One of the arguments against the Sabbath involves pulling up all the restrictions and rituals that burdened the Sabbath as "the ONLY" way to really keep the Sabbath.
But isn't that just the way the enemy managed to distort the Sabbath in the OT and then, after Christ, to phase out the true Sabbath and replace it with his SUNday? He did this by making it a burden and then blaming God for a burdensome day?
Of course if one does not understand the true meaning of the Sabbath and piles a whole host of burdens upon it to make it a dreaded day, then people think they need to be liberated from such a practice.
What they fail to realize is that the SABBATH is a LIBERATING day, and those who haven't discovered that are the ones who actually need to be liberated.
Here's an argument where a person tries to pit the "Sabbath in Exodus" (and Deuteronomy) against us:
"Adventist like to call attention to the word REMEMBER in the fourth commandment. But they really would like to forget the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5. In order to keep the Sabbath "according to the commandment" you must remember the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt each and every Sabbath. This is absent from the Adventists practice and teaching, and understandably so. It would be out of place to require a Gentile Christian to remember the Hebrews Exodus from Egypt every Saturday and to further teach that they will forfeit eternal life if they fail to keep this commandment. And yet this is a part of keeping the Sabbath day Holy according to the Ten Commandments. It is not possible for Gentiles to remember that THEY were delivered from Egypt. Only the Jews themselves could fulfill this commandment.
The first words God spoke from the Mountain were "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6
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Here I see the writer completely missing the spiritual lessons of the Exodus.
Yes, we need to remember how God first delivered Israel from the slavery of Egypt before He offered them the Sabbath! First God delivers, then He invites people to worship on His holy day.
The Sabbath is a little taste of Eden --
In Genesis we see the Sabbath full of perfection. Everything is good! The seventh day ends the week of creation, resulting in a beautiful world which causes delight in the creative wisdom of the Creator. The Sabbath was created for man! (Mark 2:23) God and man in harmony with each other enjoying the works of God's hand. There is no sin -- no death, nothing of that sort. What a wonderful day that was!
In Exodus the scene has drastically changed. People have subjected other people to slavery. Sin has played its cruel games and ensnared its prey. The exodus is actually a type of God's work freeing His people from sinful bondage, freeing them to once again enjoy communion with God!
Worship was severely restricted in Eygpt. Yet one of the first tastes of freedom for the Israelites includes the re-introduction of the Sabbath.
Deut. 5:15 And remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God brought you out from there through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
God told them to take one day to rest in holy communion with Him. And this is one point we must remember -- To keep anything holy we must be in connection with God Who alone can bring that holiness into our lives.
Here were slaves who all their lives had been under a ruler who didn't care if they got their rest. In fact in Exodus five we see pharoah very angry at the very thought that his slaves should have some rest.
He didn't care about their personal well being. He was their "lord" and saw them merely as slaves to pour out all their energy in working for him. He didn't care if they lived or died.
The Sabbath shows the Israelites now had a totally different LORD! "Come apart and rest awhile" (See Mark 6:31) Yes, we have a "rest" in Christ all the time, but we also need rest from the pressures of life -- "Come apart and rest awhile".
The Sabbath is a day a person is liberated from the pressures of work and struggle for subsistence. A day to relax in the Lord and reflect on His goodness and care. It interrupts the toilsome routine of daily living, and reminds us that we are children of God!
ALSO -- in order to "keep the Sabbath Holy" God first liberates us from sin. That's what redemption is all about! Freeing us from sin and restoring us into fellowship with our God. Far more than any animal sacrifices which could not in actuality cleanse anyone from sin, the blood of Christ can forgive and cleanse! We are freed from sin! (See Romans 6)
Egypt in prophecy is symbolic of the bondage or taskmaster of sin.
And yes, on Sabbath we REMEMBER.
We remember that 1. God is our Creator (Gen. 2:1-3, Ex. 20:8-11) 2. God is the One Who delivered us from the bondage of sin, just as He delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt. There is a powerful and MOST IMPORTANT lesson in this! 3. God is the One Who sanctifies us . (Ez. 20:12,20) 4. He is Our God! (Ez. 20:12,20)
Here is another argument saying nobody can "keep the Sabbath".
"Without the Levitical system being fully in place, it is impossible to properly observe the festal, weekly Sabbath. There was more involved than rest from labor in keeping the Sabbath. When the Levitical Priesthood came to an end and the veil was rent in twain from top to bottom the festal Sabbath likewise came to an end.
According to the Scriptures, the Sabbath was one of the FEASTS OF THE LORD! The sacrificial system is deeply embedded into Biblical Sabbath-keeping, and for good reason!
Leviticus 23:2-4
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. 3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings. 4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
In order to keep the Sabbath day holy, not only was it necessary to cease from manual labor on the seventh day; it was also required to perform animal sacrifices! Had Israel ignored this commandment it would would have been a sacrilege against both the sacredness and against the intended purpose of the Sabbath, which foreshadowed the rest we now have from sin, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross.
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Somehow the writer forgot that the Sabbath was instituted at Creation. There were no Levites, sacrifices etc. etc. back then. (Gen. 2:1-3, Mark 2:28)
And it seems he forgot that the Sabbath was restored to Israel PRIOR to there being any Levitical priesthood or temple. (Lev. 16:23)
Interestingly enough -- Isreal was asked to observe the Sabbath BEFORE the Levitical system was established, BEFORE the sanctuary was constructed, BEFORE God declared the commandments from Mt. Sinia.
Ezekiel tells us that they (the adults that left Egypt) did not enter the promised land because they "polluted God's Sabbaths" (Ez. 20:13,16,21) and this "polluting" is explained as having "idols". In other words -- observing the Sabbath is making God FIRST, when we put our own interests above "keeping the Sabbath holy" we are going after idols.
It all comes back to the fact that "keeping the Sabbath Holy" can ONLY be done when we are in communion with our God Who ALONE is holy and can impart holiness.
So Israel was to remember the Sabbath day from the beginning of their liberation from slavery when God delivered them so they were free to worship Him.
BUT the "feasts" were not obligatory until they reached the promised land!
Those feasts were connected to the harvest cycles that they would engage in once they were settled. (Lev. 23:10)
To take that one verse where the Sabbath is listed along with the feasts as proof that it is in the same class is ignoring many clear references that God's Holy Day far supersedes the feast days.
Another point, the writer also forgot that those who accept Christ the LORD of the Sabbath don't look to animal sacrifices for cleansing, they enter the Sabbath rejoicing due to the cleansing blood of Christ.
The Sabbath was not a shadow of that cleansing -- The cleansing (typified by the animal sacrifices) prepared people to come into communion with a Holy God. Keeping the Sabbath Holy has always been a result of God's liberating power from sin and offering mankind a special day each week for communion with our Holy God. For it is only when we are in communion with God that we can keep anything holy.
Also -- the spiritual "rest" was already offered to Israel before the cross thus it is NOT a substitute for the Sabbath day, but part of the whole liberation from bondage. Isreal was offered that spiritual rest right there in the wilderness after their liberation, along with the Sabbath day -- but because of their unbelief they didn't enter. (Ps. 95:10-11, Hebrews 3:18)
