Danthemailman
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Throughout the Old Testament, we see that "Sabbath" is associated with "rest." Exodus 16:23 - Then he said to them, "This is what the Lord has said: 'Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.' "The Sabbath was never a day about worship, it was a day about rest.
Worshiping God on Saturday or Sunday has nothing to do with the Sabbath even if some want to make it such.
Exodus 31:15 - Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 35:1 - Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the (Church, the body of Christ? NO) children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death."
Leviticus 23:3 - Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
Deuteronomy 5:14 - but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
God's Word makes it quite clear that Sabbath observance was a sign between God and Israel: "The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested." (Exodus 31:16-17)
After commanding Sabbath observance in verses 12–14, Moses gives the reason the Sabbath was given to the nation Israel: "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." (Deuteronomy 5:15)
Sabbath keeping with all it's rules and regulations, was part of a covenant with Israel (Exodus 16:23, 29; 31:12-18; 35:1-3; Leviticus 19:30; 23:2-3, 32; Numbers 15:32-36; 28:1-10; 29:39-40; I Chronicles. 23:30-31; II Chronicles 31:2-4; Isaiah 1:13; Amos 8:5; Nehemiah 10:31) that is not binding on Christians under the new covenant.
*Colossians 2:16 - Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Colossians 2:16 is not merely talking about "ceremonial Sabbaths." The words "ton sabbaton" or "sabbath days"; are the same words translated "Sabbath day" in Exodus 20:8 in the Septuagint (the Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek). Paul's reasoning is clear, "Let no one judge you in regards to a
festival - yearly Sabbaths,
a new moon - monthly Sabbaths,
or a Sabbath day - weekly Sabbaths (or Sabbath days)
Christ, he goes on to say is the "Substance", these things were shadows.
When compared with Galatians 4:9 we see an obvious connection in Paul's teaching:
"But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years."
Verse 10 states, "you observe...",
days (weekly Sabbaths, corresponding to "Sabbath days in Colossians 2)
months (new moons, corresponding to "a new moon" in Colossians 2)
seasons (the 7 feasts, corresponding to "festivals" in Colossians 2)
and years (the sabbatical year and the 50th year of Jubilee)
Obviously Paul is talking about the observances of all Jewish holy days, including the weekly Sabbath.
The sequence “festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths” is found multiple times in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 2:4; 31:3; Nehemiah 10:33; Ezekiel 45:17; Hosea 2:11). At times the order is reversed and "new moon" is found in the middle. Since the festivals were annual and the new moons were monthly, the sequence implies that the Sabbaths were weekly.
The phrase "festivals, new moons, or Sabbaths" was used as a term to refer to all of Israel’s holy days, which means that this phrase must include the Sabbath, which is confirmed by Numbers 23, which lists Israel’s holy days, including the weekly Sabbath. The implication is that the weekly Sabbath was regarded as part of the system of holy days.
All the verses that refer to the sequence “festivals … new moons … Sabbaths” are a summary of the daily, weekly, monthly and annual sacrifices prescribed in Numbers 28. Many of these verses that refer to the sequence “festivals … new moons … Sabbaths” refer explicitly to sacrifices, for example:
The Sabbath in Colossians 2:16 includes the weekly Sabbaths because Colossians 2:16 is based on Numbers 28, and Numbers 28 include sacrifices for the weekly Sabbath:
Daily: “a continual burnt offering every day” (Numbers 28:3-8)
Weekly: “on the sabbath day … every sabbath” (Numbers 28:9-10)
Monthly: “at the beginning of each of your month” (new moons) (Numbers 28:11-15), and
Annual: the feast days (Numbers 28:16-40); “the LORD’S Passover” (Numbers 28:16), “feast, unleavened bread” (Numbers 28:17) and “the day of the first fruits” (Numbers 28:26).
The annual Sabbaths are already included in the "festivals" in the sequence "festivals … new moon … Sabbath day." (Colossians 2:16) If a Sabbath day merely meant the annual Sabbaths there would be a needless repetition. The evidence concludes that the Sabbath in Colossians 2:16-17 includes the weekly Sabbath.
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