The sin the Church forgot, part 2: on keeping the Sabbath

* For part one of this two part series go here.

They had an argument

I had initially thought my position vastly superior.  Wasn’t I giving seven whole days to God?[1]  Many of us have mistakenly assumed that in the Old Testament God’s people were required to worship Him just one day a week, whereas in the New every day is His.  Given these choices, it is easy to see why I thought my position was the superior one.  But these men were giving seven days to Him with a measure of commitment and dedication that shamed my own, and as I read their writings I learned that they were following the pattern of the Old Testament.  It was there that God first said, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Deuteronomy 6.5).”  The New Testament cannot reach any higher than that.  There (in the New Testament), certainly, the administration of the covenant of grace is more full, more plain and marked by more plentiful effusions of the Holy Spirit.  There, certainly, we have shadows replaced by substance.  There we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  Nevertheless, there is no higher call – there can be no higher call - than to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might; which is why Jesus summed up the whole of the law by pointing to this same verse (Matthew 22.37).  Deuteronomy teaches us that in those times every day belonged to God no less than it does now.  God was to be loved, adored, and worshiped all the day every day.  He was to be worshiped at play, at work, at home as well as in the tabernacle.  All that they had was His.  Nonetheless, God required the people to keep the Sabbath.   I was challenged by this reasoning.  I had assumed the New Testament issued in a better covenant, but I wasn’t even able to keep up with the Israelites who, though they were charged to love God every day, also specially gave Him the Sabbath.             

           

There was another more important argument that had special reference to that passage in Colossians.   Paul had spoken of shadows, which included certain holy days.  Among these holy days were Sabbath days.  Wasn’t he saying, then, that the Sabbath was one of those laws whose single function was to point to the coming of Jesus?  If so, it was no longer necessary.  The purpose of the shadows and types had been served.  Christ, the anti-type – the substance – had come, He had lived in perfect obedience to the Father, made full atonement for sin, was risen, and had now sat down at the right hand of the Father.  What those shadows had been designed to picture, Christ had done meaningfully (and perfectly) in the flesh!  It is appropriate now to put such things aside.  To my surprise I found that these men, whose works I was beginning to read, actually understood the arguments.  They had thought through Paul’s letters.  By including Sabbath days in his list of shadows, these men understood, however, that Paul must have been referring to something other than the command.  They recognized that because the Sabbath itself was sanctified before the fall, it could not, ipso facto, function as a shadow. 

It was this last argument that finally convinced me, and it is one I hope you will take time to prayerfully consider.  Theologians have long recognized three parts to the Old Testament law: moral, ceremonial and judicial.  Whereas the judicial laws were particular to the nation and the ceremonial laws particular to that older administration of the covenant, the moral laws were binding on all nations in all ages.  So, while Paul urges children to continue to honour their parents (as per the 5th commandment), he drops the threat of stoning, which was particular to that judicial system.[2]  Similarly, the command to worship God without the aid of images is still binding, though the ceremonial requirements for worship detailed in Leviticus are no longer observed.[3]  In other words, the Old Testament laws did not all serve the same purpose.  Some laws operated like a picture book for children.  They were established to teach the people about the coming Messiah and the work that He would do to make atonement for sins.  Other laws reflected the character of God and were therefore binding on Adam and Eve before the fall, binding on the nations that surrounded Israel, and binding on us today.[4] 

Before they sinned, our first parents did not need the aid of sacrifices and other ceremonial requirements.  No such sacrifices were offered until they fell into sin.  On the other hand, throughout Israel’s history foreigners were consistently forbidden from participating in ceremonial activities (and this, of course, after the fall).  They were not only permitted to ignore these laws, they were actually refused participation.  Lying, though, has never been permissible – not even for Adam and Eve!  Nor has telling the truth ever been forbidden – no matter what the nation. In fact, most evangelicals will agree that 9 of the 10 commandments are permanent.[5]  Indeed, when we speak of Adam and Eve’s innocence we have in mind these very commandments.  By innocent, we mean to say that they were not guilty of lust, idolatry, anger, theft, dishonesty or covetousness, for example.  

So why is there this inconsistency?  Why move from Ten Commandments to just nine?  I trust you will agree that if the Sabbath is to be dropped from the list we need a very good reason.[6]  That good reason would have to have something to do with the ceremonial law, which is where I had thought Paul’s letter to the Colossians came in.  As you might expect ceremonial laws were not given, nor were they practiced until after the fall.  But, Sabbath was given at the time of creation (and before the fall), which is why it (along with work and marriage) is called a creation ordinance.[7]  It could not have reference only to a particular nation or a particular dispensation like so many other laws did.  There was no nation at the time.  There was no ceremonial system of laws because there was as yet no reason for such laws.   When He set that day apart, God was making a very important statement.  This day was for everyone.  It is significant how Exodus picks up this theme, pointing to God’s sanctifying the day as reason for the command,[8] and urging obedience on “your stranger who is within your gates (Exodus 20.10).”[9]  No ceremonial law was ever enjoined on strangers who happened to be within the camp.  On the contrary, they were specifically and unequivocally excluded. 

To suggest that Paul’s reference in Colossians is a reference to the Sabbath command is to misunderstand both Paul’s words and the place of the Sabbath in the Old Testament.  There were many feast days and holy days (Leviticus 23; Numbers 28-29; Deuteronomy 16) whose sole function was to shadow forth the coming of Jesus.  Moreover, in addition to the Sabbath day itself there were additional sabbaths (Leviticus 23.24-25, 39) including sabbath years (Leviticus 25).  It is to these that Paul makes reference because it was these that in that old economy were treated as ceremonial obligations.[10]  That the Sabbath command itself was unique should be obvious from what we can observe about the time of its institution and the place it was given in the Old Testament law. Here was a law – among the other nine – inscribed by the finger of God, placed in the ark, and enjoined on Jew and Gentile alike.  Here was a law which the people were expressly told to remember; one which they had observed before the institution of the Mosaic Law (Exodus 16) and one which had significance before shadows had (or could have) significance.  Through the years prophets would come and go arguing the vanity of sacrifices and pointing to a standard far more important than any system of ceremonial obligations.  Although they understood well the reason for the ceremonial system, they sometimes spoke disparagingly of that system even as they sought to show the people the heart of God.  Not once, however, did they use such language to speak of the Sabbath.  Quite the opposite is true.  It was the first and fourth commandments that received their greatest attention.

 It is fascinating to witness how apologists for traditional marriage turn to the Old Testament to prove the wickedness of homosexuality.  I commend them for it, but I wonder at their inconsistency.  Though most of them will not accept the testimony of the Old Testament in defense of the Sabbath, on this point they think that same testimony more than enough.  How do they know the prohibitions against homosexuality are not ceremonial?  As was already noted, many are now using the distinction between moral and ceremonial law as a reason for abrogating this prohibition.  Evangelicals need to be ready with an answer.  What will they say?  In short, they will have to say what we have been saying about the Sabbath.  Doubtless, they will point to the marriage ordinance given before the fall (proving its permanence!), and they will demonstrate that this prohibition – though it wasn’t plainly listed among the 10 – was, nonetheless, treated in Israel as a moral rather than a ceremonial prohibition.  

Idolatry and the Sabbath

When I became convinced of the Christian Sabbath I knew I had to begin to put it into practice.  I admit I felt a sense of dread.  I was a pastor, so I never missed morning worship, but now I was going to have set a number of things aside.  Isaiah (58.13) teaches us that we are to rest from work and play, and while I had no qualms about taking a rest from work I was having difficulty with the concept of giving up play.[11] I had read the biographies, so I knew how my forefathers kept the day, but I also understood the reason for the Sabbath.  This was a day for worship.[12]  It is crucial we remember God’s intent for the day.  If He meant for us to have a holiday, it would be entirely appropriate for us to go on enjoying recreational activities.[13]  The reason He sanctified it was that we might give it to Him, so that the whole of the day (from beginning to end) would be spent doing what ought to be every Christian’s highest joy.  This day, which our Lord described as a gift, was given us that we might enjoy Him; that we might spend it how we hope to spend our years in heaven, happily worshipping our King.   

Nevertheless, I was dreading the day.  I had been complaining of busyness.  I had been protesting the fact there wasn’t enough time to pray.  There wasn’t enough time to worship.  Too many other duties were taking my time, so that I didn’t have the hours for Him I wanted.  The Bible teaches that people who come to faith in Jesus Christ are first made new through the miraculous work of regeneration, so that they can and do believe and do actually desire to love and follow Christ.  In one passage Paul describes this miracle by saying that God shines in a heart to give “the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4.6).”  I had been made new.  I knew something – even if very little - of His worth, His loveliness, His all-surpassing majesty.  I felt I could say with all my heart, “Yes, he is altogether lovely (Song of Solomon 5.16)!”  I was happily telling my congregation and my friends “This is my beloved, and this is my friend.”  Indeed, every believer knows that this is the power of the gospel.  By His grace and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit God applies the finished work of atonement to those who are His, so that they do trust Jesus and begin to love Him and long for more of Him. 

Yet, given an opportunity to spend a day with Him, I didn’t want to.  What was the trouble?  Suddenly I was faced with my own idolatry.  I realized in spite of my profession I actually preferred recreational activities over time spent with God;[14] and I needed to repent.  It was only then, as I finally gave the day over to Him, that I learned what it meant to call the Sabbath a delight.  In fact, it was not some revelation about the superiority of a day or some mystical thing that takes place on the first day of every week that prompted the change.   Instead, through obedience to the command I was becoming convinced of what I had along affirmed, that He is better!  I was calling the day a delight, but it was the Lord Jesus in whom I was finding all my delight.  It was exactly as God had said: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight… Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.  The mouth of the LORD has spoken (Isaiah 58:13, 14).”        

It was another pastor who first drew my attention to the significance of the connection between the first and fourth commandments. Have you ever wondered why the prophets dwelt so often and so particularly on these two commands?  The answer is uncomfortable but important.  Here was the reason: the Sabbath reveals our idols.  The prophets knew that where there is idolatry, there you will find a people struggling – if even trying - to keep the Sabbath; and where the Sabbath is a burden, there you will find a people caught up in all kinds of idolatry.  What is it that keeps them from obeying the Sabbath?  What is it they find hard to give up?  What is it they would rather be doing?  There it is...  Now you know their idol. 

I often find myself wondering at the unwillingness of Christian believers to give time to the subject of the Sabbath to think and pray it over.  If your employer were to tell you that you had some vacation days left over, would you dismiss the idea outright?  Wouldn’t the very possibility (however slim it seemed) excite you?  Before my wife and I were married, we found our seasons of separation very difficult.  We lived at a distance, and neither of us had a car.  Nevertheless, from time to time my father would offer me the keys to his car.  It will not surprise you to learn that on those few occasions I delightedly (!) accepted his offer and immediately seized the opportunity to be with her.  Are you astonished at the Church’s (perhaps your own) reaction to the offer of a day spent with Jesus?  The Sabbath comes like the offer of a key to the car and many refuse it as if they had been asked to do something grievous.  It was Paul who once explained that the ignorance of the sinful mind stems from the blindness and stubbornness of the heart (Ephesians 4.18).  The truth is many will give no thought to the Sabbath only because they are unprepared to deal with the implications.  They have already decided what they would rather be doing next Sunday.  What a tragic indictment of the Church.     

       

Some of us are convinced the Church today is in a kind of spiritual captivity.  We believe the reason for the moral drift in society is directly related to a similar drift in the Church.  There is sin the camp, and it is no wonder God withholds His blessing.  Many continue to cry out to God for revival.  Others wonder why revival continues to tarry in the face of all our praying.  Could it be our sin?  What does it say about the Church that she now almost universally rejects the Sabbath command as a legalistic burden?     What does it say about the North American Church that she hears Jesus saying “the Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2.27)” and assumes He must have been freeing us from worship?  He offers a gift.  He says, in effect, “I have something wonderful for you - even designed for you” and the very people who bear His name determine from those same words that He cannot mean for us to have a Sabbath – otherwise, we reason, it wouldn’t be for us.  A quick survey of history convinces me that the Church has drifted very far from her moorings, and the reason is almost certainly the idolatry now on display Sunday after Sunday.  It is our inability and unwillingness to keep the Sabbath holy that threatens to ruin us, and indeed would prove our final undoing except for the grace of God.  Let us pray that He does not grow “weary of relenting (Jeremiah 15.6)!”

Faced with defeat and certain of God’s displeasure Joshua did as many across the continent are now doing.  He got down on his face and began to pray and plead with God.  I thank God for men like Joshua who will pray.  We need more men, women and children who will give themselves to prayer.  Still, as I think of those who are now pleading for revival, I wonder if God might say to them (perhaps to you) as He did to Joshua, “Get up!  Why do you lie thus on your face?  Israel has sinned... (Joshua 7.10-11, 13).”  We have sinned.  Let us confess our sin.  Let us sanctify ourselves, and let us turn to God in repentance; and may He do as He has promised, quickening our hearts that He might cause us to walk in His statutes, and keep His judgments, and do them (Ezekiel 36.27).

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[1] In practice, however, none of my days were wholly His.  I may have attempted to worship Him every day, but by failing to set apart any day as particularly His, all my days were alike.  All were marked by worship, play and work.  Anyone taught to observe the Sabbath will tell you that six days a week they also give to worship, play and work.  On this score they are exactly like their anti-Sabbatarian counterparts.  Sundays, however, are unique because even as they continue to worship, work and play are set aside so that worship can be given the special attention it deserves.    

[2] It is significant that while the New Testament does not actually tell us that rebellious children should no longer be stoned, we have no trouble reaching this conclusion ourselves.  Some are saying that this division of the law is arbitrary and man-made.  The law, they insist, is the law.  It cannot be neatly divided into categories.  But how do they know that children shouldn’t be stoned for rebellion?  How do they know that it’s okay to touch a dead carcass without going through a process of ceremonial cleansing?  In fact, the evangelical world is virtually unanimous in affirming at least 9 of the 10 commandments.  All are recognized as still binding, even if there is debate on application.  Yet, women in the midst of their menstrual cycle are no longer put out of the camp, burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings have all ceased, and almost the whole of Israel’s judicial system has been dropped.  In other words, we all divide the law into parts and we have good and necessary reasons for doing so.     

[3] Not because unimportant, but because Christ fulfilled them. 

[4] In Romans 5.13 Paul writes, “For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is not law.”  Commenting on this passage, Robert Haldane made the following observation: “Admitting, in the last clause of the verse, that sin could not be imputed without law, he proves that sin was in the world by the undeniable fact that there was death; and if this proves that there was sin, then it inevitably follows that there must have been law: and thus he evinces the fallacy of the assumption on which the objection is founded… It means that sin does not exist where there is no law.  The conclusion, therefore, is, that as sin is not reckoned where there is no law, and as sin was reckoned, or as it existed, before the law of Moses, therefore there was law before the law of Moses.”  Robert Haldane, Romans (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1958), 209-210.

[5] What I mean by calling them permanent is simply that it is never going to be okay to lie or steal or lust.  Despite the postmodern discomfort with the concept of law and the belief that law and grace are mutually exclusive, most believers will agree that these things are permanent.    

[6] If you count yourself anti-Sabbatarian please don’t go on insisting that you have not dropped the Sabbath.  You may wish to call your rest in Christ a fulfillment of the Old Testament Sabbath - assuming you can prove the OT Sabbath is part of the ceremonial law - but if we are no longer required to obey the words that God spoke on Mt. Sinai in reference to the Sabbath then practically speaking the Sabbath has been abrogated even as you believe the sacrifices abrogated.     

[7] Iain Murray writes, “to ‘sanctify’ means ‘to make holy’, ‘to separate’, or to ‘set apart’.  God himself is holy; uniquely that is his title.  What he sanctifies is something which belongs to him.”  Later he adds, “That God blessed a day for his own, and not for man’s good, would be a usage of the word out of harmony not only with this passage [Genesis 1.27-28] but with the whole of Scripture.” See Iain Murray, Rest in God (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), 5, 7.  For more on this see John Murray’s Principles of Conduct.

[8] “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day ad hallowed it.”  As John Murray explains, “This means that the sequence for man of six days of labour and one day of rest is patterned after the sequence which God followed in the grand scheme of his creative work.”   John Murray, Collected Writings of John Murray, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 206-207.

[9] See also Nehemiah 13.16-18.

[10] See also Romans 14.5 and Galatians 4.9-10.

[11] “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words…” 

[12] Ryan McGraw writes, “We must always ask the question, ‘What pleases God on a day set apart to worship Him?’  It is not sufficient to ask, ‘What is pleasing to God in general?’ but rather ‘What is pleasing to God on this day?’… For now, the question we ought to be asking about recreation or any other activity on the Sabbath day is not ‘What is wrong with it?’ but rather ‘How does it promote the purposes of the day?’”  Later he comments, “By implication, “taking up the entire time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship” excludes worldly employments and recreation that are lawful on other days… Prohibiting labor on the Sabbath is one application of the command not to do our “own pleasures” on the Sabbath.   Work is a gift of God that should be a “pleasure” to us as we do it to the Lord and not to men (Col. 3:23-24).  Christians should love to work, yet even a job that is a “pleasure” is to be set aside on the day that is designed for worship and communion with God and His people exclusively.”  On these points I heartily commend Ryan McGraw’s recent book Day of Worship published by Reformation Heritage Books for further study.  See pages 50, 51, 58.

[13] For example, viewing television, playing sports, playing games (or even talking about such things).

[14] We are certainly charged to do all that we do to the glory of God, and this includes recreation.  Nevertheless, I cannot give the same attention to God while I play a game of soccer that I can while in my ‘prayer closet’ or around the table at family worship, or among the congregation singing His praise.  The difference between the two is not unlike the difference between my washing dishes and cleaning house with my wife and my going on a date with my wife.  I can enjoy her either way, but both of us long for times where we can give each other undivided attention.  No sane man would call this a legalistic spirit.  On the contrary, it is simply the outworking of our love.  In the same way, the desire to give God undivided attention is instinctive to the man who has been born again.  Here is what separates from the unbeliever.  Though they may even share the same standard of ethics, the one longs for Christ where the other does not.  Indeed, it is the same longing to give God undivided attention, worship and service that makes the believer able to say with Paul “I desire to depart.”