by R. L. Morrison

"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is with in thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8).

"And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them and keep and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deut. 5:1-3). "And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Deut. 5:6).

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you" (Ex. 31:12-13).

So reads the fourth commandment written on the tables of stone as a part of the covenant God made with the descendants of Jacob (Israel) at Mount Sinai. This law was given to a particular people for a particular purpose. It was not intended by God to remain in effect forever or to be obeyed by other peoples. A study of the scriptures will show these things to be true.

Our purpose is to show what the Bible teaches on this subject. So there will be no mis-understanding, we state the issue in the form of this question: "Should God's people observe a sabbath today and do the scriptures require it?" Without hesitation we answer in the negative and invite your attention to the following reasons for doing so.

1. The first commandment given to any one regarding the observing or the keeping of a sabbath, was when God commanded the Israelites, whom he had brought out of slavery and bondage in Egypt, to do so. God told them to gather sufficient manna on the sixth day, so that gathering on the seventh, would be unnecessary. "Tomorrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord" (Ex. 16:23). "See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath" (Ex. 16:29). Later Nehemiah refers to God giving them this law and making it a part of the covenant God made with Israel; "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments; And madest known unto them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses, thy servant" (Neh. 9:13-14).

When Moses gave the law of commandments to these people whom he had lead from Egyptian bondage, he said: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, keep them, and do them. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day" (Deut. 20:1-3). A part of that covenant was, "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee" (vs. 12).

Again: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever" (Ex. 31:16-17).

Here are some things that are easily learned by studying the scriptures we have just presented:

1. God did not give a sabbath law until the Israelites came into the wilderness.

2. God made it a part of the law He gave at Sinai, which had not been given to men previously.

3. God gave this command to keep the sabbath to the Israelites only.

4. The sabbath law was given as a sign between God and Israel.

Doesn't it seem rather strange that when these things are considered there are those who teach that Gentiles are to observe the sabbath? Of course, it is generally taught by those who "observe" the sabbath, that this law was given from the beginning. But we have shown what the Bible says about it. There is no command given concerning the keeping of the sabbath until God gave it to Israel in the wilderness and reaffirmed it at the mount, making it a part of the law given to Israel. In fact, there is not to be found in all the Bible, a passage of scripture in which a Gentile, as such, was or is commanded to observe the sabbath day.

2. The "Christian Sabbath." This term is frequently used in reference to the first day of the week. It is a term and a thought not found in the Bible. The word "Christian" is found three times in the New Testament. Each time it refers to a disciple, a member of the Lord's family, or as Agrippa used it in Acts 26:28, considering the idea of becoming a disciple. The word "sabbath" means a cessation, a ceasing, or a rest. But the Christian's rest is future (Heb. 4:9-11). The person who uses the term "Christian Sabbath" should produce the scriptures that teach it or the thought it conveys.

3. Our third reason is that the sabbath given to the Israelites was not to be kept forever, but only throughout their generations (Ex. 31:16-17). Through various prophets, God foretold the day when this covenant with its feasts, new moons and sabbaths would be brought to an end. For an example of such prophecy, hear Hosea: "I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths and all her solemn feasts" (2:11). Here the prophet is speaking for God to a back-sliding Israel, warning them of their idolatrous practices and at the same time telling them that the system of law that had been given to them would cease. Notice that the prophet did not say a part of these would come to an end, but that all would cease.

In Amos 8:5, we find this question asked by the Jews, "When will the new moon and the sabbath be gone?" God answered through the prophet in the passages that follow the question, saying, "And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day" (vs. 9). Now God was able to do this and He did keep the promise that He made concerning it: "And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour" (Mark 15:32-33). Again: "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." "Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of any holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days" (Col. 2:14-16).

This should be enough evidence to settle the matter forever. God told Israel He would take away their sabbaths: "when the sun goes down at noon, when the earth is darkened in the clear day." Mark tells us this happened at the time of the death of Christ, when there was darkness over the whole earth, from noon until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, as we count the time. Then later, Paul, by the spirit, says these things were nailed to the cross of Christ. The sabbath was taken away just as God said it would be.

However, I have reason to believe this evidence is rejected by some who try to keep the old Jewish sabbath today and who teach others that it is necessary for man to keep it to please God. So let us now consider some of the arguments that are made against these things that have been presented.

1. Sabbath "keepers" teach there is a difference in the Law of God and the Law of Moses. It is said the Law of God, written by the finger of God, is the law of commandments written on the tables of stone. This refers to the ten commandments. And it is suggested that since God wrote them on tables of stone, it means they were to endure forever. However, the tables of stone on which God wrote were broken by Moses. The second pair of stone tables were written upon by Moses, not by God (Ex. 34:27-28). But, to continue, it is said that the old law of pardon through the blood of animals was the law of Moses. An effort is made to separate the law, teaching that the animal sacrifices and the other things that pertained to their worship, except the sabbath, was that which was nailed to the cross of Christ.

However, one should not accept such reasoning without some scriptural evidence that it is true. Please consider carefully the following statements. In the Bible, these three terms are used interchangeably: (1) The Law; (2) The Law of God; and (3) The Law of Moses. Yet these terms all refer to the same thing, the same law. There are many scriptures which so teach, and we shall examine a few of them. These are from the eighth chapter of Nehemiah:

Verse 1: "... and they spake unto Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel."

Verse 3: "... and he read therein ... and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law."

Verse 8: "So they read the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."

This is easily understood. It needs very little comment. The one book which Ezra brought and read and caused the people to understand was called: "The book of the Law of Moses"; "The book of the Law"; and "The book of the Law of God". There was one book, or one law.

If additional proof is necessary, we find Jesus referring to a law written on the tables of stone as what Moses said, or Moses' law: "For Moses said Honor thy father and thy mother" (Mark 7:10). In a parallel passage, Matthew 15:4, Jesus said, "For God commanded saying, Honor thy father and thy mother". So we can see that Jesus made no such distinction as men try to make today. Jesus knew there was but one law and he said he came to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17).

2. It is said that Moses' law was written on stones also, and this law is what is said to have been abolished in Col. 2:14-16. So it is in order for us to turn to the scriptures and see what is taught there regarding that which was done away. In Exodus 34:19, we read: "And it came to pass that when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that he wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him." Now verse 33: "And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face."

In 2 Cor. 3, we find Paul referring to this event. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Cor. 3:7-8).

Now we have learned that although the covenant written and engraven in stones was glorious, it was to be done away. And we have also learned that this was the covenant given when Moses' face shone and he wore the veil. This is the covenant in which the fourth commandment reads: "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." Paul did not say some of this covenant would be done away and some remain - nor does he say that all except the ten, or even the fourth would be done away, and they or it, remain. He said the covenant written and engraven in stones would be done away. This included the command to remember and keep holy the sabbath day.

If there is a difference in the law of God and the law of Moses, and the command to keep the sabbath is in the law of God, then the penalty for violating the sabbath was not in God's law but in the law of Moses. Please observe the following. There was no penalty for sabbath violation written on the stone tables. It can be found in Ex. 31:14: "... everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death." If the law of Moses, which contained the penalty for a violation, was done away, and the command to keep the sabbath remains, there is no penalty for the violation. This is absurd. Imagine, if you can, this same kind of reasoning applied to the traffic laws of today. If the penalty for a violation is removed or taken away, we should take away all the law. Why retain the law after the penalty for violation is taken away?

There are also several scriptures in the New Testament which demand attention in our study of this question:

1. Gal. 5:4: "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." If the sabbath is bound on God's people today, God bound on them something that the Holy Spirit taught through Paul would make them fall from grace. However, God does not require sabbath keeping today.

2. Romans 7:4: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." In verse 7, Paul says he is talking about the law that said: "Thou shalt not covet." But this same law, these same tables of stone, also said, "Remember the sabbath day." Paul says that Christians are dead to that law, not required to keep it.

3. Hebrews 10:9: "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second." We can easily see that the writer is speaking of Christ who came to do the will of the Father (Jn. 6:38). A reading of the context in Hebrews will quickly show that he, Christ, came to take away the first will or covenant, that he might establish the second. It is by this second will or covenant that we are sanctified. It does for us that which the first could not do. But this second will or covenant by which we are sanctified does not require keeping the sabbath day holy.

In Genesis 17, we find the record of God making a covenant with Abraham. It involved his descendants, the Jews. Verse 10 sets this forth: "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man among you shall be circumcised." In vs. 13: "And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant." If the sabbath is to be kept today because it is an "everlasting covenant", why not circumcision, for it, too, was made an everlasting covenant? Consistency says that circumcision is just as binding today as sabbath keeping. Yet, we should remember that both covenants were made with Abraham's descendants, the Jews, and not with the Gentiles.

All of this is in harmony with God's plan to redeem mankind from sin. God did not intend for the covenant given on Mount Sinai to the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob to endure forever. It could not provide the redemption God had promised. It was for a specific people, time, and purpose. When the time passed and the purpose was fulfilled, that system of law was fulfilled, that system of law was done away, just as God planned it. The New Covenant, the perfect law of liberty, does not require the keeping of a sabbath day.

Now in conclusion:

1. The sabbath was never given to a Gentile to keep.

2. The sabbath, given to the Jew, was done away.

3. There is no "Christian Sabbath".

4. God's people are not required to keep the sabbath today.

Do YOU accept God's Law?