The Sabbath Day
Part 5
The Dake's commentary on the cessation of the perpetual covenant of the 7th day concludes with a list of 10 reasons why the 4th commandment was left out of the New Covenant. The last eight reasons require a redundant response as they are a rehash of the previous abominable reasons for rejecting the very things that the scriptures foretold would be rejected. I would like to address the first two, however.
REASON ONE
"Neither God nor Christ made it a part of the new covenant. If they had it would be somewhere in the N.T. as the other 9 are."
Can anyone see the very first problem with this statement? 'Neither God nor Christ...' And Christians wonder why Judaism, in general, for 2000 years has had a difficult time accepting the Christian view of the Messiah. It seems that God did not make it a part of the New Testament and Christ seems to have gone along with the program. I suppose we should at least be happy that those two get along so well. You see, I, along with many others, believe that the Messiah is God and He wrote all the words of what we call the Bible. I do not see God and Christ as two fellows that could, under the appropriate circumstances, disagree. First of all, the entire statement is simply not true to begin with, and even if it were, would Y'shua feel it necessary to repeat in the New Testament everything He wrote in the Old Testament? In other words, because something is mentioned in the Old Testament that is not mentioned in the New, that makes it by definition, null and void? Would that kind of thinking help us to understand the book of Revelation, for example? The New Testament says nothing of the 70th week of Daniel. Shouting unto God with a voice of triumph is absent from the New Testament. Tithing seems to be missing as well. Dang it, there goes that new addition to the building. Does this mean that, by virtue of this thinking process, we should give no heed to the words of the prophets of old because we cannot find their quotes in the New Testament? I could go on and on. Arguing from absence has always been condemned by Jewish and Christian scholars alike. And what of the fact that the new covenant is not made with Christians anyway? The New Covenant is with the house of Israel and the house of Judah (Yirmeyahu 31:31, Ivrim 8:8).
It is apparent to me that the editors of this Bible have not read the book of Acts as yet. The abundant appearances of this day of the week will be addressed later on this subject. I would rather finish this series on a positive note.
REASON TWO
"Of all the words of Jesus on earth only 4 references are made of the Sabbath, Mt. 12:8; 24:20; Mk. 2:27-28; Lk. 6:5 He merely taught that it was lawful to do good on this day and that no day is lord of man. He did not once command any particular observance of any definite day."
You mean like Sunday? First of all, there are many references to this day in the New Testament when you view it through Hebrew eyes, you know the guys who wrote it, rather than with the coke-bottle thick glasses of white Anglo-Saxon pasty face westerners who, generally speaking, haven't seen their shoes for the last 10 years. But, once again, I will leave that till the end. Let's take a look at the references they did not bother to quote.
Mattityahu 12:1-9
During the time of Y'shua's ministry, the Jewish leaders were observing the 7th day of the week as the sabbath. There are several rather contradicting historical sources for Saturday being the 7th day of the week. Some trace it back as far as the 12 century BC. and others as late as the 2nd century BC. The modern names of the week do come from Rome and the Norse gods. But either way, the 7th day as we still understand it, was being observed by the house of Judah at the time of the Messiah. The context of these verses is clear. Y'shua's problem was not with what day of the week was Shabbat, but rather what could be done or not done on the Sabbath. The issue here is clear. Messiah, being the one who wrote the Ten Commandments, is merely stating that HE wrote them, so HE ought to know what is lawful and what is not. The laws of God are abrogated when they are added to or diminished from. Y'shua is not teaching the cessation of Sabbath here. He is teaching that life and the protection of life are the weightier matters. This teaching is based upon Vayikra 18:5:
"Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am YHVH.
These Pharisees knew this teaching. It can still be found in Rabbinical teaching today. But the ecclesiastical Mr. Magoo's of our dominant religion do not see any of this, either. Once again, we have the Christian soldiers torturing the data long enough to make it confess anything.
Luke 6:5-9
I have chosen to put this quote in it's entire context, as the Dake's editors chose not to. Once again Y'shua reminds us that HE is the Master of the Sabbath. It is HIS words that guide our understanding of this covenant sign and not our diverse religious presuppositions. Messiah already knows that it is good to do good on the Sabbath day. It is blind and deaf religious leaders that would rather stubbornly defend their doctrines than do what is righteous and holy. Notice that Y'shua goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath. This ancient practice is followed precisely in the book of the Acts of the apostles as well. (Acts 13:14,27,42,44, 15:21, 16:13, 17:2, 18:4.) Once again, the subject is what is happening on the Sabbath and not whether the Sabbath is no longer valid. How insane to conclude otherwise. What do you think the Pharisees answer was to Y'shua's last statement? I can tell you what I would have said. "Oh yeah, that's right. Never mind." To conclude from this encounter that Y'shua did not make it part of the covenant is how a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar thinks. I remember years ago when I had a little run in with my 16 year old. Before leaving to a business meeting, I told him that he was not allowed to drive the truck that evening, for it was snowing pretty bad and I would worry. When I went out to the driveway the next day I noticed that the car had been moved. When I went into the house to confront him about it, he replied, "you told me not to take the truck, you didn't say anything about the car." Whoops! Got me on a technicality. Is there a valid, logical reason why Y'shua would have to declare the commandment to observe the Sabbath in this encounter? Once again, this teaching not only went over the heads of the Dake's editors, but they appear to be purposely ducking.
Mark 2:27-28
I saved this one for last because it will lead us into what I want to teach next time. I am always perplexed when trying to understand how this beautiful, touching statement could be construed to teach that the Sabbath was no more. What kind of twisted mind would teach such a thing. Y'shua sums up the entire purpose of this day. This statement speaks for all of us who refresh ourselves every week on this day. The next time we meet I want to focus on the joys of Shabbat and our Messiah in our homes and in our fellowships.
Shalom Alecheim!
At that time Y'shua went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 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? 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? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue:
"And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Adonai also of the sabbath. And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Y'shua unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Adonai also of the sabbath."