Thank you, Andrew, for writing this post on the fourth commandment! I appreciate the time and research that went into composing it and enjoyed reading it.
The fourth command, the command regarding the Sabbath day, is given in Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor they son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
It is a bit of a unique command and, honestly, I wasn’t jumping up and down to address it given that I have relatives (who may read this someday) who strongly disagree with me, but procrastination never got a job done, so here we go.
Many will ask why Baptists, among others, would move the observance of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday and the quick answer is that they wouldn’t and haven’t. The observance of “The Sabbath” and our worship on Sunday are actually two entirely separate things. So what then is the fourth command commanding?
The word “Sabbath” means to rest (see Hebrews 4) and, surprisingly enough, its meaning hasn’t changed to this day. This is why when someone is sitting out of college for a year we might say that they are taking a sabbatical. The Jews understood this which is why, though they worshiped in their synagogues on the Sabbath, all of the burdensome laws that we see referenced in the gospels regarding the Sabbath day deal with work or, as the Pharisees would have it, “resting properly,” and don’t touch on worship.
So, you may ask, if they are two separate things why do Baptists not observe both?
Great question! Exodus 31 begins the answer. “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” 31:16-17 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.”—Emphasis mine.
So, as I read this passage, Israel ought to be observing the Sabbath to this day, but the command is specific to Israel and does not include the Gentile church.
But isn’t the church spiritual Israel? My, what a can of worms......NO! Paul does a really good job of explaining that in Romans 9.
The point is further validated by the fact that, while nine of the ten commands are repeated with many being expanded upon in the New Testament, the fourth is not…..if that leads you to wonder about the Hebrews 4 reference, please go read it.
However, the two are often wrongly lumped together, so having an understanding of why we worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, will help clarify why and how they are not the same. I’ll set about to explain my point about how separate the fourth command is from our Sunday observance.
If you understand what actually happens when a sinner becomes a Christian, Colossians 3:1-10 and John 14:19, then you should also understand that Christ’s coming to earth (Christmas) was necessary, Christ’s death was also necessary, but both were insufficient had He not risen from the dead making the day of His resurrection, arguably, the most important day ever for the Christian and that day was the first day of the week or Sunday, also known as the Lord’s day. Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1 & 9, Luke 24:1, and John 20:1-2.
Now some argue that because of verses such as John 19:31, Jesus must have been crucified on Friday instead of Thursday and therefore, being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, could not have arisen on Sunday. Their mistake is that they define “Sabbath” too narrowly assuming it to automatically refer to Saturday when to the Jew it means a Holy day and a day of rest. The Sabbath referred to in the case of John 19:31 was the Passover which fell on a Friday in this case. Further, don’t suppose that there exists a problem because Thursday to Sunday doesn’t equal exactly 72 hours. The Scripture says that “as Jonah was”….. “so shall the Son of Man be” and the following passages prove that the Jews often calculated three days as part of a day, a day and a night, and part of another day1st Kings 12:5 & 12, Esther 4:16, and 5:1.
Jesus never actually ate the Passover meal.
According to Jewish tradition the Passover feast was the most family oriented of their feasts and yet, curiously, in the Biblical account of the last supper we find Jesus and His twelve disciples, but no mention of any of His family being present. Nor is there any mention of meat although bread, wine, and some kind of sauce into which bread was dipped is mentioned. This is also curious given that the Passover was ALWAYS a meat based meal. Also, the Passover was to be eaten in a state of readiness to flee – (Exodus 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S Passover.) —but we see Jesus and His disciples in a much more relaxed setting with John reclining (John 13:23-25 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom He spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto Him, Lord, who is it? –emphasis mine)
But for more textual authority, let’s look at three passages: Luke 22:15-16 where Jesus says “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Some take the phrase “this Passover” to mean this meal which is easy to understand but context doesn’t allow it and there is a second way to take it which makes better sense: I believe He was telling His disciples (verse 15) that He desired to eat of this Passover as in this one at hand and why (verse 16) but implying that He would not. This also fits the context better, given that from verse 15 to verse 46 Jesus was preparing His disciples for His soon-to-be absence.
If I now turn to John 13, the point is made stronger, although ironically in my Bible the uninspired header reads, “The last Passover”, the text reads “Now before the feast of the Passover, (we’re about to hear about something that happened prior to the Passover) when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And supper being ended (as in “The Last Supper” but we still haven’t heard about the event prior to the Passover)……verse 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; (event begun)”—emphasis and commentary mine.
John 18:28 “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.” Jesus had already finished His last meal hours earlier so it must not have been the Passover meal, or perhaps they were bad procrastinators? Remember nothing was to remain of the Passover meal so they wouldn’t have had much time left would they?
There are other arguments that could be made, but suffice it to say that believing, as we do, that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday becomes a very significant day for the Christian. And not just modern Christians either--believers began to meet on the first day of the week before they were even called Christians.
In Acts 20:7, “It was upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together;” Paul preaches a message to them and, though he was of the tribe of Benjamin, in good southern fashion he continues his farewell sermon until midnight.
In 1st Corinthians 16:1-2 Paul says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” While Paul doesn’t come right out and say “upon the first day of the week when you normally meet” it is the only logical way to read the passage. Otherwise Paul could just as easily have said something to the effect of “see that you lay aside your tithes and get them to the church before I come so that I don’t have to supervise you in this”.
Further, the baptism of the Holy Ghost fell on Pentecost which happened on the first day of the week or Sunday. We know this because, although the Pharisees and the Sadducees had two alternate readings of Leviticus 23:15-16 with the Pharisees counting fifty days after the yearly Sabbath or the Passover and the Sadducees counting fifty days after the weekly Sabbath or Saturday given that the Passover was on Friday the year Christ died, both methods would have agreed that Pentecost was on the first day of the week. However more definitely the Sadducees controlled the Temple worship up until around 70 AD (well after Christ’s death) and by their counting method Pentecost was ALWAYS on the first day of the week.
Lastly, many significant things regarding Christ and His worship are recorded to have happened on the first day of the week whereas I know of no such significance given to the Sabbath. Jesus’ triumphal entry happened on the first day of the week (Palm Sunday) Luke 13:31-33. Jesus rose again (the Resurrection) on the first day of the week (Mark 16:9). Jesus was glorified on the first day of the week (John 7:39). Jesus’ appearances are recorded to have happened on the first day of the week and not on Saturday (Matthew 28:5-9, Mark 16:9, Luke 24, John 20:19). The first time Christ was worshipped after His resurrection was on the first day of the week (John 20:16). The first time Christ had communion after His resurrection was on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1 & 13, and 30). David’s prophesy of Psalm 2:7 was fulfilled on the first day of the week (Acts 13:33-38). Christ was appointed Heir of all things and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high on the first day of the week (Hebrews 1:1-3).
