No other commandment is emphasized and described as often in the Gospel as the Sabbath commandment. This special day, the seventh day of the week, exhibits a whole series of characteristics: key points surrounding the Sabbath, blessed and sanctified by God.
Inhalt / Content
- 1 Sabbath – Especially in all respects
- 2 – 1. The 7th Day – Rest – Blessing & Sanctification
- 3 – 2. Sabbath is the fourth of the Ten Commandments
- 4 – 3. Sabbath is “Day of the Lord”
- 5 – 4. God calls for keeping the Sabbath
- 6 – 5. Sabbath applies to all people
- 7 – 6. Disregard of the Sabbath is disregard of the whole law
- 8 – 7. Jesus Christ the best example
- 9 – 8. The Sabbath – A special sign from God
- 10 – 9. Living under grace does not abolish the Sabbath
- 11 – 10. Sabbath was kept by early Christians
- 12 – 11. Sabbath was, is and will be
- 13 God’s Law or Statutes?
Sabbath – Especially in all respects
No commandment of God is as attacked as the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath, and thus the 7th day of the week (“Saturday”). Likewise, no other commandment is mentioned, emphasized, and highlighted as often in the Bible as this very Sabbath. The (commemorative) day specially established by God for the completion of His creation has numerous characteristics, as does the treatment and handling of this blessed and holy day.
The Sabbath is the Fourth Commandment according to Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The major churches teach the “holiday commandment” as the Third Commandment. Counting method or not, it remains a corruption of the actual Ten Commandments of God. (Info).
– 1. The 7th Day – Rest – Blessing & Sanctification
The Sabbath refers to the seventh day of the week (“Saturday”), not the first day of the week (“Sunday”).
And God rested on the 7th day of the week. Not because of exhaustion, but as the special sign of the completion of His creation.
The 7th day of the week was blessed and sanctified by God. Nowhere in the Bible is it described that God ever “disblessed” and “profaned” the Sabbath, let alone ever did so.
Genesis 2:2-3:
“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 made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.“
– 2. Sabbath is the fourth of the Ten Commandments
The Sabbath, the 7th day of the week as a separate day, is the Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) and thus an immutable law. The violation of one of the Ten Commandments is per se a sin (Info). The Sabbath is one of these Ten Commandments, and therefore the violation or disregard of the Sabbath is per se a sin.
1 John 3:4:
“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
– 3. Sabbath is “Day of the Lord”
The “Lord’s Day” in reference to a weekday is the Sabbath. Jesus Christ made it clear that He is Lord over the Sabbath. Further evidence that the first day (“Sunday”) is not the “Lord’s Day,” but explicitly “Saturday.” (Info).
Matthew 12:8:
“For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.“
Mark 2:27-28:
“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.“
– 4. God calls for keeping the Sabbath
God calls for keeping the Sabbath and commends those who do so.
Isaiah 56:2:
“Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.“
– 5. Sabbath applies to all people
Jesus Christ emphasizes that the Sabbath was not established exclusively for the people of Israel, but for mankind. Therefore, the Sabbath applies to all people. (Info).
Mark 2:27-28:
“And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.“
– 6. Disregard of the Sabbath is disregard of the whole law
James clearly demonstrates that each of the Ten Commandments must be kept. Selectively picking out what one likes or dislikes would result in breaking the entire law. This also applies to the Sabbath commandment.
James 2:10:
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.“
– 7. Jesus Christ the best example
Jesus Christ, as a human being on earth, himself set the example that the Sabbath must be kept. In His time, the Sabbath was not in doubt due to the notorious Pharisees and their countless special regulations that gagged people, but this stands in stark contrast to the claims that Jesus annulled the Sabbath. (Info). In Luke 16, Jesus gives the Pharisees a “lecturing”.
Luke 4:16:
“And 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 for to read.“
Luke 16:14-15:
“And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.“
– 8. The Sabbath – A special sign from God
The Lord makes it clear that the Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, is a special sign. It is His mark, and whoever accepts this sign thereby signals recognition of His authority. This is of particular importance in light of the “mark of the beast.” (Info).
Ezekiel 20:12;20:
“Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.“
– 9. Living under grace does not abolish the Sabbath
Living under grace does not mean that one must no longer observe all or even one of the commandments. Breaking or disobeying one of the commandments is a sin. However, the grace of Jesus is not a license to disobey written laws. This automatically includes the Sabbath, the fourth of the Ten Commandments.
Romans 6:1-2;15:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.“
– 10. Sabbath was kept by early Christians
The first Christian communities observed the Sabbath. They showed no signs of abandoning the Sabbath and observing Sunday instead. There were a few exceptions, however, namely those in Rome and Alexandria (Egypt). The Roman community, surrounded by the Mithras cult, ultimately emerged as the Roman Catholic Church, and it was this church that effectively declared war on the Sabbath. (Info).
Acts 17:2:
“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,“
Acts 18:4:
“And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.“
– 11. Sabbath was, is and will be
The Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was established by God immediately after creation, marking its completion. The Sabbath thus existed from the beginning, is today, and will continue to exist in the future. This will also be the case on the new earth (Isaiah 66).
Isaiah 66:23:
“And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.“.
God’s Law or Statutes?
However, if the argument arises that the laws were nailed to the cross, then it is (finally) time to distinguish between the eternally existing laws of God (the Ten Commandments) and the actually abolished ceremonial laws (the Laws of Moses, Statutes). (Info).
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
