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Ask The Pastor
October 3, 2000
Sorry James,
I have to apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry.
I've just returned from a trip out of state.
Your inquiry was:
> If Yeshua (Jesus) had not intended for his
Talmidim (Disciples) to
> keep the Shabbat (Sabbath) then what was Paul speaking of in Hebrews
> Chapter 4:8-9, and is there any Scriptural detail of the sabbath being
> done away with?
The subject of Hebrews chapter is not the seventh day Shabbat.
It has to do with the finished work of the Cross. The writer is
drawing from the Canaan experience of Israel. He speaks of our
experience in Christ Jesus as 'a Sabbath rest.' This isn't merely
a day, but rather what we experience by faith the finished work
of the cross.
The word used for Sabbath rest is 'sabbatismos.' This word speaks
of a state of rest or of a spiritual rest we enter into by faith in
Jesus. (Verses 8 & 9 have to be placed in the fuller context of
chapter 4, and of the book of Hebrews itself.)
Now for the second part of your inquiry. You asked if there was any
Scriptural detail on the sabbath being done away with. Actually
there is. Let me share some points:
1st: The 7th day sabbath came with the Mosaic covenant. As such
it belonged to that covenant. In a sense the Sabbath was like a
marriage ring that signified Israel's marriage to Yahweh at Mount
Sinai. No other nations was given the 7th day Sabbath.
2nd: You will notice that Jesus gave very little emphasis to the
Sabbath day commandment. Yet all of the other of the ten
commands were emphasized. Why is this? It is because a new
covenant was about to be enacted. And the new covenant would
center on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3rd: Jesus actually resurrected on the first day of the week. This
signified the beginning of a new creation. (Cf. Mark 16:9; Acts
20:7; 1Co16:2)
4th: Here is a factor little understood - When Jesus died on the
cross, He died as the marriage partner of Israel. That meant that
the covenant of Moses was no longer the governing covenant for
the new creation. It had been nailed to the cross. Paul explains
this in Romans 7.
He says, "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the
Law through the body of Christ..." (Rom7:4) Paul's point was that
the Law was the ketubah or marriage contract given at Sinai. The
new covenant person has to have a ketubah that is suitable to her
new marriage. Thus we have the new covenant.
Actually the prophet Jeremiah said that the new covenant would
not be like the covenant of Moses. You can read about this in
Jeremiah 31.
5th: All ceremonial aspects of the law of Moses are of no value to
the new covenant. Since the Sabbath was no longer binding, any
and/or every day would be fine. However, the first day of the week
began to be called 'the Lord's day and it early on became a special
time of worship for all believers.
Paul very carefully tells the believers in Colossae not to be
taken in by those who wish to place them under the law of
Moses. He says, "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in
regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon
or a Sabbath day." Paul goes on to say that these things were
only shadows. The reality is found in Christ Himself. (There are
other Scriptures that can be brought to play, but I don't want to
weigh you down with reading.)
6th: The very early Church, which, by the way, was nearly 100%
Jewish, actually set both the 7th and the 1st day of the week aside
as holy to the Lord. After a time that the 7th day Sabbath began to
drift to the wayside. The primary reason was that the Christian
Jews were being forced out of the synagogues. Because of this
they began to identify more with the larger Church, which by that
time, had become multicultural.
I hope this helps.
Shalom in Christ,
Bro. Buddy
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