Appointments 

with the Almighty 

Sabbath
Origins – Sabbath & Creation
Ahad Ha’am is quoted as saying that more than Jews
have kept the Sabbath; the Sabbath has kept the Jews.50 This one
single celebration has become the bedrock of Jewish
cultural life. Everything revolves around it. The Sabbath
pervades everything from family life, to religious liturgy.

Strangely, the first mention of the word ‘Sabbath’ in

the NIV does not actually occur until well into the second
book of the Bible where it says, This is what the LORD
commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of Sabbath rest, a holy
Sabbath to the LORD.51

The startling thing about the above reference is that

the concept of the Sabbath must have already been
established prior to this point as there is no explanation
given as to what a Sabbath was, or how it functioned. So
when was it established?

Now we said at the outset that we would avoid big

words and difficult concepts, but we lied and so things
will need to be explained as we go. There is nothing
worse than a teacher who leaves his students behind and
the students are too embarrassed to raise their hands and
ask questions.

Within the first chapter of Genesis, we find God

creating, shaping and moulding His creation, in fact
within the Hebrew word for Genesis; we find the word

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used by a sculpture or potter to describe the fashioning of

their work. Hebrew is actually a fascinating language,
more so in my opinion than Greek or English. All its
words are built on stems from which bigger more complex
words sprout. But by understanding the meaning of the
smaller words, the larger words become more digestible
and concepts and ideas become more readily seen without
the need to simply invent a new word.52

So where is the concept of Sabbath found? It is

actually within the opening chapters of Genesis itself. As
God went about his fashioning and forming, each day’s
work was completed during a yom (pronounced yome), that
is a day. Each creation day is characterised by the phrase
there was evening and morning. As God was coming to the
end of His creation work, He created mankind. Once
Adam and Eve had been made, God crowned the work
with a day of rest. It was a day of rest for Himself and for
His creation. The verse itself uses both nouns and verbs.
It says, By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been
doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.53 We see
on the seventh day (this is the noun), God finished the
work He had done and rested (this is the verb); in essence
God Sabbathed. It may sound very strange to our
English ears, but through Hebrew ears it makes perfect
sense.

At this point, God blessed the Seventh Day and

made it holy. Holy is in some respects a poor choice of
words these days due to the theological baggage it carries.

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When the scriptures were being written, edited and put

together, this was a common word. The word holy simply
means something set to one side or set apart.54 For
example, today you might have gone shopping and
purchased two joints of meat for meals. You look at
them and decide you’ll have one tonight and the other
you’ll set to one side for either Sabbath or Sunday dinner.
The one you have set aside is holy.

In most translations of the scriptures, the verse says

something akin to on the seventh day He rested. We will look
at the concept of rest in a little while.

Within the Ten Commandments, or Ten Words as

it is sometimes known is the commandment which states,

Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall
not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing
in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the
seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy.55

In this commandment, we see that God not only

blessed the seventh day and made it separate, but that He
also gave specific instructions for it. It is worth taking
note of the fact that the Sabbath does not only apply to
Jewish people. The animals and livestock in their

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possession are also commanded not to work as is the

servant, slave and non-Jew.

The passage itself specifically mentions the creation

account and so we can infer that the Sabbath mentioned
in the creative account is the same Sabbath being
discussed in the Ten Commandments. In essence, the
Sabbath teaches us that we should remember that it was
not us that created what we see around us, but rather
God, who in His infinite mercy has created all that we can
experience with our five senses.

For six days we are to work, or carry out the tasks

associated with making a living, but on the Seventh Day
we are to cease. How often do we cry out to God with
the unheard words, stop the world and let me get off! When we
enter into the Sabbath we get off.

I quit! I am not working any more!

Problems arose in interpreting this passage.

Although the text says you shall not work, it does not
actually define what work is.

Within this section of scripture, it actually says you

shall not do any melakhah. But what does this word
mean? The text itself does not really help. The Sages of
Israel came to our rescue and determined that the concept
of melakhah be defined as, the kinds of work required to
construct the tabernacle.56 To this end, thirty nine types
of work were prohibited on the Sabbath. These are

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discussed more fully within the Mishnah, in tractate

Shabbat.

The thirty nine categories of melakhah it defines

are:
1. Sowing 2. Ploughing
3. Reaping 4. Binding sheaves
5. Threshing 6. Winnowing
7. Selecting 8. Grinding
9. Sifting 10. Kneading
11. Baking 12. Shearing wool
13. Washing wool 14. Beating wool
15. Dyeing wool 16. Spinning
17. Weaving 18. Making two loops
19. Weaving two threads 20. Separating two thread
21. Tying 22. Untying
23. Sewing two stitches 24. Tearing
25. Trapping 26. Slaughtering
27. Flaying 28. Salting meat
29. Curing hide 30. Scraping hide
31. Cutting up hide 32. Writing two letters
33. Erasing two letters 34. Building
35. destroying a structure 36. Extinguishing a fire
37. Kindling a fire 38. Hitting with a hammer
39. Taking an object from the private domain to the public, or
transporting an object in the public domain.

Sabbath, work, rest & play

Whilst the book will be focusing on the weekly

Sabbath, there are two other Sabbaths which we will not
discuss in detail; these being the Sabbath for the Land57
and also the Jubilee Sabbath.58 The principles of these
Sabbaths are the same as the principles for the weekly
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Sabbath, that of separation as part of the worship of God,

and resting from doing melakhah.

In Jesus’ first sermon he enters the congregation on

the Sabbath as was his custom and this is what he had to
say;

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the
oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.59

He came with a message of hope; good news. The

gospel! At his birth the Angels of God gave the same
message. God has not forgotten His people!

To proclaim freedom! In many respects some of the

schools of Pharasaism were becoming too comfortable in
the chair of Moses; handing out ever more complex and
confusing legal rulings, making the Law of God
complicated and burdensome. Jesus stated that he is here
to untie the cords and return to the spirit of the Law, not
merely the letter.

He has come to bring recovery of sight for the blind. For

too long, the people had languished waiting for their
Messiah to step from the pages of prophecy and be
experienced with the eyes.

Jesus made his entrance to set the oppressed free, hold

out a hand to the downtrodden in society and shout from
the rooftops, God is here and the time is now!
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The Jewish people had been waiting for a long time,

how would his people react? Would he be left for dead
like Joseph; despised by his brothers? Would he take
hold of the sceptre, establish the Davidic dynasty, remove
the Romans and free his people.60 Only time would tell!

Sorry Rabbi, but you don’t understand the scriptures

Within the gospels we see Jesus in a series of

disagreements with some particular Pharisees over the
actions of both himself and his disciples. We will look at
these now and see how Jesus approaches the prohibitions
in light of the Torah’s commandment not to work.

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is confronted by some

Pharisees on account of his disciples picking and eating
grain.61 According to the categories of work, regardless of
how trivial they may seem, the disciples were guilty of
breaking rules, #3, reaping and #5, threshing. It is worth
noting that the rulings were simply an interpretation or
understanding of what the Bible meant by ‘work’ as it was
never explicitly defined.

In response to this charge, Jesus gives two examples

of people who break the commandment regarding the
Sabbath and yet remain blameless.

In the first example, he discusses how David, when

he and his men were hungry went and ate the showbread.
This account is given in the book of Samuel.62 In this
passage, David is permitted by the priest to eat what he

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should not really have access too, but this is only part of
the story.

Why does Jesus actually use this text from Samuel?

On first glance it is not really obvious as all he has done
according to the biblical account is eat what he is not
supposed to have access to. However within the extra-
biblical writings, the day these events occur is a Sabbath.63
In Jesus’ day, this traditional understanding of events of
this passage would have been commonplace.

In this reading, it is implied that David and his men

were on the verge of starvation. The Rabbis and Sages
had effectively ruled that the preservation of life was
more important than observing the rulings handed down.
This was justified on the grounds that life is more
important than law. The scriptural basis for this is

You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees.

I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for whoever
obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.64

In essence it means that if you are dead you are incapable

of keeping the commandments, whereas if you are alive
you can keep them, therefore if required some
commandments can be broken for the purpose of living
out more. That was clear! This concept is known as
pikkuach nefesh’ (saving a life).65

In his second defence, Jesus states that the priests

break the Sabbath and yet remain blameless.66 What does
he mean? Simply, Jesus is saying that in the course of
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carrying out their Torah ordained functions, the priests

are required to breach a number of the principles of
melakhah. Had the priests then broken the Sabbath? In a
way; yes, as they had broken the extra-biblical rules. Had
they broken the Torah commandment? No; as God had
clearly given them tasks to fulfil regardless of the day of
the week.

With these two competing viewpoints in mind, it

can be clearly seen that things are not always as black and
white as we would like them to be. We can also see how
an understanding of extra-biblical sources can shed light
on, and allow the New Testament scriptures to be more
readily understood.

Will the Lord of the Sabbath please identify himself

Jesus finally states the Sabbath is made for man and

not man for the Sabbath. He says the Son of Man is Lord
even of the Sabbath.67 Many times people believe that Jesus
is using the title here of son of man about himself in a
Messianic sense, however there is no requirement to read
the text in such a way.

In truth all sons of men (and women) are Lord’s of

the Sabbath, as the Sabbath was created for mankind to
rest. Man was created first and Sabbath is subservient to
him (or her). The context of the passage is clearly
discussing people rather than the Lord Jesus. In many
ways, Bibles with sub-headings within the text can often

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cloud the picture making it difficult for us to read it

without an initial bias. This is a shame!

There are however, those who might disagree with

this interpretation and that is okay. Scripture is allowed to
teach different things to different people. In fact two
people can understand the same passage in completely
different ways and still be correct in their understanding.

The eternal Sabbath in the here and now

As we noted earlier the six days of creation are all

defined as evening and morning, however after the sixth day
the Sabbath begins. Notably missing from this day is the
same phrase. Common sense tells us that the Seventh
Day consisted of evening and morning, but the text does
not say so. In this regard, and in the best traditions of the
Sages, we could say the Seventh Day Sabbath has neither
a beginning nor an end. We could say the Sabbath is
eternal!

The book of Hebrews discusses the Sabbath in

chapter four by comparing it to the people of Israel
entering into the Promised Land. In it the writer argues
that the Israelites had to work hard prior to entering into
rest. The writer also makes the case that those who did
not walk by faith failed to enter in to the blessings
provided by the Promised Land. Whilst God had fed
them, clothed them and watered them and done all kinds
of miracles for their benefit, they did not fully enter in to
that rest.
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In his book from Sabbath to Sunday, Samuele

Bacchiocchi68 argues that the creation week is mirrored by
a set of creation years so to speak. We have often heard
the phrase with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day.69 This mindset was not new.
The Sages of Israel had long since come to the belief that
the creation as we know it would last for six thousand
years prior to the commencement of the Messianic Age
when King Messiah would rule. This period of time
when Messiah takes control is discussed in the Prophets
as a time of peace, prosperity, safety and the presence of
God. It will be a time when the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.70 This time
will be a complete Sabbath; not just a taste. It will be the
Rest of God, so the writer of Hebrews urges us not to
give up, not to fall away or go backwards but to progress
toward the goal, remembering that an eternal Sabbath
awaits us. Does this eternal Sabbath then negate the
weekly Sabbath? Of course not, as the Jews kept both the
weekly Sabbath whilst looking forward to the eternal one.
In fact the weekly Sabbath could be seen a foretaste of
what is to come.

There is a little anecdote on a very popular Jewish

website which tells a witty story, rephrased it says, when the
Jews were at the foot of Sinai, God told them if they kept the
commandments, their reward would be heaven. In response they
asked God what was so great about that and could they possibly
have a free sample. In response God said of course and He gave
them a taster – its name, Sabbath! Unfortunately, I was never
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able to find the web page again and so am unable to give

you a reference for this snippet of witty banter.

Remember & Observe

In the course of living out the Sabbath, God gave

two commandments. They were to observe the Sabbath71
and remember the Sabbath.72

In light of this, we ought to spend all week thinking

about the Sabbath by remembering it, and then keep it
when it arrives. It does us no good to simply remember
it, as James says, faith without deeds is useless.73 Unless our
doctrine affects the way we live, then it is just hot air and
not something we really believe.

The warnings of the Prophets

Time after time, the Prophets of old through the

books of Isaiah and Jeremiah sought to remind the people
of their covenantal obligations. The Prophets spoke up,
and spoke out, about the need to show themselves as a
people set apart and distinctive. Time and again, it was
the Sabbath, as the primary identifier of covenant
faithfulness that was used by the Prophets as the yardstick
to measure themselves against. The Prophets told the
people, keep the Sabbath, maintain your distinctiveness,
do not forget the Sabbath year or the Jubilee or God will
remove you from the land and you will return to exile.
Sadly, the nation did not obey.

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Later in the book of Nehemiah, particularly chapter

nine, we find Israel once again being chastised but with
love, mercy and kindness; with chesed (loving-kindness) to
return to the old paths which brought life and not death.

It is with joy and sadness that whilst the Jewish

people have on the whole continued to observe the
Sabbath, even during the most tragic of times such as
during the Second World War; the followers of Jesus have
allowed a family heirloom to slip from their fingers due to
arrogance. I am reminded of the poignant scene in the
Spielberg movie Schindler’s List.74 In the movie, even
amidst hard times, the Jewish people still desired to keep
the Sabbath. It is the glue that has bound their society
together for three millennia.

They’re taxing us for being religious now!

We might ask, if the Sabbath was as binding in the

time of Jesus and the Apostles, why did so many believers
stop celebrating it. Hopefully in the next few paragraphs
and chapters we can look and some of the dominant
issues which may have had a significant impact.

There were certain events during the formative

years of the early Church which sought to split it along
ethnic lines. Shortly after the destruction of the Temple,
the Roman ruler Vespasian imposed a hefty tax known as
the Fiscus Judaicus upon both people who were ethnically
Jewish and those who lived like Jews.75 At this time, it
would have included the God-fearing Gentiles who
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worshipped the God of Israel in the synagogues with Jews

and also many Gentile followers of Jesus who also chose
to worship within a Jewish framework; attending the
synagogues, keeping the feasts and maintaining the
Sabbath. Remember that at this time, Christianity was not
a distinct religion in its own right, but was viewed as a
Jewish sect.76 After the death of Vespasian, the new ruler
Domitian expanded the tax to crippling levels.

Imagine the scenario today if our government’s

passed legislation which taxed all our incomes up to
eighty percent if we belonged to a Church that practised
the baptism of new believers. There would only be four
options open really; first quit the Church; secondly go
underground and worship secretly or thirdly stop
baptising and invent a new way of doing things which
maintained the spirit of the act if not the letter of it, or
fourthly, live in abject poverty. Which would you do?
You would have to choose, or lose your head!

Anecdotally, some well meaning Messianic believers

today have been known to look down the nose at
Christians who continue to worship on Sundays or
celebrate Christmas, yet conversely, some Christians have
done exactly the same to those who desire to keep the
Sabbath. Both parties are guilty of pride! Both have been
guilty of legalism! It should be remembered that both of
these types of people celebrate what they do out of love
for God. Frustrations arise when one side keeps the
traditions without knowledge of the celebrations history.

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The thin end of the wedge

It was not all about tax avoidance however, there

were doctrinal issues at stake. Whilst it is beyond the
scope of this book to examine these issues in full, we can
by reading the writings of the Church fathers clearly see a
spirit of anti-Judaism at work.77

Eventually the Church leaders began to require

Jews to eat pigs to affirm their faith in Jesus as Messiah
and show beyond all doubt that they had turned their
back on the old ways. These times must have felt like the
return of the Greeks (see later chapter on Hanukkah).
The height of arrogance was being reached as Gentile
believers, now in the majority began to persecute their
Jewish brothers for maintaining covenants which God
had established with their forefathers and therefore with
them.

After the second Jewish revolt, the divide between

Jew and Gentile was effectively a de-facto separation.78
By the year 325ce at the council of Nicaea, the rules were
laid out for all to see. Even though the Church councils
had passed edicts and rulings regarding Jewish believers,
the Fathers continued to write against those in the
Church who continued to keep the Sabbath.79 No matter
what has happened, there have remained throughout
Church history those who have maintained the Sabbath.80
It is also noteworthy that these facts show that like the
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Judaisms of Jesus’ era, there was not and remains no

monolithic Christian faith, just lots of strands and sects.
It was and will remain time of change and challenge.

The what, where, how and when

In general, the keeping of the Sabbath amongst

Messianic believers is not grossly dissimilar to how the
classical Jews might do so.

To avoid having to melakhah on the Sabbath, Friday

daytime becomes the preparation day. The preparation
day becomes one of peeling foods, chopping vegetables,
lighting the oven, ironing the table cloths, shining up the
candlesticks and then dashing out to the hardware store as
you realise you have run out of candles, again!

Prior to sunset the Lady of the house gets to light

the candles. Within our time in the Messianic movement,
we have heard the candles spoken in terms of
representing the commandments to remember and
observe; or as Father and Son. The complete Artscroll
Siddur informs us they represent man and woman in the
explanatory notes.81 Whatever we feel they represent, our
first understanding is that we remember and observe, as
without these two commandments, there is no Sabbath.82

Strangely the traditional blessing when lighting the

candles is ‘blessed are You, Lord our God, king of the
universe... who has commanded us to light to Sabbath
candles’. This is interesting, as Messianic believers who
have come to the conclusion that the Rabbinic fences
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have no place, have to seriously ask themselves whether

this prayer can be prayed in good faith; after all the Torah
does not command us to light Sabbath candles, this is a
Mishnaic imperative.

A simple supper is shared as are prayers, all the

while the meal for tomorrow (Saturday’s half of the
Sabbath) is cooking very slowly over a covered flame.

On Saturday it is off to the synagogue if it is within

walking distance, or in the car, depending upon how
closely you observe the prevailing halakhah. The Sabbath
prayers are recited and at some point you end up back at
home for your nice meal which has spent the evening and
morning happily simmering away. The meat is now
beautifully tender and the Sabbath can be enjoyed. Our
food should remind us to taste and see that the LORD is
good.83

The New Testament Church: Sabbath, Sunday or both

As the Sabbath comes to an end, a ritual celebration

is often kept called havdalah. This functional aspect of the
Sabbath celebration goes back into the time long before
Jesus was born.84 During this time we thank God for the
separation of that which is set apart/holy (the Sabbath)
and that which is not set apart/common (the rest of the
week). At this time it is traditional to have a shared
supper and time of fellowship with others.

We can see a probable example of this in the New

Testament writings, in the book of Acts. In chapter
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twenty, we see believers coming together on the first day

of the week. Had the author of Acts wished to say they
were meeting on Sunday, they could easily have done so
as the Greek language did have a name for Sunday.85
Instead it is not used; the Jewish designation is adhered
to.

The text says that, on that day, they came together

to break bread. Again it is very easy to superimpose later
Church traditions and phrases as though they applied
when the text was written, but this is poor exposition of
the scripture and potentially misleading. By examining
the instances of the phrase to break bread within the
scriptures we find it does not refer to some kind of
religious ritual but rather to the act of sharing a simple
meal together. This is entirely in keeping with the
concept of havdalah. For a thorough overview of this
concept, see Tim Hegg’s excellent study on the Lord’s
Table.86

Had Paul been planning to leave, he could have just

gone if it had been Sunday, but if it were Saturday evening
he would have had to wait until daytime (one because it
was dark and two because the halakhah specified how far
one could walk on the Sabbath). This explains how Paul
was able to dialogue (the text does not say preach) until
the middle of the night. In essence we have Paul holding
a question and answers session from the close of the
Sabbath until midnight, which would have been about
four hours. Bizarrely after healing the young man who

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had fallen from the window due to the vapours from the
lamps (another indication it was an evening havdalah) he
went back upstairs to finish his supper.87 Then they
dialogued some more until the sun came up. I can relate
to this as when I was a new believer there was nothing
better than to have pointless arguments and debates over
the scriptures for hours on end. The deciding factor is
that he then proceeds to dialogue further until the sun
comes up.88 At this point, Paul leaves and goes to catch
his boat.

So whilst many well meaning people attempt to use

this passage to infer that the Church’s regularly day of
meeting and worship was Sunday as it is today, the verses
from Acts simply cannot be used to prove or disprove
that point; and if anything it would only increase the
evidence of a Sabbath havdalah being kept by the early
Church.

Due to the passage of such long lengths of time, it

is difficult for most people to ever envisage a time when it
was different from today. When these words in the book
of Acts were penned, there was no distinct religion called
Christianity. Christians were just one more sect within the
different forms of Judaism of the day. Believers would
have continued to meet in homes and houses of prayer. The
phrase house of prayer is a technical construct.89 Today we
would refer to a house of prayer as a synagogue. Back then
though, the words synagogue and ekklesia (later translated as
Church), both meant the same thing; a congregation of

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people.90 In essence, the synagogue met in a house of

prayer as well as homes in exactly the same way the
ekklesia did.

In our home, we break bread and drink wine on

Sabbath, but on Sunday in our regular congregation we
also break bread and drink wine. Though both phrases
are the same, the underlying mentality is a world apart. In
the chapter on Passover, we will discuss this more fully.
It does however sometimes cause confusion to those
newly exposed to it.

Keeping track of the finances

Another text that is often used to show that the

early Church’s worship day was Sunday is 1 Corinthians
16.91 In this passage, Paul tells the Corinthian believers to
set some money aside on the first day of the week, so that
when he arrives he can collect it, probably for the
purposes of supporting the congregation in Jerusalem. It
is unlikely Paul wanted the money for himself to fund his
missionary endeavours as he clearly says that he paid his
way by working as a tent-maker.92 It is asserted that this
passage shows the Church worshipped on the first day
(Sunday). But the verse neither shows, nor infers such a
thing.

Within the prevailing halakhah of the day, the

handling of money on the Sabbath was prohibited. We
know from Paul’s own testimonies that he maintained a
strong adherence to the traditions even after coming to
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faith93 in Messiah and so it is difficult to imagine him

telling the Corinthian congregations to do something he
himself would not do. Instead this passage is again more
likely to show a congregation of believers worshipping on
the Sabbath and handling money and other common
tasks on regular weekdays.

Why do we meet on Sundays anyway?

Within this chapter, I am indebted to the work of

Samuele Bacchiocchi who discusses this subject in his
book, From Sabbath to Sunday. For those who would
like to read some sample chapters from the book, they
can be downloaded from the internet at no cost.94

It has been argued that a sect of early believers

known as the Ebionites celebrated two days; first that of
the Friday/Saturday Sabbath and also that of Sunday. It
is been justified on the grounds of the belief that Jesus
rose from the dead on a Sunday.95 Later, in the chapter
on the Feast of First fruits we will examine which day
Jesus did rise from the grave.

Some people have made a case that, following the

stoning of Stephen and the persecution against believers,
Christians began to withdraw out of the synagogue and
meet in homes. This could have very well been the case,
but it begs the question, had the stoning of Stephen not
occurred, would the practise of the church meeting in
synagogues have changed.

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As we hinted at earlier in the book, the Second

Jewish revolt against the Romans had dire consequences
for Jewish-Christian relations. It was alleged that should
Christians renounce Jesus as the Messiah, they would
have been welcomed back within the mainstream Jewish
fold. The choice was obvious, maintain belief in Jesus as
Messiah and begin to withdraw from the Jewish
community or renounce the faith and move back in.96

Whilst Christians were at the outset an essentially

Jewish sect, Roman persecution in the form of taxation
and physical violence led to gentiles withdrawing from
their Jewish family. Maybe this is what caused the switch
from Sabbath to Sunday.97

The truth is, we may never know exactly what

caused the switch from Sabbath to Sunday, but we can
see three essential elements, firstly, Jewish persecution of
Christians; secondly, Roman persecutions of Jewish
lifestyle and thirdly the desire for a now essentially
Gentile Church to distinguish itself in opposition to
Judaism.

We can be certain though that the Apostle Paul

would not have been pleased. He had told the Gentile
believers in the Church years before not to boast over and
above the Jewish people, unfortunately, they failed to
heed his advice.98 This lack of humility led to pride, and
pride comes before destruction. The Church had on the
one hand risen to the heights of power, becoming the de-
facto state religion by the fourth century whilst at the
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same time becoming a melting pot for pagan and Gnostic

influences.99 The once pure church had become defiled.
The Church would have done well to heed the warnings
given to the churches in the book of Revelation.100

It would be difficult for the majority Church being

gentile to observe the Sabbath when some of its more
important and dynamic teachers were making statements
to the effect that the Sabbath was given to Israel as a
punishment for the sins.101 Justin Martyr made the
argument that the Torah was a form of retribution for the
golden calf incident,102 whilst neglecting that fact that God
had given again the same commandments again after
Moses had broken the initial set.103 For teachers amongst
the early Church, the Torah and the Sabbath were a curse
for disobedience rather than the gift of a loving God.

In Justin’s writings, as well as many other eminent

church fathers, the need to distinguish themselves as
separate from Israel was paramount. It was more likely
than not that this and this alone was the antecedent which
led the way for the Church’s rejection of the Sabbath and
replacement with Sunday.

Many Christians blame the whole thing on

Constantine and his impact on the Church. Whilst his
impact may have been profound, the damage had already
been done during the formative years of the Church.

During the late middle ages, the Roman Church

was split apart by reformers from within its ranks. People
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like Calvin, Luther, Zwingli and others threw down the

gauntlet to the established Church, particularly over issues
such as the selling of indulgences and the nature of the
Eucharist. Whilst many of these reformers struck a blow
for freedom, some did not think they had gone far
enough. In his book, History of the Christian Church,
historian Philip Schaff made this comment, the Reformers
aimed to reform the old Church by the Bible; the Radicals attempted
to build a new Church from the Bible. The former maintained the
historic continuity; the latter went directly to the apostolic age, and
ignored the intervening centuries as an apostasy.104 This citation
succinctly proves a necessary point. Within the Church,
there are those who want their Christian life to be dictated
by the Scriptures with tradition taking a secondary role,
and there are those who wish the Christian life to be
firstly about maintaining long established Christian
traditions by attempting to justify them from the Bible.
The distinction is subtle but immensely important and
may well explain why so many in this current day and age
are returning to an observance of the Sabbath. Maybe it
is like we said earlier the signs of a fresh awakening and
reformation within the Church. Whichever way it moves
there will be both those who stand for and against it.
Only you can decide which side you will stand with.

The Sabbath of the future

So far we have discussed various elements of the

Sabbath, from the creation narrative to the time of Jesus.
There is one aspect we have not discussed though; that of

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Gentiles and the Sabbath. The prevailing opinion

amongst Jews of the second temple period and today is
that the Sabbath was only to be binding upon Jews, the
covenant people of God.

Even within this simplistic approach, we should

remember that that Sabbath pre-dates the arrival of the
Patriarchs and the Israelite nation and is therefore
universal in scope. Also, while the Sabbath is discussed in
relation to Passover, it was a mixed multitude which came
out of Egypt. In both of these respects then, it could be
acknowledged that the Sabbath is both pro-Israelite and
gentile permitting at the same time.105 To this effect, the
organisation First Fruits of Zion has published a paper
explaining how gentiles can freely take part in the Jewish
way of life. This paper can be downloaded from their
website.106

The Prophet Isaiah spoke of a time to come when

both native born Israelite and the non-Jewish person will
become one people in honouring the Sabbath. In
chapters fifty six to fifty eight is speaks of a mixed
multitude coming to the temple to offer sacrifices. At this
point, the temple is called a house of prayer for all nations.107

In the days of Jesus, the temple contained a small

wall whose sole function was to keep Jewish people in
and Gentile people out. The wall called a Soreg contained
plaques at regular intervals in a multiplicity of languages
informing them that their deaths would follow promptly
if they walked much further.
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The Apostle Paul uses this idea of the dividing wall

when he gives a creative explanation (often known as a
midrash) to explain the mysterious work which Jesus had
accomplished on the cross. This wall which had no
biblical basis sought to divide the world; Jews, Gentiles.
The death of Messiah brought this idea crashing to the
ground, making it powerless and ineffective. In Messiah,
both groups of people find a common identity. Our
identity in Messiah is one new humanity.108 We are to set
aside our ethnic boundaries, as our allegiance has now
become a man, rather than a national entity. We are not
to allow works of law to divide Jew from gentile any
longer. Again phrases such as works of law are not meant
as the commandments of the Law, but rather markers of
Jewish identity, such as Sabbath, circumcision and the
dietary laws. These were the things which separated the
two men.109

In the future, the Temple will be rebuilt and the

doors thrown open, not just too Jewish people but all
nations. The final nail will have been placed into the
coffin of separation. What began with Peter’s vision of a
sheet of unclean foods representing people (not food)110
will find its totality in Messiah and the Rest which he
brings.

What we think!

Some people believe that observing the Sabbath is a

chore. When we first began to practise it, we found that
resting is actually quite hard work. It sounds backward, but
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it is true. For those who have never kept the Sabbath,

this idea may seem entirely ludicrous, but for those who
were not brought up with Sabbath observance and keep it
now, those people will be able to relate to what we have
said.

The Sabbath is not made by God to inflict misery

by making it un-enjoyable, but rather the Prophets affirm
it is a delight and a day of joy.

Therefore let us keep the Sabbath and rejoice!

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