Numbers 15:32-36, while in the wilderness the children of Israel found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath and they took to him Moses and Aaron; the man was detained and eventually stoned to death at the command of God Himself. God was serious in teaching obedience and holiness to His people. So what I've gathered from these scriptures is that keeping the sabbath holy means obeying the laws of the sabbath e.i. no one in your household, servants or livestock working or traveling on that day. This was a day to be "refreshed". This day was a sign of a perpetual or long standing covenant with Israel.
Lets look a bit at the evolution of the sabbath as Gods people progressed into the time of kings and captivity. In 2 Chronicles 23 and also 2 Kings 11, the Levites and all of Judah followed the command of Jehoiada the priest; to stand guard with weapons in shifts on the sabbath to protect the child heir to the kingdoms throne. A covenant was made between the LORD and Judah concerning this situation. In Nehemiah 13:15-21, he speaks of the inhabitants of Jerusalem traveling through the gates with goods of all kinds, and dealing with merchants from other lands on the sabbath days. Nehemiah contended with the nobles and testified against them all for profaning the sabbath. He eventually started closing the gates at dusk before the sabbath began; he told the Levites to cleanse themselves and then set them at watch at the gates and said nothing else should come through them; they were shut until after each sabbath. In verse 21, Nehemiah physically threatens the merchants that waited outside the gates until they eventually stopped coming on the sabbath. The priests during these times also labored in the temple or house of God on the sabbath and they were counted blameless. It's very important that we understand that during this time all Gods people were under the Mosaic law. Lets now move on to the New Testament.
I mentioned the Levitical priests that labored in the temple of God on the sabbath and how they were counted blameless. Matthew 12:1-14 also gives us an example of Gods elect; Yeshua (Jesus), breaking the sabbath by necessity in the midst of righteous works. He and the disciples had been preaching, healing, performing miracles, traveling long hours and they became hungry. Jesus and the twelve stopped in the corn fields to eat on the sabbath and are approached by Pharisees seeking to accuse and kill Jesus. Jesus to His defense uses the story of a hungry King David and his men eating the temples showbread which was only lawful for the priest that served in the temple to eat. Jesus goes on to heal a man on the sabbath also to the disapproval of the religious leaders of the Jews and proclaims that He is greater than the sabbath and that He is the Lord of the sabbath. In Matthew 11:29 He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" "and ye shall find rest". Jesus is further showing us that all things that were written in the law and the prophets were a foreshadow of Himself; the messiah that was to come. The sabbath was a foreshadow of the "rest" that we would eventually come to experience in the Spirit of Christ. So we see Jesus constantly breaking the sabbath by committing acts of righteousness in the will of God in Luke 14, and John 5. In Mark 2:27 He says "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath". In Mark 7:7-9 Jesus says "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" "For laying aside the commandment of God ye hold the tradition of men" "Full well ye reject the commandments of God, that ye may keep your own tradition". To make it plain; they kept the sabbath by appearance but were so far away from being in Gods will and doing His works. Now, we're almost where we need to be to get to the bottom of this.
Somewhere along the way it became a custom for the Jews to go to the temples or synagogues on the sabbath to worship, pray and also to learn. There were no bibles in every home back then; only the priest had the scriptures and they taught in the synagogues on the sabbath. This is where we found Jesus going to teach as well as Paul and the other 1st century church apostles. In Acts 18:4 the author Luke says that Paul, "reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks". Paul and the other apostles "reasoned" or debated with the other Jewish teachers of the law to prove that this Jesus they preach of, was the messiah prophesied about in their holy scriptures. So going to the synagogues on the sabbath was not only a custom of the disciples that were of the Jews; it was a way to preach the gospel to their people and also convert them to believers in Christ Jesus. Ok, now where getting close.
So we've established what the sabbath is, what it means to keep it and what some of the traditions are that have been associated with it throughout the bible. We have also established that keeping the sabbath day was given under the law. So lets briefly discuss the law under the new covenant. John 1:17 says, " For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ". The law was given by Moses under the old covenant and grace was given by Christ in the new covenant. Lets go straight to the scriptures. Paul tells us in Romans 3:28 that, "we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law". He goes on to say in verse 31, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law". We establish the very principles of the law by obedience to the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 10:16 says, "I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them". Galatians 5:18 says, "But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law". Galatians 3:24-25 says, the law was our "schoolmaster" or instructor to bring us to Christ; but after faith came, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Saints, I could go on for days with these scriptures. In the new covenant, we are not held to keep the written letter of the law, but if we have faith in Christ and are led by the Spirit we will fulfill the law in all that we do. Once more, we are not held to the rituals of the law, but the principles of the law still apply under grace.
So we've now established the fact that we are not under the law.
So what does the new testament specifically say about keeping the Sabbath? Lets start in Acts 15:19-20. In this passage of scripture we find the apostles discussing what doctrine to pass along to the non-Jewish people that have accepted Christ; we're talking about a people that know nothing about the law but know only the gospel of Jesus Christ that was preached to them. Peter first said in verse 10, "why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"; he's speaking of the law. The apostle James declares in verse 20, "write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood". Notice that they did not give instruction to observe holy days or follow after their fathers tradition; but he speaks of holding to the holy principles established by the law. In verse 21, James makes a statement that basically says Moses has been preached for generations in every synagogue on every Sabbath; we are preaching Christ, not Moses. In verses 23-24 they then wrote letters to several of the churches saying that they have heard that some of the brethren have troubled them by teaching that they need to be circumcised and keep the law; the apostles wrote, "to whom we gave no such commandment". In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul says, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days" "which are a shadow of things to come". He goes on in this chapter talking about not letting people mislead you into things they no nothing about. I think verses 16 and 17 say it all; but I have one last scripture to give you, Romans 14:5. It says, "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind". Paul basically tells us that whatever we do; let it make sense to us. He explains in verse 6 that whether you regard a certain day or not, whether you eat or abstain from eating; honor God and give thanks in whatever you decide to do. So lets answer the question.
So what does the new testament specifically say about keeping the Sabbath? Lets start in Acts 15:19-20. In this passage of scripture we find the apostles discussing what doctrine to pass along to the non-Jewish people that have accepted Christ; we're talking about a people that know nothing about the law but know only the gospel of Jesus Christ that was preached to them. Peter first said in verse 10, "why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"; he's speaking of the law. The apostle James declares in verse 20, "write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood". Notice that they did not give instruction to observe holy days or follow after their fathers tradition; but he speaks of holding to the holy principles established by the law. In verse 21, James makes a statement that basically says Moses has been preached for generations in every synagogue on every Sabbath; we are preaching Christ, not Moses. In verses 23-24 they then wrote letters to several of the churches saying that they have heard that some of the brethren have troubled them by teaching that they need to be circumcised and keep the law; the apostles wrote, "to whom we gave no such commandment". In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul says, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days" "which are a shadow of things to come". He goes on in this chapter talking about not letting people mislead you into things they no nothing about. I think verses 16 and 17 say it all; but I have one last scripture to give you, Romans 14:5. It says, "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind". Paul basically tells us that whatever we do; let it make sense to us. He explains in verse 6 that whether you regard a certain day or not, whether you eat or abstain from eating; honor God and give thanks in whatever you decide to do. So lets answer the question.
Conclusion:
Do we have to keep the sabbath under the new covenant? The answer is No, we do not; but if we choose to do so, we are not in err. Observing the Sabbath as well as other holy days and feast can only bring saints closer to our Jewish roots and in turn bring us into a deeper understanding of our Father and our brothers and sisters from all over the world. I encourage everyone that reads this column to study the old covenant traditions and let God lead you into what's important for your spiritual growth, but don't feel judged or condemned if you choose not to go that route. The important thing is that we live a holy lifestyle that glorifies God everyday. When you choose to worship or have service is up to you. One of the principles of the Sabbath is that even God took a day to rest; what makes us think that we don't need one? Thank you for venturing into the holy scriptures with me. Join me next time for The Spiritual Myth Buster. God bless you.
Minister Gary Lee
