Gospel Reflections

4 responses to “Did you enter God’s Sabbath Rest?”

1. 

   Mathieu Vincent

   May 16, 2016 at 3:11 am

   Well said friend, as a former Adventist myself Hebrews chapter 4 was a absolutely eye opener to understand the true Sabbath rest of the new covenant.
   Thanks for your Blog.

   BTW many Adventists i debate with use and refer to your former Blog as a defense for there beliefs, but when i reveal that you yourself have left those doctrines behind they are left speechless.

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   1. 

      Beki

      August 11, 2016 at 9:40 am

      I used to use his blog and its unfortunate he has discarded the truth. He has simply embraced Dale Ratzlaff’s interpretation of Heb 4

      Dale is debunked here

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv5NS1mgwns

      Spiritual rest nullifies the fourth command no more than embracing the bread of life nullifies your physical hunger

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      1. 

         John Mendis

         September 5, 2016 at 11:27 pm

         Hi Beki,

         Not all old testament laws are binding on Christians. The above statement is like saying Christians should obey the commandment to offer animal sacrifices despite Christ’s once for all sacrifice because the Spiritual benefits of Christ’s sacrifice doesn’t nullify the literal commandment to offer animals.

         Here’s some things to ponder.

         1) There is no Sabbath day in Genesis. The Seventh day (which was a 24 hour period) in Genesis is unique and it points to a REST that goes beyond a 24 hour period, that one can enter into DAILY, and that is the message of Hebrews 4. Adam and Eve were ushered into this first Seventh day without six days of labor. So, whatever the rest that Adam and Eve experienced on their first day (they were created on the sixth day) is not the Sabbath day mentioned in Exodus (that only comes after six days of labor), but something much more.

         2) Sabbath day is given as a fresh institution to Israel (not to the whole world) in the wilderness in Ex.16, and later codified in the covenant, called the ten commandments, which had 613 laws in total.

         3) Passover, Circumcision, Sabbath day were SIGNS of the covenants, and were all RITUAL laws and not moral. Mainstream Jews, the covenant people understood, and believe that Sabbath was a ritual law, the only one in the Ten Commandments. Sabbath being associated with the Ten doesn’t make it a moral law. If association is what constitute moral, then Sabbath is 12:1 ceremonial given its association with other holy days. Jesus compared Sabbath to ritual laws like shewbread and circumcision.

         4) The law of Moses and law of God are terms used for the old testament law There is no evidence that law of Moses excludes the ten commandments, nor is there evidence that everything outside the Ten commandments and written on book are ceremonial. This entire system of old covenant law, including the ten commandments, were an indivisible unit, which were fullfilled by Jesus, and were declared obsolete, when the new covenant was established. Paul is clear Christians are not under the law of Moses, but under the law of Christ. If one insist on cherry picking old testament laws, they are obligated to obey the whole system of law (old covenant) with its 613 commandments.

         5) There is no command to observe Sabbath for Christians. Col. 2 makes it clear Sabbath day is a shadow that is no longer binding. After all, the Sabbath day is a ritual law.

         6) There is absolutely no emphasis of the Sabbath day as an end time decisive salvational matter, a seal of God in the teachings of Jesus or the apostles, who were entrusted with the whole counsel of God for the new testament church. You are free to observe Sabbath days, in fact circumcision or any ritual for that matter, but there is no obligation nor a single punishment for breaking it, neither is Sabbath breaking listed in any of the list of sins, or works of the flesh.

         7) Finally, do you (& Sabbatarians) really observe the Sabbath day according to the Bible? The commandment requires you to work every Sunday through Friday, and to rest on the seventh day (Saturday). Few so-called Sabbatarians work on Sunday as commanded. ‘Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” (Ex 16:29-30). Moreover, there is to be no cooking, no buying and selling, no working others, and much more. Add EGW’s commands to this. In Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15, the Sabbath command specifies rest from labor as the way to keep the day “holy.” There is no mention of going to a worship service each Sabbath; it was out of custom, meaning tradition, not command, that the Jews started going to synagogues after Babylonian captivity.

         Sabbath keeping is far from simply going to church on Saturday and napping at home, and reading the Bible, and recognizing it’s a holy day, yet many claim to keep the Sabbath law without knowing what the law says!

         The new testament is clear that all days are alike and there are no more sacred days!

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2. Sabbath is a ritual law, not moral – Gospel Reflections

   January 14, 2024 at 4:24 pm

   […] The Bible is clear that the weekly ritual Jewish Sabbath is not the same rest as God’s seventh day rest in Genesis (Hebrews 4; see Sabbathismos). […]

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