The Sabbath Day

December 6, 2015 Background Scripture: Exodus 16:23; 20:8 – 11; 31:12 – 18; Deuteronomy 5:12 – 15; Leviticus 23:3 – 8; Matthew 12:1 – 14; Acts 13:42 Lesson Passage: Exodus 20:8 – 11; 31:12 – 16 I have met some individuals of the Seventh-day Adventists faith who argue that other Christians are living in disobedience to God relative to the commandment concerning the Sabbath Day. I also know some Christians who are not Seventh-day Adventists who claim that Sunday is the Christian’s Sabbath Day. Although I once held the latter viewpoint, today I don’t agree with either. The background scriptures of today’s lesson present some interesting biblical facts about the Sabbath Day when taken in context. The Sabbath was given as a perpetual sign of the covenant between God and Israel. It was to be a day of physical rest. The people of Israel were expected to work six days per week. But they and their servants and their livestock were all prohibited from physical labor on the Sabbath. The Sabbath Day was established as a memorial to remind Israel that they did not have the luxury of a fixed day of rest when they were slaves in Egypt. By observing the Sabbath, they were constantly reminded of God’s deliverance of them out of human bondage and they could look forward to a weekly day of rest from all labors to commemorate it. The Sabbath was to be observed and celebrated in their dwelling places or homes. This can be contrasted with what later became a gathering of Jews in the synagogues and temple for prayer and the study and discussion of scriptures and Jewish religious traditions. The gospel account further details how Jesus explained the Sabbath Day observance to the Pharisees. According to Jesus, the Sabbath was given for the benefit of the people and not to enslave the people to it. The fact that the priests were expected to work in the temple on the Sabbath and yet were held blameless is an example where the Pharisees lacked understanding of the observance. How ironic it would be to have a celebration to commemorate deliverance from slavery whereby the celebration itself would become enslaving. The first century missionaries did much of their evangelistic work on the Sabbath because they were focused on evangelizing the Jews and the Jews gathered in local synagogues on that day. The Gentiles in Asia Minor noted that the missionaries taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day and therefore the word spread and they gathered on the Sabbath to receive the same teachings that the Jews were receiving. Again, they were not gathering to rest or to cease from work as the commandment required. They gathered to be taught by the missionaries because that is the day the missionaries taught in the synagogues. Later, the Apostle Paul instructed local congregations to receive benevolent offerings on the first day of the week to be used for the relief of the poor Christians in Jerusalem. I don’t believe the bible prescribes what some refer to as a Christian Sabbath. But neither does the bible prescribe worship or Bible Study as the centerpiece of the Sabbath Day observance. The Sabbath was given as a Jewish “holy day” to commemorate God’s deliverance of them from human slavery in Egypt. It is to be celebrated in contrast to bondage by abstaining an entire day from any manner of work at the end of each week. Robert C. Hudson November 11, 2015