"REMEMBER
THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY"
QUESTION
OF SABBATH-KEEPING
The
churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)
Text:
Exodus 20:8-11
In the
religious world there are about seven churches that hold to
the idea that the Ten Commandments are yet binding upon Christians, and
that
the seventh day of the week, the old Jewish Sabbath, is the day of
worship in
the Christian dispensation.
These
churches are: Seventh-Day Adventists, Advent Christian Church,
Church of God (Abrahamic Faith), Life and Advent Union, Seventh-Day
Baptists,
and Seventh-Day Church of God. Their views are similar in that they are
premillennial, hold to soul-sleeping, believe that the Decalogue is
God's moral
law binding upon all in every age, and especially observe the seventh
day of
the week. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Ye have heard it
said...but I say unto you...." He presented the position, then his
answer.
That procedure will be followed in this article.
Argument: The
seventh day was sanctified for religious use, and was not classed with
other
days. Six days were given to man for his activities, but the seventh
belonged
to God, and still does.
Proof: On the seventh God ended his work which he
had made; and he rested on the seventh day...and God blessed the
seventh day
and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work (Gen.
2:2-3).
God
rested from all His works and gave the Sabbath at creation;
therefore, man must keep it forever, for it still belongs to God. God
is no
respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11), and God changes not (Mai. 3:6), and
Jesus
said that the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27-28); therefore the
Sabbath is
for all men in all ages. God gave laws, statutes, and judgments before
Mt.
Sinai; therefore, the Sabbath was bound from the beginning.
Answer: The
seventh day was classed with other days of the week, simply as another
day.
There is no question that the seventh day was sanctified, but when?
Genesis
2:1-3 was a statement of fact, not a command. It was recorded by Moses
some
2,500 years later. Nowhere is the Sabbath mentioned in the book of
Genesis.
Note, grammatically, that God sanctified (simple past tense) the
seventh day,
because in it He had rested (past perfect tense). Exodus 16:22-23 is
the first
mention of the Sabbath; therefore, the simple past tense indicates that
God sanctified
the Sabbath on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20), because at a previous time (2,500
years
before) he had rested. Prolepsis is a figure of speech that joins
together in a
statement two events widely separated in time. Example: Adam called his
wife
Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Was she the mother of
all living
when Adam called her that? No, for in 1986 we are the offspring of Eve,
and
that is a long time removed from Creation. Just so, the sanctification
of the Sabbath
was a long time removed from the day God rested from creating.
Certainly
God gave laws before Sinai, but the Sabbath was not
included. Abraham was commanded to leave home (Gen. 12:1-2). He was
commanded
to keep the covenant of circumcision (Gen. 17:9-12), and later
commanded to
offer up Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18). Noah was commanded to build an ark (Gen.
6-8),
but nowhere in Genesis was anyone commanded to keep the Sabbath. Mark
2:27-28
states that the Sabbath was made for man and that Christ is Lord also
of the Sabbath.
Note two things: (1) Since God rested on the first seventh day from all
the
works He had created and made, He did not make anything that day,
hence, did
not make the Sabbath then. (2) Christ being lord also of the Sabbath
indicates
He is lord of all days, not just one.
If the
Sabbath had been binding from the seventh day of Creation,
Moses would have known about it, but he did not, for Moses did not know
what to
do with Sabbath violators until after the law was given on Sinai (Num.
15:32-36). Further, Nehemiah 9:13-14 states that God came down upon Mt.
Sinai
and made known unto them His "holy Sabbath" and commanded laws and
precepts by the hand of Moses, who was not on that mountain until 1491
B. C.;
therefore, the Sabbath command was not known before then.
Argument:
The Sabbath is a memorial of creation, for in six days God made heaven
and
earth, and rested the seventh day; therefore, the Sabbath will stand as
long as
the created heaven and earth remain (Exod. 20:10-11).
Answer:
Sabbatarians are obligated to give one passage that says so or so
teaches. The
Bible does not say that the Sabbath is a memorial of creation, but if
it did
that would have nothing to do with binding the earthly Sabbath rest on
Christians. A memorial of creation does not mean it would last forever.
The
Passover was a memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage,
but did
not last forever. Also, the Sabbath was a memorial of God's REST, not
of the
creation. God sanctified it at Mt. Sinai because he had rested
centuries
before. If it were to last only as long as the physical creation, the
Sabbatarians could not observe it in the new heavens and new earth, as
they
claim, for the present creation will be destroyed (II Pet. 3:10-14).
The
Passover as a memorial was to be kept throughout the Jewish
generations, and
"Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever" (Exod. 12:14).
Sabbatarians think that "forever" means "eternal," but not
on times side. Why do they not observe the Passover?
Redemption
in Christ, the New Creation, is greater than the Old
Creation. It took six days to create heavens and the earth, but it took
some
4,000 years to prepare for the New Creation in Christ, the new and
living way
(Heb. 10:19-20). The New Creation cost more than the old (Acts 20:28;
John
3:16), so why so much ado over the old which is of little importance,
and so
little over the memorial to Christ? The Apostles were guided into ALL
truth
(John 16:13), but nowhere can it be found that God through them bound
the Sabbath
upon Christians. The Sabbath was not a memorial of Creation, but of
Israel's
deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Note to whom the command was given:
The Lord
made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even
us, who are all of us alive here this day... And remember that thou
wast a
servant in the Land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee
out thence
through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord
thy God
commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day (Deut. 5:3, 15).
Gentiles
were never in Egyptian bondage as were the Jews, and certainly
no Christian was ever in bondage there. This passage was directed to
Jews only,
and it is a part of the Decalogue. So, even the Ten Commandments as a
code of
laws were never directed to Christians.
Argument:
The
Sabbath was to be a perpetual covenant and to last throughout
the generations of the Jews; since the Jews are still here, they yet
have their
generations; hence, the
Sabbath is still binding.
Answer: If
this means that Christians are bound by the Sabbath law today,
Sabbatarians are
obliged to keep more of the Old Testament than the Sabbath. (1) The
Passover
was to be kept throughout their generations (Exod. 12:14). (2) Incense
was to
burn throughout their generations (Exod. 30:8), and it was to be a
perpetual
covenant. Likewise the following to be observed "throughout your
generations": burnt offerings (Exod. 29:2); fringes on garments (Num.
15:38); holy anointing oil (Exod. 20:31); an everlasting priesthood
(Exod.
40:15). This last item would eliminate Christ. But, the everlasting
priesthood has
been changed, and Christ is now Priest, not the Levites (Heb. 7:11-12);
therefore, the perpetual Sabbath has been abolished also.
Argument: The
Ten Commandments were written on tables of stone with the literal
finger of God
(Exod. 31:18). The law of Moses was written in a book (Deut. 31:24).
The law of
God, the Decalogue, was placed inside the ark (Deut. 10:15), but the
law of
Moses was placed in a compartment on the side of the ark (Deut.
31:25-26). Therefore, the law of God
continues, and the
law of Moses has been abolished. That being true, the Sabbath law is
still
binding. Since the Ten Commandments were written by God's finger, the
Decalogue
is His eternal, moral law.
Answer:
Sabbatarians
hold the view that the Ten Commandments constitute the moral law of
God and
are binding forever, but that the rest of the law was of Moses, but was
abrogated
and not binding now. However, the Bible abundantly shows that the law
of the
Lord and the law of Moses are one and the same. I Kings 2:3 calls it
"The
law of the Lord given by Moses." II Chronicles 24:14 refers to "The
Book of the law of the Lord given by Moses." Ezra 7:6 affirms "The
law of Moses given by the Lord." Nehemiah records "The law of Moses
which
the Lord commanded." Nehemiah 10:29 says it was "God's law given by
Moses." Malachi 4:4 speaks of the "law of Moses which I commanded at
Horeb." From these it is easy to see that the Ten Commandments, the
moral
law, were also given by Moses; therefore, if the law of Moses was
abrogated, so
were the Ten Commandments, and there goes the Sabbath.
What is
meant by the "finger of God?" When Moses and Aaron
performed miracles in Egypt, Pharaoh said: "This is the finger of
God" (Exod. 8:16-19). Christ cast out demons "by the finger of
God" (Luke 11:20). The word "finger" in the Septuagint Old
Testament and in the New Testament comes from daktulos, a Greek word
that means
"By the power of God, divine efficiency by which something is made
visible
to men." Power also means authority; therefore, "by the finger of
God" means by the authority of God. So, since in both cases
instrumentality
was used, God the Father did not do the miracles personally, nor did He
write
the Ten Commandments personally with His literal finger. There are two
reasons
for this conclusion.
Acts
7:53 says that the law was given to the Jews by a disposition
of angels, and Hebrews 2:2 affirms that "the word spoken by angels was
stedfast." Therefore, God used angels to transmit the Decalogue to
Moses.
As you may recall, Moses broke the original stones upon which the Ten
Commandments were written (Exod. 32:19). After rebuking the people for
worshipping
the golden calf, Moses returned to the mountain, and we have the
following
account:
And the
Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the
tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.
And he
was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat
bread,
nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the
covenant, the
ten commandments (Exod. 34:27-28).
So the
honest soul can understand that the Decalogue was given
through the agency of angels and Moses, the latter doing the actual
writing
upon the stones. Also, things that might be considered made directly by
the
hand of God are not necessarily eternal. God made Jonah's gourd to
grow, but a
worm killed it (Jonah 4:6). The heavens and earth made by the Lord will
be
destroyed (II Pet. 3:10-12). If only that written with the finger of
God is
moral, then nothing else written in the Old and New Testament is moral.
There
are many other moral duties imposed in the Old Testament. If
one were to borrow from his neighbor and it became damaged, he must
make it
good (Exod. 20:14). One should not hate his brother in his heart, but
rebuke
his neighbor, and not suffer sin to be upon him (Lev. 19:17). Leviticus
19:14
says, "Thou shalt not curse the deaf." They were to show love to
strangers and help the poor (Deut. 10:19; 15:7-8). Further, the New
Testament
enjoins moral laws. Romans 12:14 says, "Bless them which persecute you;
bless, and curse not." Matthew 12:36 states that every idle word will
be
taken into account in the last day. Matthew 25:31-46 shows that
Christians must
be of help to the poor. Many moral commands are given in the New
Testament, too
numerous to mention here, but these suffice to show that God's moral
laws are
not limited to the Ten Commandments.
Argument:
Adventists
affirm that when God wrote the Decalogue, He added no more to what He
wrote on
the tables of stone; therefore, this is the law of God and is still
binding.
Deuteronomy
5:22 is given as proof:
These
words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out
of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a
great
voice: and he added no more, and he wrote them on two tables of stone,
and
delivered them unto me.
Answer: This
does not mean that God did not give other laws, but that He added no
more in an
audible voice to the assembly. That He gave more laws has been proved,
and that
the law of Moses was also the law of God. However, Sabbatarians are
highly
inconsistent in the adding and subtracting process. They subtract the
part of
Deuteronomy 5:6 that shows that the Ten Commandments were given
directly to
those who had been in Egyptian bondage. They add it to the idea that
the law
was addressed to Christians. They add to chapter 5:14 and do work on
the
seventh day which the Jews were not allowed to do. They subtract from
if they
do not make strangers within their gates, or their cities, to observe
the Sabbath,
therefore condemned (Deut. 4:2). They alter it by not remembering that
they
were servants in the land of Egypt, and subtract one of the reasons God
gave
them for keeping the Sabbath; that is, deliverance from Egyptian
bondage (Deut.
5:15). They take away the land promise referring to Canaan and do not
take this
as part of the reward for honoring mother and father (Deut. 5:16).
When
they have changed that to which God added no more, they do
not have the original Ten Commandments; hence, they do not keep them
today any
more than anyone else. By their accepting only what pleases them, they
do not observe
anything that God says. What they do is to please themselves, and will
not
listen to any amount of reasoning.
Argument: While
Christ was on earth, He and all the apostles and the Jews observed the
Sabbath.
Isaiah 66:22-23 teaches that it will be observed in the new heaven and
the new earth;
therefore, it behooves us to worship on the seventh day now.
Answer: If this passage binds the Sabbath, it binds
the monthly observance of the new moon also, which would likewise bind
animal
sacrifices, for Paul said in Galatians 5:3, that if one point of the
law is
bound, those who do so are obligated to keep the whole law. Colossians
2:14-17
teaches that new moons and Sabbaths have been done away. Sabbatarians
admit
the new moons are gone, but the Sabbath is not to be kept where the
feast of
new moons have been abrogated. What else is taught if this passage in
Isaiah is
taken literal?
The old,
literal city of Jerusalem will be in the new heaven and
new earth, thus a literal city in a spiritual realm (Isa. 65:17-20).
The
literal child will die a hundred years old (Isa. 66:20). The sinner in
heaven,
a hundred years old, will be cursed (Isa. 65:20). But there will be no
sinners
in heaven (Rev. 21:27). Man will build houses and plant literal
vineyards (Isa.
65:2). This sounds like one premillennialist who expects to play golf
and raise
his best tomatoes in heaven. Some will go to various islands and bring
Jews
back to Jerusalem (66:19-20). Wolves, lambs, bullocks, and serpents to
be
there. Do they have souls? (66:25). The Jews are to bring their
brethren as an offering
to the Lord (66:20). Priests and Levites are to be selected (66:21),
therefore,
the whole of the old Mosaic system will be revived and everybody in
heaven will
be brought into bondage again.
Is the
new moon of Isaiah 66:23 literal? If not, neither is the Sabbath.
How will one be able to observe the new moon in heaven when there will
be no
night there? (Rev. 22:5). Neither will there be sun nor moon, for God
is the
light (Rev. 21:23). Isaiah 66:23 states that from one new moon to
another, all flesh
shall go to worship before God. How can that be when no flesh and blood
shall
enter heaven? (I Cor. 15:50). Seventh Day Adventists cannot believe
these
things to be literal, for they do not believe that Israel will be
restored to
Palestine.
Argument: Malachi
3:6 states that God changes not; therefore, the Sabbath is still
binding. God
is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9), and He has never
given any commands
that were not applicable to all men from the creation.
Answer: God
gave the law of circumcision which was not given before Abraham (Gen.
17:12-14), nor bound after Christ died upon the cross. If God is no
respecter
of persons, why does He not rain manna upon the earth today, as He did
in the wilderness?
(Exod. 16:15). Did God give the law of Moses? The Bible says He did.
Did God
remove the law of Moses? Adventists say He did. But if God changes not,
is not
the law of Moses yet binding upon us today? In the beginning God made
all
things, including man, by miracle. If He changes not, why not now also?
Deuteronomy
5:2-3 says that the law was not given to the fathers,
but to those there that day that had been in Egyptian bondage. So you
see that
God did give laws to some that He did not give to others. Noah was
commanded to
build an ark. Are we? Abraham was called upon to offer his son for a
sacrifice;
does He so command us? Naaman was instructed to wash in Jordan seven
times to
be healed of leprosy. Is anyone so ordered today? If God changes not,
but did
do away with some commands, why not the Sabbath also? Changes have been
made.
The priesthood has been changed (Heb. 7:12). A new law was prophesied
and given
(Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-13). God Himself does not change in nature,
but He has
changed dispensations and laws.
Argument: Jesus
said in Matthew 5:17-19, "I am not come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." This means that
Christ fulfilled the law of Moses, with its bloody sacrifices, and
removed all
this, but not the Ten Commandments. Jesus kept the Father's commands
(John
6:38), and by His life taught us to keep the Sabbath day. Christ is the
light
of the world (John 1:4; 8:12), and He kept the Sabbath, therefore, for
us to be
in the light we must keep the Sabbath also. So, the Lord taught that
not one jot
or tittle will pass from the law as long as heaven and earth remain.
Since
Christ was baptized to fulfill righteousness, does that mean that when
righteousness is fulfilled it is done away and that people should no
longer be
baptized?
Answer: The
word "till" means until a specified time. Joseph knew not Mary till she
had brought her firstborn son. So, after she had brought Him forth, he
knew
her, and she had more children. Christ was straitened till His
suffering was accomplished
(Luke 12:50). Was He continually straitened after He was crucified?
Adventists
think that every time "the law" is referred to, it means the
Decalogue. Then that which Christ came to fulfill was the Ten
Commandments, as
well as the rest of the law of Moses, and Christ taught that the law
would be
done away when it was fulfilled; so when Christ accomplished this, the
whole
law, including the Decalogue, was done away.
"Fulfill"
of itself does not mean "ended," but
"done away" does. The law was fulfilled by Christ first, and then
done away. Let us understand the real meaning of Matthew 5:17-19. Acts
23:12 reveals
that some forty men lay in wait for Paul, saying, "they would neither
eat
nor drink till they had killed him." Does that mean they would never
eat
or drink again? No, but they would eat and drink after they killed him.
Likewise, the law was abrogated after it was fulfilled by Jesus. Luke
15:17
says, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one jot
or one
tittle to fail." This explains Matthew's statement. Before the law was
fulfilled, it was impossible for it to fail; but, after it was
fulfilled, it
could and would be done away.
Matthew
3:15 does not say that righteousness would be done away,
or that it will not pass until all be fulfilled, but his is said of the
law. If
Christ had said that righteousness would pass away when He was
baptized, then
it would have, but He did not say that. There are other things
contained in
"the law" besides the Ten Commandments. Matthew 11:13 teaches,
"For all the law and the prophets prophesied until John." Since no
prophecies
are found in the Decalogue, it must be concluded that "the law"
involved more than the Ten Commandments. It is obvious that the law
contains
the Decalogue and the statutory laws added thereto. Christ did not say,
"I
am come, not to fulfill, but to perpetuate the law."
Sabbatarians
think that Christ said that as long as heaven and
earth stand every jot and tittle of the law will stand also. However,
if this
be correct, the Decalogue is not the law of heaven and earth, for the
earth as
we have it shall pass away (II Pet. 3:10-13); therefore, the Decalogue
will
pass away, yet, they say the Ten Commandments will be the law in
heaven,
therefore, eternal; but, since it will pass away, it is not eternal.
Argument:
Acts 18:1-11 states that Paul reasoned in the synagogue and persuaded
Jews and
Greeks. He stayed there a year and six months, therefore seventy-six
Sabbaths
passed and Paul preached, not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles as
well.
This shows that he taught the Gentiles, to keep the Sabbath along with
the
Jews. As a result Crispus, a Gentile, believed.
Answer:
The advocates of Sabbath-keeping need to find a passage that says Paul
observed
the Sabbath as a holy day, not where he preached on that day. He also
preached
on the first, second, and other days of the week, but that does not
bind them
as the day of worship in the Christian dispensation. If one will read
carefully, he will notice that the year and six months Paul preached in
Corinth
to Jews and Gentiles was after he left the synagogue, and turned from
the Jews
who kept the Sabbath. If Paul had been trying to enforce the seventh
day, he
would have stayed with the Jews in the synagogue; Crispus and other
Corinthians
believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8; I Cor. 1:14), but not in the
synagogue.
Besides, after this, Paul wrote that the Sabbath was done away (Col.
2:14).
NEGATIVE
ARGUMENTS ON SABBATH KEEPING
Galatians
5:4 states in American Standard Version rendition:
"Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye
are
fallen away from grace." It has been shown that the law of the Lord and
the law of Moses are one and the same. Galatians 5:3 says that to keep
one
point of the law demands keeping all of it, including animal
sacrifices,
incense, Passover, and temple worship at Jerusalem. If Sabbatarians
leave off
any part of it, they are guilty of violating every law in the Old
Testament
(Jas. 2:10). Even if one does keep the Sabbath, he is not only bound to
keep
all the rest of the law, and even if he observes just one, the Sabbath,
he is
still fallen from grace, for the seventh day observance was part of the
law of
Moses. But, Sabbatarians object by saying that if Christians are
condemned for
keeping the Sabbath, then those who do not observe the seventh day are
as bad
off as they, for they keep nine-tenths of them. The commands in the New
Testament, when referring to morals, always refer to the Ten
Commandments.
Sabbatarians
fail to distinguish between Code and Principle. Code
of laws is a systematic body of laws given statutory force, which means
a law
made binding by enactment of a sovereign power. A principle is
something that
is bound whether or not there has ever been any legislative action
concerning
it. Example, though not written prior to the Ten Commandments, it has
always
been right to worship God, not idols. It has always been wrong to lie,
steal,
commit adultery, and murder, for they are principles. Observe the chart
that shows
that Christ used the nine principles and incorporated them into New
Testament
law, but He did not so use the Sabbath, for it was never a moral
principle, but
was bound by a sovereign act of God. Too, you will note that Jesus went
beyond
the mere command of the Decalogue and gave a deeper, more far-reaching
meaning.
Instead of just saying "Thou shalt not kill," He forbad the hate that
leads to murder. Instead of merely forbidding adultery, He forbad the
lust that
leads to adultery. Hence, one can see that the Ten Commandments, as a
body or code
of laws, has been abrogated. The nine principles had been in existence
from the
beginning, and later God incorporated them into a body or code called
the Ten Commandments.
Romans
7:1-7 plainly shows that we are separated from the law that
contains the Sabbath. Paul states that a woman who has two living
husbands at
the same time is in adultery. The application is that if one seeks to
be bound
by any part of the law of Moses and at the same time be married to
Christ, the
union is illegal and unscriptural. Nobody can be married to the law of
which
Paul here speaks and at the same time be joined to Christ. If Christ
were to
permit Himself to be united with those who insist upon making binding
even a
part of the law, He would be a spiritual adulterer, which he will not
allow.
Romans
7:4 says all are dead to, separated from, the law in order
that one may be married to Christ. "That" in this passage is a
conjunction of purpose. One eats that he may live. He gets a license
that, in
order that, he may get married. Therefore, one must be separated from
the law that
he may be married to Christ. Further, in verse 6 Paul says "Thou shall
not
covet," (verse 7), which is one of the Ten Commandments, and stands for
the whole of the Decalogue.
A
WORD ABOUT THE LORD'S DAY
Before
this lecture is concluded, it is in order to say a few
words about the Lord's day, the first day of the week. A new covenant
was
promised, not according to the one God gave when Israel was brought out
of
Egyptian bondage (Jer. 31:31-34). The Decalogue was given then (I Kings
8:9, 21;
Neh. 9:13-14). The new is not according to the old, which contained the
Sabbath,
but a New Covenant containing a New Day. This involved the new man
(Eph. 2:15);
a new name, Christian (Acts 11:26); a new religion (Gal. 1:13-23); a
new
covenant (Heb. 8:8-13); a new law (Rom. 8:2); a new mediator (Heb. 8:6;
II Tim.
2:5); a new and living way (Heb. 10:20); a new King (Rev. 1:5); a new
Priest
(Heb. 7:28); a new sacrifice (I Pet. 2:5); and a NEW DAY, the Lord's
day (Rev.
1:10). The old day will not fit with all these new things.
With
reference to the Lord's day and the Lord's supper, there is a
peculiar Greek word modifying both. It is a word that refers only to
Christ,
and is used only two times in the Bible, and that in the New Testament,
KURIAKOS.
The usual form in both Old and New Testaments is the Greek KURIOS, but
in I
Corinthians 11:20, one finds KURIAKON DEIPNON, "the Lord's supper,"
and in Revelation 1:10, KURIAKE HEM ERA, "the Lord's day." The Lord's
Day of Revelation 1:10 is no more the Lord's Day of the Old Testament
than the Lord's
Supper is the same as the old Passover. From these and multitudes of
other
references, it can clearly be established that the first day of the
week is the
day on which the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and that
is the
day of worship in the Christian dispensation.