Grace be unto you all and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. In continuation of last week’s epistle on the Sabbath, we write to you more truths according to what is written in the Scripture of truth concerning Sabbath keeping.

The words Sabbath and seven do not come from the same original word. The Hebrew word for Sabbath is shabbath, meaning intermission or cessation from work. It is from shabath, to repose, desist from exertion; rest; and such rest does not have to be on the 7th day. The particular day does not make it rest or a cessation. One can rest on any day, anytime he ceases from work. It is the cessation that causes it to be the Sabbath, not the day or time one ceases from work. Sabbaths have been observed on different days and for different lengths of time as follows: on the 1st day (Lev 23:39); on the 7th day (Ex 20:8); on the 8th day (Lev 23:39). Sabbath of different lengths can be 1 day long, 2 days long, 1 year long, or 70 years long. Sabbaths can even be for all eternity. Written below are more truths contained in the Holy Scriptures concerning the Sabbath:

• The 7th-day Sabbaths of Israel were changing Sabbaths, being observed on two different days each year because of an additional Sabbath being observed at Pentecost. If we suppose, for instance, that the 15th of Nisan (when Israel left Egypt) which was on the Sabbath, was Saturday, then the 7th-day Sabbath would fall on Saturday for 7 weeks or until 49 days had run their course. The 50th day, which would be Sunday, would be Pentecost. The next 7th-day Sabbath after Pentecost would fall on Sunday, and so it would be until Pentecost of the following year which would change the 7th-day Sabbath again. This time it would fall on Monday until the next Pentecost which would be 50 days after the first 15 days of Nisan, as stated, or on the 65th day of that particular New Year. Thus, there was no such thing as the Sabbath always being on Saturday throughout the year, or perpetually

• Sabbaths were to be a delight instead of a burden and would have been if they had been observed lawfully, and the true nature of rest and worship maintained (Isa 58:13)

• Sabbaths were for Israel only (Ex 16:29, 31:14, Ezek 20:12). Gentiles who wished to become a part of the nation of Israel could do so by meeting certain requirements, after which the Sabbath laws applied to them also (Ex 12:49, Num 15:16)

• Sabbaths were to be observed holy (Ex 16:23; 20:8; 35:2; Isa 58:13; Jer 17:21-27) and were to be observed unto God (Ex 16:25). Sabbaths were of or from the Lord (ex 20:10; 35:2; Lev 23:3; Deut 5:14)

• No work was to be done on Sabbaths (Ex 20:8-11; 31:15; 35:3; Num 15:32; Jer 17:21-27). The penalty for breaking this law was death (Num 15:30-36). They were to be observed as a time of rest (Ex 35:2; Lev 16:31; 23:3, 32). They were to be sanctified or set apart by Israel (Deut 5:12). Sabbaths were commanded under the Law (Ex 20:8-11; Deut 5:15)

• To Israel the 7th-day Sabbath was a memorial of deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh (Deut 5:15), not a commemoration of God’s rest upon completing His work. The fact is, man’s rest could not have been the same day that God rested, for man was only created the day before God’s Sabbath. He had worked no more than 1 day, and 6 days of work are required before a Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11). Because of its being a deliverance memorial it would be as meaningless for the church to observe the old Jewish Sabbath to commemorate their deliverance from Pharaoh, as it would be for England to observe the 4th of July with Americans who thus commemorate their independence and freedom from bondage

• Sabbaths are to be observed in the millennium and New Earth, so that all flesh can come before God to worship (Isa 66:22-24; Ezek 44:24; 45:17; 46:3). No Scripture reveals what particular day will be observed in this future time around the globe. It may be that the coming Sabbaths will be local in fulfillment with men being required to send representatives to Jerusalem at the specified time so that all may observe the same Sabbath at the same time in that one part of the earth. That universal gatherings to worship are to be representative is proved in Zech 14:16-21

• It is lawful to do good things on Sabbaths (Matt 12:2, 12; Mark 2:27-28; 3:4; Luke 6:9). Man is lord of Sabbaths. They are not to lord it over man. He was not made for them, but they were made for him (Matt 12:8; Mark 2:27-28; Luke 6:5). Therefore, man can do and is always free to do that which is good and best for man on rest days

• In man’s beginning he was not required to observe the 7th day which God rested on and sanctified. God Himself did not continue observing such a rest day because sin was committed by man not too long after his creation and He began the work of redemption (Gen 3) which still requires God’s time every day in the week. Sinners can be saved anytime they choose to come to God. It was about 2513 years after God’s 7th-day Sabbath when Israel was commanded to observe any particular day as illustrated by God’s rest (Ex 16:23-29; 20:8-11)

• Jews proved the principle of doing good and performing essential duties on Sabbaths by: offering sacrifices (Num 28:9-10; 1 Chr 9:32), caring for animals (Matt 12:11; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:15; 14:5), circumcising children (John 7:22-23), and other essential work (Matt 12:5)

• Sabbaths were typical of eternal rest (Col 2:14-17; Heb 4:1-11; 10:1). All the Jewish Sabbaths were abolished and done away, with the Mosaic law. All Christians are now at liberty to observe any day as a day of rest. Even though Sunday has been observed as the day of rest and worship for Christians from the very beginning, as we have written in our last epistle, and so we write again that as a matter of biblical law, there is no definite obligation laid down for Christians on this point. Again, it is written: I will bless the Lord at all times! His praise shall continually be in my mouth!

Peace be to you all. Maranatha.