|
SUBJECT: Sabbath
QUESTION: Sabbath Day’s Journey: Please explain
this subject. Is it in force today?
ANSWER:
No, the Sabbath Day's Journey is not in effect today. It
was never divine law.
Following is some information that should answer your
question. You will see the meaning it had then. Today it
is sometimes referred to in giving the impression that we
should not over burden ourselves on the Sabbath Day.
Whereas the spirit of the law (or
attitude in this case) is to not go out of the
way to burden yourself or work on the Sabbath, this specific
law is not a divine one, that is, stated from God in so many
words.
As you read the Bible Dictionary articles below you will see
that the Sabbath Day’s Journey rule was not a divine law of
God found in the Word of God. It was part of the Jewish
codifying of the law of God.
Taking a walk on the Sabbath is fine so long as it doesn't
turn into a "hike.” Some people ask about the mention of "a
sabbath day's journey" in Acts 1:12. There is no special
command ANYWHERE in the Bible limiting travel on the
Sabbath. This "sabbath day's journey" was a custom of the
Jews and is not a biblical command. However, you certainly
shouldn't walk or drive so far on the Sabbath as to tire
yourself unduly or to interfere with your worship of God.
After sitting in church or studying for some time, a
leisurely walk is very refreshing and beneficial. Also, a
lengthy drive is sometimes necessary to enable you to meet
with other true worshippers on the Sabbath. Within reason,
this is not wrong. It serves to strengthen you spiritually
and therefore glorifies God.
There is also not necessarily a problem with having to take
a reasonable length airline trip, especially if other
arrangements cannot easily be made.
SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY
(jur'-ni) (sabbatou hodos): Used only in
<Acts 1:12>, where it designates the distance from Jerusalem
to the Mount of Olives, to which Jesus led His disciples on
the day of His ascension. The expression comes from
rabbinical usage to indicate the distance a Jew might travel
on the Sabbath without transgressing the Law, the command
against working on that day being interpreted as including
travel (see <Exodus 16:27-30>). The limit set by the rabbis
to the Sabbath day's journey was 2,000 cubits from one's
house or domicile, which was derived from the statement
found in <Joshua 3:4> that this was the distance between the
ark and the people on their march, this being assumed to be
the distance between the tents of the people and the
tabernacle during the sojourn in the wilderness. Hence, it
must have been allowable to travel thus far to attend the
worship of the tabernacle. We do not know when this
assumption in regard to the Sabbath day's journey was made,
but it seems to have been in force in the time of Christ.
The distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem is stated
in Josephus (Ant, XX, viii, 6) to have been five stadia or
furlongs and in Josephus, Jewish Wars, V, ii, 3, six stadia,
the discrepancy being explained by supposing a different
point of departure. This would make the distance of the
Sabbath day's journey from 1,000 to 1,200 yards, the first
agreeing very closely with the 2,000 cubits. The rabbis,
however, invented a way of increasing this distance without
technically infringing the Law, by depositing some food at
the 2,000-cubit limit, before the Sabbath, and declaring
that spot a temporary domicile. They might then proceed
2,000 cubits from this point without transgressing the Law.
And in some cases even this intricacy of
preparation was unnecessary. If, for instance, the approach
of the Sabbath found one on his journey, the traveler might
select some tree or some stone wall at a distance of 2,000
paces and mentally declare this to be his residence for the
Sabbath, in which case he was permitted to go the 2,000
paces to the selected tree or wall and also 2,000 paces
beyond, but in such a case he must do the work thoroughly
and must say: "Let my Sabbath residence be at the trunk of
that tree," for if he merely said: "Let my Sabbath residence
be under that tree," this would not be sufficient, because
the, expression would be too general and indefinite
(Tractate `Erubhin <Joshua 4:7>).
Other schemes for extending the distance
have been devised, such as regarding the quarter of the town
in which one dwells, or the whole town itself, as the
domicile, thus allowing one to proceed from any part of the
town to a point 2,000 cubits beyond its utmost limits. This
was most probably the case with walled towns, at least, and
boundary stones have been found in the vicinity of Gaza with
inscriptions supposed to mark these limits. The 2,000-cubit
limits around the Levitical cities <Numbers 35:5> may have
suggested the limit of the Sabbath day's journey also. The
term came to be used as a designation of distance which must
have been more or less definite.
H. PORTER
~from International Standard Bible Encylopaedia
SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY
The distance a Jew could travel on the
Sabbath without breaking the law. This phrase occurs in the
Bible in <Acts 1:12>, where Mount Olivet is described as
being "near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey." This
distance is usually reckoned to be about a thousand yards
<Joshua 3:4>, (NIV, NEB; two
thousand cubits, NKJV), because of the distance
between the ARK OF THE COVENANT and the rest of the
Israelite camp in the wilderness.
The idea behind the Jewish law (see <Exodus
16:29>) was that every person within the camp or city would
be close enough to the center of worship to take part in the
services without having to travel such a great distance that
the Sabbath became a harried and busy day. This law,
although noble in intent, was soon abused by a strict
legalism. In the New Testament, Jesus often clashed with the
Pharisees because of their blind legalism over observance of
the Sabbath <Matthew 12:1-9>.
~from Nelson's Illustrated
Bible Dictionary |