Biblical Principles Surrounding the Sabbath Patrick Dewhurst Presented to Phillip Brown PhD Bi241 Pentateuch God s Bible School & College November 7, 2014
2 The Sabbath is a day of rest instituted by God at the end of creation. It occurs once every seven days, but is shrouded in mystery as to how it should be observed, and when it should be observed. This paper will aim to explain and categorize the scriptures that mention the Sabbath, and I will do this using the method of hermeneutics know as UP/SA. The UP/SA method differentiates the Universal Principle (UP), from the Specific Application (SA). A Universal principle is an overarching truth regardless of time, place, culture, or circumstance. A specific application is a principle that falls within one or more universal principles, but it applies specifically to a certain situation, people, or time. Furthermore, a specific application may no longer be applicable to the modern day believer. I will conclude each principle and application with an evaluation of whether or not it is still applicable to modern day believers. I. Universal Principle #1: The Sabbath is for Rest, and no work is to be done on it. Genesis 2:2- 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. Leviticus 23:3- Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the SABBATH of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the SABBATH of the LORD in all your dwellings. Jeremiah 17:22- Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the SABBATH day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the SABBATH day, as I commanded your fathers. Leviticus 16:31- It [shall be] a SABBATH of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever Exodus 16:30 So the people rested on the seventh day. Application to Christians: This principle still holds true for the modern day believer. God rested on the Sabbath before giving it to man. By the time man received it from God, it was already established as a day of rest. God s command to His people in Exodus to rest on the Sabbath, would indicate that we should observe it as well because it was given before the Mosaic Law. A. Specific Application #1: If anyone works on the Sabbath, they are to be put to death. Exodus 31:14- Ye shall keep the SABBATH therefore; for it [is] holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth [any] work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
3 Exodus 31:15- Six days may work be done; but in the seventh [is] the SABBATH of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth [any] work in the SABBATH day, he shall surely be put to death. Exodus 35:2- Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a SABBATH of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Numbers 15:32, 36- And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the SABBATH day. So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Application to Christians: The church does not have the authority to kill people who work on the Sabbath since we are no longer under the Mosaic Law. However, it was instituted to show the Israelites that God was serious about them keeping the Sabbath. The modern day Christian should take from this that God is still very serious about us keeping the Sabbath. B. Specific Application #2: Everything in your house must rest on the Sabbath. Exodus 20:10- 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: Exodus 23:12- Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. Deuteronomy 5:14- 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, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. Application to Christians: This principle should still hold true to the modern day believer. Everything in a believer s house must fall under an authority structure. Therefore if the Sabbath is a day of rest for the head of the house, then everything in the house under his authority also rests. C. Specific Application #3: A believer must not cook on the Sabbath. Exodus 16:23- And he said unto them, This [is that] which the LORD hath said, Tomorrow [is] the rest of the holy SABBATH unto the LORD: bake [that] which ye will bake [today], and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning
4 Deuteronomy 16:8- Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day [shall be] a solemn assembly to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work [therein]. Application to Christians: Cooking during the time of Moses was very different than it is now. There is not nearly the same amount of work involved in cooking now as there was then. If cooking on the Sabbath is a non-restful, stress inducing task, than I do not see it as appropriate for the modern day believer. The principle however is not about cooking; it is about rest. II. Universal Principle #2: The Sabbath is Holy, it must be set apart unto God. Exodus 20:8- Remember the SABBATH day, to keep it holy. Leviticus 24:8- Every SABBATH he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, [being taken] from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. Leviticus 26:2- Ye shall keep my SABBATHs, and reverence my sanctuary: I [am] the LORD. 1 Exodus 20:11- 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. Deuteronomy 5:12- Keep the SABBATH day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Application to Christians: This principle still holds true to the modern day believer. If God considers the Sabbath as holy, and wants his people to consider it holy, then time does not erode that fact. A. Specific Application #1: A believer must sacrifice on the Sabbath. Numbers 28:9- And on the SABBATH day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour [for] a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: Numbers 28:10- [This is] the burnt offering of every SABBATH, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering. 1 Although this passage does not specifically refer to the 7 th day Sabbath of rest, I thought it pertinent since the Sabbath is still among the Sabbaths mentioned.
5 Application to Christians: This principle does not hold true to the modern day believer. The purpose of the sacrifice was for the remission of sin. Jesus, as our ultimate sacrifice, overturned the need to repeat the ritual. B. Specific Application #2: A believer must not buy or sell on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 10:31- And [if] the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the SABBATH day to sell, [that] we would not buy it of them on the SABBATH, or on the holy day: and [that] we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. Nehemiah 13:15- In those days saw I in Judah [some] treading wine presses on the SABBATH, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all [manner of] burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the SABBATH day: and I testified [against them] in the day wherein they sold victuals. Nehemiah 13:16- There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the SABBATH unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem Nehemiah 13:17- Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing [is] this that ye do, and profane the SABBATH day Amos 8:5- Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the SABBATH, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? Application to Christians: This principle still holds true for the modern day believer. Buying and selling on the Sabbath is payment for the work of another. Putting money in a pop machine however, seems to not be in violation of scripture since no work is involved. The principle is work/rest, not the movement of funds. C. Specific Application #3: The gates of Jerusalem should be shut on the Sabbath. Nehemiah 13:19- And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the SABBATH, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the SABBATH: and [some] of my servants set I at the gates, [that] there should no burden be brought in on the SABBATH day. Nehemiah 13:22- And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and [that] they should come [and] keep the gates, to sanctify the SABBATH day. Remember me, O my God, [concerning] this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.
6 Jeremiah 17:21- Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the SABBATH day, nor bring [it] in by the gates of Jerusalem; Jeremiah 17:24- And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the SABBATH day, but hallow the SABBATH day, to do no work therein; Jeremiah 17:27- But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the SABBATH day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the SABBATH day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. Application to Christians: This principle does not apply to the modern day believer. An open gate in the time of Nehemiah and Jeremiah meant that the city was open for business. Therefore it wasn t the presence of open gates that was the problem, rather what it signified: work/lack of rest. III. Universal Principle #3: The Sabbath is God s, but was made for Man. Matthew 12:8- For the Son of man is Lord even of the SABBATH day. Mark 2:28- Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the SABBATH. Luke 6:5- And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the SABBATH. Mark 2:27- And he said unto them, The SABBATH was made for man, and not man for the SABBATH: Application to Christians: This principle still holds true to the modern day believer. The Sabbath never stopped being God s. God gave man the Sabbath because it was good for him. This has never changed. A. Specific Application #1: Deeds of mercy are exceptions to the no working rule. Matthew 12:11- And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the SABBATH day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift [it] out? Matthew 12:12- How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the SABBATH days. Luke 13:16- And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the SABBATH day?
7 Mark 3:4- And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the SABBATH days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. Application to Christians: This principle still holds true to the modern day believer because Jesus said it. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and thereby holds the right to make whatever exception that He wants. B. Specific Application #2: Deeds of necessity are exceptions to the no working rule. Exodus 12:16- And in the first day [there shall be] an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save [that] which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. Luke 13:15- The Lord then answered him, and said, [Thou] hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the SABBATH loose his ox or [his] ass from the stall, and lead [him] away to watering? Luke 14:5- And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the SABBATH day? Application to Christians: This principle still holds true to the modern day believer because Jesus said it. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and thereby holds the right to make whatever exception that He wants. IV. Universal Principle #4: The Sabbath is to be observed once every 7 days. Exodus 31:17- 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. Exodus 16:30- So the people rested on the seventh day. Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day [is] the SABBATH of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work [therein]: it [is] the SABBATH of the LORD in all your dwellings. Leviticus 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day [is] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. Application to Christians: This principle still holds true to the modern day believer. God instituted the Sabbath as a bi-weekly day of rest, before the Mosaic Law was instituted. Both Jesus and the apostles affirmed the Sabbath as well. A. Specific Application #1: The Sabbath must be observed specifically on the seventh day of the week.
8 Exodus 16:30- So the people rested on the seventh day. Exodus 31:17- 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. Leviticus 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day [is] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein]. Application to Christians: This principle does not hold true to the modern day believer. Today we use the Julian calendar. At creation, God very likely did not use it like we do. Therefore His command for the Israelites to observe it on the seventh day was probably because He had to give them a day, otherwise they would not have known when to observe the Sabbath. Time/dates in reading and classifying Scriptures: 10/30: 2hrs; 11/31; 1 hr. Time/dates in writing your paper: 11/6: 8hrs Time/date in typing It: 11/6: 8hrs. Total Time: 11 hrs.