Good morning, Bereans. In Exodus 20 we find the 10 commandments, the fourth commandment being.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 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 Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 ESV
The first thing I want you to notice here is that we see the word LORD three times. This is from the Hebrew. Reading from right to left it is: Yod-Hei-Vav-Hei (YHVH), which is pronounced as Yahweh. The name (Yahweh) appears nearly 7,000 times (6,824 in NASB) in the Hebrew Scriptures, but not even once in the English Bible, not even in the Completer Jewish Bible. The CJB uses Adonai, which means: "Lord." English translators replaced Yahweh with the indiscriminate title of Lord. So, whenever you see LORD in all caps, it is Yahweh.
For our time this morning I want to talk about the Sabbath. This is an important topic, because all sincere Christians want to honor God by doing what is right. The problem is they don't always know what is right, because at times we don't know what the Bible means by what it says. There is a great division among Christians about the Sabbath. Is Sunday, the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath? Did it replace the seventh day (Saturday) as the day of rest? Has the fourth of the "Ten Commandments" been changed or done away with? These and similar questions are being asked today by believers all over the world, and the answers to them are very important. I think there are basically three major views today concerning the Sabbath.
1. The Sabbath still stands and it is still on Saturday. This would be the view of the Seventh Day Adventist. They would say, "Sunday is not the Sabbath Day at all. The Almighty's Sabbath, according to His unalterable Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 5:17-18), is the seventh day of the week, the day commonly known as Saturday. You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find a single verse authorizing the observance of Sunday. The true weekly Sabbath of Yahweh, the Almighty God of Israel, was, is, and ever will be, the seventh day of the week."
Michael Rood, a self professed rabbi who holds to Saturday worship says, "Worship on Sundays, and especially sunrise services on Easter, are an abomination to the Lord because the sun god was worshiped on Sunday mornings." (Mystery of Iniquity, Chapter 8).
2. The Sabbath still stands, but was changed to Sunday. "The law of God still stands," say others, "but Sunday, the first day of the week, is the new Christian Sabbath. It commemorates the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua the Christ. It is the Lord's Day and has replaced the seventh day Sabbath by the authority of the inspired apostles and, therefore, by Christ Himself. Christians are certainly under obligation to observe it."
Adam Clarke, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 16, says this, "It appears from the whole that the first day of the week, which is the Christian Sabbath, was the day on which their principal religious meetings were held in Corinth and the churches of Galatia; and, consequently, in all other places where Christianity had prevailed. This is a strong argument for the keeping of the Christian Sabbath."
It was, by and large, the Puritans who were responsible for the view that the Lord's day (that is, Sunday) should be regarded as the Christian Sabbath and, as such, it's taken the place of the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday). But this viewpoint caused a rigorous legalistic observance of the first day of the week so that its bondage became equivalent to that of its Jewish counterpart.
The Scriptures used to support a Sunday Sabbath are somewhat puzzling when really examined. It's supposed that the mention in Acts 20:7 of the believers coming together to break bread on the first day of the week (Sunday being the first day as Saturday, being the seventh, would be the last) is a reference to the "special" day that the believers came together to break bread, but the Scripture doesn't say this:
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. Acts 20:7 ESV
It only says that they broke bread, and that they did it on the first day of the week. Acts 2:46 says that the habit of the early Church was to break bread daily, not to break it just once every week.
1 Corinthians 16:2 also mentions the first day of the week in the context of putting aside some contribution for the relief of the Jewish believers. But, again, this doesn't have to refer to a special weekday on which the Church met to worship Yeshua—their worship continued daily as has been previously noted.
Appeal to the day on which Christ rose from the dead (Sunday) is also often cited as being a good reason for making the day special and to be observed as the believer's day of rest. Although it's true to say that the evidence suggests that the early Church met to worship Yahweh on Sundays, if they did do so, it wasn't that they were compelled from a theological standpoint, but because they chose to do so.
Besides, the early Church met every day to worship Yahweh. By our elevation of one day above all others, we've tended to forget the importance of the other six and push Christianity into the restrictions of one seventh of our lifetimes rather than a hundred per cent of it.
So these first two views are similar in that they both say that the Sabbath still stands. Do you remember what the penalty was for Sabbath breakers?
You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Exodus 31:14 ESV
So, in either one of these views we are bound to keep the Sabbath. The only argument between these two is which day is the Sabbath.
One Seventh Day Adventist writer states, "What are you going to do about Sunday, which is an ordinary work-day posing as the Sabbath of the Almighty? And, more importantly, what are you now going to do about the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath of the Almighty God? Bear in mind that the seventh day of the week was, is and ever will be the True Sabbath Day. Those who ignore this fact are guilty of breaking one of the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20:8-11). And that is sin: for sin is the transgression of the Almighty's Law, (1 John 3:4)."
I have to agree with this writer. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. I also agree that to violate the Sabbath is to break one of the Ten Commandments. But we also need to understand that keeping the Sabbath involved animal sacrifice.
"On the Sabbath day, two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering. Numbers 28:9-10 ESV
Are any of those who claim to be Sabbath keepers offering this sacrifice? No, and if they are not then they are not keeping the Sabbath.
Which day is the Sabbath? It is the seventh day, Saturday. So, the Sabbath is Saturday. Are we bound to keep it? Before you answer that, let's go back and look at the Decalogue. The command to "keep the Sabbath" is part of the Ten Commandments. As we look at these commandments I want you to ask yourself the question, "Are we bound by these commands?:
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the first commandment—"Have no other gods" (Exodus 20:3)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the second commandment— "No idols / images" (Exodus 20:4-6)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the third commandment—"Don't take God's name in vain" (Exodus 20:7)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the fourth commandment—"Keep the Sabbath" (Exodus 20:8-11)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the fifth commandment—"Honor your parents" (Exodus 20:12)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the sixth commandment—"No murder" (Exodus 20:13)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the seventh commandment—"No adultery" (Exodus 20:14)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the eighth commandment—"No stealing" (Exodus 20:15)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the ninth commandment—"Don't bear false witness" (Exodus 20:16)?
Do you believe that a Christian is duty bound to obey the tenth commandment—"No coveting" (Exodus 20:17)?
What do you say, are we as Christians bound by these commandments? I could put it this way: Is it okay for us to steal? Is it okay for us to murder? Is it okay for us to have idols? Is it okay for us to not keep the Sabbath?
Why is it that we think it is okay to ignore the fourth commandment, but not the other nine? Are we only obligated to the nine commandments today? If so, when was the fourth commandment removed?
Let me put the question to you this way, "Do you believe that the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God upon the Tables of Stone, are the rule of life for a Christian today? "Who were the 10 Commandments given to?
And the LORD said to Moses, "Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34:27-28 ESV
These Commandments were for Israel. Along with the Ten Commandment came the temple worship, the sacrifices, the food restrictions. Are you bound by those? Do any of you eat shellfish?
"These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you. Leviticus 11:9-10 ESV
Why is it that believes can eat whatever they want, but some still fell compelled to obey the Sabbath? James says that the Law is a whole:
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. James 2:10 ESV
The Old Covenant Law is a unit. If you break one commandment, you are guilty. Some have tried to divide the Law into three categories: moral, judicial (civil), and ceremonial. This started with Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) back in the 13th century, and most Christians seem to have adopted this division. The problem with this is that there is nothing in Scripture to support the idea that the Law should be divided into three parts, such as the ceremonial law, the civil law, and the moral law. Most teach that God has done away with the ceremonial and civil aspects of the Law, but not with the moral aspect of the Law. Such a distinction is not drawn anywhere in the Scriptures. The Law is viewed as a unit or as a whole. James said that anyone who breaks one point of the Law, breaks the whole Law.
So, to answer the question, "Do you believe that the Ten Commandments, written with the finger of God upon the Tables of Stone, are the rule of life for a Christian today?" My reply is this: "I believe that the Ten Commandments, as they are interpreted and applied by our Lord and His apostles in the New Testament Scriptures, are a real and essential part of our rule of life." The New Covenant, as mediated by Christ, is a brand NEW Covenant, which totally replaces the Old Covenant.
Why do I think stealing, lying, adultery, and having idols is wrong? Because Yeshua and the apostles teach us that these things are wrong. I live under the New Covenant, not the Old. And in the New Covenant there is no mention of a Christian Sabbath. Although the New Covenant does restate 9 of the 10 (the Sabbath is excluded) as individual commands, the Ten Commandments as a unit are not brought into the New Covenant era. This brings us to the third view of the Sabbath.
1. The Sabbath still stands and it is still on Saturday.
2. The Sabbath still stands but was changed to Sunday.
3. The Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ—who is our Sabbath Rest.
This view says the days of the week are all alike, Saturday, Sunday, or even Friday for that matter, they are all the same to God. The important thing is to keep yourself holy every day of the week and forget about a weekly Sabbath, because it no longer exists. The Sabbath commandment has been fulfilled, superseded, done away with and nailed to the cross. Christians meet for worship on Sunday, not because it is the Sabbath of the Ten Commandments, but because it is convenient. The Law has been fulfilled by Yeshua and is now obsolete: so there is no longer a Sabbath commandment to observe. It is the Spirit that matters, not the day of the week on which you choose to rest.
Now let me say this: It is only those who believe in fulfilled eschatology—those who believe that the Lord returned in the first century—who can consistently hold this view. Do you know why that is? It is because Yeshua said that the Old Covenant Law— every bit of it—would be in effect until heaven and earth passed away:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:17-18 ESV
What is Christ saying here? Look at it carefully. This is a very important verse. What does Yeshua mean by "the Law"? Yeshua said, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill." The use of the terms "the Law" and "the Prophets" indicates that what the Lord is speaking of in these verses is the whole of the Tanakh. If you trace these terms through your Bible, you will find that wherever this expression is used it includes the entire Hebrew Bible. So, what does Yeshua say here about the Tanakh?
Gregg Bahnsen, in his book, Theonomy and Christian Ethics, says on page 73-74: "It is the point of slightness that Jesus is bringing forcefully before us. Not even the very least extensive number of the very least significant aspect of the Old Testamental Law will become endowed until heaven and earth pass away. It is hard to imagine how Jesus could have more intently affirmed that EVERY BIT of the old law remains binding in the gospel age."
The Mosaic Law is a unit. It exists as a unit or not at all. This notion that the Mosaic Law can be sliced and diced into ceremonial, civil, and moral is not one that you will find anywhere in the Bible.
Yeshua said that He didn't come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. What does it mean to fulfill the Law? The word "fulfill" is from the Greek word pleroo. Matthew uses this word seventeen times, and in fifteen of them it clearly refers to prophecy being fulfilled or coming to pass. The Law, which we read in the Torah, and everything that has been said by the Prophets, was going to "come to pass" down to the minutest detail. And until it was all fulfilled, it was binding on the people of God.
Christ fulfilled the Law by fulfilling all the types and prophecies of the Tanakh. All of the illustrations in the Old Covenant sacrificial system focus on and find their fulfillment in Him. All of the prophecies given regarding the coming Messiah, His kingdom, and His salvation find their fulfillment in Him.
The ultimate way that Christ fulfilled the Tanakh is by the one which gets the greatest emphasis in the New Testament; that He met the righteous demands of the Law in providing salvation through His death on the cross. Thus He has fulfilled the Law and brought it to completion by paying the penalty for our sins.
The Law has been fulfilled:
For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. Hebrews 7:18 ESV
This is truly an amazing statement. God is promising to set aside the Mosaic Law and the Levitical system. The words "setting aside" is from the Greek verb athetesis. It is a legal term that points to the complete cancellation of the commandment in question— the Mosaic Law. The same verb is used in 9:26 translated, "put away":
for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:26 ESV
The disappearance of the Mosaic Law is as absolute as the putting away of sin.
The purpose of the Law is stated in Galatians 3 where it is indicated that the Law is to reveal their sinfulness and to serve as a tutor or schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Paul says in Galatians 3 that now that Christ has come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster. Now that Christ has come and the Law has been brought to its completion, the Law has been fulfilled in Christ:
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Yeshua you are all sons of God, through faith. Galatians 3:24-26 ESV
Has the Law, the Old Covenant, been fulfilled in Christ? I don't know of any Christian who would say that every single Old Covenant ceremonial Law is still currently in force. Yet, Yeshua said that heaven and earth absolutely had to pass away before the slightest letter of the Law could be fulfilled. Thus, if the Law has been fulfilled, the heaven and earth Yeshua spoke of must be already taken out of the way.
We can tell that Yeshua obviously was NOT speaking of the literal earth He was standing on and the literal heavens He was standing under. If we understand heaven and earth in that passage to be physical, then the Law is still in effect, and we are all still bound to obey the Sabbath. If we understand heaven and earth as figurative, then it is possible that they have passed along with the Law.
The phrase "until heaven and earth pass away" refers to the duration of the whole Old Covenant's authority. So, Yeshua is saying that not a single item of the Law, the Old Covenant, will ever be changed until heaven and earth pass away. Is that what Yeshua said? I think it is!
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18 ESV
None of the law was to pass away until it was ALL accomplished. All of the Law being accomplished would include all of the Old Covenant prophecies being fulfilled— would it not? All of the prophetic scriptures had to be fulfilled. This included the prophecies of the "New Heaven and Earth." The New Covenant is always associated with a New Age. This New Age would not come about until all that the Prophets had spoken was fulfilled.
Until God created a "New Heaven and Earth," the Old Covenant remained in tack, every bit of it. So, if we are not living in the "New Heaven and Earth" today, then we are under the Law, every bit of it. But I know of no Christian who would say that ALL the Old Covenant Scriptures are binding on us. If they did, they would have to be keeping the Sabbath.
Luke agrees with Yeshua.
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Luke 21:20-22 ESV
Luke tells us here that ALL things which are written will be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem. What does he mean by that? "All things which are written" refers to the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was to be fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, which was heaven and earth passing away.
So, Luke is saying that at the time Jerusalem is destroyed, all prophecy will be fulfilled. What does that include? That would include the prophecy of the Second Coming, the Resurrection, the New Heavens and Earth, everything prophesied to Israel would be fulfilled at the time of Jerusalem's destruction.
The passing away of heaven and earth is another way to speak of the end of the Old Covenant. To prove this from the Scripture, look with me at:
And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end." Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV
These verses are a word for word quotation from Psalm 102. If all we had was the prophecy of David in Psalms 102, we might think that this is referring to the physical earth. But, the New Testament gives us insight and illumination to the Tanakh. How is the world or the heavens and earth of old going to perish? David said, in Psalm 102:26,
They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, Psalm 102:26 ESV
"They shall grow old like a garment," and then they would be "changed." Is it just a coincidence that the Bible speaks of the passing away of the Old Covenant using the same language?
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:13 ESV
The word "obsolete" is the same Greek word, palaioo, which means: "to make worn out, or declare obsolete," is used in Hebrews 1:11 of the Heavens and Earth and 8:13 of the Old Covenant. The writer of Hebrews teaches us that the "Old Covenant" and the "Heavens and earth" are synonymous.
Believers, if we don't understand the biblical use of "heaven and earth," we will not understand Yeshua's words in:
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18 ESV
And if we don't understand these words of Yeshua , we will end up in confusion as to the Sabbath and all the other Old Covenant injunctions.
The Sabbath was a type: The essence of "keeping the Sabbath holy" was refraining from physical work. Doing physical work was the only way one could break the Sabbath in Israel. There was no "going to church" or any other prescribed worship connected with the Sabbath. This was clear from the first institution of the Sabbath in Exodus 16:
On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'" So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none." On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day. Exodus 16:22-24,26-30 ESV
They were to gather enough manna on the sixth day for two days, and God promised it would not, as was the case on any other day, spoil. They could trust God that the manna would keep. They were to totally rest on the seventh day. They were not even allowed to walk out and gather the manna.
Later, when the Sabbath is given as the sign of the covenant, it became crystal clear that the only way to break the Sabbath was physical work. Exodus 31:14-15 is quite explicit:
You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Exodus 31:14-15 ESV
They are commanded in verse 14 to "not profane the Sabbath," and Moses immediately equates "profaning the Sabbath" with "doing any physical work." Both verses state that any form of physical work would result in death. There is a constant refrain of "Do not work." Don't even lift a finger to pick up sticks. "Cease from your work and rest." God told them they were to gather two day's supply on the sixth day, "trust Me, it will not spoil" as it would on any other day.
As you read all the Sabbath references, you keep hearing, "Cease from your work, trust Me." The message is "faith, not works." You can hear the echoes of Romans 4:4,5 crying out,
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, Romans 4:4-5 ESV
"To him who does not work but believes . . ." The Sabbath pushed a man away from works to the rest of faith. The Sabbath preached the Gospel of rest.
In a culture where work was very hard, very physical, very demanding, the Sabbath was given as a gift. This was one day a week where you could just rest, and God would provide. But there was a greater meaning to that.
The yearly Sabbath also preached the Gospel. The twenty-fifth chapter of Leviticus describes the yearly Sabbath. Just as there was a weekly Sabbath, there was a seventh year Sabbath. Just as the weekly Sabbath commanded "no work," so the seventh year Sabbath commanded no work during the entire year. They could do no physical work at all for one whole year. They were not allowed to plow, cultivate, or harvest for a whole year:
And if you say, 'What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?' I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives. Leviticus 25:20-22 ESV
Again, God was teaching: "You do not live by your works, but by my grace. Trust Me, allow the land to lie idle, I will give you all you need." Like the weekly Sabbath, the seventh year Sabbath also pushed the Israelites from works to faith. It preached the Gospel. It forced them to faith as opposed to living by their own work.
The greatest of all Sabbaths was every fifty years. Just as six days were followed by a Sabbath day of rest, and six years were followed by a Sabbath year of rest, the seventh Sabbath year was followed by the Year of Jubilee. All debts and mortgages of every kind were canceled. Everyone returned back to the original land that was given to their fathers.
You can imagine an Israelite who was in debt with the family farm mortgaged: He would rise early on the morning of Jubilee and eagerly wait to hear the trumpet of the ram's horn and the announcement that "Jubilee had come." That is exactly what our Lord did in Luke 4:19 when He said He came to proclaim the "acceptable year of the Lord," or "the year of the Lord's favor." He was putting the Gospel trumpet to His lips and saying, "Jubilee has come, the Lord's great Sabbath Day has dawned."
For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4:3 ESV
It is by faith in Yeshua that we enter the rest. Yeshua the Christ is our Sabbath rest. He fulfilled the Old Covenant type. We, as believers, rest totally and completely in Him. We have regained in Christ far more than we lost in Eden. Every debt we owe is paid, and we are totally free. We live in the year of Jubilee. We have entered into the true Sabbath rest in Christ.