Sabbath in the New Testament

[Damon Rambo]

Damon,

Respectfully, you might want to change the portion of your profile that says "I am in full agreement with the LBC," since it's clear that you don't. As for your comment, issues are welcome to be discussed, but error (i.e. contra-Confessional subjects) is not welcome to be advocated. This has been stated many times. You may consider this thread that was referenced in the rules to which you agreed when signing up (worship being the example given, but is equally applicable to any unconfessional doctrines held by individuals):

http://www.puritanboard.com/f67/what-reformed-board-24779/

I am in complete agreement with the LBCF (Specifically Chapter 22, Articles 7 & 8). I am not going to discuss this further however, as I fear I might get into trouble.

 

[Damon Rambo]

I am in complete agreement with the LBCF (Specifically Chapter 22, Articles 7 & 8). I am not going to discuss this further however, as I fear I might get into trouble.

Well this:

As priests of God (every believer) the Sabbath is not binding upon us.

Sure seems to be directly out of accord with this (my emphases added):

LBCF Ch. 19

5._____ The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it; neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.
( Romans 13:8-10; James 2:8, 10-12; James 2:10, 11; Matthew 5:17-19; Romans 3:31 )

What am I missing?

This:

Let me be the odd man out.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Let me be the odd man out.

As priests of God (every believer) the Sabbath is not binding upon us. The weekly fellowship of the Saints, or "Lord's day", is not a simple moving of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday: the Gathering of the Saints is something completely different.

I am in complete agreement with the LBCF (Specifically Chapter 22, Articles 7 & 8).

The LBCF calls the Sabbath: "...a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages...."

Where the LBCF says it is binding upon all men in all ages you say it is not binding.

 

[Peairtach]

Let me be the odd man out.

As priests of God (every believer) the Sabbath is not binding upon us. The weekly fellowship of the Saints, or "Lord's day", is not a simple moving of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday: the Gathering of the Saints is something completely different.

Every believer is a priest, yes. But if we are the antitype of the Levitical priests, as Melchisedeckian proests under our Great High Priest, Christ, remember that the priests and Levites in the Old Covenant weren't allowed to do just anything on the Day of the Lord (Sabbath Day).

If what you subsequently say is correct, the Fourth Comandment shouldn't have been written on stone with the other commandments.

Re typolological arguments re the fulfiling of the Sabbath in our resting in Christ, remember that although we rest by faith in Christ, we don't fully enter into His rest until we go to Heaven. Jewish types have been fulfilled, but the Week and the Sabbath was first given to the first man as a type of his eschatalogical goal which he would attain to after serving probation and fulfilling the Creation Mandate. He would enter God's Creation rest fully when his task was complete - an incorruptible world, more glorious than Eden.

Therefore the Seven Day Week and Sabbath, both given by special revelation first to Adam, remain as types of glory until the end of the world, because the Seven Day Week and the Sabbath as types given to Man of the final order, have not yet been fulfilled.

 

[amishrockstar]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Was there a "command" that was given by God?
Is there an example of man resting (pre-Moses)?

Nehemiah "seemed" to think that God made
His Sabbath known to Moses. Check out the
Hebrew in Neh. 9:14; it seems to suggest
that God caused them to learn the Sabbath.
How could God cause them to learn something
that had already been explicitly established?

What makes something a creation ordinance?

 

[au5t1n]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Was there a "command" that was given by God?
Is there an example of man resting (pre-Moses)?

Nehemiah "seemed" to think that God made
His Sabbath known to Moses. Check out the
Hebrew in Neh. 9:14; it seems to suggest
that God caused them to learn the Sabbath.
How could God cause them to learn something
that had already been explicitly established?

What makes something a creation ordinance?

I have always been curious why the Sabbath isn't mentioned between creation and Moses if Abraham et al. observed it. I would benefit from an answer to this as well.

 

[Herald]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Was there a "command" that was given by God?
Is there an example of man resting (pre-Moses)?

Nehemiah "seemed" to think that God made
His Sabbath known to Moses. Check out the
Hebrew in Neh. 9:14; it seems to suggest
that God caused them to learn the Sabbath.
How could God cause them to learn something
that had already been explicitly established?

What makes something a creation ordinance?

Matthew,

I don't mean to be self-serving. There are other pastors on this board who are better equipped to defend the Sabbath than me. But For what it's worth, I am l linking to three blog entries I made on our church blog. Part I deals with the aspect of the Sabbath being a creation ordinance. I pray these links add a positive benefit to the discussion:

What is the Sabbath and should we observe it? Part I

What is the Sabbath and should we observe it? Part II

What is the Sabbath and should we observe it? Part III

I never got to Part IV. I'm now motivated to complete the series.

 

[toddpedlar]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Was there a "command" that was given by God?
Is there an example of man resting (pre-Moses)?

Nehemiah "seemed" to think that God made
His Sabbath known to Moses. Check out the
Hebrew in Neh. 9:14; it seems to suggest
that God caused them to learn the Sabbath.
How could God cause them to learn something
that had already been explicitly established?

What makes something a creation ordinance?

If it was established at creation.

e.g. the Sabbath day, which God sanctified during creation week.
e.g. marriage, which God created Adam and Eve into, and the headship of Adam over Eve - i.e. the husband over the wife - in that relationship

It's pretty simple to see these two, which are the usual things that are discussed when their abiding significance is questioned. They were set apart as abiding ordinances when God created the heavens and the earth.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Exodus 20:8-11

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and 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.

 

[greenbaggins]

As Josh has pointed out, there is an example of the Sabbath being kept before Sinai in Exodus 16. It is also true, however, that there is not much in the way of examples of the patriarchs observing the Sabbath. One reason this might be the case is that Moses was writing for the Israelites who had just come out of Egypt in bondage to slavery for 400 years. The examples of the patriarchs in this regard would not be as important as the connection between creation/redemption (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) and Sinai with regard to the Sabbath. Hence, the more important aspects of the Sabbath rationale are given full force in Moses, while the examples are not as necessary, though still present.

I think also that the full force of the word "remember" in the fourth commandment needs to be kept in mind as well. It was not something that Moses was revealing to them for the first time. They already knew about it.

I might also add here that if the Sabbath is no longer binding, then neither is the entire moral law, for James tells us clearly that the law is one unbreakable whole. The moral law hangs together. To his credit, Jay Adams completely rejects the continuity of the Ten Commandments for us today in his rejection of the Sabbath. His arguments are terrible, but at least he is consistent. What is inconsistent is what happens when people think that we now have 9 commandments binding on us today.

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

1677 LBCF
Chapter 22
7. As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.
( Exodus 20:8; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10 )

8. The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.
( Isaiah 58:13; Nehemiah 13:15-22; Matthew 12:1-13 )

Here is something I keep posting and reposting since the subject keeps coming up.


Here is part of a study of the triad (holydays, new moon, and sabbaths) that a friend Richard Barcellos pointed out in one of his books which benefitted me a lot. I quote a portion of it below and part of an article on Hebrews 4:9 by Robert Martin out of the Reformed Baptist Theological Review.

Here is a portion of an article taken from the Reformed Baptist Theological Review.

RBTR III:2 - Reformed Baptist Academic Press

I am posting it here for an examination of Colossians 2:16 and the triad phrase that is used in this passage along next to the Old Testament passage in Hosea 2:11.

(Col 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 sabbath days:

(Hos 2:11) I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.

A lot of Baptist and non sabbattarians like to quote Colossians 2:16 as a passage that declares we need not keep a weekly Sabbath day to the Lord.


Richard Barcellos is the author. Please forgive my inept mistakes in copying it from a pdf to here.

1. The Old Testament prophesies the abrogation and cessation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.


The OT clearly prophesies the abrogation and cessation of ancient Israel‘s Sabbaths. It does so in Hos. 2:11, which says, ―I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths--all her appointed feasts." We will make several observations that bear this out. First, Hosea‘s prophecy is dealing with the days of the New Covenant. The phrase ―in that day" (vv. 16, 18, 21) is used prophetically of New Covenant days in Is. 22:20. Revelation 3:7 quotes Is. 22:22 and applies it to Christ. The prophecy in Is. 22:20 mentions the Lord‘s servant, who is Christ. Isaiah 22:20-22 says:

Then it shall be in that day, that I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt; I will commit your responsibility into his hand. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; so he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

Revelation 3:7, quoting Is. 22:22, says:

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ―These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.

The phrase, ―in that day,
' refers to the days of Christ–the days of the New Covenant. Paul references Hos. 1:10 and 2:23 in Rom. 9:25, applying them to Christians. ―As He says also in Hosea: ‗I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved‘" (Rom. 9:25). Peter references Hos. 1:9-10 and 2:23 in 1 Pet. 2:10 and applies them to Christians as well. He says, ―who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Pet. 2:10). Hosea is clearly speaking of New Covenant days. According to the NT usage of Hosea, he is speaking of the time in redemptive history when God will bring Gentiles into a saving relationship with Jews. Much of the NT deals with this very issue.

Second, Hos. 2:11 clearly prophesies the abrogation of Old Covenant Israel‘s Sabbaths, along with ―all her appointed feasts." Hosea uses a triad of terms (―feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths") that is used many places in the OT (1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 2:4; 31:3; Neh. 10:33; and Is. 1:13-14). Clearly, he is speaking of the abrogation of Old Covenant ceremonial laws. When the Old Covenant goes, Israel‘s feast days, New Moons, Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts go with it.

Third, the NT confirms this understanding of Hos. 2:11. It uses this triad of terms in Col. 2:16, which says, ―So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths." In the context, Paul is combating those who were attempting to impose Old Covenant ceremonial law on New Covenant Christians. So Col. 2:16 is clear NT language that sees Hosea‘s prophecy as fulfilled. It is of interest to note that Paul uses the plural for Sabbath in Col. 2:16 (σάββατον). It is not too hard to assume that Paul had the OT triad in mind and Hosea‘s prophecy while penning these words. The NT announces the abrogation of the Old Covenant in
many places. For instance, 2 Cor. 3:7-18; Gal. 3-4; Eph. 2:14-16; and Heb. 8-10 (cf. esp. 8:6-7, 13; 9:9-10, 15; 10:1, 15-18) are clear that the Old Covenant has been abrogated.

(Heb. 8:6-7)

But now He [Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant [the New Covenant], which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant [the Old Covenant] had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

(Heb. 8:13)

In that He says, ―A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

(Heb. 9:9-10)

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience--concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

(Heb. 9:15)

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

(Heb. 10:1)

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

(Heb. 10:15-18)

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ―This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them, then He adds, ―Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

The Old Covenant and all its ceremonies are obsolete and have vanished away (Heb. 8:13). Taking these passages and Col. 2:16 together, they clearly teach that when the Old Covenant goes, the triad of Col. 2:16 goes as well.

2. The Old Testament prophesies the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant.

Just as there is evidence from the OT that the Sabbath will be abolished under the New Covenant, so there is evidence that it will continue. At first glance this appears contradictory. But on further investigation, it is not contradictory and, in fact, fits the evidence provided thus far for the creation basis of the Sabbath and its unique place in the Decalogue in its function as moral law. Two passages deserve our attention at this point, Is. 56:1-8 and Jer. 31:33. Isaiah‘s prophecy of the Sabbath under the New Covenant is explicit and Jeremiah‘s is implicit.


Isaiah 56:1-8

(Isaiah 56:1-8)

Thus says the LORD: ―Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants--everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant--even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ―Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.

Several observations will assist us in understanding how this passage prophesies explicitly the perpetuity and continuation of the Sabbath under the New Covenant. First, the section of the book of Isaiah starting at chapter 40 and ending with chapter 66 points forward to the days of Messiah and in some places to the eternal state. This section includes language pointing forward to the time primarily between the two comings of Christ, the interadvental days of the New Covenant. It is understood this way by the New Testament in several places (see Matt. 3:3; 8:16, 17; 12:15-21; and Acts 13:34).

Second, Is. 56:1-8 speaks prophetically of a day in redemptive history in which God will save Gentiles (cf., esp. vv. 7 and 8). The language of "all nations" in v. 7 reminds us of the promise given to Abraham concerning blessing all nations through his seed (see Gen. 12:3 and Gal. 3:8, 16). This Abrahamic promise is pursued by the great commission of Matt. 28:18-20. Isaiah is speaking about New Covenant days.

Third, in several New Testament texts, using the motif of fulfillment, the language of Is. 56:1-8 (and the broader context) is applied to the days between Christ‘s first and second comings (Matt. 21:12-13; Acts 8:26-40; Eph. 2:19; and 1 Tim. 3:15). Compare Matt. 21:13, “My house shall be called a house of prayer," with Is. 56:7, “For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." This anticipates the inclusion of Gentiles in the house of God, a common NT phenomenon. Compare Acts 8:26-40 (notice a eunuch was reading from Isaiah) with Is. 56:3-5, which says:

(Is. 56:3-5)

Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, ―The LORD has utterly separated me from His people; nor let the eunuch say, ―Here I am, a dry tree. For thus says the LORD: ―To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

The Old Covenant placed restrictions on eunuchs. Deuteronomy 23:1 says, ―He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD. Isaiah is prophesying about a day in redemptive history when those restrictions will no longer apply.

In Eph. 2:19 the church is called the "household of God" and in 1 Tim. 3:15 it is called "the house of God."The context of 1 Tim. 3:15 includes 1 Tim. 2:1-7, where Paul outlines regulations for church prayer. Now consider Is. 56:7, which says:

(Is. 56:7)

Even them [i.e., the foreigners (Gentiles) of v. 6a] I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

The NT sees Isaiah‘s prophecy as fulfilled under the New Covenant. However, the privileges, responsibilities, and the people of God foretold there (Is. 56) are transformed to fit the conditions brought in by the New Covenant. The people of God are transformed due to the New Covenant; the house of God is transformed due to the New Covenant; the burnt offerings, sacrifices, and altar are transformed due to the New Covenant; and the Sabbath is transformed due to the New Covenant (i.e., from the seventh to the first day). Isaiah, as with other OT prophets, accommodates his prophecy to the language of the Old Covenant people, but its NT fulfillment specifies exactly what his prophesy looks like when being fulfilled. Jeremiah does this with thepromise of the New Covenant. What was promised to "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah" (Jer. 31:31), is fulfilled in the Jew-Gentile church, the New Covenant people of God, the transformed Israel of OT prophecy.

With these considerations before us, it seems not only plausible but compelling to conclude that between the two advents of Christ, when the Old Covenant law restricting eunuchs no longer restricts them, and when the nations (i.e., the Gentiles) are becoming the Lord‘s and frequenting his house, which is his Church, a Sabbath (see Is. 56:2, 4, 6) yet remains. Isaiah is speaking prophetically of Sabbath-keeping in New Covenant days. The English Puritan John Bunyan, commenting on Isaiah 56, said, "Also it follows from hence, that the sabbath that has a promise annexed to the keeping of it, is rather that which the Lord Jesus shall give to the churches of the Gentiles."7

Again, the essence of the Sabbath transcends covenantal bounds. Its roots are in creation, not in the Old Covenant alone. It transcends covenants and cultures because the ethics of creation are trans-covenantal and trans-cultural. The Sabbath is part of God‘s moral law.

Also concerning the Hebrews 4:9 passage concerning a Sabbath rest...

Those guys who quote the Colossians and Hebrew verses need to know that there are legitimate discussions and commentaries that support a sabbatarian view. I read an article by Robert P. Martin in the Reformed Baptist Theological review were he spoke on these verses. I am going to leave a quote from this article here concerning the Hebrews passage and the terms used.

Reformed Baptist Theological Review
vl. 1.2 A Sabbath Remains.. The Place of Hebrews 4:9 in the New Testament's Witness to the Lord's Day by Robert P. Martin
(Heb 4:9) There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

In it he notes the Word used here is σαββατισμός and not κατάπαυσις

(rest).
G4520
σαββατισμός
sabbatismos

This is an obscure term evidently that is used in just a few other places outside of the scriptures but used only once in the New Testament. Robert Martin says,

"I think that it is of interest that "in each of these places the term [σαββατισμός] denotes the observance or celebration of the Sabbath," i.e., not "a Sabbath rest" as a state that is entered into but "a Sabbath-keeping" as a practice that is observed. This, of course, corresponds to the word's morphology, for the suffix -μός indicates an action and not just a state. see A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in Light of Historical Research (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934), 151.
Reformed Baptist Theological Review Vl. 1;2 p.5

In other words there is still a 1 in 7 day where we are still required to observe a sabbath.

Obviously the article consists of the surrounding verses but it is a good read and quotes John Owen who is one of my faves.

 

[amishrockstar]

Joshua,
I scanned Genesis 2 and found one commandment:
"the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may
surely eat of every tree...'" (vs. 16)

I'm not sure that I follow the logic of 'if God does 'x,' then
it's a command' --can you clarify this?
I don't think that you're arguing that anything God does
ends up becoming a command for us, right?
(I think the "rest," in God's case, is His ceasing from creating)

The "Sabbath was made for man" context seems to place
the Sabbath under the heading of ceremonial law.
What I mean is that Jesus begins by talking about an
aspect of ceremonial law: eating the bread of the Presence,
which was only lawful (ceremonially) for the High Priest.
Ceremonial laws are laws that are "made for man." As the
law regarding the shewbread was made for man, so also,
in context, Jesus seems to indicate the the Sabbath was
"made for man" --part of the ceremonial law.

That Jesus said "for man" rather than "for Israel" doesn't
necessarily mean "all mankind" --most Calvinists I know
seem to fight an uphill battle when it comes to the
atonement being for particular "men" rather than "all men
everywhere." The same word that's used in Mark 2 is used
in 1 Tim. 2:1 --most Calvinists that I know wouldn't take
that to be saying that "men" there is referring to every
person head-for-head, rather it's 'kinds' or 'types' of men;
if that is the case, then it most certainly can refer to a
particular group of men.

I'm still curious how a Christian can identify an "ordinance"
in scripture (creation or otherwise) --according to the
brothers who believe that the Sabbath was a creation
ordinance.

Thanks

 

[toddpedlar]

Joshua,
I scanned Genesis 2 and found one commandment:
"the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'You may
surely eat of every tree...'" (vs. 16)

I'd suggest with all due respect that you try again, and look harder. There are more places wherein commands to Adam are made. At any rate, inference also works, and there is more to be read from Genesis 1-3 (AND elsewhere - why is the demand being forced on Scripture that all the commands to Adam must be voiced directly in the narrative of creation?)

I'm not sure that I follow the logic of 'if God does 'x,' then
it's a command' --can you clarify this?

I don't think that you're arguing that anything God does
ends up becoming a command for us, right?
(I think the "rest," in God's case, is His ceasing from creating)

That's NOT how the logic works, but you've already been told how the logic works. It is NOT a mere aping of what God did - clearly we are not to create the universe, though God did that also. Rather, Moses records the Sabbath as having been in force before the giving of the law (events in Ex 16 - did you read that when it was pointed out to you?) and in Ex. 20 he connects directly the Sabbath commandment to God's keeping.

On a side note - do you think that Moses' tying the honoring of father and mother to "living long in the land" means that we are also not bound by the 5th commandment??? If you follow your logic, then because in Exodus 20 all that is said about honoring father and mother depends on the land being given to the Israelites. Obviously, then, the commandment is only for Israel and is part of the ceremonial law, too!

The "Sabbath was made for man" context seems to place
the Sabbath under the heading of ceremonial law.

What I mean is that Jesus begins by talking about an
aspect of ceremonial law: eating the bread of the Presence,
which was only lawful (ceremonially) for the High Priest.
Ceremonial laws are laws that are "made for man." As the
law regarding the shewbread was made for man, so also,
in context, Jesus seems to indicate the the Sabbath was
"made for man" --part of the ceremonial law.

So I guess that you're arguing we have only nine commandments that are binding on us?

That Jesus said "for man" rather than "for Israel" doesn't
necessarily mean "all mankind"

This is a rather specious argument. By your argument it must be the case, then, that when Christ says "not man for the Sabbath" also mean "not the nation of Israel".

--most Calvinists I know
seem to fight an uphill battle when it comes to the
atonement being for particular "men" rather than "all men
everywhere."

? The grammar requires this, so the only uphill battle arises because people refuse to believe the truth.

The same word that's used in Mark 2 is used
in 1 Tim. 2:1 --most Calvinists that I know wouldn't take
that to be saying that "men" there is referring to every
person head-for-head, rather it's 'kinds' or 'types' of men;

Right - and this is obviously the case in 1 Tim 2:1. However,
in Mark 2 the definite article is used, so you're not really comparing
apples to apples. But the problem is worse than that:

if that is the case, then it most certainly can refer to a
particular group of men.

This is poor logic indeed. You're arguing that Jesus did not
specify the particular group when he intended specifically to
teach something about a particular group, and not about men
in general! Not only are you saying something rather absurd
about our Lord, your logic doesn't even follow. While I can
refer to a maple tree outside my house by the term "tree", it
would be disingenuous of me to intend to specify something
about maples by saying "Trees have seeds that drop off of
the branches and spin around like helicopter blades as they
come down."

I'm still curious how a Christian can identify an "ordinance"
in scripture (creation or otherwise) --according to the
brothers who believe that the Sabbath was a creation
ordinance.

You've been told various ways how the assignment of "ordinance" arises for the Sabbath, but you don't agree with it. I'm not sure you're going to get an answer you "like", so probably it's best to stop asking for another answer since you seem predisposed against it.

 

[Herald]

This was originally a blog post, that is why it mentions Baptists in the first sentence.

Most Baptists consider themselves to be under grace, and not the Law. They are not obligated to follow the Law of Moses, because it has been fulfilled in Christ. There is some truth to this statement. The ceremonial part of the Law has, indeed, been fulfilled in Christ. The need for animal sacrifice and elaborate temple rituals have been made obsolete. More than that, they are now considered pagan worship.* But there is another aspect of the Law that continues to this day – the moral law. The moral law of God is found in the Decalogue; commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20 lists these commandments.

Exodus 20:1-17 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The fourth commandment refers to the Sabbath. The Sabbath was set apart as a day of rest that was to be treated as holy by the entire nation of Israel. It was observed on Saturday, the seventh day of the week. On the Sabbath, the people of Israel were not to work as they did the other six days of the week. But, was the Sabbath first introduced in Exodus 20? Was the nation of Israel the first intended audience for this commandment? Consider this passage:

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Genesis 2 completes the creation narrative, the biblical account of God creating the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). God chose six days in which to create, and in Genesis 2:2 we read that He rested on the seventh day. This rest is not similar to our rest. When we are tired we sleep. Our mind and our body is disengaged from the world as our body recuperates. God cannot rest in a similar fashion, for He keeps the universe, indeed all of creation, from oblivion by His powerful hand. God’s rest was His ceasing from the work of creation. His work of creation is a marvelous and holy thing. He commanded the seventh day as holy, because on it He completed His creation. The account of Genesis 2 takes place long before Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God; long before the Sabbath became part of the Mosaic Law.

There is another passage that deserves our attention.

Exodus 16:23-30 23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”* 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

The account of Exodus 16 also takes place before the LORD gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The LORD gave Israel manna in the morning and quail in the evening. It was an act of His grace. They did not need to toil or work for it. The manna was collected from the ground and quail just walked up in the camp. On the seventh day, the LORD provided rest for Israel from all her labors. The Sabbath was not mean to punish Israel, or do prevent them from enjoyment. Instead it was a day for them to rest in the LORD. They were to reflect upon the goodness of God, and rejoice in Him. All of this was commanded before the Law was given in Exodus 20. That is interesting to note because it will bear on our further study as to the disposition of the Sabbath after Christ’s death and resurrection.

 

[greenbaggins]

Wow! I didn't know this. Isn't Dr. Adams ARP?

I believe so. His book is entitled "Is the Sabbath for Today?" or something like that. He wants to believe that the substance of the moral law is reinstituted by Jesus, but currently that entails a rejection of the moral law in the Ten Commandments.

 

[greenbaggins]

Hmm... well, that stinks.

Yes, I was rather disappointed, not to say flabbergasted, when I first read a review of this book in the Puritan Reformed Journal. So I bought the book for myself (since I was working on the Sabbath paper). And the review was accurate in its assessment of the gigantic flaws in the work.

 

[Peairtach]

The Sabbath was a creation ordinance?
Where is that found?

Was there a "command" that was given by God?
Is there an example of man resting (pre-Moses)?

Nehemiah "seemed" to think that God made
His Sabbath known to Moses. Check out the
Hebrew in Neh. 9:14; it seems to suggest
that God caused them to learn the Sabbath.
How could God cause them to learn something
that had already been explicitly established?

What makes something a creation ordinance?

Are you saying that the Seven Day Week and the Weekly Sabbath, revealed to Adam, are the same as the other Jewish Holy Days and Feasts? There are numerous indications in Scripture that they are not.

 

[Marrow Man]

Wow! I didn't know this. Isn't Dr. Adams ARP?

He is (albeit retired).

I have a signed copy of the book. Not only did he write it, but he has been teaching the book in Sunday school class in an ARP church as well. And early on in the book, he throws out the "I'm just taking Calvin's position" canard. Not to mention that he "blames" the Puritans for the three-fold division of the law (he is incorrect, since the division predates the Puritans in Reformational writings, and can be found earlier than that, e.g., in the writings of Thomas Aquinas), which shows a particularly bad knowledge of historical theology.

 

[Marrow Man]

Yes, I was rather disappointed, not to say flabbergasted, when I first read a review of this book in the Puritan Reformed Journal. So I bought the book for myself (since I was working on the Sabbath paper). And the review was accurate in its assessment of the gigantic flaws in the work.

Lane, is there a link for a copy of the review in Puritan Reformed Journal?

 

[Rev. Todd Ruddell]

The Sabbath was mentioned between Moses and Adam. Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices at "the end of days" (literally what the Hebrews says). Noah inquired of the Lord by sending out the birds on the cycle of sevens, and although the word "Sabbath" is not used there, most agree what he was doing was on the Sabbath day. The question really though is not "why isn't the Sabbath mentioned" but why do folks wonder about it not being mentioned as if that somehow weakens the Scriptural arguments for it. The Lord established the Sabbath at creation--that is indisputable. If it fell into disuse by men after the Lord established it, such speaks of the depravity of mankind, not of God's winking at His own ordinance.

 

[Scott1]

You may also find this paper written by GI Williamson, which is extensive, helpful in understanding the Fourth commandment, Sabbath, Lord's Day:

http://www.nethtc.net/~giwopc/LecturesontheSabbath.pdf

 

[Peairtach]

We could maybe do with a thread devoted to the typology of the Seven Day Week and the Sabbath, if such does not exist already, because so many seem to think that this admittedly multi-layered typology has all been fulfilled in Christ, thus making the weekly Christian Sabbath ( Lord's Day) somehow redundant or non-existent.

The reality is that - even in this New Covenant phase of the Abrahamic Covenant, in which the burden of provisional Old Covenant law has fallen away, and we are full Sons of God rather than children under a pedagogue - we have not yet entered the full rest of the Heavenly Kingdom which Christ and the Church Triumphant enjoy, and will not until death. Although constantly and continuously resting in Christ and His Work by faith, we still need the weekly Sabbath rest in order to properly enjoy and enter into Christ's heavenly rest each week, to have communion with Him in that rest, and to look forward to our completed Redemption and New Creation.

 

[greenbaggins]

Yes, I was rather disappointed, not to say flabbergasted, when I first read a review of this book in the Puritan Reformed Journal. So I bought the book for myself (since I was working on the Sabbath paper). And the review was accurate in its assessment of the gigantic flaws in the work.

Lane, is there a link for a copy of the review in Puritan Reformed Journal?

The PRJ is not online, I'm afraid, but you can order it from PRTS.