Sabbath: The Perpetual Covenant

 

 The issue of the sabbath day is really not a confusing one if the bible is taken literally.  Unfortunately, Christians tend to equate good Christianity with good Americanism which is really not possible.  When Christ was speaking to Pilate he said the following:

 

....to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,

that I should bear witness unto the truth.

Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

John 18:37

 

Christ's statement leaves no room for conjecture.  These are the elements:

 

• There is an absolute TRUTH.

• Christ was born to bring this TRUTH into our world.

• Those who care about TRUTH will 'hear' his voice. 

 

If there is in fact an absolute TRUTH then, one opinion cannot be as 'good' as another.  Only ONE of many voices can be consistent with 'hearing' the TRUTH of Christ.

 

Just why are there so many differing interpretations of biblical text?  Evidently, God intentionally arranged it that way. 

 

But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept,

precept upon precept;

line upon line,

line upon line;

here a little, and there a little;

that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Isaiah 28:13

 

Most of you have heard it said that 'the bible interprets itself' & indeed it does, but that requires much independent study apart from the noise of institutional chatter.  In this scripture from the book of Isaiah God is making clear the fact that He had no intention of making His Truth readily obvious to those who do not possess a genuine 'hunger & thirst for righteousness'.  The answers are in the Word, but one must be sufficiently intimate with it to recognize His narrow path.  That takes the kind of work few are willing to invest.

 

What I've decided to do on the topic of the Sabbath is to simply provide you with some airtight, syllogistic deduction-the type I learned in Logic 101 many years ago.  It should really help to dispel much of the confusion. 

 

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.

Genesis 2:2-3

 

Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath,

to observe the sabbath throughout their generations,

for a perpetual covenant.

Exodus 31:16

 

15-One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation,

and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you,

an ordinance for ever in your generations:

as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.

29-Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance,

both for him that is born among the children of Israel,

and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

Numbers 15:15,29

 

Christ said:

 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:

them also I must bring,

and they shall hear my voice;

and there shall be one fold,

and one shepherd.

John 10:16

 

17 And if some of the branches be broken off,

and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them,

and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

18 Boast not against the branches.

But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root,

but the root thee.

Romans 11:17-18

 

So, let's review:

 

• God sanctified only one day of the week, the 7th day (aka-the Sabbath day).

• God made a Sabbath-day covenant with the nation of Israel.

• The covenant was to be PERPETUAL.

• God commanded that there be ONE ORDINANCE FOREVER both for the house of Israel & for the strangers sorgourning among them.

• ONE LAW applies to all whether they sin knowingly or through ignorance.

• Christ said he was seeking 'other sheep' (Gentiles) to bring into his fold.

• He also said that they would be incorporated into the existing fold, that ultimately there would only be ONE FOLD.

• Paul made clear that the Gentiles were only grafted into the stump of Israel & that it was Israel that contained the root. 

 

Thus:

• If God sanctified only the 7th day of the week &

• If he made a covenant honoring the day that was sanctified,

• Then the Sabbath MUST always be the 7th day of the week, no exceptions

 

• If the Sabbath covenant is PERPETUAL &

• If there is only ONE ordinance for both the house of Israel & the strangers among them,

• Then the strangers (ie Gentiles) MUST  honour the Sabbath for as long as they remain associated with the house of Israel.

 

• If one ordinance applies to both the Israelites as well as to strangers among them &

• If this one ordinance applies whether they sin knowingly or in ignorance.

• Then if the strangers ignorantly fail to observe the correct Sabbath they are still accountable.

 

• If Christ brought other sheep into the existing (Jewish) fold &

• If those sheep are the (Gentile) Christians of today,

• Then Christians are required to observe the correct Sabbath.

 

Paul simply confirms that Christians were never divinely commissioned to establish a 'replacement' theology or culture to the nation of Israel.  Israel bears the root & is, & always will be, the 'kingdom of priests' through which the world came to know Christ.