The Sabbath Day, Should You Keep or not Keep?

[Raffi]

I think that Hebrews 4:1-11 has a lot to say for us concerning a principle for continued Sabbath-keeping for Apostolic Believers, but we have not noticed it before because of a slight mistranslation of Verse 9.

Heb. 4:9 uses an obscure Greek word SABBATISMOS. In the KJV it is translated as "rest" and that translation obscures the meaning of the Verse.

Sabbatismos does not mean "release" as the other Greek word for "rest" usually means. This Greek word SABATISMOS means "Sabbath observance" (Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament).

SABBATISMOS -- Strong's #4520: a Sabbath rest. Definition: a keeping of the Sabbath, a Sabbath rest.

"The words 'sabbath rest' is from the [Greek] noun sabbatismos, [and is] a unique word in the NT. This term appears also in Plutarch (Supercet. 3 [Moralia 166a]) for sabbath observance, and in four post-canonical Christian writings which are not dependent on Heb. 4:9"
-- The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 15, p. 856

"While sabbatismos is a noun, the verb form of the word is sabbatizo which means, 'to keep the Sabbath'"
-- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

Throughout the Septuagint (LXX), the verb SABBATIZO is never used except in relation to actual, literal "Sabbath-keeping".

When the writer of Hebrews used this word SABBATISMOS in Hebrews 4:9, he did so knowing full well that its meaning was well known to the Greek-speaking Believers of that day. The readers of The Book of Hebrews would have understood this to be referring to actual, literal Sabbath-keeping.

Thus, for me Hebrews 4:9 confirms and upholds the keeping of the literal Sabbath even by Apostolic Believers.

Other English translations uphold this interpretation:

* "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" NIV
* "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" ESV
* "So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" NASB
* "Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God's people" Holman Christian Standard Bible
* "There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep" ISV
* "Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God" NET Bible
* "So then, it remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath" Aramaic Bible in Plain English

"The Scriptures" translated by the Institute for Scripture Research render this Verse as "Sabbath observance" and the Basic English Bible and the highly respected Thayer dictionary use the equally literal phrase of "Sabbath keeping".


So, because I do not have a long time to spend building thus up, and explaining it in greater detail due to the clean-up issues I have to deal with here in Florida, please allow me to again post a couple of great sites that could do a better job than me at explaining the details of how Heb. 4:9 are used to endorse Sabbath-keeping for Christians. Please, I ask you, read these articles, they have VERY good points:

www.digitalcommons.answers.edu/dissertations/54/
This site is a student's dissertation on the subject and connects literal Sabbath-keeping in Hebrews 4:9 with the injunction to assemble ourselves together in Hebrews 10:19-25. Very good site.

https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/1...h/sabbatismos/

http://www.rbap.net/some-thoughts-on...of-god-heb-49/



Peace.

[Sean]

Good, with all that Greek redefinition, you have convinced yourself to stay inside your house on Saturday, of be stoned to death by your Jewish neighbors.

Rest easy.

[Sean]

HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH

What Is required in keeping the Sabbath according to Mosaic Law:

1. No work done at all (Ex. 20: 10; Lev. 23: 3; Jer. 17:21-22). No watering the lawn, no working in the yard, no hobbies, no surfing, no fixing flat tires, etc. By law if a person did not stop all types of activity in honor of the Sabbath, he was breaking the law. In Numbers 15:32-36 a man was caught collecting sticks on the Sabbath, and he received a rock concert from the people he knew.

2 No kindling of a fire (Ex. 35:3). No fellowship cookouts or barbecues. You can't go into a restaurant and get a hamburger that's been flame broiled, you can't cook eggs, or pancakes in the morning because you'd be kindling a fire for cooking. To drive a car would be to "kindle a fire" In the combustion chamber of your engine.

3. No traveling (Ex. 16:29). Later the Jews added to this law, allowing only a half mile of travel on the Sabbath which we see observed in the NT. But the pure law says "stay at home." Actually, If you kept this part of the law, you could not travel to your church gathering unless it was less than one-quarter mile away from home. If you had an emergency you could not drive to the hospital.

4. No trading (Amos 8:5). If you happened to need gas to get to church service, you could not "trade" money for gasoline. You would not be allowed to buy a cassette tape of that morning's message or a book at the store. There is to be No exchanging of money for goods. If you worked with stocks and you needed to sell you couldn’t.

5. No marketing (Neh. 10:31; 13:15,19). Make sure you do no shopping whatsoever. You can't buy any ice cream for dessert after dinner or anything else. If you run out of food or drink at home you can’t go out to purchase any, you can’t even by a stick of gum.

6."... a holy assembly with double the daily offering along with the other offerings. In other words, you are to give twice as much on the Sabbath (Num. 28:9).Do we practiced this today In compliance with Old Testament law. Do Sabbatarian's really practice the law? I have yet to see people go to Shabbat and give twice as much each week.

7. New showbread In the holy place (Lev. 24:8). Of course this cannot be done today since there is no temple, so this part of the Sabbath cannot be followed by the church. The fact Is the Sabbath was not made for the gentiles, but for the Jews and their generations Ex. 31:12-17). It's a law given between God and the Jews.

8.The last part of the requirements for keeping the Sabbath day law Is the penalty for breaking It. DEATH

(adapted from B. Stonebrakers trac Sabbath breakers)

God instructed how the Sabbath was to be observed: Do Sabbatarian's abide by all these laws?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...XOr2mWapMj_Ang

[Sean]

Now, if a fella could keep the sabbath according to pre-Mosaic Law, he would be onto something.

He could do it the modern way.

[Esaias]

I'm responding to this for the benefit of any who might be reading.

HOW TO KEEP THE SABBATH

What Is required in keeping the Sabbath according to Mosaic Law:

1. No work done at all (Ex. 20: 10; Lev. 23: 3; Jer. 17:21-22). No watering the lawn, no working in the yard, no hobbies, no surfing, no fixing flat tires, etc. By law if a person did not stop all types of activity in honor of the Sabbath, he was breaking the law. In Numbers 15:32-36 a man was caught collecting sticks on the Sabbath, and he received a rock concert from the people he knew.

The Bible does not say "stop all activities". It says to do no servile work, meaning your ordinary work for which you have six days given out of a week, and one day is given to you to cease your labours (and those of any servants or work animals). As for fixing flat tires, both the law and the example of Jesus show that works of mercy are not only lawful on the Sabbath, but you are forbidden to use the Sabbath as an excuse not to render aid to those who need it.

2 No kindling of a fire (Ex. 35:3). No fellowship cookouts or barbecues. You can't go into a restaurant and get a hamburger that's been flame broiled, you can't cook eggs, or pancakes in the morning because you'd be kindling a fire for cooking. To drive a car would be to "kindle a fire" In the combustion chamber of your engine.

The command against kindling a fire is part of the prohibition against work. Kindling fire is not prohibited because fire is prohibited, but because work is prohibited. Kindling a fire required gathering tinder and kindling, getting a spark, huffing and puffing and fanning until a flame starts, then continued tending and adding wood until a decent fire is going. And kindling fire was primarily for cooking. Again, a command must be understood in the context of its purpose. It does not, as modern Pharisees (Jews) insist, forbid flicking on a light switch or some similar thing.

3. No traveling (Ex. 16:29). Later the Jews added to this law, allowing only a half mile of travel on the Sabbath which we see observed in the NT. But the pure law says "stay at home." Actually, If you kept this part of the law, you could not travel to your church gathering unless it was less than one-quarter mile away from home. If you had an emergency you could not drive to the hospital.

If you refused to drive someone to the ER because "it is the Sabbath", you are sinning, according to the Law. There is no 1/4 mile limitation on traveling in the Bible. What the Pharisees added in the first century is not binding. Ex 16:29 was a prohibition against trying to gather manna on the Sabbath. Jesus and others clearly went outside their houses on Sabbath without transgressing, you can, too.

4. No trading (Amos 8:5). If you happened to need gas to get to church service, you could not "trade" money for gasoline. You would not be allowed to buy a cassette tape of that morning's message or a book at the store. There is to be No exchanging of money for goods. If you worked with stocks and you needed to sell you couldn’t.

Emergency needs are COMMANDED to be taken care of in spite of the Sabbath, so these arguments about emergencies are silly. As for business, buying and selling, etc, no Sabbath keeper I know of transacts personal financial business on the Sabbath, buys from stores, etc.

5. No marketing (Neh. 10:31; 13:15,19). Make sure you do no shopping whatsoever. You can't buy any ice cream for dessert after dinner or anything else. If you run out of food or drink at home you can’t go out to purchase any, you can’t even by a stick of gum.

Sabbath keepers PREPARE for the Sabbath before hand. Sabbath breakers apparently live moment by moment, hand to mouth, with no thought of preparing for even known circumstances. How sad! Sabbath keepers don't "go shopping" on Sabbath, but I guess Sabbath breakers can't help but shop on Sabbath? Who's in bondage, again? lol

6."... a holy assembly with double the daily offering along with the other offerings. In other words, you are to give twice as much on the Sabbath (Num. 28:9).Do we practiced this today In compliance with Old Testament law. Do Sabbatarian's really practice the law? I have yet to see people go to Shabbat and give twice as much each week.

Nobody was commanded to "give twice as much on Sabbath". Rather, priests were commanded to offer twice the daily offering (twice the work). In any event, there is no Temple, no Levitical priesthood, so no animal offerings. Since the old covenant itself is no longer in force, what priests were to do is of no concern to the church.

7. New showbread In the holy place (Lev. 24:8). Of course this cannot be done today since there is no temple, so this part of the Sabbath cannot be followed by the church. The fact Is the Sabbath was not made for the gentiles, but for the Jews and their generations Ex. 31:12-17). It's a law given between God and the Jews.

Nowhere does the Bible say either the Sabbath or "the law" were given "to Jews". Nowhere does the Bible say "the Sabbath was made for the Jews." In fact, Jesus said it was made for MAN (and considering it dates from the Beginning, man here must mean ADAM, who was not a Jew). Further, God promises a blessing to gentiles who keep Sabbath (Isaiah 56:6-7).

8.The last part of the requirements for keeping the Sabbath day law Is the penalty for breaking It. DEATH

The death penalty is given to the civil power (the state) to enforce. The fact the state refuses to enforce the penalty does NOT mean you are excused from obeying the command. The death penalty is also commanded for adultery, fornication, murder, kidnappings, etc, and the state does NOT enforce that penalty for most or all of those sins, yet nobody says "therefore they are no longer sins".

As usual, Sabbath breakers' arguments are filled with inaccuracies, logical fallacies, and genuine silliness. Sabbath breakers routinely construct a straw man "You can't barely breathe on the Sabbath!" and then claim such nonsense is what God actually commanded, and then trust you to dismiss Sabbath keeping as "obviously too much bondage". In this, Sabbath breakers blaspheme God by making Him out to be a tyrant.

Ask yourself, who wants to make God look bad? Who delights in causing people to think God is too strict, or too demanding, or too this or that? Who has the goal of enticing you to NOT DO WHAT GOD SAID TO DO?

Satan.

So, as Dylan once sang, " You gotta serve somebody." Who are YOU going to serve?

[Esaias]

Now Sean, if all you are going to do is spam the thread with one liner posts, quotes from Pastor Google, and your usual silliness, please find another thread to destroy.

[Sean]

Esaias, I see all kinds of wacky posts/cartoons with googled stuff from yourself.

I rarely do it, so don't play Mr. innocent to me.

Thanks.

[Sean]

Fact is, all of today's sabbath keepers are fake sabbath keepers.

It is all a tiny smidgin of what was required when it was introduced.

They would have all been put to death the first day of living under Moses.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by Raffi

I think that Hebrews 4:1-11 has a lot to say for us concerning a principle for continued Sabbath-keeping for Apostolic Believers, but we have not noticed it before because of a slight mistranslation of Verse 9.

Heb. 4:9 uses an obscure Greek word SABBATISMOS. In the KJV it is translated as "rest" and that translation obscures the meaning of the Verse.

Sabbatismos does not mean "release" as the other Greek word for "rest" usually means. This Greek word SABATISMOS means "Sabbath observance" (Arndt and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament).

SABBATISMOS -- Strong's #4520: a Sabbath rest. Definition: a keeping of the Sabbath, a Sabbath rest.

"The words 'sabbath rest' is from the [Greek] noun sabbatismos, [and is] a unique word in the NT. This term appears also in Plutarch (Supercet. 3 [Moralia 166a]) for sabbath observance, and in four post-canonical Christian writings which are not dependent on Heb. 4:9"
-- The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 15, p. 856

"While sabbatismos is a noun, the verb form of the word is sabbatizo which means, 'to keep the Sabbath'"
-- A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.

Throughout the Septuagint (LXX), the verb SABBATIZO is never used except in relation to actual, literal "Sabbath-keeping".

When the writer of Hebrews used this word SABBATISMOS in Hebrews 4:9, he did so knowing full well that its meaning was well known to the Greek-speaking Believers of that day. The readers of The Book of Hebrews would have understood this to be referring to actual, literal Sabbath-keeping.

Thus, for me Hebrews 4:9 confirms and upholds the keeping of the literal Sabbath even by Apostolic Believers.

Other English translations uphold this interpretation:

* "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God" NIV
* "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" ESV
* "So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" NASB
* "Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God's people" Holman Christian Standard Bible
* "There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep" ISV
* "Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God" NET Bible
* "So then, it remains for the people of God to keep the Sabbath" Aramaic Bible in Plain English

"The Scriptures" translated by the Institute for Scripture Research render this Verse as "Sabbath observance" and the Basic English Bible and the highly respected Thayer dictionary use the equally literal phrase of "Sabbath keeping".


So, because I do not have a long time to spend building thus up, and explaining it in greater detail due to the clean-up issues I have to deal with here in Florida, please allow me to again post a couple of great sites that could do a better job than me at explaining the details of how Heb. 4:9 are used to endorse Sabbath-keeping for Christians. Please, I ask you, read these articles, they have VERY good points:

www.digitalcommons.answers.edu/dissertations/54/
This site is a student's dissertation on the subject and connects literal Sabbath-keeping in Hebrews 4:9 with the injunction to assemble ourselves together in Hebrews 10:19-25. Very good site.

https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/1...h/sabbatismos/

http://www.rbap.net/some-thoughts-on...of-god-heb-49/



Peace.

The link to the dissertation does not work. Here is the correct link:

http://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/54/

[peter83]

Originally Posted by Sean

Good, with all that Greek redefinition, you have convinced yourself to stay inside your house on Saturday, of be stoned to death by your Jewish neighbors.

Rest easy.

Brother Sean? Are you convicted that they use a Greek text? I am laughing and crying here with the explanations. I think "are all Greek to them"