The Sabbath Commandment

Transcription

1 The Sabbath Commandment There are certain people today that teach we should still observe the Sabbath. Some of them claim that the Sabbath is actually a Saturday and cannot be practised on any other day. They also go on to say that there are certain rules and regulations on what people can and cannot do on a Sabbath. Some claim that this is the day we should go to church and that if we go to church on other days this is not right. This is generally the teaching of the seventh day Adventist church as well as the Jehovah s witnesses. They are so adamant about their beliefs on the Sabbath that they see it as a major or fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith and a reason for them to dissociate themselves from the rest of the church that worships on Sunday s and don t have rules regarding the Sabbath. The purpose of this study is firstly to learn more about The Sabbath and how it was adhered to in both the Old and New Testaments as well as draw some conclusions from the word on how we as Christians living in the times we do should adhere to the Sabbath. First, let s look in detail to see the origin and observance of the Sabbath: In Genesis 2:1 We see that God has just finished creating the heavens and the earth and everything in it including mankind in six days and on the seventh day he takes a break: 1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. The above reference to God sanctifying the seventh day means that He is setting it apart from all the other days as a special day or a Holy day, i.e. a day that is different to all the other days. Hundreds of years pass from this moment in Genesis before the Bible next mentions a seventh day being different or special to the rest. The first mention is when the Israelites are journeying through the wilderness under Moses leadership and complain that they have no food (Exodus 16). God hears their complaint and arranges manna for them fresh every morning except for the seventh day. On the sixth day God would give them a double portion that would last for the next day as well so they did not have to collect on the seventh day. God clearly did not want them collecting food on the seventh day, however He also does not furnish them with an explanation as to why. The next mention of the seventh day being different to the others is When God gives the Israelites the Ten Commandments. Keeping a Sabbath is the fourth commandment that is given and reference is made to the scripture above in Genesis 2:1. Exodus 20:8 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. This word Sabbath or shabbath in Hebrew is directly translated as intermission = The act of suspending activity temporarily. The Sabbath as mentioned above is to be conducted on the seventh day and comes with two commands: a) That it is to be kept holy

2 b) That no work is to be done on this day Let s examine these two commands taking into context the rest of the Old Testament scriptures that make reference to the Sabbath: a) That it is to be kept holy. If we had to ask ten people what the word holy means we could get close to ten different answers everybody seems to have a different definition. The word Holy as used here in the Hebrew means literally to make clean either morally or ceremonially. Following this direct translation this could mean that the Sabbath as mentioned here is meant to be kept specifically as a day for practising moral purity and conducting sacred ceremonies. When we look at other scriptures in both the New and Old Testament we see that this is exactly what the Israelites did. Now this does not obviously mean that the Israelites could be morally impure the rest of the six days and were only obligated to be pure on this day, but rather this day in particular was meant to be a day where moral purity was the pervading theme above anything else. Literally a day for them to stop their work and examine themselves and their lives. In Ezekiel 46:3 We see an example of this commandment in action. In the scripture below we see both worship (for the whole nation) taking place on this day and the ceremonial activity of burnt offerings: Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this gateway before the LORD on the Sabbath and the New Moons. 4 The burnt offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish Psalm 92 is actually a song that was written for the very purpose of being sung on the Sabbath day. It is a song of thanks and praise to God. So we can assume that in the Old Testament they would actually take time on this day to sing songs to God. This could be part of their sacred ceremonies. In the New Testament we see that the Sabbath was being adhered to by Israel as a holy day and a day of rest: It appears in the New Testament that each community had a synagogue where the members of that community would come together on the Sabbath day to listen to the reading of the law, listen to teaching about the law, make prayers, and conduct other sacred ceremonies like making burnt offerings. The Jews did not only stay in Israel, but were actually spread out all over the known world and wherever they went they built synagogues and continued with this custom. That is why when we see the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas and other Apostles in the book of Acts we can see that in every city they went to there were Jews meeting in synagogues: 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. 15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Acts 13:14 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. Acts 13:44 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Acts 15:21

3 13 And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; Acts 16:13 We even see Jesus as a Rabbi entering synagogues on the Sabbath to teach and preach: Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. (Mark 1:21) And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. (Mark 6:2) 16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. (Luke 4:16) b) That no work is to be done on this day From this scripture the direct reason given as to why we should do no work on this day besides the fact that holiness is meant to be the central theme and that can t be the case if people are busy with their jobs; is because God himself worked six days and rested on the seventh: In it you shall do no work.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. When God stopped working on the seventh day He was clearly role modelling a pattern He wanted Israel to follow. Some examples as to what exactly constitutes no work can be found in some further reading: In Exodus 35:3 a specific reference is made with regarding to this command: 3 You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day. In Nehemiah 10:31 a specific reference with regard to buying and selling is made. These Israelites under the leadership of Nehemiah were trying to re-build Jerusalem and once again live their lives according to God s word. Although no specific mention of buying and selling was made in the commandment, they saw the phrase you shall do no work to mean such and therefore out of reverence for God rather chose to abstain from any trading. 31 if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath, or on a holy day; In Nehemiah 13:15-22 Nehemiah makes an effort to stop all trading (buying and selling) on this Day. It is clear to see that his desire to honour God and his law. Jeremiah 17:21 gives additional insight into this no work command by showing that even moving heavy objects should not be done: Thus says the LORD: Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

4 In the New Testament just like in the Old Testament the day before the Sabbath was seen as a preparation day i.e. a day to finish any chores, cook food etc so that on the Sabbath one could truly rest: Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42) Reasons offered for the Sabbath: Later in Exodus 31:14-18 After dishing out the punishment for anybody breaking the Sabbath (which is death), verse 17 gives an explanation as to why this Sabbath was to be observed: 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. 1. God wanted The Sabbath to be a sign between Him and Israel. This word sign could be translated a flag, a signal or a monument. So to elaborate; just as plainly as a flag would communicate a message to all who saw it (e.g. a white flag = surrender) God wanted the Sabbath to be a special thing that would communicate to whoever saw it or obeyed it that Israel belonged to Him. God worked six days and rested, Israel works six days and rests i.e. God and Israel are ONE. 2. A time for mankind to refresh. The other reason which is more obvious and practical is that if God needed to rest after six days of work then we should also need to. Verse 17 Says that God was refreshed. Knowing the limitations of our physical bodies and minds, a day of rest is a practical life skill that can keep us from damaging ourselves and keep us productive in our work. Blessings for keeping the commandment: God never dishes out commandments to complicate our lives, he always gives commandments because there is a blessing that comes from adhering to them. In the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah there are mentions of various blessings for those who adhere to this command of keeping the Sabbath as a holy day and not doing any work on it: Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, (Isaiah 56:2) Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar;(isaiah 56:5) If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,

5 Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 58:13) but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the lowland, from the mountains and from the South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing sacrifices of praise to the house of the LORD. (Jeremiah 17:24) Consequences of breaking the commandment: Exodus 31 mentions the punishment of death for anybody breaking the commandment. Jeremiah 17:27 mentions that God s anger will be against Jerusalem: 27 But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. So to summarise our study so far, the Sabbath, a) Is translated as a temporary suspension of all activity. b) Is meant to be kept as a holy day = a day to focus on moral purity and conduct scared ceremonies. c) Is not a day for any work (including the kindling of fires) d) Anyone breaking the Sabbath was to be put to death (See God actually enforcing this rule in Numbers 15:32-37 to a man who was picking up sticks on the Sabbath.) e) Is a sign for all to see that Israel and God are one and is a practical necessity in order for us to be refreshed and restored. f) There are various blessings for obeying it and consequences for not obeying it. How should we today adhere to the Sabbath commandment? Despite the stringent rules regarding the Sabbath (i.e. death for those who disobeyed in the days of Moses) there were many occasions or different situations when it appears the rules were either broken or un-enforced. Certainly when we look at the life of Jesus we see that there are cases where He himself seems not to be adhering to the Sabbath law. In fact Jesus makes some very strong challenges regarding the Sabbath which have in essence brought about the reason why there is such strong disagreement about the Sabbath in the church today. Lets look at some of these cases and in particular the comments Jesus made: 2 Kings 11 Records an account of guards who were on duty (i.e. working) on the Sabbath. Now obviously the position of a guard is very important especially if times are volatile as they were in this case. It seems in this case the guards were seen as an exception to the law of the Sabbath. Did this please or displease God? We don t know for sure, but it would seem to us unreasonable in times that are volatile and danger being imminent to take guards off duty for a whole day surely any

6 enemy of Israel would quickly work out that the best day to attack would obviously be the Sabbath when everyone was resting and no one was working? This example does open up the questions: Are the exceptions to keeping the Sabbath? And, Is there one way we are all meant to adhere to Sabbath? There are certainly a million other questions that this example in Kings and the other examples in the Old Testament could open up when we apply it to the modern days we are living in, for example: - What about people working in emergency services like Doctors and nurses or military services or many other life / death service industries? - If they were not allowed to kindle fires in the days of Moses does that mean for us living today that we are not allowed to turn on our ovens? - If the Israelites had to collect enough manna on the 6 th day for the seventh, does that mean we mustn t cook on the Sabbath but rather make sure we cook enough food on the 6 th day as well? - If the Death was the sentence for anyone breaking the Sabbath in Moses time, why wasn t it adhered to in this case? Does it still apply today? And if so, who should carry out this death sentence? Let s look at what Jesus said about the Sabbath and see if He answers these questions: We have already seen from scriptures mentioned earlier that Jesus definitely adhered to the command that the Sabbath was to be a holy day by the fact that he was in the synagogues and teaching on the Sabbath. However the other command of no work on the Sabbath was a hot topic around Jesus because in certain cases it appears to some people that He is breaking the commandment. One of the main passages where we can see this is found in Matthew 12: Matthew 12:1 1 At that time Jesus went through the grain fields 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. Jesus when questioned about breaking this command offers two reasons as to why He could be doing what he was: 1. David broke the law by eating the showbread. In this case David was on the run from Saul and he and his men were hungry, and had nothing to eat. There was no normal bread anywhere so the only option they had was to eat the Holy Bread which was in the temple. No one but the priests were normally allowed to eat this bread. Jesus is likening His situation to David s, he and His disciples were hungry and there was nothing to eat so they had to get some grain from the fields.

7 This action by Jesus directly contravenes the severity of the Sabbath law given to the Israelites leaving Egypt who received the death penalty without mercy for such an action. What can we conclude about this? The only conclusion I can make is that God was clearly dealing with a different type of person in Exodus to David and Jesus disciples. The Israelites leaving Egypt were as we know a rebellious, faithless, uneducated people with pagan ways. God had to deal more strenuously with them by laying down stern laws in order to bring them to a place of understanding him and his ways. Hebrews chapter 12 talks about the Lord disciplining those whom he loves, and that the purpose of such disciple is to bring us into right standing with him. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11) However, for David and Jesus disciples there would be no need for such sever discipline because they had already been schooled in God s ways and were already completely and wholly devoted to Him. Their actions were not out of ignorance, nor out of rebellion, but rather out of a need to continue in what God had called them to. This answer is supported by the fact that nowhere else in the Bible was the death penalty instituted for the breaking of the Sabbath. We have to conclude that it was only for those under Moses authority. This idea of the law being a school master to bring us into a mature relationship with God is not out of the bounds of scripture. We know from the word that God wants sons and daughters, not slaves, but in order for us to become sons and daughters we have to first learn obedience to his laws. It is only once we have been disciplined in His ways that become true sons and daughters. From the moment we are saved into His kingdom we encounter His discipline as His Holy Spirit starts to train us. We suddenly become aware that there are right and wrong things to say, think and do. And we can feel His discipline when we do wrong. This at first is usually quite a struggle, to submit our will to his, but after walking with the Lord for a long time we come to a point of maturity where our very nature and personality has been schooled to take after His nature and personality. As this happens our relationship with God changes just like the relationship between a Natural father and his son changes as the son grows up. At first it is all about obedience (for e.g. don t touch, don t taste, do your homework. ) but after a while it changes to one of mutual understanding and respect. Jesus clearly saw no reason for David or His disciples to be punished for their actions, not that they were above the law, but rather the law had already done its job in them. The second reason Jesus gives the Pharisees is: 2. The priests break the Sabbath because they have to work on that day. Jesus answers our earlier question about are there exceptions to the Sabbath law. He is clearly telling the Pharisees that there are obvious exceptions to the Sabbath law. While everyone would normally be resting on the Sabbath, the priests would have to be working hard in the temple conducting all the sacred ceremonies and reading / preaching the law etc. He is definitely saying that He and His disciples are one of these exceptions to the law.

8 He is probably even likening His (and His apostles) function to that of the Old Testament priesthood. If so this would mean that just like in the OT the priests were exempt from the Sabbath law in the NT the apostles and other church leaders would also be exempt from the Sabbath Law. This would certainly make allot of sense because in the NT although there would be no need for ceremonial sacrifices to be made somebody would still have to be preaching and teaching the good news on the Sabbath which is work. In order to understand a little more into why Jesus gave these answers to the Pharisees it is important to know some information about the Pharisees and what they thought about the Sabbath: The Pharisees arose about 160 BC out of the scribes as another religious party. Pharisees were businessmen that had separated themselves with a fanatism to study the law. The Sadducees took Genesis to Malachi and said this is the word of God. The Pharisees said yes it is the word of God, but we don t know what it means. Therefore over the centauries there have been learned men rabbi s and teachers and they have told us what it means and their words have been past down and debated and recorded over the centuries. This went to the point that all the interpretations and traditions of the Old Testament were far bigger than the Old Testament itself. They believed that all of that tradition was more important than the actual word. The tradition told them what the word meant. But because they were businessmen, there were about 6000 Pharisees in the time of Jesus, they had tremendous influence, the common people believed every word they said. If a scribe said black was white it was so. Among all the villages and towns the thinking was pharisaical. Pharisee means separated. They didn t call themselves that; other people called them that, because they had separated themselves from their fellow Israelites, saying that they were unclean. In essence they would walk around saying we are crème dele crème of society because they knew all the law and tradition. They called themselves a word that you will not find in the bible: Haberin = the associates. Because they associated themselves with the law of God and had given themselves to keeping it. But Their whole idea was to DEBATE. They got together to see: How they could not break the law. Notice this is different if they approached it as: How they could keep the law. This gave rise to the most idiotic making of rules. Example: The Sabbath was a day of rest at your home and so the law said you shouldn t be more than a Sabbath day s journey from your home. Now they thought: How can we not break that. So they would begin to debate and define what was meant by home. And they defined that your home was a place where you had your meals. But that wasn t good enough, because a visitor would also have a meal, so therefore your home was defined as a place where you had at least two meals. So if you were to travel more than a Sabbaths day journey from your home on the Sabbath it would be all right, according to them, as long as you had 2 meals at your destination! I hope you can see that this is ridiculous!

9 Another example around the Sabbath was: Ladies were not allowed to look in the mirror on the Sabbath because if they saw a grey hair and pulled it out, that would be going to the hairdresser and you weren t allowed to do that. They had rules for everything. They had turned the law of God into thousands of irrelevant rules that kept people in bondage. If they kept their law they would begin to get proud. Now that we understand their thinking we can see that Jesus response to them in Matthew 12 is a clear indication that there are exceptions to keeping the Sabbath. This same story of Jesus in the grain fields is also recorded in the Gospel of Mark. In Mark s record of the vents of that day, he also shows Jesus citing the David example, but goes on to give another reason which is not recorded in the Matthew account: Mark 2: Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath? 25 But He said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him? 27 And He said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath. This answer of The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath upholds Gods original reason for instituting the Sabbath namely a time for mankind to refresh and focus on the things of God. Anyone obeying this command would without a doubt benefit; not only will they be benefiting physically by being rested and ready for the week ahead, but they would also benefit spiritually by learning more about God and drawing closer to God. It is clear when God was giving the Sabbath law He was thinking about the benefit of mankind. He was not just making arbitrary laws for us to follow, His purpose was for us to benefit. Jesus is making a radical statement here (The Sabbath was made for man), because He is saying that the issue is NOT; is the Sabbath being religiously followed without exception or reason, but rather; is the purpose for which it was instituted being accomplished i.e. are people making sure there is (a) day set aside for holy practices and (b) that they are taking time to refresh on that day? By saying that the Sabbath is made for man is paramount to saying that mankind (knowing God s purpose for the Sabbath) has authority to make his own decisions regarding how to implement that purpose i.e. it must not be a burden to him, but a blessing. It is here therefore that many people separate on their opinions regarding the Sabbath. There are those who even in the light of this passage of scripture still believe that the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments and has to be followed religiously without exception and without the option of mans reason. They go on to make numerous rules about what to do and what not to do on this day and religiously instruct others to do the same. I think such people have interpreted the scriptures incorrectly. So am I saying that this statement that Jesus is making now exempts us from taking a Sabbath?

10 Definitely not. I believe that everybody should, knowing God s purpose for instituting the Sabbath, seek to implement it into their weekly schedule and that it should be exactly as scripture says a) A holy day focusing on the things of God such as prayer, sitting under the teaching of the law, singing psalms and hymns, and examining every area of our lives. i.e. Going to church! b) A day of rest Knowing the blessings of keeping the Sabbath (which we have already looked at in this study), to now ignore it just because Jesus has said we have discretion over it, would be foolish on our part as well as disobedient. However, I do believe that each family should seek out the best way to accomplish in their own life the purpose for which the Sabbath was instituted and I do believe that churches should instruct people with all wisdom on how they can adhere to the Sabbath. As Psalm 112 says: Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. We should delight in keeping the Sabbath and it should be a delight to keep the Sabbath. Look at what some modern day leaders have even said about the Sabbath: D.L. Moody observed: No nation has ever prospered that has trampled the Sabbath in the dust. Show me a nation that has done this and I will show you a nation that has got in it the seeds of ruin and decay. I believe that Sabbath desecration will carry a nation down quicker than anything else. We ignore the Sabbath at our peril. Professor Verna Wright We keep it to our inestimable benefit. Experience shows that the Day of rest is essential to mankind that it is demanded by civilisation as well as Christianity. Theodore Roosevelt Allow me to illustrate: Jesus statement about the Sabbath being made for man is pretty much the same as saying that gloves are made for hands, and not vice versa. A glove protects your hand, keeps your hand warm, it exists to serve the hand. In the same way like a glove serves the hand, the Sabbath is meant to serve man. We would never think of cutting off part of our finger just to make it fit in a glove, but rather we would make adjustments to the glove so that its purpose could be better accomplished. In the same way I don t believe that there is one example of how mankind is meant to live the Sabbath. We certainly cannot find such an example in the word of God. When we think about all the different cultures and communities around the world it would be absurd to think we could all follow the same pattern it would be religious to do so. Different communities reflect different ways and styles to worship God and it should be the same with the Sabbath. To go to another community and tell them to cut their worship service on the Sabbath by one hour to fit in with the rest of us would be like cutting part of our finger off to fit the glove. If God had wanted us all to spend the Sabbath the same way He would have made clear exactly how and when we should spend such a day. But a deep look into scripture shows that there is no such example given and we have already looked at all the examples. The principals and boundaries are definitely there: work six days, rest the seventh, make sure it is a holy day and no work is done, but for us to start nitpicking as to whether or not we are allowed to use our microwaves or drive in our cars is absurd.

11 I believe it is much like the command to Honor our mother and father scripture does not tell us exactly how to fulfill such a command, it is left to our discretion (call it righteous maturity) to work it out. I believe my opinion and interpretation of the scriptures is further supported by the Apostle Paul in the following scriptures: In Colossians 2:16 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ 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. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations 21 Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, 22 which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Should the Sabbath be on a Saturday or a Sunday? I also believe that this discretion even extends to the exact day on which we practice our Sabbath. If we were, for example, to arrive in a foreign community and find them practicing the Sabbath on a Tuesday, I believe it would be wrong to make them change it to a Saturday or Sunday or any other day for that matter. In the culture we live in Saturday is usually observed as a day of preparation, a home day where one can finish chores and spend time with family and Sunday is generally regarded as a day to take a Sabbath. Most churches hold their services on a Sunday and until recent most shops remained closed on a Sunday. Now there are some teachers out there who say that this combination is in fact not correct and the Sabbath must be on the Saturday regardless. They say the reason why is because the origin of having a Sabbath on Sunday has its roots in pagan cultures it used to always be a Saturday and Sunday was actually the first day of the week (and still is) according to the Jewish calendar, so that s how we should spend it too. This reasoning is legalistic in nature. The principal in scripture is work six days rest on the seventh, whether you start your first day on a Sunday and end on a Saturday or whether you start on a Monday and end on a Sunday is irrelevant. In a society like ours where it is generally accepted to spend your Sunday as a holy day and a day of rest it would be silly to criticize people for doing such purely because you believe the Sabbath should be on a Saturday. Rather you should be praising God that people are actually observing the Sabbath. Those people who religiously practice a Sabbath on a Saturday and who criticize those for taking a Sabbath on a Sunday because its roots are pagan should consider the fact that it was on a Sunday that: - Jesus rose from the grave - He appeared to Mary Magdalene - He ascended to be glorified

12 - He appeared to his apostles - He breathed on them and said Receive the Holy Ghost - He broke bread with his disciples and ate it - He gave the Great Commission - He walked on the road to Emmaus - The apostles gathered to break bread and remember the Lord Jesus in his death - The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost - John received the Revelation on the Isle of Patmos In the light of the above occurrences in scripture, Sunday is as good a day as any to spend as a Holy day to the Lord. Conclusion: Having looked at all the scriptures on the Sabbath we have to conclude that it is still a necessary commandment that we must obey. We must also realise that there will be obvious exceptions to the command and that this is scriptural. Jesus statement of the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath clearly reflects that God s heart is that the Sabbath would be a blessing in our lives. We therefore should not fill it with legalistic requirements as the Pharisees did, because there is no such pattern in scripture other than it should be a) a holy day and b) a day of no work. Rather we should look to honour this commandment in the best way possible, using wisdom and the examples of other righteous men in the Bible like Nehemiah and Isaiah. God Bless you as you seek to honour Him and His commandments! John 9:13 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.