The Biblical Sabbath Day

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Romans 14: 1-14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister a ? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”
12So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

14I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

These passages are talking about fasting, not fasting, partial fasting (vegetables only). Because the Torah is eternal and unchanging, nothing in these passages makes for a change to occur. Unclean animals are still not food. Whatever day you choose to fast on is acceptable because in Torah there is only national fast day and that day is Yom Kippur (10th day of 7th month).

And yet believers are called "Christians" in the New Testament. Which shows that you are the one who is promoting a new religion. A mishmash between the Old and the New Covenants.

Please show me in Romans 14 ANYWHERE where it is talking about fasting or the word fasting is even used in that full context. He is writing primarily to Gentile believers in Rome.

I Pet 4:12-17 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings OF CHRIST, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of THE NAME OF CHRIST, you are BLESSED, for the Spirit of glory & of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you SUFFER AS A CHRISTIAN, do NOT be ashamed, but PRAISE GOD that you bear THAT NAME. 17For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Acts 5:19-32,41
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying, 20“Go, stand in the temple courts & tell the people the full message of THIS NEW LIFE." 21At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people...22But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there...25Then someone came in & announced, “Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people!”

26At that point, the captain went with the officers and brought the apostles—but not by force, for fear the people would stone them. 27They brought them in & made them stand before the Sanhedrin, where the high priest interrogated them. 28“We gave you strict orders NOT TO TEACH IN THIS NAME,” he said. “Yet you have FILLED JERUSALEM with your teaching & are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”

29But Peter & the other apostles replied, “We must OBEY GOD rather than men. 30THE GOD OF OUR FATHERS raised up JESUS, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. 31God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince & Savior, in order to grant repentance & forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things & SO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”..And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were COUNTED WORTHY TO SUFFER SHAME FOR HIS NAME.

Acts 4:5-12 The next day the rulers, elders & scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander & many others from the high priest’s family. 7They had Peter & John brought in & began to question them: “By what power or BY WHAT NAME DID YOU DO THIS?”

8Then Peter, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, said to them, “Rulers & elders of the people! 9If we are being examined today about a kind service to a man who was lame, to determine how he was healed, 10then let this be known TO ALL OF YOU & TO ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: It is by THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12Salvation exists in no one else, for there is NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN TO MEN BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED.”

Acts 11:26 And when he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. So for a full year they met together WITH THE CHURCH and taught large numbers of people. The DISCIPLES were first called CHRISTIANS at Antioch.

Matt 28:16-20 Meanwhile, the eleven DISCIPLES went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. 17When they saw Him, they WORSHIPED HIM, but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven & on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

James 2:7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the NOBLE NAME by which YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED?

Acts 26:27-29 King Agrippa, do you BELIEVE THE PROPHETS? I know you do.” 28Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to BECOME A CHRISTIAN?” 29“Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that NOT ONLY YOU ABUT ALL WHO HEAR ME this day MAY BECOME WHAT I AM, except for these chains.”

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Why did God bless and hallow the sabbath?
To remember creation.
To remember the maker of the heavens and Earth.

It wasn't to remember Christ and the Cross.
We shood take time on sabbath like every day to remember Christ.

The sabbath is a command

REMEMBER the sabbath day to keep it holy.

Christ kept all the commandments, but that doesn't mean we stop keeping them.

The Shadow laws are not to be kept because Jesus has taken their place.

No where in the Bible does it say Jesus has become our Sabbath rest, (replaced the sabbath).

Do we stop taking rest in sleep? No.

I find rest in Christ and often when I rest from labour on sabbath I find the best rest in Jesus.

Jesus was not breaking the sabbath.
According to the leaders He was but not according to the commandment.

The Jewish leaders had placed many traditions as law.

God the Father sustains life every day and keeps the Earth spinning, which is essential for life.

Did Jesus sin? Did Jesus transgress the Law?
Was the law, Ten Commandments, something that Jesus needed to keep?

Rom 7:7-8 KJV
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

If there was no law, Jesus couldn't sin no matter what He did.
Jesus perfectly obeyed the Sabbath commandment. So He can give us that righteous requirement. Through faith.

If you are a New Testament only Christian, the argument has been made that there is no command to keep the sabbath in the NT.

Firstly the God of the Old Testament is the same God in the NT. And God's Love doesn't change. His moral laws don't change.
Jas 2:10-11
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Second, the sabbath is mentioned more times then any other commandment in the new Testament.
There is enough in the NT to prove that the sabbath has not changed and has not been removed.

The verse below is about the great tribulation to come. A future event many years after the cross. Why did Jesus tell people to pray this if the sabbath is void?
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Knowing that (Act 11:26)the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

As christians they worshiped on the sabbath.
After this Act 13:14.. when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
Act 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
Act 13:44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Act 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Do we need God to come down and write the 10 commandments in stone again?
I don't, especially when Jesus said He would write them in our hearts and minds.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Is your thinking of observing the Sabbath consistent with your thinking about the requirement for all males to be circumcised? Afterall, the scripture indicates circumcision is for all Abraham's descendants - an everlasting covenant. If not, why not?

Genesis 17:9 - 14
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

Not according to these two passages:

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (Acts 26:28,29)

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. (1 Peter 4:16)

So neither Paul nor Peter were ashamed to be called "Christians". But you want a new religion, and are hoping that many will join you in this mishmash.

I’m sorry that this post might be absurdly long, I’m not one of those who has been blessed with an ability to articulate myself with much brevity. But this whole subject is dear to my heart. I don’t always agree with GotQuestions.org, but on the subject of sabbath-related things, I think that they’ve done quite well. I’d encourage you to look at it just to get a better idea of how some of see things… How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest? | GotQuestions.org & Does God require Sabbath-keeping of Christians? | GotQuestions.org

I notice that you seem to using the Old Testament to define the New Testament…? I personally think that’s a bad idea, and I believe that because I also think that it’s supported in Scripture. What I mean is, when studying Scripture, if we encounter “difficult” verses, ideas/concepts, and just the proper understanding of the Gospel, we need to take what’s clear and easily understandable to define for us the more difficult things. We can use this principle, for instance, when we see verses that seem to contradict each other. Regardless, in Scripture, we read that the in the past (O.T.), things were written by the prophets that the prophets themselves did not understand.


1 Peter 1:10-12 (ESV)

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time[a] the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Eph. 3:1-6 (ESV)

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

I think that here, and in other places, Peter & Paul give us a clue that we can better understand the O.T. because “mysteries” have been revealed to us that the O.T. writers didn’t understand themselves. We know that Jesus was misunderstood in His time… the Jews totally missed His coming and the magi came from a foreign country to reveal it; the Disciples were constantly misunderstanding the whole concept of the “Suffering Messiah”… and the list goes on. They tried to look into those mysteries and failed… they tried to conform Jesus into their concept, which was simply incorrect; but we don’t need to do that if we’d just listen to revelations that we get from the N.T. writers.

The point of all this, is that I think that when we try to understand things in the O.T. (the less understandable) and then over-lay those ideas onto N.T., concepts that the writers have worked hard at making plain, (such as Col. 2:16-17), sometimes people have to contort what’s clearly stated with incorrect notions. (I know that there are many that disagree that in Col. 2:16-17 it is talking about “the Sabbath” but I think that it most definitely is). It’s all akin to the idea that Jesus spoke of about putting new wine into old wineskins, and use new material to patch an old garment, etc., if we take the New Covenant and try conforming it with the Old Testament, we’re doing both of them, a disservice… imho.

I think that if a person wants to incorporate practicing elements of the Old Covenant to their Christian walk, that’s all well and fine. If you enjoy resting on the Sabbath, I hope that you do it and glorify God in both yourself and your congregation. What I am concerned with, is folks who try to put those ideas forward as necessary for all believers. The whole “Hebrew-Roots” movement is questionable to me. There are some, like the Jews for Jesus group… while I don’t know a lot about them, I believe that they basically see themselves as Christians, but of Hebrew origins. They pretty much observe standard Christian practices. Other groups, however, insist on observing all or parts of law-keeping/sabbath-keeping, etc. They scare me…. I see them as Judaizers, the same as Scripture speaks against. They claim that they’re not doing the exact thing(s) that they are doing… enslaving believers with the yoke that their fathers could not bear. (I say “their fathers”, but from what I’ve read, their congregations are about 80% gentiles.. idk & I don’t get it).

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa 42:2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Isa 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Isa 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isaiah 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

Hebews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Thanks for your post.
I agree that we search the scriptures to find clear answers.
I don't use the old to define the new..
But we must remember that Jesus and Paul only had the Old Testament.

I believe ALL scripture is give by inspiration. 2Ti 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

You can find Jesus in every book of the Bible.

Without the OT the New would loss so much meaning. understanding the OT is vital to understand many of the NT verses.

The Old and New Testaments agree.

The New does not cancel the Old.
Paul quoted much from the old, and said "all scripture" is to equip us for good works.

I believe that the OT contains the new and the NT explains the Old. Luke24:44

When you throw out the Old Testament you close the door to understand so much. The laws, the examples, the prophecies, and promises.

I agree. Human nature tries to make things fit around there own concepts and understanding.
To be Poor in Spirit is the first thing we need to understand the truth.
Humble but at the same time not willing to compromise the truth.

Because the Old is sometimes hard to understand, doesn't mean we throw it away, or look primarily to the NT for answers. All truth comes by the Holy Spirit. God can reveal all things to us if our heart is ready.

The book of Danial in the OT has many Keys to help understand Revelation.

Search and you will find.

The Old Testament clearly shows that there were many sabbaths other then, or seperate from the weekly sabbath.

So in Col 2 is it talking about the yearly sabbaths or the weekly sabbath?

I have given other clear verses to show this is not the weekly sabbath.

I agree
But I think your understanding of the new and old covenant is different to mine.

One tries to accomplish the needs in their own strength.
One trusts in the power of God to do it in us.

An example...

A person is fined with a terrible crime (sin), and stands before the judge.
The judge gives him a fine of 1 million dollars. He hasn't got the money but wants to fix it up himself. So he ends up in jail and can't leave until he pays the last cent.
Another person does the same crime and is fined 1 million as well. But he calls a friend named Jesus to pay the fine. And he is set free. (Forgiven)
Another person commits a bad crime and is fined a great sum, they call Jesus and Jesus walks into the judgement hall and said I removed this law so he is not guilty.

Which of the 3 is closest to what we need.

If we try and do it ourself we will fail. Remain a slave as long a we live.

If we have faith in God's grace to pay our debt we will be free and Justice is served.

If Jesus changes the law so we are not guilty why did He need to die, and justice and order is lost.