Bishop's Epistle: CHRISTIANITY AND THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH, Chapter One, "Christianity's Association With The 7th Day Sabbath"

Christianity’s Association

With the Seventh Day Sabbath

Christianity is a relationship with the Almighty. In that sense it stands apart from all other religions of the earth. Further, it is relationship which moves Christianity beyond the ground of mere religion. The sacred scriptures of our faith introduce the Creator God as “Father.” This cognomen of the Deity speaks to us of a particular relationship. By contrast: of Islam’s 99 touted names of Allah, not one of them is “Father.”

At the very foundation of the relationship between Christians and their Creator is the inviolable covenant brought into effect by the death of its Testator. (Heb 9:6, for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.)

Yahweh, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, foretold of this great covenant when that prophet wrote: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: …” (Jeremiah 31:31-32). From this we are to understand that the Mosaic Covenant from Mt Sinai was never intended to be permanent. But was only a schoolmaster to bring us to the Christ of a new and better covenant (Galatians 3:24).

Yahweh is a covenant God. By that we mean that He has chosen to deal with His people through a series of covenants that are agreements (contracts) between Himself and the people with whom He has entered the covenant. Each covenant is different, with diverse agreements and symbols: E.g., the Rainbow was the sign of the Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:13), circumcision for the Abrahamic Covenant (Exodus 31:13, 17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20), the seventh day Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 20:12) and the Holy Eucharist is the sign of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:23-33; Acts 20:7). The superiority of the New Covenant (the Christians’ covenant), over all covenants that came before, is attested by the eternal life of its Testator, who died—but is alive forevermore (Hebrews 8:6-13; 10:16-17; 12:24; 13:20).

In a work, such as the one we are embarking upon, where we are examining the sacred days of the faith, it behoves us to determine what relationship Christians should have, if any, with the sacred day/days of the former Mosaic Covenant. Especially when the Word of God is clear that the New Covenant of the Christians has abrogated the former.

The letter to the Hebrews states: “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13). Here, “old” means to abrogate, annul, be antiquated, no longer in force, to be obsolete, out of date.

Further, in the parable of old and new cloth and wineskins - (bottles [KJV], are wineskins, Matthew 9:14-17; Mark 2:22-26; Luke 5: 36-39), Jesus foretells the abolition of the Old Covenant from Mt. Sinai and its complete replacement with the New Covenant from Mt. Calvary. The old garment and wineskins symbolize the Old Covenant under the law of Moses, which kept everyone bound in bondage to sin. The Old Covenant was powerless to save (cf Romans 3:20; 7:14-23; 1 Corinthians 15:56-57). In using the principles of new cloth as a patch upon an old garment tearing away more, and new wine bursting old wineskins, Jesus made it clear that He would not be patching up the worn-out Old Covenant, but that He would be replacing it in its entirety with a completely New Covenant (cf Luke 4:17-21; Romans 3:21-22; Galatians 3:22-26).

The Seventh Day Sabbath’s Relationship With the Mosaic Covenant

The keeping of the Sabbath was not known to God’s people before the giving of the Law by Moses. Nehemiah, speaking to God concerning Israel, says: [You gave] “right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses your servant” (Nehemiah 9:13-14). Yahweh, himself, stated the same: “Moreover also I gave them [Israel] my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctifies them” (Ezekiel 20:12).

The relationship, then, between the Sabbath and the Mosaic Covenant was that it was “a sign” to the people of that particular covenant, i.e. the Israelites. We should review this most important passage from Exodus: “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: "Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:13-17, NKJV).

The Sabbath was a visible sign to test Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 16:4-5, Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. 5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.). The only way the Sabbath could be a sign is if it was unique to Israel, and unique to the Mosaic Covenant. If it was universal, or predated the Mosaic Covenant, it was not unique, and could hardly be classified as a unique sign between Yahweh and Israel. The seventh day rest as the sign of the covenant explains why the penalty for profaning the Sabbath—death—was so severe (Exodus 31:14; Numbers 15:32-36; Jeremiah 17:19-27). Israel's observance of the Sabbath indicated her loyalty to Yahweh, while breaking the Sabbath indicated her treachery against Yahweh and His covenant.

Another relationship between the Mosaic Covenant and the seventh day Sabbath was that the observance of the Sabbath rest was to remind the Israelites they were slaves in Egypt, but are now delivered. Deuteronomy 5:15 declares: "And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (NKJV). It is a true saying that: “Anytime we read the word ‘therefore’ we should determine what it is there for.” So, then, taking that advise we determine that the Israelites were commanded to keep the Sabbath because they were slaves ‘in the land of Egypt, and the LORD” (their) “God brought” (them) “out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.” This text from Deuteronomy marries the seventh day Sabbath to the deliverance from Egypt. Whereas, in Egypt the Israelites were forced to work everyday with no rest, each seventh day the Israelites would now be able to rest from their labors. Every Sabbath rest reminded Israel that God is an emancipator, a liberator, bringing rest to His people. It must be acknowledged that if the Sabbath was a universal and perpetual command from creation, it could not be given to remind Israel of the Exodus. The Sabbath could only be a reminder of the Exodus from slavery if it was something new and unique, originating after the children of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt. This physical rest presaged the spiritual rest of the New Covenant. Because the Israelites failed to learn this lesson, their Mosaic Covenant was abolished along with its sign.

(A word should be said here, parenthetically, concerning the seventh day Sabbath and the seventh day rest of Yahweh at the end of the creation week (Gen. 2:2-3, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.). Some may suggest that the Creator instituted the Sabbath from the very beginning of creation and enjoined it upon all men. To take such a position is to read into the Genesis text what is simply not there. All that one is able to say for certain from Genesis 2:2-3 is that Moses is making an observation that God ceased His creative work on the seventh day. The rest ascribed to Yahweh in this text is a qualified rest. The Creator of the universe did not cease from His activity of being Father to His creation; there was no halt to His work of Sustainer of all He had made. When Jesus and His disciples broke the Jewish Sabbath by harvesting grain on this day [Mark 2:23-24], or healing and instructing a man to carry his bed on the Sabbath day, Christ pointed out that His Father never stopped working on this day, nor did He [John 6;16-18]. Moreover, Jesus pointed out that the priests worked on the Sabbath [working in and about the temple apparatus and performing circumcision], thereby, profaning the day themselves [Matthew 12:5; John 7:22-23]. Further, the context of this first biblical mention of a seventh day rest must be considered: Moses is writing this AFTER the Decalogue had been given and the seventh day Sabbath command of the 4th Commandment would have been fresh on his mind. So, for him to make a connection between the rest enjoined upon the Hebrew people and the rest of the Almighty from His creative work would have been a natural connection to make; albeit, the two rests are of a different nature and for different reasons. Yahweh’s rest on the seventh day of creation was partial [only from creative activity—Genesis 2:2]; the rest enjoined on the Hebrews was total [no work at all—Exodus 31:13-17]. Yahweh’s reason for resting was to cease from creation until the time of the New Creation; the reason for the rest enjoined on the Hebrews was as a sign of Yahweh’s special covenant with them [Exodus 31:17] and a reminder to them of their former state as slaves and of their great deliverance [Deuteronomy 5:15].

Some, desiring to be in bondage to the letter, and not the Spirit, point to the phrase of the 4th Commandment which says “Remember the Sabbath day …” and assert the existence of a Sabbath Law before the Decalogue. This, in our opinion, is an attempt to make too much of a natural idiom. The word “remember” in this sense most likely means “be mindful.” By way of example a parent may say to a child, when first giving instructions of how to safely across a street: “Remember to look both ways before starting across.” By this the parent is not assuming that the child has crossed a street before and instructing the child to remember the former event. No. The parent is simply saying, “Be mindful to look both ways.” The 4th Commandment, then, is saying, “Be mindful of the Sabbath … .” The 4th Commandment is the very first time in human history that God’s people are given instructions on what it means to keep the Sabbath. Here is given, to the people of God, something unique for a particular people and time.)

Since the sign of the Mosaic covenant (the seventh day Sabbath) was particular to that covenant, once the Mosaic Covenant was abolished the sign of the covenant was also abolished with it: “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; …” (Ephesians 2:15). The New Testament is very clear that we no longer need to keep the seventh day Sabbath, because it was only a shadow of the rest we were to receive in Christ: “So let no one judge you … regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are” (were) “a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). To those who would suggest that the “sabbaths” of this text reference the extra sabbaths of the feast days, we would counter: Not likely, because the sabbaths of the feast days are referenced in the text by “So let no one judge you … regarding a festival or a new moon… .” So, then, the admonition of Paul that the Christian “let no one judge you (him/her)… regarding … sabbaths,” has the weekly 7th day Sabbaths in view. In very fact, the Apostle Paul teaches that the Christian who is strong in the faith will most likely not keep one day above another, but will esteem every day alike (see Romans 14:1-2, 5, 22).

On the subject to the true REST, see the letter to the Hebrews, were Christians are admonished to: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 … but the word which they heard did not profit them (the Hebrews), not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath,‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” .… 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:1-11 NKJV, see also Romans 14:5-6; Galatians 4:10-11.)

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This has been Chapter One of a two chapter series on how the Christian should respond to the 7th day Sabbath. Be sure to continue on to Chapter Two at the link provided here:

Christianity's Association With The 7th Day Sabbath, Chapter Two
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/07/christianity-and-seventh-day-sabbath_1.html

Apologia is a polemical work of apologetics in the defense of Christian sacred days. Our focus is Sunday worship, Easter and Christmas. There has been little written in the line of a strong apologia for the observance to the traditional times. Bishop Hayes offers his work "Apologia, A Defense of Christian Sacred Days" to meet that need. This book establishes why Christians have observed Sunday as their primary day of worship right out of the gate. Also, within the pages of "Apologia" the reader will discover the true meaning of the terms 'Easter" and "Christmas". Both terms have come under sustained attack in recent years from an element that is antagonistic to traditional Christianity. Bishop Jerry L Hayes comes to the defense of historical Christianity in this work that is destined to become a classic. We know you will want to recommend "Apologia, A Defense of Christian Sacred Days" to all your friends and family.
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