By Steve A. Hamilton

Leviticus 25:1-5

Introduction:  The Old Law was a tutor to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24-25).  That implies there are significant things to learn from that tutor.  With respect to Sabbath observances, what should we learn from that tutor?

I. The scriptures reveal 3 reasons for the Sabbath laws.

          A. A day of rest (Ex. 20:11).

          B. A sign of a covenant relationship between God and Israel (Ex. 31:13-17).

          C. Commemorates the Israelites’ deliverance from bondage (Deut. 5:15).                    

II. Rest and deliverance was the meaning of the Sabbaths.

          A. Israel was delivered from bondage that they might enter the promised rest in Canaan (Deut. 12:9-10).

          B. It symbolized the rest and deliverance from the bondage of sin we will enter (Heb. 4:1-11).

          C. Jesus tried to illustrate this true meaning of the Sabbath when he healed on the Sabbath (Luke 13:11-16).  What more appropriate day was there to give rest and deliverance?

III. The Sabbath laws included the keeping of the Sabbath years (Lev. 25:3-4).

          A. The Sabbath year observance required the release of slaves and the remission of debt (Deut. 15:1-18). Do those who keep the Sabbath day today also keep the Sabbath years or Jubilee?

          B. The Jubilee occurred once in a life time to proclaim liberty (Lev. 25:10).  Sounds like a fore shadow of our eternal rest.

          C. Likewise, if the Israelites failed to keep the Sabbath laws, there were long lasting consequences (Lev. 26).  The punishments foretold to the Israelites were fulfilled as stated in Lev. 26 through the 70 years of captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem.

IV. The Sabbath was a shadow of things to come that ended with the Old Law (Col. 2:14-17). 

          A. The significance of the Sabbath for us is to understand it shadows the rest and deliverance from sin to come.

          B. Likewise, it signifies the consequences if we fail to learn from the Israelites in their disobedience (Heb. 4:11).  

Conclusion: The Sabbath laws were exclusively part of the Old Law.  To observe the Sabbath as a practice of law would mean we are trying to find justification by that Old Law.  Since no one under the Old Law was able to keep it, why would anyone want to observe any part of that Old Law (Jas. 2:10)?

          Under the New Law, we also have a promise of rest and deliverance from the bondage of sin.  Yet, we will only enter that rest upon obedience to His will. 

Last modified: 05/02/08