Is Sunday the day of rest for Christians

Understanding Sabbath Today – Is Sunday the day of rest for Christians

One of the ‘Ten Commandments’ is “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy….” In the old days, the Jewish people set aside a day in which they did not work, a day to worship. That used to be on Saturday. Today we worship on Sunday. That was it. Nothing about the real ‘why’ behind the Sabbath or ‘how’ to do Sabbath. Basically, Sabbath was presented as an old idea that translates to ‘going to church on Sunday’ for us today.

Do We Need to Understand Sabbath?

Why is it important to understand this Sabbath issue? To begin with, the theme is found first in the “Ten Commandments,” a brief collection of laws that we claim forms the backbone of our Judeo-Christian ethic and legal system. Commandments, as many preachers (too many, perhaps) have said, “…are not ‘holy suggestions’—they are commandments.” Jesus indicates rather clearly that these commandments are important (Matthew 5.17-20). Remembering or keeping the Sabbath is one of those commandments, so we cannot just dismiss Sabbath as we do so many details of Torah Since the Ten Commandments have been around for so long, they obviously have value. Since they are part of religious life, they are obvious targets for those who wish to separate church and state. How can we understand today these ancient commands especially the call to keep Sabbath and the value they may have for us? Understanding Sabbath in the Old Testament In order to begin to understand the place of Sabbath in the Gospel framework, we should have an understanding of Sabbath in general. The first mention we find of Sabbath in the Bible comes in Exodus 16:22-30. Just after Moses leads the Hebrew people out of Egypt, they come to a time in which they are gathering manna to eat. Moses commands the people to gather enough for two days because “tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord” (16:23). Just a short time later, we find Sabbath in the middle of the Ten Commandments that Moses delivers to the people, recorded in Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days, the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11)   Here, the idea of Sabbath is developed a bit more, calling all living beings in a household to cease from work. Indeed, “cessation from work” rather than “rest” was the early understanding of the word —“the idea is not that of relaxation or refreshment, but cessation from activity.”  The understanding of the Sabbath is really not developed much more than this in the Old Testament. In Nehemiah 13:15-22, Isaiah 56:1-7, and Ezekiel 20:8-26, we hear about Sabbath the breaking of Sabbath, the desecration of the Sabbath, and calls to return to Sabbath. These passages provide some examples of Sabbath-breaking,  especially the passage in Nehemiah. Reading those verses, the problem is that it looks like any other day there is nothing different about it. The actual types of work specifically prohibited in Sabbath law are few: gathering food, plowing and reaping, kindling a fire, and chopping wood. These prohibitions indicate a rural or mobile community. The understanding grows to include the realities of growing urban life no selling, no carrying goods.  In the Deuteronomic rendering of the Law (Deut. 5:15), the Israelite is not only to take the Sabbath as a day of rest but also as a day to remember the deliverance from Egypt, in effect, to make Sabbath a sort of mini-Passover. These rather general understandings of Sabbath remained thus until Israel is taken captive in 587BC.At this point due to the captivity, Sabbath begins to become something more, something distinctively Jewish, something debated and examined in detail.

Saturday or Sunday?: Which one to follow

Sabbath Was Made for Man and Not Man for the Sabbath. This verse Jesus spoke in Mark 2:27 is the crux of proof some use for the validity of Sunday worship. Jesus restored the foundation God instituted in the Sabbath. The Old Covenant and Law were dissolved with the inauguration of the Holy Spirit. Sunday “Christian Sabbath” is also unscriptural. As seen above, there is only one place where Sabbath is highlighted after Paul began to focus on the Gentiles. “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.” (Colossians 2:16–17). Jesus Christ by died on the cross abolished all the laws and brings everyone under grace (Colossians 2:14). One has to remember that the Sabbath was initially given to the people of Israel and not the church in the New Testament However, the Sabbath was an integral part of Old Testament Law and believers are Christ are free from the bondage of the Law given through Moses (Galatians 4:1-26; Romans 6:14). Following the Sabbath is no necessary for the Christians no matter whether it is Saturday or Sunday. The first day of the week, Sunday, the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:10) celebrates the New Creation, with Christ as our resurrected Head. We are not obligated to follow the Mosaic Sabbath—resting but are now free to follow the risen Christ—serving. Also Read – https://www.aproudchristian.com/2020/05/why-we-go-to-church-on-sunday.html