What About the Sabbath?

By Harley Pinon

    Many, well intentioned believers, have real questions and concerns about the Seventh-Day Sabbath.  Since it is a part of the ten commandments which were written in stone, who are we to say that the 4th commandment is no longer binding on Christians?

    Seventh-Day Adventists obviously get most of their name from keeping the Seventh-Day Sabbath.  They are not the only ones.  There is also an Assembly of God (Seventh Day.) 

    But a few years ago, there were two other voices which probably had more impact on Christians in general than either of the groups mentioned above.  I'm referring to the voices of Herbert W. Armstrong, and his son Garner Ted Armstrong.  I remember when I first heard their messages on the radio, I was really impressed by what they were saying, because they were saying a lot of the same things that I loved hearing in the Church of Christ.  As I studied more, I found out they were quite different from the Church of Christ even though they stood for some of the same things. 

        There is one other question, is Sunday the Christian Sabbath?  To that question I answer, "No."  The Sabbath is Saturday.  It always has been, it always will be.  Sunday is not the Sabbath, but that doesn't mean that we cannot learn from the way the Sabbath was observed.  Paul said,  "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. {25} But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." (Gal 3:24-25 NKJV)  The Sabbath started at sundown on Friday.  That's a bit challenging, but I think there is an excellent principle here:  begin preparing for our day of worship when the sun goes down. 

There was another similarity that we must notice.  "And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work."  (Num 28:25 NKJV) Maybe you'll like the NIV better: (Num 28:25 NIV) "On the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work."  In other words, they were to go to worship, and not to work.

It seems that Jesus indicated that the Jewish leaders had made the Sabbath a burden.  It was not intended to be a burden, but to be a day of rest from physical labor, and a day of spiritual refreshment.  One other point that I try to always remember:  It may not be a sin for me to mow my lawn on Sunday, but I need to remember two things:  (1) There may be those watching me who think it is, and I can offend them, and (2) As a matter of priority, why not set aside one day for God.  Time to worship with my family, time to rest from physical labor, and time to refresh myself spiritually.

I don't believe the rigorous laws of the Sabbath are binding.  That means doctors, nurses, etc. may have to work, my choice has been to have a job such that I could be free of physical labor in most cases.

But let's turn to the scriptures.  Paul says,  "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. {6} He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks." (Rom 14:5-6 NKJV)  I cringe to ask the question, but does that include Sunday?  When we honestly examine the scriptures, we cannot put our finger on the passage that changes the "Sabbath to Sunday."  I'm not convinced that God requires us to worship on Sunday.   In our country Sunday has been established as a day of worship, and if you were to worship on Saturday and then mow your lawn on Sunday, you would confuse, and perhaps offend a lot of people. 

Sunday is the day that our Lord arose from the grave.  The day of Pentecost was on Sunday.  "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight." (Acts 20:7 NKJV) and "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come." (1 Cor 16:2 NKJV)  Apparently Sunday was a day when many Christians met, but there is no Christian replacement of the fourth commandment:   "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. {9} Six days you shall labor and do all your work, {10} but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. {11} For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exo 20:8-11 NKJV)

Is the Sabbath gone?  I think so.  Why?  Because Christianity is an international rather than a national religion.  The Old Testament consisted of civil laws as well as spiritual laws.  Christianity turns the civil laws over to the state:  "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. {2} Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. {4} For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." (Rom 13:1-4 NKJV)

Remember, when Christianity began, there was slavery.  You cannot cite book chapter and verse that tells us how to abolish slavery.  Don't misunderstand me, I'm not for slavery, but the slave may have had to work on Sunday.  He would be breaking the 4th commandment if the Sabbath is now kept on Sunday.  Christianity is international.  There is allowance made for doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, to name a few, whose services are needed on Sunday.  Sometimes we try to convert the New Testament into the "Law of the New Testament."  Yes, there are things we must obey, but it is not a rewritten legal code.  There is some freedom in Christ which drives some people crazy and makes some divisive over things where there should be some liberty.

But again, let's return to scriptures, and not just rely on my reasoning.  Consider (Col 2:11-17 NKJV)  "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, {12} buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. {13} And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, {14} having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. {15} Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. {16} So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, {17} which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."  Notice verse 16 especially, "So let no one judge you in . . . sabbaths,"  It is also interesting to notice that Paul associated sabbaths with festivals and new moons.  I take that to mean that he is implying that the same law that spoke of the sabbath also spoke of festivals and new moons.  Armstrong was consistent on that point.  He had his followers observe all the Old Testament feasts.  It is interesting to note that: The first four feasts have been fulfilled!   1. The Feast of the Passover – Jesus Christ.(1 Cor 5:7 NKJV)  . . . For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  2.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread – The Memorial of Christ’s Sacrifice  3.   The Feast of First Fruits – Christ Risen! (1 Cor 15:22-23 NKJV)  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. {23} But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.  4.  The Feast of Pentecost (Fiftieth Day)  The Church is Established.  The last three feasts are yet to be fulfilled!   5.  The Feast of Trumpets   6.  The Feast of the Day of Atonement  7.   The Feast of Tabernacles.

I do not believe that we are to observe any of these feasts today.  As indicated in the list above (which I lifted from my lesson on Revelation 8) http://www.harleypinon.com/revelation_8.htm, all but three have had their fulfillment.

But what about the Sabbath?  Was Jesus our Sabbath?  Some say He was.  Consider the following:   (Mat 11:28-30 NKJV) "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. {29} "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  It is interesting what follows:

(Mat 12:1-14 NKJV) At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. {2} And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" {3} But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: {4} "how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? {5} "Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? {6} "Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. {7} "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. {8} "For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." {9} Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. {10} And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"; that they might accuse Him. {11} Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? {12} "Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." {13} Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. {14} Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

In (Gal 4:9-11 NKJV), Paul says,  "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? {10} You observe days and months and seasons and years. {11} I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

Someone will say, but what about (Heb 4:9-10 NIV) There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; {10} for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.  Once again, translators have become interpreters rather than translators.  (Heb 4:9-10 NKJV) There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. {10} For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."  Yes, the word translated Sabbath is a form of Sabbath, but its isn't the same word.  It is: σαββατισμός  sabbatismos  Thayer Definition:
1) a keeping sabbath
2) the blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshippers of God and true Christians

On the other hand, the Greek word for Sabbath is: σάββατον,  sabbaton
Thayer Definition:
1) the seventh day of each week which was a sacred festival on which the Israelites were required to abstain from all work
1a) the institution of the sabbath, the law for keeping holy every seventh day of the week
1b) a single sabbath, sabbath day
2) seven days, a week

So the rest that remains is not stated as a Sabbath that remains.  Even if it were, does that eliminate the fact that Jesus gave us rest of which the sabbath was only a figure of what was to come.  Yes, the ultimate rest is yet to come, but Paul also gave this warning: (Gal 5:3-4 NKJV) And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. {4} You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."  Where did Christ repeal the law of circumcision?  Yes, it's true that this statement is more emphatic than what Paul said about the sabbath, but I think Gal 4:9-11 and Col 2:11-17 must also be seriously considered .

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Welcome to my Web site

Hit Counter