Back Should New Covenant
Keepers
Old
Testament Sabbath?
There
are those that are teaching that since Yahshua fulfilled the Sabbath, we no
longer have to keep it. Keep in mind of course that the commandment to keep the
Sabbath is part of the eternal Ten Commandments. So it should stand to reason
that if the Sabbath of the Old Testament is done away with, then we also do not
have to keep the other 9 commandments; as they were also given in the Old
Testament. If Yahshua fulfilled the Sabbath by keeping it how does he fulfill
the commandment that says that we should not commit adultery? How about honoring
your father and mother? How about do not murder? Answer: He fulfilled them by
keeping them as we have been commanded to also keep them.
6:1
Yahshua left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When
the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him
were amazed.
6
[Yahshua] On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching,
and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled.
10
On a Sabbath Yahshua was teaching in one of the synagogues,
We are even told that it
was his custom to keep the Sabbath, meaning that he kept the Sabbath as it was
commanded in the Ten Commandments.
Luke
4:16
16
He went to
So we can see that
Yahshua kept the Sabbath. But the argument with some ministers isn’t that
Yahshua kept the Sabbath. After all nobody argues that he kept it, they just
suggest that he kept it so we wouldn’t have to. This of course is a crazy
idea. Consider Baptism. We all know that Yahshua was baptized; in fact he even
states that he was fulfilling baptism for righteousness sake.
Matt
3:15
15
Yahshua replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill
all righteousness." Then John consented.
Given the above verse in
which Yahshua actually states that he fulfilled baptism, why don’t ministers
teach that we don’t have to be baptized since he fulfilled it for us?
It is because they don’t fully understand the scriptures. Certainly we can all
agree that if we were going to use the idea that fulfilling meant to do
away with, then baptism would be a better fit then the Sabbath. Yahshua actually
uses the word ‘fulfill’ in his statement to John. Never once does he
give the idea or state such things about the Sabbath. So, just as we must be
baptized as part of salvation, we must also keep the Sabbath as it is also an
intricate part of his salvation. In truth, he has woven both Baptism and Sabbath
keeping into the fabric of salvation. Remember that Yahshua said that he was the
Master of the Sabbath.
Matt
12:8
8
For the Son of Man is Master of the Sabbath."
Since Yahshua was the
Master of the Sabbath wouldn’t he have the right to say that as Master he does
not have to keep it? Instead of saying that, he not only kept it but he
instructs us to keep the Commandments, of which keeping the Sabbath is one of
them.
Matt
19:17
17
….. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
Since he, the Shepherd
and Master of the Sabbath who had every right not to keep the Sabbath, but did;
we as his followers (sheep) should not have any problems hearing his voice and
following in his footsteps.
John
10:2-6
2
The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman
opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes
on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But
they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because
they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
2
Peter 3:15-16
15
Bear in mind that our Master’s patience means salvation, just as our dear
brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that Yahweh gave
him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these
matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which
ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their
own destruction.
So here is a warning for
us all. We must be very careful with Paul’s writings because Peter is making
it clear that there are those who twist them to their own destruction.
Let
us further consider Paul and his actions towards the command to keep the
Sabbath. It would help us to understand that Paul came on the scene many years
after Yahshua had died and ascended to heaven. Scholars believe that he was not
called into the ministry until some ten or more years after Yahshua’s death.
The point here is that many ministers teach that believers kept the Sabbath
while he was alive but after Yahshua ascended to heaven, people no longer kept
it. If this was the case, Paul, who
was directly called by Yahshua (Acts 9:1-9) would have known that Sabbath
keeping was no longer an important part of his religion. Sabbath keeping would
not have been a minor issue during Paul’s life. He would have definitely
advised other Jews, especially Gentiles that Sabbath keeping was no longer a
commandment to keep. The Scriptures tell us otherwise.
Read carefully the
following Scriptures:
14
From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the
synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets,
the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have a
message of encouragement for the people, please speak." 16 Standing up,
Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of
Wow, did you understand
that? Paul was in a synagogue on the Sabbath and he was speaking to Jews (men of
Acts
17:2
2
As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath
days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
Luke
4:16
16
[Yahshua] went to
Now why would Paul be
keeping the same custom that Yahshua had kept, some ten plus years after Yahshua
had died and ascended? Again, Sabbath keeping was not a minor issue, it was
integrated into Paul’s life so much so that he would have spent a lot of time
trying to convince people that it was no longer important. He would have taken
every opportunity to teach both Jews and especially Gentiles that the Sabbath
was obsolete.
There
are those that claim that there are two covenants. One for the Jews and the
other one for the Gentiles; they claim that the Jews were supposed to keep the
Sabbath but the Gentiles did not have to. Let us review some verses that make it
clear that Paul never taught such things.
Acts
13:42-47
42
As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to
speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 When the congregation
was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and
Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of
Elohim. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word
of Yahweh. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and
talked abusively against what Paul was saying. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas
answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of Elohim to you first.
Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we
now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what Yahweh has commanded us:
Alright, now here we have
an excellent example of an opportunity that Paul would have had to go and teach
the Gentiles that they did not have to keep the Sabbath. For in verse 46 we are
told that Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue and told those present that they
were now going to preach to the Gentiles as they were commanded. So, given these
facts we can assume that Paul and Barnabas could have easily headed down to the
pagan temples on the following Sunday and told the Gentiles that they should
continue to keep Sunday because Yahshua had done away with the Seventh/Sabbath
day. This was not the case, in fact, as the story continues we are told that
after having said that they were going to preach to the Gentiles, they went
right into another synagogue on the following Sabbath:
Acts
14:1
14:1
At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they
spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
Now wait a minute! First
Paul and Barnabas say “we are going to the Gentiles” and then they go into
another synagogue the following Sabbath? Why is that? Well the issue was not to
teach them against the Sabbath; the issue was to teach them about the Savior,
his life, death, resurrection and ultimate plan for salvation. So to reiterate, Paul’s
mission was not to teach the Gentiles against Sabbath keeping, he was to teach
them that Yahshua was the long awaited Messiah (Anointed One) of Yahweh. In
essence he was teaching them that obedience to the Law leads them to Yahshua:
Rom 10:4
4
Messiah is the {Goal} of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes.
Regressing to verse 48 of
Chapter 13 it is clear that the Gentiles were honoring the word of Yahweh.
Honoring in this sense means to glorify as in being obedient. So if the Gentiles
were familiar with the Old Testament, and thereby the Ten Commandments, which
they clearly were, then they would have been keeping the Sabbath as they had
been commanded. They would have also been well aware of all the prophecies
written about Yahshua in the Old Testament.
If
you were a Torah observant Gentile during those days and Paul came to you and
taught you that Yahshua was the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies that you
had read about in the Old Testament, then you certainly would honor the word of
Yahweh because you would recognize the reality and power of his words.
Imagine that you read about something that was to occur and you were
convinced that it really did occur. That is the reason why when the Gentiles
heard and believed they realized the truth of the Scriptures and thus they
rejoiced and praised Yahweh and his word. This word of course would have been
based on the Old Testament as the New Testament was not even in existence up to
this point.
Acts
13:48
48
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of Yahweh;
and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
Acts
21:17-25
17
When we arrived at
Paul’s teaching about
the Law is not that we should not be keeping the Law as he himself was obedient
to the Law, as James made perfectly clear in verse 24. Paul’s comments about
the Law were intending on placing them in importance with regards to Yahshua.
Yahshua is more important than the Law, but we must keep the Law because Yahshua
is important and because He and Yahweh command it so. Yahshua himself said that
if you love me keep my commandments (John 14:15). He also made it perfectly
clear that he himself was obeying his Father Yahweh (John 14:31). And He said
that the way into entering life was to obey the commandments (Matt 19:17 &
Matt 7:21). So if obedience to His Word is a way into entering life, why would
Paul teach against it? He wouldn’t!
The
reality is that by disobeying Yahshua we are in effect putting him on the bottom
of the list of importance. As it was already mentioned, putting Yahshua at the
top of the list means that we willingly follow the commandments and the Law
because we have FAITH that we will be rewarded as He has promised:
Rev
14:12
12
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey Yahweh’s
commandments and remain faithful to Yahshua.
So we are patient and
enduring in obedience to Yahweh while remaining faithful to Yahshua. We do this
because we understand that by placing Yahweh and Yahshua at the top of the list
and by obeying the Law, our reward will be that we will eat with Yahshua and
also sit with him on his throne:
Rev
3:19-22
19
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I
am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will
give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with
my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says
to the assemblies."
Brethren
do not be misled by those who misunderstand and twist the Scriptures. We have
been called unto obedience! We are to be a light unto the world. Paul himself
said that there was neither Gentile nor Jew (Rom 10:12) but all that believe
must be obedient to our Father’s words. Be careful of those who teach
disobedience, those that say that they have a new teaching, which is not a new
teaching but apostasy. Do not follow in their ways or you too will fall. For
when the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the pit.
Summary:
The Sabbath was ordained by
our Creator during the creation period. Yahshua kept the Sabbath and so did
Paul. The New Testament shows that Paul targeted Gentiles who were already Torah
observant as he encountered most of them in the synagogues while they were
keeping Sabbath. These Gentiles would have been aware of the Messianic
prophecies and they would have understood that Yahshua was in fact the Anointed
One that the Old Testament spoke of.
Paul’s admonishment to
the Galatians and other assemblies was that they reverted to believing that
circumcision and other practices of the Law were more important than Yahshua.
Paul’s comments were not aimed at having the Gentiles do away with the
Sabbath. He was telling them that Yahshua must be the Chief Cornerstone in their
religious observances. In essence he was saying that if you had to choose
between Yahshua and circumcision or even Sabbath keeping, you choose Yahshua.
However at the same time he was telling them that believing in Yahshua is
demonstrated by keeping the Sabbath and the rest of the commandments and those
things of the Torah that are still in effect. We don’t brag about keeping the
Law because keeping the Law without Yahshua does nothing for us. We are thankful
for the grace and mercy that our Father gives us and we place Yahweh and Yahshua
at the top of our list and because of that, we honor, obey and trust their
commandments. In doing this we walk
in the streets of salvation; and we are confident and trust that we will be
awarded the promises given to the faithful ones.
Hector Castillo
