Let’s continue to examine some arguments made by an article on the Church of God International website entitled “SUNDAY, SATURDAY—WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?”[1] We looked at their first four arguments in a previous article, and we finish with the last three and some final thoughts. They write:
The command to keep holy the seventh day is found in the Decalogue, alongside commandments against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, and so on.
The Fourth Commandment is one of the Ten, yes. Does that mean God could never change that commandment later?
We have an explicit statement by Paul that tells us we are no longer to be judged by “questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Col. 2.16–17).
Think about the Jewish laws of eating only clean animals. God even said in Deuteronomy 14.3 that the unclean animals were an “abomination” to Him. But in the New Testament, Jesus “declared all foods clean” (Mark 7.19), and God later gave a lesson to Peter in Acts 10.15: “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
When God explicitly releases men from a previous command, they are released. Mark 7.19 releases men from avoiding unclean animals (because God made all animals clean). Colossians 2.16 releases men from the Old Covenant feasts and Sabbaths.
The importance of keeping the Sabbath (from God’s perspective) is seen in the punishment of Sabbath-breaking brought upon Israel.
Yes, God commanded Sabbath-breakers to be stoned to death under the Old Covenant (Num. 15.32ff). Does that have anything to do with the New Covenant? This is not an argument for or against the Sabbath day being for us today.
The prophets tell us that both Israelites and gentiles will keep God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths during the Millennium.
This last point refers to the last few chapters of Isaiah and the last few chapters of Ezekiel.
ISAIAH
The last chapters of Isaiah are full of language which points to Israel’s future.
Chapter 56 identifies men (56.2), eunuchs (56.4), and foreigners (56.6) who keep His Sabbaths and hold fast to His covenant. God would bring them to His holy mountain and make them joyful in His house of prayer. But notice: “their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar” (56.7). This is a wonderful picture of God gathering the nations to Himself. God does this in the Church today! Obviously, we do not offer animal sacrifices on God’s altar. Likewise, we do not necessarily keep the seventh day as Sabbath. God was showing the Jews a picture of an intimate fellowship with God; He communicated that picture in a way they would immediately understand.
Isaiah 66.22–23 says: “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares the LORD.” This is not about observing the Sabbath Day; it is about constant worship—every day of the month (new moon to new moon) and every day of the week (Sabbath to Sabbath). It does not mean that people in the new heavens and new earth will be observing the seventh day of the week as a holy day. Rather, it seems to point out that all days will be holy and filled with worship.
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel 40–48 contains an awesome prophecy of a future temple which would be much larger than Solomon’s and even larger than Herod’s (quite a bit larger!). Nothing like this temple has ever been seen on earth, so this prophecy is still future. This is what I believe this article means by “in the Millennium,” or the 1,000-year reign of Christ. Personally, I believe we are now in the Millennium reign of Christ, it is not a literal 1,000 years, and Christ will come back at the end to gather all His people to Himself in the resurrection. So I believe this prophecy at the end of Ezekiel refers to the time of our future resurrection, and I believe Jesus is the Prince of 44.3; 45.7; 46.2; etc.
Regarding the Sabbath in this later time:
“They shall keep My laws and My statues in all My appointed feasts and they shall keep My Sabbaths holy” (44.24).
It shall be the Prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths…to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel (45.17).
The gate of the inner court…shall be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened (46.1)
The burnt offering that the Prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish (46.4)
Not only will they keep the Sabbath Day but they will also keep all the other feast days and sacrifices in the Law of Moses! We know from Hebrews that Jesus fulfills all those sacrifices and the priesthood system, etc. All those pointed to Christ, and He is the reality of all those things.
Ezekiel 40–48 is a picture to the Jews of a glorious future with a glorious king and a glorious priesthood and a glorious worship happening just as it is supposed to. All those details were to make the Jews hunger for that future time. Those details were not intended to be taken literally, as in a coming prince would literally perform animal sacrifice after Jesus’ perfect blood was shed on the cross! That would be sliding backward for sure. So we are not to take all details literally but enjoy the overall picture of a glorious future for God’s people.
CONCLUSION:
Really, the burden of proof remains on the writers of these articles to prove that God wants us to be observing the seventh day as the Sabbath today, just as the Jews always did. Where in the New Testament can you find Christians assembling on the Sabbath? We find the apostles entering synagogues to preach Jesus on the Sabbath—because that was the best day of the week to address the Jews in each city. I can’t find a single instance of Christians meeting for fellowship on the Sabbath Day.
We have some quotes about Constantine making Sunday an official day of rest. But what does that prove about the Sabbath? It proves he had converted to Christianity and he was writing into law that everyone must stop work on Sundays so Christians could worship on that day. It does not sound like he was trying to change God’s Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
Some in the Roman Catholic church have said they were the ones who decided Christians should meet on Sundays and outlawed Saturdays because of “Judaizers.” But just because they make that claim doesn’t mean it’s wrong for Christians to meet on that day. It just means the Roman Catholic church claims they made the decision, and I’m not sure they did.
In the New Testament, you can do a search for “Sabbath” and see what you find. Then do a search for “first day” and see what you find. You’ll find some interesting info. 😊
Positively, the Sabbath is fulfilled in Christ—He is our Sabbath rest. Hebrews 3–4 talks about a Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God, and that is still in our future (Heb. 4.9–11).
No man should judge us concerning Sabbath keeping today (Col. 2.16–17) because the Sabbath Day was a shadow of things to come, and the substance (the reality) belongs to Christ. He is our Sabbath just as He is our Passover (1 Cor. 5.7).
There abides a continuing Sabbath principle: rest is still good and gathering with Christians for a holy convocation and fellowship is good and making time during our week to stop the hustle and bustle of our normal work is good!
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord!
[1] https://www.cgi.org/sunday-saturday-what-difference-does-it-make