Thus are we instructed by God Himself that the annual Sabbaths are apart from, and in addition to, “the Sabbaths of the Lord,” i.e., the weekly Sabbath. As the Bible commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown well observes:
"Leviticus 23:38 expressly distinguishes ‘the Sabbath of the Lord’ from the other Sabbaths." - Comment on Col. 2:16.
"Leviticus 23:38 expressly distinguishes ‘the Sabbath of the Lord’ from the other Sabbaths." - Comment on Col. 2:16.
Ron du Preez has written an excellent article for the SDA Encyclopedia on this topic of the ceremonial sabbaths versus the weekly Sabbath. He notes:
“Each of these annual times fell on specifically identified days within the first, third and seventh lunar months of the yearly religious calendar of ancient Israel. Of these, only the Day of Atonement is directly labelled a “sabbath” in the original Hebrew language (e.g., Lev 23:32), as it is the exclusive annual ceremonial day on which all work was prohibited (v. 28). The other six sacred occasions were days when only “servile” or “regular” or “laborious” or “occupational” work was prohibited (vv. 7, 8, 21, etc.), thus permitting the cooking of food (e.g., Ex. 12:16).”
“Each of these annual times fell on specifically identified days within the first, third and seventh lunar months of the yearly religious calendar of ancient Israel. Of these, only the Day of Atonement is directly labelled a “sabbath” in the original Hebrew language (e.g., Lev 23:32), as it is the exclusive annual ceremonial day on which all work was prohibited (v. 28). The other six sacred occasions were days when only “servile” or “regular” or “laborious” or “occupational” work was prohibited (vv. 7, 8, 21, etc.), thus permitting the cooking of food (e.g., Ex. 12:16).”
F.D. Nichol
