The Sabbath – The Covenant of God and the New Law

The Sabbath – The Covenant of God and the New Law Exodus 31-16: 

In the beginning, God created a covenant with man in that man is to observe the Sabbath, a holy day to rest.  God rested after his creation of the heavens, earth, and all life, including the creation of mankind, on the seventh day. God designated the seventh day of the workweek to be the Sabbath for mankind. To keep the Sabbath holy is a sign to God that we are his people and he is our God.  God included the Sabbath as the fourth commandment of the famous 10 Commandments given to Moses.  The 10 Commandments were written by God.

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 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” –Exodus 20:8

Myth 1.  Only Christians (followers of Jesus Christ) observe the Sabbath. False

Myth 2.  Jesus did not teach the Sabbath in the New Testament.  False.

 

The Sabbath for the Children of Israel.  Old Testament  (KJV)

Exodus 31-16:  ¹⁶Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷It 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. (Old Testament)

Exodus 30:13  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.

A long time ago many people were servants and slaves. Even if they were free they worked hard without pity from their rulers and masters.  Many years ago, people used wood-burning stoves to cook, wash clothes from a large washtub that sat on fire boiling hot water. They hung wet clothes out to dry. Afterward, they gathered the dry clothes, folded them, and then put them away. The washer and dryer, as well as electricity, had not been invented yet. All of this housework after a long day of back-breaking work.

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Construction work was grueling and required much strength. Modern-day forklifts or industrial equipment did not exist.  There were fields and animals to attend.  Children worked long days too. At the end of each day, people were exhausted. It was a hard way of life to just live and be healthy. The people had little time to worship God according to God’s command or spend time together as families.

There were no labor laws, fair wage laws, 40 hour work weeks or children labor laws much fewer policies for evaluating working conditions. That is why God commanded that no work be done on the Sabbath from the beginning of creation. In addition, God wanted people to keep the Sabbath holy and to worship him on that day.

God is very serious about the Sabbath. 

Pharaoh was such a harsh ruler over God’s people until God had enough and ordered Pharoh “To let my people go so they may serve me.”  God predetermines this situation, so that he may show his glory and power to all people.

Exodus 10:3-6  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.  Pharaoh agreed to let some of the people go but not all. There were several instances where God placed burden after burden on Pharaoh and his people because of Pharaoh’s disobedience. 

Lastly, God killed Pharaoh’s firstborn male and all of the firstborn in the city except God’s people’s children. God owns all firstborn of man and beast so he took them. Pharaoh let the people go. There is the story of the Red Sea to be told.  However, the point I am making is that God helped his people to serve him and obey him.

 

New Testament – Jesus Christ is Lord over the Sabbath (KJV)

When Jesus Christ, the Son of God (flesh), came into his power, he reinforced God’s command to observe the Sabbath and added the rituals of baptism and communion.   Jesus Christ is Lord over the Sabbath.  The Sabbath is God’s law that continued into the New Testament from the Old Testament.  Jesus Christ gave Grace in observing the Sabbath. If a person did not keep the Sabbath in the Old Testament, God gave permission to put them to death. 

However, Jesus Christ changed the way we observe the Sabbath and there is no penalty of death on earth. The Sabbath is to be observed by all believers, not just the Jews. He commanded we do good on the Sabbath and The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, no one is judged.

Colossians 2:16  16 Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.  (KJV)

The arrival of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ no longer distinguished between the Jew and The Greek. 

Romans 10: 9-13  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is right unto all that call upon him.

13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Jesus Christ offers salvation and his instructions to all who believe and accepted him. (KJV)

 

 

The test of works on the Sabbath, according to Jesus Christ the question to ask, Is the activity in accordance with the law of God to be holy, love God, and each other?  Is it producing fruit to be a good thing?  Is it expressing a holy love?  Does it go by Jesus’s first and second command, to Love God with all your heart, strength and might and to love each other as yourself?

The Gospel on the Sabbath and Jesus Christ: The  John, Matthew, Luke, and Mark are the disciples that wrote of Jesus Christ. Their works are known as the Gospel.

Mark 12-30-31

30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandments greater than these.

Mark 2: 23-27 (KJV)

And it came to pass, that he went through the cornfields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn, 24And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did when he had a need and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him?

26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did ear the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?  27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:  28Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Mark 3: 1-5 And he entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day, that they might accuse him.  3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil?  to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, stretch forth thine hand.  And he stretched it out” and his hand was restored whole as the other.  6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

John 7:23  If a man on the sabbath day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man whole on the sabbath day?

Matthew 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless?

John 19:31 The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

Luke 13:14-17  And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

¹⁵The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loses his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? ¹⁶And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? ¹⁷And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

Discussion:  Suppose you have a job working at a hospital, fire station, or in law enforcement that will not allow you off on the Sabbath.  According to Jesus, you are doing good works.  There are some services for the good of the public and health that have to be done on Sunday.  We don’t shut down law enforcement, hospitals, or firehouses on Sunday. Suppose there are power outages, floods, massive cellphone outages? There are many jobs that work on Sunday to keep people connected, and safe.

There are many who cannot be scheduled off on Sundays.  God knows this. However, we must remember God helps us keep his laws. In the days of Pharaoh, people did not control when they could work.  God handled that situation for them.

Ask God to help you with this, you may be able to swap some days to get Sundays off or at least one or two Sundays a month.  God may give you another job so that you can observe the Sabbath if you ask him.  Wait on God. If you can’t change your schedule, just ask God how you can observe the Sabbath and it is pleasing to him.  God knows you have to work. He may have given you the job you have to do good.  Suppose you work in a nursing home, you are a blessing to someone.

When I was a child, it was a big deal to go to the grocery store, buy groceries, and prepare a large dinner the day before the Sabbath. As a child, I did not know why dinner had to be prepared the day before church. Dinner was not prepared in-advance any other day. I was glad about it because, after long church services, everyone was hungry.  In addition, the house was always super clean on the Sabbath. No housework allowed on Sunday except make your bed and wash dishes. There was no dishwasher and we had plenty of company. It was a holy day of staying in church all day, a great family dinner, and an evening filled with family and friends visiting and having clean fun.

Later, I learned shopping, preparing meals, washing clothes, school work, and cleaning the house are chores and not holy examples to honor God.  There will be times of exception. The Sabbath is a day of rest. A day to worship the Lord our God.  It’s ok to clean up behind yourself, wash Sunday dinner dishes, or make your bed when you get out of it but save chores for later. We all have days to take breaks, so plan for the Sabbath.  Don’t work on your To-Do list.  How you observe the Sabbath is a choice that you need to be make. If you observe the Sabbath to be holy, you will find yourself looking forward to the Sabbath because you know you will rest and spend time honoring God, as he renews your soul for the coming week.

Take advantage of ordering groceries for delivery or pick up. Prepare meals on Saturday or chose a meal that does not require cooking: salads, sandwiches. You can order out or go out to dinner.  Clean houses and cars before Sunday. Don’t leave school work for Sunday because it is convenient but if you have no other choice then pray about it and ask God’s permission. It is the intent and act of respect of acknowledging him. If possible, worship God and spend time with family and friends. If you love God with all your heart and all your might and all your strength, do you think he is worth honoring one day out the week?  Actions speak louder than words.

If someone brings life into the world on a Sunday, it is good. If people pray over someone on a Sabbath for healing, that is good. What about going to the movies?  It depends on what you are going to see.  Is it glorifying God? What about listening to music? Does it praise God?  Are video games without cursing and killing?  Can you have sex on the Sabbath? Are you married?  I think you get the idea.

Chose to observe the Sabbath to the best of your ability to keep it holy, and to honor God. It’s not hard to do.  

If you are not sure of what to do on the Sabbath, pray and ask the Holy Spirit. He is the spirit of truth. He witnesses to Jesus Christ and his teachings. 

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever, I have said unto you.

In addition, once you start observing the Sabbath by keeping it holy, doing good, and denying yourselves pleasures, God will help you keep it. If you willfully stop observing it, there may be penalties because you are breaking a covenant with God.  If you keep it, there are blessings. God is real.

In conclusion, the Sabbath is a forever covenant between God and his people. In the beginning it was for the Jews but Jesus Christ’s blood sacrifice gave salvation to all who believe in him. Therefore, the observation of the Sabbath is for all believers.  It is the seventh workday of the week reserved for honoring God and rest. It is no longer a law that sentence people to death. Jesus Christ ruled that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Jesus Christ is Lord over the Sabbath. Jesus did not do away with the Sabbath but changed the way we are to observe the Sabbath.

We are to do good on the Sabbath but remember the first laws that are greater. Love thy God with all thy heart, and love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12-30-31

The Sabbath is observed by Judah (Jews), Arabic, and Christian religions. Some people observe on Saturday and others on Sunday. In addition, various religions observe Sabbath at different times. The Catholic Church has commanded sun up to sun down as the official time of the Sabbath day. The Catholic church has commanded Sunday instead of the Hebrew Saturday as the Sabbath. The Catholic church changed the Sabbath from the Hebrew Saturday to Sunday because Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday to be the savior of the world.  On a different Sunday, the disciples received the holy spirit to go out and create the church.

 

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Call to salvation:

Romans 10:9-10  9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

John 3:5-6  5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7