What is the Sabbath and are we to keep it today? www.nopews.blogspot.com

1. Is Sabbath Keeping For Today?
There is much confusion as to whether Christians are to
keep the Sabbath and recognize it as a holy day. Let’s
explore scripture to see what God has to say.
Many people stand on the fact that observance of the
Sabbath is for today and claim it is based on the use of the
Hebrew ‘Olam Olam’. ‘olam olam’ is translated to
everlasting, perpetual and forever in various verses many
instances of ceremonial laws including observance of the
Sabbath.
Exodus 31:16 Sabbath
Genesis 17:13 Circumcision
Leviticus 24:8 Showbread
Leviticus 16:29 No work Seventh day Seventh month
Exodus 29:9 Priests office
Exodus 40:15 Anointing of priests
Exodus 31:17 Sign between God and Israel
Exodus 12:14 Feasts
These have all been fulfilled though Christ and are no

2. longer to be practiced today. So it's obvious that scriptures
which speak 'olam olam' for certain rituals show that it is
not to be physically practiced as everlasting in their
present form but instead as through the fulfillment of Jesus
Christ.
Scripture declares that to keep 600+ commandments, and
yet fail to keep one, is to break all.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
(James 2:10)
We cannot pick and choose which of the Old Testament
laws we will obey and which we will not. If Christians are
bound by the Torah, all Old Testament law should be
obeyed, which includes the animal sacrifices, and all
seven feasts, including the three yearly visits to Jerusalem
etc.
What did Jesus say about the ten commandments?
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and
with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31)

3. Many will say ‘But Jesus observed the Sabbath. Yes…
He also paid tithes, wore tassles, observed feasts and
holy days etc.
God’s Word never says Jesus rested and he criticized
people for telling others what could and could not be done
on the Sabbath.
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn
fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as
they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the
Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the
sabbath day that which is not lawful (Mark 2:23-24)
(Keep in mind Numbers 15:32-36 show how a man was
stoned to death for picking sticks on the Sabbath, is
picking corn any different?)
Jesus compared the Sabbath to ceremonial laws, not to
moral laws:
Matthew 12 But he said unto them, Have ye not read
what David did, when he was an hungred, and they
that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of
God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful
for him to eat, neither for them which were with him,
but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the
law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the
temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I

4. say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the
temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will
have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord
even of the sabbath day.
It was a ceremonial law not moral
-It was to be kept from sunset to sunset (Exodus 20:8-11)
-No burden was to be carried (Jeremiah 17:22)
-No fire kindled (Exodus 35:3)
-No Cooking done (Exodus 16:23)
-No buying (Nehemiah (10:31)
-The penalty for doing any of these things during the
Sabbath was DEATH (Numbers 15:32-36).
Jesus said that his disciples should pray not to flee
on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20). Doesn’t this mean
that we should be keeping it?
No. It is permissible to flee for your life on the Sabbath.
But Jesus said that people in Judaea (Matthew 24:16)
could find it difficult, just as they would find it difficult but
not sinful to flee in winter (Matthew 24:20). This verse
does not say whether the disciples would be keeping the
Sabbath or not—it just recognizes that other people in
Judea would be, so it would be difficult for the disciples to
flee when city gates were closed, shops were closed, etc.
This verse does not command the Sabbath—it only shows
that it would be difficult for people in Judea to flee on the
Sabbath.

5. Hebrews 4:9-10 There remaineth therefore a rest to
the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did
from his.
The ancient Israelites, who had the Sabbath, did not enter
the rest he is talking about. God's rest is entered by faith
— by believing the gospel
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he
said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter
into my rest: although the works were finished from
the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)
A person who keeps the weekly Sabbath but rejects Christ
has not entered God's rest. We enter God's rest only by
believing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Just as the bronze snake pointed to Jesus' crucifixion, and
the washings pointed to forgiveness, and the sacrifices
pointed to Jesus, similarly, the weekly Sabbath pointed to
something spiritual: our rest through faith in Christ.
Anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own
work, just as God did from His.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath
ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. (Hebrews 4:10)
God rested from his creative work, but what kind of work
do we rest from? What do we quit doing when we come to

6. have faith in Christ? The work of trying to earn our
salvation. When we look to Jesus for our salvation, we quit
looking to ourselves.
In one way, symbols are obsolete but in another way, they
are still required. Circumcision is a great example.
Christians do not have to be physically circumcised
(Romans 2:29) but we should be circumcised in the heart.
We are to keep this ritual law, but not by letter and instead
by spirit. In one way, Christ has made the law obsolete; in
another way He has transformed it and still requires it in its
transformed way. Look at Levitical rituals: although we do
not offer animal sacrifices, we are obedient to those laws
when we have faith that Jesus Christ fulfilled those
sacrifices.
Since the Sabbath points toward our salvation, and this
salvation is in Christ, we are abiding by the purpose of the
Sabbath commandment as we put our faith and trust in
Christ. It is in Him that we find the rest that we need
(Matthew 11:28-30) The requirement for rest has been
transformed to focus on Christ rather than a day of the
week. If we have faith in Him, we are entering God’s rest
and we are therefore keeping the spiritual intent of the
Sabbath.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
(Matthew 5:17)
Fulfil in greek means:
plēroō

7. play-ro'-o
From G4134; to make replete, that is, (literally) to cram (a
net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or
imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office),
finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a
prediction), etc.: - accomplish, X after, (be) complete, end,
expire, fill (up), fulfil, (be, make) full (come), fully preach,
perfect, supply.
The following examples of fulfilled prophesy we see it
means to bring to completion.
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew
1:22-23)
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
(Matthew 2:15)
We see in the next two veses how plēroō is in the sense of
literally filling:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that
was cast into the sea, and gathered of every
kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and
sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but
cast the bad away. (Matthew 13:47-48)

8. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance. (Acts 2:4)
Continuing on with the use of plēroō we see a sense of it
being used as completely or entirely
Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round
about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel
of Christ. (Romans 15:19)
These are just a few of the many versus using plēroo and
in all cases it was used to mean fill to the fullest, complete
or to finish. Jesus fulfilled obedience to the letter of the
law, teaching that it was the principle behind every Mosaic
command (spirit of the law) that was in place for all God’s
people regardless of when or where they lived. His
teaching did not abolish the Old Testament revelation but
instead carried it forward to it’s intended
fulfillment/consummation.
It is very important to understand that the Old Testament
represents types and foreshadows of God’s plan of
redemption for mankind that would come to be fulfilled
through Jesus Christ. Understand that Jesus' sacrificial
death on the cross and resurrection IS the completion and
the fulfillment of God's plan and the end of our labors to
save ourselves through our works. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians
2:8-9, Romans 3:28, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:11 to

9. name just a few.) These all explain about the law and
salvation not coming through works.
Jesus makes perfect, fulfills, and completes God’s plan
of redemption for mankind and therefore the Mosaic
Covenant (Moses) that was given at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20)
is no longer in effect (ended) under the New Covenant and
Jeremiah confirms this:
Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel,
and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made
with their fathers in the day that I took them by the
hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my
covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD:
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days,
saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people.

10. The book of Hebrews reconfirms:
Hebrews 8:8 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah:
Hebrews 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day when I took them by
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they continued not in my covenant, and I
regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people
Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he
hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and
waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

11. Paul reveals a larger concept of types
and foreshadows from the Old Testament and how they
are fulfilled under the New Covenant when he speaks
about Jesus as the second Adam.
1 Corinthians 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that
which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth,
earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
In other words the natural/physical came first (Old
Testament foreshadow), the spiritual came second (New
Covenant/Testament fulfillment.)
Colossians 2 Which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ.
The sabbath days were just a shadow of our true rest,
Jesus Christ. Only Christ can save our soul and give us
rest.
Jesus Christ has become our sabbath and we can have
that rest everyday of the week.
The HOLY SPIRIT chose only those 4 things to pass on to
the gentiles:
Acts 15 28For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and
to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats

12. offered to idols, and from blood, and from things
strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep
yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Sabbath breaking is never listed as sin nor is it ever taught
in the New Testament as a commandment.
John 9:16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This
man is not of God, because he keepeth NOT the
sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a
sinner do such miracles? And there was a division
among them.
Though Genesis 2:1-3 says that after the Lord had ended
all His work He rested on the seventh day and blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it, there is not a word about it
being given to Adam and Eve as a commandment. You
don't hear another word about the Sabbath in the entire
book of Genesis.
We also do not hear that Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob kept
the Sabbath. It is not until after the redemption of God's
people (Israel) out of Egypt when they are safely on the
other side of the Red Sea that you read in the Book of
Exodus that the Sabbath is mentioned again. (Exodus
16:22-30)
So God didn’t make the Sabbath covenant with the fathers
before Moses? There are no commands for anyone to
observe Sabbath prior to Moses. See the following verse:
Deuteronomy 5:1-3 And Moses called all Israel, and
said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and
judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye

13. may learn them, and keep, and do them.The LORD our
God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD
made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us,
even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Here Paul shows how he becomes all things to all people.
He does not instruct them to follow the Old
Covenant/Testament.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I be free from all
men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I
might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as
a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are
under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them
that are under the law; To them that are without law,
as without law, (being not without law to God, but
under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that
are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I
might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some. And this I do for
the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with
you.
Paul groups the weekly Sabbath with the annual festivals,
the monthly rituals, and eating and drinking restrictions of
Judaism.
Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or
in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the

14. sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come;
but the body is of Christ.
Romans 14:5-7
One man esteemeth one day above another: another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully
persuaded in his own mind.He that regardeth the day,
regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not
the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that
eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks;
and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and
giveth God thanks.For none of us liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself.
The old is old is gone, the new is here:
(2 Corinthians 3:3-11) Forasmuch as ye are manifestly
declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living
God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the
heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any
thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of
God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the
new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones,
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not
stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his

15. countenance; which glory was to be done away: How
shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather
glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be
glory, much more doth the ministration of
righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which
was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by
reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is
done away was glorious, much more that which
remaineth is glorious.
Ephesians 2 Wherefore remember, that ye being in
time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new
man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby
In summation, we see that the Sabbath has not been
‘done away with’ but instead; fulfilled and completed in
Christ Jesus. He is now our rest.

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