''Sabbath'' in the Old covenant:
'' Leviticus 23: 3 There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD. ''
From this Scripture we understand that:
1. God permitted us to work only six days in a week.
2. Seventh day is not meant for working.
3. In whichever places God has placed us / given us to live, we are commanded to honor the Sabbath.
From this Scripture we also understand that:
1. God did not forbid us from doing ''good'' on the Sabbath day.
2. He said, ''do not do any work on the seventh day as we do on the remaining six days.''
3. 'Work' here implies, producing material gain from the land. Or in simpler terms, making money / profits, that we do on regular six days, where we put some load into the day, to make the day and the land yield some produce.
Now, having understood this, let's read about the ''Sabbath'' in the New covenant:
'' Luke 6:5 The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. ''
'' Luke 6 : 9 Then Jesus said to them, '' I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it? ''
'' Mark 2: 27 Then he said to them, 'The Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.' ''
'' Matthew 12: 11, 12 He said to them, '' If any one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out ? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. ''
As we read in these Scriptures in the new covenant, we understand clearly that:
1. Jesus only clarified, that ''doing good on the Sabbath is lawful.''
2. Jesus here, by no means said, ''we can work on the Sabbath day.''
3. So, Jesus in no way nullified the command of the Sabbath as given in Leviticus in the old testament.
We can therefore summarize as:
1. In the new covenant, Jesus only defined the Sabbath.
2. Jesus affirmed and confirmed that He is the Lord of the Sabbath.
3. He being very God, was ''doing good'' to help others: 'Healing people' and 'Eating' - these activities do not put any load into the day, or any toil into the land to make it yield some produce, but they are a 'help.'
So - Not a smallest letter, not a least stroke of the pen in the Law (concerning Sabbath) has been abolished.
We, who are in the new covenant, ought to honor God by keeping the day of the Sabbath holy and not putting any toil into the Sabbath day to make it give any produce.
We, who are in the new covenant, ought to honor God by keeping the day of the Sabbath holy and not putting any toil into the Sabbath day to make it give any produce.
And we can most certainly ''help'' our fellow brothers, if they need any - on the Sabbath day.
Helping fellow brothers is not equal to performing in a job / putting in effort or toil that brings in material profits.
Helping others do not put load into the land or the day, so the 'land' and the 'day' still have their rest.
Sabbath is a sign between God and us, that God made us holy, and when we rest on this day as commanded, we honor God holy.
Helping fellow brothers is not equal to performing in a job / putting in effort or toil that brings in material profits.
Helping others do not put load into the land or the day, so the 'land' and the 'day' still have their rest.
Sabbath is a sign between God and us, that God made us holy, and when we rest on this day as commanded, we honor God holy.
'' Ezekiel 20: 12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy. ''
The following Scripture helps us to understand further on the word ''Sabbath'':
'' Leviticus 25: 1 - 5
When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year that land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows for itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ''
'' Leviticus 25: 1 - 5
When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year that land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows for itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. ''
Dear people, these are the promises God has for us if we keep the command, and honor the Sabbath holy and give rest to ourselves, and to the land and to the Sabbath day:
''Jeremiah 17: 21, 22 Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. ''
'' Jeremiah 17: 24, 25 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gate of this city with their officials. ''
'' Isaiah 58 :13 - 14 If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of the LORD has spoken. ''
'' Ecclesiastes 8:5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm. ''
Dear people, Jesus came to fulfill the law, and not to abolish the law:
'' Matthew 5:17-19
Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.''
'' Matthew 5:17-19
Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.''
Let us humbly and diligently uphold the Law of God, by keeping the sound instruction and command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and serve God in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
'' Romans 7:6 Now by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. ''
'' Romans 13:8,9 Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the Law.
''Do not commit adultery,'' ''Do not murder,'' '' Do not steal,'' ''Do not covet,'' and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule: ''Love your neighbor as yourself.'' Love does no harm to his neighbor. Therefore Love is the fulfillment of the Law.''
''Do not commit adultery,'' ''Do not murder,'' '' Do not steal,'' ''Do not covet,'' and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule: ''Love your neighbor as yourself.'' Love does no harm to his neighbor. Therefore Love is the fulfillment of the Law.''
'' 1 John 5:3 This is Love for God: to obey his commands. ''
