The Sabbath and the New Covenant
Recently I read an article addressing the question “Do we have to keep the Ten Commandments given in the Old Testament?”
According to the author, those under the new covenant are called to keep only nine out of the ten commandments. In his own words the author says:
“All of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, except for the command to keep the Sabbath.”
The author then gives references for each of the commandments repeated in the New Testament but when it comes to the forth commandment addressing the Sabbath he cites Colossians 2:16 in support of Sabbath being abolished. The first problem with this is that most Christians seam to be ignorant that there are two types of days in the Bible referred to as Sabbaths. The second issue is that most Christians that insist on the idea that a law or commandment had to be repeated in the New Testament in order to be obligatory upon Christians seam to ignore the passages in Mark 2:27–28.
Sabbath Type One
The first time Sabbath is mentioned is at the end of creation week.
Genesis 2:2–3 (KJV) 2 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.
After God created our world including our first parents Adam and Eve He makes the takes aside the seventh day of the week and blessed it like no other day. This took place over 2000 years before Jewish nation came into existence at the time of Abraham.
Many argue that there was no command to keep the Sabbath until the time of Exodus.
However, we do not find a commandment forbidding murder and yet Cain was found guilty by God for killing his own brother Abel.
1 John 3:11–12 (KJV) 11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
Genesis 4:11 (KJV) And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
It appears that even though we do not find a record of the commandment “thou shalt not kill” those living prior to the times of Israel were expected to honor this prohibition. What about any other commandments? We have a record that the whole world became wicked and evil to the point that God had to destroy it by flood.
Genesis 6:5–7 (KJV) 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Although we do not read any commandments being recorded in the book of Genesis, obviously people living in the days prior to the flood must have known the difference between good and evil otherwise God would not have judged them for their wickedness.
James 4:17 (KJV)Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Another example that shows that people knew about God’s law prior to Exodus is found in the story of Joseph.
Genesis 39:7–9 (KJV) 7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what [is] with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9 [There is] none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou [art] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Hod did Joseph know that to sleep with his master’s wife would be a sin if there was no commandment about sexual immorality? Obviously Joseph knew about God’s law and the difference between good and evil.
Besides this, we find the following record about Abraham.
Genesis 26:4–5 (KJV) 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Where are God’s commandments, statutes, and laws that Abraham kept recorded in the book of Genesis? They were verbally communicated and God expected His people to be obedient to it.
It is important to note that we do have a record of the Sabbath being established at the very beginning (Genesis 2:2, 3) and the argument that there was no command by God to keep it holy until He establishes a covenant with the nation of Israel falls flat by the words of Jesus himself.
Mark 2:27–28 (KJV) 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
After being falsely accused as a Sabbath breaker, Jesus says that the Sabbath was made for man, that is mankind (G444 — anthrōpos). Since, according to Jesus, it was made for mankind and we find it right at the beginning in the creation week it wouldn’t make any sense that God only expected the Hebrews after mouth Sinai to begin to observe it 2500 years later. We already saw that even though we don’t find explicit commandments in regards to murder and sexual immorality, people prior to the Exodus time had knowledge about God’s laws and were held accountable for their actions. (Cain, Abraham, Joseph…)
Jesus’s words in Mark 2 27, 27, in addition to showing us that the seventh day Sabbath was intended for all humans just like the rest of the ten commandments, also inform us that the Sabbath (Saturday) is the Lord’s day since He said that He is the Lord of it.
The reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy given by God is the fact the He is the Creator.
Exodus 20:11 (KJV) 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.
The seventh-day Sabbath of the creation week is the only day God blessed and was to be celebrated and observed as memorial of creation and cannot be replaced just as ones birthday cannot be substituted by any other day.
The blessing bestowed upon the Sabbath of creation was never taken away or removed to this day.
In summary, the Sabbath was given in the garden of Eden prior to the nation of Israel coming into existence therefore it is not Jewish institution exclusively. The Sabbath was blessed by God Himself and that blessings was never revoked. It was enshrined into the ten commandments written by the finger of God upon tables of stone showing that it is unchangeable unlike ceremonial laws that were recorded by the hand of Moses of parchment. Finally, Jesus himself said that it was given to humanity and that He is the Lord of it which makes it the Lord’s day.
What about Colossians 2:16 cited by the author of the article as a proof of the Sabbath abolishment for the new covenant believers?
This brings us to the other kind of Sabbaths mentioned in the Bible.
Sabbath Type Two
After the nation of Israel was established, in addition to ten commandments which God wrote with His own finger on tables of stone, He gave through Moses additional laws to be observed. Unlike the ten commandments which God Himself wrote on stone, these laws were verbally communicated to Moses which he then recorded on parchments that were placed in a pocket to the sided of the ark of the covenant. God made a distinction here in order to show that the the principles of the ten commandments were eternal while the ceremonial laws were provisional.
Exodus 31:18 (KJV) And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Deuteronomy 31:24–26 (KJV) 24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, 26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.
The book of the law that Moses wrote in a book was placed by the Levites in the side of the ark of the covenant that it may be there for a witness against the people. This is the same language Paul is using when speaking in the book of Colossians.
Colossians 2:14–17 (KJV) 14 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; 15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
The “handwriting of ordinances that was against us” is what we read in Deuteronomy 31:24–26. It was referring to the ceremonial laws which had to do with meat and drink offerings, new moons, and ceremonial sabbaths that were shadows of the life and ministry of Christ.
If we look at the context of what Paul was talking about it becomes clear the He was referring to the ceremonial laws and not the ten commandments.
Colossians 2:8–13 (KJV) 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: 11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with himthrough the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Paul was addressing the question of circumcision which was urged by some converts from Jewish background upon gentile believers as necessary for salvation. Circumcision was part of ceremonial law and served as a symbol of the covenant God explicitly gave to the Jewish nation to observe symbolizing that they were separate nation called by God to follow His will and laws. Circumcision was in effect until the death of Jesus and was nailed to the cross with other ceremonial laws but not the ten commandments.
1 Corinthians 7:19 (KJV) Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
In the book Leviticus we find laws in regards to religious festivals. There were six annual festivals Hebrews were expected to observe. They served as a teaching tool about the life, death and ministry of Christ as well as communicated God’s plan of salvation. Each of the feasts were to be a holy convocations or coming together by God’s people. The seventh day Sabbath of the forth commandment is mentioned in Leviticus 23:3 prior to the feast days because people were to gather every week on the day for worship service. The six feasts would be observed on a specific dates in an annual bases.
After the weekly Sabbath being mentioned, God makes it clear that what follows are considered the feast days.
Leviticus 23:4–5 (KJV) 4 These [are] the feasts of the LORD, [even] holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons. 5 In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the LORD’S passover.
The first of the feasts in the Jewish year was the Passover. Unlike the Sabbath of creation, the passover could fall on any day depending on when the fourteenth day of the first month would be. Following the Passover, they were to keep the feast of unleavened bread. for seven days in which on the first of the seven days they were to abstain from work.
Leviticus 23:6–8 (KJV) 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month [is] the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day [is] an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work [therein].
Notice how it says that the feast was to be a holy convocation in which no servile or ordinary work was to be done just like during the the weekly Sabbath day of the ten commandments.
After this, they were give the feast of the firstfruits in which they were to present the produce of the first harvest before the Lord as a thank offering for His blessings as well as a lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering mixed with flower, oil and wine. (see Leviticus 23:6–14)
The last of the Spring festivals was of the fears of Weeks or Pentecost which was to be kept fifty days after the sheaf of the wave offerings.
Each of these were pointing to the life and ministry Jesus. The Passover was indicating the great sacrifice that Jesus would be sacrificed for our sins on the cross. The leaven was a symbol of sin and so the unleavened bread typified the purity, holiness, and perfection of Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:7–8 (KJV) 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth.
The feast of fisrtsfruits was to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (KJV) But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.
The feasts were a shadow of things to come mentioned in Colossians 2:17. They were foreshadowing of the life, death, and resurrection of the coming Messiah and were designed to help people to recognize Jesus as the one to whom all Jewish economy was pointing. After Jesus came and fulfilled all these feasts there was no more need to observe them. This is why Paul wrote that no man should judge them for no longer observing these feasts.
Colossians 2:16–17 (KJV) 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
What about the Sabbath days mentioned by Paul? Earlier we read that no servile or common work was to be done of specified days of a feast and as we move to the fall festivals we find how this specified days were called sabbaths.
Leviticus 23:24 (KJV) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first [day] of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Leviticus 23:32 (KJV) It [shall be] unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth [day] of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Leviticus 23:39 (KJV) Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day [shall be] a sabbath, and on the eighth day [shall be] a sabbath.
Here we see the ceremonial Sabbaths which would fall on different days of the week in the celebration of the annual feasts. These are are the Sabbaths is is Paul is refereeing to as being done away with in Colossians 2 and not the seventh day Sabbath of creation.
In conclusion, the Sabbaths that were nailed on the cross had to do with meat and drink offerings foreshadowing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This has nothing to do with the weekly Sabbath of creation which was including the ten commandments written on stone indicating permanence.
The seventh day Sabbath is separate from the feast day sabbaths and therefore binding of people today with the rest of the ten nine commandments. This is made clear also in the book of Hebrews that the law that was nailed to cross was the ceremonial law that had to do with feasts and sacrifices that were a shadow of good things to come, that is Jesus and His sacrifice.
Hebrews 10:1–4 (KJV) 1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those [sacrifices there is] a remembrance again [made] of sins every year. 4 For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
This is the same language Paul is using in Colossians 2:14–17. Unfortunately most Christinas ignore the Sabbath day mentioned in the ten commandments and were wrongly thought that it was done away with citing Paul. But if people only listened Paul’s own conclusions about they would have realized the truth of the matter. Listen to Paul’s conclusions about the ten commandments as well as John.
Romans 7:7 (KJV) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Romans 7:12 (KJV)Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
James 2:10–12 (KJV) 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.1. John 2:4 (KJV) He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Revelation 14:12 (KJV) Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 22:14 (KJV) Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
