Did Abraham observe the Sabbath day?

[SuperCow]

There is no law code before the exodus, and there's no evidence for any sabbath being observed before Moses. (Other than God himself after creation)

This is why:

Abraham could marry his niece. (Though he called her his sister to the Pharaoh)
Isaac could marry his cousin. (Once removed)
Jacob could marry his twin cousins. (On Rebecca's side. Laban was her brother. They were second cousins on his father's side, which would have been okay in the law covenant.)

The only official law/covenant that Abraham observed, which carried over into the law of Moses was circumcision.

Other traditions or laws apparently observed at this time appeared to be more like the laws from Hamurrabi of ancient Babylon. But those would have been what Abraham was accustomed to at the time, so you couldn't expect observation of the Mosaic law except in moral and ethical principles.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Because it was true.


Sure.

So where was the actual COMMAND?

If it is true, then it was true. Some things were not needed to be written...

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

The only official law/covenant that Abraham observed, which carried over into the law of Moses was circumcision.

Not true...Noahide laws

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Right. So how sure are you about that?

Let proposition P1 = Abraham observed the weekly Sabbath.
P2 = Abraham did not observe the weekly Sabbath.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions?

The Bible doesn’t use scales to measure ones obedience, scripture says Abraham obeyed Gods commandments, the Sabbath is one of Gods commandments that Jesus said was made for man. I believe scripture .

 

[BobRyan]

I read this a couple of times and enjoyed it.

I think the Sabbath signifies two things really:

1.) God has a purpose that when attained gives Him satisfaction, rest, fulfillment.
2.) Man also should be (and indeed only CAN be) satisfied with that which satisfies God.

God rests on the seventh day because everything is in order according to His plan. All is "very good."
When God is not satisfied there is NO WAY that man can be satisfied.

Man's rest (in every sense) is in entering into God's eternal purpose.
I think of the meaning of the Sabbath throughout the whole bible in this light.

Thanks ... I was in the middle of that post and had to rush out the door for a few errands -- I have updated it with my more full response to the question I was answering.

 

[BobRyan]

There is no law code before the exodus,

Not true according to Gen 26:5, Gen 6, Gen 4 and Gen 3.

and there's no evidence for any sabbath

Not true according to Gen 2:2-3 and Ex 20:11

Though if you wanted to go down that road you could also argue that no commandment says "do not take God's name in vain" before Ex 20:7 then we could all imagine that it was just fine to take God's name in vain until Ex 20. I don't think that sort of "solution" gets off the ground.

No wonder Jesus goes to Creation week to point out "the Sabbath was made for mankind and not mankind made for the Sabbath" Mark 2:27. In creation week we find the creation of both of them..

 

[BobRyan]

There is no law code before the exodus, and there's no evidence for any sabbath being observed before Moses. (Other than God himself after creation)

This is why:

Abraham could marry his niece. (Though he called her his sister to the Pharaoh)

IN fact she was his half-sister and also a fact that all of Adam's children married their siblings. Also true of Noah's grandchildren marrying each other -- first cousins and possibly the same sort of sibling marriage as before the flood.

Moses has the law that it is not allowed to marry such close relatives.

Isaac could marry his cousin. (Once removed)
Jacob could marry his twin cousins. (On Rebecca's side. Laban was her brother. They were second cousins on his father's side, which would have been okay in the law covenant.)

The "reason" that it becomes less viable to marry close relatives over time is that over time genetic defects build up in the DNA and the danger of resulting defects expressed in the phenotype of the offspring is very high.

At the very start Eve is made from one of Adam's ribs - they are genetic twins to a very large degree and have zero genetic defects.

 

[tonychanyt]

If it is true, then it was true. Some things were not needed to be written...

I prefer to stick closely to the wording of the Scripture to avoid over-generalization and jumping to conclusions.

 

[tonychanyt]

The Bible doesn’t use scales to measure ones obedience

verse?

 

[BobRyan]

I prefer to stick closely to the wording of the Scripture to avoid over-generalization and jumping to conclusions.

Same here - but a number of Bible details demand that we not assume that every word spoken for 1500 years before the flood is recorded in the Bible as was noted in the following post about clean vs unclean (in Gen 6-9, later explained to the reader in Lev 11) and the point about the sin of murder discussed in Gen 4 but not defined for the reader until Ex 20.

The same place He commanded Him not to take God's name in vain --- only in much more explicit reference because in that same book (Genesis) Mankind is given the Sabbath as a set apart holy day to the Lord.

The Sabbath "made for mankind" is the "context' (Exegesis) for the statement in Gen 26:5

Gen 2:2-3
2 By the seventh day God completed 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 on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

and sanctified it = "and made it holy"

Ex 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

IT is a SEVEN day creation week - not a six day week.


As for how Moses documents God giving those commandments to Abraham and establishing the context for Sabbath in Gen 2... God gave the entire moral law to mankind in Eden and held humans accountable for what comes from Eden.

This is also true of the place where God tells Noah what the difference is between a clean and unclean animal in Lev 11
And the same place where God tells Cain that it is a sin to kill someone in Ex 20.

 

[tonychanyt]

Same here - but a number of Bible details demand that we not assume that every word spoken for 1500 years before the flood is recorded in the Bible as was noted in the following post about clean vs unclean (in Gen 6-9, later explained to the reader in Lev 11) and the point about the sin of murder discussed in Gen 4 but not defined for the reader until Ex 20.

When it is not recorded, then I do not assume it to be true to avoid jumping to conclusions.

 

[SuperCow]

Not true...Noahide laws

Which aren't technically in the Bible anywhere.

Not true according to Gen 26:5, Gen 6, Gen 4 and Gen 3.

Nothing in those scriptures indicates that the Mosaic law existed at that time. And since Abraham was one of a very few people who could communicate with God directly, keeping his commandments would be whatever he was taught at the time.

Not true according to Gen 2:2-3 and Ex 20:11

You misrepresented my post as I mentioned Genesis 2, and Exodus 20:11 was after the exodus. Since you need clarification, I'll reiterate that there's no biblical evidence of any human observing the sabbath before Moses.

Though if you wanted to go down that road you could also argue that no commandment says "do not take God's name in vain" before Ex 20:7 then we could all imagine that it was just fine to take God's name in vain until Ex 20. I don't think that sort of "solution" gets off the ground.

No wonder Jesus goes to Creation week to point out "the Sabbath was made for mankind and not mankind made for the Sabbath" Mark 2:27. In creation week we find the creation of both of them..

Irrelevant. Obviously Abraham was taught some code of ethics, which was probably a combination of instruction from his father, the Hamurabbi law code, and likely even direct contact with Noah and Shem who were still alive when Abram was born. That doesn't mean that he was required to observe the law code as it was understood later.

IN fact she was his half-sister and also a fact that all of Adam's children married their siblings. Also true of Noah's grandchildren marrying each other -- first cousins and possibly the same sort of sibling marriage as before the flood.

Moses has the law that it is not allowed to marry such close relatives.

The "reason" that it becomes less viable to marry close relatives over time is that over time genetic defects build up in the DNA and the danger of resulting defects expressed in the phenotype of the offspring is very high.

At the very start Eve is made from one of Adam's ribs - they are genetic twins to a very large degree and have zero genetic defects.

Exactly, so you agree there are reasons by early humans were not bound by the Mosaic law code and nobody in Genesis is ever mentioned observing the sabbath.

 

[SuperCow]

The Bible doesn’t use scales to measure ones obedience, scripture says Abraham obeyed Gods commandments, the Sabbath is one of Gods commandments that Jesus said was made for man. I believe scripture .

So why don't Christians observe the sabbath today?

 

[Soyeong]

Are you willing to put money where your mouth is?

Again, I don't bet, though it would be easy money if I did bet, but I don't want to take your money.

I don't think Abraham knew about God forbidding child sacrifice either.

Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was 90 and she died when she was 127 right after Isaac was offered, which means that Isaac was 37 when he was offered. In addition, the same word used to describe Isaac is also used to describe Joshua when he was 40. Furthermore, someone who is 137 can't sacrifice someone who is 37 against their will.

 

[Soyeong]

So why don't Christians observe the sabbath today?

A Christian is someone who follows what Christ taught by word and by example. Christ set a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, including keeping the Sabbath holy, and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6), so Christians do keep the Sabbath today.

 

[SuperCow]

A Christian is someone who follows what Christ taught by word and by example. Christ set a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, including keeping the Sabbath holy, and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6), so Christians do keep the Sabbath today.

I would say that most don't. Ignoring the Saturday/Sunday debate for the time being, they usually still work by preparing meals for themselves. (Or by going to restaurants where other people work.) Many will do yard work, and sometimes even catch up on their jobs. The only sabbathy thing that most do is go to church. It's only the observing Jews (and maybe 7th day adventist type groups) that seem to observe it properly.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

So why don't Christians observe the sabbath today?

There are millions of Christians who keep the Sabbath commandment today. In short why more don't is because they are following the crowd. The Sabbath was changed as the main corporate day of worship from Sabbath to Sunday in the 3rd century and has been a tradition of man ever since. If we only follow scripture, we would be keeping the Sabbath commandment as it never changed in scripture, we were warned man would do so on their authority Dan 7:25 and if we look at history we see this prediction fulfilled. We should always obey God's commandments over mans traditions. Matthew 15:3-9

 

[Soyeong]

I would say that most don't. Ignoring the Saturday/Sunday debate for the time being, they usually still work by preparing meals for themselves. (Or by going to restaurants where other people work.) Many will do yard work, and sometimes even catch up on their jobs. The only sabbathy thing that most do is go to church. It's only the observing Jews (and maybe 7th day adventist type groups) that seem to observe it properly.

The degree to which someone chooses not to follow Christ is the degree that they are not a follower of Christ. What most people do is not the same as what most people should do.

 

[tonychanyt]

Again, I don't bet, though it would be easy money if I did bet, but I don't want to take your money.

That's just more words from your mouth without backing it up with money.

 

[Soyeong]

That's just more words from your mouth without backing it up with money.

Indeed, I don't bet, so I'm not going to back any of my position with a bet, but that doesn't mean that I am not confident in my positions. If you you disagree with my position, then interact with what I said to explain why instead of fussing about making bets.