Is Jesus the Sabbath

The PRO relied on just linking a web page to make her argument for her. So, I’ll address the web page as if it was the PRO’s argument. “The origin of the Sabbath goes back to Creation. After creating the heavens and the earth in six days, God "rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made" (Genesis 2:2). This doesn’t mean that God was tired and needed a rest. We know that God is omnipotent, literally "all-powerful." …, He never tires, and His most arduous expenditure of energy does not diminish His power one bit. So, what does it mean that God rested on the seventh day? Simply that He stopped what He was doing. He ceased from His labors.” This I agree with. The word “rest” in English has a vast variety of different meanings and interpretations. It can mean “to cease”, “to relax”, “to sleep”, or even “to die”. A person reading the word can easily misinterpret it. The Hebrew word used for “rested” is the word “shâbath” which means “to cease”, not “to take repose”. Shâbath #7673: To cease or desist from labour. Then the PRO concludes in the first paragraph: “This is important in understanding the establishment of the Sabbath day and the role of Christ as our Sabbath rest.” By that definition you would conclude Christ means you will not have to work anymore. Before we jump to assumptions, let’s continue with the argument. “God used the example of His resting on the seventh day of Creation to establish the principle of the Sabbath day rest for His people. In Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15, God gave the Israelites the fourth of His Ten Commandments.” Here the PRO suggests that God established the Sabbath day in Exodus 20:8-11. This is not true. The fourth commandment was established long before Jacob. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. – Genesis 2:3 To sanctify means to set something apart for holy use: Qâdash #H6942: To set something or someone apart for holy use. So Genesis 2:3 reads like this: And God blessed the seventh day, and set it to be set apart for holy use… – Genesis 2:3a The Sabbath is a memorial that God is the creator. As I recall, the Israelites had seven days even before Exodus… “The various elements of the Sabbath symbolized the coming of the Messiah, who would provide a permanent rest for His people. Once again the example of resting from our labours comes into play” We just read that the Sabbath was a memorial of God being the creator. Nothing was written of it being attributed to the coming of the Messiah. Furthermore, again, is the suggestion here that the Messiah is going to provide a means not to work anymore. “With the establishment of the Old Testament Law, the Jews were constantly "laboring" to make themselves acceptable to God.” No scripture is provided by the PRO and this is why: The PRO is saying here that the Israelites could save themselves through their labouring. What does this labouring include? “Their labors included trying to obey a myriad of do’s and don’ts of the ceremonial law, the Temple law, the civil law, etc.” But scripture says you are saved by grace through faith. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: – Ephesians 2:8 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. – Romans 4:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. – Exodus 33:13 “God provided an array of sin offerings and sacrifices so they could come to Him for forgiveness and restore fellowship with Him, but only temporarily” Yes. He had them made a pattern of something which already existed. These pointed to Christ. For example, if you break the fourth commandment, you had to sacrifice: “…sacrifices were offered in anticipation of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ on the cross” Let’s continue. “(Hebrews 10:12). Just as He rested after performing the ultimate sacrifice, He sat down and rested—ceased from His labor of atonement because there was nothing more to be done, ever.” According to the pattern… After the sacrifice, did the high priest then rest, cease from his labour of atonement? No. There is still a holy place He had to enter, then after a most holy place, the sprinkling of blood, etc. Did you know after the sacrifice of the Christ, Christ became the High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle to which the earthly was just a pattern? But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; – Hebrews 9:11 So no, Christ hasn’t stopped labouring. All Hebrews 10 in summary was saying is that the earthly sanctuary can never take away sins, only the blood of the Lamb can. It was only a pattern to the heavenly sacrificial system. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: – Hebrews 10:11 It has nothing to do with the creation and the seventh day Sabbath. “Because of what He did, we no longer have to "labor" in law-keeping in order to be justified in the sight of God” Again, here the PRO says that before Jesus, the Israelites could be justified by keeping the law. “Another element of the Sabbath day rest which God instituted as a foreshadowing of our complete rest in Christ is that He blessed it, sanctified it, and made it holy.” The verse itself contradicts this statement. The seventh day wasn’t created as a foreshadowing, but as a memorial that God is the creator. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. – Genesis 2:3 “God sanctified Christ, just as He sanctified the Sabbath day” Your wife is sanctified unto her husband and vice versa. Israel was sanctified unto God. Your first born was sanctified unto God. Just because something is sanctified doesn’t show it’s relation to the seventh day. All it means is as I have quoted. “To be set apart for holy use.” “In Him we find complete rest from the labors of our self-effort.” Again, here is a statement that before Jesus you could save yourself in keeping laws. “We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always.” The fourth commandment was nothing spiritual. This is spiritualizing the commandment away. For example, then a woman can argue, “Christ is my spiritual husband. Therefore no longer need to faithful to my physical husband.” “Jesus can be our Sabbath rest in part because He is "Lord of the Sabbath" (Matthew 12:8).” Just because Jesus is the creator of the Sabbath doesn’t conclude that He can be the Sabbath rest. Jesus is also Lord of the marriage as He created them male and female. Can they then commit adultery because of this? Of course not. “When the Pharisees criticized Him for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them that even they, sinful as they were, would not hesitate to pull a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath. Because He came to seek and save His sheep who would hear His voice (John 10:3,27) and enter into the Sabbath rest He provided by paying for their sins, He could break the Sabbath rules.” This is not at all the context. The Pharisees tempted Christ of breaking the fourth commandment, but Christ showed that it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. – Matthew 12:12 So no, Christ did not break the Sabbath rules as the PRO says, and became a transgressor of the law (a sinner) but magnified it and made it honourable. “By saying, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27), Jesus was restating the principle that the Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors” First, the Sabbath as I have shown was created as a memorial that God is the creator. Not to relieve man of his labours. Secondly, all laws are created for man’s benefit. O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! – Deuteronomy 5:29 “just as He came to relieve us of our attempting to achieve salvation by our works” Again, a statement that before Jesus people could save themselves through the keeping of the laws. “We no longer rest for only one day, but forever cease our laboring to attain God’s favour” Another statement that we no should technically cease working. “The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his readers to "enter in" to the Sabbath rest provided by Christ.” If the PRO read my opening argument, she would see that this is not the case. The term “enter into my rest” actually means “enter into my kingdom (rest=katapausis)”. See my opening argument for more information. Ironically, the PRO knows this: “God denied that generation access to the holy land, saying, "They shall not enter into My rest" (Hebrews 3:11)” Then I have a question. Why is it one place (using the same word, katapausis) holy land and the other place ceasing? This makes no sense. “There is no other Sabbath rest besides Jesus” Last time I checked, we still have a seventh day. Why not six as the seventh day is no longer needed? “He alone satisfies the requirements of the Law” The PRO is a bit confused. Earlier the PRO states that people had to justify themselves in the keeping of the law, now the PRO states that only Christ can do that? “He is God’s plan for us to cease from the labor of our own works” Now PRO goes back and state that before Christ people had to redeem themselves in their own works.