Expert: Sal - 12/12/2009

Question
Dear Sal:
Why do you say that the Sabbath is for the Israelites only?
Thanks,
Michael


Answer
Dear Michael:

The short answer is because the Bible says that the Sabbath was only for Israel. The longer answer is because the Sabbath is not mentioned before Exodus 16 when God first revealed the Sabbath to Israel after the Exodus from Egypt. Shortly thereafter, God codified the Sabbath as a law for Israel. “And God spoke all these words: ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery’” (Exodus 20:1-2). So God was speaking only to those that He brought out of Egypt, that is: Israel. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (v. 8). So Israel, and only Israel, was to keep holy the Sabbath day. God warned the Israelites to not try to get others to do their work for them on the Sabbath. Thus we read, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates” (vv. 9-10). God made the 7th day Sabbath the sign of the covenant He made with Israel, and only Israel. "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested’. When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:13-18).  Notice that the penalty for any Israelite who violated the Sabbath was death. No Gentile was ever condemned for violating the Sabbath.

This idea that the Sabbath was given only to the Israelites is confirmed in the book of Nehemiah. “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses” (9:13-14). The beginning of the Sabbath is always related to Moses never to anyone else. With this Ezekiel agrees. “Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the desert. I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy” (Ezekiel 20:10-12).

So, Michael, as you can see the Bible makes it clear that the Sabbath was given only to Israel and that after the Exodus. It was the sign of the Old Covenant between God and Israel and no one else. By the way in the New Covenant we learn that the Old Covenant is obsolete and consequently so is the sign of that obsolete covenant. “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13).

Thanks for the question!

God Bless You,
Sal