Here is another way to look at it.
1. Animals are real.. .sheep are real, goats are real. They exist and have purpose regardless if we use them as a symbol for something else or not.
2. The Sabbath of Gen 2:1-3 is real - a memorial of a real event -- Creation week. Time does not change that. It was given before sin and so has no reference to sin or salvation in its definition "as a thing".
3. Just as sheep and goats are used as symbols of Christ when offered as sin offerings and are also used as symbols of "wicked vs saved" in Matt 25 final judgment symbolism... so also the Sabbath is being used in Heb 4 as a symbol of salvation in David's day and in our day. That which "remains" just as it was in David's day in that use of it as a symbol -- is salvation. Saved by grace through faith. It is handy as a symbol for salvation that continues - in two ways. First that it actually does continue and second in that it already involves rest even without being used as a symbol for something.
4. Your statement that since it is used as a symbol for salvation (the saved state) means it would continue for all eternity is a logical inference... but we have an "explicit" statement in scripture about its continuation after the New Earth for all mankind in Is 66:23. So it is not like the inference you are applying - is the only way we would know this about the future.
I'll start out replying to the fourth point. If Isaiah 66:23 proves we must continue to keep the Sabbath eternally since the verse mentions the Sabbath, then Isaiah 66:23 also proves we must keep the New Moon eternally since the verse mentions the New Moon. That said, there are other points you made that are worth considering.
As for the animal illustration referenced in points 1 and 3, this does show that just because something's a symbol for something else doesn't necessarily prove it's no longer existing. However, what if the Bible specifically tells us that we shouldn't judge others in certain days, and the reason given is
because they're symbols of things to come? Colossians 2:16-17 says just that regarding festivals, new moons, and sabbaths, doesn't it?
However, the remaining point, point 2 is worthy of great consideration, in which Genesis says God rests on the seventh day. You use the term "given" to describe it, but the text doesn't say that God gave the Sabbath (or even the seventh day) during the creation week. It can be tempting to assuming that if God rests on the seventh day and hallows the day, that therefore He might have told Adam and Eve to do the same, and that if He told Adam and Eve to do the same, that perhaps it'd apply to all their descendants forever. However, Genesis 2:1-3 simply says that God rested and hallowed the seventh day; it doesn't say whether He told anyone else to do the same or that He "gave" it to anyone at this time. There are two different
interpretations people have made about God resting on the seventh day and sanctifying it:
- God did this to make the seventh day holy and to share it specifically with His special people, the future, physical nation of Israel. This view seems to be the one held by the Jewish audience to which Moses directly wrote to through Genesis. Or, at least, it's the view held by the Jewish author of Jubilees (pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/2.htm, notice particularly verses 16-17, 31-32).
- God did this to make the seventh day holy and to share it with all mankind. This is the view that I believe you hold to.
Since Jews in particular were the original audience, it's at least somewhat significant that the Jewish author of Jubilees doesn't see any conflict with 1) God making the seventh day holy and 2) the Sabbath being specifically for the Jews, not Gentiles. Who's to say that his interpretation is wrong and yours is correct? I'm sure we'd agree that it isn't any of
us, but the
word of God itself that's the ultimate authority on what it means. Since Genesis itself doesn't say which interpretation is the correct one, we must go elsewhere. Looking at various Scriptures in this post will take up some space, but if you don't mind, I'll do so now.
Anticipating that this may get brought up, I'll now spend a paragraph on Mark 2:27, which says the Sabbath was made for "man" (Greek,
ánthrōpos). In case anyone would consider this passage as proof that everyone must keep the Sabbath, we must be mindful that the verse doesn't tell us whether "man" here means "Jews" (who are men) or "all mankind." Sometimes, the term "man" refers specifically to "Jews" (including Jewish proselytes, of course) when the context is a Jewish practice. In John 7:22-23, for example, Jesus says the Jews would "circumcise a
man [Greek,
ánthrōpos] on the Sabbath" (NKJV, emphasis mine). Also, Hebrews 5:1-3 says that every high priest is taken from among "men" (Greek,
ánthrōpos) and appointed for "men" (Greek,
ánthrōpos) to offer sacrifices for sins, including his own sin. Also, Hebrews 7:28 explains that "the law appoints
men [Greek,
ánthrōpos] as high priests who have weakness," (WEB, emphasis mine). I'm sure we agree that since these three passages all refer to obsolete practices of the old covenant, which were just for physical Israel, then "man" (Greek,
ánthrōpos) in these three passages actually refers to "the Jews," not "all mankind."
Therefore, if the Scriptures teach that the Sabbath is specifically for physical Israel in connection with the obsolete old covenant, not something for everyone, then "man" (Greek, ánthrōpos) in Mark 2:27 doesn't mean anything more than it means in John 7:22-23, Hebrews 5:1-3, or Hebrews 7:28—that is, "Jews."
So what do the other passages in Scripture teach, then? We already saw in Colossians 2:16-17 that we aren't to be judged in shadows, but
the Old Testament itself tells us the Sabbath was specifically for the Jews. For example, the Sabbath wasn't known by the Israelites before Moses taught it since the Sabbath was "made known" to them "By the hand of Moses" (Nehemiah 9:14, NKJV). You can't "make" something known to people if it's
already known to them, right?
Was the Sabbath to be given to all nations or to Israel? In Exodus 31:17, God says, "It is a
sign between Me and the children of Israel forever;
for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed" (NKJV, emphasis mine).
Notice, it's a "sign" between God and Israel, and the word "for" connects it with the creation week of Genesis. So this is telling us why God rested on the seventh day—as a sign for Israel! If this verse had only said to keep the Sabbath, it'd be
possible that nations other than the children of Israel would be expected to observe it. (I say "possible" because we'd have to look elsewhere to see if those other than Israel were commanded.) However, since Exodus 31:17 specifically says it's a "sign" between God and Israel, this makes it
impossible that nations other than the children of Israel would be expected to observe it.
How so? Well, we'd agree that circumcision was a sign connected with God's everlasting covenant with Abraham and his children (Genesis 17:10-14), and I think we'd also agree that because circumcision was a "sign" for Abraham and his children, this proves it wasn't for other people, right? After all, how can something be a sign distinguishing Abraham and his children from other people, if everyone was already being circumcised anyway? So if something is given as a sign, not only is it
for the ones the sign is between, but it's
only for them.
In the same way, since the Sabbath was a sign connected with God's perpetual covenant with Israel, the people taken out of Egypt (Exodus 31:12-18), then it wasn't for the other people. And the reason it's "a sign" (and thus
specifically, only) between God and Israel is "for" (because) God rested on the seventh day back in Genesis. This is God's interpretation of why He rested, and so it's the true one. A second reason the Ten Commandments gives for why they should keep the Sabbath is "that
you [i.e., the children of national, physical Israel)
were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought
you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;
therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day" (Deuteronomy 5:15, NKJV, emphasis mine), which clearly shows that those addressed are the Jews, as
they were the ones brought out of Egypt. The fact that they were brought out of Egypt is another reason, "therefore," that they should keep the Sabbath. Let's look again at the two interpretations of why God rested:
- God did this to make the seventh day holy and to share it specifically with His special people, the future, physical nation of Israel.
- God did this to make the seventh day holy and to share it with all mankind.
The author of Jubilees isn't the only one advocating the first interpretation. In Exodus 31:17,
God Himself says that the first interpretation is the correct one. Israel would keep the Sabbath
as a sign because God rested on the seventh day, distinguishing them from the other nations. So, like with the seasons of Genesis 1:14 and Psalms 104:19, it appears the seven-day rest also had a future use,
for Israel to keep the Sabbath. Again, how can something be a sign for Israel if it already existed for everyone?
This post is getting lengthy, but I'll close with Ezekiel 20:12: "Therefore I made
them [i.e., physical Israel] go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’ Moreover I also
gave them My Sabbaths, to be
a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am
the LORD who sanctifies them" (NKJV, emphasis mine). So while Genesis may show when the Sabbath was "made" (assuming God's seventh-day rest is called a "Sabbath"), it doesn't show when it was "given." When we go to this passage in Ezekiel, we're told
when the Sabbath was given (after Egypt),
to whom it was given (Israel), and
why it was given—to be a "sign" showing that God "sanctifies them" (i.e., sets them apart). This passage makes clear that the Sabbath was given
during Israel,
for Israel, and
only for Israel (i.e., to set them apart). And again, how can you "give" something to someone if they
already have it? This shows Israel
didn't have the Sabbath before Moses, and it suggests that the first interpretation of God's seventh-day rest is correct, that it was a sign specifically for the Jews.
But the weekly Sabbath of the Jews does seem to point to a rest that remains. Just as the Passover symbolizes "Christ, our Passover," who "was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV), likewise the Sabbath symbolizes a rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). We shouldn't use either of these symbols to judge others, however, as they are simply a shadow of things to come (Colossians 2:16-17). May we all strive to take part in the rest of Hebrews 4!
Sincerely,
Kilk
