Voices: Sabbath: Rest in a day or rest in Jesus

Did you know there are some Christian denominations that keep the Sabbath day over Sunday?

In fact, there are Seventh Day Baptist churches that do so, and it has caused confusion among Christians because they now question themselves about which day Christians should be worshiping.

Some Christians, as Paul said in Galatians, have been ‘bewitched’ (Galatians 3:1) by Sabbath-observant Christians and have left the Sunday-observant church in which they attended for many years.

So, is this important? Does it really matter?

One can say: “Well, at least they still are attending church. What’s the big deal?”

The big deal is it still is causing division in the church.

So, how do we address this issue?

Most would respond, “What does the Bible say?”

That’s not so easy to answer, because if both views are from Bible-believing Christians filled with the Holy Spirit, then why are they coming up with two different answers?

Bible-based arguments

Others, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, argue the Sabbath was a universal law from Genesis.

However, there is no universal law in Genesis to observe the Sabbath. In fact, the entire 50 chapters in Genesis and the first 15 chapters of Exodus—covering an era of 2,500 years—do not have a single reference to observe the Sabbath.

Some will argue, “Doesn’t the Bible say God rested on the seventh day of creation?”

Yes, but there is no command from God to observe that day. The text only mentions God rested on it.

Others will argue, “Didn’t God bless the day and make it holy?”

Yes, but again, there is no command to observe it. Again, from Adam to Moses, not one patriarch observed the Sabbath.

The seventh-day passage is unique because it does not have the phrase, “There was evening and there was morning.”In other words, the never-ending Sabbath day began with Adam and Eve resting with God and walking in his presence in the garden.

So, what does the Bible say?

A biblical argument

The Hebrew word in Genesis 2:2 translated as “rested” is the verb yisbot, which comes from the same root word as the noun shabbat, but it does not refer to the weekly rest commanded by God.

As Hebrew scholar Jeff Benner explains: “The base word is שבת (shavat—the root of the noun shabbat/sabbath) meaning ‘to cease.’ The prefix ו identifies the verb tense as imperfect—will cease—and the subject of the verb as third person, masculine, singular—he will cease. The prefix ו (v) means ‘and,’ but also reverses the tense of the verb—and he ceased.”

So, instead of interpreting ‘rested’ as if God needed to rest, it better translates as, “God ceased from his labor.” In other words, our English word “rested” is the Hebrew verb yisbot—to cease from work. It does not mean the weekly Sabbath rest, because the word Sabbath as a noun is not in the text of Genesis 2:2.

So, if the word “Sabbath” is not in Genesis 2:2, then when and where does it appear?

The first reference to the noun “Sabbath” appears in Exodus 16:23, after Israel had been delivered from Egypt, sometime before the giving of the law on Mount Sinai:

“He said to them, ‘This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So, bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”

The Sabbath was given on Mount Sinai, not in Genesis, but in Exodus.

Ezekiel 20:11-12 confirms God’s gift of the Sabbath happened after the exodus from Egypt, not before:

“I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.”

‘To whom was the Sabbath given?’

To whom was the Sabbath given? To Israel, and no other nation, as Exodus 31:12-13 indicates:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.’”

The Sabbath was a spiritual sign. Circumcision was a physical sign. Had God given this sign to every race of people, then it would not have been a sign of anything.

To observe the Sabbath, one would have to become an Israelite and be under the law. According to the Sabbath law, one must remain indoors on that day. It is a day of absolute rest, not a day of worship, nor religious activity or public meetings, nor sacrifices. One is only to remain indoors and rest.

Exodus 31:14 even mentions death as the penalty for violating the Sabbath.

Those who claim the Sabbath was universal from Genesis have not read Nehemiah 9:13-14:

“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses.”

If the Sabbath was universal from Genesis why would Nehemiah write that God made known to them God’s holy Sabbath through Moses?

Jesus and the Sabbath

God never commanded a single Gentile or Christian to observe the Sabbath.

The seventh-day Sabbath was rest for the body. The Christian Sabbath is rest in your life. The Jews rested in a day. The Christian rests in Jesus, who is Lord of the Sabbath.

The old Sabbath rest was a shadow of things to come (Colossians 2:16-17) and has been replaced by a new and superior rest in Jesus (Hebrews 4:1-11).

Cristian Cervantes is a biblical instructor at First Baptist Church in San Antonio and an elementary substitute teacher for San Antonio Independent School District. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.