The Christian Sabbath.

 By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text: Jeremiah 17:19-27

 

Hebrews 4:6-7

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”

(ESV)

 

In the modern chaotic and hectic culture in which we live, the idea of rest seems illusive.  Modern culture also has the belief that one can achieve success by working just a little harder, with seeking rest viewed as laziness and one lacking ambition.  However, this does not mean that work is evil and robs one of mental and physical health but means that one must achieve a balance of work and rest in their lives.  Beginning in Genesis 2:1-3 where God rested from the work of creation and declared the seventh day or the Sabbath as holy.  The question we as believers must deal with is does the declaration of the Sabbath as a holy day still apply to Christians, requiring them to make Saturday a holy day, or is there now a deeper more spiritual meaning?

 

In Hebrews 4:6-7, the passage mentions that some will enter God’s rest and some will not based upon their level of faith and obedience to Christ with a certain day, today, appointed for rest.  From this passage, it appears that the author of Hebrews is expanding the idea of a day of rest to any day.  Since any day is now a Sabbath, this would necessitate one should work on these days for 2 Thessalonians 3:10 commands people work to provide for themselves.  As we then read the passage in Jeremiah 17:19-27, it would appear there is a biblical contradiction regarding the Sabbath.  However, like many contradictions in Scripture, resolution occurs when we study the passages in context. 

 

Jeremiah 17:19-27 occurs at the time when God’s people operated under the law, requiring the setting aside of one day a week as holy, forbidding any work on that day.  The people of Judah and Israel were guilty of disobedience in that they worshipped other gods and set up shrines to them and even sacrificed their children to them, Including Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1-9).  With this context, Jeremiah 17:19-27 represents more disobedience on the part of the people of Judah and Jerusalem disobeying the Sabbath when God’s people were under the regulations of the law to observe the sabbath (Exodus 20:8).

 

However, the way God deals with His people changed when God sent us his son Jesus, with Jesus Himself performing miracles on the Sabbath.  In one such instance, the Pharisees accused Jesus of working on the Sabbath with Jesus asking if it was lawful for one to do good on the Sabbath, citing their willingness to recover a lost lamb on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8).  With Jesus telling His followers that miracles would be performed through them in the name of Jesus (Mark 16:17-18), we too can perform good works as Christ did on the Sabbath.  The author of Hebrews carries the idea of the Sabbath even further by saying that today or any and every day is a Sabbath as God’s people find their rest in the Lord, not a specific day of the week. 

 

Under the new covenant, spiritual rest has no connection to a particular day of the week but instead to the idea of one having rest in the assurance of eternal life due to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Galatians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Romans 5:8).  However, this does not negate the need to have regular times of physical rest to promote physical and mental health, something each person should schedule into their routines.  Under the new Covenant, God’s people have spiritual rest every day in Christ and should schedule times of physical rest to promote physical and mental health.  This is the Christian Sabbath.  May God challenge and bless everyone reading this post.