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The Lord gave ten commandments to Israel through His prophet Moses at Mount Sinai. The fourth of these commandments is: "Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy." (Exodus 20:8).
The weekly Sabbath was kept on the seventh day of the week. This would correspond with the day we call "Saturday". Some religious groups still keep the Sabbath to some degree today. The Seventh Day Adventists are probably the largest such group.
Is keeping the Sabbath Day a part of what it takes to be faithful and pleasing to God today? Has the Sabbath been changed from Saturday to Sunday?
The Purpose of the Sabbath
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six day shall you labor and do
all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it
you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or
your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For
in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is
in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the
seventh day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11).
There was actually more than one purpose fulfilled in Israelites keeping the Sabbath. First, it was kept to cause the people to ponder God's creative power and the world's divine beginning (cf. Exodus 31:12,13; 15-17). As the people rested from their labor on the seventh day of the week, they recalled how that God had created the world in six days, and ceased His work on the
seventh day.
A second purpose is also recorded in the Scriptures. Israel had recently been delivered from bondage in Egypt. They had suffered a heavy burden there. There had been a great amount of toil. They were now free of that servitude; they had rest from their slavery. Their observance of the Sabbath was also to remind them as a nation of how God had delivered them from slavery (see Deuteronomy 5:13-15).
The Sabbath Was Not Given To All Mankind
Sabbatarians (those who keep the Sabbath today) believe that all faithful men and women of God from Adam onward kept the Sabbath holy. But the Scriptures show us that the Sabbath was only for the nation of Israel while the Law of Moses was in effect. This would cover the years from about 1400 B.C. to 30 A.D.
It was during Moses' lifetime that he wrote of the creation in his book, Genesis. He records the creation account and explains that God blessed the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3). But the blessing occurred during the time of Moses, who wrote the book, not back at the beginning.
The word "Sabbath" is used for the first time during Moses' lifetime (Exodus 16:23). Keeping the Sabbath had not been known before that time (Nehemiah 9:13,14). Though God had issued commandments before giving the ten commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai, there had never been a covenant between God and man regarding the Sabbath (Deuteronomy 5:2,3). And, finally, the Bible specifically states that the Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign between them and God (Ezekiel 20:12; 18-20). How could the Sabbath have been a sign between Israel and God if everybody else had been given the same commandment to keep the Sabbath? It would be like all the ranchers branding their cattle with the same brand! No, the Sabbath was only for Israel to keep; not for everybody.
The Covenant Containing the Sabbath Fulfilled and Replaced
Jesus came to fulfill the first covenant; the covenant of Moses, and did so successfully (Matthew 5:17,18). The New Testament pronounces that the Old Testament is no longer in effect, and it is this Old Testament that contains the Sabbath commandments (Hebrews 8:8,9; 9:1-4; 10:9,10). In fact, regarding the keeping of the Sabbath day, as well as the other special holy days and dietary restrictions of the Old Testament, I cannot think of a way to say it any plainer than does this New Testament passage: "Therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." (Colossians 2:16,17). It was at the cross of Jesus that these things were taken out of the way (Colossians 2:14).
Now, some have said that the "Sabbaths" of the above passage was not the weekly Sabbath, but other ceremonial Sabbaths such as discussed in Leviticus 23:24-32. But Leviticus also discusses the weekly Sabbath (vs. 3). Add to that these other passages, and it is clear that the Colossian passage does include the weekly Sabbath (1 Chronicles 23:30,31; 2 Chronicles 2:4; Nehemiah 10:3).
Was The Sabbath Kept By Christians in the New Testament?
Sometimes, Sabbatarians will put it like this: "Jesus went to church on the Sabbath day as our example." and refer to such passages as Luke 3:21. They might also suggest that Paul, in the book of Acts, held meetings on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14,14; 44; etc.).
Obviously, Jesus kept the Sabbath as a Jew living under the Old Law. He had not died on the cross as yet to fulfill it. And the "church" to which they refer is not the church that He would soon build, but the synagogue. And Paul, in each and every case of assembling on the Sabbath with others (some 84 of them!), is assembling with his fellow countrymen who do not believe in Jesus in order to teach them about the Christ. On other occasions, when meeting with Christians who do believe in Christ, it is upon the first day of the week, or Sunday, that they assemble (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1,2).
But, there is a Sabbath for us that remains. It is not the seventh day of the week. The New Testament refers to heaven as our "Sabbath rest". (Hebrews 4:1-3; 9-11). We are told to be diligent so that we do not fall short of our rest. In heaven we will receive rest from toil, pain, sickness, sorrow and death. That is a rest we do not want to miss!
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