“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 2:2-3
God repeated "the seventh day" three times in the above verse, three times. Its pretty clear which day He is referring to. God declared the Sabbath at creation. He created everything in six days, and then He rested on the seventh day and sanctified the Sabbath day as His chosen holy day of rest. Sanctified means set aside and made special—made different from all the others.
“but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God…” ~Exodus 8:10
God also sanctified us, His children, those that know and love Him. The following verse tells us that we, the believers, are also sanctified or set aside to be a special people to Him, just as special as His Sabbaths. Apparently, according to the word of God, His Sabbaths are to be a sign between us and Him, a sign that indicates we are indeed His special people!
“Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” ~Ezekiel 20:12
Nowhere in the Bible will you find that the Sabbath day was changed. That’s because it wasn’t! But, you might say, God doesn’t care what day I worship Him or rest on, Sunday is just as good a day as Saturday. Then tell me this, why does the fourth commandment start with the word, remember? Why does God indicate that this one commandment will be forgotten—that we would turn away from the truth of His holy word and accept a counterfeit in its place.
God made the seventh day special, there’s a power in this day, a special power to rejuvenate us, both spiritually and physically. We can’t just arbitrarily change one of God’s holy commandments. He is God. He knows what is best for us, we must simply trust and obey Him.
God wants us to understand that He loves us and wants the best for us. He wants us to spend an entire day resting together with Him every week. He made this day to commune with us, to have one on one time with us—just like we love one on one time with our children—time to talk and grow closer. There is a time for work, and there is a time for rest, to rejuvenate, to take in and appreciate everything and everyone close to us, especially Him! He wants to spend this special time with us not only to rest in Him but to draw closer to Him.
What does the word, Sabbath mean? Shabbat is the original Hebrew word for our English word Sabbath. It comes from the root word, Shin-Beit-Tav, which means “to cease, to end, to rest.” The Shabbat or Sabbath is the seventh day, the end of the week, the day of rest and abstention from work as commanded by God.
How can we know that Saturday is the true Bible Sabbath day? God says it more than a hundred times in the Bible. He repeatedly says we should observe the seventh day of the week (Saturday), from evening to evening, as the Sabbath of the Lord our God. God made sunset to indicate when one day ends and another day begins. The Sabbath day begins at sunset on Friday and ends sundown on Saturday. Nowhere in the Bible has any other day ever been sanctified by God as the day of rest—only the seventh day Sabbath.
What should I do on God’s special day…?
Shut down, get quiet and take a complete break from, not only your job-work… but house-work, yard-work and every other kind of work. Give yourself and everyone else a nice relaxing rest. Spend time together with God in His holy word, both reading and hearing it. Go to a Bible-based Sabbath keeping church, hear the word of God and have some fellowship with other believers, and you will be blessed.
The following is a very lengthy review found in the Bible of the fourth commandment. It seems that God wanted us to have a really detailed explanation of the specifics of His Sabbath law. None of the other commandments are detailed throughout the Bible like the Sabbath is.
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 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 ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” ~Deuteronomy 5:12-15
This verse pretty much tells us what we should do on God’s special day—more importantly, what we shouldn’t do. We shouldn’t labor or expect anyone else to; not our kids nor our servants, as in cab-drivers, bus drivers, plane pilots or even cooks or waitresses, nor anyone in our care, not even our house guests or our animals! A pretty all-inclusive list, wouldn’t you say?
God’s Sabbath rest day began at creation and it is for everyone. It was made for all flesh, even animals, and it will go on forever. This special, sanctified day will be a day celebrated with God even in heaven and on the new earth through all 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
Q: Do you want to spend God’s day with Him?
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Thank you again Linda. Further more, some believe that the day Christ was raised from the dead is the new sabbath. Well, Jesus also went to the synagogue on the seventh day. And after ascending, the Apostles also taught on the Sabbath (seventh day) . Tho the mystery continues. Interpretations are all over the place. BUT God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Commandments have and will not change as long as we walk this earth. God Bless you My Friend ☮️❤️✝️.
Thank you for your comment. I’d like to mention this one very important fact that will clear up any remaining confusion you might have.
The Seventh day Sabbath was still observed in 70 AD, 40 years after Christ’s ascension!
☆READ: Matthew 24:20
Thanks,
~Linda