WHY WE DON’T OBSERVE

THE SABBATH

What is the Sabbath?

• From Hebrew, “Shabbath” & Greek, “Sabbaton” - “to desist, to rest”

• A weekly day of rest appointed for Israel, between God and them.

What is the Sabbath?• It was a holy day (Ex. 20:8-11, Deut. 5:12-15)

• No work could be done (Ex. 31:15)

• “A holy convocation to the Lord” (Lev. 23:3)

• Term can have reference to a “week”see Luke 18:2

What is the Sabbath?

What is the Sabbath?• “First day of the week”,

lit. “First of the Sabbath”Matthew 28:1, Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2

• Time was counted by Sabbaths in these texts. Days were numbered with the Sabbath in mind See Mark 16:1-2

Who was the Sabbath For?

• Scriptures CLEARLY demonstrate it was intended for Israel.

• First mention, Ex. 16:23-26 Manna provided. Special instructions given on 6th day collection.

Who was the Sabbath For?

• Next mention, the 10 Commandments, Ex. 20:8-11 Instituted as a day of rest. God rested on 7th day, etc.

Who was the Sabbath For?•Exodus 31:12-18, ,

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” …

Who was the Sabbath For?

•Exodus 31:12-18, , “…Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever;”

Who was the Sabbath For?

•Deut. 4:11-14, “…So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments;…”

Who was the Sabbath For?•Deut. 5:1-5,

“And Moses called all Israel, and said to them…The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.”

Who was the Sabbath For?

•Ezekiel 20:10-12, “…And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me”

Who was the Sabbath For?

•Ezekiel 20:18-20, “…Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'”

Who was the Sabbath For?

• The Sabbath was part of the Law of Moses

•Deut. 4:13 “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.”

Who was the Sabbath For?• A new law promised• Jer. 31:31-34 "Behold, the days

are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke,…

Who was the Sabbath For?

• The Old Law done away with

•Matt. 5:17-18, Jesus came to fulfill the Old Law; See Luke 24:44

Who was the Sabbath For?

• The Old Law done away with•Col. 2:13-14, Eph. 2:14-17 “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances,…

Who was the Sabbath For?

• The Old Law done away with•Col. 2:13-14, Eph. 2:14-17 “…so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.”

Who was the Sabbath For?• The Old Law done away with•2 Corinthians 3 – Vs. 3 - Tablets of stone –

the 10 Commandments– Vs. 6 – the letter kills, but

the Spirit gives life– Vs. 7-8 – Ministry of death,

written and engraved on stones.

Who was the Sabbath For?• The Old Law done away with•2 Corinthians 3 – Vs. 11 – What faded away

was glorious, what remains is more glorious

– Vs. 12-18 – the Old Law was as a veil, symbolizing their hardened hearts. Removed in Christ, taken away

What do we do?

• We are under the New Law and follow its instructions!

•Rom. 1:16, Heb. 8:13

What do we do?

• Do we keep 9 of the 10 commandments?

• NO! We do not keep ANY of the 10 commandments.However, 9 of them are repeated in the New Law.

What do we do?

• We do NOT observe the Sabbath!

• But we DO assemble on the first day of the week!

What do we do?

• Why first day of the week?

• The day our Lord arose - Matt. 28:1

• The day the church began – Acts 2:1, Pentecost

• The Lord’s Supper – Ac. 20:7• Giving - 1 Cor. 16:2• The Lord’s Day – Rev. 20:10

What do we do?• Was the Sabbath changed to first day

of the week by the Pope or by an emperor? NO!

• There is evidence, it was recognized from the beginning. “But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.” Justin Martyr (103-165 AD)

The “Christian Sabbath”

• Some contend that Sunday is “the Christian Sabbath”

• This is NOT a Biblical concept. In New Testament the Sabbath was NEVER mentioned with assembly of the church!

• We are not restricted to Sabbath regulations!

The “Christian Sabbath”

• “If there is any Biblical sense in which one could speak of a “Christian Sabbath” it would be speaking of heaven, for this is the ‘rest’ promised to Christians after our labors and trials are over.” Heb. 4:9-11, Rev. 14:13

Let us resolve to NOT return to the

Law of Moses and its precepts! Gal. 5:4

Will you follow the New Covenant of hope?