Christians and Sabbath

(All verses quoted in this study are taken from the New King James Version, if not otherwise mentioned.)

 

What is Sabbath

 

“Shabbat” is the original Hebrew word for the English word Sabbath. The root word is Shin-Beit-Tav which means “to cease, to end, to rest.” It is the seventh day after six days of work. Jews and some sects of Christians observe the Sabbath every week as a day of rest and worship.

 

Two themes govern the Jewish Sabbath: to remember and to observe. It is a commemoration of God’s six-day creation of the universe and their freedom from Egyptian slavery.

 

Exodus 20:8–11

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

 

Deuteronomy 5:15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

 

Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, on which the Israelites were to rest, in remembrance that God created the universe in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day. It is a remembrance of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Sabbath is a “sign” of the covenant between Israel and God (Exodus 31:13). There were special commands given to Israel regarding a “sacred assembly” held on the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3). Sabbath observance was very important to the Israelites. According to the Mosaic law, anyone who dishonours the Sabbath would be put to death.

Creation and interpretive theories

 (All verses quoted are from NKJV if not otherwise mentioned)

 

There is more than one interpretive theory about the creation story narrated in the Book of Genesis. Many of them are trying to explain the creation process, accommodating it with geological and scientific discoveries. Science claims that the universe is millions or billions of years old, while the Bible claims a younger age for the earth. So different theories are developed to incorporate scientific theories. They have the support of some Bible scholars, study Bibles, and seminaries. However, conservative theologians dismiss all these theories for a literary seven-day creation story as described in Genesis 1 and 2.

 

In this study, we will discuss four main theories: the Gap Theory, or the Ruin and Reconstruction Theory; Progressive Creationism, or Day-Age Creationism; Theistic Evolution; and Young Earth Creationism.

Gap Theory

Ruin and reconstruction theory

 

One of the most popular theories for interpreting the creation story in Genesis is known as the Gap Theory or the Ruin and Reconstruction Theory. The theory reconciles the creation story in Genesis with the long geological ages.

Old Testament - abolished or fulfilled?

The Old Testament and the Old Covenant are not the same thing. The Old Testament contains the old covenant, but the Old Testament is not only the old covenant. The Old Testament contains the creation story, the protoevangelium, or the declaration of grace in the Garden of Eden, the story of Noah and the covenant with him, promising a common grace to all humans, the election of Abraham, the covenant of grace with him, the history of Israel and the Jews, the prophecies about Israel and the Jews, and the new covenant that would be instituted by the death of Jesus and the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Old Testament contains more than one covenant. One of them is the Mosaic Covenant, which we often call the Old Covenant.

 

So, when we discuss whether the Old Covenant has passed away, we are not meaning in any way that the Old Testament is cancelled. The Old Testament as well as the New Testament are the scriptures of God. All scriptures are God’s infallible and inerrant word. So, they are the final authority on all matters that concern God’s redemptive plan and purpose. All the Old Testament scriptures are progressive divine revelations, and they are pedagogical for believers in Jesus Christ.

Old Testament and the New Testament

The Christian Bible is one book that has two parts. These two parts are called the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word "testament" comes from the Latin word "testamentum,"  which means "covenant" or "agreement." In the Bible, it refers to the covenant between God and man. The Old Testament is the first part of the Bible and is made up of 39 books. The New Testament is the second part of the Bible and is made up of 27 books. Together, these two testaments contain 66 books and are a literary unity.

 

The unity of the Bible is that it has a single storyline and a unified and cohesive plot. The whole story is about the redemption of humankind, progressively revealed through three stages: the fall, redemption, and consummation.

 

Old Testament

 

The Old Testament, which is the sacred scriptures of the Jewish faith, is traditionally divided into three different sections: the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim. They are the law or pentateuch, prophets, and writings.

Coram Deo

The Vulgate, also called Biblia Vulgata, or the Latin Vulgate, is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible, done by St. Jerome. St. Jerome, also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian priest, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian. He was born in 347 AD and died in 419/420 at Bethlehem, Palestine.

                                                    

Pope Damasus I (Damasus of Rome, reign, from October 366 to December 11, 384) commissioned Saint Jerome to produce a standard Latin translation of the Bible. There were many different Latin versions of the Bible at that time. But Pope Damasus I wanted the church to have a standard version to promote universal doctrine.

 

St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin between A.D. 383 and 404. He translated the gospels from Greek. He also corrected or revised some of the existing translations. He translated the Old Testament from Hebrew. In 406, he completed his translation of the Bible into Latin. Jerome’s Latin Bible is known as the Vulgate because he used the common, or vulgar, language of early mediaeval times.

 

The Latin phrase “Coram Deo” appears in Psalm 55:13 of the Vulgate. The verse is found in Psalm 56:13 in modern English translations.

Covenant theology

The past, present, and future events in the redemptive history of humans are a progressive story of God’s covenants with humans. Covenants found both in the Old Testament and New Testament unlock the meaning and significance of the death of Christ. The person and work of Christ were the fulfilment of all Biblical covenants. Jesus expounded his death in covenantal terms and fulfillments. His blood inaugurated the New Covenant. Without his bloodshed, there would have been no New Covenant.

Characteristics of covenant theology

1.     Covenant Theology is also called federal theology. The Latin word “foedus” means covenant. Covenant theology is not a systematic set of doctrines. In that sense, it is not a theology. It is a framework for biblical interpretation. Covenant theology brings together all covenants in the scripture, into a coherent account. It explains the significance of the scriptural covenants in redemptive history.

2.     Covenant theology explains the relationship between God and humanity in terms of divinely initiated covenants. It explains almost all themes and issues related to human redemptive history. Covenants expound on unity and progress, as well as the temporary discontinuity in the process of fulfilling the promise. It reveals the final fulfilment of redemption and salvation.

Jesus and Nicodemus - John 3:1-21

The Gospel According to John is the fourth gospel narrative in the New Testament. The authorship is ascribed to St. John, the disciple of Jesus, but it is often disputed. The teachings and testimonies of John are evident in the gospel. The date and place of composition of the gospel are also not certain. It might have been written at Ephesus in Asia Minor about 90-100 AD.

 

Though no audience is mentioned in the gospel, John might have in mind Christians of Hellenistic background. Readers include both Jewish and Gentile Christians living in a Greco-Roman world. For his Greek readers, John frequently explains Jewish customs and Palestinian geography. The mention of "logos" is a reference to the Greek philosophical concept about the ultimate reality, which is God. At the same time, John’s Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. The seven "I AM" statements have direct relation to Exodus 3:14.