The LORD then gave these instructions to Moses: “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’” [Exodus 31.12-17]
Any interpretation of the Sabbath that does not include Jesus Christ has missed the point altogether. This goes for every other ritualistic practice described in the Old Testament as well.
So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. [Colossians 2.16-17]
With this understanding, a Christ-follower's obligation to the Sabbath and other rituals of the Old Testament is not removed, but in fact refined in Jesus Christ. It should be understood that the gravity of Exodus 31.12-17 is exponentially increased in the meaning of Colossians 2.16-17. God Himself confirmed this in the context of Exodus 31.12-17: The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel.
First off, it must be conceded that when God says a covenant obligation for all time and a permanent sign, He means a covenant obligation for all time and a permanent sign. God did not misspeak and Jesus did not invalidate God's words in Exodus (or anywhere else for that matter)!
Next, it must be understood then who Israel really is:
The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. [Galatians 3.7]
But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. [Romans 9.6-8 NKJV]
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. [Galatians 3.29]
Israel is representative of the body of believers in Jesus Christ.
The consequences of failure to observe the Sabbath are (as opposed to "were") severe. Failure to enter the "Sabbath rest" of Jesus Christ places a person (any person) under the penalty of death. And, as Adam and Eve were deceived to find out the hard way, "death" includes not only the termination of life, but the entire cursed process of getting there.
God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” [Hebrews 4.1-4]
The Sabbath is not one of seven days to act a certain way. The Sabbath is a day in which to live permanently and perpetually. Believers are not "in Christ" only one day a week! In fact, Jesus very clearly requires one hundred percent commitment:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
What is your own way? It is the six days of work where man exerts time, thought, and energy to take care of himself. It includes every fabrication of man (idol) that assists him in doing so independently of God.
What is your cross? It is remaining "in Christ the Sabbath day of rest" as He, in the compassion of God on earth, taught the Word, announced the Good News about the Kingdom, healed every kind of disease and illness, and hung upon a cross. On our cross, our hands and feet are incapacitated for any work of our own effort. On our cross, we intentionally avoid self-preservation and every idol that offers such. On our cross, we enter the Sabbath rest of Jesus.
Failure to give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Jesus is one and the same as breaking the Sabbath. Death (including every curse to get there) is the penalty. In contrast, in keeping the covenant of the Sabbath, we enter God's refreshing: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.
Father, may I be found resting in Your refreshing every day of my life as I follow Jesus, the Sabbath day of rest. So be it.
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