The Sabbath is a day that has been largely lost in history. God is calling us back to His original plan in the keeping of His commandments and the remembrance of His holy day. The Sabbath was designed to be a necessary blessing for mankind; a time to connect with God and family, and to drink deeply from the fountain of living waters. It is God’s desire to restore the knowledge of this holy day among His people. The final battle in our world will be waged between those who keep the commandments of God, which includes the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and those who worship the beast and keep its commandments.
The Sabbath was first instituted in Eden. In six days God created all things and on the seventh day He rested from His creation work. Because He rested, God then blessed and sanctified the seventh day.
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Genesis 2:1-3
According to the Bible, the reason that the seventh day is the Sabbath is BECAUSE this is the day God rested. God is omnipotent and does not require rest from any work He may perform. God was setting up an example and memorial for us to observe. Many today believe that the day was changed by the disciples after Jesus resurrection, however, try as we might, none of us can go back in time and change the day on which God rested. In this passage of scripture alone the seventh day is mentioned three times, showing us that God wanted to make sure there was no uncertainty as to which day He rested. This emphasis excludes the idea that God does not care which day we keep.
To be sanctified is to be set apart for holy use. This indicates that God’s purpose for this day was that it should be set apart specifically for holy activities. God’s presence is what makes something holy, and so this day is kept holy by spending it with God. It is God’s intention that no secular work should be done on the Sabbath. This day is to be treated as a memorial of God’s creative and redemptive work, with nothing to distract the mind from communion with Him. God understands human needs and He is fully aware of the importance of setting aside time for spiritual renewal.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Exodus 20:8-11
The fourth commandment reiterates what we read in Genesis 2; the reason for the seventh day being holy was that God rested in it and by doing so made it holy and set it apart from the other working days. This day was set up at creation, before sin entered, as part of God’s perfect plan for humanity. The only other institution to come from this time was marriage, which, like the Sabbath, is just as relevant to us today as when it was made.
Many believe that the Sabbath was given only to the Jews and that it was a shadow of future rest in Jesus, however, we can see that it predates the Jews and is a memorial of creation rather than a shadow of future rest. A shadow and its reality cannot coexist, for the Sabbath to be a shadow of future rest, this must mean that during old testament times there was no spiritual rest for God's people. However, the Israelites already had the blessed assurance of rest in God (Psalms 37:7), so there was no need for the Sabbath to be a foreshadowing of a future rest in Christ.
None of the Old Testament laws which relate to the process of redemption were introduced until after sin. The fact that it predates sin also shows that God had no intention of using it as a shadow of any future event, but rather God saw it as a necessary part of human happiness even in a world without sin. God desires that we will find rest through trusting in Him, but He also asks us to set time aside each week to devote to Him.
Further to this, God gave the Sabbath to ALL mankind.
And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2:27
God at no time specified that this day was only for one group of people. Even in Old Testament times, anyone who would come into the worship of God was expected to keep the Sabbath holy.
Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants— Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant— Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. Isaiah 56:6-7
Add this to the fourth commandment stipulation that the stranger dwelling in our gates is also entitled to a Sabbath blessing, and we can see that God always intended that the Sabbath be for everyone.
The command to cease from all our secular labour and devote our love and attention to God on one day each week is meant as a blessing and God promises to bless all who call this day a delight and turn away from their own personal pursuits.
If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14
God measures a day starting from the evening and continuing until the following evening.
And the evening and the morning were the third day. Genesis 1:13
So the Sabbath starts at sunset on Friday and finishes at sunset on Saturday.
It is interesting to note that the Sabbath commandment is the only one to begin with the word ‘remember’. Is it possible that God did this because He knew the world would one day forget? This word also indicates to us that the Sabbath existed before it was given at Sinai; you cannot remember something you were not previously told. This is further evidence that the Sabbath pre-dates God’s handing down of the law at Sinai. This law came from creation and will continue into eternity.
“For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:22-23
God made the Sabbath at the beginning of our world and it will continue beyond the creation of the new heavens and earth into eternity, so what reason do we have to believe that the Sabbath should not apply to us living now?
When describing the events at the end of the world, Jesus gave us this injunction,
And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Matthew 24:20
This implies that Jesus saw the Sabbath enduring beyond His death and resurrection, as an ongoing part of the Christian life. If Jesus intended that the Sabbath were to be abolished at His cross and replaced with resting in Him, or the setting up of Sunday worship, He would not have made this statement.
Throughout the book of Acts, we are also given clear accounts of the disciples keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, Acts 17:2
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. Acts 18:4
It was Paul’s weekly custom to go into the Synagogue upon the Sabbath to minister to both Jew and Greek alike. It is evident that the Gentiles understood the Sabbath when they urged Paul to return to preach to them on the next Sabbath.
So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Acts 13:42
The Gentiles could have asked Paul to return at any time, yet, understanding its importance, they chose the Sabbath as the time to hear God’s word.
The disciple John also made reference to the Sabbath in the book of Revelation:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, Revelation 1:10
This must be a reference to the Sabbath as Jesus only ever claimed to be the Lord of this day.
Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath. Mark 2:28
The book of Revelation is believed to have been written around 90 A.D. which shows us that nearly 60 years after Jesus death the disciples kept the Sabbath as the Lord’s day. Nowhere in scripture is Jesus described as the Lord of Sunday, so to try to say that this is the day spoken of here is without any Biblical support. We must keep in mind that Jesus is our Creator and lawgiver, so the Sabbath was created by Him (John 1:1-3). Jesus also made it very clear that He did not come to this world to change the law in any particular:
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18
He then added to this that anyone who would break any one of the commandments and teach others to do the same would be looked upon as the least of all people by those in heaven, while those who kept and taught them would be considered the greatest on earth.
Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
Jesus is not here saying that those who break the commandments will be in heaven but less privileged, rather this is the perception that heaven has upon those now living on the earth.
Some will argue that we no longer know which day is the seventh day; that this knowledge has been lost through the course of history. However, we have very good historical documentation to support Saturday being the seventh day. Firstly, Jesus kept the Sabbath, so we do not need to worry about anything that may have happened before He came. As the maker of the Sabbath, He would have been more than aware of which day it was. Since Jesus day, the Jews, though scattered throughout the world, have continued to keep the seventh day. Whether you go to Jerusalem or elsewhere, all Jews keep Sabbath on Saturday.
Some mistakenly believe that the week was changed when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the place of the Julian calendar. This change was not made in all countries at the same time, but each time it was, the weekly cycle was unaffected. For example, in 1582 when Gregory XIII reformed the calendar, Thursday, October 4, was followed by Friday, October 15. Dates were removed, but the weekdays remained in the same sequence. A similar process was followed at other times when further changes were made, however, never has the weekly cycle been interrupted. We can be sure that the seventh day Jesus observed as the Sabbath is the same seventh day that we now call Saturday.
A final point on this matter is that over 100 languages call Saturday some equivalent of ‘sabbath’, a day of rest. In Spanish, it is Sabado, in Italian Sabbato, in Hebrew Shabbat, in Russian Subbota, in Afghan Shamba, in Malay Ari-Sabtu, etc. People of many languages from all over the world reference Saturday as a day of rest. We can expect this to be the case as God has given the Sabbath to all mankind.
In the last days, God’s people are distinguished as those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12). Those who would stand untouched through the outpouring of the plagues must receive the seal of God.
Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Revelation 7:2-3
God tells us that He seals His people with His law.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. Isaiah 8:16
Those who keep God’s commandments are His saints who will receive His seal in the last days and stand unharmed through the outpouring of the plagues.
The Sabbath, along with all of God’s commandments, is of vital importance to us today. If we break a single one of the commandments we are guilty of ALL (James 2:10). Satan is leading the world in rebellion against God’s law and government, while God is calling His people back to complete obedience to His law. God has promised us divine power to live a holy life. If we submit ourselves to His care He will prepare us for what is ahead and preserve us through the final crisis so that we might come forth victorious and go on into everlasting life.
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