In the Epistle of Barnabas (written between AD 70-132), a very early
Christian document, is a strong witness against
the belief, as held by Seventh Day Adventists and others, that the earliest
Christians continued to observe the Old Testament Sabbath:
chap. xv.—the false and the true sabbath.
Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath
in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai,
“And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.”
And He says in another place, “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause
my mercy to rest upon them.” The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the
creation [thus]: “And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an
end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.” Attend, my
children, to the meaning of this expression, “He finished in six days.” This
implieth that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day
is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifieth, saying, “Behold, to-day
will be as a thousand years. Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in
six thousand years, all things will be finished. “And He rested on the seventh
day.” This meaneth: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the
wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the
stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, “Thou
shalt sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart.” If, therefore, any one can
now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, except he is pure in heart in
all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one
properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise,
wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord,
shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it,
having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, He says to them, “Your new
moons and your Sabbath I cannot endure.” Ye perceive how He speaks: Your
present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made,
[namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the
eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the
eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the
dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens.
Commenting on this text, N.T. Wright notes that this text explains
that the Jewish
Sabbath is now irrelevant, because Genesis 2:2 is a prophecy of a six-thousand-year
creation followed by the judgment, after which God will ‘rest’ indeed, as will
those whom the gospel has made holy and who now celebrate the ‘eighth day’
because of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (15:9). The letter does on at once
to explain that the Jerusalem Temple, now destroyed, was never the ultimate dwelling-place
of God, and that the church, renewed through repentance and faith, is indwelt
by God and is thus a ‘spiritual temple’ (16:1-10). (N.T. Wright, History and Eschatology: Jesus and the
Promise of Natural Theology [London: SPCK, 2019], 310 n. 40)
Chapter 16 of Barnabas, as referenced by Wright, reads thusly:
chap. xvi.—the spiritual temple of god.
Moreover, I will also tell you concerning the
temple, how the wretched [Jews], wandering in error, trusted not in God
Himself, but in the temple, as being the house of God. For almost after the
manner of the Gentiles they worshipped Him in the temple. But learn how the
Lord speaks, when abolishing it: “Who hath meted out heaven with a span, and
the earth with his palm? Have not I?” “Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is My
throne, and the earth My footstool: what kind of house will ye build to Me, or
what is the place of My rest?” Ye perceive that their hope is vain. Moreover,
He again says, “Behold, they who have cast down this temple, even they shall
build it up again.” It has so happened. For through their going to war, it was
destroyed by their enemies; and now they, as the servants of their enemies,
shall rebuild it. Again, it was revealed that the city and the temple and the
people of Israel were to be given up. For the Scripture saith, “And it shall
come to pass in the last days, that the Lord will deliver up the sheep of His
pasture, and their sheep-fold and tower, to destruction.” And it so happened as
the Lord had spoken. Let us inquire, then, if there still is a temple of God.
There is—where He himself declared He would make and finish it. For it is
written, “And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of
God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord.” I find, therefore, that a
temple does exist. Learn, then, how it shall be built in the name of the Lord.
Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, as
being indeed like a temple made with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and
was a habitation of demons, through our doing such things as were opposed to
[the will of] God. But it shall be built, observe ye, in the name of the Lord,
in order that the temple of the Lord may be built in glory. How? Learn [as
follows]. Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the
name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the
beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of
faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the
commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in
us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple, that is,
the mouth; and by giving us repentance introduced us into the incorruptible
temple. He then, who wishes to be saved, looks not to man, but to
Him who dwelleth in him, and speaketh in him, amazed at never having either
heard him utter such words with his mouth, nor himself having ever desired to
hear them. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord.
