Working on the sabbath?

Question

The 4th commandment states that no-one shall work on the sabbath. (Exodus 20:8-9)

Exodus 31:15 goes on to say that anyone working on the sabbath must be put to death.

For people who say they take the bible literally - do you stand by this? Do you support killing everyone who works on the sabbath?

Answer 1

What do they think their preacher is doing up there at the front of the church on Sunday? Don't they get paid for it? That's work in my dictionary.

Answer 2

The simple answer is that we won't have to do the killing, "The Lord of the Sabbath" will. It doesn't matter whether we support killing for working on the Sabbath or not, Elohim will execute His judgement on the matter according to His Word and promise.

Before the flood "The Lord of The Sabbath" allowed evil and lawlessness to wax worse and worse until He destroyed every living creature except Noah, his family, and the animals that entered the ark. Noah did not have to kill anyone.

Before Lot escaped, "The Lord of The Sabbath" allowed evil and lawlessness to wax worse and worse until He utterly destroyed the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot did not have to kill anyone.

The Levitical priesthood is not in place, the temple destroyed. Because of Elohim's wrath His people have been thrown into exile to this day, scattered among the nations. The Messiah is now the High Priest. Today mankind is still resisting Elohim's commandments and will continue to until His judgement will come upon the face of the Earth. Ultimately vengeance belongs to Him not for us.

Mat 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Justice: Punishment for persistently resisting Elohim's commandments. Life through seeking, believing, and keeping them.

Mercy: Forgiveness through repentance, turning back to the commandments of Elohim.

Faithfulness: Guarding the commandments of The Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. NOT the traditions of the elders commandments and precepts of men.

Isa 58:13 "If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure, And speaking your own word,
Isa 58:14 Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Answer 3

No—the only place that the Sabbath is commanded is in a covenant that the New Testament calls obsolete. True, the New Testament does not explicitly say that the Sabbath is obsolete. Instead, it says much more—that the entire old covenant is obsolete. It says that Christians do not have to keep the law of Moses. It says a large category of law is no longer required, and it never tells Christians to keep the Sabbath.

In Col. 2:16-17, Paul says, "Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ."

Answer 4

These passages can be difficult to understand. But, reading the Bible out of context is like a novice reading a C++ programming book from the last chapter and then going to sit for an exam. But in context we find out that it means something deeper and get an understanding rather than an assumption.

Some of the aspects of the commandments in the Old Testament took on a more spiritual meaning in the New Testament. They were the shadow (symbolic precursor) of the substance to come which is Jesus, The Son of God. This is why the Commandments (Testimony) were cut in stone by God's hand. And the ordinances (like stoning and lamb sacrifice) were written by Moses' hand on inferior and temporary substance.

We are still to obey the Ten Commandments but, in their full spiritual sense. And in faith. Just as Hebrews coming out of Egypt was symbolic of the refuge from sin (Egypt) and baptism into Christ (parting of the sea). The story of Noah is also symbolic of baptism. There is also a deeper spiritual lesson being taught to us in the Bible regarding the Commandments and faith in Christ. Therefore, the 'I Am' who spoke to Moses in the Old Testament is also the physical Messiah whom spoke to the Pharisees in the New.

If man is to atone for his problems on his own, (without faith in Jesus) it will cost him everything. Ever wonder why with all the science and technology of this world we still can't get it right? This is the lesson being taught to man in Exodus.

Answer 5

The fourth commandment states that no Israelite shall work on the sabbath. That is the literal take on the sabbath command.

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Answer 6

Exodus 31:15

Ver. 15. Six days may work be done;.... Allowed to be done by an Israelite, if he would; for this is not a command to work, but a permission or grant to do it; and therefore, seeing they had so many days granted them for their use, it could not be thought hard and unreasonable that God should claim one day in seven for his own use and service, and oblige them to refrain from work on it:

but in the seventh [is] the sabbath of rest; from worldly labour, and was typical of spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter:

holy to the Lord; separated from other days, and entirely devoted to the worship and service of God, and to be kept holy to the Lord in all holy and religious exercises, as hearing and reading the word, praying, praising, &c.

whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, [he] shall surely be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds, by casting stones, and so we find that the first transgressor of this law we read of was stoned to death, Nu 15:35.

Answer 7

I am a Sabbath-keeping baptist. I try to keep the Sabbath holy. I encourage the other members of my church to keep the Sabbath holy. But I do not go looking to see what they are doing on the Sabbath to accuse them. The death penalty for Sabbath breaking was a law for the Jews only. The command to keep the Sabbath holy is a universal law for all people.

If I were going to demand the death penalty for Sabbath breaking, I would also have to demand it for adultery.

Answer 8

NOBODY can take ALL the Laws of the Bible litterally. I promise you this. There are 613 Levitical laws of Moses in the Bible. Nearly 100 of these laws pertained to The Tabernacle or Temple, Holy Place, Holy of Holies and all the ceremonies and rituals revolved around the TEMPLE. Where is the Jewish Temple now? Ah the delima. How do you obey the laws about the Temple if there is no Temple or Tabernacle?

Answer 9

The Sabbath day was part of the law for Jewish people. As Christians we believe Jesus came to fulfil the law - and fulfilled everything b/c we couldn't.

God made man for the Sabbath - not the other way. The Sabbath is a sign of creative and redeeming power - it points to God as the source of life and knowledge: God said in Exodus: "It is a sign between Me and you that you may know that i am the LORD that sanctifies you"

Can i just add for the poster who said Christians believe the new testament supersedes the old: yes where the *law* is concerned - we believe as I've said Jesus came and fulfilled the law in order to set us free - b/c we couldn't fulfil it ourselves - it doesn't mean everything in the OT is superseded. Just wanted to make this point clear.

Answer 10

You can pick and chose which laws you follow from the bible, since it seems a new covenant with Jesus threw the law trade into complete confusion.
I believe its to do with Paul trying to convince the gentiles, they didn't like the idea of circumcision or not eating pork, I imagine, so the old Hebrew laws were compromised to say the least.

ipodpeas, that did happen, when Alexander invaded Israel he waited till the Sabbath. Needless to say the poor Hebrews were helpless.

Answer 11

Listen to Cheir.

The bible and most of the laws were made because MAN needed them not God. Look at what the Israelites did after God saved them from slavery, they went out and made a golden calf to worship.

Man has always made the rules and said they were God's because they wanted the power....still do for the most part.