New Testament Teaching

Introduction

This is the first of four posts that will take a look at exactly what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath and has been written as a response to an article that I recently read on a blog written by a Seventh Day Adventist.

This post will examine the key New Testament scriptures related to Sabbath doctrine. This will be followed by a post discussing Jesus' attitude and statements concerning the Sabbath. The final two posts will address various objections to my interpretation.

Please note, all quotes are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless stated otherwise.

My primary passages outlining New Testament Sabbath doctrine are found in Colossians and Hebrews. However, before looking at them, it is important to examine the origin of the word "Sabbath."

The English word "Sabbath" is a translation of the Hebrew word, shabbath, which, in turn, is derived from the word, shabath, which means "to cease, to rest, to desist (from labour)." Thus, "Sabbath" is resting from labour.

Key New Testament Sabbath Scriptures

Having established that, let's look at our key scriptures.

Col 2:16-17

Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath. Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ. (Amplified Bible)

As this verse clearly states, the Sabbath day (indeed the entire Jewish calender!) is merely a "shadow" or "type" of things to come and what was foreshadowed is found in Christ.

In the book of Hebrews, we find a detailed description of this foreshadowing, in Heb 4:1-10:

1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

One key point of note here is that the word rest as used in verse 9 is the Greek word sabbatismos, which literally means "a Sabbath-keeping" (Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). Indeed Vine's explanation of this term is an excellent overview of this passage in Hebrews:

"a Sabbath-keeping," is used in Hbr 4:9, RV, "a sabbath rest," AV marg., "a keeping of a sabbath" (akin to sabbatizo, "to keep the Sabbath," used, e.g., in Exd 16:30, not in the NT); here the sabbath-keeping is the perpetual sabbath "rest" to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law. Because this sabbath "rest" is the "rest" of God Himself, Hbr 4:10, its full fruition is yet future, though believers now enter into it. In whatever way they enter into Divine "rest," that which they enjoy is involved in an indissoluble relation with God. (My emphasis.)

I don't think there is much I can add to Vine's excellent explanation of this passage. However, there are a couple of points of note.

First is the usage of the word "today" in this passage, particularly in verses 6-7, which clearly indicates that "today" we can enter God's rest. Furthermore, just as "tomorrow never comes," "today" is always right now!

The second thing worth noting is found in verses 3-4:

"although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;"

This passage also really needs to be read alongside its parallel passage in Gen 2:2-3:

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

What is interesting is that, unlike the other six days of creation, the Bible in Genesis does not state "And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the seventh day."

Thus, there is an implication in both of these passages that the seventh day, the day of rest, is in some sense "eternal." God rested from the seventh day onwards in His work of creation. He didn't initiate a weekly rest for Himself every seventh day, rather "on the seventh day God ended His work."

The absolutely key thing to realize with regard to this passage from Genesis is that the word translated as "rested" is the Hebrew word shabath, the root of the English word Sabbath. Thus, it would be accurate to read this passage as "and He Sabbath-rested on the seventh day" in just the same way as the Hebrews passage indicates "There remains therefore a Sabbath-rest for the people of God."

However, what we haven't examined, and which Vine overlooked, is how we can actually enter that rest. The answer to that question is found in Heb 3:18-19; 4:1-3; 4:6-7

18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Ch 4
1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest . . .

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it [God's rest], and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

Those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience and unbelief. Interestingly, the word translated "unbelief" in Heb 3:19 (apistia) and the word translated "disobedience" in Heb 4:6 (apeitheia) in the NKJV, both mean disobedience AND unbelief/lack of faith or trust! In addition, the word apeitheia "denotes a willful unbelief and obstinate opposition to God's will ... apeitheia is not ignorance but obstinance." (http://www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_46-7.htm). Thayer defines it as "obstinacy, obstinate opposition to the divine will" and Strong's Lexicon as "disbelief (obstinate and rebellious):-disobedience, unbelief." As Vine points out, it literally means "the condition of being unpersuadable."

Therefore, "obedience-and-trust" in God is the key to entering God's rest. In addition, we obey God by hearing His voice and not "hardening our hearts." Therefore, if we are tended-hearted to God's word, obey and trust Him, we shall enter His rest.

Summary

Thus, to summarize, the Sabbath is a shadow of the eternal rest that can be found in Christ and we can enter that rest by living a life of obedience and tender-hearted trust in God.