There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God: A Review
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There has been no shortage of books defending and explaining the abiding validity of the fourth commandment. This doctrine is confessed in the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), the Savoy Declaration of Faith (1658), and the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1677). In the seventeenth century, Francis Turretin defended it in his Institutes of Elenctic Theology in Geneva.[1] Charles Hodge and R.L. Dabney defended the Fourth Commandment in the United States in the nineteenth century.[2] Where the Ten Commandments are expounded in the older Reformed writers, you will find a defense of the Sabbath rest.
In the early years of the United States, the Sabbath was largely affirmed by most Protestants. But now the Sabbath has fallen on hard times. There are various reasons why this is the case. It is difficult to discern where the weight of the fault lies, but here are a few reasons: the encroachment of the culture upon the church, the rise of dispensationalism and other “theologies” of strong discontinuity between the Testaments, and a kind of biblical theology that is elevated over systematic theology. Plenty of faithful books have been written in our time defending and applying the Christian Sabbath, but Jon English Lee’s book, There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God[3], is a welcomed addition. I hope to explain why in this short review.
An Overview of the Book
In chapter one, Lee lays out six areas that will be explored: weekly Sabbath rest, creation ordinance, biblical-theological evidence, historical evidence, ecclesiological implications, and personal applications.[4] These six areas form the structure of the book. In the rest of the chapter, Lee gives a general overview of the literature and positions that have dominated the biblical and theological conversation around the Sabbath. Lee states he aims to advance the conversation by marshaling the various fields of study “to synthesize a theological formulation” that is a third option between the sabbatarians and anti-sabbatarians. Lee seeks to do this by grounding the weekly rest in creation while highlighting how that rest is transformed by the rest found in Christ and still affirming a “biblical ethic of weekly rest.”[5]
In chapter two, Lee begins with a survey of a “creation ordinance” in the Christian tradition. But the rest of the chapter is focused on hermeneutics, wrestling with how Sabbath typology and inaugurated eschatology impact how the creation ordinance progresses and unfolds from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Lee states a type has four assumed elements: “a textual warrant, correspondence to its antitype, escalation across the canon, and an interpretation that is guided by the covenants.”[6] Lee emphasizes the importance of a hermeneutic that is guided by covenant theology and the principles of inaugurated eschatology,
It is only by uniting covenantal theology and inaugurated eschatological principles that a proper understanding of Sabbath rest may avoid both the traditionally rigorous sabbatarian interpretations that (implicitly or explicitly) equate new covenant Sabbath observance with old covenant Sabbath observance and the often non-sabbatarian interpretation that God’s rest in creation had prescriptive value under the old covenant but not the new.[7]
The principles of inaugurated eschatology guard against an over or under-realized eschatology. Additionally, they affirm the continuity of the Sabbath rest observance and the discontinuity since the coming of Christ.[8]
From here, Lee, in the third chapter, applies these hermeneutical principles as he traces the Sabbath rest throughout the Bible. This is by far the largest section in the book. Lee leaves no text behind. While it is out of the scope of this review to outline and summarize every text Lee interacts with here, two significant points must be noted. First, Lee seamlessly moves from biblical theology to systematic theology. Though many arguments for the Sabbath are deficient in biblical theology, Lee draws upon this discipline to weave the exegetical data into a tight redemptive thread that can be drawn upon in systematic theology. Second, Lee deals with the issue of the day of rest shifting from Saturday to Sunday. This is one of the primary objections that non-sabbatarians have difficulty getting past. Lee argues that the Old Testament anticipated the day changing with the “eighth-day reference in Mosaic law.” Also, the New Testament gives evidence that the Sabbath pattern remains and is observed on the Lord’s Day.[9]
The next two chapters are historical surveys of church history from the early church to the modern era. Lee recognizes that the theological foundation for the Lord’s Day has varied over the centuries. However, “there exists a history of interpreting God’s rest in Genesis as prescriptive,” even while the language of “creation ordinance” is relatively a new term.[10]
In chapter six, Lee applies the Sabbath ordinance to ecclesiology. Here, he addresses practical questions like: Should a pastor take another day off since they have to “work” on the Sabbath? Does the New Testament Sabbath rest include an “element of worship?” Should churches have a morning and evening service? How does the Sabbath ordinance protect against “overzealous or antinomian worship patterns.”[11] In addition, Lee demonstrates that without a prescriptive creation ordinance requiring weekly church attendance on Sunday is problematic. If there is no weekly prescription, then it is conceivable that a Christian could sporadically attend corporate worship throughout the year and the elders of that church would have sparse biblical grounds for discipline.[12] Last, Lee makes a case for the importance of physical rest on the Sabbath, arguing that rest and leisure can be enjoyed in themselves.
Before the conclusion, Lee spends a final chapter outlining the practical implications and applications of the Sabbath rest for the individual believer. Lee argues that the Sabbath rest requires faith and strengthens faith. The Christian is reminded of their utter dependence upon God. Second, the Sabbath rest promotes contentment. The Sabbath teaches believers to find their rest in God through Christ and not in the world’s values of materialism and achievement. Third, rest is a stewardship of time.
Lee closes this chapter with a final section on how Christians should spend the day. Lee lays out the general principle that believers on the Lord’s Day are commanded to rest from their worldly labors “to spend a day of focused and restful time on the things of the Lord.”[13] Rather than giving a list of what can and cannot be done on the day, Lee lays out biblical categories to guide Christians. First, Christians should rest in the finished work of Christ. Second, Christians should gather with God’s people for corporate worship. Third, Lee emphasizes the important category of liberty of conscience, “Pastors should educate their congregants with biblical principles for wise use of time; but beyond what Scripture says explicitly, they should let people exercise their own consciences on the matter of rest.”[14] Lee then explains that pastors should shepherd their people with the categories of “deeds of piety,” “deeds of mercy,” and “deeds of necessity.” Last, Lee closes the chapter with practical help for children and students and makes a final appeal for balance and moderation in observing the day.
A Commendation of the Book
Lee leaves no stone unturned in this book, using the full arsenal of the theological encyclopedia to explain, defend, trace, and apply the Sabbath rest. This book is a healthy example of how the various theological disciplines- exegetical, systematic, historical, and practical- should be used in concert. Lee has demonstrated that the Sabbath rest is a gift from God established in creation that endures to consummation, but this Sabbath rest unfolds progressively throughout Scripture and is transformed at the coming of Christ. Lee is sensitive to the redemptive-historical shape of redemptive history while drawing upon this to synthesize and defend the doctrine of the Sabbath. This allows Lee to apply the observance of the Sabbath ordinance in the New Testament in light of the covenant context.
Also, Lee carefully lays out the general principle of what is required on the day of rest in the new covenant while warning against a legalistic or rigid prescription for the day that exceeds the Bible’s commands. Many Christians are wary of the Sabbath because they encounter Christians who observe the day in a way that is joyless, Christless, and legalistic. Francis Turretin is careful to distinguish the cessation of work on the Sabbath from such rigid excesses,[15]
Therefore, we do not think that in this cessation believers are bound to Judaical precision which some (more scrupulous than is just) maintain was not revoked, so that it is lawful neither to kindle a fire, nor to cook food, nor to take up arms against an enemy, nor to prosecute a journey begun by land or sea, nor to refresh themselves with innocent relaxation of the mind and body, provided they are done out of the hours appointed for divine worship, nor to have any diversion, however slight, to any things belonging to the advantages or emoluments of this life.[16]
However, the greatest contribution Lee makes in this book is his proposed definition of a “creation ordinance.” While the term has been used regularly in this discussion in the last couple hundred years, very little has been offered by way of a definition.[17] Lee defines a creation ordinance as,
a general pattern established in Genesis 1-2 that becomes normative but not uniformly observed, with any exceptions to the pattern contributing to the pattern’s fulfillment; moreover, the pattern must be confirmed, not negated or abrogated, by later biblical revelation.[18]
This definition fleshes out what is embedded in Exodus 20:8, 11 when the Lord grounds the fourth command in creation. Also, this definition accounts for the progressive nature of revelation, typology, and inaugurated eschatology. While the day of rest abides even in the New Testament, something significant happens to that rest after the finished work of Christ.
Lee’s book is a one-stop shop Sabbath resource. While the book is comprehensive in its treatment of the subject, both in its scope of biblical texts and use of the theological disciplines, the book is not overly technical. Lee’s writing style is clear and orderly, making it easy to follow the arguments in each chapter. Furthermore, Lee is not simply attempting to rehash old arguments for the Sabbath, but rather, his proposed definition of a “creation ordinance” and engagement in biblical theology is an attempt to advance the discussion. This book is a welcomed addition to the Sabbath literature in the Reformed tradition.
[1] Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology Institutes of Elenctic Theology, ed. James T. Dennison Jr., tran. George Musgrave Giger (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1992–1997), 11.13-14.
[2] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 3:321-348. R.L. Dabney, Systematic Theology (Edinburgh, Banner of Truth Trust 1996; 1871), 366-397. The Scottish theologian and pastor, Robert Haldane, wrote his classic book on the Sabbath in this period as well. The Sanctification of the Sabbath: The Permanent Obligation to Observe the Sabbath or Lord’s Day (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2022; 1842).
[3] Jon English Lee, There Remains a Sabbath Rest for the People of God: A Biblical, Theological, and Historical Defense of Sabbath Rest as a Creation Ordinance (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Ministries, 2024).
[4] Ibid., 2.
[5] Ibid., 12.
[6] Ibid., 17-18.
[7] Ibid., 33.
[8] Ibid., 39.
[9] Ibid., 124-133.
[10] Ibid., 201.
[11] Ibid., 207.
[12] Ibid., 206.
[13] Ibid., 232.
[14] Ibid., 234.
[15] Turretin, 11.14.19.
[16] Ibid., 11.14.26.
[17] Lee, 3 fn.4, 11, 201.
[18] Ibid., 3.