Sabbath Amendment

See also a similarity with the Passover Amendment.

Jesus dealt with the matter of 'work' on the Sabbath:

Going on from that place, he [Jesus] went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
11 He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:9-14 NIV)

This passage throws some light on what to do when there seems to be a conflict in the commandments. For example, is it right to abandon a person who is ill, simply in order to to obey the commandment to do no work on the Sabbath?

Jesus resolved the matter: first, by pointing out the hypocrisy of those Pharisees who were seeking to entrap Him (Mat. 12:11); and secondly by explaining that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Mat. 12:12). The Pharisees saw only the commandment; but Jesus understood the Covenant at the Spiritual Level.

It is clearly impossible to avoid doing some work on the Sabbath! However, some work will be essential, while other work will be non-essential and can be left for another occasion (but, should we be faced with a baffling question, then this must be discussed with the Lord). With this in mind, the Covenant offers us - through the Passover Amendment - an insight into what should be done:

The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first new moon of the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, saying: 2 Let the Israelite people offer the passover sacrifice at its set time: 3 you shall offer it on the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, at its set time; you shall offer it in accordance with all its rules and rites.
4 Moses instructed the Israelites to offer the passover sacrifice; 5 and they offered the passover sacrifice in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai. Just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so the Israelites did.
6 But there were some men who were unclean by reason of a corpse and could not offer the passover sacrifice on that day. Appearing that same day before Moses and Aaron, 7 those men said to them, “Unclean though we are by reason of a corpse, why must we be debarred from presenting the LORD's offering at its set time with the rest of the Israelites?" 8 Moses said to them, “Stand by, and let me hear what instructions the LORD gives about you.”
9 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the Israelite people, saying: When any of you or of your posterity who are defiled by a corpse or are on a long journey would offer a passover sacrifice to the LORD, 11 they shall offer it in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, 12 and they shall not leave any of it over until morning. They shall not break a bone of it. They shall offer it in strict accord with the law of the passover sacrifice. 13 But if a man who is clean and not on a journey refrains from offering the passover sacrifice, that person shall be cut off from his kin, for he did not present the LORD's offering at its set time; that man shall bear his guilt.
14 And when a stranger who resides with you would offer a passover sacrifice to the LORD, he must offer it in accordance with the rules and rites of the passover sacrifice. There shall be one law for you, whether stranger or citizen of the country. (Numbers 9:1-14 (Tanakh))

Here in Numbers chapter 9, the Lord God establishes a precedent, which I call the 'Passover Amendment', for those unable to comply with the Passover observance for various genuine reasons.

Those required to work on the Sabbath are in a similar position to those unable to observe the Passover at the set time. And, in like manner, alternative provision must be made for them.

The church is therefore required to provide alternative Sabbath days and services for those unable to attend regular worship; these alternative days will then be treated in the same way as the Sabbath by those unable to attend the regular services.

What isn't stated in the narrative, but which is implicit in the Covenant, concerns those in authority in the workplace. They are required to set up a rota so that no individual is compelled to work on every Sabbath; instead, Sabbath work is to be equally distributed among the work force.

[Dissertation: The Sabbath.]

Version: 14-Feb-2024