"The Sabbath in the New Testament" (Exodus 20:8-11)

“The Sabbath in the New Testament” (Exodus 20:8–11)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, May 6, 2018

Exodus 20:8–11 (NIV)

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

1. What did the Sabbath command mean for an OT Israelite?

a. The 7th day (and uniquely the 7th day) was holy, because it was the day on which the Lord rested after Creation.
b. The 7th day was a day for rest from all ordinary work and labor – from the head of society down to the lowliest animal of burden.
c. The 7th day was a day of worship and community praise and sacrifice to the LORD.
d. The 7th day rest was an opportunity to trust God and remember that they were ultimately dependent on him not on their own labors.
e. The 7th day was a gift from God for the good of his people.
f. The 7th day rest was to be shared with everyone in the land, even those not born as Israelites.
g. The 7th day Sabbath was a special covenant sign given to the Nation of Israel, to specially remind them of God’s unique covenant with them separate from all the other nations on earth. As the rainbow was given to Noah and as circumcision was given to Abraham, the Sabbath was given to Israel at Sinai as a covenant sign.

2. What does the Sabbath command mean for a NT Christian?

a. When Jesus came, he rescued the Sabbath from its legalistic distortion and restored its original gracious purpose.
b. When Jesus came, he was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses given at Sinai.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17–18, NIV)

"The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. (Luke 16:16, NET)

Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4, NIV)

For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. (Romans 10:4, NLT)

c. What do the apostles/NT writers say about Sabbath?

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. (Acts 20:7, NIV)

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. (1 Corinthians 16:2, NIV)

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17, NIV)

¹Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. ²One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. ³The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. ⁴Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. ⁵One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Romans 14:1–6, NIV)

⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10, NIV)

3. What are the principles of the Sabbath that can still be applied today?

⦁ God is Lord of Time. The Lord is sovereign over our time.
⦁ Man is to be a working people. Human beings have a responsibility to work and to use time wisely and industriously.
⦁ A time of rest is a gift of God to human beings, and regular rest should be taken (the principle of 1 day in 7 is set forth in Creation).
⦁ All time should be set aside as holy to God. When Romans 14 talks about “a person regards every day alike” – this does not mean that every day is regular or profane, but rather that every day is holy for the worship of God.
⦁ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1, NIV)
⦁ Sabbath teaches us to express our dependence on God and not on our self-sufficiency. This is still true today. We ultimately depend on God for our needs. Jesus, the fulfillment of the Sabbath, reminds us that we cannot depend on our works to get us to God, but rather we must rest/rely on Christ and trust his provision.