IS THERE A SABBATH IN THE NEW COVENANT?

The Bible says that in these last days, there will be perilous times.

Some will depart from the faith, listening to deceitful spirits and teachings that go against the truth [2 Timothy 3:1; 1 Timothy 4:1]. In these days we live in, we are surrounded by "DISCIPLES OF MOSES" [John 8:28-29], who, by emphasizing the worship of Saturday and keeping the Sabbath, teach that all who worship on Sunday are lost, and they bear the mark of the beast "666".

They teach that abandoning the Sabbath and worshiping on Sunday was established by Constantine together with the Catholic Church.

It is important then, as disciples of Jesus, to learn all about this matter so that we can earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints [Jude 1:3].

We will divide this subject into five parts:-

(1). INTRODUCTION TO THE SABBATH.

(2). THE ABOLISHMENT OF THE SABBATH.

(3). THE SABBATH, A SHADOW OF JESUS CHRIST.

(4). REASONS WHY CHRISTIANS WORSHIP ON SUNDAY.

(5). KEEPING A DAY IS NOT A WAY OF SALVATION.

*1) INTRODUCTION TO THE SABBATH*

*1. THE MEANING OF THE WORD SABBATH.*

The word "Sabbath" comes from the Hebrew word "SHABBATH," which means REST or CEASING FROM WORK.

This rest is not necessarily on the seventh day. In some instances, people were commanded to have a Sabbath on the first day and the eighth day [Leviticus 23:39], and they also had a Sabbath on the seventh day of every week [Exodus 20:8-11].

There was also a Sabbath of a whole year for the land. It was not allowed to farm the land in that year; the land was supposed to rest [Leviticus 25:2-5]. Anyone who claims today that they are keeping the law by observing the Sabbath must not farm or harvest every seventh year, otherwise, they have failed in all [James 2:10].

*2. THE BEGINNING OF THE COMMAND TO KEEP THE SABBATH AND ITS PURPOSE*

The first command for people to keep the Sabbath was given by God to the Israelites, through Moses, in the OLD COVENANT. This command was not given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others before Moses [Deuteronomy 5:1-3,12-14].

*This command was also for the NATION of Israel only!* Not for other nations that were not given the law [Romans 2:14; Deuteronomy 4:7-10]. THE ISRAELITES were commanded to keep the Sabbath for the following purposes:-

(a). To remember how they were slaves in the land of Egypt and how the LORD God brought them out of slavery and gave them REST from the labor of slavery [Deuteronomy 5:15].

(b). To be a SIGN of their covenant with God, the old covenant [Exodus 31:12-13,16-17; Ezekiel 20:20]. *This covenant is referred to as "ETERNAL" not in the sense that it is endless*. Not everywhere in the Bible where "ETERNAL" is used does it mean without end.

ETERNAL COVENANT here means a covenant of a very long time to come. [Examples: A house to be confirmed "forever" [Leviticus 25:29-30]; A person to be a servant of someone "forever" [Deuteronomy 15:12-17]; Leprosy to be "forever" [2 Kings 5:25-27].

*3. THE ACCOMPANYING SERVICE OF DEATH FOR NOT KEEPING THE SABBATH.*

The command to keep the Sabbath was a strict one. Anyone who did not keep the Sabbath was given the service of death, THEY WERE KILLED [Exodus 31:14-15, 35:2-3]. Even a mother who tried to gather firewood to cook for her children on the Sabbath was stoned to death [Numbers 15:32-36].

A person was not allowed to walk a mile on the Sabbath. The "Sabbath day's journey" allowed so that one is not counted as having worked was just under a mile, like the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives [Acts 1:12].

Even carrying a mattress was breaking the law of keeping the Sabbath [John 5:8-10].

Even healing on the Sabbath was breaking the law of keeping the Sabbath [Luke 13:14].

It was a service of punishment, a service of death! [2 Corinthians 3:7-9].

*The disciples of Moses today,* who claim to keep the Sabbath, should not go to the hospital on the Sabbath, nor seek healing in any way on the Sabbath, and among them, anyone who does not keep the Sabbath should be killed! Why don't they do these things?

*(2) THE CESSATION OF THE SABBATH.*

Man was not created for the Sabbath, but for God who is the LORD of the Sabbath or the founder of the Sabbath. God, who brought the command to keep the Sabbath, also has the right to end it or remove that command, and no one has the right to blame Him [Mark 2:27-28].

Early in prophecy, before the coming of Jesus Christ, it was predicted that God would end the Sabbath [Hosea 2:11]. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law by ending the Sabbath.

Our chief leader of salvation, Jesus Christ, openly opposed every Jewish idea of keeping the Sabbath. He came to end the Sabbath by breaking it.

If Jesus is our Lord, then we too should be at the forefront of following Him as an example and breaking the Sabbath [Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-16; 14:1-6; John 5:8,18; 9:13-16]. Jesus Christ, nailed the accusation of not keeping the Sabbath to the cross, abolished it, let it no longer exist! [Colossians 2:13-14].

*Keeping days, months, times, and years is a return to WEAK AND IMPERFECT TEACHINGS [Galatians 4:9-11].*

We should no longer be judged by ANYONE because of the SABBATH! [Colossians 2:13-16]. To get a good translation of the word "Sabbath" in that passage, read the King James Version Bible, which mentions "SABBATH DAYS" (Colossians 2:16) "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days." So, let no one judge us concerning Sabbath days.

The fourth commandment of the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments is not in the New Covenant, neither Jesus nor the apostles commanded us to keep the Sabbath [Matthew 19:16-19; Acts 15:1-29]. Like the time before Moses, we, as descendants of Abraham by faith, were not commanded to keep the Sabbath as Ibrahimu was not commanded!

The New Commandment has become instead of the Old Covenant, which was deficient, which had a service of punishment or death. *That service has been repealed [2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Hebrews 8:6-9,13].*

*(3) THE SABBATH, A SHADOW OF JESUS CHRIST.*

The Sabbath was a shadow of things to come [Colossians 2:16-17].

The Sabbath was only a shadow of REST that humans troubled and overwhelmed with burdens would find by going to Jesus Christ [Matthew 11:28]. After coming himself as REST, Jesus Christ; we no longer need to keep the shadow. If we hold on to Jesus Christ, HE will also give us an ETERNAL SABBATH in heaven [Hebrews 4:8-11]. This Sabbath is not on Saturday because those who will diligently enter that rest and stay away from disobeying Jesus will enter [Hebrews 4:1-11; Revelation 14:13]

*(4) REASONS FOR CHRISTIANS TO WORSHIP ON SUNDAY*

There is no scripture in the New Testament that records a gathering of Christians on the Sabbath to worship God.

The word "Sabbath" appears 60 times in the New Testament. Fifty times in these, it is used BEFORE the New Covenant itself was made with the blood of Jesus. Of the remaining ten times, six (6) mention Paul preaching to JEWS in NON-CHRISTIAN gatherings on their Jewish sabbaths [Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 17:1,2;18:4]. Twice, the word describes the law of Moses being read by the Jews in the synagogues [Acts 13:27; 15:21]; Once it tells us how we should not be judged concerning the Sabbath [Colossians 2:16]; The remaining one mentions the Sabbath day's journey [Acts 1:12].

SUNDAY, which is the first day of the week, THE LORD'S DAY, when He conquered death and rose again [Revelation 1:10], We set apart specially to worship the Lord because: -

( a ). It is the feast of the first fruits of the harvest, which was done in the Old Covenant, on the SECOND DAY after the Sabbath; It is a prophecy of Christ who is their FIRST FRUITS who have fallen asleep [Leviticus 23:9-14; 1 Corinthians 15:20].

( b ). It is the victorious day of our Lord Jesus who rose from the dead, and revealed himself to his disciples after the resurrection of Jesus [John 20:1,19,26 Romans 10:9].

( c ). The day the Holy Spirit, the Chief Observer of all of God's work in the church, came, was the day of Pentecost, which is Sunday, the second day after the Sabbath [Acts 2:1].

( d ) The day of Pentecost Sunday is the first day when the first church began preaching and 3,000 people were saved and the first church service began [Acts 2].

( e ). The Christians of the first church gathered on Sunday [Acts 20:6-12; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2].

*These reasons clearly also show that the worship of Sunday was not initiated by King Constantine or the Catholic Church.*

There is no scripture that says anyone who worships on Sunday has the mark of the beast 666. That is a fabrication. The Bible gives us the freedom to choose the day to honor the Lord [Romans 14:5-6]. It is also important to note that every day is a day to learn the Word [Acts 17:11; 2:46].

*(5) KEEPING DAYS IS NOT A WAY TO BE SAVED*

Keeping any day, even Sunday, is not a way to be saved. We are saved by believing that Jesus is the LORD and SAVIOR and not by keeping any day [Romans 10:9-10,13].

There are many blessings for anyone who shares this message on Facebook, Twitter, etc., with relatives, friends, and acquaintances so that they too can have the opportunity to read this message and be blessed as you have been. The blessings of God will be with you.

Shalom

Dr. Max Shimba for Max Shimba Ministries Org