Pastoral Position Paper - Dave Hatcher

An ongoing debate among Christians exists today as to whether or not we are bound (or privileged, I would want to argue) to observe the Sabbath. This is a question which cannot be answered simply by turning to one or two verses as proof texts. But there is nevertheless a biblical case to be made when the whole of Scripture is considered.

In order to establish Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, we must demonstrate two things. First, we must show the fourth commandment is still binding on us today. And second, we must demonstrate that Scripture has changed the day from the seventh to the first day of the week. This paper will address the first question, and a subsequent paper will address the latter.

Creation And Patriarchs

A 'seventh day' consecration is instituted at creation. "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. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Gen 2:2-3). The seven day cycle is from the Lord, and is His pattern for us, and for His land. If in a state of innocence the Sabbath was observed and considered a blessing, how much more should we expect to find it in a world of sin and misery?

During patriarchal times, there are no examples of the Sabbath being celebrated. However, we must remember that this portion of Scripture, like so many other narrative passages, covers many generations in just a few chapters. The purpose of this narrative is to describe the line of faith from Adam to Noah, to Abraham, and then to Moses, with much detail left out. There are, however, some allusions to the Sabbath, i.e. the division of time into weeks of seven days, and the number seven already having significance. This is particularly notable in the story of Noah.

Finally, before the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, there is God's gift of manna, with specific instructions. 'Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily" (Ex 16:4-5). God says that He is going to test them to see if they will walk in His law or not. What law was that? The law of Sabbath-keeping. "And Moses said, Eat that today; for today is a sabbath unto the LORD: today ye shall not find it in the field" (Ex 16:25).

The Ten Commandments - Summary of the Moral Law

When God gives Israel the Decalogue, it is interesting to note that these laws were not new. Laws against murder, adultery, idolatry and covetousness were already established during the time of the patriarchs. Those breaking those laws were known to be breaking the laws of God. These laws stand distinct from the ceremonial laws given to Israel later. The ceremonial laws were not in practice before they were explicitly commanded. The ceremonial laws were also those laws which are a foreshadowing of the work of the Christ. These laws were fulfilled in the once-for-all offering of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the book of Hebrews describes.

If Sabbath keeping was only a foreshadowing of the rest we have in Christ, why was it included in the moral law? This law, rather than given to Moses to be written in books, was written by the finger of God on tablets of stone. These tablets were placed in the ark of the covenant, and they were the only laws placed there. The penalty of death was the price for anyone who looked at or touched the ark, picturing the condemnation of anyone who stood before the law of God in self-righteousness. We may only stand before the law of God through Him who is the end of the Law. It is true that Christ fulfilled the Sabbath observance law. But He did so for those in Him just as He fulfilled all of the law for us. He fulfilled them in the sense that He bore the penalty we deserved for breaking them.

Reasons For Keeping the Fourth Commandment

There are two accounts of the giving of the Ten Commandments. The first occurs in Exodus at Mt. Sinal, and the other is the reminder of the Decalogue given by Moses in Deuteronomy just before he dies. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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" (Ex 20:8-11).

In this first account, two things are worth noticing. The first is that the command is to remember. Here is another indication that the Sabbath was not a new command to the people. They were to remember to keep what they already knew to be God's law. The second is the reason given by God for keeping the Sabbath. Here it is rooted solely in the creation account. We are to keep the Sabbath, because God, the maker of heaven and earth consecrated the seventh day as holy. We are to follow the pattern of our Maker.

The second account is quite different. "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 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" (Deut 5:12-14).

Here again, the Lord refers to keeping the Sabbath which "thy God hath commanded thee," that is, in the past. It was established all the way back at creation. However, this time, as Israel is about to go in and take the Promised Land, Moses gives these reasons for keeping the Sabbath. "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" (v. 15). Deuteronomy is full of this language. You have been delivered from your bondage in Egypt by God's grace. Now walk fully in that grace by honoring God even as you go in to take the land.

Some point to this reason of Moses as an indication that this commandment was only for the Jews. But that would be true of the whole Ten Commandments then which begins with the preface-"I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage" (Deut 5:6). But it is clear that the Ten Commandments are for the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Paul makes this clear in Eph. 6, where he tells Gentile children to obey their parents. Instead, we should see the reason given in v.15 as a foreshadowing for Christians. We have been delivered from the bondage of sin, and now as we walk upon this land, we must do so honoring the One who graciously gives us all things in Christ. One of the ways we are to honor Him is to keep the Sabbath.

Holy Day Observances-Bad, says Paul

There is not an explicit command in the New Testament to keep the Sabbath Day. One of the strongest objections to observing the Sabbath comes from a misunderstanding of Paul's teachings on Holy Day observances, including 'sabbaths.' "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ" (Col 2:16-17). This is not a reference to the Sabbath particularly, but to the general observance of feasts and holy days, which included their own sabbaths (some falling on the eighth day). These are the shadows from the Jewish ceremonial laws that are fulfilled in Christ, and are celebrated in their fullness at the Lord's Supper.

In Romans 14, and in Galatians 4, Paul again dismisses or even condemns keeping particular days as holy, depending upon the motivation of the participants. In both cases, the Sabbath day in particular is not the issue, but the keeping of the Jewish calendar, with its festivals, washings, and other observances. Paul himself instructs the Corinthians to set aside something on the first day of each week until he came for the Jerusalem collection. This day was the Lord's Day, and was the appropriate day of observance for such activities. Paul obviously did not think that all observances of particular days was bad, but only if they were observed with misunderstanding, or if they trampled upon the finished work of Christ.

The New Kingdom and the Sabbath

Isaiah, after describing the ministry of the Suffering Servant (Is. 52-53) and the renewal of the covenant (Is. 54-55) prophesies of the coming Kingdom, including the bringing in of the Gentiles. In Chapter 56, the importance of keeping the Sabbath is addressed three times, even though he is addressing the Gentiles. At the very end of Isaiah, the prophet describes the days of the Messianic Kingdom, when the Gentiles are brought in. Isaiah 66:22-23 says "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." Month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath, the Lord will be worshipped by all flesh. The duty of observing the Sabbath is clearly connected to the time after the Messiah has come, that is, when Christ is God's salvation to the ends of the earth. One can also see here that Christ is not the fulfillment of the fourth commandment in a way that abolishes the Sabbath. There remains a rest for the people of God.

A Yoke, or a Delight?

Why would Jesus want us to continue to observe the Sabbath? Didn't He say that His yoke was easy and His burden was light? Why would the observance continue once the Gentiles were brought into the covenant? Wasn't this simply a Jewish burden? These questions betray our misunderstanding of the Sabbath.

The Sabbath, which was created to be a delight for us (Is. 58:13-14), is not something to be abandoned. It is firmly established by the Lord to be continued in the New Covenant until the day we enter into our final Sabbath, our final rest, where we will celebrate and worship God forever.