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THE SABBATH AND ISRAEL

Boyce Mouton · 10 pages · 5,189 words

THE SABBATH AND ISRAEL “Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” (Ex 31:12-13)

■ Note that Moses was to “say to the Israelites you must observe my Sabbaths.” The Sabbath was a sign between God and the Israelites for generations to come. ■ After pointing out that anyone desecrating the Sabbath was to be put to death, Moses repeats: “The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.'" (Ex 31:16-17)

INDICATIONS THAT THE SABBATH WAS EXCLUSIVELY FOR ISRAEL

  • ■ In Genesis we are told that: “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Gen 2:2-3) The Hebrew word translated as “rested” is “shabbat” which means “rest.” ■ We know that God rested on the seventh day, and we can “assume” that Adam and the other patriarchs also rested on the seventh day, but the Bible does not say so. ■ We can “assume” that Noah and his sons rested on the seventh day, but the Bible does not say so.
  • We can also “assume” that because Abram kept the requirements, commands, decrees, and laws of God that he also rested on the seventh day but the Bible does not say so (Gen. 26:5). The Bible does not say that keeping the Sabbath was a law at this time. ■ Keeping the Sabbath definitely became a law when God gave the Ten Commandments. A mere fifty days before Moses received the Ten Commandments God instituted the Passover for the Israelites (Exodus 12:1-17). On the first and seventh day of the Passover the Israelites were to do no work: God said: “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord — a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat — that is all you may do.” (Ex 12:14-16) Even though the Israelites did no work on the first and last days of the Passover, the word “Sabbath” was not used to describe those days.
  • God gave the Israelites the Sabbath in association with their deliverance from Egypt: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt that that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched out arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)
  • ■ “The Bible makes no specific mention of anyone keeping the Sabbath until the Israelites left Egypt. The first use of the word “Sabbath” in the Bible is in Exodus 16:23 and specifically referred to the Israelites.
  • The Scriptures teach that the Sabbath was given specifically to the Israelites: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites. You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.” (Exodus 31:12-13) ■ When Moses received the Ten Commandments, commandment
  • 4 was to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
  • The Ten commandments were called God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 4:13). God did not make this covenant with their fathers that we read about in the book of Genesis. God gave the Ten Commandments to those Israelites who came out of Egypt and were gathered at Mount Sinai during the life time of Moses (Deuteronomy 5:3).
  • The Sabbath day began in the evening of the sixth day and ended 24 hours later (Leviticus 23:32). This is why Jesus and the two thieves were taken down from their crosses before evening to keep from profaning the Sabbath (John 19:31). The closer to the poles you get, however, the more extreme the differences between the length of daylight hours in summer and winter. In Svalbard, Norway, the northernmost inhabited region of Europe, there is no sunset from approximately April 19th
  • to August 23rd. The extreme sites are the poles, where the Sun can be continuously visible for half the year. The North Pole has midnight sun for 6 months, from late March to late September. Obviously the people living in such time zones cannot observe the Sabbath as the Bible commands.
  • A similar problem occurs with reference to lighting a fire. The Scriptures state: “Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath Day.” (Exodus 35:3) This created no problem for the Israelites, but in other countries where if it is below zero, not lighting a fire for 24 hours could be fatal.
  • As far as we know, no other nation on earth was required to keep the weekly Sabbath, the Sabbatical Year, or the Day of Jubilee other than the Israelites.

THE SABBATH AND MANNA

■ As we have said, the first time anyone is specifically commanded to keep the “Sabbath” is in Exodus 16:23. As you can see, it was after being liberated from Egypt and in association with the gathering of manna: “Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much — two omers for each person — and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" (Ex 16:21-23) ■ The Scriptures teach that Israel ate manna and observed the Sabbath for 40 years in the wilderness. “The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna

until they reached the border of Canaan.” (Ex 16:35) We have no record of any other nation on earth eating manna or observing the Sabbath. ■ Manna was a super natural gift from God to feed the Israelites. It started falling from heaven when Israel needed food (Ex. 16:4), and it stopped falling from heaven when they entered the Promised Land: “The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.” (Josh 5:12) ■ Manna was bread from heaven and had a supernatural ability to meet the needs of the Israelites. Those who gathered much did not have too much, and those who gathered little did not have too little (Ex. 16:18). ■ Manna had to be gathered every day. If the Israelites tried to hoard their manna it became full of maggots and stank (Ex. 16:20). ■ On the sixth day, however, God miraculously preserved an extra day’s ration because on the Sabbath no manna fell from heaven (Ex. 16:24, 25). In this way it was easy for the Israelites to know exactly what day was the Sabbath. ■ The Israelites were learning that even though they rested on the Sabbath, God would still provide for them. As we have said, any Israelite who did any work on the Sabbath was to be put to death (Exodus 31:15). ■ We have no record of any other nation receiving manna from heaven or learning lessons from it about the Sabbath.

THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND THE JUBILEE

■ Just as Israel learned that God would still provide for them even when they rested on the seventh day, they were also promised that God would take care of them if they rested on the seventh year: “The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you — for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.” (Lev 25:1-7) ■ Every 50th year was the Jubilee. It too was a Sabbatical year. This meant that because both the 49th year and the 50th years were Sabbath years, the Israelites would have to raise enough food on the 48th year to last them for three years. God promised to meet this need: “You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.” (Lev 25:20-22).

■ We have no record of any nation other than the Israelites observing a Sabbatical Year or receiving such promises from God. ■ When the nation of Israel refused to observe the Sabbatical year, God placed them in captivity so the land could enjoy it’s Sabbaths: “Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.” (Lev 26:34-35) ■ The Israelites apparently did not observe the Sabbath year for 490 years, hence their seventy year captivity in Babylon: “He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.” (2 Chronicles 36:20-21) ■ We have no record of any other nation on earth being punished for violating the Sabbath year.

CONTROVERSIES OVER THE SABBATH

Paul warned the Galatians about the litigious nature of law with an allegory (Galatians 4:21-31). In this allegory Paul said that the Old Covenant was like Ishmael. Remember! The Scriptures warn about Ishmael saying: “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” (Genesis 16:12)

Sadly, this was true regarding the commandment to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. The Jews never have agreed on what can be done on the Sabbath. Like Ishmael, this created hostility in the Jewish community. They constantly argued about what could legally be done on ehe Sabbath. Here is a partial list of the way the Pharisees interpreted the Sabbath. This list was compiled by John Stevenson. Not everyone, of course, agreed with the Pharisees:

  • They taught that you should not look in a mirror on the Sabbath because you might be tempted to pluck out a grey hair and that would be reaping.
  • They said that you could only eat and egg which had been laid on the Sabbath if you killed the chicken for Sabbath-breaking.
  • A donkey could be led out of the stable on the Sabbath, but the harness and saddle had to be placed on him the day before.
  • An egg could not be boiled on the Sabbath, either by normal means or by putting it near a hot kettle or by wrapping it in a hot cloth or by putting it in the hot sand outside.
  • If the lights were on when the Sabbath came (Sabbath began at sundown), you could not blow them out. If they had not been lit in time, then you could not light them.
  • It was unlawful to move furniture on the Sabbath. There was an exception to this in that you were allowed to move a ladder on the Sabbath, but you could only move it four steps.
  • It was unlawful to wear any jewelry or ornaments on the Sabbath, since this might be construed as carrying a burden.
  • It was not permitted to wear false teeth on the Sabbath (that must have been a hit in the synagogue services).
  • You were allowed to eat radishes on the Sabbath, but you were warned against dipping them into salt because you might leave them in the salt too long and pickle them and this was considered to be Sabbath-breaking. The Pharisees actually had discussions as to how long it took to pickle a radish.
  • It was fine to spit on a rock on the Sabbath, but you could not spit on the ground, because that made mud and mud was mortar, and that was work.
  • If a woman got mud on her dress, she was to wait until it had dried and then she was permitted to crumple the dress in her hands one time and crush it and then shake it out once. If that did not do the trick, then she had to wear it.
  • Etc.
  • To this day Jewish scholars still debate what can legally be done on the Sabbath!

WHAT JESUS DID ON THE SABBATH

Remember! Jesus was “God manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Consequently, Jesus was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). As God, Jesus is also Lord over everything! Jesus could do anything He wanted any day of the week.

Consequently, Jesus did anything on the Sabbath that he wanted to do. The Scriptures record seven different miracles that Jesus performed on the Sabbath. First, we will focus on the healing of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. (John 5:1-30) This is perhaps the only time the Bible records that Jesus was in the presence of sick people whom He did not heal. Jesus went to the pool called Bethesda where a great number of disabled people who were blind, lame, and paralyzed. On this occasion Jesus healed only one man, and even though it was the Sabbath, Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Jesus was obviously challenging their understanding of the Sabbath. “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only he breaking the Sabbath, but was even calling God his own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

Here are the seven miracles Jesus performed on the Sabbath: 1. Jesus Healed Simon Peter’s Mother-in-Law (Mark 1:29-31). 2. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:1-6). 3. Jesus healed a man born blind (John 9:1-16). 4. Jesus healed a crippled woman (Luke 13:10-17). 5. Jesus healed a man with Dropsy (Luke 14:1-6). 6. Jesus drove out an evil spirit (Mark 1:21-28). 7. Jesus healed a lame man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18).

Jesus said: “The Sabbath was was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:2l7-28)

Jesus said: “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:11-12)

THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL

The transition from Judaism to Christianity was very difficult for many. The Jews saw themselves as: “a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth . . . ” (Romans 2:19-20). At the same time they saw the Gentiles as filled with futile thinking, “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” (Ephesians 4:18-19)

One primary question in the early church involved how much of Jewish Law could be imposed on the Gentiles. In order to solve this controversy, the apostles, and elders met with the whole church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-19). At the conclusion of the conference they wrote a letter to “The Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia”. In this letter they concluded: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.” (Acts 15:28-29)

As long as the Jewish believers understood that salvation was not achieved by Law, they were free to circumcise their children and observe the holy days and feasts of their Jewish faith. If they were circumcised in order to be saved, however, they would be severed from Christ and fall from grace. “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:2-6)

If God had wanted the Gentiles to observe the Sabbath, the Jerusalem Council would have been the perfect place to end all controversy. They concluded, however, as we have already mentioned, that only four things were necessary from Hebrew history for the Gentiles to observe (Acts 15:28-29).

1. Abstain from food sacrificed to idols. 2. Abstain from blood.’ 3. Abstain from the meat of strangled animals.

4. Abstain from sexual immorality.

THE WEAK BROTHERS

Many believe that a restrictive life style is a sign of spiritual strength. The Scriptures, however, teach the opposite. Those with legalistic restrictions are the weak brethren. Note: “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.” (Rom 14:1-2)

Rome, as you know, was a melting pot of people from all over the world. Since it is the eternal purpose of God to unite people in Christ (Ephesians 1:10), there was to be no division over such disputable matters as diet. “The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:3-4)

And there were also different opinions regarding holy days. “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:5-8)

The Jerusalem Council took place around A.D. 49 and the Roman letter is dated around A.D. 57 – 58. Thus, consistent with the decrees sent out from Jerusalem, Sabbath keeping was voluntary. It was not to be bound upon any believer in Christ.

A few years later (A.D. 62-63), Paul wrote to the Colossians: “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)

The church of our Lord Jesus Christ is a “family” (Eph. 3:15). In a family we have young and old, strong and weak, mature and immature. Weak and immature people are to be loved and helped, not driven out of the family of God. There is certainly nothing wrong with resting one day in seven, but there is something wrong with attempting to bind this on others as a matter of law.

DID CONSTANTINE CHANGE THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY?

The answer is “no”! The Sabbath has always been, and still is, the seventh day of the week. Constantine, however, did issue a decree on March 7, 321 A.D. allowing “All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun.” Sunday, as you know, is the first day of the week!

Constantine was the first emperor of Rome to be a Christian. Prior to Constantine the emperors of Rome had persecuted Christians. This was true of Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Maximin, Decius, and Valerian. The emperor just before Constantine was Diocletian (284-305). He was perhaps the most severe in persecuting Christians. For ten years Christians were hunted down like animals and put to death by every form of cruel torture this wicked emperor could devise.

As we have said, Constantine was the first emperor to claim to be a Christian. In A.D. 313 he passed an edict of toleration granting to “Christians and to all others full liberty to follow that religion which each may choose.”

  • While the Jews met on the seventh day of the week, the Christians met on the first day of the week. Here are some reasons why:
  • Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week and met with his disciples that very day (John 20:1). Thomas, as you know, was not with them at this time (John 20:24).
  • Jesus met again with his disciples a week later on the first day of the week. This time Thomas was present (John 20:24-31).
  • The church began on the Day of Pentecost which was on the first day of the week (Leviticus 23:15-16).
  • The early church gathered on “the” first day of the week to break bread (Acts 20:7). The word “the” is significant. Gathering on “the” first day of the week indicates that they gathered every first day of the week.
  • Paul arrived at Troas and apparently just missed their weekly gathering. Even though Paul was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem (Acts 20:16), he stayed at Troas for seven days until they met again on the first day of the week (Acts 20:6). Note that nothing is said about the seventh day. They did come together, however, on the first day of the week to break bread. The next day Paul immediately departed for Jerusalem.
  • Apparently all Christians met on the first day of the week. “Now about the collection for God’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 his income, saving it up so that so that when I come no collections will have to be made.” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2)
  • When Constantine became the emperor, he did not change the Sabbath, but merely allowed Christians to not have to work on the first day of the week since this was the day when they gathered to worship Jesus!

TRUE THINGS AND COPIES

In the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus made a comparison between “worldly” wealth and “true” riches (Lk. 16:11). Worldly wealth is temporary, true riches are eternal. Worldly wealth is insecure. Moth and rust can corrupt it and thieves can steal it. That’s why Jesus said to store up treasures in heaven (Matt. 7:20). Remember! The things we see are temporal. It is the things we cannot see that are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18).

The Scriptures provide a number of examples to illustrate this truth.

■ Worldly wealth is temporal and true riches are eternal (Luke 16:11),. ■ The Samaritan woman drank physical water and thirsted again. Jesus offered her “living water” that would satisfy her thirst forever (John 4:14). ■ Moses gave physical bread but Jesus is the true bread from heaven (John 6:32). ■ Physical fruit grows on a physical vine, but Jesus is the true vine and His Father is the Gardner (John 15:1). ■ The sons of Aaron ministered in an earthly tabernacle, but Jesus ministers in the true tabernacle which is set up by the Lord and not by man (Heb. 8:2). ■ “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence” (Hebrews 9:24). ■ Christian worship is contrasted to Jewish worship with this stunning comparison: “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Heb 12:18-24) ■ The earthly and temporary Sabbath is therefore used by God to represent the true rest which is promised in heaven to faithful believers (Hebrewa 3:7 – 4:11).

THERE IS THEREFORE A SABBATH REST FOR ALL OF GOD’S PEOPLE

Even though God gave the Sabbath to Israel, He had a larger purpose in mind. ■ What happened to the Israelites is specifically said to be an example for everyone (1 Cor. 10:1 - 13).

■ Most of the Israelites died in the wilderness and did not enter into the Promised Land. The Scriptures teach: “As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall — every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” (Num 14:28-30) ■ The inspired writer of Hebrews warns believers to learn from the Israelites: “So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" (Heb 3:7-11)

This is a quote from the 95th Psalm. God promised His people rest in the Promised Land but they did not enter because of unbelief. The same truth is repeated a few verses later in Hebrews: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” (Heb 3:15-19)

AS WE HAVE SAID, THERE IS A SPIRITUAL APPLICATION TO THIS STORY! THE EARTHLY SABBATH WAS INTENDED TO TEACH US ABOUT OUR ETERNAL REST IN HEAVEN!

“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 his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” (Heb 4:8-11).

THE ULTIMATE SABBATH REST IN HEAVEN IS FOR EVERYONE! PLEASE BE FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH THAT YOU MIGHT ENTER INTO THAT REST!