Old Testament Sabbath
Genesis 2: 1 – 2 NLT So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
There are three points to note here:
1: Creation was complete so there was no more to do so He rested (ceased or desisted from His works of creating.
2: God blessed the Sabbath, but we have no indication from any scriptures that He gave any commands to anyone to observe it until He gave them to Moses on Mount Sanai.
3: God declared the Sabbath Holy, a day of relationship with Him.
Genesis 15: 6 NLT 6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Abraham was not declared righteous because he observed the Sabbath or any other law but because he believed and trusted God. Then as now our righteousness is not earned or warranted, it is a gift from God that He grants to us based on our trust in Him.
NOTE: In the 2500+ years from Creation until God met Moses on Mount Sanai and gave him the 10 Commandments, we don’t have any instruction to observe the Sabbath or any Biblical record of anyone observing the Sabbath. That don’t mean they didn’t. We also only have record of only 2 accounts of animal sacrifices offered up to the LORD. One was Abel and the other was Abraham when God provided a ram instead of Abraham’s son Isaac, and that was by God’s personal instruction to Abraham. But somehow, they and Noah knew which animals were clean for eating and sacrifice, so maybe God had given those personal instructions to Adam and they were passed down through the generations.
Exodus 20: 8 – 11 NLT 8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
This 4th of the Ten Commandments is part of God’s covenant with the people of Israel not with the Gentiles and the rest of the world. In order for the Gentiles to come under that covenant they would have to be proselyted into the Jewish faith. It was a special day of REST that God gave to His people that the rest of the world didn’t experience. God promised that if they would accept His provision of rest, that He would provide their needs and make their work so much more fruitful that they would thrive because they observed His rest. It was an act of faith and trust in their God to provide their needs in 6 days of working rather than laboring on their own to try to provide all their own needs.
Leviticus 23: 1 – 14 NLT 9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. 11 On the day after the Sabbath, (first day of the week – emphasis added) the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. 12 On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering. 14 Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. This passage follows immediately after the instructions for observing of the Passover. The Passover Sabbath would have been the Saturday Jesus was in the tomb. So, Jesus resurrected from the dead on the day of the Celebration of First Fruits thus He became the first fruits of those who would rise from the dead into eternal life with Him. Remember this is a covenant between God and the nation of Israel.
NOTE: There are a number of other scriptural instructions on the Sabbath in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that include these same details.
Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath
Matthew 12: 1 – 8NLT At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”
3 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
Jesus was the creator of the universe and the author of the Law given to Moses on Mount Sanai, therefore He was the LORD of the Sabbath.
Mark 2: 27 – 28 NLT 27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people. It was a provision of rest and worship. People were not made to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. People were created on the 6th day of creation before the Sabbath. God rested on the 7th day and declared it as holy.
Matthew 5: 17 – 19 NLT 17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The purpose of the law was achieved through Jesus’ death and resurrection, therefore it is fulfilled and no longer binding to the believer. It is true that Jesus didn’t abolish the Law, but that doesn’t mean it is required for us to follow it today. The Law was a covenant between God and the people of Israel up till the time of Christ. Jesus’ sacrificial death fulfilled all the Old Testament Covenant, not just the sacrifices but the Sabbath requirements as well. Jesus death instituted a new covenant and when He resurrected from the dead on the first day of the week, it was also on the holy day of the Celebration of First Fruits and everyone who is born again is born into that new covenant so we celebrate that relationship on the first day of the week.
Matthew 11: 28 – 30 NLT 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus becomes our sabbath rest when we partner with Him in fulfillment of the Sabbath requirements of the Law.
Apostles on the Day of Worship
Acts 13: 14 – 16 NLT 14 But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. 15 After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.” 16 So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.
Paul and Barnabas went to worship on the Sabbath perhaps because they were still primarily taking the gospel to the Jews first and that’s when they knew they would be gathered together.
Acts 16: 13 – 15 NLT 13 On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. 14 One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.
Paul and the missionaries went on the Sabbath to seek out Jewish believers in God to share Jesus with them maybe because they knew they would be gathered on the Sabbath.
Acts 17: 2 – 4 NLT 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
Acts 18: 4 NLT 4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.
Acts 20: 7 NLT 7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight.
The believers gathered on the first day of the week to celebrate Jesus death and resurrection.
Romans 10 1 – 5 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. 5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.
You cannot become right with God by doing anything such as obeying the Law, that would also include observing the Sabbath. Jesus accomplished the purpose for which the Law was given, that would include the Sabbath. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.
Romans 14: 5 – 6 NLT 5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him.
Every day is acceptable for worship. No single day is more important than another. You shouldn’t violate your convictions about which day you worship.
1 Corinthians 16: 1 – 2 NLT Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. 2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
It is apparent that they gathered on the 1st day of the week to worship, and when they gathered, they were to bring their offerings.
2 Corinthians 3: 4 – 6 NLT 4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.
The new covenant is not written laws but a covenant that is certified by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.
Galatians 2: 16 NLT 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. Note: (no one will be made with God by obeying the Law) (We are only made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ)
Galatians 2: 17 – 21 NLT 17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Note: (to rebuild the old system of the Law, which includes the Sabbath, is a sin) (if we bind ourselves to the Law, which includes the Sabbath, we treat the grace of God as meaningless)
Colossians 2: 16 – 17 NLT 16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.
The Sabbath’s rest were just a shadow of the rest we experience in Jesus – He is our rest.
Hebrews 8: 10 – 13 NLT 10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: Iwill put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. 12 And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” 13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
The old covenant is obsolete because Jesus fulfilled all its demands by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. We are now under the new covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus)
Revelation 1: 10 NLT 10 It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.
Even though John was banished on the Island of Patmos by himself, he was worshipping on the Lord’s Day. The apostles referred to the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day because that was the day He rose from the dead.
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