The Sabbath means seven. Its mention connotes rest. God gave the observance of the Sabbath and the attendant rules to the Jews. From the days of Moses in the wilderness the Israelites observed the Sabbath in its simplistic form until the advent of the Pharisees who were adept at complicating issues. The Pharisees introduced all manner of peripheral rules to the Sabbath observance, and these pharisaic rules were antithetic to God's purpose regarding the Sabbath.
And so, on one occasion, Jesus Christ made it clear to them, the Pharisees, that the Sabbath was made for man and not the converse. (Mark 2:27) Yes, the Pharisees, in their characteristic manner of adding to the burden of the downtrodden people, had so much amplified the Sabbath law that its essence became somewhat distorted. They were the true sons of the master of distortion, Satan the devil.
This distortion continues to this day, as we can see from the emphasis on Sabbath-day worship by some Christian organizations. One Church of Yahweh now campaigns for the return to Sabbath-day worship. This means that Christians, and not the Jews alone, should have Saturday (and not any other day) as their main day of worship. They cite Sura 2:65 of the Quran and also the Bible book of Exodus at chapter 20 verses 8 -10 to support their campaign.
We may call this approach backward integration, for this aptly describes the return to "weak and miserable principles" -- tenets that have fufilled their purposes and are no longer relevant to the Christian heritage. (Galatians 4:8-10) These ones can be likened to those who, while already in the higher school, wish to return to the kindergarten level. It is not clear if these new "Pentecostals" belonging to the Sabbath-day school of thought are Christians or Jews, for if they hold on to the strict observance of the Jewish Sabbath, then they have not read the Bible correctly and so they have no incontrovertible basis of calling themselves Christians.
After the death and resurrection of Christ, the strict observance of the Sabbath became invalid, and to try to revive it (as some are now doing) is to become "over-righteous" as the Bible calls it. (Colossians 2:13-17, Romans 7:6, Ecclesiastes 7:16). Jesus Christ is the "Lord of the Sabbath" as he told the Jews during his earthly ministry. (Matthew 12:8) But the new Sabbath-day campaigners have misinterpreted this statement to mean strict observance of the Sabbath, even by Christians! What this statement truly means is that Christ himself will be Lord during the 1,000-year reign -- the period during which obedient mankind will enter into God's rest and have blissful respite! (Isaiah 35:5-10, 65:17-25, Rev. 20:1-3)
This is the true Sabbath, which the instituted Jewish Sabbath had prefigured. Disobedient humans will not enter that rest, just as prefigured by the Israelites who proved disobedient in the wilderness. (Numbers 14:30, Psalm 95:11, Hebrews 3:18, 4:8-11) Paul the apostle said that the entire Law, including the Sabbath ordinance, served only as the shadow of better things yet to come -- the reality of which was found in Christ. (Hebrews 10:1, Colossians 2:17) And it is not in vain that God inspired Paul to write chapters 3 and 4 of the book of Hebrews, where he expatiated on the Sabbath.
We do well as obedient Christians if we are constantly on our guards against the renaissance of counterfeit worship, especially in these last days.
The Mosaic Law (i.e. the “written code” for ancient Israel – the Jews): Its place in the Christian heritage.
- Obsolete, irrelevant and abolished
Romans 10:4
Galatians 3:19; Galatians 4:8 – 11
*Colossians 2:14, 16 – 18; Heb. 10:1; Heb. 7:6; Ephesians 2:14 – 16
- All the 10 commandments and its over 600 Judaic amplifications hinge on the twin loves, i.e. the love of God and the love of fellowman. In other words, the new commandment, Love, is the hub of the whole Mosaic Law. (Matthew 22:35 – 40)
C.F. Monye
Owerre-Olubor, August 2001
No comments:
Post a Comment