JULY 13–19 COMMENTARY

Week 3: “The Sabbath”

This week, we get into the very core of Adventist beliefs — the one on which they hang their entire identity and reason for being. Anything in the Bible that seems to contradict this core belief is re-written, re-interpreted, explained away or just plain ignored. 

Although individual members vary in their beliefs, the official teaching and belief of the Adventist church is that this is the one thing that sets them apart, explains their reason for being, and will even be the one and only saving feature of end-times faith. In the end, somehow, faith in Jesus will no longer be what saves but rather tenaciously hanging on to a day to go to church.

At least in the western world, while there are varying interpretations of the requirements and acceptable behavior on the Sabbath, as a whole, it is the one unifying, set-in-stone foundation on which the rest of the doctrines rest. Get caught questioning it or “violating” it, and you risk censure and even expulsion from the church. 

And yet, the range of “acceptable” behavior on the Sabbath is very broad and relies more on tradition, Ellen White, and individual opinion than anything in the Bible.

If you grew up Adventist you may remember the endless discussions about what is allowed and what is not:

• You can go for a walk but you shouldn’t run.
• It’s OK to wade in the pond, stream or ocean, but swimming is forbidden.
• Bike riding might be OK as long as you spend the ride enjoying nature — but don’t race each other down the road.
• Reading is limited to “religious” books or at least books about Christians.
• Only “religious” music is acceptable; although to some people, this can include classical music as long as it is sedate enough to qualify.

If you are from a more liberal area, it might be acceptable to play regular board games — as long as you give Biblical names to the game pieces.

Since you are forbidden to buy and sell, you can’t go to a restaurant—unless, of course, you have a gift certificate purchased before Friday sundown. That way, no money actually changes hands, so you get by on a technicality.

We each have our own story and list of what we thought was right and wrong behavior on the Sabbath. Pretty soon, the excessive rules and regulations built on tradition that made the Sabbath a burden during Jesus’ time on earth is no different than the lists of rules of today.

With so much attention and obsession focused on a day of worship it becomes clear that the Sabbath has become more of a god to be appeased and obeyed than it is a day to rest and worship God. It has actually become a way to violate the first two commandments. It’s a god that has become more important than the Lord, particularly in end-times beliefs to the point that it’s actually worshipped. 

Remember, anything that comes before God in your heart has become an idol that is worshipped even though it is not an actual, physical object. Furthermore, being so proud of your adherence to whatever Sabbath rules and regulations you were taught robs the Sabbath “rest” of its place and puts it on a pedestal to be worshipped. This often leads to the sin of pride as you compare your “Sabbath-keeping” to that of others.

So it’s no surprise that this week’s lesson is full of pet phrases and key words that are so familiar to Adventists and are the very basis of their reason to exist.

From the first day of the lesson:

“God created the Sabbath as the final act of the Creation week. It has been said that on the seventh day, God not only rested, but He created rest as an integral part of the way that the world was to be.”

There are a couple of objections here. First of all, the Bible does not say that God “created the Sabbath” as the final act of the creation week. What it does say is that God ceased work, or rested after the end of the 6th day of creation. Nowhere does the Genesis account of creation mention man in relation to the seventh day rest. In fact, it was only God who rested, and there is no command found anywhere that mankind — at that time only Adam and Eve — were to rest.

Of course, God was not fatigued, and He had no need for physical or mental rest as we understand it. No, He just stopped work after the sixth day when His creative work was complete. This “ceasing” was called rest.

And this from the lesson, which uses a typical Adventist ploy of slipping in one little, hardly noticeable word that actually changes the entire meaning of Scripture:

“As Jesus said, the seventh-day Sabbath was created for all humanity. When we truly “remember the Sabbath day,” it will change us every day of the week, and—as Jesus demonstrated—it can be a means of blessing others, as well.”

Did you notice that one little word — all? That is not what Jesus said, and inserting it here completely changes the actual meaning of what He did say.

 

Manna

From the lesson, referring to the Biblical instruction on the amount of manna each person was to gather:

“In 2 Corinthians 8:10–15, Paul references this story as an example of how Christians should give: “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality” (2 Corinthians 8:14, NIV).

This is a curious thing to put here — it seems to me that it would have been more appropriate in the lesson about giving and tithing.

So, first, let’s read the whole passage: 2 Corinthians 8:10–15:

I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 

For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality—at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

This has nothing to do with the subject at hand — manna and the Sabbath — except that the Israelites were told to gather twice as much manna on Friday as on the other days of the week so that on the Sabbath, when no manna was given, they would have something to eat.

Paul’s use of these verses in 1 Corinthians had to do with helping out others in need, not the Sabbath, and he pointed out that one day those who had received help may be in a position to help out those who had previously helped others but now needed help themselves. 

The only thing here that ties Christians giving help to those in need to the giving of manna is this one sentence: “Taking only enough for the day required the people to trust that there would be more the following day. “

And that, at least, is a true statement. That is what’s found in the Lord’s Prayer — “give us this day our daily bread”—trusting God to provide.

 

Two Reasons for Sabbath

In this section, in trying to establish a reason for the Sabbath, the author says this:

… a relationship centered on the fact that God is our Creator and Redeemer. Both roles appear in the two versions of the fourth commandment and are thus linked closely with Sabbath and its practice.

Coming out of a land dominated by so many false gods, the Israelites needed to be reminded of the true God’s role as the Creator. “

Notice that it is the Israelites that needed to be reminded of God’s role as Creator and Redeemer. But by saying that God is our Creator and Redeemer, the author attempts to change the meaning of the Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 listings of the 10 Commandments to include us as well. But that command was given to a specific people — Israel — for a specific reason — because God had brought them out of slavery.

We have seen before that Deuteronomy 28:69 and Exodus 34:28, among others, tell us that the words of the 10 Commandments were the very words of the covenant God made with Israel. That was the Old Covenant. In Christ, we are under the New Covenant, not the Old, and Romans 7 is very clear that trying to combine the two — Old and New, Law and grace — is to commit spiritual adultery.

Under the Old Covenant, the Sabbath was the repeatable sign of obedience to the covenant. In the New Covenant, the Lord’s Supper is the repeatable sign.

From the lesson:

“Both of these motivations for Sabbath were about restoring the relationship between God and His people: ‘I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy’ ”

Actually, as stated above, the purpose of the Sabbath was the weekly way in which the Israelites were to show their obedience to the covenant with God. The fact that He was their Creator and their Redeemer are simply showing His right to require their obedience.

On a side note, it is odd here to see Ezekiel 20 used to make the point. The context of that chapter is that the leaders of Israel came to the prophet to inquire of the Lord. The rest of the chapter is God telling them through the prophet how He had dealt with Israel and how they failed to obey and follow Him.

Let’s read verses 10-13:

So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live. Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them. 

Here, God Himself says that the sabbaths, which includes the weekly Sabbath, were to be a sign between God and Israel.

Completely ignoring this fact, and arbitrarily adding to the Bible, the author goes on to say:

“And, as we have seen, this was never about this group of people only. On the foundation of this relationship, they were to establish a new kind of society, one that was kind to outsiders and a blessing to the wider world.” 

This turns it into some kind of social justice reform where everyone is kind to others while ignoring the fact that God Himself said that this covenant was between Him and Israel, not all of society or all mankind. After making this jump in logic, the author cements it down by saying:

“By keeping the Sabbath as a way of remembering and celebrating both our creation and redemption, we can continue to grow in our relationship, not only with the Lord but with those around us.”

This completely ignores the New Covenant way of “celebrating both our creation and redemption” which is the Lord’s Supper.

Once again the author is trying to put us back under the Old Covenant, the letters on stone, the covenant of death, instead of in the New Covenant, the covenant of life and of the Spirit. He is telling us we must commit spiritual adultery to be saved! (See Rom. 4:7, 13-15; also 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 where Paul says the letter [engraved on stone] brings death but the Spirit brings life.)

This question for thought at the end of this day’s lesson is odd:

“In what ways should Sabbath keeping make us better, kinder, more caring, and compassionate people?”

The simple answer is this — it can’t. No amount of obedience to the Old Covenant law can change the heart. Only the Holy Spirit, freely given on our enterance into the New Covenant can make that kind of inward change. And that inward change is the only way to truly change outward behavior. And even if it did somehow change some of our outward behavior, it could do nothing to change the heart or bring life to a spirit dead in sin.

Remember, we look at outward behavior, but only God can see the heart and the true motivation for all we do.

 

A Day of Equality

From the lesson:

“The commandment has a special focus on urging that the Sabbath is a day to be enjoyed by everyone.”

There are several things to remember about the Sabbath day:

1. It was part of the covenant made between God and Israel (Ez. 20:12).
2. It was to be observed as a weekly reminder of that covenant and of the Almighty God who set them free (Ez.20).
3. It was not meant to stand alone, an end to itself. It, along with all of the Old Covenant laws, regulations and sacrificial system were to point forward to the ultimate, complete Sacrifice of the Messiah who would bring true freedom from sin and death.
4. As part of the Old Covenant, it was temporary and lasted only until the New Covenant was made. The Old then became obsolete (Heb. 8:13).
5. The physical rest enjoined by the Fourth Commandment was a symbol of the spiritual rest that is ours in Christ. They stopped physical work, we stop our spiritual work of trying to save ourselves.

I got a kick out of the question at the end of this day:

How can you share the Sabbath in your community, meaning how can others in your community benefit from your Sabbath keeping?

Is this talking about how communities of mostly Adventists manage to get the Post Office closed on Saturdays and change the day of mail delivery to Sunday? I just can’t see any other way to “share the Sabbath” with a community. People go to church on the day they choose, and offering them a different day to go to church makes no sense to them.

 

A Day of Healing 

From the lesson:

“According to the fourth commandment the Sabbath was dedicated to rest and religious worship. All secular employment was to be suspended, but works of mercy and benevolence were in accordance with the purpose of the Lord. . . . To relieve the afflicted, to comfort the sorrowing, is a labor of love that does honor to God’s holy day.”—Ellen G. White, Welfare Ministry, p. 77. 

This claim that it was a day for religious worship does not line up with the commands given by God, through Moses, for the Children of Israel. This EGW quote, and many others, use 19th and 20th century ideas to interpret the Bible by which she completely changes the meaning of God’s word.

Look at what the Bible actually says about what they were to do on the Sabbath:

So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant (Ex. 31:16).

First of all, this was throughout their — Israel’s —generations, not anyone else’s.

Then there was Exodus 35:1–3:

Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do: “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.”

Although the priests “worked” to offer the daily sacrifices, the people were to do nothing, including going anywhere for “religious worship”.

And nowhere is there any indication that they were to go about doing good works and helping the poor. They were to stay in their tents, no work of any kind was allowed including lighting a fire, and the penalty for disobedience was death.

 

Sabbath Rest for the Land

This whole day’s study is an attempt to force those of us under the New Covenant to go back under parts of the Old Covenant. 

For one thing, this whole sabbatical system — weekly Sabbath, 7th year sabbath and the 50th year sabbath rest were integral parts of one specific covenant that applied to no one but those who were a party to that covenant. As such, there is no relevance to us and trying to tie it in to our life today is not possible.

Those who farm the land know that resting the land periodically will stop the depletion of the land and will make production increase. But that’s not the same thing as making it a religious practice by tying it to the Old Covenant.

 

Friday

There are more EGW quotes in an effort to give legitimacy to the premise of the week that the Sabbath applies to us and is required behavior.

I was saddened by the first question at the end:

“In what way have you experienced the Sabbath as a demonstration of your trust in God.”

By the very act of requiring an Old Covenant behavior — Sabbath keeping — you are showing a lack of trust in Jesus. 

You are saying that He only started your salvation and now you have to finish it by calling one day holy. You are saying that His atonement was not enough to save you, but you have to add your works to it to finish it. You are saying that, in part, you can contribute to your salvation by your works. You are calling God a liar by saying He didn’t mean it when he said that the Old Covenant is obsolete ((Heb. 8).

You are committing spiritual adultery (Rom. 7) by trying to combine Law and grace.

In finishing, please consider Jesus’ last recorded words on the cross, found in John 19:30 where He said “IT IS FINISHED”! Trust Him that He wasn’t talking about the end of His physical life but that He was talking about the whole reason He came— the plan of salvation for all who believe. He declared it finished, completed, with nothing else to contribute but your own faith in what He did. †