Waters, Guy Prentiss. The Sabbath as Rest and Hope for the People of God. Short Studies in Biblical Theology 15. Wheaton: Crossway, 2022. 142pp excluding end matter.
Summary and Critique
Guy Prentiss Waters’s thesis in The Sabbath as Rest is that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance to which all Christians should adhere, yet on Sunday not on Saturday.
Overall, I am not convinced of Waters’ argument that Christians should still observe the Sabbath, but now on Sunday instead of Saturday. Waters does a great job explaining the Bible’s theology of Sabbath in the Old Testament (chapters 1–3). However, his treatment of the Sabbath in the New Testament is quite poor, lacking in biblical and scholarly support and, at times, engaging in eisegesis where he simply changes the meaning of terms and reads into the text his conclusions in order to support his thesis. There are three major issues with his treatment of the New Testament in support of his thesis:
- He only makes inferences and suggestions to prove his thesis because there is no text that states or commands disciples of Jesus (Christians) should adhere to the Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday. This is understandable if the New Testament does not address the Sabbath; however, the New Testament does address the Sabbath, which leads to point #2 below.
- There is one text (Col 2:16–17) that explicitly states Christians do not need to adhere to the Sabbath and two texts (Rom 14:5–6; Gal 4:9–11) that also state Christians do need to adhere to the Sabbath without using the term “Sabbath.” Waters’s treatment of these passages was pure eisegesis with him ignoring the basic and plain meaning of the text, even contradicting himself from earlier in the book where the plural term “Sabbaths” includes the weekly Saturday Sabbath (chapter 3), but claiming that in Colossians 2:16 the plural “Sabbaths” “say nothing about the weekly Sabbath” (126). Waters refuses to provide biblical or scholarly support to this change in definition.
- Considering the significance of the Sabbath in the Old Testament, the fact that the New Testament is completely silent on the necessity of Christians adhering to the Sabbath is deafening. It is almost impossible to fathom the New Testament not mentioning that Christians should adhere to the Sabbath (on Saturday or Sunday) in the New Testament if Waters’s thesis is true. The silence is easily explained, however, in that the New Testament does explicitly address the Sabbath in Col 2:16–17; Rom 14:5–6; and Gal 4:9–11. Those passages, however, prove Waters’s thesis is wrong because they clearly state Christians do not need to adhere to the Sabbath on any day.
Because of Waters’s poor scholarship and incoherent argument in chapter 5 (the most important chapter for his thesis) that reads his conclusions into the text, I do not recommend The Sabbath as Rest. On a personal note, I am quite surprised that the series’ editors, Dane Ortlund and Miles Van Pelt, allowed this book go to print with such glaringly poor scholarship.
Summary of Each Chapter
Chapter 1: Creation
The Sabbath in Genesis 2:1–3 was created for mankind as a day of worship and, thus, fellowship with God, resulting in fruitfulness and fulness (17). Sabbath rest/worship is the goal of humanity. It was always the goal for humanity and continues to be the goal, even after the Fall (1 Cor 15:42–49; Heb 4:9).
“The Sabbath is a microcosm of human history—creation, redemption, and consummation. It [the Sabbath] captures the purpose and goal of human existence (eschatological life with God) and acts as a perpetual reminder of that purpose and goal (Gen 2:1–3)” (31).
Chapter 2: Law
Prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, God commands Israel to gather a double portion of manna on Friday because Saturday is the Sabbath and no manna will be given (Exod 16). The Israelite observance of the Sabbath and familiarity with God’s command shows they are familiar with the Sabbath prior to Exodus 20, suggesting the Patriarchs adhered to it because the Sabbath command was given in Genesis 2:1–3 (at creation) to all humanity (34–35).
In Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, God issues the command to rest on the seventh day and devote it to the worship of God because Israel is “to look to God as their creator and redeemer and to dedicate the day to the grateful remembrance of his works of creation and redemption” (41). Thus, the Sabbath functions as a sign of the Mosaic Covenant that points Israel to creation and redemption (43–44).
According to Waters, the Sabbath will cease to function as a sign of the Mosaic Covenant when the Mosaic Covenant ceases. However, the Sabbath ordinance will not cease with the cessation of the Mosaic Covenant (44).
Chapter 3: Prophets
The prophets charge Israel and Judah with violating “their covenant charter with God” (70). One way they did this was by violating God’s Sabbaths (not just the Saturday Sabbath, but also other sabbatical days, such as the seven-year Sabbath and year of Jubilees). However, the prophets also promise restoration for God’s people, including restoration of the Sabbath as a blessing in the worship of God in the lives of His people (70).
Chapter 4: Christ
This chapter begins with an explanation of the place of Jesus’ ministry within redemptive history—specifically, that Jesus conducted his ministry under the Mosaic covenant (73–80).
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus reaffirms the primary purpose of the Sabbath—“to draw human beings into the presence of God to worship him” (96). Jesus also affirms his own lordship over the Sabbath (97). Finally, Jesus highlights the Sabbath as “a day to remember God’s deliverance of his people from bondage” (97).
Chapter 5: New Creation
This chapter begins by showing how the Gospels highlight Sunday (the first day of the week) as the days when Jesus appeared to his followers after his resurrection (99–105). Waters makes four conclusions from these Sunday post-resurrection appearances:
- The disciples are gathered together (104).
- Jesus communes with his disciples by his word (104–05).
- Jesus proclaims the saving benefits of his redemptive work (105).
- Jesus commissions his disciples to proclaim the good news about his death and resurrection to others (105).
For Waters, all of the above “reflect the public worship of God within the apostolic church” (105). As such, Waters concludes, “From creation until the resurrection, God called people to worship him on the seventh day of the week. From the resurrection until the return of Christ, God calls people to worship him on the first day of the week” (105).
Further, the Sabbath on Sunday commemorates “God’s work of new creation and redemption in the resurrection of God” (107). As such, the substance of the Sabbath command does not change, but the day does (107).
Waters moves onto the New Testament epistles in an attempt to show that the early church moved the Sabbath to the first day of the week. Although there are no texts that state the apostles moved the Sabbath to Sunday or that Jesus taught such, Waters uses Acts 20 to try and prove his point. He understands Acts 20 as “representative of the church’s public worship” (110). And, of course, the church met on Sunday. However, Waters never proves from the text that the Acts 20 meeting was meant to be representative for the church of moving the Sabbath to Sunday.
Throughout this entire chapter, Waters makes “inferences” and “suggestions” from the text, but never actually proves his point that New Testament believers are supposed to adhere to the Sabbath in the same way as the Old Testament saints were supposed to, with the one exception of the day on which they meet (see page 114 for a good example). Waters frequently stretches the meaning of the text to force his conclusions (see page 119 for one example).
Further, Waters neglects a substantive treatment of what Hebrews 4 says about the Sabbath.
Finally, Waters addresses those passages in Paul that explicitly say Christians do not need to observe the Sabbath or that Christians do not need to “regard one day as better than another.” Waters falsely claims that these never refer to Saturday/Sunday Sabbath, but to the Sinai liturgical calendar (125–27). His claim that Colossians 2:16–17, Romans 14:5–6, and Galatians 4:9–11 do not have the Sabbath in mind at all are just fanciful. Waters even attempts to claim that “Sabbaths” in Colossians 2:16 “say nothing about the weekly Sabbath,” but “strictly to the multiple feast days in Israel’s calendar that God added to the weekly Sabbath” (126). Waters’s radical interpretation of “Sabbaths” is never supported by the biblical text or by scholarship; he simply makes the claim. Even BDAG (s.v. “σάββατον”) disagrees with this interpretation, claiming that σαββάτων in Colossians 2:16 us used “for a single Sabbath day.” Yes, “Sabbaths” in Colossians 2:16–17 refers to all the Sabbatical days, such as the seven-year Sabbath and year of Jubilees, but it also includes THE SABBATH, just like Waters argues it does in the Old Testament (chapter 2, reinforced in chapter 3). To say otherwise is to engage in eisegesis. Waters has now infused the text with his own meaning in order to support his preconceived theology.
Chapter 6: Practice
Waters concludes that “God appointed the day of the Sabbath to be changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week” (133). However, the New Testament never has God appointing this change. Rather, it has been inferred. This is an important distinction that Waters ignores in his conclusion.
Waters concludes with three principles and three practical steps for observing the Sabbath.
Three Sabbath Principles:
- “[T]he Levitical calendar of the Old Testament . . . has answered its purpose in redemptive history . . . . And to the degree that the weekly Sabbath participated in that shadowy anticipation, the Mosaic dimension of its observance has also come to an end” (137–38).
- “[B]elievers need to steer clear of the extremes of permissiveness on the one hand and Pharisaism on the other hand” (138). The entire day of Sunday should be devoted to the worship of God (138). There are three kinds of works that are pleasing to God on the Sabbath:
- Public worship (139)
- Work of necessity, such as preparing meals, etc (139).
- Work of mercy, such as showing compassion to the sick and disabled (139).
- “[T]he Lord’s Day offers tremendous benefit to God’s people” (140).
Three Practical Steps for Observing the Sabbath:
- “[S]et apart the whole day to God’s worship” (140)
- “[F]ind ways to enjoy Christian fellowship and extend hospitality on the Lord’s Day” (141).
- “[S]eek spiritual refreshment on the Lord’s Day” (141).