The Sabbath

What does the Bible say is the Sabbath?

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Jesus' teachings and example on the Sabbath highlight the spiritual nature of the Lord's day. A number of the Gospels describe Jesus and the disciples engaging in Sabbath-observant practices, like going to synagogue services and not working (e.g., Mark 1:21, Luke 4:16, Matthew 12:1-8).

Acts 13:14, Acts 16:13, and other early church texts attest to the apostles like Paul continuing the custom of convening on the Sabbath for worship and instruction. When was the Sabbath established? What is the Bible's position on this crucial matter?

1. 1.WHEN was the Sabbath made ?

   Bible⇒ Genesis 2 : 1-3.

2. 2.Who made it?

   Bible⇒ John 1: 1-3 ;John 1: 14 ; Ephesians 3 : 9 ; Colossians 1: 13-17 .

3. 3.How is the work of the Creator described ?

   Bible⇒Genesis 1 : 31 ; Genesis 2 : 1-3

4. 4.For whom was the Sabbath made?

   Bible⇒ Mark 2 : 27.

   Rev. A. H. Vinton, D. D., rector of St. Mark's Church, New York, says : " The origin of the Sabbath back in the creative epoch, when God rested from His works, and when there was only one human family on the earth, proves that the Sabbath was meant to be, not Jewish, but Adamic. Moreover, the Saviour's declaration, The Sabbath was made for man,' although spoken for another and specific purpose, seems to carry with it the idea of universality. If the Sabbath was made for man, why not for all men — for the whole race? And thus again the Sabbath is not national and local, but generic and general."—" Sabbath," pp. 235, 236.

5. 5.How does God regard the Sabbath ?

   Bible⇒ Exodus 20 : 8-11; Isaiah 58 : 13, 14 ; Mark 2 : 28 ; Revelation 1 : 10 .

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7. 6.Of what is the Sabbath a memorial ?

   Bible⇒ Exodus 20 : 8-11; Psalms 111 : 4 .

   Rev. N. L. Rice, D.D., pastor of the Presbyterian church, Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth St., New York, says: " No reason can be assigned for the placing of the command to hallow the Sabbath in the decalogue, save that, like the other nine, it is of universal and perpetual obligation. And since the other commandments were in substance given in the beginning of time, so was the fourth. The reasons for the institution of the Sabbath, and the ends for which it was appointed, prove that it was not designed for one nation, for a limited period, but for all men, through all ages." — Id., p. 39.

8. 7. By what miracle did God designate the Sabbath in the weekly cycle ?

   Bible⇒ Exodus 16 : 4, 5, This miracle was repeated every week for forty years, definitely marking the Sabbath 2,080 times .

9. 8.Did Christ and His disciples keep the Sabbath?

   Bible ⇉ Luke 4 : 16 ; Matthew 24 : 15-20.

10. 9.Did the disciples keep the Sabbath after the crucifixion ?

    Bible ⇉ Luke 23 : 56 ; Acts 13 : 42-44 ; Acts 16: 13; Acts 17: 2; Acts 18:4

11. 10.Did Christ change the Sabbath ?

    Bible ⇉ Matthew 5 : 17, 18

    The 'Watchman (Baptist) says : " It is frequently said that we are not living under the Jewish dispensation, and that the Jewish Sabbath, like the Jewish law, has no binding force upon Christians. This is a superficial and misleading .view. The ten commandments have a place in all human laws, and live because they express divine laws, essential principles. Jesus said He came not to destroy, but to fulfill, the law. What He did was to rescue the Sabbath from Pharisaism and formalism, with which it had been overlaid, and restore it to its proper place as man's minister, not his master. That the Sabbath was made for man, involves the obligation, resting upon man to use it so as to realize the purpose for which it was instituted."— Feb. 27, 1896.

12. 11.Are Christians under obligation to keep the Sabbath?

    Bible ⇉ Matthew 24: 13; 1 John 2 : 3-6 ; Isaiah 56 : 1, 2 ; Isaiah 58 : 13, 14.

    Rev. E. A. Waffle says : " Up to the time of Christ's death no change had been made in the day. The authority must be sought in the words or in the example of the inspired apostles. . . . So far as the record shows, they did not, however, give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the week." — " The Lord's Day," pp. 186, 187.

13. 12.Is the Sabbath of "Paradise lost" to be the Sabbath of "Paradise restored"?

    Bible ⇉ Isaiah 66 : 22, 23; Revelation 22 : 14.