KC Tsai—Toronto, Canada
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He
rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed
the seventh day and sanctified it” (Gen 2:2–3a). Jesus also said: “The Sabbath
was made for man” (Mk 2:27b). Everything done by God carries a significant
purpose, but many Christians today cannot see the importance of the Sabbath.
Some view the Sabbath as part of the Jewish law, which has been phased out and,
thus, not pertinent to them. Unbelievably, some others do not even know what
the Sabbath is.
ADDRESSING MISCONCEPTIONS
Has the Lord’s Day Replaced the Sabbath?
Today, many Christian denominations observe the
“Lord’s Day” instead of the Sabbath. Observed on Sunday, the first day of the
week, the Lord's Day is the principal day of worship and the weekly memorial of
Jesus Christ’s resurrection. But is it right to
replace the Sabbath with Sunday? Is there any biblical evidence to support this
change?
First of all, we must understand that even
though the Lord Jesus indeed resurrected on the first day of the week (Lk
24:1), He is the eternal God who could not be held by death (Acts 2:24). There
is no basis for making the day of the Lord’s resurrection (the first day of the
week) superior to the Sabbath day (the last day of the week), which God had
established in His eternity. Removing the observance of the Sabbath in our walk
of faith is a misinterpretation of God’s eternal purpose. After all, it is
because of His unmeasurable love that He made the Sabbath for man.
Second, the phrase “the Lord’s Day” is only
mentioned once in the Bible.
I was in
the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a
trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and,
“What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in
Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea.” (Rev 1:10–11)
The apostle John had been exiled to the island
of Patmos for “the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev
1:9). Taken by the Spirit to a day near the Lord’s coming, he saw the state of
the seven churches of Asia Minor during the end times. That is a day destined
by the Lord. The loud voice behind him belonged to the Lord Jesus; John was to
record everything that he had seen in a book and deliver it to the seven
churches.
The Lord’s Day does not refer to a certain day
of the week. It could be any day of the week, or it may point to a certain
“time.” For example, the Lord said:
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons
in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to
them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Lk
7:22–23, emphasis added)
“That day” refers to the day the Lord will execute judgment. The
“Lord’s Day,” as recorded in the Book of Revelation, has the same meaning.
In summary, there is no biblical basis for
changing the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, established by God at the
time of creation, to an observance of the Lord’s Day on the first day of the
week.
Are All Days the Same?
One person
esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be
fully convinced in his own mind. (Rom 14:5)
Some people use this verse to argue that the
Sabbath should not be esteemed above any other day—that all days should be
esteemed the same. However, contextually, this verse is not about the Sabbath.
It is about how some Jews still observed days of fasting or abstained from
meat, even after believing in the Lord Jesus.
In fact, it was God who set the seventh day
apart from the other six days:
Thus the
heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the
seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh
day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created
and made. (Gen 2:1–3)
God did not need to rest from His creation. The
Creator neither faints nor is weary (Isa 40:28). Rather, the day of rest was
created for those who work and grow weary. Besides allowing man to rest from
his worldly labor, the Sabbath also allows man to anticipate that promised
Sabbath ahead—the eternal rest in heaven (Heb 4:9–11). In other words, not all
days are the same.
Did Gentile Believers Keep the Sabbath in Apostolic Times?
Many Christians believe that Sabbath observance
is only meant for the chosen people of the Old Testament and that such a
requirement of Mosaic Law does not apply to non-Jewish believers. Is such a
view correct?
“Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And
holds fast My covenant—
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar;
For My
house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
(Isa 56:6–7, emphasis added)
This passage addresses the sons of the
foreigner who hold fast God’s covenant. What covenant would a Gentile have with
God? The Bible says that they were uncircumcised and, as mentioned in
Ephesians, they were “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world” (Eph 2:12). Indeed, in the past, the Gentiles were “strangers
from the covenants of promise.” But at the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup and
said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you”
(Lk 22:20). Through His blood, non-Jewish believers now have a covenant with
the Lord Jesus—a covenant which encompasses keeping the Sabbath!
In the Isaiah passage, God also says, “For My
house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” How can Gentiles
enter the temple of God? Did God not declare through the prophet Ezekiel that
“No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My
sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel” (Ezek 44:9)? In fact, the Jews took this very seriously.
After his third missionary journey, when Paul returned to Jerusalem, he was
arrested and nearly killed by the Jews. They accused Paul of being “the man who
teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and
furthermore, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy
place” (Acts 21:27–29). Because they had seen Paul with Trophimus,
an Ephesian, they assumed that Paul had taken this Gentile into the temple.
Therefore, when Isaiah prophesied that the
temple of God would be a temple of prayer for all nations, this was a reference
to the body of Jesus (Jn 2:21), which is the church established by the Holy
Spirit (Eph 1:23). The Gentile believers of the Lord Jesus have to keep from
defiling the Sabbath and hold fast His covenant.
The elder James concluded at the end of the
Jerusalem Council:
“Therefore I judge that we should
not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we
write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality,
from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many
generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues
every Sabbath.” (Acts 15:19–21, emphasis added)
This verse proves that, in apostolic times,
Gentiles who came to believe in Jesus would listen to the reading of the law
every Sabbath in the synagogue. Today, Christians should also have a holy convocation
on the Sabbath (Lev 23:3), where we serve God with a reverent and quiet heart
and study the teachings of the Bible.
UNDERSTANDING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SABBATH
Keeping the Sabbath Signifies Belonging to God
According to God’s commandments and decrees,
His chosen people kept the Sabbath separate from the nations. God said, “[F]or
it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know
that I am the LORD who sanctifies you” (Ex 31:13). Today, the true church of
God likewise keeps the Sabbath to be separate from the world. Keeping the
Sabbath is also a sign between us and God for countless generations to come.
The true worshippers of God observe the Sabbath to honor His covenant, which
makes them holy.
Today, the Jewish people keep the Sabbath under
the law, whereas we keep the Sabbath under the grace of the Lord Jesus. What is
the difference? How do we keep the Sabbath under the grace of the new covenant?
There are several important aspects of the
Sabbath that we must grasp; these are well summarized in the words of Jesus:
And He
said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27–28)
The Sabbath Was Made for Man
After Adam sinned, the earth was cursed. Thorns
and thistles began to grow out of the earth, and man had to make a living by
the sweat of his face before ultimately returning to dust (Gen 3:18–19). Man’s
life would comprise endless toil and labor. In contrast, Adam’s pre-fall life
in Eden was not one of hard labor or toil, even though he was told to tend the
garden. Man did not have to sweat to make a living, so he did not need a day of
rest from his daily labor. Nevertheless, after six days of creation, God
blessed the seventh day for man. It was indeed marvelous grace prepared long
before man needed it.
Returning to this Edenic state and gaining
access to the tree of life is what we all hope for while living in this world
(Rev 22:14). Those who eat of the tree of life, which is within the heavenly
Jerusalem, will have eternal life. Entering this Jerusalem above grants us our
heavenly Sabbath rest (Heb 4:8–9; 12:22–28, ESV).
God is love, and the Sabbath clearly expresses
God’s love. Not only did God establish a cycle of seven days in a week, He also
prepared one day each week for man to rest. In addition, through this weekly
Sabbath rest, He instills hope for the eternal rest we will enter after ending
our labors in this world.
1. Man was not made for the Sabbath
During Jesus’
earthly ministry, He preached the gospel of the heavenly kingdom and, at times,
healed the sick on the Sabbath. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, were quick
to criticize Him. They pointed to His disciples and questioned, “Look, why do
they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (Mk 2:24). These attacks stemmed
from their dogmatic adherence to literal requirements of the law as if the
Sabbath was more important than the men it was prepared for. Their faith was
bounded by laws and customs, and they were unable to understand the eternal
love behind God’s establishment of the Sabbath. Jesus’ words (Mk 2:27) were
meant to correct this misconception.
2. Keeping the Sabbath under the law
The Israelites were commanded to keep the
Sabbath from generation to generation as an eternal covenant (Ex 31:16–17). It
was to be evidence between them and God, and a reminder that God made them holy
(Ex 31:13). Today, millennia later, the Jewish people still keep the Sabbath by
adhering to the regulations and behavioral boundaries established by their
rabbis; these separate them clearly from the world. In this respect, they are
like a solitary people who dwell alone.
Many people find it difficult to understand
God’s past actions when it comes to Sabbath observance, such as in the example
below:
Now while
the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering
sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him
to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. They put him under guard,
because it had not been explained what should be done to him.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the
congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” So, as the LORD
commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned
him with stones, and he died. (Num 15:32–36)
The Israelites who saw the man gathering sticks
knew it was not right, so they brought him to Moses. However, it was inaccurate
for them to say that “it had not been explained what should be done to him,”
since Moses had already told them much earlier:
“Work shall be done for six days,
but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD.
Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire
throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” (Ex 35:2–3)
The law was clear: whoever kindles fire—which
constitutes work—shall be put to death! But therein lies humankind’s weakness.
They are wont to wonder whether God means what He says—to test God’s stated
boundaries: Is God really serious about His commands? Would He really kill a
person for a seemingly innocuous act?
This incident shows that God’s words are not
uttered meaninglessly or superfluously. He means what He says and does as He
says. This characteristic of God is a great assurance. When Jesus says that the
Sabbath was made for man, this is a promise of the everlasting grace He has
prepared for the world. God’s will is immutable across time and environment.
His counsel stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations (Ps
33:11). This Almighty God is determined to give His children His grace of the
Sabbath, and His sincere regard for all who observe His Sabbath will never fade
away.
Instead of recognizing the deep underlying love
of God in the Numbers 15 incident, many people only see the cruelty and
unforgiveness of God. Reconsider the incident from this perspective. The man
who went out to collect sticks was signaling his unwillingness to enjoy the
Sabbath. He despised the mercy and love of God. Like a loving parent who
chastens the erring child to teach and protect his other children, God would
not allow one man’s ignorance and negligence to cause His Sabbath to be
despised by others and the grace in Sabbath to diminish.
The chosen people in the Old Testament saw
similar severe punishments throughout their history. They failed to experience
the love of God in Sabbath observance. Instead, they developed a sense of
insecurity and fear regarding the Sabbath. The apostle John said, “There is no
fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.
But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 Jn 4:18). The Lord Jesus
came to the world to remove such fears through His grace of salvation on the
cross.
And you,
being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made
alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out
the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.
And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having
disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or
regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are
a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Col 2:13-17, emphasis added)
The Bible says that “he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut 21:23b).
Our Lord Jesus was hanged on the cross for us. By being hanged, He redeemed us
from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (Gal 3:13). His
atonement wiped out the handwriting of the requirements of the law against us.
Festivals are held once a year, the new moon
once a month, and the Sabbath once a week. Under the Mosaic Law, there were
ordinances of sacrifices designated for these occasions. But these ordinances
had been wiped out by the redemption of the Lord Jesus. However, the Sabbath
did not emerge when the Ten Commandments and God’s statutes and judgments were
decreed. It came immediately after the six days of creation. This is the
Sabbath under the grace of the Lord Jesus, which the True Jesus Church keeps
and remembers today.
3. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath
Therefore, the Sabbath is a servant of the Lord
Jesus, serving Him and obeying His commands. It is the Lord Jesus Who decides
how man should keep the Sabbath.
Now He was
teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman
who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no
way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to
her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her,
and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the
synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath;
and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work;
therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord
then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought
not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of
it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Lk 13:10–16)
Difficulties and tribulations are never ending
in man’s life on earth. Many people hardly have a moment of respite amidst
endless labor and toil that fill the day. They feel like this woman who was
bent over and could not raise herself up. The Lord Jesus wants us to be loosed
from such bonds, and through His Sabbath, He frees us. He is Lord of the
Sabbath, explaining the original purpose behind the Sabbath’s establishment.
The Sabbath enables a person to harmonize with
nature, the environment surrounding him, and the people with whom he is in
contact. It also affords him time to reconcile with the Lord. After six days of
relentless strife, attempting to conquer all that stands in the way of his
ambition, he can enjoy a day of inner serenity on the Sabbath.
4. The new covenant: keeping the Sabbath under grace
The True Jesus Church keeps the Sabbath. Apart
from the Seventh Day Adventists, almost all mainstream Christian denominations
do not. However, unlike the Jews, who keep the Sabbath under the law, the True
Jesus Church keeps the Sabbath under grace. What does this comprise?
Sacred work and doing good
“Or have you not read in the law
that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are
blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the
temple.” (Mt 12:5–6)
The Old Testament law required priests to offer
sacrifices, set the showbread (Lev 24:8), light the lamps, and burn incense (Ex
30:8) on the Sabbath –they ministered and worked in the temple. The Lord Jesus
saw them as blameless, although they profaned the Sabbath. He is greater than
the temple, and the church is His body. Therefore, today, we are without fault
when doing holy work in church on the Sabbath.
And
behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying,
“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. Then He said
to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a
pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more
value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Mt 12:10–12)
Jesus declared that it is lawful to do good on
the Sabbath. However, it does not imply that one should do good works with no
limits or self-control on a Sabbath day. After all, the Sabbath is meant for us
to find a quiet time with our Lord.
Turning away from our own pleasures
In our busy and overstimulated lives today, it
is difficult for many to put away their cell phones. There are a thousand and
one work and life commitments to attend to, and we feel we cannot drop them on
a Sabbath day. It is a great pity if we have forgotten the Lord Jesus’ promises
about the Sabbath. He wants us to let go of the cumbersome worries and turn to
His gracious words on the Sabbath. An intimate relationship with our Lord will
build up over time if we do so.
“If you turn away your foot from the
Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the LORD honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isa 58:13–14)
God will cause us to ride on the high hills of
the earth! What a promise this is. The Lord will bear you on eagles' wings and
bring you to Himself! You will have an eagle’s eye to view the troubles and
difficulties below. These troubles will become so tiny and insignificant from
above, and you will be victorious over whatever troubles you, but only if you
turn away your foot from the Sabbath.
Finally, God will “feed you with the heritage
of Jacob your father,” if you honor the Sabbath and call it a delight. Jacob
was originally the second son of Isaac, but God called him His son, His
firstborn, when He sent Moses to take the Israelites out of slavery (Ex 4:22).
Jacob inherited the blessings God bestowed upon Abraham, a heavenly city built
by God (Heb 11:9–10, 16). God will feed us with the heritage of Jacob, our
heavenly inheritance, if we observe the Sabbath with a genuine heart.
APPENDIX: IS KEEPING THE SABBATH AN ACT OF LEGALISM?
Some claim that observing the Sabbath is a
legalistic act, which the apostle Paul denounced multiple times in his
epistles. In his ministry, Paul encountered situations where brethren sought
justification through the law; they pursued the righteous requirements of the
law. This would ultimately nullify the grace of God (Gal 2:21).
Is Sabbath-keeping a legalistic act, a holdover
from the law by which we are no longer bound?
“Keep and remember the Sabbath” is indeed the fourth of the ten
commandments. But keeping the Sabbath is not just an authoritarian command from
God, issued without rhyme or reason.
After six days of creation, God sanctified the
seventh day, blessed it, and made it holy. This sanctified day is different
from the other six days of the week. This is the will of the eternal God, and
it will never change. The Sabbath was established before Abraham, before the
Israelites came into existence, and before the Mosaic Law was given (Ex 16:23).
Thus, the Sabbath was not created for the chosen people in the Old Testament
only. God established the Sabbath for all man out of His love and compassion.
If a Christian denomination refuses to accept and enjoy the Sabbath, this would
be a rejection of God’s love, as though God’s purposeful establishment of the
Sabbath were meaningless.
Therefore, keeping the Sabbath is not an act of
legalism, and our church does not advocate legalism. It would be legalistic to
keep the Sabbath under the law—this includes restrictions on walking distance,
kindling fire (for example, cooking, igniting an engine, switching on a light),
and other rituals welcoming a Sabbath and during a Sabbath worship. Today, we
are loosed from the bond of these restrictions by Jesus (Lk 13:16).
Jesus also said,
“[I]t is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Mt 12:12b). He did not encourage
people to do whatever they please on the Sabbath, but it is lawful to do good
work that is necessary on that day.
Keeping the Sabbath
under the grace of Jesus is different from doing so legalistically. To observe
is to follow the teachings of Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath.
