Overview
The seventh
day of the week is the Sabbath Day of rest according to the laws of Moses. The fourth
commandment tells us to keep the Sabbath Day Holy. The Israelites were told that their keeping
of this commandment was a sign of being HIS chosen people. Therefore the descendants of the 12 Tribes of
Israel are the people who are required to keep the Sabbath day laws as a sign
that they are honoring the laws of Moses.
The first
time the Sabbath day is mentioned is in Genesis chapter 2 and it is referred to
as the seventh day. Here we are told
that God rested on the seventh day and this sets an example for us to follow:
“And on
the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had done. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all
his work which God created and
made.” Sep Genesis 2:2-3
The English word ‘rest’ is translated from the Greek word ‘κατέπαυσε’ (katapauó) which means to cease labor and rest.
The English
word ‘sanctified’ means to declare something
holy. The word ‘holy’ means that it is to
be kept set apart or dedicated for a specific purpose; therefore the seventh
day is to be dedicated to rest.
The Sabbath in Exodus
After the
Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, our Heavenly Father worked with HIS chosen
people for 40 years teaching them how to follow the laws HE gave to Moses. The first time that the Sabbath day is
mentioned is prior to the Israelites receiving the 10 Commandments. In this verse the Israelites are told that
they must prepare all their food for the Sabbath day on the sixth day since
they must rest on the seventh day which is the Sabbath day of rest.
“And Moses said to them, Is not this the word
which the Lord ((Κύριος
- Cyrios)spoke? To-morrow is the Sabbath (σάββατον
- sábbaton), a holy rest (ἀνάπαυσις - anapausis) to
the Lord (κυρίῳ -
kyriō) bake that ye will bake, and seethe that ye will seethe, and
all that is over leave to be laid by for the morrow.” Sep Exo 16:23
The very next day, on the seventh day, they
are again reminded they must do all their work of gathering manna and preparing
their food during the first sixth days of the week. They are further instructed that they are not
to leave their homes on the seventh day. Notice that the Sabbath day is to be considered
a gift from our Heavenly Father.
“And
they left of it till the morning, as Moses commanded them; and it stank not,
neither was there a worm in it. And Moses said, Eat that to-day, for to-day is a
sabbath to the Lord: it shall not be found in the plain. Six days ye
shall gather it, and on the seventh day is a sabbath, for there shall
be none on that day. And it came to pass on the seventh day that some of the people went forth to gather, and found
none. And the Lord said to Moses, How long are ye unwilling to hearken to my
commands and my law? See, for the Lord
has given you this day as the sabbath,
therefore he has given you on the
sixth day the bread of two days: ye shall sit each of you in your houses; let no one go
forth from his place on the seventh day.
And the people kept
sabbath on the seventh day.” Sep Exo 16:24-30
The next time we are given instructions for
the Sabbath day of rest is when our Supreme Heavenly Father gives Moses the 10 Commandments. Here we are told that all laborious work must
be performed the first six days of the week and that no one in your home is to
perform any type of work. This means to
me that all of the stores should be closed on this day since no one can perform
work. We are to conduct no business at
all.
“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt
perform all thy work. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine,
nor the stranger that sojourns with thee. For in six days the Lord made the
heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day,
and hallowed it [made holy].” Exo 20:8-11
The 10 Commandments are all high level
instruction that have lower level laws that explain how to fully keep each
commandment. In the verses below we are
given further instructions that the Sabbath day laws are to be kept by the 12
Tribes descendants forever. We are also
told that if any one violates this law they will be put to death. We all do know that we will all die;
therefore it might be a referenced to the second death explained in the book of
Revelation. If so, the second death is
permanent so it is important to repent if you have been breaking this law. Our Supreme Father states that following this commandment
or law is a sign of being HIS chosen people.
“Do thou also charge the children of Israel,
saying, Take heed and keep my sabbaths; for they are a sign with me and
among you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord
that sanctifies you. And ye shall keep the sabbaths, because this is holy to
the Lord for you; he that profanes it shall surely be put to death: every one who
shall do a work on it, that soul [(ψῡ́χω - psū́khō
- I blow)shall be destroyed from the
midst of his people. Six days
thou shalt do works, but the seventh day is the sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord;
every one
who shall do a work on the seventh day shall be put to death. And
the children of Israel shall keep the sabbaths, to observe them throughout their generations. It is a
perpetual covenant with me and the children of Israel, it is a perpetual sign (σημεῖον
- sēmeîon) with me;
for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh
day he ceased, and rested.” Exo 31:13-17
The Greek word "ψῡ́χω -
psū́khō" that was translated to the English word soul means the state
of being alive and the immortal part of a person.
The Greek word “σημεῖον
– sēmeîon” which comes from the root word "σῆμᾰ
- sêma" means a mark, sign or
token that can be used to verify someone’s identity.
Further along in Exodus we are reminded that
all work must be performed the first six days of the week and anyone performing
work on the Sabbath will die. We are
also told that we are not to have any fire burning in our dwellings; meaning we
are to be at home and we are not to cook or bake. All meals should be prepared before the
seventh day.
“Six days shalt thou perform works, but on the seventh day
shall be rest--a holy Sabbath--a rest for the Lord: every one that
does work on it, let him die. Ye shall not burn a fire in any of
your dwellings on the sabbath-day; I am the Lord.” Sep Exo 35:2-3
The Sabbath in Leviticus
The book of
Leviticus repeats that the Sabbath day is a holy day of rest and that no work
is to be done and this ordinance is to be observed forever. They are told that everyone in the home must
observe this law.
“Six
days shalt thou do works, but on the seventh day is the sabbath; a rest,
a holy
convocation to the Lord: thou shalt not do any work, it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.”
Sep Lev 23:3
The English
word ‘convocation’ is translated from the Greek root word ‘klétos’ which refers to the
people that are ‘called out’, ‘invited’ or ‘chosen’ by our Supreme Father in
Heaven.
The Sabbath in the Book of Numbers
While the Israelites were camping in the wilderness they
found a man violating the Sabbath day law and our Supreme Heavenly Father gave
the Israelites permission to stone the man to death according to the law. This is important since within the 10
commandment there is another law stating ‘thou shalt not murder’. Since the Israelites were finally free
of their slavery and now again able to keep the Sabbath day holy, they wanted
to ensure the day stayed holy and was a day of rest. All the Israelites had been told not
to perform work on the Sabbath day and the penalty is death; therefore the
penalty was carried out.
“And the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man
gathering sticks on the sabbath-day. And
they who found him gathering sticks on the sabbath-day brought him to Moses and
Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel. And they placed him in custody, for they did
not determine what they should do to him. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Let the
man be by all means put to death: do ye all the congregation, stone him with
stones. And all the congregation brought
him forth out of the camp; and all the congregation stoned him with stones
outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.” Sep Num 15:32-36
The Israelites did think it was critical that the penalty of
this law be fulfilled. If one man breaks
this law, then others may think they have permission to also break the law and
they did not want this attitude towards the Sabbath day in the camp. Since our ancestors did not keep this law we
now have many Sabbath day law breakers amongst us which makes it hard for the
rest of us to follow the Sabbath day law.
This law is still in force since it has not all been fulfilled. Many laws are not yet fulfilled including the
fall feast days.
“Do not think that
I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of
the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in
the kingdom of heaven.” DR Mat
5:17-19
Sabbath Offerings
According to the Book of Numbers, we are to present a
Sabbath offering. To me this means we are to cook dinner. Therefore, we are to rest during the day
light hours and when the sun goes down we can cook a meal.
“And on the sabbath-day ye shall offer two lambs of a year old without
blemish, and two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil for a
meat-offering, and a drink-offering. It is a whole-burnt-offering of the
sabbaths on the sabbath days, besides the continued whole-burnt-offering, and
its drink offering.” Num 28:9-10
The Sabbath in Deuteronomy
It is recorded in the book of Deuteronomy that Moses gathered all
of the Israelites together to give them the commandments and laws. It is also recorded in this book that they
agreed to follow the laws by saying ‘amen’.
Here is where they are told the
Sabbath day law once more:
“Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the
Lord thy God commanded thee. Six days thou shalt work, and thou shalt do all
thy works; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord
thy God: thou shalt do in it no work, thou, and thy
son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thine ox, and
thine ass, and all thy cattle, and the stranger that sojourns in the midst of
thee; that thy man-servant may rest, and thy maid, and thine ox, as well
as thou. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out
thence with a mighty hand, and a high arm: therefore the Lord appointed thee to keep the sabbath day
and to sanctify it.” Sep Deu 5:12-15
Notice that our Supreme Heavenly Father appointed us to keep the Sabbath
day holy. HE said it was our
responsibility.
Notice in the above translation states that HE gave the orders to guard
the Sabbath day and sanctify it . Therefore it was our sole responsibility to
keep the day holy and set apart for rest.
He reminds them that they were slaves in Egypt because when they were
slaves they were not able to keep the Sabbath day holy – just like today!
The Sabbath in Nehemiah
The book of
Nehemiah records that the Prophet Nehemiah found that the Sabbath day laws were
being violated in Jerusalem. So he took
measures to prevent continued violations.
He had the gates of Jerusalem shut so that no business could occur on
the Sabbath day. This also means that no
one could come to Jerusalem on the Sabbath for any type of assembly that
day. This proves that the Prophet Nehemiah
understood that the Sabbath day was a day of rest and no work.
“In those days I saw in Juda men treading wine-presses on the sabbath,
and carrying sheaves, and loading asses with both wine, and grapes, and figs,
and every kind of burden, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath-day: and I testified in the day of their sale. Also
their dwelt in it men bringing fish, and selling every kind of merchandise to
the children of Juda and in Jerusalem on
the sabbath. And I strove with the free children of Juda, and said to them,
What is this evil thing which ye do, and profane
the sabbath-day? Did not your
fathers thus, and our God brought upon them and upon us and upon this city all
these evils? and do ye bring additional wrath upon Israel by profaning the sabbath? And it came to
pass, when the gates were set up in Jerusalem, before the sabbath, that I
spoke, and they shut the gates; and
I gave orders that they should not be opened
till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that
none should bring in burdens on the sabbath-day. So all the merchants lodged,
and carried on traffic without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I testified
against them, and said to them, Why do ye lodge in front of the wall? if ye do
so again, I will stretch out my hand upon you. From that time they came not on the sabbath.” Sep Neh 13:15-21
King David & the Holy Bread
In the New
Testament Jesus refers back to this story regarding King David on the Sabbath
day. Therefore, we will review what King
David did on the Sabbath day.
King David
requested bread for his servants, however, there was only holy shewbread for
the Sabbath available and King David told Priest Abimelech that is would be
okay for his servants to eat the holy bread.
“And David comes to
Nomba to Abimelech the priest: and Abimelech was amazed at meeting him, and
said to him, Why art thou alone, and nobody with thee? And David said to the
priest, The king gave me a to-day, and said to me, Let no one know the matter
on which I send thee, an concerning which I have charged thee: and I have charged my servants to be in the
place that is called, The faithfulness of God, phellani maemoni. And now if there are under thy hand five
loaves, give into my hand what is ready. And the priest answered David, and
said, There are no common loaves under
my hand, for I have none but holy loaves: if
the young men have been kept at least from women, then they shall
eat them. And David answered the priest, and said to him, Yea,
we have been kept from women for three days: when I came forth for
the journey all the young men were
purified; but this expedition is unclean, wherefore it shall be
sanctified this day because of my weapons. So
Abimelech the priest gave him the shewbread; for there were no loaves there,
but only the presence loaves which had been removed from the presence of the
Lord, in order that hot bread should be set on, on the day on which he took
them.” Sep 1 Samuel 21:1-6
King David
did explain that his servants had been kept from women and they were
purified. This is important since they
had to be purified in order to eat the holy bread. This is the law that King David and the
priest are following:
“And the Lord said to
Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them to-day and
to-morrow, and let them wash their garments. And
let them be ready against the third day, for on the third day the Lord will
descend upon mount Sina before all the people. And thou shalt
separate the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not
up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the
mountain shall surely die. A hand shall not touch it, for every one that
touches shall be stoned with stones or shot through with a dart, whether beast
or whether man, it shall not live: when the voices and trumpets and cloud
depart from off the mountain, they shall come up on the mountain. And Moses
went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified them, and they washed
their clothes. And he said to the people, Be ready: for
three days come not near to a woman.” Exo 19:10-15
Here is the
law that required the making of the holy bread for the Sabbath day which stated
this bread was for Aaron and his sons that were priests:
“And ye shall take fine
flour, and make of it twelve loaves; each loaf shall be of two tenth parts. And
ye shall put them in two rows, each row containing six loaves, on the pure
table before the Lord. And ye shall put on each row pure frankincense and salt;
and these things shall be for loaves for a memorial, set forth before the Lord.
On the sabbath-day they shall be set
forth before the Lord continually before the children of Israel, for an
everlasting covenant. And they shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they
shall eat them in the holy place: for this is their most holy portion of the
offerings made to the Lord, a perpetual statute.” Sep Lev 24:5-9
This law
explains that only Aaron and his sons could eat the holy shewbread:
“And no stranger shall
eat the holy things: one that sojourns with a priest, or a hireling, shall not
eat the holy things. But if a priest should have a soul purchased for money, he
shall eat of his bread; and they
that are born in his house, they also shall eat of his bread.” Lev 22:10-11
Therefore,
even though the men had followed the purification laws, they were still not able
to lawfully eat the shewbread.
The Sabbath in Maccabees
About 200
years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ, king Antiochus who ruled over Judea,
put forth that the Israelites should
profane the Sabbath day which means they should be required to perform work
and physical labor on the Sabbath day.
“Moreover
king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people, And
every one should leave his laws: so
all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king. Yea, many also
of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath. For
the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda
that they should follow the strange laws of the land, And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the
temple; and that they should profane the sabbaths and
festival days: And pollute the
sanctuary and
holy people: Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice
swine's flesh, and unclean beasts: That they should also leave their children
uncircumcised, and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness
and profanation: To the end they might forget the law, and change all the
ordinances.” 1Maccabees 1:41-49
This was
the start of the Israelites losing their freedom to observe the Sabbath. Next
they started be attacked on the Sabbath day and because it was the Sabbath day
the Israelites did not fight back. Many were losing their lives since they
would not fight back when attacked on the Sabbath day even though the laws of
Moses said they could put someone to death for not following the Sabbath day
laws.
“Now
when it was told the king's servants, and the host that was at Jerusalem, in
the city of David, that certain men, who had broken the king's commandment,
were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness, They pursued after
them a great number, and having overtaken them, they camped against them, and
made war against them on the sabbath day. And they said unto them, Let that
which ye have done hitherto suffice; come forth, and do according to the
commandment of the king, and ye shall live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do the king's commandment, to
profane the sabbath day. So then they gave them the battle with all speed.
Howbeit they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped
the places where they lay hid; But said, Let us die all in our innocency:
heaven and earth will testify for us, that ye put us to death wrongfully. So they rose up against them in battle on
the sabbath, and they slew them, with their wives and children and their
cattle, to the number of a thousand people.” 1Ma 2:31-38
By
the time of 2nd Maccabees it was totally unlawful to keep the
Sabbath day holy.
“Neither was it lawful for a man to keep sabbath
days or ancient fasts, or to profess himself at all to be a Judean.” 2 Mac 6:6
The
Israelites were secretly observing the Sabbath day and were killed for that
act:
“And
others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the sabbath day
secretly, being discovered by Philip, were all burnt together, because they
made a conscience to help themselves for the honour of the most sacred day.” 2 Mac 6:11
The
Israelites should have united against their attackers and protected
themselves. They should have been
punishing the people that were violating the Sabbath day laws all along so that
they did not get themselves in this situation.
It was their responsibility to keep the day holy.
Jesus & the Sabbath Day
Jesus
explains in the gospel of Matthew that the Son of man (Adam) has the authority
to take care of his physically needs on the Sabbath. That would include his
need for food, protection and safety.
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath through the
cornfields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears and to
eat. But the Pharisees, seeing [it], said to him, Behold, thy disciples are
doing what is not lawful to do on sabbath. But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did when he was hungry, and they
that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and ate the
shewbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but
for the priests only? Or have ye not read in the law that on the sabbaths the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
But I say unto you, that there is here what is greater than the temple. But if ye had known what is: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord [Greek kurios: master, supreme of authority] of the sabbath. And, going away from thence, he came into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man having his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? that they might accuse him. But he said to them, What man shall there be of you who has one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and raise [it] up? How much better then is a man than a sheep! So that it is lawful to do well on the sabbath. Then he says to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched [it] out, and it was restored sound as the other.” Darby’s Matthew 12:1-13
But I say unto you, that there is here what is greater than the temple. But if ye had known what is: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord [Greek kurios: master, supreme of authority] of the sabbath. And, going away from thence, he came into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man having his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? that they might accuse him. But he said to them, What man shall there be of you who has one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and raise [it] up? How much better then is a man than a sheep! So that it is lawful to do well on the sabbath. Then he says to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched [it] out, and it was restored sound as the other.” Darby’s Matthew 12:1-13
“And he said to them, The sabbath was made on account of man,
not man on account of the sabbath; so that the Son of man is lord of the
sabbath also.” Darby’s Mark 2:27
Therefore we
are told that the Sabbath was a gift made for us and the Israelites have
complete authority on the Sabbath day. Since
the Israelites have the authority on the Sabbath day they have the authority to
feed someone hungry, help in an emergency, and protect ourselves. The Sabbath day laws were not put in place to
be a hindrance towards true brotherly love and charity. On the other hand though we do have the right
to say no to helping a people that are not following the laws deliberately and
therefore deliberately putting themselves at need on the Sabbath day. Our Supreme Heavenly Father gave us this day
for rest and we have the right to rest.
Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews
The apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews after
Christ was crucified where he referred to the Sabbath day as a day of
rest. Paul was making a point that it is
still important to follow the laws of Moses regarding the Sabbath day.
“There
remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. For he
that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God
did from his. Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no
man fall after the same example of disobedience”.
Hebrews 4:9-11
The Sabbath Day of the Week
Most people today believe that Sunday is the Sabbath day; however, if you use the currently named days of the week the Sabbath day is Saturday which is the seventh day. Church day is on Sunday in order to not violate the Sabbath day law. It is said that Sunday became ‘the Lord’s day’ because Jesus rose on the first day of the week:
“And on the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came to the sepulchre, bringing the
spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled back from the
sepulchre. And going in, they found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:1-2
Some people believe that the seven day
cycle of the week has never been broken; therefore Saturday is still the
seventh day in an unbroken cycle.
Some people do use the Solar Calendar described in Enoch to determine the Sabbath day and if this
calendar is correctly aligned to the fourth day of the week being a Wednesday
in the month of Abib, the Sabbath day will correctly be placed on Saturday. Enoch’s calendar does ensure that a feast days
do not fall on a Sabbath day of rest which would be a conflict – you cannot both rest and prepare a feast day
celebration.
Please pray and look for direction
from our Heavenly Father as to which Sabbath day you should observe.
Conclusion
Our Supreme Father in Heaven gave us
this day of rest and it is up to us whether we can keep it holy. Today it is
very hard to keep the Sabbath day holy when business is conducted seven days a
week in our communities. When I was
young most businesses were closed on Sunday to protect the Sabbath day (confusion regarding when the Sabbath day is has been going on a long time now) and
today most businesses are open every day.
Plus others in your home may feel the need to work on household projects
on the Sabbath day and make you feel guilty for not helping. Just remember though that we were given the
right to rest on the Sabbath day and it is a sign of being HIS chosen
people. Resting on this day shows HIM
that you do believe you are one of HIS people that have been ‘called out’ to
know the truth and obey HIS laws.
In a newspaper article published in 1903,
the writer makes a good point that the Sabbath day of rest creates an environment
where we can grow closer to our Heavenly Father.
Accept our Heavenly
Father’s gift and observe the Sabbath day of rest.
Grow closer to
HIM! Keep the Sabbath day holy!