I will soon be preaching a series on the Ten Commandments. In my preliminary preparations I have been considering the fourth commandment especially, the command to remember the Sabbath.
I got a hold of Al Mohler's book on the Ten Commandments, "Words from the Fire." In it he presents a seemingly strong case for the non-sabbatarian view, what he calls "Lord's Day observance."
Basically his arguments are
1) there is no universal recognition among peoples around the world of a Sabbath pattern like in Israel (ie. it is not written into the law of nature as are the other commandments),
2) the Sabbath as a day of rest emerges only in the Mosaic period,
3) the observance of the Sabbath is similar to that of circumcision, which was used to indicate the otherness of Israel,
4) worship is added to the Sabbath only in the NT times,
5) Jesus declared the he was the fulfillment and Lord of the Sabbath,
6) the practice of the NT Christians was not to observe the Sabbath, but to gather for worship on the Lord's Day (Sunday) in connection to the resurrection,
7) the NT church gathered for worship on the Lord's Day although they probably would have worked at other parts of the day (per Roman culture),
8) in Christ fulfilling the Sabbath, "whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his" (Heb. 4:9-10),
9) the practice of Christians for this new day, the Lord's Day, is primarily fulfilled in gathering together as a church to worship, devoting the day to its namesake.
What do you think? What's your view? What are some articles/books/publications that give strong evidence for sabbatarianism or non-sabbatarianism?
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9 comments:
Justin Nale, where are you? This has your name all over it!
A quick response at a late hour. Maybe a point by point response can come later, if you'd like.
1. The principle of setting aside regular times to worship is very clearly written into the consciences of human beings - look at practically any culture and you will see that they have some holy day. The Sabbath principle is the idea of some things (such as certain times) being set aside as sacred and different from others. If Mohler is looking for a seven-day week pattern in every culture, of course he won't find it. Didn't the Egyptians use a nine day week? But the fact that almost all peoples have had some sort of week including some sort of holy day is rather strong evidence that the fourth commandment has been written into the hearts of natural men.
2. I find the second point to be particularly weak. The sabbath is clearly instituted for man (ADAM)as a day of rest in Genesis 2. It is a part of the creation mandates given to all humanity. Why did God create the world in six days and then rest on the seventh? Because He needed six days to create the world? Because He needed a seventh day of rest? Of course not. God created the world this day to set a pattern for mankind - His image bearers - who would then reflect His own glory by imitating His work in theirs. The sabbath, like the the six-day work week, was made for man. This was the original, God-instituted pattern for humanity. I think there is very good reason to believe that the worship of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 (which took place at "the end of days") is a reference to Sabbath worship. What's more, when we get to Noah, it is clear that time is being recorded in seven day weeks, in accordance with the pattern instituted in Genesis 1 and 2. Even before the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai and receive the law, after centuries in Egypt and under Egyptian influence, we learn that Israelites knew of the Sabbath day and its requirements. This means that the Sabbath must have been quite entrenched in the ancient history of Israel for them to still know of it after hundreds of years of slavery in a pagan culture. See Ex 16, for example. This is before the giving of the law, mind you.
3. Sabbatarians don't deny that the Sabbath points to rest in Christ. Surely it does, and it is because of what Christ has done that the Sabbath has changed from the last day of the week to the first. But we do still live in the tension of the already and the not yet. We are already experiencing the rest we have in Christ, and yet we are still in the wilderness, having not yet crossed the Jordan into that perfect, eternal rest. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. Note carefully that the "rest" of Hebrews 4 is not the rest we enter into at conversion, but the eschatological rest we enter at death. Thus, the Christian Sabbath remains both as a celebration of the present rest we have in Christ but also a foreshadowing and foretaste of the perfect rest that is yet to come. I would suggest that Hebrews 4 is one of the most Sabbatarian chapters of the Bible.
4. Jesus Himself says that that Sabbath was made for man. It is a gift, not a duty. Has it suddenly ceased being for our good? Has the wisdom of God displayed in the Creation mandates suddenly ceased to be wise? Isaiah said that the Sabbath should be a delight to our souls; has God now taken away from us in the New Covenant what was a delight in the Old Covenant? Certainly not! Rather, the Sabbath has now been heightened and made even more delightful as we are able to celebrate the rest we have in Christ. Sundays truly should be for the Christian the best day of the week.
Final questions: Why would Christians not want a day of rest from secular labors to more fully fellowship with God and serve Him? If our hearts weren't so attached to eating out and football games, wouldn't we consider a day to attend corporate worship,fellowship with God's people, visit the sick, study the Bible, practice hospitality, spend time in personal / family prayer, etc. a wonderful gift? It seems to me that most of the anti-Sabbatarianism in our day is an attempt to free guilty consciences from the reality that most of us would rather spend time doing worldly things than godly things.
As far as resources, I preached on the Creation mandates including two messages on the Sabbath in our series on Genesis 1-11. Audio and notes are on the website. I'd also recommend Chantry's "Call the Sabbath a Delight". Also, go back and read the old confessions and the references that the writers believed determinative in what they said about the Sabbath. (Westminster, 1689, the Abstract of Principles (how does Mohler deal with the fact that he holds a view contrary to his own seminaries confession of faith?))
Justin,
From what I've heard, Horton has changed his mind on this. But do you know what his arguments were in "The Law of Perfect Freedom"?
As I recall (its been a couple of years since I read it), I believe he argued mainly from Hebrews 4 that the Sabbath rest is fulfilled in Christ. The main thing I remember about that chapter is that the first part was spent denying the sabbath and the second part was spent saying that it really doesn't matter much because its still good for God's people to set Sundays apart for the purposes of God. It felt very disjointed. And that from a guy who seldom seems that way. BTW, have you noticed his take on NT prophecy in the new systematic? Its interesting.
Justin Nale said:
"It seems to me that most of the anti-Sabbatarianism in our day is an attempt to free guilty consciences from the reality that most of us would rather spend time doing worldly things than godly things."
What exactly constitutes a "worldly thing" to be avoided on a Sabbath? You mentioned football and eating out - are those considered worldly in and of themselves? What if I do that with my wife? Or we eat out with a guest after worship? Or I play football with my sons? Or softball with my church at a fellowship cook out?
What criteria should we use to determine if something is acceptable or unacceptable?
Justin,
Basically, NT prophecy = NT preaching = today's preaching. Except our prophecy (preaching) is limited to expounding the OT and apostolic canon.
Am I rightly understanding him?
"If prophecy is defined simply as proclaiming a Sprit-given insight into Scripture, then is this not synonymous with preaching?" (p. 885)
Dan,
I simply meant that the Lord's Day has been given to us as a day set aside from other concerns so that we can spend time worshiping the Lord in a variety of refreshing ways. This certainly includes corporate worship, but it can include many other things as well. Most professing Christians, however, seem to take greater delight in spending much of their Sundays doing non-God related things. One could make an argument that going out to eat with your wife or watching football with your sons is a way of worshiping God, and I have no intention of judging anyone for the choices they make as they genuinely try and make the best use of the day. I might suggest that there are other things you could be doing with your wife or sons that would be even more refreshing to your soul and would make even better use of the day, but I would do no more than suggest. In our own case, I have stopped watching sports on Sunday (The Super Bowl was the only NFL game I watched all season), but still occasionally take the fam or others out to eat. I suppose it really is less about what you do or don't do and more about whether you are actually trying to worship the Lord through the way you spend the day.
My point above was simply that most people don't think at all about using their Lord's Day for godly purposes, and anti-sabbatarianism becomes a way to ease guilty consciences when someone suggests that they should.
Jim,
That's how I understood his interpretation as well. Its just unusual in our day to find guys who still hold to the Puritan (a la William Perkins) view. I kind of hated that he almost mentions it in passing and doesn't really give a substantial case for his view. I would have liked to have read it.
JN,
Nicely put. Your explanation is very clear (and satisfying).
I was (only very briefly, mind you) concerned that we were beginning to drift into the dangerous waters of making lists of approved vs. unapproved activities to do on Sunday!
I thought maybe you had driven by my house and witnessed me throwing a ball with my boys a few Sundays ago...
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