A Sabbath in Our Future?

What do you think Jesus believed about any future use of the Jewish (as we call it) Sabbath? Surely, if the Sabbath was to pass into history and be forgotten, He would not mention it as a future possibility. Let's look at the facts:

Matthew 24:20-21. "And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be."

The conjunction for at the beginning of verse 21 links that verse to the former one. The standard teaching about this passage is that Jesus had in mind the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But by linking the flight time to the incomparable world devastation Jesus is telling us that His people will be having to deal with Sabbath issues even at the very end of this age. Matthew 24:15 (the parallel passage) even sends a note to readers of this text as a clue that even though Jesus is addressing the twelve, a much later time period is being discussed.

Now why would Jesus ask end-time believers to pray that their flight from a Holocaust not be on a Sabbath? Where is the tender-hearted teaching we have heard throughout the Gospels about a God who understands human need, and expects even donkeys to get a break on the seventh day? Would it matter to Him that we were running for our lives on that day? Would we be "breaking" the Sabbath to flee from the forces of the antichrist? Matthew Henry suggests that just as traveling in winter would be stressful to the body, so traveling on Sabbath would injure the soul. He is talking to a people who know of and have experienced the sweetness of that holy day. For them it is unthinkable that a full six days can be faced without that 24-hour breath from Heaven. If after a long work week their world suddenly falls apart and they are forced to run for the hills on that day, then how can they face the morrow?

Our mindset is so foreign to thinking such as they had, that it is perhaps difficult to imagine why there is such fuss over one single day. But the point here is that the Sabbath will be around in the days leading to the transition to the coming Kingdom, albeit it is fair to say that this warning message is addressed to unbelieving Jews in the main. Whether believing Christians are included in this Sabbath practice is a matter of controversy and discussion among believers. It is for this reason that I address it.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.