What is keeping the Sabbath?

Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

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.

For me this tells us about how to keep the sabbath. I believe there are other regulations about keeping it, such as animal sacrifice. For this thread I'm more interested in the technical details only.

Dave-W said:

Are you Jewish?
Or in a Jewish type congregation?

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No to both questions. I don't see what that has to do with keeping the sabbath. If you read this section of the forum you would know my position on the subject. I'm not trying to promote my view on the subject. Please don't try to make this thread a personal issue. I do want people to say what they believe and practice in relation to the posted verse. I do understand that could be personal. I won't take I believe statements as a personal thing. I won't attack a person with some legalism. I will discuss how what is said applies to the OP Scripture.

Dave-W said:

Exodus 31:13
“But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”​

HOW one observes the Sabbath is very much affected by whether you are Jewish or not. You asked what it is. It is different things to Jews, to Gentiles living in a Jewish community, and to Gentiles detached from anything Jewish.

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Being that the sabbath is given to Israel alone, I can understand your point. Obligation only occurs for those who are part of that covenant. Meaning a gentile can convert (Ex 12:48). I don't read anywhere others are obligated to keep the sabbath. If that were so how could Ex 31:13, 17 be true?

Dave-W said:

Not GIVEN to Israel alone; made a SIGN to Israel alone.

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What's the difference? How could it be a sign (special meaning) if everyone kept it?

The Sabbath was given to all mankind. But the Sons of Israel (the Jews) have a lot of specifics that are not incumbent on gentile believers. Gentiles that live in a Jewish community (the stranger who lives in your gates) should observe in a manner similar to the Jews around him/her.

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I find no evidence in Scripture that is correct. That includes the MK 2:27-28 passage. You do present conditions upon gentiles. I can agree to those specific limited conditions.

There may be no OBLIGATION for gentiles living apart from the Jews to observe the Sabbath, but the invitation is certainly there to do so. And to the extent one observes, one enters into the blessings inherent in the observation.

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Yes if one joins that covenant.

The subject of the thread isn't who is required to keep the sabbath. The subject is what is keeping the sabbath.

Dave-W said:

No - it is more than that.

As I have said, one affects the other.

A basic list for Jews:

No burning fires.
No building.
No tearing down.
No buying or selling
Wear tzitzit
Assemble before the Lord
Remember creation
Remember the covenant

This set of prohibitions specifically were referenced in the Law concerning building the Tabernacle:​

Sowing
Plowing
Reaping
Binding sheaves
Threshing
Winnowing
Selecting
Grinding
Sifting
Kneading
Baking
Shearing wool
Washing wool
Beating wool
Dyeing wool
Spinning
Weaving
Making two loops
Weaving two threads
Separating two threads
Tying
Untying
Sewing stitches
Tearing
Trapping
Slaughtering
Flaying
Tanning
Scraping hide
Marking hides
Cutting hide to shape
Writing two or more letters
Erasing two or more letters
Building
Demolishing
Extinguishing a fire
Kindling a fire
Putting the finishing touch on an object
Transporting an object between a private domain and the public domain, or for a distance of 4 cubits (6 ft) within the public domain.​

For the non-Jew living in the Jewish community it is pretty much the same list.

For the believing non-Jew living apart from the Jewish community, such a list does not exist, but is free to observe as little or as much as he/she wishes.

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Would you care to discuss any of those things? I gather from your posts, basically the sabbath doesn't apply to gentiles except for certain limited conditions.

Is working six days part of keeping the sabbath?

Dave-W said:

Define "apply." Do you mean "required?"

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That would be a reasonable assumption. More in line with what the NT says regarding the law (famous 10), it's all or nothing. I just don't get your partial application. That isn't the subject of the OP.

Only by contrast.

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So are sabbatarians are obligated to work six days according to the 4th commandment? You say only by contrast. Do we really have to define work? I think you gave a list of things that would be considered work.

Dave-W said:

No - there is no requirement to work beyond "If a man shall not work neither shall he eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10

By contrast I am making the distinction between the Sabbath and the other days. That is important. There should be a very obvious difference.

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Why does the commandment say work six days?

Dave-W said:

Actually, for gentiles that got whittled down to the big 4 in Acts 15:

19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they (1) abstain from things contaminated by idols and from (2) fornication and from (3) what is strangled and from (4) blood. 21 For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”​

I included verse 21 in there due to the invitation to go learn of Moses on the Sabbath in the Synagogue. Please note it was to Gentile believers, NOT Jewish New Covenant believers. That gets a bit more clarified in chapter 21.

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IOW the sabbath doesn't apply to gentiles at all. I don't read verse 21 as an invitation to anything. I read it as a historical statement. But again you focus on who and I'm trying to focus on what.

Dave-W said:

Exodus 23:12
“Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.

Exodus 35:2
“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.​

The sense is that 6 days are available to do work. Not that you MUST be working all 6 days.

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You're using a softer version of Scripture that allows one to work on six days. The original text is more in line with the harder statement of shall in the KJV. I understand your preference for the softer version. The original text makes a requirement. It doesn't grant permission. The same is true of both your passages.

Dave-W said:

Because you are NOT reading it with first century eyes.

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I need more than this. Please elaborate.

Christianity (and Judaism as well) is RELATIONAL more than it is functional. You HAVE to focus on the WHO first and then the what.

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I see. So one doesn't need to consider who is to do what (function).

It doesn't seem to matter what I say you still focus on the who and not the what.