The Sabbath begins...

I picked "Does not matter." We are free from the law.

-Neil

 

The Sabbath has and always will be Friday night to Saturday night. Isaiah 66:23 "and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord"

There is no instruction whatsoever in the Bible that the Lords day is the Sabbath or a replacement of it. Acts 13 clearly shows the early church meeting and evangalising on the Jewish Sabbath.

 

The Jewish sabbath is the last day of the week.
But what was the symbolism (the type)? The works of the Law were to continue until the time of rest from the Law. Christ came to offer that rest.
The Christian sabbath began on the first day of the week when Jesus Christ rose from the dead and it has continued every day (not just Sundays) since that time. The antitype fulfilled that type. We now rest from the law, because Christ has finished the work of redemption. It was symbolically appropriate that He rose on the first day of the week--leaving us no work to do to accomplish our redemption for the rest of the "week".
So it's not that there is no sabbath now, but rather, we live in Christ's sabbath rest. So yes, it does matter when the sabbath is.

In Christ,

Tim

 

Yet the early church is not shown in the Bible as keeping any other Sabbath in place of the traditional Sabbath. There is no scripture that states that there is a Christian Sabbath that begins on the day of Christs Ressurection.

 

Ben, there is no mention of a "Christian Sabbath" because there is no such thing.

We do read that in Hebrews 4, we have entered into God's sabbath by faith in Christ.

Besides, the sabbath was not made for God, but for man. Since God is not dealing with National Israel, it is meaningless to us.

 

All the Sabbath days along with all the other cerimonial days and laws were nailed to the cross(Col.2:14-17).

 

The Sabbath was given to all people as Gods Seventh Day Rest at Creation Gen 2:3

Isaiah 66:23 Shows the Church keeping the Jwish Sabbath in Prophecy.

Rev 14:12 Shows that Gods 10 Commandments are still valid and go hand and hand with faith in Christ.

 

God rested on the Seventh Day. The Jewish Sabbath is a celebration of the seventh day, but it is not THE seventh day. We don't know what day the seventh day was, but it's important that we observe a Sabbath. For Christians, that day is Sunday by tradition, but there is no requirement that Sunday be our Sabbath.

However, I will disagree with my Christian brethren who say we don't need to observe the Sabbath at all. God designed the human body to require at least one full day of rest every seven days. To assure that we rest one day in seven, God gave us the 4th commandment.

In Japan, there's a word for people who work every day without resting. Translated into English, the words is "to work oneself to death".

Resting one day in seven is a Biblical requirement. Therefore, out of obedience to God, and out of respect for by body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit, I will utilize Sunday as my day of rest.

 

And in some countries there is a siesta to insure resting every day. I wish I lived in one of those countries.

So are you saying John that a person should take one day of rest in seven, but it doesn't matter what day it is?

I wonder how much rest would be Biblical? I know that some of my Jewish friends do not even drive a car on the Sabath. So....hmmmm.

I work every day. I guess I'm not observant of the Sabath.

 

The Ten Commandments requires the keeping of the Sabbath day. But Paul tells us that we should not be judged by the sabbath day which we keep. So yes, from that, I gather that we are to rest, but there is no requirement to rest on a certain day. Traditionally, worshippers who prescribe a day of rest do so on the day they worship, so for us, resting on Sundays is most common.

Orthodox Jews take the rest very seriously, not even using machinery, and spending much of the day in prayer and reflection. Reformed Jews, however, simply refrain from work, as well as things like chores and entertainment (no going to the Mall or theme parks on the Sabbath). While I don't think such adherence is a necessity, it's certainly worth noting. I've instilled into my kids that their homeworks and chores must be done before they go to bed Saturday evening. On Sunday, we'll go to church, and then either relax at home, or enjoy spending the rest of the day with each other in a liesurely or relaxing endeavor (and yes, shopping and theme parks can be relaxing ).

I think you've pretty much described most of us I think it's important that we make the effort to rest. But how we rest is up to us, as each person is different.

 

Preachers work every "sabbath" day (Sunday), but traditionally take Mondays off as our day of rest.

I think, in the sabbath, is built in the need for the body to rest from regular labour. Then the law adds, "remember the sabbath, to keep it holy. So added to the physical rest of creation, we have the need for spiritual attention on this particular day. From this concept comes the old saying of "body and soul"...this was a Puritan reference to the Sabbath.

Cheers,

Jim

 

the Spirit of the Law is what is important, yes!


The actual letter of the Law is that the Sabbath was, is, and always will be from evening of Friday until evening of Saturday...but there is no condemnation for anyone who chooses another day or even skips it according to Romans 14. EVERY day should be a day for worship! Amen?

However, there is a reason for the Sabbath commandment. Since our Creator understands His creation, it seems like it would do us good to follow the instructions in the Owners Manual and take a day off

I'm not sure it doesn't matter "at all" which day but it certainly isn't worth fighting over.

I went to Israel 2 years ago and stayed in a hotel in Jerusalem. When the Sabbath came, jews piled into the hotels where the arab employees did everything. Some of this stuff is ridiculous...they have a Sabbath elevator that stops at every floor so you don't have to push a button....they pre-cut toilet paper for the Sabbath. They can wear a coat but they can't carry it if it gets too hot. Stuff like that.

Yet just down the street the 4th floor of the Versailles hotel had fallen under the weight of a wedding celebration and many people were trapped under the rubble. They lifted many concrete and wooden burdens in an effort to get those people and corpses out. Just as Jesus said about getting one's donkey out of ditch on the Sabbath...

However, we the church could learn a couple of good lessons about Sabbath from the jews.

At evening on Friday in this hotel, dozens, maybe a hundred men got together on the back courtyard and began singing and dancing together. Their children all played together and swam in the pool while their wives all congregated around the kids. They were having a blast with each other! I envied the kind of joy they had. It went on late into the night...and the next morning they were all walking to the synagogue to study and learn...which went on all day.

How much could the church benefit from taking every Friday evening to hang out with each other and just have fun? What would happen if we spent all day in Bible study?


I realize that seems a bit much to our western "get it done in a hurry" mentality but we might have a higher quality of life and fewer health problems if we slowed down a little.

 

It is a good question, how do we know that Saturday is the actual day of the traditional Jewish Sabbath. We know that as a Jew Jesus kept the Sabbath on Saturday, we know that He was without sin, hence that was the correct day.

 

If you asked the religious authorities of that day, you would find that they didn't think Jesus kept the Sabbath to the letter of the Law.

I don't trust anyone who makes it a "legal" burden....and I happen to be observant of the Sabbath and Feast Days.

We should have grace toward those who don't see this exactly as we do...and we should be able to receive the same grace as well.


The Sabbath doesn't save me or sanctify me. Never has, never will...

 

You're right about choosing another day, but Romans 14 does not say it's okay to skip the Sabbath entirely.

Of course, but the Sabbath day commandment was primarily about resting, not about worshipping.

Exactly!!!

I agree. The Jewish devotion to obedience is certainly worthy of merit, and something we could learn from.

 

What if you can't take a single day off in a particular week? Does this condemn you?