SDA Belief #20: The Sabbath
"The gracious Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God’s unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God’s kingdom. The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God’s creative and redemptive acts." (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; 31:13-17; Lev. 23:32; Deut. 5:12-15; Isa. 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Eze. 20:12, 20; Matt. 12:1-12; Mark 1:32; Luke 4:16; Heb. 4:1-11.)
From the perspective of New Covenant Theology, the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) position on the Sabbath relies on a hermeneutic that flattens the distinction between the Old (Mosaic) Covenant and the New Covenant established by Jesus Christ. While we respect the desire to honor God, we submit that this statement elevates a "shadow" of the Old Testament above the "substance" found in Christ.
Below is a point-by-point critique based on sound exegesis and the progressive revelation of Scripture.
1. Critique of the "Creation Ordinance."
SDA Statement: "The Sabbath is... a celebration of God’s creative... acts. (Gen. 2:1-3)"
The Argument: The SDA view asserts that the Sabbath was instituted at Creation for all mankind, long before the Jewish nation existed.
New Covenant Response:
Let’s really take a moment to unpack this first point, because it is the foundation of the whole SDA argument. The SDA statement claims that the Sabbath is a "celebration of God’s creative acts," implying that because God rested in Eden, Adam and Eve, and by extension, all of us today, are commanded to keep the Sabbath. But if we actually sit down and study the text of Genesis 2:1-3 carefully, without wearing "SDA glasses," we notice something very significant.
You see, while the text clearly states as a historical fact that God rested and sanctified the seventh day, there is absolutely no command given to man. It’s just not there. God rested, yes, but He never told Adam, "You must rest also." In theology, we often call this a prolepsis, which is just a fancy way of saying that Moses, who wrote Genesis after the Law was given at Sinai, was explaining to the Israelites why God gave them the Sabbath. He was looking back from Sinai to Creation to give the theological reason for the Law, but he was not recording a law given to Adam.
Think about this: if the Sabbath was such a crucial, universal moral law binding on all humanity from the very beginning, isn't it strange that the Bible is completely silent about it for thousands of years? We have detailed stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We see Abraham building altars, tithing, and even being commended for keeping God's "statutes and laws" (Genesis 26:5), yet there is not a single mention of him or anyone else keeping the Sabbath before Exodus. It is a deafening silence. If it were a requirement for salvation or a sign of loyalty back then, surely God would have mentioned it at least once in the lives of the Patriarchs.
This brings us to the "smoking gun," which is found in Nehemiah 9:13-14. In this passage, the Levites are praying to God and recounting their history. They say, "You came down also on Mount Sinai... and made known to them Your holy Sabbath."
Now, we have to pay attention to that phrase "made known." If I introduce you to a new friend, I am making them known to you because you didn't know them before. You cannot "make known" something that everybody has already been doing for 2,500 years! The prophet Ezekiel also supports this when he says God gave the Sabbath to be a sign between Him and Israel (Ezekiel 20:12). For a sign to be effective, it has to be unique. If all the nations had been keeping the Sabbath since Adam, how could it possibly be a special, unique sign just for the Jews? It wouldn't distinguish them at all.
So, the conclusion we reach is actually quite clear: The Sabbath was not a universal "creation ordinance" given to Adam and Eve for all mankind. Instead, it was a special covenant gift revealed for the first time to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. It was their special privilege, not a burden placed on the whole world.
Conclusion: The Sabbath is not a universal creation ordinance binding on all humanity, but a specific covenant sign given later to Israel.
2. Critique of the "Perpetual Sign of the Eternal Covenant."
SDA Statement: "The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. (Ex. 31:13-17; Eze. 20:12, 20)"
The Argument: SDAs believe the Sabbath identifies God’s people in all ages.
New Covenant Response:
Now, let’s move on to the second major point, which is the SDA claim that the Sabbath is a "perpetual sign" for all of God's people throughout eternity. This is a very serious claim because it implies that if you don't keep the Sabbath, you are not wearing God's "badge" or "uniform." However, brothers and sisters, we must be very honest and strict in how we handle the text in Exodus 31:13-17.
When we open our Bibles to that passage, God is very specific. He says, "It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever." He does not say it is a sign between Him and the Gentiles, or Him and the Church. In our context, think of it like a marriage certificate or a land title; those documents are binding only between the specific parties named in the contract. If God made this specific agreement with ethnic Israel, we cannot just grab a marker and write "The Church" over "Israel." That is not respecting the original contract.
Furthermore, we often get tripped up by the English word "forever." In Hebrew, this word is olam. While we often think "forever" means "until the end of time without stopping," in the Bible, olam often means "for the duration of the age" or "as long as the covenant stands."
Here is the proof: In Exodus 40:15, God says the Levitical priesthood and the animal sacrifices are a statute "forever" (olam). But let me ask you: do we still offer goat and sheep sacrifices today? Do we still need a Levitical priest to mediate for us? Of course not! We know from Hebrews chapters 7 through 10 that Jesus has replaced the animal sacrifices and the human priesthood. So, if the "forever" priesthood of Aaron came to an end when Jesus arrived, then the "forever" sign of the Sabbath also came to an end when the Old Covenant was fulfilled.
This brings us to the beautiful reality of the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34 promised that a new agreement was coming, one that would be different from the one made at Sinai. The writer of Hebrews is very bold in Hebrews 8:13 when he says that by calling this covenant "new," God has made the first one obsolete. The old contract, including its terms, its priesthood, and its sign (the Sabbath), has been set aside.
So, how do we identify God's people today if we don't have the Sabbath sign? We have something much better. We don't have an external sign of a day; we have the internal seal of a Person. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us clearly that after we believed, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He is the guarantee of our inheritance. In the New Covenant, the way you know someone belongs to God is not by checking their calendar on Saturday, but by checking the fruit of the Spirit in their life. The Shadow (Sabbath) has passed; the Substance (Christ and the Spirit) is here.
Conclusion: The "sign" of the Old Covenant (Sabbath) is not the sign of the New Covenant. The sign of the New Covenant believer is the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), not a day of the week.
3. Critique of "Symbol of Redemption and Sanctification."
SDA Statement: "It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification... a foretaste of our eternal future."
The Argument: The Sabbath is viewed as a means of sanctification and a token of allegiance.
New Covenant Response:
Let us now gently examine the third claim, where the SDA statement says the Sabbath is a "symbol of our redemption" and a "sign of our sanctification." This sounds very holy, and we appreciate the desire to honor God. But friends, in the Bible, we must understand the vital difference between the Shadow and the Substance.
The key text here is Colossians 2:16-17. Paul writes, "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."
We need to be very careful with our exegesis here. Some will argue that "sabbaths" here only refers to the yearly ceremonial sabbaths (like Passover), not the weekly Saturday Sabbath. But look at the list Paul uses: "Festivals" (yearly), "New Moons" (monthly), and "Sabbaths" (weekly). This is a standard Jewish way of describing the entire calendar of holy days. Paul is including the weekly Sabbath in this list.
He calls all of these things a "shadow" (in Greek, *skia*). Think of it this way: If you are waiting for your father to come home from abroad, and you see his shadow coming around the corner, you get excited because the shadow tells you he is coming. But once your father steps around the corner and you can hug him, do you keep hugging the shadow? Of course not! That would be foolish. You hug the reality—the person.
Paul is saying that the Sabbath was just the shadow cast by Christ in the Old Testament. It was a picture of rest. But now that the "Body" (Christ) has arrived, focusing on the shadow is spiritually redundant. It is like looking at a photo of your wife when she is standing right in front of you.
This leads us to a very serious warning in Galatians 4:9-11. Paul is actually afraid for the Galatians. He asks them, "How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements...?" He says, "You observe days and months and seasons and years."
For Paul, going back to observing strict holy days as a requirement for sanctification is like going back to slavery. It suggests that Christ’s finished work on the cross was not enough to sanctify us, so we must add our own "time-keeping" to be truly holy. But the New Covenant tells us that our sanctification does not come from a day of the week; it comes from our union with Jesus Christ. He is our Sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). We don't need the token anymore; we have the King Himself.
Conclusion: Our sanctification is not signaled by observing a day, but by faith in the finished work of Christ. To mandate the shadow is to obscure the sufficiency of the Savior.
4. Critique of "Evening to Evening" Observance
SDA Statement: "Joyful observance... from evening to evening, sunset to sunset..."
The Argument: The specifics of the timing are binding.
New Covenant Response:
Let us now look at the fourth point, where the SDA statement insists on a specific timing: "from evening to evening, sunset to sunset." This sounds very biblical because it follows the ancient Jewish way of marking time, but we must ask a serious question: Is this specific Jewish timing binding on the universal Body of Christ today?
The SDA argument essentially claims that the exact hours when the sun goes down are critical for obedience. But from a New Covenant perspective, this enforces a Jewish civil and ceremonial regulation upon believers who are not under that covenant. It creates a heavy "Jewish yoke" for the Gentile church.
The most critical passage to understand here is Romans 14:5-6. Paul writes: "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind."
We need to carefully look at the context. Paul was writing to a mixed church in Rome. Some members were Jewish believers who grew up strictly keeping the Sabbath, and others were Gentile believers who did not. There was tension between them. Now, imagine if one group was breaking a moral absolute, like "Do not murder" or "Do not commit adultery." Would Paul ever say, "Well, let each person be fully convinced in his own mind"? Absolutely not! He would shout, "Stop sinning immediately!"
But here, regarding the keeping of days, Paul says it is up to the individual's conscience. By doing this, he effectively downgrades day-keeping from a Moral Obligation to a matter of Christian Liberty. If the Sabbath were still a binding moral law equal to "Do not steal," Paul would be guilty of confusing the church by calling it optional.
Furthermore, Galatians 5:1-3 gives us a very stern warning. Paul says that if we let ourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery, Christ will be of no profit to us. He warns that if you obligate yourself to keep one specific part of the Mosaic Law (like the Sabbath timing), you become a "debtor to keep the whole law." You cannot pick and choose the parts you like. If you demand the Sabbath timing from the Law of Moses, you are technically obligated to keep the entire 613 code.
But the good news is found in Romans 7:4-6. We have become dead to the law through the body of Christ. We are released from the law so that we serve in the newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. We do not need to watch the clock for sunset to know when we are holy or acceptable to God; we look to Jesus every moment of every day.
5. Critique of "Hebrews 4" Application
SDA Statement: "(Heb. 4:1-11)" is cited to support weekly observance.
The Argument: The Sabbath remains for the people of God.
New Covenant Response:
Finally, we come to what many consider the most important text in this discussion. The SDA statement cites Hebrews 4:1-11 to support the idea that we must still keep the weekly Sabbath. They often quote verse 9: "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God," and conclude, "See? The Bible says the Sabbath day remains!"
But brothers and sisters, if we read the whole chapter in context, we discover that the author of Hebrews is actually teaching the opposite of a weekly observance. He is not telling us to keep a day; he is inviting us into a state of spiritual grace.
Let’s follow the Argument of Hebrews step-by-step. The author is writing to Jewish Christians who were tempted to go back to the Old Covenant rituals. He reminds them of their history. He says that under Joshua, the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Canaan). That was supposed to be their "rest." But in verse 8, he makes a crucial point: "For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day."
The author is saying that the physical rest of the weekly Sabbath and the physical rest of the Promised Land were never the ultimate goal. They were just pictures. If the weekly Sabbath was the true rest, then the Jews would have already entered it! But they didn't.
So, what is the true rest? Look closely at verses 9 and 10: "There remains therefore a rest (sabbatismos) for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His."
Here is the key to the whole mystery: What works are we ceasing from? Is God asking us to cease from carpentry, accounting, or driving a jeepney once a week? No. The context of Hebrews is about belief vs. unbelief. The "works" we cease from are our own attempts to earn righteousness. We stop trying to work our way to heaven.
Just as God finished His work of Creation and rested, Jesus finished His work of Redemption on the cross and sat down (Hebrews 10:12). When we trust in Jesus, we enter into His finished work. We stop struggling to save ourselves.
The Application: This means the true Christian Sabbath is not 24 hours on Saturday. It is a 24/7 lifestyle of faith. We do not rest just one day a week; we live in a perpetual Sabbath rest in Jesus every single day. Every morning when you wake up and trust in Christ’s grace rather than your own performance, you are keeping the Sabbath in its true, New Covenant meaning.
Summary Conclusion
So, to summarize our critique of the SDA Belief #20:
While the language of the statement is very beautiful, it builds its house on the "shadows" of the Old Covenant rather than the "substance" of the New.
- Christ is our Sabbath. He is the fulfillment that the types pointed to.
- The Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) is our new standard. We are guided by the Spirit and the law of love, not by the code written on stone tablets (2 Corinthians 3:7-11).
True Allegiance: Our badge of authority is not a day on the calendar, but our love for one another (John 13:35) and the indwelling Spirit. We are no longer under the "schoolmaster" (the Law), because faith has finally come (Galatians 3:24-25). We are free in Christ!
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