18-Questions about the Bible Sabbath - RSV

1. Since Paul Declares, "Let No One Judge You Regarding the Bible Sabbath," Isn't Sabbath-Keeping Unnecessary?
Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in _questions_ of food and drink or with regard to a _festival_ or a new moon or a sabbath. [17] These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the _substance_ belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17, is one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. One principle of Bible interpretation is that you do not allow what may be somewhat unclear to keep you from doing what you understand. The Bible is plain concerning the Sabbath. It was given at creation (genesis 2:1-3). Jesus observed it (luke 4:16). Paul observed it (acts 13:42-44), and it will be observed in heaven (isaiah 66:22, 23).

The Bible mentions two kinds of Sabbaths; the seventh-day Sabbath and the yearly Sabbaths. The seventh-day Sabbath, instituted at creation and part of the Ten Commandment law, is a weekly reminder of the loving, all-powerful Creator. The yearly Sabbaths relate specifically to the history of Israel.

Colossians 2:16-17, specifically states, " Let no one judge you regarding Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come. "

The Seventh-Day Sabbath is a memorial of creation. It is not a shadow of something to come.

 2. The Following Passage in Hebrews Connects the Law of Shadows with Animal Sacrifices.
Hebrews 10:1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same _sacrifices_ which are _continually_ offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near.

3. Ezekiel Uses the Exact Same Expressions in the Exact Same Order As Colosians 2:16-17, Connecting It All with the Ceremonial Systems of Feasts, New Moons, and Sabbaths to Make Reconciliation for the House of Israel.
Ezekiel 45:17 It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the _sabbaths_, all the _appointed_ feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make _atonement_ for the house of Israel.

4. Leviticus 23 Beginning with Verse 3, Discusses the Seventh-Day Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy _convocation_; you shall do no work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your _dwellings_.

5. Then the Ceremonial Sabbaths.
Leviticus 23:4 "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy _convocations_, which you shall _proclaim_ at the time appointed for them

Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the _fourteenth_ day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's _passover_.

Leviticus 23:6 And on the _fifteenth_ day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you _shall_ eat unleavened bread.

Leviticus 23:10 "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first _fruits_ of your harvest to the _priest_;

6. Feast of First Fruits.
Leviticus 23:17 You shall bring from your _dwellings_ two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, as first _fruits_ to the LORD.

7. Feast of Trumpets.
Leviticus 23:24 "Say to the people of Israel, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial _proclaimed_ with blast of trumpets, a holy _convocation_.

8. Day of Atonement.
Leviticus 23:27-32 "On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be for you a time of holy _convocation_, and you shall afflict yourselves and _present_ an offering by fire to the LORD. [28] And you shall do no work on this same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. [29] For whoever is not _afflicted_ on this same day shall be cut off from his people. [30] And whoever does any work on this same day, that person I will _destroy_ from among his people. [31] You shall do no work: it is a _statute_ for ever _throughout_ your _generations_ in all your _dwellings_. [32] It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves; on the ninth day of the month _beginning_ at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your sabbath."

9. Feast of Tabernacles.
Leviticus 23:34-36 "Say to the _people_ of Israel, On the _fifteenth_ day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD. [35] On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. [36] Seven days you shall present offerings by fire to the LORD; on the _eighth_ day you shall hold a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to the LORD; it is a _solemn_ _assembly_; you shall do no laborious work

Leviticus 23:37 "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy _convocation_, for presenting to the LORD offerings by fire, burnt offerings and cereal offerings, _sacrifices_ and drink offerings, each on its proper day;

Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in _questions_ of food and drink or with regard to a _festival_ or a new moon or a sabbath. [17] These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the _substance_ belongs to Christ.

Leviticus 23:38 Besides the _sabbaths_ of the LORD, and besides your gifts, and besides all your votive offerings, and besides all your _freewill_ offerings, which you give to the LORD

Both the feast of trumpets (verse 24) and the Day of Atonement (verse 32) are specifically called Sabbaths. These annual Sabbaths were intimately connected to events foreshadowing Christ's death and His Second Coming. God designed these feasts, or holy days, to be shadows, or pointers, to the coming Messiah.

Since Christ has come, the shadowy Sabbaths of the ceremonial law have found their fulfillment in Him. The seventh-day Sabbath continues to lead us back to the Creator God who made us.

 10. God's People Will Keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath As a Distinguishing Sign of Their Relationship to Him.
Revelation 14:12 Here is a call for the _endurance_ of the saints, those who keep the _commandments_ of God and the faith of Jesus.

Ezekiel 20:12 Moreover I gave them my _sabbaths_, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I the LORD _sanctify_ them.

11. What About This Text From Romans?
Romans 14:5 One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be _fully_ _convinced_ in his own mind.

Sometimes it is helpful to notice what a text does not say, as well as what it does say. Verses 5 and 6 say nothing about either worship or the Sabbath. They simply talk about regarding a day. To say the day being discussed is the Sabbath is an unwarranted assumption.

 12. The First Verse of Romans 14 Sets the Tone for the Entire Passage.
Romans 14:1 As for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not for _disputes_ over _opinions_.

13. The Seventh-Day Sabbath Set Apart by God at Creation Is Not a Doubtful Teaching.
Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. [3] So God _blessed_ the seventh day and _hallowed_ it, _because_ on it God rested from all his work which he had done in _creation_.

Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; [10] but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your _daughter_, your _manservant_, or your _maidservant_, or your cattle, or the _sojourner_ who is within your gates; [11] for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; _therefore_ the LORD blessed the sabbath day and _hallowed_ it.

14. The Key to This Passage in Romans Is Found in Verse 6.
Romans 14:6 He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, _since_ he gives thanks to God; _while_ he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

The issue revolved around fast days, not Sabbath days. Some Jewish Christians believed there was particular merit in fasting on certain days. They were judging others by their own standards. The Pharisees fasted at least twice a week and boasted about it (luke 18:12).

Paul is making the point that to fast, or not to fast, on certain days is a matter of individual conscience. This is not something that God commands.

 15. Didn't the Disciples Meet on the First Day of the Week?
Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, _intending_ to depart on the morrow; and he _prolonged_ his speech until midnight.

The reason this meeting is mentioned in the narrative is because Paul was leaving the next day and worked a mighty miracle in raising Eutychus from the dead.

It is clear that the meeting is a night meeting. It is the dark part of the first day of the week.

 16. In Bible Times, the Dark Part of the Day Preceded the Light Part.
Genesis 1:5 God called the light Day, and the _darkness_ he called Night. And there was evening and there was _morning_, one day.

The Sabbath was observed from Friday night at sunset to Saturday night at sunset, first the evening and then the morning.

If this meeting is on the dark part of the first day of the week, it is in fact a Saturday night meeting. Paul has met with the believers all Sabbath. He will depart the next day, Sunday, so the meeting continued late Saturday night. The Jews would have considered what we call Saturday night as the first day of the week because the day started at sunset

The next day, Sunday, Paul did travel by foot to Assos, then sailed to Mitylene. The New English Bible Reading Of Acts 20:7 also confirms this as a Saturday night meeting, with Paul traveling on Sunday.

If Paul considered Sunday sacred in honor of the resurrection, why would he spend the entire day traveling and not worshipping?

 17. Evidence #1 - the Bible Clearly Reveals That Jesus Was Crucified on the Preparation Day.
Luke 23:54 It was the day of _Preparation_, and the sabbath was _beginning_.

18. His Closest Followers Rested on the Sabbath Day.
Luke 23:55-56 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; [56] then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested _according_ to the _commandment_.

19. Jesus Rose From the Dead on the First Day of the Week.
Luke 24:1-3 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the _spices_ which they had _prepared_. [2] And they found the stone _rolled_ away from the tomb, [3] but when they went in they did not find the body.

Mark 16:9 Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he _appeared_ first to Mary _Magdalene_, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

Most Christians recognize that Jesus died on Friday the preparation day, rested in the grave the next day and rose the first day-sunday. The Sabbath is the day in between Friday and Sunday-Saturday.

 20. Evidence #2 - Language.
In over 140 languages in the world, the word for the Seventh-Day which we call Saturday is the word "sabbath. " The fact that so many societies call the seventh day of the week "sabbath", shows that the weekly cycle has not been disrupted through the centuries.

Here are ten examples: Hebrew: Shabbath, Greek: Sabbaton, Latin: Sabbatum, Arabic: Assabit, Persian: Shambin, Russian: Subbota, Hindustani: Shamba, French: Samedi, Italian: Sabbato, Spanish: Sabado.

 21. Evidence #3 - Astronomy.
The human race never lost the septenary [seven day] sequence of week days and that the Sabbath of these latter times comes down to us from Adam, though the ages, without a single lapse. -Dr. Totten, professor of astronomy at Yale University.

Seven has been the ancient and honored number among the nations of the earth. They have measured their time by weeks from the beginning. The origin of this was the Sabbath of God, as Moses has given the reasons for it in his writings. -Dr. Lyman Coleman.

There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected in any way the cycle of the week. -James Robertson, Director American Ephemeris, Navy Department, U. S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C. , March 12, 1932.

It can be said with assurance that not a day has been lost since Creation, and all the calendar changes notwithstanding, there has been no break in the weekly cycle. -Dr. Frank Jeffries, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and Research Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England.

 22. Evidence #4 - History.
The Jewish people have kept an accurate rec

Next Bible Study: 19-First Day Texts

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