Should Christians "Keep the Sabbath"?
Halcyon Days of Summer by Kirk Durston and DALL-E3
Recently, I’ve encountered some who identify as Christians, but who believe it is also important to live by the Old Testament laws, especially in observing the Sabbath. To clarify what “observing the Sabbath” means, the law given to Moses at Mt. Sinai stipulated that the seventh day of the week was to be set apart by doing absolutely no physical work. In modern terms, the seventh day of the week is Saturday.
A common argument for “keeping the Sabbath” is that if Christians still believe we should obey the ten commandments, then it follows that we should keep the fourth, which is to “keep the Sabbath”
But is there a new Sabbath that we should keep instead?
In general, we are told that the laws given at Mt. Sinai (also referred to as “The Torah”), were a “shadow” of a new, eternal covenant. For example, the feast of Passover in the Torah was a foreshadowing of Christ as the real passover lamb. This former feast has been fulfilled in the New Testament by Jesus Christ and we now celebrate it as something we call “the Lord’s Supper”—also known as Communion. Another example is the Feast of the Harvest of First Fruits to celebrate the beginning of the grain harvest. This, too, was a foreshadowing of the beginning of the ultimate harvest of human souls into the Kingdom of God, which began on the Feast of the Harvest of First Fruits in AD 33, also known as the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. On this feast day, the Church began, with 3,000 people putting their faith in Jesus Christ, marking the beginning of a great harvest which continues to this day.
Even the golden lamp stand with seven lamps, standing before the Holy of Holies within which dwelt the presence of God above the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant, was a symbol or “shadow” of the seven Spirits of God, who are before the throne of God in heaven, as we see in Revelation 1:4, 4:5, and 5:6.
It is the same with the Old Covenant Sabbath, the fourth command in the ten commandments. It, too, was a foreshadowing of the eternal, New Covenant Sabbath spoken of in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, which we shall look at shortly.
Christ and the ten commandments:
The centrepiece of the Old Covenant given at Mt Sinai was the ten commandments, as we see in Exodus 34:28 where it says, “And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.” No one kept the ten commandments more rigorously than the Pharisees, but Jesus made a shocking statement in his famous sermon on the mount, summarized in Matthew chapters 5-7, when he said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
He went on to state that he requires a standard far higher than the ten commandments and illustrated his point by making a series of statements including the phrase, “you have heard it said”, referring to the Torah, followed by, “but I say to you”, where he stated his own, much higher, standards
For example, the ten commandments forbade a person from physically sleeping with someone they were not married to, but Christ raised the bar when he stated that even lusting after a woman in the privacy of one's own mind is adultery. (1)
Another example of how Christ’s requirements were far higher than the mere “letter of the law” dealt with the command that one was not permitted to physically murder an innocent person. But in the New Covenant, even hating someone is murder. (2)
In each case, we observe that the kind of life God desires us to live is according to a standard far higher than the ten commandments, because he calls us to an obedience that stems from our very heart and inner perspectives, attitudes, and desires. In fact, the two ultimate commands are that we should love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and love our neighbour as ourself. If God is making those two commands a reality in our lives, then we will exceed the minimum requirements of the ten commandments in the Old Covenant.
What was the purpose of the Torah?
Since, according to Christ’s shocking statement, righteousness (or right-standing before God) could not be obtained by keeping all the commands of the Torah, as the Pharisees assumed, then what was its purpose? The purpose was two-fold:
to show that since no human being could even keep the minimum standard God gave at Mt. Sinai, therefore, “no human being will be justified in his sight.” (3) Thus, a new, eternal covenant is necessary.
to prophetically point to a new, eternal covenant that God would one day establish through Jesus Christ, not like the covenant made at Mt. Sinai, which Israel broke. (4) The festivals and the Sabbath as commanded at Mt. Sinai, were explicitly stated to be a “shadow” of “things to come”, but Christ is the “substance”, or the reality that the Old Testament festivals and Sabbath pointed to. (5)
The old and new Sabbath:
Although Christ revealed that the bar of holiness and obedience to God is far higher for nine out of the ten commandments, there was one commandment that Christ was accused of breaking in two different ways. We find out later (6) that Christ’s relaxed attitude toward the Sabbath as described in the Torah was because the Sabbath in the Torah was only a shadow of a new, eternal Sabbath, which we will discuss shortly.
Two examples:
1) When Christ healed people of their diseases, he was viewed by some religious leaders as breaking the Sabbath. Christ’s response was that he was not, in fact, breaking the Sabbath – rather, it was entirely permissible to help an animal or a person in need on the Sabbath.
2) Christ was accused of allowing his disciples to do what was “not lawful” on the Sabbath (7) when they were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath and picking and eating grain. Under the Old Covenant, one was not even permitted to gather manna or pick up sticks on the Sabbath. (8) Christ’s response is very different from what we observe in the first example above. Instead of showing that picking and eating grain on the Sabbath is fine, he agreed that it was not “lawful”, but pointed out two things. First, he explained, using David’s eating of the holy bread, that there are times when a higher need mitigates doing what would normally be unlawful. Second, Christ stated that he is “Lord of the Sabbath” and that he made the Sabbath for men, not men for the Sabbath. Thus, he has the authority to decree what activities on the Sabbath that are normally unlawful are, for the benefit of human beings, fine to do..
This is highly unusual indeed! For nine of the commandments, Christ revealed that the actual bar is vastly higher than the ten commandments. However, for the fourth commandment, this is not the case—at least for the type of Sabbath instituted under the Old Covenant.
Later on, in Romans 14:5, the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, states, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” This is a general statement that not only applied to the Sabbath, but to all the special days described in the Law (Torah).
More specifically, in Colossians 2:16-17 we are told, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” What is being stated here is that we are free from all aspects of the law, including the keeping of the Old Testament Sabbath as described in the law. No one is to judge the followers of Christ in this regard, since they are set free from the works of the law by Christ. Furthermore, the Sabbath as described in the law was only a “shadow” of something to come, but the “reality” which that shadow pointed towards, is a new kind of Sabbath through Jesus Christ.
So the question is, what is this New Covenant Sabbath for which the old covenant Sabbath is a mere, prophetic “shadow”?
The New Covenant Sabbath:
The book of Hebrews gives us an extensive comparison between the Old Covenant and the New, helping us to understand why the Old Covenant is “obsolete” for the authentic Christian. (9) It is within this discussion that God describes a new, eternal Sabbath rest, beginning in chapter 3 verse 7 and culminating in chapter 4, verse 10. In this passage, God uses the exodus from Egypt as a foreshadowing of our exodus from the kingdom of death into the Kingdom of God, where Egypt represents our life before putting our faith in Christ, the wilderness represents the troubles and trials of this life, and the promised land represents the Kingdom of God and eternity.
The culmination of this explanation of the New Covenant Sabbath occurs in Hebrews 4:8-10 where it states,
“For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”
In this passage, God makes it clear that He is not talking about resting from physical labours on the seventh day of the week. Rather, He is talking about a continual, eternal state of resting from the works of the Law by entering the Kingdom of God through salvation by faith which is a “free gift of God, not a result of works.” (10)
The New Covenant Sabbath is defined by resting from any attempt to enter the Kingdom of God through the works of the law. Instead, Christ has fulfilled the requirement of the law - which is death. And by rising from the dead, he is able to offer us salvation by faith, not of works.
Bottom line: Hebrews introduces a New Covenant Sabbath that will last for all eternity. The Old Covenant Sabbath of resting from physical work one day per week, was a foreshadowing of the New Covenant Sabbath of resting from the works of the Torah, or somehow working our way into a right standing before God, and eternal life. Thus, the fourth command was pointing to God’s eternal rest from works of the law by salvation through faith in Christ; it is a “free gift of God, not a result of works.” (10)
What about a day of rest from our regular weekly work?
Jesus answered this question when he stated that the Sabbath (both Old and New) was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. In other words, it is for our own benefit to both take a break from work one day a week, as well as to “be diligent” to set aside the works of the Law and enter Christ’s eternal, Sabbath rest from works of the law. There are no extra points of righteousness given to a person who takes one day a week off, but there are physical and mental benefits to do so.
As for which day of the week we take off, Romans 14:5 emphasizes that it really does not matter which day of the week we take off, and Colossians 2:16,17 indicates that no one must judge anyone else for which day they take off. For example, Christians in countries where Islam is the religion, take Friday off. In Israel today, Christians take Saturday off, and throughout the remainder of Christendom, it is Sunday, or whenever they can arrange to do so. There are people who are required to work on Sunday or Saturday, but can take some other day off instead. The Scriptures clearly state that that is perfectly fine, as each person sees best. (11)
What about church?
Attending church is not about keeping the Old Covenant Sabbath. Faithful attendance at church is about coming together with our church family each week for the joy of mutually encouraging one another, (12) corporately worshiping our Lord together, and learning more through the teachings of the Scriptures. This is of the greatest importance, and God has told us not to forsake our gathering together, especially as the day of the return of Christ draws near, emphasizing the need for mutual encouragement in the faith. (12) Christians throughout the centuries have met together in local churches around the world for almost two thousand years. In Israel Saturday is the day of rest, in Muslim countries it is Friday, and in most countries it is Sunday - the first day of the week. As mentioned earlier, what day God’s children meet each week may depend upon the country they live in. For those who are able, it is also the day that Christians rest from their regular work, not because they are “keeping the Sabbath,” but because Christ knows how much we benefit from resting from our labours, as well as meeting together with our spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ.
Warning:
Hebrews 4:11 exhorts the Christian to “strive” or “make every effort” to enter the New Covenant Sabbath rest, specifically, from the works of the Old Testament Law. This continual and eternal Sabbath rest means that we must be diligent to not fall back into keeping the Old Covenant Law. To turn back to the Law is to devalue what Christ has done. It is to be distracted by the “shadow” of the Old Covenant Sabbath, rather than focus on the real, eternal Sabbath that the shadow represented. This is of such great importance that in the book of Galatians, it states that those who go back to keeping the law are “severed from Christ” and “fallen from grace.” (13). Let us “let us therefore strive to enter that rest, as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:11)
References:
Matthew 5:27 - 28.
1 John 3:15
Romans 3:20
Jeremiah 31:31, 32
Hebrews 10:1 and Colossians 2:16-17
Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, as well as Colossians 2:17
Mark 2:23-28
Numbers 15:32-36
Hebrews 8:13
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 14:5
Hebrews 3:12-13 and Hebrews 10:24-25
Galatians 5:4
