After God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He descended on Mt. Sinai, and they met Him there (Ex. 19:17). Before employing Moses’ help in delivering the Law, God thundered the Ten Commandments in His chosen voice (Ex. 20:1, 19). Many discuss how nine of the ten commandments are applied in the New Testament for Christians. The one often left out is the fourth commandment God gave: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (Ex. 20:8). There is no command in the New Testament for Christians to remember the sabbath day. Although many call Sunday the Christian Sabbath, the Bible never describes it that way.
Since the weekly observance of the sabbath day is not commanded in the New Testament, many mistakenly think there is no sabbath for Christians. Hebrews is very clear that there is, indeed, a sabbath for Christians. Beginning with Hebrews 3:7, Christians are reminded to stay faithful to God (Heb. 3:12). The writer looks back to Israel’s faithless ways that caused God to reject their entrance to His rest, the promised land of Canaan, warning Christians that God will reject their entrance to God’s eternal rest if they become unfaithful.
Beginning with Hebrews 4:6, the writer argues that God’s promised rest must refer to more than the land of Canaan since David said a rest remained for Israel even though they lived in the promised land when he was writing. Specifically, Hebrews 4:9 says a sabbatismos remains for God’s people. It is a sabbath observance that occurs after this life is over (v.10), and Christians should be diligently obedient so that they may enter it (v.11).
Is there a sabbath for Christians? Hebrews 3-4 answers affirmatively but clarifies that it is not observed weekly or yearly. It is observed after a faithful life lived obediently to God, and it lasts not for a day but for all eternity.
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