The reason for writing this article is that some Christians today believe that the Sabbath Day commandment is still binding upon them (i.e., it must still be obeyed).
If so, then all Christians should refrain from working on the 7th Day of the week—from sunset to sunset—in accordance with the Law of Moses.
But is it in fact binding?
The Bible answer is “no,” for at least 3 reasons:
REASON #1—Because The Bible Plainly Says It Isn’t
The first reason we know that the Sabbath Day is no longer required of God’s people is that the Old Testament (or Old Agreement)—along with all of its’ commands, regulations, feasts, and holy days [this includes the Sabbath Day]—is no longer binding in God’s New Covenant agreement with humanity.
For absolute proof of this, please read: 2 Reasons the Old Testament Law Has Passed Away
REASON #2—Because the Most Popular Proof That the Sabbath Day is Still Required–Hebrews 4.9–Has Been Badly Misunderstood
Hebrews 4.9 is probably the favorite New Testament passage by far that people like to use to prove the Sabbath Day is binding on Christians today. It simply says this:
Hebrews 4.9—There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
When taken out of context, this is a very tempting verse to use as proof that the Sabbath Day is required. After all, the Bible itself does actually say here that Christians—just like the Israelites—also have a Sabbath rest.
But the context surrounding Hebrews 4.9 will plainly demonstrate that when saying that Christians “have a Sabbath-rest,” the Bible was not speaking literally, but figuratively, which is very common in Scripture.
To understand what I mean, it is necessary to have a firm grasp on the immediate context surrounding Hebrews 4.9, which begins in chapter 3.7, which says:
Hebrews 3:7-10
7—Therefore [since Moses was a faithful servant of God’s then you too must]…
8—Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9—Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years.
10—Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in [their] heart, And they have not known My ways.’
And then comes a critically important verse:
Hebrews 3:11—So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter MY REST.’ “
So, I ask you: What is that “rest?” Was it a Day of the week (i.e., the Sabbath Day)—or a location? Obviously, it was a location (the promised land of Canaan), but certainly not the Sabbath “rest”. Certainly, it was a rest of sorts (from bondage in Egypt, and their seemingly endless wanderings in the wilderness). And, actually, looking back we can see that only two people of the original generation were able to enjoy that “rest,” because the others proved unfaithful—which was a huge point the Hebrew writer was making here. So, the “rest” spoken of by the Hebrew writer is “the promised land of Canaan”—a LOCATION rather than a DAY. Armed with that nugget of information, let us continue…
Hebrews 3:12—Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
Clearly, the Hebrew writer is WARNING CHRISTIANS (God’s people today) to NOT follow the disastrous examples of disobedience and unfaithfulness of Israel (God’s people back then). Remember, at the beginning—when Moses and Abraham had met with the elders of Israel in Egypt—they had believed in God’s leadership through Moses (see Exodus 5.27-31). But they had little patience with God’s Plan for their Salvation, lost their faith, and fell away from God. (Note: you cannot “fall away” from God if you were never actually with God to begin with.) Therefore, a serious warning to Christians. He continues:
Hebrews 3:13-15
13—but exhort [encourage] one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14—For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
15—while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
So, instead of “falling away from the living God,” we must double-down on our commitment to Him, and “hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
We must also pay attention and not harden our hearts to disobey God, or we too will suffer a horrible fate, as did the Israelites. (See also 1 Cor. 10.1-6.)
Hebrews 3:16-18
16—For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
17—Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?
18—And to whom did He swear that they would not enter HIS REST, but to those who did not obey?
They could not enter their place of REST (again, it’s a LOCATION, not the SABBATH DAY), the promised land of Canaan, because of their rebellion.
Hebrews 3:19—So we see that they could not enter [their place of rest, Canaan] in because of unbelief.
[Even though they had formerly believed, see again Exodus 5.27-31]
The Hebrew writer continues his context into the next chapter.
Hebrews 4:1—Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest [heaven], let us [Christians] fear [be afraid!] lest any of you [Hebrew Christians] seem to have come short of it.
Notice that the Hebrew writer is now applying the experiences of the Israelites to the Christian. And the promise of entering His rest (heaven) was (and is) still available. But the possibility of loosing their rest (as the Israelites lost theirs), also still stands. Therefore, he warned them, be afraid! Fear! Because your very eternal destiny is at stake.
Now, the Bible starts talking about the “rest” of the Christian. And some people I believe get confused thinking the writer is still speaking literally. But our “rest” is not the same as the Israelites’ rest. Their ultimate location of rest was Canaan, but that was a shadow, a figure or symbol of better things to come. The reality for us is our Eternal Rest, heaven. Revelation 14.13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may REST from their labors, and their works follow them.’”
But just as we can see from the lessons of the Israelites in the wilderness, if we expect to reach heaven, we too must stay strong in our faith and obedience.
Hebrews 4:2—For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the Word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
And just as it was with Israel of old, hearing about the Good News of eternal Salvation (Hebrews 2.3-4) will not benefit us any more than hearing about the hope reaching the promised land of Canaan benefited them. As Christians, we must have true faith in God, we must trust His Word, and we must have the courage to follow His commands if we expect to enter our heavenly rest. In fact, all who live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted (2 Tim 3.12), and anyone who is not willing to lose everything for Christ cannot be His disciple (Lk 14.33). Continuing…
Hebrews 4:3—For we who have believed enter [figuratively] that rest [heaven], as He has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest [heaven]'”…
Again, they would never enter their physical rest, Canaan, because of their unbelief…And we will never enter our Eternal Rest, Heaven, if we too are disobedient (see Heb. 5.9).
…although the works were finished from the foundation of the world [God finished His works and rested in heaven].
Now, the Hebrew writer momentarily focuses on GOD’S REST, which is obviously heaven. Of course, God’s “work” (in this context) was the 6 days of Creation, a massive endeavor (from which He rested on the 7th day). The Christian’s work is obeying God through Jesus Christ after leaving a life of sin (and then we rest from our labors on our figurative 7th day: heaven – see Rev. 14.13). By comparison, the work of the Israelites was to leave the slavery of Egyptian bondage, conquer their enemies, and by the help of God take Canaan—their place of rest.
Hebrews 4:4—For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;
Of course, the reason the Israelites were told to keep the Sabbath Day—the 7th Day of the week—holy, was that God on that day rested from His work of creating the world. Exodus 20.8-11 says: “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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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.”
Hebrews 4:5—and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.“
Note that God’s rest was not Canaan, it was heaven. Therefore there was another type of “rest” they too could have if they remained faithful (heaven).
Hebrews 4:6-7—Since therefore it remains that some must enter it [heaven], and those to whom it was first preached did not enter [Canaan] because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”
My friends, as long as we can look up and say, “It’s Today!”—then there is still time for us to repent, turn from our rebellion, turn to God, increase our faith, and obey Him fully. But when this life is over, we can no longer do that. Our fate, just as theirs, will be sealed. (see Hebrews 9.27).
Hebrews 4:8—For if Joshua had given them [a final, ultimate] rest [Canaan], then He would not afterward have spoken of another day [heaven].
The land of Canaan was indeed a place of rest from the slavery of Egypt, and their wanderings in the desert (due to their sins…the time it took them was far longer because they lost their faith, as stated previously). But God spoke of a Rest beyond that, a Rest that would not only be for them, but for us as well [heaven].
NOW, THE CENTRAL VERSE OF OUR ATTENTION SHOULD MAKE MUCH MORE CONTEXTUAL SENSE…
Hebrews 4:9—There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
[Figuratively speaking, just has God retired to heaven after 6 days of His enormous work, we too can retire and rest in the afterlife, in heaven]
Again, Revelation 14.13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may REST from their labors, and their works follow them.’” So, yes, we too have our “day” of rest…and it is GOD’S REST. And God lives in Heaven. And the “day” refers to the Era of Heaven. (If I were to say, “Back in my Dad’s day they rode on horses,” the word “day” isn’t literal, it refers to an age of time in which my Dad lived.)
So, just as the High Priests of the Old Covenant would be shadows of Jesus Christ, our High Priest…just as the animal sacrifices were shadows of the Lamb of God’s death on the cross (Hebrews 9.12,15)—so the literal Sabbath Day of Rest was a shadow of Heaven’s Rest.
Hebrews 4:10—For he who has entered His REST [again, God’s rest is heaven] has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
Again, God’s rest is HEAVEN, and we can have the very same type of rest if we remain faithful so as to enter God’s place of rest, heaven, also.
Hebrews 4:11—Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest [heaven], lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
NOTICE THAT WE MUST NOT STRIVE TO KEEP THE SABBATH DAY. WE MUST STRIVE TO ENTER HEAVEN, AND BE CAREFUL NOT TO FALL BACK INTO A LIFE OF DISOBEDIENCE, AS THE ISRAELITES DID.
So, in conclusion, the Bible here is not contradicting the rest of the New Testament and instructing us to keep the Sabbath Day just like Israel of old was commanded to do. Their “rest” was from the slavery of Egypt and wandering in the desert, but our rest is from sin. And when we turn from our sins, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, as we look forward to our eternal rest with God, where He abides in heaven.
Thus we see—with the proper interpretation—the complete harmonization of God’s Word. Paul (in Colossians 2 – see this for explanation) said that we should not let people judge us if we choose to not observe the Sabbath Day—or any other special day of the Jews. That’s because those laws and ordinances were nailed to the cross, taken away by the New Agreement that was for all of humanity, not just for the tiny nation of Israel.
REASON #3—Because the Sabbath Day Was Never Intended to Be An Eternal Requirement For God’s People
The command to “keep the Sabbath Day holy” was the fourth of the Ten Commandments (see Deuteronomy 5) that God gave to Moses—along with 613 (some say) other commands and statutes that the 12 tribes of Israel were required to follow.
The Sabbath Day was never intended to be an eternal requirement, but some believe Genesis 2.1-3 suggests otherwise. It says:
Genesis 2:1-3
1—Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2—And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3—Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Please notice that the Bible did not say here that all humanity—throughout all generations—were required to literally observe the Sabbath. It simply stated that God blessed and made the 7th Day (Sabbath Day) holy, (“set apart” from the other days), because it was on that day that God rested “from all His work that He had done”—which was a colossal achievement beyond imagination.
But what the Bible did clearly say elsewhere was that the Sabbath was intended to “be a sign between Me [God] and you [the Israelites] for the generations to come…” (see Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12,20).
Please notice carefully: the Sabbath was to be a sign between God and the Israelites ONLY, and therefore a generational observance for the Israelites ONLY.
And Nehemiah further emphasized this in chapter 9 of his writing when he wrote this:
Nehemiah 9:13-14—You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them [the Israelites] just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.
Again, here we see that the Sabbath requirement had to be “made known” to the Israelites, implying that they had no prior knowledge of it. Which reinforces that it was revealed as a requirement for the Jews, and required to be observed ONLY by the Jews.
The Sabbath requirement was not “made known” to those living before the Law of Moses. Nor was it required of those living after the Law of Moses (see REASON #1). It was ONLY for those under the Law of Moses, which was a national law designed only for the people of Israel. This explains why there is no record of Adam keeping the Sabbath Day holy, nor Noah keeping the Sabbath Day holy, nor even Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob (renamed “Israel,” who was obviously the father of the “children of Israel”) keeping the Sabbath Day holy.
And here’s another interesting tidbit:
Remember the Genesis 2:1-3 account we spoke about previously, the one that said God made the Sabbath Day holy? That account was written by Moses in B.C. 1500 regarding events that happened earlier than B.C. 4000 (when the Creation occurred)—a good 2500 years after the Creation account occurred—and at a time when the Law of Moses and Sabbath Day were likely in effect.
Why is this significant, you ask?
It is significant because it gives us some context to why Moses might have been spotlighting the Sabbath Day’s necessity in Genesis 2. He was likely doing this not just because the Sabbath Day (and Law of Moses) was new—but also because the Sabbath observance was very discipline-demanding, and carried the death penalty if disobeyed.
Finally, in contrast to the Sabbath Day (7th Day) being the holy day of the week for Israel, the 1st Day of the week is the special day for Christians. On that day our Lord was resurrected from the dead, the Holy Spirit was given to His Apostles (and subsequently conferred to the church – Acts 2, 8), and the 1st Day of the Church occurred (Acts 2). Fittingly, the first day of the week was when the church assembled for worship, observed of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 8.20; 1 Cor 11.20-34), and set aside money for the cause of Christ, which they were instructed to do every first day of the week (1 Cor 16.1-2).
In fact, some Bible scholars point out that the first day was honored as a holy day even before the Sabbath Day (in the Passover instructions, see Exodus 12:1-16, esp. v. 12), and this requirement was instated before the Law of Moses had even been revealed by God to Israel through Moses on Mt. Sinai.
CONCLUSION
Christians are no longer under the Sabbath Law. It was binding only for the people under the Law of Moses. There was no mention of it’s being kept for well over two millennia before the Law of Moses was given–and after the passing away of the Law of Moses when Jesus died on the cross, there was no record of any Christian being required to keep the Sabbath law.
Additionally, the most popular verse to prove it, Hebrews 4.9, has been shown to be misunderstood.
Furthermore, one cannot argue (as some have attempted to do) that the Ten Commandments were eternal moral laws, separate from all the ceremonial laws of Moses. If that were the case, why would Paul have omitted the 4th command (“keep the Sabbath Day holy”) when listing the commands Christians were required to follow in (Rom 13.7-10). This would have been a perfect opportunity to have advertised the Sabbath Day as a requirement of Christians. Instead, Paul referenced Commandments #7, #6, #8 & #10 in that order, as Commandments to be followed by Christians. Commandment #4 was conspicuously absent (the Sabbath command). The other Commandments are also referenced in one way or another in the New Testament. But the only mention of the Sabbath Day was that it was not required (Col. 2.11-23), along with the teaching that our “Sabbath Rest” is heaven, where God lives and rests from His labors as well (see REASON #2). Rather, under the New Covenant of Christ, the Sabbath Day has been replaced with the Lord’s Day, the first (not last) day of the week, the day our Lord was resurrected from the dead, and the 1st Day of Christ’s Church (Acts 2); and therefore the logical day on which Biblical Christians gathered for Communion and worship to God, just as we must today.
That the first day of the week for Christians (“Resurrection Day”) has replaced the last day of the week for the Jews (“Sabbath Day”) has been both Biblically and historically verified.
NOTE: All verses quoted from the NKJV unless otherwise indicated.
RECOMMENDED READING:
2 Reasons Why the Old Testament Law Has Passed Away
Here’s why First Century Miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have passed away
Here’s why Apostolic Succession is a Myth
List of New Covenant Verses