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TO SABBATH OR NOT TO SABBATH

The question often comes up in churches as to whether or not one is to keep the weekly Sabbath day observance; is it for today, for the church, or was it done away with when Jesus Christ died on the cross, eliminating the laws and ordinances from Mt. Sinai? Here, I will present my take on this controversial subject.

1: Where did the Sabbath originate? The Sabbath came about as a memorial of the rest that the Lord YHWH took after the six days of creation. The Bible says: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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." Six days God created, and the seventh day He rested, or ceased, from His work of creation, and sanctified that seventh day, or set it apart.

2: Did the observance of the Sabbath, by man, begin from that point? There is often an assumption made, that because the Lord God sanctified the seventh day at this point, that it became an observance by man from that point forward. That is a good and logical thought, but it lacks one thing: biblical evidence. There is not one place that can be found in Scripture that anyone before Moses and the children of Israel approaching Sinai, ever observed the Sabbath day. We see they sacrificed to God, even though there is no clear commandment spoken for us to read, yet that they DID sacrifice, and the Lord's response to Cain's and Abel's sacrifices, tells us that the Lord did, indeed, give this direction. But nowhere is a Sabbath day, or a seventh day rest EVER mentioned in the Bible for anyone to keep before Exodus chapter 16. So, to insist that Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or anyone else, ever kept the Sabbath has no biblical backing, either in the Old Testament or the New-it is assumption, made to back a position that can't be proven in scripture.

3: Was the Sabbath given for everyone to keep, or just the Jewish nation? Exodus 31:16, 17 says "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. Here, we see that the Sabbath was given as a perpetual covenant to the 'children of Israel'. Who was present at Mt. Sinai? The children of Israel. Who did the Lord say would keep it for all their generations? The children of Israel. Who was it a sign between? God and the Children of Israel. Where is the problem here?

What is one of the things being memorialized by the Sabbath? That they had been a servant in Egypt: "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and [that] the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day." (Deut 5:15). Does this apply to the churches today? We were certainly in bondage to sin, and have been set free by the Lord God in Jesus Christ, but unlike the Hebrews, there is not one place to be found in the New Testament that we are directed to keep the Sabbath in relation to this. In fact, it is the keeping of the Lord's Supper by which we memorialize our freedom from sin.

4: Doesn't Isaiah 66:23 tell us we will keep the Sabbath in the New Earth? This is a common example given by those who believe in the keeping of the Sabbath today by the church. This is what I usually see quoted: "...from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." Is this incorrect? Of course not-it IS, indeed, scripture. But the problem is, see those three little dots preceding the quote? Those mean that there is something more to the verse; what might that be? Shall we find out? Lets! "And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." Now, we can see that not only are the sabbaths spoken of here, but the new moon celebrations, as well. From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another. Well, where are the cries to keep the new moon celebrations today, since we will be keeping them for eternity? Why not now? Why not Seventh Day and New Moon Adventists? Simply because the understanding of this verse has been missed when it is chopped up to prove keeping the Sabbath. See, the Bible is great at explaining itself just fine. It says not that we will keep the Sabbaths, OR the new moons, but rather, that all flesh will worship before the Lord FROM Sabbath to Sabbath, and FROM new moon to new moon. It is dealing with, not specific worship days, but with the fact that EVERY day we will worship before the Lord! not just Saturday, but seven days a week; not just on the days of the new moon, but from one new moon to the next, every day! Zechariah 14:20 & 21 says "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts." This tells us that every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be no different from the seething pots in the house of God-ALL will be holy, even the horses will be holy, though they were an unclean animal in the Law. During the time of the New Earth, and in the millennial reign of Christ, before the new earth, everything will be holy to God, not just certain things holy and others unholy. Thus, everyday will be a holy day of worship, not just specific days. So Isaiah 66 does not back the position of keeping the Sabbath by the church. In fact, the ONLY feast we see specifically mentioned as being kept in the millennial earth is the Feast of Tabernacles. Zech 14:16 says "And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." So, if there is ANY part of the old law that we should keep for future reference, it is the feast of Tabernacles, for we will keep it then.

5: Does Colossians 2:14-16 concern the Sabbath, or just the rest of the law? Let's first see what these verses say: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ."

Now, I have heard that the key to understanding this, is to know that it is speaking of the 'handwriting of ordinances'. Handwriting, it is said, speaks only of those aspects of the laws of Sinai which were written by the hand of Moses, while the 10 commandments were written by God not men. But my question then is, who did God write them? "And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18). So it was the finger of God with which it was written-and a finger is part of a hand, is it not? The hand of God wrote these handwritings. Am I stretching this a bit? Perhaps, but here's another thought: Everything from Exodus chapter 25 to chapter 31 is what the Lord is recorded to have told to Moses, and what He gave to Moses written by His finger upon the tables of stone. Thus, was it just the ten commandments written upon stone? As well, after the Lord gave the 10 commandments to the people in Exodus 20, there is no record of them being, at that time, written on stone by God, but rather, Moses wrote "all the words of the Lord" before going up onto Sinai, including, apparently, the original ten commandments given by the Lord in the ears of the people.

, All the laws were nailed to the cross and done away with, and thus, we are not to be judged in meat, drink, new moons, holy days or sabbaths. The argument here is often that the term "sabbaths (days)" refers not to the weekly sabbath, but only to the Sabbaths related to the feasts. Again, here is a prime example of interpreting scripture to fit beliefs: all it says is "sabbath (days, yet it must be referring ONLY to sabbath days OTHER than the weekly Sabbath. There is not good reason to do so, except to fit an agenda, and thus, the seventh-day followers have. From the context and the words, there is no good reason not to interpret it as referring to ALL the sabbath days.

point is, it isn't as cut and dry as it is made out to be, that the ten are somehow separate and distinct from the rest of God's laws, some to be cast away, and others to be kept always. Yet, the Bible is clear that the handwriting of ordinances was nailed to Jesus' cross and were done away with, and this includes the keeping of the Sabbath by the Christians-it never applied to the gentiles in the first place, and was never commanded them once they were saved. The only times the Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament, (keeping in mind that the Old Testament continued until the time of Jesus' resurrection), excluding the book of Acts, (which we will deal with later) is in this one place. Never is it commanded us, never is it shown being kept. Or is it? How about Acts? Let's see.

6: Doesn't Paul keep the Sabbath in the Book of Acts, and thus, by example, show we should, as well? Actually, What Paul does is not done to keep the Sabbath. What he DOES do, is to be an effective witness of the Lord Jesus Christ by going where the Jews are gathered, WHEN they are gathered together. It is effective and efficient witnessing, but nothing more. Example: Act 13:1 "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down." Thus begins one of the times Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. I am always told that this proves he observed the Sabbath, because he went where all the good, Sabbath-observing Jews went on Sabbath: to the synagogue. But what did Paul do there? If you read the account, you'll see it was for one reason: to witness of Jesus Christ and salvation-NOT why the other Jews were there. Paul was a smart guy: he knew the Jews would be meeting in the synagogue on Sabbath, so he went there to witness. He did this many times, but eventually he would leave, once rejected enough, and then, on the Sabbath, he would go other places and witness again of Jesus Christ. And he did this other days, as well, not just on the Sabbath. So, if you look at every instance of Paul going to the synagogue on Sabbath, it was always to preach the gospel, which he did other days. It is also very telling that nowhere do we read of him meeting with any of the churches there on the Sabbath, or meeting with the church anywhere on the Sabbath, OR of the church meeting at all on the Sabbath. Acts 2:46, in fact, tells us that they met daily, at homes, and at the temple, (the only place big enough to accommodate them all at once, in the outer courtyard). So, what again is missing is any example, by word or deed, that anyone from the time of the church met on the Sabbath, when, in fact, either they are said to have met daily, or, in the one case that they met together for a meeting, it was ON the first day of the week, (Acts 20:7), it was the first day of the week that Jesus rose and that He met with His disciples for the first time.

could surely give more than this, but for now, let this suffice. The Bible is clear: the church is not under the keeping of the Sabbath, and the meeting together on the first day of the week is NOT the mark of the beast. Sorry. God bless!