THE SABBATH AS A MEMORIAL OF THE EXODUS

THE SABBATH AS A MEMORIAL OF THE EXODUS

Virgil Warren, PhD

  I. Sabbath observance was not a memorial of the creation. If it were, it would have been observed as long as this creation stands: from the beginning, by all nations, till the end of time.

 II. The Sabbath is a memorial only of the exodus.

            A.  A memorial will not be a memorial of two unrelated events. The emphasis here is on realities. The creation and the Sabbath are both associated with the week, but they are not related by their nature.

B.    Hebrews 3-4 shows that exodus-entrance and God’s creation rest are not related realities.

1.                                            The ministries of Moses and Joshua were one

                        ministry in that the exodus-entrance was one

                        set historical sequence.

2.   The exodus-entrance is dissociated from the “rest of God” in Genesis 2:1-4 according to Hebrews 4:8: “If Joshua had given them rest [in entering Canaan, David] would not have spoken afterward of another day.” 

                        a.   God’s rest does not find its human counterpart in the conquest of Canaan, but in something yet future to Psalm 95. The “rest” in Canaan is not the reality that partakes in the “rest of God” in creation as per Genesis 2:3.

                        b.   Genesis 2:3 was written in terms of the Jews to whom it was first given as an explanation or origins at the time of Moses.

            C.  Scripture identifies the Sabbath as a memorial of one of these of these dissociated realities. Deuteronomy 5:15 does not relate to the creation in meaning and purpose (contrast Exodus 20:7-11; 31:17; cp. Genesis 2:3).

                  D.  It is not, then, a memorial of the other.

            Reasoning from greater to lesser, we conclude that if God rested, mankind will one day rest. Since Hebrews 3-4 shows that the creation rest corresponds with heaven, not Canaan, the two are unrelated. Since Deuteronomy 5 relates Sabbath to the exodus, Sabbath is not associated with creation, because a memorial will not be a memorial of two unrelated things.

            MEANING       

                  Deuteronomy 5:15 gives the reason there was a day of observance: it was a memorial of the exodus.

            FORM

                  The reason the day was observed weekly is given in Exodus 20:7-8: it shares in the pattern for presenting God’s creation rest.

                  The reason the day was the seventh day is given in Exodus 20:7-8: it was on the analogy of God’s creation rest.

                  The reason the day was observed as a rest day is given in Exodus 31:17: it was on the analogy of God’s creation rest and was to remind them that they were resting from Egyptian bondage.

      III. Hence, when Israel ceases to be God’s national people, the memorial of its founding no longer obtains. The Christian church is not a constitutional continuation of national Israel.

christir.org