The Development of the Sabbath
Historically, there is little doubt that the early church met together on the first day of the week, on Sundays, and have done so ever since. However, in the eighteenth century the idea was proposed that the proper day for worship is Saturday rather than Sunday. This became a key doctrine of the Seventh Day Adventists who followed the teaching of Ellen White. Ellen White had been a follower of William Miller an American Baptist preacher who, during the 1830s and 1840s, sparked an international religious movement by predicting that Jesus Christ would literally return to Earth to judge mankind between 1843 and 1844. When these predicted dates passed her emphasis changed to the role of the Sabbath. Her understanding of Scripture has been criticised in other areas too, although this article is not the place to discuss this. If anyone is interested in learning more about her there are many helpful websites.
Shortly Ellen married, she and her husband studied a tract written by Joseph Bates titled ‘Seventh-day Sabbath’ and became convinced that they were to keep Saturday as the Sabbath. Six months later, Ellen had a vision in which she saw the law of God with a halo of light surrounding the fourth commandment. She and her husband took this as proof that their new found understanding was correct. They elevated this to a doctrine of first importance.
However what does the Bible teach us about the Sabbath?
Genesis
At the beginning of Genesis the creation story of the world was written to teach us many lessons. This universe and humanity are the product of God’s wish and God’s word. Man is the climax of this creation and God wants to have a personal relationship with all his people. Just as God worked for seven days and then rested on the seventh so God intends that this is the pattern for our lives. The Hebrew word ‘sabbath’ literally means ‘rest’.
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:2-3
“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:11
After the Exodus
The Sabbath was now not just a day of rest but was to be a day of celebration:
“The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.” Exodus 31:16
Besides celebration it was also be used to remember the covenant that God had made with his people and that he had delivered them from slavery in Egypt:
“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:15
It was because they lost this love for God and no longer had the desire to live to please him that they were rejected:
“For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
The Lord has always wanted his people to love him, not to let their ‘hearts go astray’.
Later Old Testament emphasis
To forget God is tantamount to treason. This is why setting aside a specific day to remember his acts and holiness is so important.
The Sabbath was a day of remembrance
The commandment ‘Remember the Sabbath day’ is deeply rooted in the concept of a ‘day of remembrance’. In Judaism, the Sabbath is fundamentally understood not just as a day of rest but as an active memorial of God’s creation and the redemption of his people. It should be a day of joy as people remember the privilege of being God’s people. What a tragedy it is when families today make the Lord’s day a tedious day of ‘Don’t do this’ and ‘Don’t do that.’
God’s intention has always been that the Sabbath would be a day when people remember him and his holiness:
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14
It is interesting that Isaiah uses two terms for this day, the Old Testament term, the Sabbath, and then the New Testament which prefers to use the phrase, ‘the Lord’s day’. It is a day to remember the Lord, who he is and what he expects from his people. Note also what the source of this joy will be, ‘. . . then you will find your joy in the Lord.’ It is the relationship with the Lord that is paramount.
Ezekiel teaches the same idea. The Sabbath was not to be list of ‘don’ts’ that somehow satisfy God but was to be a sign of the close relationship God has with his people.
“Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.” Ezekiel 20:12
It is the close relationship with the Lord that impels his people to live for him.
The sabbath was the day for meeting together
The Scriptures explicitly designate the Sabbath as a day of ‘sacred assembly’, and that this gathering was for the reading of the scriptures, teaching and mutual encouragement.
‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:3
The foundational Old Testament law commands that the Sabbath is to be a ‘sacred assembly’ where no ordinary work should be done. This implies that the ‘coming together’ was for communal worship and learning. The focus of this special day is to remember that the most important feature of our lives is that we are his special people, ‘it is a sabbath to the Lord’.
When the Israelites had returned from exile in Babylon, they gathered on a special holy day to hear the scriptures being read. Ezra the priest and the Levites read from the Book of the Law and then explained what it meant so the people could understand.
“They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law. Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. . . . The Levites - . . . instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.” Nehemiah 8:1-8
Rabbinic rules
Over the subsequent centuries the Jewish religious leaders focussed much more on the need for regulation of what could on could not be done on the Sabbath than on the other purposes of the Sabbath. Jewish law enumerates exactly 39 primary categories of forbidden work on the Sabbath, known as the 39 Melachot. Derived from the activities required to construct the biblical Tabernacle in the desert, these directives restrict creative, constructive work from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
The 39 core categories branch into hundreds of secondary and tertiary actions (known as toldot or “offspring") that have been adapted over the years. The 39 Melachot are traditionally divided into four main groups, each reflecting the stages of creating functional items in the ancient world:
The Process of Bread-Making including sowing and reaping
The Process of Clothes-Making including shearing, dying, sewing and even the tying of knots.
The Process of Writing, including the slaughtering of animals, and the making of hides.
Domestic Tasks such as regulating the use of fires and the moving objects more than four cubits in a public space.
In addition, rabbinic decrees (shevut) add prohibitions designed to prevent the accidental violation of biblical laws or to preserve the peaceful spirit of the day. These include moving designated items that have no Sabbath use (e.g., money, rocks, tools). engaging in commerce or discussing business matters, using electricity, phones, or motor vehicles, which are widely considered a violation by Orthodox authorities.
The underlying error is the thinking that God will be satisfied when people keep the Law. They have forgotten that what God has always wanted has been a distinct people who love him and want to live as a people who bring glory to God to people of other nations. The underlying commandment of God to his people has always been:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6
It is a loving submissive relationship that God wants of his people.
The Biblical emphasis the religious overlooked
Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets and writers explicitly state that God rejects mere ritualistic, outward obedience to the Law when it is divorced from a sincere, faithful heart.
After King Saul performs outward sacrifices but disobeys God's core command, the prophet Samuel declares,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22
God speaks through the prophet Hosea,
“For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.’ Hosea 6:6
God expresses his disdain for the multitude of Israel's sacrifices, saying,
“Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. . .”
Instead, He demands inward transformation and moral action:
"Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor. ..” Isaiah 1:11-17
God reminds the Israelites that when He brought them out of Egypt, his primary desire was not on the mechanics of sacrifice and rituals, but on relational obedience:
"Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people” Jeremiah 7:22-23
Jesus and the Law
Jesus repeatedly rejected the rabbinic interpretation of the Law.
“One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain-fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-27
Jesus recognised that the Sabbath has always been for the benefit of people. He puts himself above the Law, pleasing him is more important that keeping rules.
The word ‘Sabbath’ means rest and Jesus tells us that the rest that the Old Testament was looking forward to is to found in a relationship with him:
“ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Dane Ortland, an American pastor, has wisely said:
“He is that of which the Sabbath is a shadow. Jesus is the shadow caster.”
Real inner rest and peace are to be found in this relationship with Jesus. Living for Jesus and loving him is a higher standard than Law keeping and has replaced the Law. It is very dangerous not to recognise that Jesus is the substance that fulfils the symbol of the Sabbath.
New Testament practice
The Gospels confirm that communal teaching and scripture reading were regular practices on the Sabbath. In this passage, Jesus went into the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day, as was His custom, and stood up to read and teach from the scroll of Isaiah.
“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.” Luke 4:16-17
The Gospels consistently describe Jesus regularly spending the Sabbath day entering synagogues and teaching the people.
“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.” Mark 1:21
The pattern of using the Sabbath for teaching continued into the New Testament church. The Apostle Paul began his missionary work by regularly attended synagogues on the Sabbath to reason with and teach both Jews and Gentiles from the scriptures:
“On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.” Acts 13:14-15
“. . . they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,” Acts 17:1-2
This is a considerable development from just having a day of rest, now the sabbath has also become a day for remembering, for teaching and for building up a community.
Paul’s teaching about the Sabbath
Although Paul has once been a fastidious Pharisee, trying to please God by obeying the Jewish rules, when he met Jesus all this changed. He recognised that the need for religious rules was past although he still attended the synagogue in order to teach the gospel.
Some teachers who had visited the young church at Colossi were trying to bring people back to keeping the Old Testament laws which including obeying sabbath rules. Paul rejected this and he wrote about the Sabbath when criticising the need for keeping religious rules. Jesus had removed the need for trying to please God in such ways when he died on the cross:
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.” Colossians 2:15-18
There were clearly those who thought that because they kept to the laws, or tried to do so, they were somehow superior Christians and Paul totally opposed such teaching.
Paul wrote similarly to the Galatian church which was also being troubled by religious Christians who were trying to undermine the freedom that all people have when they turn to following Christ and were requiring people to follow Jewish. The need to adhere to religious days probably meant Sabbath practices.
“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.” Galatians 4:8-11
Paul wrote something similar to the church in Rome: He regarded those returning to Old Testament rules as being dangerous. Such people felt fhey were somehow superior and looked down on others who did not keep Old Testament rituals. Christians are now under the law of living for Christ.
“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Romans 14:4-6
This passage teaches that each person must be convinced in his own mind about the day they observe as the Lord’s Day; if the sabbath was binding on all Christians today, this passage would be meaningless. The early church rejected Jewish law and chose to keep the day that Christ rose from the dead as the day when Christians met together to encourage each other, to learn and to corporately thank their Lord for the privilege of being his people. The gospel writers emphasise when Jesus rose:
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” John 20:19
Luke emphasises that the Christians met together in the evening of the Sunday:
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” Acts 20:7
It would also appear that the Corinthian church used to meet together on the Sunday:
“Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income.” 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
When John was imprisoned on Patmos, he emphasises that it was on Sunday that he had his visions of Christ and what was going to happen to the church:
“On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, . . .” Revelation 1:10
The teaching of Hebrews
The book of Hebrews links the idea of the Sabbath rest with the need to enter the Promised Land, the kingdom of God, giving this Old Testament teaching a spiritual meaning. The Israelites, as they travelled through the wilderness kept the formalities of the Sabbath but they were still not allowed to enter God’s rest. The Sabbath rest is given the spiritual meaning of salvation:
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:1-11
Notice how those entering Christ’s Sabbath-rest, rest from their works, that is keeping to the works of the law. This is certainly not an encouragement to keep the Jewish Sabbath.
The early church was determined to show that the Christian faith was distinct from Judaism. The churches met on the first day of the week instead the last. Christians fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays whereas Jews fasted on Mondays and Thrsdays. Whereas Jewish men wore headwear when they prayed, it was the Christian women who wore the head-dress. The Jews used scrolls for their documents whereas the Christians used codices (books).
Wrong Motivation for keeping the Old Testament Law
If a person’s motivation for keeping Old Testament rules, such as Sabbath laws or food laws, is to please God, then they have a problem because they are no longer living in dependance on God’s grace.
If anyone hopes to derive some other sort of benefit that will increase or enhance their spiritual growth or standing before God they are mistaken. Such actions do nothing to transform our characters to becoming more like Jesus. To think it does reveals a stunted understanding of how we grow in Christ.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:29
Neither Jesus nor his apostles considered keeping rules helped anyone spiritually.
“The just shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11
“I have the right to do anything,” you say - but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” - but I will not be mastered by anything.” 1 Corinthians 6:12 and repeated in 10:23
The Sabbath is a picture of the rest we have when we are close to and relying on Jesus: We must never forget:
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2:16-17
Jesus himself is our only source of rest, he is our Sabbath:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
The Lord’s Day today
God wants our hearts and not outward obedience to rules and rituals - these constitute religions where man is trying to tie himself back to god. Our word religion is derived from the Latin ‘re-ligare’, to tie one self back’. It is impossible for man to do this by good intentions or actions. We are all too corrupt for God, too sinful. Our only hope is having a redeemer. The only way to be saved by what Jesus has done for us on the cross is to enter into a sincere personal relationship with him and to accept that he is now Lord of our thoughts and actions.
The Lord’s Day is given by God to help us in our walk with him
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
Christians should therefore set apart one day a week to meet together to remember what Jesus has done for us, to learn more about how he wants us to live and to encourage each other. This will involve discipline to make meeting together a priority.
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
When we meet our emphasis should be on remembering what Jesus has done for us and learning the wonderful truths of Scripture. Being involved in a church where Bible teaching is a priority is therefore very important. The Lord wants our hearts not our religion, our rules or our rituals.
However being god’s people is more than church meetings. It involves living in society for Christ. Using our homes for him is also important, having friends and neighbours round for meals, to enjoy each others company and to care for them is an important aspect of being one of God’s people. All we have been given by God should be used for his glory. This will therefore involve the use of our time and finances in a way that honours the Lord Jesus. These are all ways by which we can tell whether our hearts really belong to the Lord or to ourselves.
BVP
