The Sabbath

and the Lord's Day

The Jewish Sabbath Abolished

case, where the very same word is found in both the Greek and the English, they say it means something else. Isn't that strange? "The sabbath" means the seventh day fiftynine times, but the sixtieth time it does not! Preposterous! When "the sabbath," or "the sabbath days," in fifty nine places in the New Testament refers to the weekly rest day, it does in the sixtieth place.

  But it is objected that "sabbath days" in Col. 2: 16 is a plural term, and that hence it cannot refer to the weekly rest day. This reasoning is so flimsy that Sabbatarians ought to be ashamed of it. The Sabbath is frequently in Scripture spoken of in the plural. This is true both in the Old and the New Testament. "My sabbaths ye shall keep" (Exod. 31:13). "Keep my sabbaths" (Lev. 19:3, 30). "Eunuchs that keep my sabbaths" (Isa. 56:4). "Mock at her sabbaths" ( Lam. 1: 7) . "I gave them my sabbaths" (Ezek. 20:12). "Polluted my sabbaths" (vs. 16). "Three sabbath days reasoned with them" (Acts 17:2). "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days?" (Matt. 12:10). "on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath" (vs. 5). "Taught them on the sabbath days" (Luke 4:31) . "Let no one therefore judge you . . . in respect of the sabbath days" (Col. 2:16). Same thing exactly. Anyone can see at a glance that the "sabbaths" and the "sabbath days" in all these texts refer to the weekly rest day; and these very sabbath days, Paul says, were "nailed to the cross."

  Another point worthy of note is this: The same Greek word and the same form of the word that Paul uses in Col.2:16, is used elsewhere for the weekly sabbath. Thus: "Gathered sticks upon the Sabbath Day [sabbaton]" (Num. 15:32). "In the end of the Sabbath [sabbaton] " (Matt. 28:1). "On the Sabbath Day [sabbaton]" (Acts 13:14; Luke 4:16). I shall now quote from the Decalog: "Keep the Sabbath [sabbaton] day" (Deut. 5:12). "Remember the Sabbath Day [sabbaton] to keep it holy" (Exod. 20: 8) . "Let no man therefore judge you . . . in respect of the sabbath days [sabbaton]" (Col. 2:16). The Sabbath in Col. 2:16 can refer only to the Sabbath of the Decalog. "The only word ever used in the Bible for the weekly [101] Sabbath is the very one Paul did use in Col. 2:16." So the weekly sabbath days have passed away.

  That the sabbath days referred to by Paul in Col. 2:16 have direct reference to the weekly round of rest. days is beyond doubt when we remember that he is simply quoting from the Old Testament—the law and the prophets—where the same list is several times mentioned, and in every instance includes the seventh day. In Numbers 28th and 29th chapters we have a full account of all offerings to be made on the different days of the year. The daily offerings are mentioned in the 28th chapter, verses 3 8; the weekly offerings, verses 9, 10. "And on the sabbath day two lambs," etc. "This is the burnt offering of every sabbath." Next the new moon, or monthly, offerings. "And in the beginning of your months ye shall offer a burnt offering unto the Lord" (vss. 11 15). Next came the yearly or annual feast days, extending from 28:16 to 29:39. These were their "set feasts" (vs. 39). Here we have the list complete—daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.

  "Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel" (2 Chron. 2:4).

  "He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord" (2 Chron. 31:3).

  "Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles" (2 Chron. 8:13).

  "And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even; 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 [102] commanded unto them, continually before the Lord" (1 Chron. 23:30, 31).

  "And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the Sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel" (Ezek. 45:17).

  "For the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the Sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God" (Neh. 10:33).

  All these texts are given to show that over and over the identical list Paul uses in Col. 2:16 is used in the law, and in every case the weekly Sabbath is referred to. Time and again we have the yearly feast days or holy days monthly or new moons, and weekly Sabbaths all classified as Paul does.

  Now since these days are abolished "nailed to the cross," and we have come to the substance—Christ; since we have obtained that which these things foreshadowed— to go back to those law days and their observance is hateful to God. "Bring no more vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them" (Isa. 1:13, 14).

  By going back under the "yoke of bondage" and to the observance of the Jewish Sabbath, Sabbatarians are doing the very things which are hateful to God. They cling to a ghostly "shadow," while we enjoy the substance. No wonder Paul said to those Galatians that "desired to be under the law," and, like modern Sabbatarians, had become "bewitched," "Ye observe days [sabbath days— weekly], and months i new moons], and times [yearly feasts], and years [ sabbatical years]. I am afraid of you" (Gal. 4:10, 11). Here is the identical list that Paul says [103] was nailed to the cross and therefore are no longer to be observed. By going back to their observance, people fall f from grace and become enslaved "to weak and beggarly elements" (Gal. 4:9 11; 5:1 8; 4:21 31). [104 top]

NEXT