Sabbath Explained

You have clicked onto this site because the Holy Spirit has prompted you to do so. The Holy Spirit is a teacher of only truth and a revealer of error. As a “truth seeker,” you are encouraged to pause a moment and go to our heavenly Father in prayer. Ask Him to reveal only His truth to you as you read this document. If the information contained in it is true, your heart will be quickened, if not, you will see no truth in it all.

The biblical account states that God had finished all His creative acts on the sixth day, and makes that declaration in Genesis 1:31 and 2:1

Genesis 1³¹Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2 ¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them were finished.

If all God intended to do at creation was create, then creation week and the weekly cycle we observe would only consist of six days and would have been finished as He states in Genesis 1:31.

However, the written biblical account of creation week didn’t stop there, it included a “seventh day.” This study is a look into why God included a seventh day in His creation week.

Genesis 2: ²And 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.

Luke 23: ⁵⁶Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Luke 24:¹ Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.

A) The world agrees that the “First Day” of the week is Sunday, which is the day after Sabbath, which is Saturday.

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.²He was in the beginning with God.³All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Isaiah 58:¹³"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, ¹⁴Then 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."

A) God created the Sabbath so all of His children could come into His presence and focus completely on Him on His holy day. He created the Sabbath as a day to reflect on His awesome creative acts, which point to Him as the one and only true God. A day for honoring Him. An entire day for finding delight in His presence. A time to anticipate and seek the incredible blessings He promises for keeping His day holy. The Sabbath is a wonderful day spent with our Dad, our loving Father. It is a day of relationship.

Exodus 20:⁸"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work,¹⁰but 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.”

A) It is good to remember that God’s commands have never been optional, and He gives no options regarding His Sabbath.

Genesis 2: ^{3 “}Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

A) God Himself placed His personal blessing on the seventh day, and then sanctified it (made it holy). It is critically important to note that God did not do this to any of the other six days of creation.

Genesis 1:^{5 “}God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.”

A) God made the day from sundown to sundown with the evening coming before the morning, or the dark part of the day coming first. All six days of creation week ends with the statement “the evening and the morning.”

Mark 2:^{27
“}And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.’ ”

A) The Sabbath was made for man, not a special race, tongue, or tribe of people, but for all of mankind.

Q) The Sabbath was made for man, so is it man’s day or God’s?

Exodus 20:^{10 “}but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.”

A) It’s God’s day and couldn’t be any clearer as recorded in this statement that happens to have been personally written by the finger of God the Ten Commandment tablets He gave Moses.

Isaiah 66: ²²"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. ²³And 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.”

A) It is clear that God’s Sabbath, His holy day of worship, will continue from the original seventh day of creation on through eternity.

Luke 4: ¹⁶ “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”

A) Jesus worshiped on the Sabbath day that He Himself created, as was His custom.

Matthew 24: ^{20 “}And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”

A) No. He was in fact foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem 70 years in the future.

Q) Were Jesus’ closest followers instructed to change worship days after Christ’s death?

Luke 23:^{56
“}Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

A) No. As much as they wanted to go to the tomb and anoint His body on the Sabbath, they knew that that would have been breaking the fourth commandment, so they rested on the Sabbath and went to anoint Him on Sunday morning.

Q) Since Paul was converted after Christ’s death (Acts 9:1-5), and is a preacher of the New Covenant (Romans 1:1; 11:13), and was taught personally by Jesus (Galatians 1:12), wouldn’t he have worshiped on the “First day of the week” and taught its observance if Christ had changed His day of worship?

Act 13:⁴² “So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.⁴³Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.”

A) Yes, he would have if it had been changed; instead, Paul and Barnabas met with both Jew and Gentiles and conducted worship on the Sabbath, as was their custom.

Acts 16:^{13
“}And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.”

A) Here Paul, Silas, and Timothy were still keeping the Sabbath as God’s holy day of worship. In fact they were keeping the Sabbath twenty plus years after Jesus’ death.

Q) Is there any mention of Paul or the disciples worshiping on the “first day of the week” and keeping it as God’s holy worship day?

Q) There is much confusion in the Christian world as to what day is the “Lord’s Day.” Most Christians think it’s Sunday or the “first day of the week,” but what does Jesus say is His day, or the “Lord’s Day?”

Q) Many believe they have proof that Sabbath was changed to Sunday because John was “in the Spirit” on the first day of the week. But was He?

Revelation 1:^{10
“}I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,”

A) The Bible just told us in Mark 2:28 that “The Lord’s Day” is the Sabbath. So John was “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s Day, or the Sabbath.

Q) Did you know that the “First Day” of the week is mentioned in the Bible a total of only eight times.

1. Matthew 28:¹ “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.”

2. Mark 16:1 “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Mark 16: ⁹ “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.”

3. Luke 24: ¹ “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”

4. John 20:¹ “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

5. John 20: ¹⁹ “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."

6. Acts 20:⁷ “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”

7. 1 Cor 16:^{2 “}On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”

Q) Are any of the eight mentions of the first day of the week connected with a religious service?

Acts 20:⁷ “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”

A) This is the only one that is possibly connected to a religious service and is used by Sunday Pastors as the one text that proves Sunday observance. But let’s see if it really verifies the first day of the week (Sunday), or Saturday, God’s holy Sabbath.

MAN’S CALCULATION OF A DAY

If we use the way that mankind calculates the cycle of a day, then this scripture is saying that Paul possibly preached to them all day Sunday and continued until midnight. This most definitely would be a strong argument in favor of Sunday observance; but this is only true if we use man’s timetable for calculating a day, which is from midnight to midnight.

GOD’S CALCULATION OF A DAY

When we use God’s timetable of how He calculates the cycle of a day we find a startling discovery. During creation week, which is documented in Genesis chapter 1, we find that God calculates the day from “even to even,” or from sundown to sundown. Using God’s calculation, the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday. So, according to God’s calculation, at sundown the Sabbath turned into the first day of the week (Sunday) and Paul preached until midnight on the “first day of the week” as the scripture states.

Examining the eight scriptures that mention the first day of the week reveals that the first day of the week was never mentioned as a worship day. This clearly verifies the Sabbath as God’s worship day, and the scripture, correctly interpreted, says that Paul kept the Sabbath worship day and was probably the guest speaker. Then as Sabbath faded into sundown and became the first day of the week, Paul continued preaching to them until midnight.

2. The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in the Bible and is never connected to God’s holy day of worship.

3. The Sabbath is a day created by God for worshiping Him. God’s people kept it throughout the Old Testament. According to the Bible, it was kept by Jesus and all of His followers for as long as thirty years after His death. Isaiah says it will be kept for eternity.

4. The Sabbath is mentioned 91 times in the Old Testament and 55 times in the New Testament.

So, what difference does it make which day we keep as long as we keep one holy? The difference is that only God can make a day holy, and He made the Sabbath holy. Mankind can no more make a day holy than he can offer himself salvation.

The book of Revelation is so named because it is the revelation of Jesus Christ to His last-day people in every age as stated in Revelation 1:1.

Revelation 1:¹ “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”

The three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 begin with a call from God back to worshiping Him on the day He created.

Revelation 14:⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people--⁷saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

Notice that the command says to worship Him and specifies the day by calling us back to creation week when it says “who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." The reference back to creation week clearly identifies the Sabbath. It is the only day in seven He blessed, made holy, and set apart for His worship. Notice that the fourth commandment found in Exodus 20:8 is also a reference back to creation.

Consider that the Statue of Liberty is a monument to freedom. A monument is being built at “Ground Zero” to commemorate September 11, 2001. The Cross is a monument to every Christian of the defeat of the enemy of souls and of the salvation of those who choose God.

The Sabbath is God’s monument of His creation. It is a “Monument in Time” that from it’s creation throughout eternity will point us back to God’s original creation week and to the awesome God who can speak what He has thought and His words become a tangible reality. The Sabbath is His personal monument made not from precious gems, metals or stone, but as a “day,” His holy Sabbath day.

If you are here, you are close to becoming a Sabbath keeper if you are truly seeking the Truth as it is in the Bible. The beauty of God’s Spirit is that He never takes something away from you, especially your belief system, without replacing it with something even better. What a “delight” (Isaiah 58:13-14) His Sabbath day is!

Did you know the Bible foretold the attempted change of the Sabbath as well as the attempted change of God’s law? It also identifies the religious system and who would fulfill that Bible prophecy. To unmask who is responsible click on the following link: “Unmasking the Beast Power?” (coming soon).