Objection #1: The Sabbath was given only to the Jewish people.
Many Christians reject the idea that we are to keep the Sabbath because they see it as a law given only to Israel in order to set them apart from other nations. It is argued that Christians are not part of the covenant that God made with Israel; therefore, we are not required to keep some of the commandments given in the Torah. (See my teaching 5 Reasons Christians Should Keep The Torah)
Was God’s intention really for only the Jewish people to keep the Sabbath? Dr. Craig Keener, PhD, weighs in:
As I tried to study the biblical text honestly, I could see that this was not just a matter of keeping laws designated for Israel; God actually modeled the Sabbath rest in creation (Gen 2:2-3). Whether we take that narrative literally or not, the principle of the Sabbath is there, and it apparently is an example for all people, not just those who are ethnically descended from Abraham.
Interestingly, the fourth commandment passage itself mandates a Sabbath rest for not only Israel but also for “the sojourner” and even animals (Exodus 20:10). So even when the Sabbath is given within the context of God’s covenant with Israel, the command to rest was not given to Israel exclusively. The sojourner was also instructed to rest on the Sabbath.
In addition, Isaiah 56:3-8 speaks of “the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord.” Scripture describes these foreigners as ones who keep the Sabbath and hold fast to the covenant. And because of that, God is pleased and they are promised an “everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” This passage is a clear example of how God desires to be worshiped in His “house of prayer for all peoples.”
As we can see, the Sabbath command was not exclusive to Israel in the Old Testament. There’s really no debate that non-Israelites were also to keep the Sabbath. But what about in the New Testament? While it is true that Gentile believers are not explicitly commanded to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament, we cannot use that as our basis for saying that Gentile believers shouldn’t keep it. The New Testament doesn’t reiterate many commandments found in the Torah, such as “don’t practice necromancy,” yet Christians still believe we should keep them. Furthermore, Yeshua’s instructions to His disciples just prior to His ascension were to make disciples of “all the nations” and teach them all that He had commanded them (Matthew 28:19-20). “All” that He commanded them most certainly would have included the Sabbath as it is part of the Torah that Yeshua affirmed in Matthew 5:17-20. Therefore, the Torah—including the Sabbath—is an applicable doctrine for all who follow Yeshua, Jew, and Gentile.
