An intriguing piece byPeter Leithart entitled “Sabbath Deification” recently appeared in First Things, an American ecumenical journal of religion and public life.[1]For Leithart the Sabbath command in Exodus 20:8-11 is a case of Father-son talk, based upon God’s directive to Pharaoh in Exodus 4:23 to let His son (Israel) go. Leithart states,
Sabbath-keeping is more an elevation than an obligation. It speaks of Israel’s filial participation in paternal privileges. Sabbath is a sign of Israel’s deification.
Joseph Ratzinger’s statement that the Sabbath lies at the heart of all social legislation is then noted approvingly. After mentioning some moral and egalitarian elements of the Sabbath, Leithart seeks to capture its essence,
The sociology of the Sabbath is grounded in its theology. The Sabbath is a day of joy that includes enjoyment of creation and the fruits of labor. But it isn’t mere “time off” or leisure. It’s the Lord’s day, a holy day of prayer and worship that opens earthly time to heaven.
Keeping the Sabbath command was certainly an enduring sign of the children of Israel’s loyalty to God (Exodus 31:12-17). Its observance is a sign of recognition that the One they worshipped is the Lord who sanctified them and who is their God (Ezekiel 20:12, 20). But neither Leithart nor Ratzinger observe the Sabbath command of Exodus 20. The Sabbath is indeed the Lord’s day (Mark 2:27, 28; Revelation 1:10) but Sunday as the Lord’s day drains it of all meaning.
Sunday is not the day blessed and sanctified and set aside by God (Genesis 2:1-3). It is not the day God commanded us to remember (Exodus 20:8). It cannot function to memorialize the finished creation or to acknowledge God’s right to worship. In short, Sunday cannot sustain the weight placed upon it. Transmogrifying the Sabbath into Sunday is to strip it of the very elements that make it authentic.
Those who are Christians or spiritual Israelites (Romans 2:28, 29; Galatians 3:29) show their loyalty to God by keeping His commandments (John 14:15; 15:10; 1 John 5:3). They remember the Sabbath command because it identifies whom they are worshipping and why (Psalm 95:6). The Sabbath is a day of joy for all the sons and daughters of God. While the Sabbath elevates all who observe it, that elevation remains only as long as it is treated as a transcendent obligation.
My concern is that the bitter divisions in contemporary American life will reach a point where “social” legislation will be seen as necessary to heal these divisions. As I have shown in It’s Sunday in America, Sunday is the most obvious “go to” option for healing political, religious, social and cultural divisions. The Sabbath defines true worship (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11; Psalm 95:6). The issue of Revelation 13:11-18 is false versus true worship. If the Sabbath is true worship, Sunday cannot also represent true worship. That is why a universal conflict is coming between these two conceptions of worship.
Leithart’s Sabbath deification is in effect Sunday deification. Its appearance in an American ecumenical journal of religion and public life is evidence of its importance in ecumenical thinking. A deified Sunday sets the issue of Sabbath versus Sunday as a matter of overwhelming importance. It’s a national issue of the first order that will become international. Sabbath versus Sunday is the shape of the American and world future.
[1]Leithart, Peter. “Sabbath Deification.” First Things, 27 July 2018, firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/07/sabbath-deification. Accessed 28 July 2018.
