The main thing is to rest one day a week, and it doesn’t matter which day. Really? This is another widespread belief that willfully bends one of God’s commandments. For God’s Sabbath is not on just any day, but explicitly the seventh day of the week, namely Saturday.
Does it really matter which Sabbath day?
“It doesn’t matter which day of the week you observe it. The main thing is one day out of seven,” goes a popular argument for adapting the biblical Sabbath to suit one’s personal needs. This is convenient, since it doesn’t matter if the day of rest is eventually observed on the first day of the week, Sunday. The time is drawing near when Sunday rest will become mandatory. Whether it’s to celebrate the “Lord’s Day,” the newly defined “Sabbath,” or simply as a day of unity for the family and simultaneously a contribution to “climate protection.” If everyone is already observing Sunday as the Sabbath, then no one wants to be out of line.
After all, it says, “Six days you shall work, and on the seventh day you shall rest,” therefore, it doesn’t matter which day.
What does the 4th commandment actually say?
But what does the Bible actually say when one reads the relevant passages carefully and attentively? Here is the 4th commandment according to its wording, Exodus 20:8-11:
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.“
In fact, the following statement can be found there:
“Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall not do any work.” But does it really matter which day of the week? Here are some further important statements in this commandment: “The seventh day is the Lord’s Sabbath.” Not the first, not the third, not even the sixth, but the seventh day.
“He [God] rested on the 7th day, therefore He blessed and sanctified this day.” It is repeatedly emphasized here that this is not just any day of the week, but explicitly the 7th day, i.e., Saturday.
When did God sanctify the Sabbath?
When did God first rest, and when did He bless and sanctify this seventh day? He did this immediately after creation. Creation lasted six days, and to complete it (Info), He instituted the Sabbath day on the seventh day (see Genesis 2:1-3).
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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.“
There were only two people on Earth, Adam and Eve. Therefore, there were neither Judeans nor Israel. This contradicts those who further claim that the Sabbath applies only to the people of Israel since Mount Sinai.
Expression of rebellion
Simply shifting the Lord’s Sabbath to another day therefore remains a “monologue” from those who believe they can simply move the day of rest to another day. God is not present for fellowship on any day other than His Sabbath. This practice belongs to the category of “human commandments,” which Jesus Christ had long ago accused the Pharisees of. Matthew 15:9:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.“
The Ten Commandments of God (Info) represent, among other things, the other side of His character and the expression of His will. Simply disregarding this will, against one’s better judgment, will not go unanswered by God. Disregarding even one of His commandments is an expression of outright rebellion, and the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments.
It is therefore not really surprising that the adversary focused his attacks on the 7th-day Sabbath from the very beginning, pursued this strategy over the many centuries, and maintained it until the bitter end (Info).
And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Luke 6:5
Bible verses from King James Version
