Pastoral Position Paper - Dave Hatcher

Why, since the days of the Apostles, has the Christian church met on the first day of the week? Are Christians guilty of not keeping the Sabbath by not observing the seventh-day? In moving the meeting of God's covenant people to the first day, have we wiped out the fourth commandment? Have the obligations themselves been modified, just as the day has?

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.

"And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Luke 6:5).
After rebuking the Pharisees for their misunderstanding of the purpose of the Sabbath, Jesus makes clear that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. In other words, Jesus is in charge of the fourth commandment. Of course, He is in charge of all of the commandments. He showed this in the Sermon on the Mount when He made clear that obedience to the Decalogue was more than outward obedience. It wasn't enough to avoid outward adultery or murder. These sins could be committed in the heart just as easily, through lust or hatred. While Jesus' teaching brought clarity, this wasn't truly a change in the Law. "Unless you exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees," He said. Jesus wasn't raising the bar. He was placing the bar back where it was supposed to be. We must love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and each commandment must be kept that way. Adultery must not be simply avoided in the flesh, but in the heart and mind.

In a similar way, the Lord of the Sabbath brings about clarity on the teaching of Sabbath-keeping. By his life, death, and resurrection, He teaches of a change, but this change is not without Old Testament precedent. In fact, the Old Testament, when read carefully, points to this fulfillment over and over again.

Two pronouncements, two reasons, two shadows

Remember, that between the two pronouncements of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20 and Dt. 5), two different reasons are given for keeping the Sabbath. In the second giving of the Law, God says that we are to observe the seventh day rest because God delivered His covenant people from the bondage of slavery. Moses was God's instrument to bring about this deliverance. But this was a shadow, for we have a greater-than-Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 3:1-6), who has brought us out of our bondage to sin (Heb. 2:15).

Many see and comment on the Exodus being a type of the New Covenant people being brought out of condemnation and having freedom in Christ. But few notice the shadow that exists in the first giving of the fourth commandment. There, God says that we are to keep the Sabbath because we are to remember that God rested on the seventh day of creation. But Isaiah says, "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind" (Isaiah 65:17). Even the creation of the world is a type. For when the new heavens and new earth, the new order, was created at the commencement of the Messianic Kingdom, the former creation pales in comparison to the glory of the greater. It would follow that we are to remember not only our greater deliverance and Greater Deliverer, but also the greater creation. When would this change happen?

Which Is the Day, Which is the Day, That the Lord Hath Made..

"The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:22-24).

"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner" (Acts 4:10-11).

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet..." (Revelation 1:10).

Many people say that Revelation 1 is the first scriptural mention of the Lord's Day. But I believe that this is not the case at all. John has been reading His Old Testament. He knows that Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 118:22-23. He knows, as Peter explains, that this occurred at the resurrection of Christ. He knows that this is the day that the Lord has made. This particular Sunday is to be remembered as the Lord's Day. This is also the day that the new heavens and the new earth were created.

Robert Haldane says, "If on account of finishing the work of the creation of the world, the seventh day was blessed, how much more is it blessed because of the completion of the work of redemption." This is the Day that the Lord finished His work. This is the Day to be remembered and celebrated as the fulfillment of bondage-deliverance and creation-rest. Sunday is the Lord's Day, just as was predicted. But the Lord's Day was not only predicted in this passage. The Old Testament is filled with allusions, not only to a new day, but to the eighth day particularly.

Eight Days A Week, I Love You

Circumcision was performed on the eighth day. The offering of new born animals as a burnt offering occurred on the eighth day (Lev. 22:27, Ex. 22:30). Aaron, the first high priest under Moses, was consecrated on the eighth day Sunday. On that day not only was Aaron consecrated, but he presented the people's offering. Then, on that holy day, he turned and blessed the people, pronouncing peace upon them. Fire from the Lord came down that day and consumed the burnt offering. The people were clean. Read about it in Leviticus 9.

When would the final dedication of Solomon's Temple take place? You would expect this to be a holy day, a Sabbath day. It was. "And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication for the altar seven days, and the feast seven days" (2 Chron. 7:9). The temple of the Lord, the dwelling place of God in the Old Covenant system, was dedicated on Sunday. Thinking ahead, it makes you wonder when Ezekiel's Temple, a picture of the Church, was consecrated. "And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD" (Eze. 43:27).

But is the eighth day ever called a Sabbath? Consider the Feast of Tabernacles. ". . . ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath" (Lev. 23:39b). Two Sundays in a row are set aside as sabbaths. It is fascinating to read those so-called boring passages in Numbers, like the one regarding the sacrifices at the Feast of Tabernacles (Num.29:12-40). On the first day there are thirteen bulls presented, along with several other sacrifices. Each day all of the other sacrifices stay the same, but each day the number of bulls sacrificed decreases by one. On the seventh day, seven bulls are sacrificed. And then, "On the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein: But ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: one bull...(Num. 29:35-36) A single bull becomes a sufficient sacrifice on Sunday. Hmmmm...

The Feast of Firstfruits is on Sunday. The sheaf is waved before the Lord and is accepted on our behalf (Lev. 23:11). Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20, 23; Rom. 11:16) and is accepted on our behalf. Fifty days later (counted from the sabbath preceding the Feast of Firstfruits) another important feast occurs. This is the Feast of Weeks, later known as Pentecost. "And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations" (Lev. 23:21). Pentecost- that brings us to the New Testament.

Pentecost, Sinai, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit

Because Pentecost was celebrated in the third month, it became associated with the giving of the Law at Sinai. J. Dunn writes, "The giving of the law at Sinai was the most important of the covenants. And the custom of reading Exodus 19 at the Feast of Pentecost was probably already established in the century before Christ." Read Exodus 19, and then Acts 2. Remember the promise of the New Covenant. No longer is the Law to be written on tablets of stone, but "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts" (Jer. 31:33). This happened on a Sunday.

Jesus is raised from the dead on the first day, the eighth day. He appears to His disciples a second time on that day (John 20:26). He sends His Holy Spirit on the first day. The practice of the church almost immediately is to meet on that day (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2). John knows it is common knowledge that this day is the `Lord's Day' by the time he writes to the seven churches.

No, there is no direct commandment to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Or is there?

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.