Sunday, October 23, 2016
WHAT DOES THE WORD OF GOD SAY ABOUT THE SABBATH? (PART FOUR)
Dear reader, in Part Three we learned much about the Pharisees and what they said concerning the Sabbath day.
There have been people who claim to keep the Sabbath, but if you look closely, in reality, they do not keep the Sabbath at all; instead, they break it in a very significant way.
Do you know that if you walk more than one mile on the Sabbath day, you have broken the Sabbath?
“Each of you is to stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” (Exodus 16:29).
There was a limited distance a person was permitted to walk on the Sabbath (Acts 1:12). It was a sin to go beyond that distance.
According to Sabbath law, it was not allowed at all to walk outside the “Sabbath day’s journey.” The distance of a Sabbath day’s walk was a little less than one mile, about the distance from Bethany to Jerusalem (Luke 24:50; Acts 1:8–12). But today, there are people who call themselves “Sabbatarians.” For example, someone may live in Temeke and travel to church in Ubungo or Kimara on Saturday, yet the distance from Temeke to Ubungo is far beyond a mile — a journey exceeding the Sabbath day’s limit.
According to the Law, “For whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10).
So, you Sabbath-keeper who goes to a church more than a mile away, haven’t you already broken your Sabbath? Why waste your time clinging to weak laws that cannot help you?
Moreover, in the Sabbath law, anyone who broke it was to be stoned to death. Why is it today that people who break the Sabbath are not stoned to death? (Numbers 15:32–36).
If you ask Sabbath-keepers why they don’t stone people to death, they will tell you that now we are living in the period of grace. But isn’t it childish to say that in the matter of stoning to death we are under grace, while in other matters we still cling to the Old Covenant laws?
Another issue is this: if we are to continue following the Old Covenant because Jesus said He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them, then we must also continue offering animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, just as in the Old Covenant (Leviticus 5:5–6; 7–10; Leviticus 6:1–7).
Dear reader who is a Sabbath-keeper, have you asked yourself this question? Why do you choose to keep only one day, while ignoring the rest of the laws of Moses? In Paul’s time, Law-keepers who defended Moses’ Law judged Christians harshly for following the teachings of Jesus. The Sabbatarians of that time — the Pharisees — accused Paul of teaching against the Law of Moses. They claimed that Paul was a liar and that he encouraged people to break the Law. But is that true?
Paul referred to such accusations: “Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—‘Let us do evil that good may result’? Their condemnation is just!” (Romans 3:8).
In the New Testament church, believers faced severe accusations from Sabbatarians for choosing to live by faith and grace in Jesus, rather than under the Mosaic Law. This is why Paul emphasized deeply how to live under the grace of Jesus Christ. His letters are full of such profound revelations.
That is why even today, Sabbatarians accuse servants of God like “Max Shimba Ministries” of misleading people. Yet this Pharisaical attitude has existed since Paul’s time! Even now! Sabbatarians, I want you to understand: we are no longer under the Law of Moses but under the grace of Jesus Christ. This is the work Jesus did when He gave us the New Covenant. The obsession with keeping the Sabbath has blinded and deafened many to the Word of God.
“What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2).
Why do those who cling to the Law fail to understand this? Paul continues: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!” (Romans 6:15).
Why don’t they understand? The truth is the opposite of what they claim! Paul says again: “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14). Do you see? Sin will not master us because we are not under law — but under grace!
This means that if a person lives under the law, sin has dominion over him. Others think, “If you are not under law, then you can sin.” They are shocked, as if they have never read the Gospel! We are saved by grace and live by faith, not by the Law of Moses.
But does this mean we have the freedom to sin? No! Paul is clear: “Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31).
THE PUNISHMENT FOR BREAKING THE SABBATH
Anyone who disobeyed the Sabbath law was to be put to death.
“Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.” (Exodus 31:15b).
HAVE YOU, AS A SABBATH-KEEPER, EVER DONE THESE THINGS?
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Doing business
“People from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, ‘What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day?’” (Nehemiah 13:16–17). -
Carrying burdens
“This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day.” (Jeremiah 17:21).
When Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, He said, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8). When the Jews saw him carrying his mat, they said, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” (John 5:10).
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Gathering firewood
While in the wilderness, the Israelites found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath. They brought him to Moses, and the Lord said, “The man must die.” (Numbers 15:32–35). -
Lighting fire/cooking
“You shall not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” (Exodus 35:3). This meant cooking was forbidden. -
Walking long distances
“Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” (Exodus 16:29).
If you did any of these five things on the Sabbath, the punishment was death by stoning.
“Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death.” (Exodus 31:15b).
Paul wrote that the Law was weak because of the flesh:
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son … And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us.” (Romans 8:3–4).
CAN THE SABBATH BE BROKEN?
The only one who has the authority to break the Sabbath is the one who created it. Therefore, yes, the Sabbath can be broken.
Who broke the Sabbath? God Himself, who had promised to come to earth (Micah 1:2–3).
This God who gave the Sabbath came and broke it. Read carefully (John 5:2–9, 18). In the Old Testament, carrying a load on the Sabbath was forbidden (Jeremiah 17:21). Yet Jesus told the man He healed to pick up his mat and walk — on the Sabbath.
Why would Jesus tell him to carry a load, knowing that carrying a load on the Sabbath was against Moses’ Law? Did He keep the Sabbath, or did He break it?
If Jesus broke the Sabbath, then He also told us: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” (Matthew 11:29). If we do what He did, are we not also breaking the Sabbath in following His teaching?
That is why Jesus clashed so much with the Jews about the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1–8). If He had kept the Sabbath perfectly, why did they condemn Him?
Here we see clearly how Jesus defended His disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath — something considered work in the Old Testament.
There was no allowance for breaking the Sabbath, even for a good reason — unless it was by God’s command, such as offering sacrifices (Numbers 28:9). But here, Jesus justified His disciples. Under the Old Covenant, they would have been stoned.
We have now reached the end of Part Four, and we will continue with Part Five.
Do you know that if you are a Sabbath-keeper and you wear clothes with mixed colors, you are already breaking the Sabbath? … stay tuned …
DO NOT MISS PART FIVE
It is I, Max Shimba, a servant of Jesus Christ.
© Copyright 1998–2016 Max Shimba Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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