In my last post, we talked about what, in my personal experience, are the top things which I've seen over the years that lead a person into Sabbatarianism. We saw the road to Sabbatarianism is paved with:
- Insufficient information,
- Misunderstanding who Jesus is,
- Misunderstanding the two Covenants, and
- Misunderstanding the singular nature of the body of laws.
Today, I would like to continue on.
Not Properly Understanding To Whom The Bible Was Written
Some people say, "Look what the Lord says to us," as they turn to Leviticus. Well, I have some bad news for you. The Lord didn't say that to us. He said that to ancient Israel. If you hear someone say the Old Testament was written to "us", then you have my permission to walk away from that person, because they do not yet understand as they should in order to teach others.
Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying to walk away from the Old Testament, or that there's no value there for us. Oh, there's a ton of value! But it wasn't wasn't to us. The very first step on the road to Sabbatarianism is overlooking this distinction; misunderstanding the audience; believing that God wants us to do a thing that He commanded someone else to do.
The Old Testament was not written to us; it was written for us. Big difference.
How so, you ask? We are like people overhearing a conversation and receiving benefit from it, but we were not part of the conversation. Many times, as Jesus preached, He would engage in conversations with specific people, such as scribes and pharisees for example, but He would do it in a very public fashion. Everyone there could witness the interaction, but He wasn't speaking to everyone there. He was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees. He kept those side conversations public for everyone there.
And so it is with the Old Testament. It was written to the Jews. Ancient Jews. In the Middle East. But it contains wisdom and principals that are good for us all.
Imagine you visit a hospital. While there, you overhear a doctor telling a patient about certain medicines to take and a health regimen to follow in order to lower their blood pressure. Should you run to the pharmacy and get those medicines too? No. The doctor was not speaking to you. Those medicines might actually harm you. You may learn a thing or two about lowering your blood pressure, which is definitely good, but that conversation did not include you.
Imagine you are in the audience at a trial. A person accused of a crime stands before a judge. The judge declares the person guilty and sentences them to 5 weeks of community service. Was the judge speaking to "us"? No. Must we all do community service? No. The judge was speaking to someone specific. Yet, court rooms have audience sections for a reason. It is good to witness such things and learn from them.
Sabbatarians will emphasize, "This is what the CREATOR said!" (A woman said this very thing to me last week. All caps.) This is a bit of manipulation. An attempt to get you to feel like you are somehow brazenly defying Almighty God if you don't think as they do. Yes, the Creator said these things, but to whom? Not to "us"!
What would you think if a person said to you, "Look what the CREATOR says to us in Ezekiel 4: 5"? Would you lie on your side for 390 days? No? Why not? Those are God's words aren't they? Because you know that wasn't said to you. Then why do you think it's any different when you read what God said to Israel? That wasn't to you, either.
There is a ton of good benefit in reading Exodus. For one thing, you can learn a lot about Jesus in there. But when was the last time you put blood on your door posts? When was the last time you waded into the Red Sea? Well, God said that to "us", didn't He? Of course He didn't! Everyone knows He didn't. The people to whom He said those things went and did do those things, and it was written down years later for our benefit.
Sabbatarian groups like to throw away huge tracts of the indivisible law by saying things like, "Some laws were ceremonial and some were national laws, and all of those were for Israel only." (Recall the indivisible nature of the law.) Hey! Wait just a minute. What happened to, "Look what the Lord says to us"? So, I am to believe the CREATOR spoke 2/3 of the law to Israel only but the last 1/3 directly to me? Of course He didn't. It was all to Israel. None of it was to me. Everyone involved knows the law was not written to "us". That only changes when someone finds a law they want other people to follow.
Now do you understand what I meant when I said, "The Old Testament was not written to us; it was written for us,"? It was all recorded for our edification. There is a ton of benefit in reading and studying the law. Read it and be edified! But we cross the line when we start thinking it was commanded directly to us. This ties in with the last post, when we talked about the Covenants.
The road to Sabbatarianism always involves a degree of not understanding to whom the Bible was written; inserting "us" and "me" where they do not belong.
Not Properly Understanding the Sabbath
I'm not going to beat around the bush here --- as I said in the last post, there IS a Sabbath in the New Covenant, and that Sabbath is Jesus Christ.
If you cannot accept that our Sabbath rest is not a day, and righteousness does not come from sitting idly on our hands one day in seven, but it is Jesus who gives true rest for our very souls, every day, then perhaps understanding Jesus better is what you need. He's not just the Son, or the Savior, or the Messiah, or King, or High Priest, or Shepherd, or Seed, or Root, or Vine, or Branch, or Servant, or Bread, or Son of Man, or Second Adam, or true Israel, or Way and Truth and Life, or Logos, or Alpha and Omega, or Passover Lamb, or Wave Sheaf, but He is our Sabbath, too. Giving us rest. He can be all these things.
(MAT. 11: 28) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Did you notice He was alluding to Exodus 33; 14 there? See! Value in there for us, even though it wasn't written to us. He said the law and prophets pointed to Him (MAT. 5: 17; JON. 5: 46; LUK. 24: 25-27). So, why not this law? Any law but this!
Some Sabbatarian groups heap praise on the Sabbath. Of course they do! It's their identity. It's their raison d’être. Without the Sabbath, why even have a church? They call it "the sign of the Covenant", for example. But where do they get this? From the Old Covenant. Once again, we see a misunderstanding of the Covenants. But what do we see when we read about the Sabbath in the New Testament? Hebrews 3: 11-19 and 4: 1-10 are blatant and clear that the Sabbath never gave rest, and another rest was spoken of. We enter that promised rest by faith in Jesus. (For more, see "The Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4").
Sabbatarianism is almost defined by going to church on the Sabbath. That is, however, not what the Fourth Commandment says. All of this "Saturday vs Sunday" stuff is entirely man-made and beside the point. If you hear someone tell you they keep the Fourth Commandment by going to church, you can feel free to respond, "The Sabbath is not about going to church."
Going to synagogue on Sabbath developed in the Second Temple period. Why do modern Jews do it? Because the Rabbinical tradition developed from the Pharisaical tradition, and it was the Pharisees who started the synagogues and going there on Sabbath. Nowhere in the Bible is there a law that demands going to church (or synagogue) on Sabbath. It just says, in short, 1) remember to keep it holy, and 2) not to work. It says as much about going to church on Saturday as it does about going to Chipotle on Tuesday. The thing Sabbatarians emphasize most is not really even part of it. It would be difficult to find a more fundamental misunderstanding.
Notice I did not say it is wrong to go to church on Sabbath. I simply said it is not part of the Old Covenant law. How much less, then, is it part of the New Covenant law.
That prohibition against work refers to regularly assigned work, by the way. It's not like Israel could do nothing at all on Sabbath. "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working," Jesus said (JON. 5: 16-17). Jesus tried to explain how it is perfectly acceptable to do good on the Sabbath (MAT. 12: 12). The Pharisees simply would not listen.
The road to Sabbatarianism always involves not understanding the Sabbath rest as it is in the New Covenant. And, so it seems, also misunderstanding it as it was in the Old Covenant as well.
CONCLUSION
I know I said I would talk more about righteousness today, but it turned out that I am simply unable to write anything compact enough to fit here. (Luc always did call me the wordsmith. Rightfully.) So, I am forced to do one more post.
Today, we saw how the road to Sabbatarianism is paved with:
- Misunderstanding to whom the Bible was written, and
- Misunderstanding the very Sabbath itself.
In my next post, God willing, we will finish this list.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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