This one is the ultimate head scratcher. The below verses are just some of the verses I found that support a Sabbath observance:
26 verses where our Creator states Sabbath as a law
10 verses in New Testament stating/confirming Sabbath is a law
8 verses in Old Testament stating/confirming Sabbath as a law
3 verses saying our Creator observed Sabbath
8 verses saying our Messiah observed Sabbath
over 40 verses telling us HOW to observe Sabbath
These verses are organized by topic at the bottom of the page about Sabbath Observance. From what I can tell, there are only a few verses used to discredit or UNDO the Sabbath law. Now here's the REAL head scratcher. I was looking for a verse that said something to the effect of, Sabbath observance is no longer required. To my knowledge, no such verse exists. What's even more confusing, the verses used to discredit Sabbath do not explicitly cancel or tell us not to observe Sabbath. No, I'm not joking. Let's take a look.
1. "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." repeated in 3 synoptic gospels (Matthew 12:8; Mark 12:8; Luke 6:5)
2. Yahusha said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Master even of the Sabbath." Mark 2:27-28
3. Yahusha speaking: "So then, it is lawful to do good on Sabbath." (Matthew 12:12)
OR And He said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?" But they kept silent. (Mark 3:4)
4. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- things which are a [mere] shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Messiah. Colossians 2:16-17
5. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul [began] talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. ACTS 20:7
6. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet.. (Revelation 1:10)
NONE of these verses say, sabbath no longer required. Isn't that WEIRD? If you're utterly befuddled, you're not alone. Let's get this straight, we UNDO one of the 10 Commandments which we are SPECIFICALLY told will never change.
Psalm 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Psalm 111:7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. Psalm 111:8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
Psalm 119:44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. Psalm 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. Psalm 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. Psalm 119:47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. Psalm 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
Psalm 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endure for ever.
Further, of the 10 Commandments, the Sabbath commandment is the only commandment that starts with the word "Remember." Why would He include "Remember" in a commandment, unless we had a tendency to forget.
Exo 20:8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exo 20:9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; [in it] you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. Exo 20:11 "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Before addressing each verse, I realize this brings up the larger question: are we "under" the law. If this concept is foreign to you, a man named Paul said Messiah spoke to Him in a vision and gave him a "new gospel" of grace. Paul is a self-proclaimed Apostle and never met Messiah while He was alive. Paul wrote 13, maybe 14 (if you include the book of Hebrews) books of the New Testament. Anyway, even IF Paul abolished the law, the question I have is BY WHAT AUTHORITY? Messiah SURELY did not agree (Matthew 5:18-19).
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
As far as I can tell, this heaven and earth have yet to "pass away." Further, if Paul was abolishing Sabbath he did not follow his own "new freedom." There are at least FIVE verses confirming Paul observed sabbath, specifically we're told it was his "custom" (Acts 17:2). Other verses supporting Paul observed Sabbath (Acts 13:14, 13:42, 16:13, 17:1, 18:4). This is a much larger question and not the purpose of this post, but I wanted to mention so I wasn't ignoring the giant elephant in the room. Let's move to discussing the specific verses sited to discredit sabbath.
Verse 1: The Son of Man is Lord/Master of the Sabbath. MAT 12:8; MARK 2:28; LUKE 6:5
If I told you I was master of tennis, would you take that to mean that I was saying people should no longer play tennis? In the same way, concluding Messiah was cancelling Sabbath by saying He is Master of the Sabbath seems to me very puzzling. Further Messiah clearly observed Sabbath. We have at least EIGHT verses to support His observance (Luke 4:16, 4:31, 6:6 & 13:10; Matt 12:9; Mark 1:21, 3:1 & 6:2). Apart from being taught this explanation, I am not sure one would reach a similar conclusion on their own. Why would He specifically say He is Master or Lord of something that is obsolete?
The question becomes, what did Messiah mean? I believe this statement could have been prophetic, referring to His millennial reign where Messiah will reign as king of the earth (Rev 20:4-6). During His reign, Satan will be bound in prison (Revelation 20:2) and Messiah will rule the earth with a rod of iron (Revelation 20:27). This could relate to Sabbath because those in Messiah's kingdom will experience the first REST since the garden. You can read more about the prophetic shadow pictures of Sabbath if you're interested here.
Regardless, cancelling Sabbath because Messiah said He was lord or master of Sabbath seems illogical when Messiah clearly tells us not one jot or tittle will pass away from the law until the new/renewed heaven and earth.
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Verse 2: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath. MARK 2:27
Why would Messiah tell us Sabbath was created for man, if Sabbath no longer applied to man? Wouldn't it make more sense to just say, no reason to discuss Sabbath because now Sabbath doesn't apply? So what did He mean? Of course I can't be sure but I can tell you what I think. I have not found an instance where Messiah's words are in conflict with our Creator, which makes sense since Messiah told us, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me" (John 7:16).
If we RIGHTLY assume Messiah and our Creator agreed, our Creator clearly tells us Sabbath applies to man, or humans, or everyone. In Isaiah 56:1-7, YHWH clearly tells us the sabbath applies to all people: son of man (another way to say human) & foreigners (non-Israelites) & even throws in the eunuchs for good measure. Anyone wishing to join themselves to YHWH, does so by keeping His sabbaths. I think Messiah was just echoing our Creator's words, Sabbath applies to all man, or humans.
Last point, YHWH didn't create man for the soul purpose of worshipping Him on Sabbath. Rather, YHWH created Sabbath so man could rest in Him and be REFRESHED as He was refreshed (Exodus 31:7). You see, Sabbath is a gift to humanity. For 6 days we work, and in the 7th day we REST. By resting from our labor, we are being obedient to our Creator and become refreshed in the process. Sabbath is a gift not a burden.
For this is the love of Elohim, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3
Verse 3: "So then, it is lawful to do good on Sabbath." (Matthew 12:12)
There would be absolutely NO need to clarify what is and is not lawful to do on Sabbath if Sabbath was no longer a law.
Verse 4: Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day-- things which are a [mere] shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Messiah. Colossians 2:16-17
Paul was writing a letter to pagan converts. Please tell me what Hebrews have knocked on your door to tell you they don't agree with the way you're observing Sabbath. That's not a thing. The Hebrews did not run around correcting the gentiles. That wasn't a thing in the days of Messiah, and it certainly isn't a thing today. Rather, those who converted were judged by their PAGAN contemporaries for no longer honoring their sun deities on SUNday and not participating in the various festivals to honor the pagan gods. The same is true today. If you tell someone you observe Sabbath over goign to church, you may be surprised at their reaction. I've received: disbelief, shock, annoyance, anger, name calling (legalist), to name a few. If you're interested, you can read more about my experience here. Bottom line, you actually have to DEFEND yourself for obeying the 10 Commandments.
Verse 5: On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul [began] talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. ACTS 20:7
Some claim the apostles changed the day of worship from the 7th day (Saturday) to the 1st day (Sunday). The basis? Citing the apostles meeting on the first day of the week. A little background, the book of Acts tells us the story of what the disciples did after Messiah ascended to heaven. The above verse does in fact tell us the Apostles broke bread on the first day of the week. Breaking bread is just another way to say they shared a meal.
So yes, there is a verse stating the apostles met on the first day of the week. But changing the 10 Commandments based on the mention of the eating a meal on the 1st day seems like a stretch. If I'm being honest, it seems downright insane. The mention of the early church meeting on a Sunday in no way changes the eternal covenant of YHWH, the Ten Commandments.
Verse 6: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet. (Revelation 1:10)
I don't even know how one could come to such a conclusion, changing the day of Sabbath, from this verse. Befuddling to say the least. That is the day of the Lord (aka the day YHWH) is the day YHWH returns to the earth and destroys the heavens and earth with fire. If this sounds outlandish, please see my study on the day of YHWH.
CONCLUSION: These are my thoughts and I hope you do your own research and come to your own conclusions. In no way do I think Sabbath is abolished. When studying the verses used to discredit the observance of Sabbath, I was dumb founded. Unfortunately, the bible rightly calls us sheep. We discount HIS words on Sabbath because we follow the traditions of men. That's what everyone does. That's what everybody's been doing. For a long time. Must be right. Right? If you're awake to who truly runs this world (Satan), it shouldn't be a surprise that basically everything is opposite day. If the world tells us one thing, we are right to suspect the opposite could be in fact the true.
Jam 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward Elohim? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim.
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