The Sabbath Day
Published by Laymen's Home Missionary Movement
Should Christians Keep The Seventh Day, Or The First
Day, Or Both? What Is The Christian's True Sabbath-Keeping?
SEVEN is a very prominent number in the Bible -- in everything relating to
the Divine program. In Gen. 1 the Sabbath Day is referred to in a
figurative way in speaking of the seventh epoch of God's creation on our
earth -- bringing order out of chaos. Not until the Law was given to
Israel was the day sabbath made obligatory on anyone. And since the Law
Covenant was made with one nation (Israel) and none other (Ex. 34:27; Deut.
5:2-3), the Sabbath requirements of that Law apply to that nation only.
This does not signify that the setting apart of a certain time for rest
would be of advantage to the Jew only, nor that a special seventh day
devoted to God would be disadvantageous to all people. IT merely means
that God entered into covenant relationship with the one nation only, and
hence to them only He told His will, His Law -- obedience to which He made
the foundation of the blessing He promised to that People.
There is no room to question the import of the fourth commandment of the
Jewish Law. It distinctly commanded that the seventh day of the week
should be to the Jews a rest day, in which no work of any kind should be
done, either by parent or child, employer or servant, male or female, ox or
ass, or any other creature owned by a Jew (Ex. 20:8-11). It was a
rest day pure and simple. Divine worship was not commanded to be
done on that day -- not because God would be displeased to have Divine
worship on that day or on any other day, but because there is a reason
connected with the matter which related, not to worship, but to
rest, s we shall see. The strictness of this Law upon Israel is
fully attested by the fact that on one occasion, by Divine command, a man
was stoned to death for merely picking up sticks on the Sabbath Day (Num.
15:32-36). Therefore, it is plainly to be seen that the Law given to Israel
on this subject meant what it said to the very letter.
JESUS NOT LAX IN SABBATH-KEEPING
In the New Testament Jesus is supposed by some to have taught a laxity in
the matter of Sabbath observance, but this is quite a misunderstanding.
Jesus, born a Jew, born "under the Law" (Gal. 4:4), was as much obligated
to keep that Law in its very letter as was any other Jew. And He did not,
of course, violate the obligation in the slightest degree (Matt. 5:17).
The Scribes and Pharisees had strayed away from the real spirit of the Law
in many particulars. Their tradition, represented at the present time by
their Talmud, attempted to explain the Law, but really, as Jesus said,
frequently made it void, meaningless, absurd. E.g., according to the
traditions of their Elders, it was breaking the Sabbath, if one were
hungry, to rub the kernels of wheat in his hands and blow away the chaff
and eat the grain, as the disciples did one Sabbath Day in passing through
the wheat field. The Pharisees called attention to this and wanted Jesus
to reprove the disciples, because, according to their thought, this simple
process was labor -- work -- reaping and threshing and winnowing. Jesus
resisted this absurd misinterpretation of the Law and by His arguments
proved, to anyone willing to be taught, that the Scribes and Pharisees had
mistaken the Divine intention -- had misconstrued the Law of the Sabbath
(Matt. 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28). On several occasions He healed the sick on
the Sabbath Day. Indeed, the majority of His healings were done on that
day, greatly to the disgust of the Pharisees, who claimed that He was a
lawbreaker in so doing. We cannot suppose that Jesus performed these
miracles to irritate the Pharisees; rather we are to understand that their
Sabbath Day typified the great Sabbath, which is in the future -- the
period of the Messianic reign and the healing of all earth's sorrows.
Jesus clearly pointed out to the Scribes and Pharisees that they were
misinterpreting the meaning of the Divine arrangement: that God did not
make man merely to keep the Sabbath, but that He made the Sabbath for, in
the interest of, mankind. Hence everything really needful for man's
assistance would be lawful on the Sabbath Day, however laborious it might
be. Indeed, Jesus carried the thought still farther and pointed out to His
hearers the absurdity of their position -- for, He said, if any of you
should have an ox or an ass fall into the pit on a Sabbath Day, would you
leave him to die and thus suffer loss, as well as allow the animal to be in
pain? Assuredly they would not, and assuredly they would be justified in
helping any creature out of trouble on that day. Then said Jesus, If so
much might be done for a dumb creature, might not a good work of mercy and
help for mankind be properly enough done on the Sabbath Day?
THE SEVENTH DAY STILL A SABBATH
A mistake made by many Christians is the supposition that the Law Covenant
which God made with Israel ceased, passed away. On the contrary, as the
Apostle declares, "The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth"
(Rom. 7:1). The Jewish Law is as obligatory upon the Jew today as it was
upon his fathers in the days of Moses. Only death (either actual death, or
coming into Christ and thus becoming dead to the Law -- v. 4; Rom. 10:4)
could set the Jew free from that Law Covenant until, in God's due time, it
shall be enlarged and made what God, through the prophet (Jer. 31:31-34),
styles a New Covenant -- a New Law Covenant. That will take place after
the Mediator of the New Covenant shall have been raised up from among the
people. That Prophet will be like unto Moses, but greater -- the antitype.
that Prophet will be the glorified Christ -- Jesus the Head and the
completed Church, who are frequently spoken of as members of His Body, and
sometimes styled the Bride, the Lamb's Wife (Rev. 21:9). This antitypical
Mediator (Acts 3:22-23), under the New Law Covenant which He sill then
establish, will assist the Jews (and all who come into harmony with God
through Him) back to that human perfection in which they will be able to
keep the Divine Law perfectly in every particular. This great Mediator,
Messiah, will for 1,000 years do this great work (Rev. 10:4, 6).
As stated above, the Law Covenant is still in force upon every Jew; but it
is not in force upon any but Jews, as it never has been in force upon any
other people. During the Gospel Age, between the death of Christ and the
inauguration of the New Covenant, Jesus, as the great High Priest, has been
offering the "better sacrifices" mentioned by St. Paul (Heb. 9:23) and
described in the type in Lev. 16.
We remarked above that the Sabbath Day, still in full force and its
observance obligatory upon the Jew, is not upon other nationalities. We
should modify this statement by the remark that there are some who
mistakenly endeavor to be Jews and try to get under the Law Covenant
provisions as Sabbath-keepers, etc. St. Paul recognized this
tendency in his day. Note his words to the Christians of Galatia, who were
not by nature Jews but Gentiles. He says, "Ye that desire to be under the
law, do ye not hear the law?" "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you?" (Gal 4:21; 3:1). He proceeds to show them that the Jews are in
bondage to their Law and can never get eternal life under it. His argument
then is that if the Jews cannot get life by keeping the Law, it would be
foolish for Gentiles to think that they could secure Divine favor and
everlasting life by keeping the Law. He declares, "By the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in his [God's] sight" (Rom. 3:20). The
only way to obtain justification in God's sight is by the acceptance of
Christ; and the only way we can maintain that justification is by a full
consecration to be His disciples and to be faithful unto death in following
in the Master's footsteps -- as it is written, "I beseech you therefore,
brethren, . . . present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is you reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1).
CHRISTIANS AND THE LAW
St. Paul did not mean that Christians should not strive to keep the Divine
Law, but that they should not put themselves under it as a
Covenant, nor think that by striving to oppose the Law Covenant they
would get or maintain harmony with God and gain the reward of everlasting
life. On the contrary, he declares in so many words, "The righteousness of
the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after [according to] the flesh,
but after [according to] the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4). His meaning is clear.
The Decalogue was never given to Christians, but it is quite appropriate
that Christians should look back to that Decalogue and note the spirit of
its teachings and strive to conform their lives thereto in every
particular.
But what is the spirit of the Decalogue? Our Lord Jesus clearly set it
forth to be -- "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul [being], and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength," and . . . "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Mark
12:30-31). Our Lord not only kept the Law, but He magnified it, or showed
it to have greater proportions than the Jews ever supposed it had -- length
and breadth, height and depth, beyond the ability of fallen humanity to
perform; and He made that Law honorable (Isa. 42:21). The Jews, having
tried to keep the Divine Law for more than sixteen centuries, had reason to
doubt if anyone could keep it in a way satisfactory to God. But the fact
that Jesus did keep the Law perfectly, and that God was satisfied with His
keeping it, made the Law honorable -- proved that it was not an
unreasonable requirement -- not beyond the ability of a perfect man.
In Matt. 5, Jesus showed the spirit or deeper meaning of several of the
commandments; for instance, He indicated that the command, Thou shalt do no
murder, would be violated by anyone becoming angry and manifesting in any
degree an injurious or murderous spirit (1 John 3:15).
THE SPIRIT OF THE SABBATH
As there is another or deeper meaning to the other commandments than was
understood by the Jews, so it is also with the fourth, which enjoins the
keeping of the seventh day as a day of rest or Sabbath. The word
Sabbath signifies rest, and deeper or antitypical meaning to
the Christian is the rest of faith. The Jew, unable to keep the
Mosaic Law and unable, therefore, to get everlasting life under the Law
Covenant, was exhorted to flee to Christ; and, by becoming dead to the Law
Covenant, by utterly renouncing it, he was privileged to come into
membership in Christ (Rom. 7:4) -- to become a sharer in the Covenant of
Sacrifice. So doing, he was promised rest from the Law and its
condemnation, because "to them that are in Christ there is no condemnation"
(Rom. 8:1) -- the merit of Christ covers the shortcomings of all those who
are striving to walk in His steps, and the Divine Spirit and Word give them
the assurances of Divine favor, which ushers them into peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ -- ushers them into rest. Thus the
Apostle declares, "We which have believed do enter into [Sabbath] rest"
(Heb. 4:3). Moreover, the Apostle indicates that although we have entered
into a rest of faith now, through faith and obedience to Christ, Christians
have a still greater rest awaiting them beyond their resurrection, when
they shall enter into the rest which is in reservation for those that love
the Lord.
FIFTIETH DAY AND FIFTIETH YEAR
We are reminded that Israel had two systems of Sabbaths -- one of the
Sabbath Days and the other of Sabbath Years. The Sabbath Days began to
count in the Spring. It was a multiple of seven. Seven times seven days
(forty-nine days) brought them to the Jubilee day, the fiftieth day, which
was styled Pentecost. Pentecost never had its true meaning until the Lord,
as "the firstfruits of them that slept," arose from the dead (1 Cor.
15:20). Then immediately the seven times seven, plus one, began to count,
and on the fiftieth day the Holy Spirit was shed abroad upon all those
"Israelites indeed" who, already consecrated, were waiting in the upper
room for the antitypical High Priest to make satisfaction for their sins
and to shed forth upon them the Holy Spirit, as the evidence of their
restoration to divine favor. Immediately they had peace with God.
Immediately they entered into rest. Immediately they realized that
they were children of God, begotten of the Holy Spirit, that they might in
due time become joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord. And is it not
true that throughout this Gospel Age under the Gospel call, all who
followed in the footsteps of Jesus and the disciples, all who renounced
sin, trusted in Jesus and fully consecrated their lives to Him, became
recipients of the Holy Spirit and similarly entered into His rest?
Only those who have entered into this rest and joy of the Spirit can fully
appreciate it.
Now let us glance at the Sabbath Year. Every seventh year the land had its
rest. And seven times seven (forty-nine) brought them up to the fiftieth
year, or the Year of Jubilee, in which year all debts were canceled and
each Israelite returned to his own inheritance. It was a year of rest,
peace, joy. that Jubilee pictures the glorious Restitution Times of
Messiah's Kingdom, which, we believe, are nigh, even at the door. When
these times will be ushered in, all faithful new creatures will have
reached the heavenly condition, to be forever with the Lord. Their rest
(Sabbath-keeping) will have reached its completion, its perfection, and
throughout that antitypical Jubilee the blessings of Divine favor will be
gradually extended to the whole world, that every creature desirous of
coming into harmony with God may enter into the rest which God has provided
for the poor, groaning creation through the great Redeemer.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SABBATH
From what we have already seen it is manifest that God has put no Sabbath
obligations upon the Christian -- neither for the seventh day nor for any
other day of the week. He has, however, provided for him a rest in the
Lord, which is typified by the Jewish Sabbath Day. Do we ask upon which
day we should celebrate this rest? We answer that we should be in this
heart attitude of joy, rest, peace in the Lord and in His finished work,
every day. So, then, the Christian, instead of having a Sabbath rest day,
as the Jew, has rest perpetual -- every day. And instead of its being
merely a rest for his body, it is better -- a rest for his soul, a rest for
his entire being. It can be enjoyed wherever he may be, for his is the
constant rest of faith. This is the spiritual antitype to the spiritual
Israelites, of the Law Sabbath given to the natural Israelites. Whoever
quibbles for the Sabbath Day of the Jew show clearly that he has not
understood nor appreciated as yet, to the full at least, the antitypical
Sabbath which God provided for spiritual Israel through Christ.
But is there not a compulsion to the Christian to observe one day in the
week sacred to the Lord? Yes, we answer; there is an obligation upon him
such as there is upon no one else in the world. He is obligated by his
covenant to the Lord to keep every day sacred to the Lord. Every day he is
to love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his mind, with all
his being, with all his strength; every day he is to love his neighbor as
himself. And while striving to the best of his ability to conform to this
spirit of the Divine Law, and while realizing that the blood of Jesus
Christ our Redeemer cleanses us from all the imperfections contrary to our
intentions -- these may rest in the peace and joy of the Lord continually.
"We which have believed do enter into rest."