arthur.wiebe

“And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished 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 hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.” Genesis 2:1-3

I seriously want to know, how people can say that the Sabbath as defined by these versus, is no longer relevant because we are no longer under the law, when the seventh day being hallowed is not even part of the law.

Next, the Sabbath is talked about in Exodus 16 when God sent manna from Heaven. On Friday (the sixth day) He sent twice as much manna so no man would have to leave his house on the seventh day–the Sabbath–and gather manna.

Exodus 16:29-30 says, “See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day.”

God created the Sabbath for man, because he designed our bodies in such a way that we will not function properly without a certain amount of rest. Someone who works seven days a week will not prosper or use his full potential. Even God rested on the seventh day.

The Sabbath is mentioned again in the “Ten Commandments” (Exodus 20), where it says, “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: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is , and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

Later on, those who did not keep the law of the Sabbath were put to death. According to Exodus 31 and 35. Exodus also goes into more specific details such as not kindling a fire in your houses. Leviticus talks about the Sabbath as well when pertaining to sacrifices. It also refers to the Sabbath as being a day not directly connected to the seventh day. It places a distinction between the seventh day of rest and the Sabbath.

The rest of the books of the law, Numbers (15 & 28) and Dueteronomy 5 give a few more details on the Sabbath.

Isaiah 56:2 talks a little about the Sabbath as well. And gives a blessing to the man who lays hold on it. And Isaiah 58:13 also talks about what the Sabbath is.

So now on to the New Testament. We’ll start with Matthew 1:1-9.
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 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? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:”

You’ll notice that Jesus did not even hint at the thought of the sabbath no longer being relevant, or even it becoming so in the future. But that the priests did not understand the meaning of it fully.
Right after that it tells of how Jesus healed a man and how it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. He would have done evil to leave the sick man alone, when he could be healed.
Jesus was burried on Friday, and rose right after the Sabbath on Sunday morning. (Matthew 28)

Mark 2:27-28, “And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” Luke confirms the same story.

John 7:22, “Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.”

In Acts 13 it talks about when they met on the sabbath day. Acts 13:14, “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.”
and Acts 13:44, “And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.”

Paul taught the people from the scriptures on the Sabbath.
Acts 17:2, “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, ”
Acts 18:4, “And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. ”

The sabbath is not mentioned in any other book of the New Testament except for Colossions 2:16-17, “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. ”
Keeping these ordinances will not justify you, keep you, or in any way make you righteous before God. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can do that. But this verse–which is often quoted as evidence that the Sabbath day no longer matters–does not say we should not keep these ordinances, but only that we are not to let men judge us by them, as they are but an outward sign of inward virtue.

Now what about Sunday, the day when nearly all “Christian” churches of today come together for a weekly service? Many have this idea that Sunday, the first day of the week replaced the Sabbath because that’s when the disciples came together to break bread in Acts 7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. ”
And that is the only time the Bible talks about the believers meeting on the first day.

Jesus rose on the first day, Acts 16:9, “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”
In John 20:19, after Jesus rose from the dead He appeared before His dicsiples on the first day, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord”
The same thing happened again 8 days later.

In Revelation 1:10, John refers to the Lord’s Day. I concluded that Sunday was referred as the Lord’s Day, something totally different from the Sabbath, because Jesus Christ rose on that day, and appeared before His disciples on that day.

Conclusion

I came to the conclusion after looking at all the scriptures mentioned and more, that the seventh day is still a day of rest today, as instituted by God at creation. God hallowed that specific day of the week, and for us to say it’s putting ourself under the law to recognize this truth, is simply an excuse for not obeying what we know is right.
The gereral term: “that was under the law, we are now under grace” is over-used but under-defined.

Sunday is not connected in any way to the seventh day, but was recognized in the New Testament by the disciples as “the Lord’s day” because it was the day of His rising from the dead and appearance. Sunday is not a day of rest, nor is it a holy day, but a day to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ, and His death, burial, and resurrection.

It’s interesting to note that throughout the scriptures, specific importance is placed on certain days of the month, of the week, and of the year. It is a new philosophy that says we should not do so ourselves. The seventh day was not replaced by something new.
Just as we should give thanks to God all year round, but yet set aside a day to give thanks, so is the Sabbath, and the Lord’s day. We are habitual creatures, and as such needs times of refreshing to ponder what the Lord has done. We cannot dwell on certain days as being something supernatural. Or that this day is more spiritual than that day. But certain days are set aside for our benefit.

The law of the Sabbath is no longer for new testament believers. Jesus Christ fullfilled the law. But the Sabbath and the law of the Sabbath are two distinct things. The hallowed Sabbath as the seventh day of the week is a day God set certain standards to for His people to follow. This law is now complete in Christ. But to say the Sabbath is now finished is something of a completely different nature as it is something God defined at the very beginning.
If we try to live out the law of the Sabbath today as Christians, it is an insult to God. We cannot keep the law, and to try is throwing away the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, and say we need to keep such and such a commandment to please God.

So now, after looking into this and reading the scriptures. What am I going to do about it?…..