Exodus vs Romans in the Narrative of the Sabbath
Video: “12 Contradictions in the Bible” by Holy Koolaid
The texts in question are Exodus 20:8-11 and Romans 14:5
Mr. Koolaid says,
“Exodus 20:8-11 says that you’re not supposed to work on the seventh day of the week or the Sabbath because that day is holy but Romans 14:5 says it literally makes no difference. Easy. Exodus 20 is clearly a Jewish law applying only to the Jews before Jesus came and fulfilled the law whereas Romans 14 is written to the Gentiles after Jesus’ resurrection. Throughout the Bible God gives different commands to different people and many of them are contextual, not universal or eternal. Contradiction reconciled [pumps fist], crisis averted!”
Well, I’m happy for him that he found some sort of solution. I guess. But he failed to note that whoever came up with what he or she thought was a contradiction between these two sets of verses had picked the wrong scripture to compare to the Old Testament Sabbath law. He also failed to understand that the God who inspired the Sabbath commandment is the same God who exists today and holds the same requirements of obedience today that He did in the exodus days. So while I’m happy he was able to come to a solution, albeit a false one, it would be nice if he could put more work into understanding the Bible.
The contexts of these two sets of verses are vastly different. Below is an outline of what the verses are basically about.
Exodus 20:8-11
1) This is the last of the first four commandments directly concerning man’s relationship with God.
2) God commanded the Israelites and their families, as well as foreigners and expatriates, to cease from working for one specific day of the week.
3) God chose this specific day to remind the Israelites of how He created the entire universe in six days and ceased His creative works on the seventh day – in order to set the pattern for man to follow.
Romans 14:5
1) First of all, that one verse should be read in context with the entire 14th chapter.
2) Now that you’ve read the whole chapter it’s obvious that the basic teaching that Paul was giving concerns the relationships between members of the Church in maintaining unity concerning secondary issues.
3) Paul never mentions the Sabbath or the 4th Commandment. He simply mentions one person esteeming one day over another while someone else considers all days to be equally sacred.
4) He deals with those who had a weaker faith vs. those whose faith was strong to keep them from quarreling and dividing over such secondary issues.
5) His concern is that no one puts a stumbling block in front of a fellow believer that will interfere with the brother’s relationship to the Lord.
6) He reminds his readers to stay focused on Christ and not on ritualistic behaviors.
A few verses that relate more directly to the 4th commandment in the New Testament:
1) Matthew 11:28-30
2) Mark 2:23-28, especially verses 27-28
3) Hebrews 4:1-11, especially verses 9-11
These are two different genres and two different topics that have no direct relation to one another and thus there is no contradiction here that needs to be resolved.