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The Sabbath and Sabbath Keeping

I have been involved in an ongoing internet discussion with a few Sabbath Keepers lately. By that term I mean those who believe the Sabbath is on Saturday, not Sunday, and that Saturday should be rigorously kept as a day of worship. I thought I would set down my own convictions on this issue. First some background:

1. Is the Sabbath Saturday?

Yes, the Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean Christians need meet on that day. I'll get back to this later.

2. When was the Sabbath established?

It was established at creation as shown in Genesis 2:2, 3: “And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made”.

While God set an example for man here, and His intention to create a day of rest is obvious, He did not command anyone to keep the seventh day. There is no mention at all in Scripture of anyone from Adam and Eve to Moses ever doing so.

3. Was keeping the Sabbath ever commanded?

The first command to keep a Sabbath was the commandment of God to Moses to keep the Passover. (Exodus 12.) This was while the Israelites were still in Egypt. You should understand here that the Egyptians had a 30 day month, with 3 weeks of 10 days each. 9 were work days and the 10th was market day. They had no “holy day” or “day of rest”. God changed the calendar at the time the Israelites left Egypt, with a new first month (Abib) and a 7 day week.

Before this, as slaves, they simply could not have kept the Sabbath!

The weekly Sabbath was evidently started between Elim and Sinai, when God started giving them Manna. (Exodus 16). This was before the Law was given, but only Israelites were involved. When God did give the Ten Commandments, the fourth was to keep the Sabbath. (Exodus 20:8).

However, Exodus 31: 13, 16, and 17 specifically say that this command was a covenant between Israel and God. It was to differentiate Israel from the people around them. It was not given to the Gentiles, or to the Christian Church.

The other point I would like to make is that the Sabbath is described over and over as a day of rest. It is never described as a day of worship. The Israelite men were commanded to appear before the Lord 3 times a year (Exodus 23: 14, 17; Exodus 34:23). That was when they worshiped the Lord.

4. Did the early Christians meet on Saturday?

Yes, in the beginning they did. The early Christians were mostly Jewish – in fact it was considered a sect of Judaism – and the Jews met together in the synagogue on Saturday. Since they were primarily trying to reach Jews, they went to the synagogue to tell the good news.

Incidentally, rabbis and synagogues were never commanded by God and began in Babylon, but Jesus attended synagogue so we have to admit that God approved of them, even though He never commanded them. God isn't opposed to every idea that isn't specifically commanded by Him.

The early Christians also met nearly every day to eat together and fellowship. As the Jews rejected the gospel and the Gentiles accepted it, the church became more and more Gentile. In 1Co 16:2 it seems as if they had already started meeting on Sunday, rather than Saturday. “Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come”. Early on, long before Constantine, the church seems to have moved their main meeting day to Sunday, the day it was believed Christ was resurrected.

5. Holes in the Sabbath Keepers' arguments:

A. The Sabbath was commanded in Genesis and so applies to everyone, not just Jews. We have already dealt with this. God never “commanded” the Sabbath before Moses, and there is no evidence anyone kept it, though some may have. It is specifically said it was part of a covenant between Israel and God. Christians are not Jews (though some Jews are Christians), and are not bound by the law . The law hasn't been done away with, but it has been fulfilled. It still serves as a guide to what is right and wrong, but we are to follow the leading of the indwelling Spirit, not the letter of the law.

B. Keeping one Sabbath but not another:

People who are adamant that they keep the Saturday Sabbath, always reject the seventh year Sabbath (Exodus 23: 10, 11.). If called out on that, they claim that wasn't part of the Ten Commandments. Well, Jesus said the two greatest commandments were: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hangeth the whole law, and the prophets.” (Matt. 22: 37 – 40). Neither of these was in the Ten Commandments, but Jesus said the whole Law was based on them. Neither of these was in the Ten Commandments, so I guess Christians don't have to do either! (Just being a little sarcastic here!). The seventh year Sabbath was so important to God that he sent the Israelites into exile in Babylon for 70 years for breaking it. If you must follow the law, then you are bound to follow all of it, not just the Ten Commandments: Jas 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all.”

C. Emphasizing the unimportant all out of proportion:

Their argument is very similar to the one offered by the Samaritan woman to Jesus in John 4:20: “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship”. The Jews were adamant that Jerusalem was the proper place to worship. The Samaritans were equally convinced that Mt. Gerizim was. According to Scripture, you could make an overwhelming case for Jerusalem. But Jesus told her the whole issue was unimportant – it was how people worshiped God, not where, that mattered. You can say the same thing about “when”!

Along this line, most Christians would admit we should always be worshiping God, not just one day a week.

In Conclusion:

Is it necessary for Christians to meet together on Saturday rather than Sunday? 
This controversy seems to have come up in the early church, and is answered in Rom 14:5, 6: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord: and he that eateth, eateth unto the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, unto the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”

Christians are not under law, but under grace. Gal 4:9, 10: “but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known of God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? Ye observe days, and months, and seasons, and years”.

It is a matter of individual conscience. If you believe firmly that you should keep the Saturday Sabbath, then do so. If you believe you should meet on Sunday, do so. If you don't care to keep it at all, that is all right, as long as you meet together regularly with fellow believers as commanded in Hebrews 10:25. I know of a sound church that meets on Thursday nights.

The real issue here, to me, is withdrawing yourself from those who believe differently than you, and judging them because they don't believe as you do. Rom 14:10: “But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment–seat of God”. Since most of us have Saturday and Sunday off, believing Saturday is the Sabbath in no way means you have to break off fellowship with those who meet on Sunday. You can rest on Saturday and worship on Sunday. You can worship on both days, or better yet, every day!

Personally, I have always refused to work on Sunday (except in extreme emergency), but not as a matter of legalism. I have seen that those who start working on Sunday almost always seem to drift away from God before long. (I am not talking to those in health care, law enforcement, the military, etc. who have to work to do their jobs). It is necessary to fellowship regularly with other believers and to be part of a congregation to which you are accountable to grow in the Lord and continue to walk with Him, but when you meet to do that is a minor issue. A day of rest from work every week is also very important. But in this article I am addressing legalism: to the Sabbath Keepers, it HAS to be Saturday, and you HAVE to keep it to be right with God. They are putting themselves back into bondage, back under the law. They also cause division in the church by insisting everyone follow their example.

Eph 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,

Eph 4:2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Eph 4:3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;

Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.