- The shadowy Sabbath was the observance of every seventh day. “The seventh day is the Sabbath” (Exod. 20:10). The new-covenant Sabbath is not the observance of this particular day. “One man [the Jew] esteemeth one day above another: another [the Gentile Christian] esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.…He that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it” (Rom. 14:5, 6). “Ye observe days.…I am afraid of you” (Gal. 4:10, 11). “Let no man therefore judge you in respect…of the sabbath-days” (Col. 2:16)). These texts refer particularly to law days.
- The old was a rest of the body but one day in seven. The new is a rest of our souls every day. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Heb. 4:10). After God finished creation’s work, he rested the seventh day. But his rest did not stop there. He rested the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth day, and he has been resting from creation’s work ever since. So we who have entered his rest cease from our works—self efforts—and enjoy a perpetual soul-rest.
- The old was a bodily rest, a temporal rest. The new is a spiritual rest that we enter by faith (Matt. 11:28, 29; Heb. 4:1-11), and is eternal.
- The old was enjoined in the law, and was binding upon Israel as a nation (Exod. 16:29; 31:13). The new is found in Christ under the new covenant and is to be enjoyed by all nations.
- Under the law but one day in seven was kept holy (Exod. 20:8, 10). Under the gospel we keep every day holy (Luke 1:74, 75).
- Total abstinence from manual labor constituted a holy day—Sabbath—to the Jews (Deut. 5:14). Abstinence from manual work does not make a day holy or unholy to us under the gospel (Rom. 14:5, 6; Gal. 4:10, 11; Col. 2:16). By totally abstaining, ceasing from our self-works, and living a righteous life, we keep every day holy (Heb. 4:10; Luke 1:74, 75). In the former the people totally abstained from manual work; while in the latter we cease from self-strivings, and enter the glorious rest of a perfect salvation.
- By performing the least amount of manual work on the seventh day, the Jews broke their Sabbath, and were stoned to death (Num. 15:32-36). By indulging in the least amount of sin, we now lose our sweet Sabbath rest, and spiritual death is the result (1 John 3:8; Jas. 1:15).
- The old was a “shadow” or type of the new (Col. 2:14-16; Heb. 4:1-11).
All chapters from The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day.
The Sabbath and the Lord’s Day. By H. M. Riggle, 1922. Life Assurance Ministries, Inc.
H. M. Rigle was born February 18, 1872 in Pennsylvania. He was a pastor in the Church of God, and for 23 years he was president of the religious magazine the Gospel Trumpet. He and his wife Minnie also served as overseas missionaries for several years. Riggle wrote several books, but his book The Sabbath and The Lord’s Day specifically addressed the Seventh-day Adventist teaching on the subject. He died October 7, 1952, at the age of 80.
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