Hebrews 3 & 4 on the Sabbath

[mark1217]

Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.

3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.

4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;

6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

[Haldog]

SDA's don't care for the writings of Paul much it would seem. Right in this quote it explains what the sabbath is to the Christian and yet not one comment before mine. (hint, it has nothing to do with going to church or keeping your children from playing on Saturday)

It also explains how sin is not our actions (not keeping the law, the 10 Commandments) but rather unbelief in the completed work of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who took away the sins of the world.

Maybe someone will jump in and say Paul didn't Write Hebrews.......

[mark1217]

I don't have a doubt in my mind that these are the most important verses ever written by anyone on the Sabbath.

I believe these verses in Hebrews will come into great prominence in these last days.

I believe we will continue to receive light as the end nears, and that God in His providence has withheld a few things until that time. This comes to mind:

"I saw that it is even so: “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.”

Said the angel: “Take the word of God, read it, understand, and ye cannot err. Read

carefully, and ye shall there find what even is, and when it is. I asked the angel if the

frown of God had been upon His people for commencing the Sabbath as they had. I was

directed back to the first rise of the Sabbath, and followed the people of God up to this

time, but did not see that the Lord was displeased, or frowned upon them. I inquired

why it had been thus, that at this late day we must change the time of commencing the

Sabbath. Said the angel: “Ye shall understand, but not yet, not yet.” Said the angel:

“If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and

the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for

them to reject.” I saw that it was in the minds of some that the Lord had shown that

the Sabbath commenced at six o’clock, when I had only seen that it commenced at

“even,” and it was inferred that even was at six. I saw that the servants of God must

draw together, press together." - 1 Testimonies for the Church, Ch.16, pg.116

I have to reiterate that I believe that these are the single most important verses every written by anyone on the Sabbath. (Hebrews 3&4)

We must understand these verses and be able to explain them, and give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. These verses are of the utmost importance and we must discuss them. Has Ellen White ever mentioned these verses?

[Lysimachus]

The "Sabbath-Rest" Issue of Hebrews 4

by Lysimachus

While the most popular argument is that the 10 commandments have been abolished at the cross, and replaced with the laws of Christ, another growing popular theory is that while the 10 commandments are still in effect, only the 4th has changed to spiritual rest in Christ, and no physical keeping of the Sabbath day is necessary--all the while advocating that a physical keeping is still required with the other 9. It is argued that Jesus is now our Sabbath, and His rest replaces the physical rest on the Seventh-Day Sabbath. I feel this argument needs to be dealt with squarely. So please bear with me, as the information below is thorough, a bit lengthy, yet vital.

While I believe that Hebrews 4 is primarily speaking of spiritual rest in Christ, I do not believe the argument that the spiritual rest in Christ as "replacing" the physical/literal resting on the Seventh-Day Sabbath finds any harmony in God's Word. And to prove this point from the Sacred Writings, I will quote from Joe Crews who has already done an outstanding job at debunking this argument many years ago. It is my prayer that you all read the following arguments very carefully and prayerfully, because, if this argument is correct, it does mean changing one's lifestyle concerning the observance of the Sabbath. If the following argument is correct, I would hope that people will be willing to accept it and make the necessary changes than to simply brush it off like the majority of Christians do in the world today.

Please read the following information all the way through, even if it means taking a break and continuing. It is necessary for one to make the time if they are going to get a comprehensive picture of the situation at hand.

So here we go:

Quote:

PROOF THAT THE SABBATH REMAINS

Although there is a wealth of proof that the Ten-Commandment law and the Sabbath were confirmed by an obedient New Testament Church, I would like to focus on one area of evidence that is often overlooked or misinterpreted. We find it in Hebrews 4, and it probably constitutes the most convincing single reference in favor of Sabbath-keeping to be found in the Bible.

As a little background, we need to examine the thrust of the whole book of Hebrews. The writer of this letter is showing how many of the elements of the old covenant have been taken away. We can almost feel the anguish of the Hebrew believers as Paul explains to them how the sacrificial system has been taken away, having been fulfilled in Christ. The Levitical priesthood has been removed, being replaced by Christ our High Priest. Were they waiting fearfully to hear him take away the Sabbath also? If so, they must have been tremendously relieved when he wrote these words, “There remaineth therefore a ‘keeping of the sabbath’ (see margin) to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). I am using the marginal reading of the King James Version because that is the exact, literal meaning of the original statement.

The context of Hebrews three and four does not indicate that Paul was trying to convince the Hebrew Christians which day to keep holy. They already knew that. His great burden was for them to enter into a spiritual relationship with Christ—to have an experience of rest from the works of sin. He proved that the children of Israel did not find that true rest because of their lack of faith and disobedience in the wilderness. Although the Greek word for rest, KATAPAUSIS, means simply “cessation from work,” the context seems to indicate that the author is talking primarily about finding a spiritual rest in their experience.

Nevertheless, the two chapters definitely tie the spiritual rest to the Seventh-day Sabbath-keeping initiated and commanded by God in the beginning. Otherwise, we would not find in verse four a direct quote from Genesis 2:2. “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works” (Hebrews 4:4).

The reason for citing God’s resting on the Sabbath from His work of creation is revealed only when we analyze verses nine and ten. Paul says that what remains for God’s people is not KATAPAUSIS (a spiritual rest), but SABBATISMAS, meaning a literal keeping of the Sabbath. Then in verse ten we find the real key which proves beyond a question that the SABBATISMAS rest was not spiritual only, but a cessation from physical work. “For he that is entered into his rest (KATAPAUSIS—spiritual rest), he ALSO (in addition to the spiritual rest) hath ceased from his own works, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.”

The big question about this verse focuses on the works which one ceases from. Are they works of sin? Are they works to obtain salvation? Or are they the physical works from which we cease on the Sabbath? The answer is plainly revealed by the phrase “AS GOD DID FROM HIS.” Go back to verse four and we begin to understand why this quote from Genesis is included in Paul’s discourse. It is necessary to establish which works God did rest from. God ceased from His physical work of creation on the seventh day, and we are admonished to cease from ours, as He did from His. He did not just enter into a spiritual rest on the seventh day or we might conclude that He was not at spiritual rest on the first six days. The fact is that God is always at spiritual rest. Neither did He have any works of sin or the flesh to cease from. He simply rested on the seventh day from His work of creation, and we are being told by Paul that the ones who truly have received the spiritual rest of salvation will ALSO cease from their physical works on the Sabbath, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.

Don’t you see how this lends a tremendous new spiritual dimension to the keeping of the Sabbath? It memorializes our personal salvation experience. It stands as a blessed weekly reminder of the continual rest from sin that we may have through Christ. No wonder the Sabbath “remains” for the people of God! Our Creator has made it a symbol of the sweetest spiritual blessings available to the human family.

We can understand why God did this when we pause to think how Sabbath-keeping parallels the salvation experience. What really makes something holy? In Isaiah 58:13 God calls the Sabbath “my holy day” and “a delight.” Listen! It is the presence of God in something which makes it holy. (Remember the burning bush?) God’s presence is in the Sabbath just as His presence is also manifest in the life of a genuine Christian. So why should not true Sabbath-keeping be made a memorial of true salvation in Christ?

It is no happenstance that the same Hebrew word, CHASID, is used in Isaiah 58:13 to describe the Sabbath (“my HOLY day”) and also in Leviticus 19:2 to describe God’s people (“Ye shall be HOLY”). He dwells in the Sabbath, and He dwells in His people as a sanctifying influence, hence both are called “holy.” This is why God made the Sabbath, from the beginning, a sign of sanctification. “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them” (Ezekiel 20:12). The New International Version says, “so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.”

Lest someone raise the stale argument that the Sabbath is only a sign of holiness for the Jews, let me hasten to add this inspired text: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). All born-again Christians are the true Israel today, and have been sanctified unto God. Therefore, the Sabbath is for them.

This sign of sanctification has been reaffirmed in the New Testament by Paul’s dramatic statement in Hebrews 4:9, 10 that the keeping of the Sabbath remains for God’s people. Because we have entered into His spiritual rest of salvation (“Be ye holy”), he declares that we should ALSO rest from our works, “AS GOD DID FROM HIS” (“my holy day”).

Someone might suggest that after we enter into spiritual rest there would be no need to observe the memorial of it by keeping the Sabbath physically. But if that were true, we would have to also stop practicing water baptism. Immersion memorializes our death to the old man of sin. We experience that conversion BEFORE entering the water to be baptized. If the physical observance is unnecessary just because we have had the spiritual symbolism fulfilled in us, then we should abandon the physical custom.

Further, we would have to renounce the practice of celebrating the Lord’s Supper. It also memorializes an experience of the heart in receiving the sacrifice of our Lord by faith. But should we give up the physical observance of the communion just because we have already entered into the spiritual joy of what it represents? Of course not! Then why should anyone suggest that the Sabbath not be observed physically just because it is used as a memorial of union with Christ? Paul says that it REMAINS as a Sabbath rest for the people of God. In their monumental Commentary On the Whole Bible, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown make this comment on Hebrews 4:9, “This verse indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath still” (page 449). It is most interesting that these Sunday-keeping theological scholars, with the highest of linguistic credentials, make such a statement. Yet the relationship of the spiritual rest of salvation and the physical Sabbathkeeping is undeniable in the context.

So how can we summarize our discoveries about the two laws? Surely it has been established that the Ten Commandments were in a different category than the temporary mosaic law of ordinances. That moral code, encased in the ark of testimony, like the rest of the wilderness sanctuary, was a copy of the true pattern in heaven. So we affirm that it not only was repeated and reinforced in the New Testament but was identified in John’s vision beneath the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary, from which Christ ministers His own blood for the transgression of that holy law. From that foundational position, it continues to be the basis for Christ’s intercessory ministry for us in the throne room of heaven. Therefore, it is established as the most unmovable and unchangeable of all God’s decrees.

~ Source: Feast Days & Sabbaths - Are they still BINDING?, pages 26-32

With this in mind, I hope it can be seen why I believe it is absolutely impossible for the message in Hebrews 4 to be replacing the physical Sabbath rest on the Seventh-Day with a "spiritual rest" (ESPECIALLY in the light of the fact that Paul is admitting that the "katapausis" rest existed in the Old Testament upon a careful reading of Hebrews 3 and 4). It is a day to be honored by all Christians.

Call me legalistic (I believe this is a call to obedience and repentance, not legalism), but I believe that Christians who purposely refuse to rest on the Seventh-Day Sabbath reveal in their actions that they have truly not found the full spiritual rest in Christ. If a Christian has truly found that complete spiritual rest, the fruit will be revealed in not only obedience in their lifestyle, but also obedience to keeping the Seventh-Day Sabbath Holy as the Lord has commanded (this applies only to those who have received the knowledge of the truth concerning the Sabbath). If one has truly found spiritual rest in Christ, then, and only then, can they truly keep the Sabbath Holy. And once they have received the knowledge of the truth concerning the Sabbath, they will demonstrate this rest by obedience to God in observing the largest commandment of the 10---that is, the 4th commandment which tells us to rest from our physical labors.

When one honors their parents, they can do so physically, but not always spiritually (due to compulsion/obligation). This is where Christ's laws come in. He came to show the spiritual application--that the law must be written in the heart--and it must transfer from the head to the heart if it is to bring true life to the soul). One must spiritually be born again before they can truly obey physically. Honoring your parents must be more than just doing what they tell you. It has to be something that is within the heart. You have a desire to obey them out of love, not as a ticket to heaven. The same is with the Sabbath. One must find the "katapausis" rest (and by the way, which was made available also in the Old Testament, but the Israelites failed to enter into that rest--but they could have) before they are able to have the "sabbatismos" rest. Otherwise, the "sabbatismos" rest is absolutely useless without the "katapausis" rest in our Lord and Saviour--something that existed EVEN in the Old Testament, for which Israel failed to enter in by their poor promises (hence, the "Old" Covenant that "vanished").

That is what the Seventh-Day Sabbath rest SYMBOLIZES! It SYMBOLIZES our ETERNAL and SPIRITUAL rest that is found in Jesus. To willfully or purposely neglect the physical resting on the Seventh-Day Sabbath is to only reveal that true katapausis rest has not found its way into the heart of the believer.

As Joe Crews said, God is always at spiritual rest. He did not cease from works of sin. He ceased from the physical work of creation---a sacred event. Like God, we are also to cease from our physical labors and works---and do the best we can (God understands certain circumstances), God will recognize our efforts and we will be blessed.

How ludicrous, and completely illogical it would be to claim that 9 of the commandments require spiritual AND physical obedience only to say that the 4th, somehow, is only spiritual and not physical as well. This is inconsistent! If all 9 are to be kept in spirit, yet be kept by the letter as well, there is no difference with the 4th commandment!

There is a call of repentance going out to the denominational and Protestant Christian world. Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Lutherans, Assembly of God, Pentecostals, etc. etc. -- all of them are breaking the Sabbath and worshiping on a day of the sun god, or simply choosing to worship on no day at all, or any day they feel like. They are playing the "convenience game". This means they are turning their backs toward the temple of God and facing the east toward the sun (See Ezekiel 8:16).

Why do the rationalizations continue to persist so adamantly? This attitude being manifested among the Christian world is the SAME attitude similar to those thoughts that were harbored by Eve concerning the forbidden fruit: "Why would God make such a big deal out of tasting just a piece of fruit...after all it's not doing anyone any harm". After allowing the serpent to deceive her, eating a piece of the fruit seemed a matter of "insignificance". "God isn't going to strike me dead just for doing such a 'small' thing like this". Now look at the mess were in. All because of that one "small", and and so called "insignificant" rule that God had made.

The fact is, just as God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil with the forbidden fruit in the garden, so the Sabbath is a "test" for the Christian world--to see if they have really and truly made up their minds to obey God "implicitly"--regardless of the worldly circumstances.

The serpent beguiled Eve to sin. The serpent is a "beast". This is a type of the world-wide spiritual apostasy that is taking place. The Papacy (Roman Church State) is the Beast. Satan has spoken "through" the beast and is beguiling the Church (Eve) into thinking that Sunday keeping is okay. Hence, we see all the Protestant daughters of Rome (the mother) allowing themselves to be beguiled, and are not only breaking the Sabbath, but observing the day for which the Catholic Church admits they "changed" (an exact fulfillment of prophecy of Daniel 7:25 concerning the "changing of times and laws").

I do not bring this subject up to condemn, or pass judgment, but only because I have serious concern for those who reject what many of us believe to be precious truth that the world needs to know.

In the very same chapter (Isaiah 58 ) concerning the warnings from Isaiah to cease from trampling on the Sabbath day, and not recognizing it as a delight (vs 13, 14), verse 1 reads: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1)

This we intend to continue doing until the very end of time---and since the Sabbath is one of the most prominent commandments being neglected, our voices will continue to be heard from the rooftops regarding the willful transgression that is taking place concerning this sacred commandment, along with all other 9 commandments.

May the Lord help us in discernment as we continue to study His Word,

In All Peace that Passes Understanding,

~Lysimachus :)

[Guest]

The "Sabbath-Rest" Issue of Hebrews 4

by Lysimachus

While the most popular argument is that the 10 commandments have been abolished at the cross, and replaced with the laws of Christ, another growing popular theory is that while the 10 commandments are still in effect, only the 4th has changed to spiritual rest in Christ, and no physical keeping of the Sabbath day is necessary--all the while advocating that a physical keeping is still required with the other 9. It is argued that Jesus is now our Sabbath, and His rest replaces the physical rest on the Seventh-Day Sabbath. I feel this argument needs to be dealt with squarely. So please bear with me, as the information below is thorough, a bit lengthy, yet vital.

While I believe that Hebrews 4 is primarily speaking of spiritual rest in Christ, I do not believe the argument that the spiritual rest in Christ as "replacing" the physical/literal resting on the Seventh-Day Sabbath finds any harmony in God's Word. And to prove this point from the Sacred Writings, I will quote from Joe Crews who has already done an outstanding job at debunking this argument many years ago. It is my prayer that you all read the following arguments very carefully and prayerfully, because, if this argument is correct, it does mean changing one's lifestyle concerning the observance of the Sabbath. If the following argument is correct, I would hope that people will be willing to accept it and make the necessary changes than to simply brush it off like the majority of Christians do in the world today.

Please read the following information all the way through, even if it means taking a break and continuing. It is necessary for one to make the time if they are going to get a comprehensive picture of the situation at hand.

So here we go:

Quote:

PROOF THAT THE SABBATH REMAINS

Although there is a wealth of proof that the Ten-Commandment law and the Sabbath were confirmed by an obedient New Testament Church, I would like to focus on one area of evidence that is often overlooked or misinterpreted. We find it in Hebrews 4, and it probably constitutes the most convincing single reference in favor of Sabbath-keeping to be found in the Bible.

As a little background, we need to examine the thrust of the whole book of Hebrews. The writer of this letter is showing how many of the elements of the old covenant have been taken away. We can almost feel the anguish of the Hebrew believers as Paul explains to them how the sacrificial system has been taken away, having been fulfilled in Christ. The Levitical priesthood has been removed, being replaced by Christ our High Priest. Were they waiting fearfully to hear him take away the Sabbath also? If so, they must have been tremendously relieved when he wrote these words, “There remaineth therefore a ‘keeping of the sabbath’ (see margin) to the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). I am using the marginal reading of the King James Version because that is the exact, literal meaning of the original statement.

The context of Hebrews three and four does not indicate that Paul was trying to convince the Hebrew Christians which day to keep holy. They already knew that. His great burden was for them to enter into a spiritual relationship with Christ—to have an experience of rest from the works of sin. He proved that the children of Israel did not find that true rest because of their lack of faith and disobedience in the wilderness. Although the Greek word for rest, KATAPAUSIS, means simply “cessation from work,” the context seems to indicate that the author is talking primarily about finding a spiritual rest in their experience.

Nevertheless, the two chapters definitely tie the spiritual rest to the Seventh-day Sabbath-keeping initiated and commanded by God in the beginning. Otherwise, we would not find in verse four a direct quote from Genesis 2:2. “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works” (Hebrews 4:4).

The reason for citing God’s resting on the Sabbath from His work of creation is revealed only when we analyze verses nine and ten. Paul says that what remains for God’s people is not KATAPAUSIS (a spiritual rest), but SABBATISMAS, meaning a literal keeping of the Sabbath. Then in verse ten we find the real key which proves beyond a question that the SABBATISMAS rest was not spiritual only, but a cessation from physical work. “For he that is entered into his rest (KATAPAUSIS—spiritual rest), he ALSO (in addition to the spiritual rest) hath ceased from his own works, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.”

The big question about this verse focuses on the works which one ceases from. Are they works of sin? Are they works to obtain salvation? Or are they the physical works from which we cease on the Sabbath? The answer is plainly revealed by the phrase “AS GOD DID FROM HIS.” Go back to verse four and we begin to understand why this quote from Genesis is included in Paul’s discourse. It is necessary to establish which works God did rest from. God ceased from His physical work of creation on the seventh day, and we are admonished to cease from ours, as He did from His. He did not just enter into a spiritual rest on the seventh day or we might conclude that He was not at spiritual rest on the first six days. The fact is that God is always at spiritual rest. Neither did He have any works of sin or the flesh to cease from. He simply rested on the seventh day from His work of creation, and we are being told by Paul that the ones who truly have received the spiritual rest of salvation will ALSO cease from their physical works on the Sabbath, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.

Don’t you see how this lends a tremendous new spiritual dimension to the keeping of the Sabbath? It memorializes our personal salvation experience. It stands as a blessed weekly reminder of the continual rest from sin that we may have through Christ. No wonder the Sabbath “remains” for the people of God! Our Creator has made it a symbol of the sweetest spiritual blessings available to the human family.

We can understand why God did this when we pause to think how Sabbath-keeping parallels the salvation experience. What really makes something holy? In Isaiah 58:13 God calls the Sabbath “my holy day” and “a delight.” Listen! It is the presence of God in something which makes it holy. (Remember the burning bush?) God’s presence is in the Sabbath just as His presence is also manifest in the life of a genuine Christian. So why should not true Sabbath-keeping be made a memorial of true salvation in Christ?

It is no happenstance that the same Hebrew word, CHASID, is used in Isaiah 58:13 to describe the Sabbath (“my HOLY day”) and also in Leviticus 19:2 to describe God’s people (“Ye shall be HOLY”). He dwells in the Sabbath, and He dwells in His people as a sanctifying influence, hence both are called “holy.” This is why God made the Sabbath, from the beginning, a sign of sanctification. “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them” (Ezekiel 20:12). The New International Version says, “so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.”

Lest someone raise the stale argument that the Sabbath is only a sign of holiness for the Jews, let me hasten to add this inspired text: “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). All born-again Christians are the true Israel today, and have been sanctified unto God. Therefore, the Sabbath is for them.

This sign of sanctification has been reaffirmed in the New Testament by Paul’s dramatic statement in Hebrews 4:9, 10 that the keeping of the Sabbath remains for God’s people. Because we have entered into His spiritual rest of salvation (“Be ye holy”), he declares that we should ALSO rest from our works, “AS GOD DID FROM HIS” (“my holy day”).

Someone might suggest that after we enter into spiritual rest there would be no need to observe the memorial of it by keeping the Sabbath physically. But if that were true, we would have to also stop practicing water baptism. Immersion memorializes our death to the old man of sin. We experience that conversion BEFORE entering the water to be baptized. If the physical observance is unnecessary just because we have had the spiritual symbolism fulfilled in us, then we should abandon the physical custom.

Further, we would have to renounce the practice of celebrating the Lord’s Supper. It also memorializes an experience of the heart in receiving the sacrifice of our Lord by faith. But should we give up the physical observance of the communion just because we have already entered into the spiritual joy of what it represents? Of course not! Then why should anyone suggest that the Sabbath not be observed physically just because it is used as a memorial of union with Christ? Paul says that it REMAINS as a Sabbath rest for the people of God. In their monumental Commentary On the Whole Bible, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown make this comment on Hebrews 4:9, “This verse indirectly establishes the obligation of the Sabbath still” (page 449). It is most interesting that these Sunday-keeping theological scholars, with the highest of linguistic credentials, make such a statement. Yet the relationship of the spiritual rest of salvation and the physical Sabbathkeeping is undeniable in the context.

So how can we summarize our discoveries about the two laws? Surely it has been established that the Ten Commandments were in a different category than the temporary mosaic law of ordinances. That moral code, encased in the ark of testimony, like the rest of the wilderness sanctuary, was a copy of the true pattern in heaven. So we affirm that it not only was repeated and reinforced in the New Testament but was identified in John’s vision beneath the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary, from which Christ ministers His own blood for the transgression of that holy law. From that foundational position, it continues to be the basis for Christ’s intercessory ministry for us in the throne room of heaven. Therefore, it is established as the most unmovable and unchangeable of all God’s decrees.

~ Source: Feast Days & Sabbaths - Are they still BINDING?, pages 26-32

With this in mind, I hope it can be seen why I believe it is absolutely impossible for the message in Hebrews 4 to be replacing the physical Sabbath rest on the Seventh-Day with a "spiritual rest" (ESPECIALLY in the light of the fact that Paul is admitting that the "katapausis" rest existed in the Old Testament upon a careful reading of Hebrews 3 and 4). It is a day to be honored by all Christians.

Call me legalistic (I believe this is a call to obedience and repentance, not legalism), but I believe that Christians who purposely refuse to rest on the Seventh-Day Sabbath reveal in their actions that they have truly not found the full spiritual rest in Christ. If a Christian has truly found that complete spiritual rest, the fruit will be revealed in not only obedience in their lifestyle, but also obedience to keeping the Seventh-Day Sabbath Holy as the Lord has commanded (this applies only to those who have received the knowledge of the truth concerning the Sabbath). If one has truly found spiritual rest in Christ, then, and only then, can they truly keep the Sabbath Holy. And once they have received the knowledge of the truth concerning the Sabbath, they will demonstrate this rest by obedience to God in observing the largest commandment of the 10---that is, the 4th commandment which tells us to rest from our physical labors.

When one honors their parents, they can do so physically, but not always spiritually (due to compulsion/obligation). This is where Christ's laws come in. He came to show the spiritual application--that the law must be written in the heart--and it must transfer from the head to the heart if it is to bring true life to the soul). One must spiritually be born again before they can truly obey physically. Honoring your parents must be more than just doing what they tell you. It has to be something that is within the heart. You have a desire to obey them out of love, not as a ticket to heaven. The same is with the Sabbath. One must find the "katapausis" rest (and by the way, which was made available also in the Old Testament, but the Israelites failed to enter into that rest--but they could have) before they are able to have the "sabbatismos" rest. Otherwise, the "sabbatismos" rest is absolutely useless without the "katapausis" rest in our Lord and Saviour--something that existed EVEN in the Old Testament, for which Israel failed to enter in by their poor promises (hence, the "Old" Covenant that "vanished").

That is what the Seventh-Day Sabbath rest SYMBOLIZES! It SYMBOLIZES our ETERNAL and SPIRITUAL rest that is found in Jesus. To willfully or purposely neglect the physical resting on the Seventh-Day Sabbath is to only reveal that true katapausis rest has not found its way into the heart of the believer.

As Joe Crews said, God is always at spiritual rest. He did not cease from works of sin. He ceased from the physical work of creation---a sacred event. Like God, we are also to cease from our physical labors and works---and do the best we can (God understands certain circumstances), God will recognize our efforts and we will be blessed.

How ludicrous, and completely illogical it would be to claim that 9 of the commandments require spiritual AND physical obedience only to say that the 4th, somehow, is only spiritual and not physical as well. This is inconsistent! If all 9 are to be kept in spirit, yet be kept by the letter as well, there is no difference with the 4th commandment!

There is a call of repentance going out to the denominational and Protestant Christian world. Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Lutherans, Assembly of God, Pentecostals, etc. etc. -- all of them are breaking the Sabbath and worshiping on a day of the sun god, or simply choosing to worship on no day at all, or any day they feel like. They are playing the "convenience game". This means they are turning their backs toward the temple of God and facing the east toward the sun (See Ezekiel 8:16).

Why do the rationalizations continue to persist so adamantly? This attitude being manifested among the Christian world is the SAME attitude similar to those thoughts that were harbored by Eve concerning the forbidden fruit: "Why would God make such a big deal out of tasting just a piece of fruit...after all it's not doing anyone any harm". After allowing the serpent to deceive her, eating a piece of the fruit seemed a matter of "insignificance". "God isn't going to strike me dead just for doing such a 'small' thing like this". Now look at the mess were in. All because of that one "small", and and so called "insignificant" rule that God had made.

The fact is, just as God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil with the forbidden fruit in the garden, so the Sabbath is a "test" for the Christian world--to see if they have really and truly made up their minds to obey God "implicitly"--regardless of the worldly circumstances.

The serpent beguiled Eve to sin. The serpent is a "beast". This is a type of the world-wide spiritual apostasy that is taking place. The Papacy (Roman Church State) is the Beast. Satan has spoken "through" the beast and is beguiling the Church (Eve) into thinking that Sunday keeping is okay. Hence, we see all the Protestant daughters of Rome (the mother) allowing themselves to be beguiled, and are not only breaking the Sabbath, but observing the day for which the Catholic Church admits they "changed" (an exact fulfillment of prophecy of Daniel 7:25 concerning the "changing of times and laws").

I do not bring this subject up to condemn, or pass judgment, but only because I have serious concern for those who reject what many of us believe to be precious truth that the world needs to know.

In the very same chapter (Isaiah 58 ) concerning the warnings from Isaiah to cease from trampling on the Sabbath day, and not recognizing it as a delight (vs 13, 14), verse 1 reads: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1)

This we intend to continue doing until the very end of time---and since the Sabbath is one of the most prominent commandments being neglected, our voices will continue to be heard from the rooftops regarding the willful transgression that is taking place concerning this sacred commandment, along with all other 9 commandments.

May the Lord help us in discernment as we continue to study His Word,

In All Peace that Passes Understanding,

~Lysimachus

Words of gold...

[mark1217]

Thank you. That was wonderful. But there are still verses there I don't quite understand. Could someone do a verse by verse explanation? 4:8 for example.

8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

What other day? What does this mean?

This link is nice too: http://halalyah.com/sabbath_rest_in_hebrews. It has all the "rest"s highlighted and shows the rest in 4:9 clearly different from the others. The link also includes a photo of the actual margin of a 1611 KJV Bible showing the rest in 4:9 meaning Sabbath keeping.

Every Adventist should be deeply familiar with these verses.

[Windsor]

RLH,

I believe that is the largest quote I have ever seen especially for such a tiny response. I think we could have easily guessed what you were referencing.

[Guest]