The Law and the Sabbath in the New Testament
Is the Sabbath relevant in today’s world? Is the Sabbath a binding institution that has come down to us from the days of creation? In the Old Testament a lot is said of the Sabbath. Its inception, its meaning, its inclusion in the law, how to keep it, and the consequences of obeying and disobeying. In the New Testament it is mentioned although not in great detail. It seems to be spoken of as something taken for granted in the gospels but not mentioned very often in the letters. Does it therefore have the same significance in the Christian era as it did in the days of old?
What mention is there in the NT of the Sabbath – the one commandment that Jesus was accused of breaking – (John 9:16)? Jesus said, when challenged over healing on the Sabbath, “…it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath…” Matt.12:12 Such teaching at that time (still in old covenant times), may have been quite radical for the Jews. “There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant – ‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’ – you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge” Matt.12:6-8 The Message. Jesus was establishing His authority at that time as Lord of the Sabbath. Radical change, which at that time could barely be comprehended, was in the air.
To the writers of the letters of the NT the Sabbath barely rates a mention and seems almost inconsequential. The exception here is in Paul’s writings to the Jewish Christians. And they of course are the people who were bought up with the Sabbath as a way of life. It was taken for granted and crucial in their way of thinking. It seems almost as if they were concerned that this, another of their institutions, was going to be done away with. So Paul assures them, “There remains therefore a rest (keeping of the Sabbath) for the people of God.” Heb.4:9 Read in context the issue here seems to be not whether we refrain from work and our own pleasure in a particular 24 hour period of time. Rather it seems, have we entered His rest. Have we ceased our own works as God did from his. We quote this verse here in context:
“Somewhere it’s written, ‘God rested the seventh-day, having completed his work,’ but in this other text he says, ‘They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.’ So this promise has not yet been fulfilled……The promise for ‘arrival’ and ‘rest’ is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.” Heb.4:4-11
What Paul is talking about here is clearly more than the keeping of a 24 hour period of time. He is equating the Sabbath rest here with the rest that we can have in Christ. Are we talking here of change to the Jews interpretation and practice of the law? Or are we talking change to the very substance of those laws? “….You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matt.22:40
Back in old times the Sabbath was in the heart of the law to give meaning and credibility to the other 9. It’s often been said that the Sabbath commandment contains the title, role and territory of the lawgiver. And as such it gives veracity to the other nine commandments.
In our day (NT time) the Sabbath, which was a type or shadow or forerunner of the rest that we enter into in Christ, gives meaning and credibility to the other nine. It is only “in Christ” that we can love God and our fellow man. We don’t love our fellow man because we abstain from stealing or adultery. (many ‘good people’ do that) We love our fellow man because Christ dwells in our hearts. Because we have entered into that rest. The Sabbath 4th commandment was a shadow, that preceded the reality (the substance) of the gospel.
The true Sabbath rest for the Christian is their rest in Christ. Could it be that to substitute a 24 hour period of time for that rest is a counterfeit of the true gospel? Remember Jesus words in Matt.12
“There is far more at stake here than religion. If you had any idea what this Scripture meant – ‘I prefer a flexible heart to an inflexible ritual’ – you wouldn’t be nitpicking like this. The Son of Man is no lackey to the Sabbath; he’s in charge” Matt.12:6-8 The Message. Even then change was in the air.
The Pharisees were actually keeping the Sabbath rigidly as was outlined in the OT. “You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.” Ex.31:14
We seem to have a change here from this old testament law to what is being said in the new testament. This is what Paul is getting at in his passage in Hebrews. To enter into the rest of Christ we need to practice surrender all of the time. There is a leap of faith required here to believe that the spiritual application of the Sabbath has replaced the literal application?
Jesus is the ultimate rationale behind the Sabbath. “The son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day” Matt.12:8 (for a Jew this had to signify some radical change in the air) Perhaps the time has come to look beyond the narrow, archaic understanding, to something more. Many now as many then will see this as dangerous – by nature we want parameters and sets of rules. There will be those who will be confused – those whose faith is based on fundamentals and a ‘doing’ mentality…”only by doing everything they are told to do” Rom.4:14 This of course “eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract!” Rom.4:14,15 Remember how Paul described this in his writings. “For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, The man who does those things shall live by them.” And he also says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Rom.10:4,5
A richer, deeper and broader understanding of Gods plans and purposes awaits those who are willing to make the leap of faith into the unknown…”the risky faith embrace of God’s action” Rom.4:12 The Message Away from the safety net of procedures, form, ceremony and false reassurance of false shepherds. We’re not negating the Sabbath here, we’re quantifying its true meaning and significance in the Christian era. It is far easier for us to cling to a formal precept, a requirement, something that we do, rather than fighting the battle where it should be fought – in our minds. It is hard to surrender ourselves. It hurts to ‘die daily’. But this was Paul’s experience. (I Cor.15:31)
On the other hand all false religions have a ‘doing’ mentality – from outright heathen religions where people disfigure their bodies, to Christianity where the emphasis is to do things believing that will somehow recommend us to heaven – this can be orchestrated worship procedures or simply being busy, “doing the Lord’s work”. We could say that the Jewish religion, which has rejected the Savior, and which still adheres to many of the old testament rituals is a ‘false’ religion. It of course retains the ‘literal’ interpretation of the Sabbath. The Hebrew word for Sabbath simply means rest.
Paul is the main writer in the New Testament dealing with the gospel, the ‘new covenant’. In all his letters he does not mention the Sabbath except to compare it to the rest of Christ when addressing his fellow countrymen. Doesn’t his silence on the subject speak volumes to the honest reader? In fact when he even has this to say. “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike, Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rom.14:5 NKJV And, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Col.2:16,17 Hardly the words of a man who believed the 4th of the ten commandments to be taken in a literal sense for all future generations of Christians. There was much revealed to Paul after his road to Damascus experience. He spent valuable time alone in the desert of Arabia being taught by the Holy Spirit of what was to be the nucleus of His gospel. (Gal.1:17) It appears that Paul was a peacemaker back in his time as much as he would be if he were alive today. As far as he was concerned the keeping of a day was not to bring division to the growing christian family.
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When evolution has corrupted the very fabric of our society and reduced man to the level of an advanced organism; God says “remember”. That very word ‘remember’ implies that we would forget. How significant that when God was raising up a people in the mid 19th century to declare His Sabbath, the enemy was about to start spreading the greatest lie which has ever been perpetrated on a gullible mankind – evolution. So then is their a role for the Sabbath memorial? It establishes God’s authority and reminds us of Him as creator. “Remember” implies we would forget, and how true is that today. Mankind has certainly forgotten God as creator. There are some lone voices in the wilderness declaring the truth of God as creator and a 6000 year world history. But they are ridiculed by many, even by many Christians.
So it was not without good reason that God raised up a people in the mid-nineteenth century who ‘rediscovered’ the truth of the 7th day Sabbath.
It was an imperative that had to happen. Creation is a foundational truth. But it is not the gospel. It is a foundation upon which the true gospel is built. But if the Sabbath is so important and imperative at this time – why is it not given more attention, more prominence, by the writers of the NT ?
God gave His people the law that by giving up 1/7th of their time they would learn that God rested from His work of creation (which incidentally was quite unnecessary) and that He in turn leads us into that greater rest which is ‘surrender to Christ’ — ‘rest in Christ’. He gives us the latter that we won’t be under the former. “Let us labour to enter into that rest”. Heb.4
“The law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ….and after we come to Christ we are no longer under the schoolmaster.” Gal.3:24,25 i.e. the enforcing of a rule, a regulation, a law. Why then was the Sabbath given as a fundamental doctrine to a group of Christians who were following closely the Lord’s leading in the mid 19th century? It was given to establish God as creator….”for in 6 days God made….” Ex.20 God said remember. At a time when the theory of evolution was being formulated and taking root in the learning institutions of the day, God was raising up a people to declare the Sabbath commandment and 6 literal days of creation, 6000 years ago. This truth was not the gospel but was foundational to the gospel. No creation – no fall – and therefore no need for a savior.
God would lead his small band of Sabbath keepers to the gospel of Jesus Christ where they would learn full surrender and experience the power of the Holy Spirit. The question is, did that actually happen? God raised up the Jewish nation over a period of some 2000 years. To that nation he gave the law. Through the written history of the Jewish nation, God would spend 2000 years teaching the world the futility of the law as a way of salvation. Just as the Jews had the law as a foundation to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah, so a group of Christians in this era have been given “the law” to prepare for the second coming of the Messiah. What the Jews did to Jesus is history. Under the new covenant we are now living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Through clinging to a formal, literal interpretation of the law, are we in danger of treating the Holy Spirit the same way the Jews treated Christ?
A clinging to and pre-occupation with the law is counterproductive to a true understanding of the gospel. It muddies the waters so that we can’t see clearly the pure river of life.
Let’s diverge for a moment to consider the following. Two adventurers who live say 300 years ago when knowledge was more scant. They are both strict Sabbath keepers. One sets out from England traveling east the other sets out traveling west. They live in the days of sailing ships and horseback so they travel slowly. The man traveling east doesn’t notice that he is losing one hour of time for every 1000 miles he travels, and the man traveling west doesn’t notice that he is gaining one hour of time for every 1000 miles he travels. While they are traveling, as good Sabbath keepers, they are keeping proper account of the weekly cycle. Every person in each band of adventurers knows which day of the week it is. So imagine their surprise when they finally meet at sundown on the other side of the world and the party who has traveled east insists that it is Friday evening, the beginning of the Sabbath, and the west bound party says, no, we have just kept the Sabbath, this is Saturday evening. Of course they are both right. So the situation becomes farcical as far as the keeping of a Sabbath is concerned. That is why man has established the International Date Line on the 180th meridian. And this of course does a few zigzags so that groups of islands aren’t keeping different days on different sides of the street. Nothing wrong with all this. Modern man with his knowledge of the earth’s rotation has come up with a proper and acceptable solution. All this would have meant nothing to ancient man who rarely traveled very far from his place of origin. To cling to the Sabbath in its original form and apply it as it was meant to be applied to God’s original people is to put our heads in the sand and live in denial of what has been discovered about God’s world. The Bible talks about people who live in denial. One version calls them, “Flat earth people who can’t think beyond today.” Ps.17:14 (Message)
Do those who live near the north or south poles keep a 6 month Sabbath? (from “even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath”)
Rigid Sabbath keeping may have meant something in the ancient world but in this era, not only the scriptures but nature, chronology, (the world is round) teach that rigid Sabbath keeping is ludicrous.
If we are talking about a 24 hour period of time, which 24 hours did God bless and sanctify? If it is multiple 24 periods around the world as the sun sets in various places maybe it should be divided into one hour time zones as our globe is. And allowing for the difference of 24 hours either side of the IDL, then collectively the Sabbath is over a 48 hour period of time which is blessed and sanctified. We would have to keep this in mind when ringing up friends, family or business acquaintances to talk of secular matters.
If we want to apply it more literally in the time and place where the commandment was originally given, we should apply it sunset Friday to sunset Saturday – Jerusalem or middle eastern time. Or to be more specific, Garden of Eden time. Now where was that? Africa? Iraq? See how ludicrous it becomes. Like Paul we can say, “All these things have at most only a symbolic value.” Col.2:17 Phillips
Remember back in early bible times there was no fast travel, no telephones. People were unaware of time zones. The literal understanding of the Sabbath was for that time. (no work, no buying or selling, putting to death those who opposed)
The ancients knew nothing about time lost traveling east, time gained traveling west, time zones, date lines etc. These things began to be understood by academics, scientists, astronomers, the great navigators (Cook, Flinders) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This was a transitional time when such knowledge began to be understood by the ordinary men and women. Books, higher education, universities. The thirst for knowledge and an understanding of our world is a gift from God and was anticipated by God in the book of Daniel. (Dan.12:4)
For centuries man would look upon Sunday as the true Sabbath. But around the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries knowledge would be increased – the world of the sciences and spiritual knowledge. So the ‘re-discovery’ of the original Sabbath would be a beacon of truth to point people in the right direction particularly as it pertains to our origins and the genuine ‘sabbath’ rest needed to prepare a people for the great day of God.
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Jesus said, “Thou salt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (emotion) and with all thy soul (spirit) and with all thy mind (our intelligence, or ability to reason) and with all thy strength (our actions), this if the first commandment. Mark 12:29-31 Let’s not be afraid to use our sense of reason here.
Looking at the Sabbath in a spiritual sense is synonymous with the gospel. (Heb.4) Treating the Sabbath in a literal sense directly opposes the principle of the gospel. “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest…” Heb.4 not the literal which ”have at most only a symbolic value.” Col 2:17 (Phillips)
What is the true Sabbath rest?
Self dethroned = Sabbath rest (this is the stamp of authenticity of the gospel; just as the keeping of the Sabbath literally was the stamp of authenticity of the original work of creation)
What is the alternative?
Self on throne = Outward attempt at keeping of the law. A focus on the legal, outward requirement of the ten commandments. It is one or the other of these. It can’t be both. Paul says of the old covenant experience. “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Gal:3:10
Jesus, in His anticipation of the soon to come new covenant told this parable. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on to an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.” Luke 5:36,37 The new covenant is not an improvement on the old, it is a complete new system.If something has become outdated or irrelevant you can’t pretty it up by putting a fancy label on it.
John the Baptist. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Matt.3:11 The water, the word, is not going to finish the work. One makes way for the other. One dies that the other may live. John languished and died that Jesus could step forward and live. The letter of the law must eventually die that the era of the Spirit can begin. We have lived in that era since the death of Jesus but rarely has it been fully realized.
The Sabbath enshrined in the heart of the law as a memorial of creation, is a precursor to the work of re-creation, the gospel, nothing more, nothing less. The rigid “keeping of the 24 hour Sabbath” therefore is a poor substitute for the anti-type of which it was intended – the gospel, Christ in you, the hope of glory. I die daily, said Paul, to have rest in Christ. This is the only rest that remains for the people of God. The O.T. keeping of the Sabbath denigrates and limits the fulfillment of the Sabbath. Just as the original 4th commandment gave meaning and reason to the other 9, so the N.T. fulfillment gives meaning and reason to the other 9.”Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart….and thy neighbour as thyself.”This can only happen through daily dying to self, daily abiding in Christ, Him living in us.
The issue in the last days of this world’s history won’t be about keeping the right day – it may very well be about the enforcement of a day. And that will be by a fallen religious/political alliance. But that is future and a Christian in genuine relationship with God will not be deceived at that time. The issue will be about the principle behind the day. It will be about the substance not the shadow. Man may force his fellow man to conform. That is the spirit of antichrist that lurks in every one of us. (referred to as the “god of forces” in Dan.11:38) God’s way is the way of peace – the substance not the shadow.
e.g. The pilgrim fathers went to America to flee religious persecution – the god of force, the spirit of antichrist – and founded a great nation. But they revealed that same spirit of antichrist that still lurked in them when they sought out and burnt those who they considered were guilty of witchcraft.
That same spirit still lurks in all Christians today – it should be recognized – It is called self. It manifests itself when we cling to the shadow and not the substance. We can cling rigidly to the shadow and still have self sitting on the throne….as did the Pharisees in Christ’s day.
“Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you wont feel the compulsion of selfishness. For there is a root of self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?” Gal.4:16-18 Message.
Back to our text…”there remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Let us labour to enter into that rest.”
There are those today who would make the Sabbath an issue, rigidly adhering in their own lives and advocating an emphasis on such in teaching and preaching. Such people may find the efforts of Nehemia particularly appropritate, even today. (Neh.13:15-22) After all don’t the scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t follow the law to the letter.” Gal.3:10 Deut.27:26
Just as a beautiful butterfly emerges from the cocoon, so the NT emerges as a beautiful thing from the form, ceremony and procedures of the OT. Just as the voracious caterpillar has to spin a cocoon and die to become a beautiful butterfly, so the dry forms and ceremonies of the OT had to die to be replaced by the beauty of the new covenant. The keeping of the dry form, the attempt to ‘keep’ a 24 hour period of time, can be seen as meaningless and even quite ludicrous. The entering into the rest of Christ on the other hand means everything to the Christian
There is something far greater that awaits the people of God than a mere outward compliance. We don’t have faith in Jesus in order that we can keep the law – having faith in Jesus is our fulfillment.
The law of Moses & grace and truth….mutually inclusive – No!
The law of Moses & grace and truth …mutually exclusive – Yes!
According to Paul: “ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross…….Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Col.2:14-17
Any church or organization that tries to teach other than this keeps its members in darkness and bondage.
What then of the Sabbath as a sign or seal of the covenant between man and God ? It is. In the OT the keeping of the Sabbath is the sign or remembrance of creation and sanctification. (Ex.31:13) In the NT the gospel is the Sabbath. “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” Heb.4
The NT era is the era of the Holy Spirit. The whole rationale of Christ’s incarnation, life, sacrifice and resurrection and ministry in the heavenly court was the ushering in of the coming of the comforter… the Holy Spirit.
We speak of the early and the latter rain. The latter rain is the Pentecostal power with which God works. The early rain is the personal cleansing and preparation of the individual Christian in preparation for the latter rain.
In this Christian era a pre-occupation with or emphasis on the law white-ants any attempt to reveal and teach about the Holy Spirit. Jesus life and ministry repeatedly tended towards and directed his followers to this point. The understanding and reception of the Holy Spirit. (A truth little understood even by his disciples)
Remember the woman taken in adultery – technically, according to the law, she should have been stoned. (John 8:3-11,Lev.20:10) Jesus attitude to the Sabbath – a definite change in direction from the legalistic approach of the OT (Matt.12:1-8, Ex.31:13-18, Neh.13:15-22) His attitude to organized giving. When faced with the temple tax He went dangerously close to ridiculing the whole idea with the finding of the coin in a fish’s mouth. (Matt.17:24-27) Jesus knew how to push the boundaries but his humourless opponents saw only danger and threat from his approach.
It was after Jesus had returned to heaven that He revealed in detail his new covenant with the human race. And ironically it wasn’t through his disciples who were mostly knock-about ordinary people, not taken too seriously by the upper educated class. In todays world they were the sort of people who were more likely to drive a utility than a BMW. Jesus chose these men as disciples and friends when he walked the earth. But when it came to spelling out his plan for evangelizing and preparing the world for his second coming, paradoxically, he chose a highly educated, upper class, rigidly legalistic person in Saul of Tarsus. And it’s in this mans’ writings that Jesus unfolds the deeper meaning of the gospel. Remember the words of Peter, one of his original disciples. “……the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation – as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in his epistles …….in which are some things hard to understand……” 2 Pet.3:15,16
More than other writers it was Paul who understood the danger of the human psyche in relying on works, performance and response. This tendency he saw from his nation’s history and his own personal experience. To counteract this tendency his writings are weighted heavily in favour of the gospel, good news and faith.
Other writers, Peter, James and John dwell more on our response, our responsibility, and our actions. They may have even seen this as necessary to counteract what they saw as Paul’s overemphasis on faith. But if we believe in divine inspiration in the putting together of the Scriptures we can only conclude that it is not without good reason that Pauls writings predominate in the NT. This can only mean that it is more important to understand the ‘faith’ side of the gospel than it is to understand the ‘works’ side. Or to put it conversely, the human mind falls most easily into the trap of wanting to do something to be a Christian. All christian religions have their own set of standards and rules. Their members feel comfortable in complying and adapting. Paul’s writings strike at the very core of this thinking. His writings are ‘unsettling’ to many because they seem to undermine our comfort and ‘security’. We need to remember that the Christian faith is not demonstrable – ie. You can’t prove it – It is based on evidence. Any tenet of faith is based on scriptural evidence.
The churches that show the most growth are those that preach ‘Christ Jesus and him crucified’. “For I determined”, said Paul, “not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1Cor.2:2 And at this time in the worlds history, surely that is the most important. If Paul were alive today, I think he would be saying the same as he said back then. “…..whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” Phil.1:18
The apostle Paul saw that there must be a clear distinction between the law and the gospel. “The law is not of faith….Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” Gal.3:12,13 Listen to Paul, as he thunders out his revelation. Listen, as his clear concise counsel rolls down the centuries to our present day. “Tell me now, you who have become so enamored with the law. Have you paid close attention to that law? Abraham remember, had two sons: one by the slave woman and one by the free woman…..This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent 2 ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mt. Sinai…It corresponds with what is now going on ….a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar. In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother – this is the way of Sarah.” Gal.4:21-31 (Message) Read carefully Galatians the fifth chapter.
In the light of Paul’s statements here in Galatians, can you imagine a time when God will ever say to the world, ‘Come back to my written 10 commandment law and particularly honor the Sabbath and I will bless you and number you amongst those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus’?
In the OT the Sabbath in the heart of the law gave meaning to the rest of the law. It was the only commandment giving the name, title and domain of the law giver. It said: Because I am God, Because I created the heavens and the earth, Because this is my domain you are living in – Therefore I command you to have no other gods, not to kill, steal, commit adultery etc. And God had a perfect right to command these things. And he gave the Sabbath as a perpetual sign that he had that right. But did it work? According to the apostle Paul, it did not. And that’s just what the devil has always said…It’s too hard, God is too demanding, He has ulterior motives. (see Gen.3:1-5) Although God is justified in demanding the above, He knew that there is a far greater dimension than mere obedience. He set out to prove that through Bethlehem and Calvary. There is more to Me, God says, than mere obedience. And the Sabbath is the pivot point of this unfolding, this revelation, this different understanding to God’s character. Strict compliance or rest. There will be no strict compliance in heaven. There will be rest. Will the Sabbath be kept as a literal 24 hour period of time in heaven? “There shall be no night there” Rev.21:25, indicating a different order of things. Some say that the Sabbath will be kept in heaven and use Isa 66:23 to substantiate this belief. “And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.” Isa.66:23 But then we read in the very next verse. And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” vs.24
This passage of Scripture contained ‘conditional’ promises to the nation of Israel. Yes, some of the verses have a secondary fulfillment in the new earth but we need to be careful of being selective in what we read simply to satisfy a doctrine. It’s been said that there are two institutions that have come down to us from the garden of Eden – the sabbath and marriage. Just as their won’t be marriage in heaven (Matt.22:30), their won’t be literal or Old Testament type sabbath keeping in heaven. The principle or spiritual application of both of those institutions will certainly remain. Marriage is a symbol of the relationship between Christ and His church (Eph.5:25-27). And the sabbath is a symbol of the rest that we have in Christ (Heb.4:9-11). In heaven there will be no weekly cycle or night and day as we know it now – we will dwell in the presence of God. (Rev.21,22) “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light therof.” Rev.21:23
Not only in heaven but to us here and now the Sabbath is a symbol of rest. Not the autocratic imposition of an old testament requirement, but perpetual rest. And that Paul says, in Heb.4 is to begin here. The Sabbath to us here and now is the rest of Christ. Not the letter of a 24 hour period of time. Legalism or rest, you can’t have both. The Sabbath is all to do with this world…..”and the world is passing away..” 1Jn.2:17 God’s glory is not in a law chiseled into stone, it is not in a day that commemorates the creation of a world of sin and suffering. God’s glory is in the way He responded to that cosmic crisis.
“God came from Teman, The Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from his hand, And there his power was hidden.” Hab.3:3,4 (emphasis supplied)
God’s glory is not in the law that was broken – as some would have us believe – It’s in His response to that rebellion. It’s the broken law that causes the suffering of God and the redeemed. But in the heart of that law is the commandment that ratifies or typifies the transition between the old and the new, between death and life, between restriction and rest. Under the old covenant it promised swift retribution, under the new covenant it promises rest. May God help us to understand what that means.
In all of His career on this world, Jesus was dealing with people who thought on the surface. “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?” He said, when confronted with a sick child who could not be helped by the disciples. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matt.17:17,20.
We need a day of rest once a week to regenerate and recharge our spiritual batteries. Our minds and bodies are designed that way, It’s been said that we have an inbuilt clock that responds to the 7 day cycle. Just ask anybody who continually works a 7 day week. That principle of a 7 day cycle is established in no other book than the Bible. The New Testament still upholds that principle. “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike, Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rom.14:5 NKJV But there is no suggestion here of the old testament law demanding that we stop work on a certain day. How we use that principle is determined by the spirit of the “free woman” not the spirit of the “slave woman”.
In John the Baptists day the Kingdom of God was at hand.(Mk.1:15) After the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Kingdom of God had arrived; ie the Kingdom of God’s grace. Just as in heaven there will be no need for the Sabbath for our bodies and minds will not tire there and we will not need reminding of Gods love for He will be continually with us. “And there shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light…” Rev.22:5
Even though our bodies and minds still tire and we still need that rest we are in the kingdom of Gods grace. This is the transitional time now for heaven. And as Paul says, the Sabbath rest remaining for the people of God is primarily a spiritual rest. This is our preparation for heaven. His relationship with us is no longer dependent on an arbitrary set of rules. Our relationship with God is through Jesus Christ, our “Lord of the Sabbath”.
Under the Old Covenant the Sabbath was a legal requirement. Under the New Covenant it is much more than a legal requirement. It is a sign or seal of our rest in Christ. The Sabbath is our line of demarcation between the old and the new. Unfortunately this is not generally taught today. Instead the literal Sabbath is sometimes taught as the distinguishing line between those who “keep the commandments of God” and those who do not. (Rev.12:17) As such it perpetuates the mythology of OT thinking. (I Tim.1:4-10) But what says the apostle!
“You are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart…God..also made us…ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven on stones, was glorious…how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory….For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were hardened. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ…Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Cor.3:3-18
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