1. Sabbath as a Memorial
Genesis 2:1-3
But for the grace of God go I,cyspark
1) First of all, LORD in the OT is YHWH, not Jesus, thus quoting Exodus and claiming it’s proof that Jesus said to remember the sabbath, is disingenuous at best.
2) God rested on the seventh day, but did not command anyone else to keep a seventh day sabbath at that time.
You won’t find the word sabbath anywhere in Genesis, nor find Abraham or anyone else in Genesis resting on the 7th day - because there was no such command until God gave it to Israel as a covenant sign of His freeing them from slavery in Egypt, after their Exodus.
Moses said NO ONE had the law the law God gave to Israel, until God gave it to him on Mount Sinai:
Deu 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 The LORD made NOT this covenant with our fathers, but with US even-us, who are all of us here alive THIS day.
And God says why and to who, He first gave the command to keep the 7th day:
Deu 5:15 And REMEMBER that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: THEREFORE the LORD thy God commanded THEE to keep the sabbath day.
The sabbath day command was given only to Israel as a covenant sign and memorial of their being set free from slavery in Egypt.
Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of ISRAEL, saying, Verily my sabbaths YE shall keep: for it is a SIGN between ME and YOU throughout YOUR generations; that ye May know that I amthe LORD that doth sanctify YOU.
3) Jesus of course kept the sabbath, it was still in effect until He died and rose again.
Not to mention that if He went on Sunday into the Orthodox Jewish synagogue to read from Isaiah, as the NT shows He did, there would’ve been no one there to listen.
4) Saying that the disciples kept the sabbath when Jesus was newly dead, is irrelevant.
The revelation to Peter that the old covenant was ended - when God told Peter to eat animals that were unclean under the law, (and told Peter He had cleansed them) - hadn’t happened yet.
5) and 6) Paul is found throughout Acts, preaching to the Jews in synagogues (not in churches) that Jesus is the Christ.
The only time the non-Christian Jews were in the synagogue for Paul to evangelize them, was on Saturdays.
Orthodox Jews go to synagogues. Christian Jews, such as those in Acts 2, go to churches, not synagogues - as in Acts 2 when people were added to the CHURCH.
Act 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the CHURCH (not synagogue) daily such as should be saved.
Starting in Acts 13:13 you can read Paul’s entire sermon to the Jews, and it’s obvious he is preaching to them, and to gentile proselytes (gentiles that converted to Judaism - just as some do today) that Jesus is their Messiah.
Here’s an excerpt:
Act 13:26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
Act 13:27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
Act 13:28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
Act 13:29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
Act 13:30 But God raised him from the dead,
The excerpt makes it obvious that Paul was there to convince Jews and proselyte gentiles, that Jesus is Messiah, and that He rose from the dead.
The next chapter makes it even clearer why they kept going to synagogues in city after city, and how they were persecuted for preaching Christ to the Jews and gentile proselytes (Greeks):
Act 14:1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
Act 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
Act 14:3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Act 14:4 But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.
Act 14:5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them,
Act 14:6 they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,
Act 14:7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.
7) Jesus says that when the son of perdition steps into the temple, those living in JUDEA should flee, and pray that it doesn’t happen on the sabbath.
Who lived in JUDEA when Jesus walked the earth with His apostles?
Jews.
Who rejected Jesus, and had Him crucified?
Jews in Judea.
What day did non Christian Jews still keep?
The sabbath.
Jesus says that the sabbath keeping Jews should pray they don’t have to flee from the Antichrist on their sabbath, when they aren’t allowed to travel.
This fact is not proof Jesus taught that the sabbath should be kept today.
8) Two scriptures cut to the chase about not having to keep the 7th day sabbath:
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe DAYS and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
“Sabbaths, new moons, and set feasts” answer to “days, months, times.” 1Chronicles 23:31
1 Chronicles 23:31 (KJV)
31 And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the LORD in the SABBATHS, in the NEW MOONS, and on the SET FEASTS, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the LORD:
The word sabbaths is word H7676 in Hebrew:
H7676 (Strong)
שַׁבָּת
shabbâth
shab-bawth'
Intensive from H7673; intermission, that is, (specifically) the Sabbath: - (+ every) sabbath.
Total KJV occurrences: 111
Thus Galatians 4:9-11 is talking about sabbaths that includes the weekly sabbaths.
Next:
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the SABBATH days:
Col 2:17 Which are a SHADOW of things to come; but the BODY isof Christ.
The word sabbath above, is H4521 in Strongs:
G4521 (Strong)
σάββατον
sabbaton
sab'-bat-on
Of Hebrew origin [H7676]; the Sabbath(that is, Shabbath), or day of WEEKLY repose from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself); by extension a se'nnight, that is, the interval between two Sabbaths; likewise the plural in all the above applications: - SABBATH (DAY), week.
Total KJV occurrences: 68
Colossians 2:16-17 states to let no one judge you for not keeping the sabbath day, because it’s a shadow of Jesus, (who’s the real rest for us Matthew 11:28-29 - every day we rest in Him, and no longer on a ceremonial day).