Is the Sabbath just for Israel and not Gentile Christians?

 

Someone on Facebook asked me, "How do you answer when someone says that the Sabbath is just a sign for Israel and not Gentiles?"

Good question! There are two approaches to this:

First, "we who were once far off have been brought near" and made one with Israel. The Greek word translated as "church" in most Bibles really just refers to "the congregation of the people"....in other words, it refers to the collective of God's people. God only has one people, Israel. If we have become God's people, then we have become part of Israel.

Second, the Sabbath is a sign of the relationship between God and Israel, but being used as a sign in one context doesn't preclude it being used as a moral imperative in another context. If God had said, "Wearing shoes will be a sign between me and Israel," would that mean that other people shouldn't wear shoes? The Sabbath is a good thing. It honors the Creator, promotes community cohesiveness, and shows kindness to one's servants, animals, and employees. 

The commandment is very clear that one of the primary purposes of Sabbath is to show kindness to other people, and it doesn't work if everyone isn't doing it on the same day. If gentile Christians are supposed to love their neighbors, then they should be keeping the Sabbath for that reason. If they are supposed to love God, then they should be keeping the Sabbath for that reason also.