On the seventh and last day of Creation, nearly 2,000 years before the first Jew, God instituted a perpetual weekly day of rest and worship for all humanity—Sabbath: “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day…. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it….” Gen. 2:2, 3.
Four thousand years later, Jesus reminded the Jewish leaders that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27.
The Sabbath command from Sinai, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” was just that—a reminder of God’s original purpose for Sabbath in Genesis.
“Thou shalt not kill” was also given at Sinai. Does that mean that Cain did not sin by killing his brother?
Did God just introduce some commandments to Adam and Eve and reserve the others to be introduced along with the Sabbath at Sinai? Hardly, for the Bible states that if you break one, you break them all. Jam. 2:10. Thus, God shows that the Law is one complete whole and not ten stand-alone rules independent of each other.
But there’s even more evidence that the Sabbath was known and observed before Sinai.
Shortly before God spoke His law to Israel at Sinai, He gave them a very interesting test of loyalty. Exodus 16 describes God sending bread from heaven and commanding the people to gather a double portion on Friday, so they would not have to gather on Sabbath. Remember, this is before God spoke His Ten Commandments from Sinai. They had gone into Egypt keeping the Sabbath, had forgotten it during their hard bondage, and now 400 years later were being reminded of its existence.
Was there a creation before Sinai? Absolutely. Was there a seventh-day Sabbath before Sinai? Without a doubt.
When the saints are redeemed and living in the New Earth, whether Jew or Gentile by origin, they will worship the Lord on His Sabbath day: “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.” Isa. 66:23.
While it is customary today to record the days from midnight to midnight, that was never true in biblical times, nor in biblical commands. In the first chapter of Genesis we are informed that each day of Creation began with the evening hours. Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. This is further clarified in respect to the Sabbath in the book of Leviticus. “From even [evening] unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Lev. 23:32.
If the Bible is your rule of faith, there is a simple answer. The Sabbath was not given as a memorial of our Lord’s resurrection, but as a memorial of Creation and redemption. Exod. 20:8–11 and Ezek. 20:12.
On the other hand, the Christian has been given wonderful memorials of Christ’s death and resurrection—the Lord’s supper and Baptism. Matt. 26:26–28; Rom. 6:3–11.
Nowhere in Scripture do we find Christ or the apostles changing the original purpose of observing God’s holy seventh-day Sabbath.
The seventeenth verse of this chapter reveals the subject of Paul’s concern. These were Jewish feast days that fell on a variety of weekdays which God had commanded Israel to keep as they would the weekly Sabbath. These feast days were merely shadows of things that met their fulfillment through the Messiah.
Jesus never gave the impression that the Ten Commandments, specifically the Sabbath, would be abolished through the work of the Messiah. On the contrary, He upheld the Law of God and declared that Heaven and Earth would pass before the Law would be changed. Matt. 5:18.
Few individuals really believe this, even though they often present it as an argument against keeping the fourth commandment. Common sense requires us to admit that if we are at liberty to break the Sabbath commandment, then we are equally at liberty to break the other nine commandments. Yet, no Christian would concede that it is perfectly right to kill, steal, commit adultery or lie. We are not at liberty to decide which of the Ten Commandments we can discard. Jam. 2:10–12.
When Christ died, it was the law of sacrifice and ceremony that was nailed to the cross. No Christians will be saved without the Ten-Commandment Law written on their hearts, producing the fruits of genuine Christian obedience. Heb. 10:16; John 15:8–10. Keeping the Law is the result of entering a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Sabbath keeping is a sign of sanctification, setting apart our life for God’s holy purpose. Ezek. 20:12.
Even decades after the resurrection of Christ, Sunday (the first day) is not referred to as the Lord’s day as many claim it to be, and the seventh day (Saturday) is always referred to as the Sabbath. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1, 2; Luke 23:56; 24:1.
It is true that Paul was a faithful Sabbath keeper. As Christ’s custom was to go into the synagogue every Sabbath day, so was Paul’s custom. Luke 4:16; Acts 17:2. Some might say that Paul went to the synagogue because that is where the Jews were, but it is clear that he also took the Gentiles there. Acts 13:42–44; 18:4.
Christ anticipated that His church would still be keeping the seventh-day Sabbath more than 30 years after his death. Remember, He told His disciples to pray that their flight from Jerusalem not be on the Sabbath day. Matt. 24:20.
There is no mandate, either by Christ or the apostles, for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. This is why it took centuries before the pagan custom of Sunday keeping could be established across the major portions of Europe.
For further reading, see Paul Copan, Is God a Moral Monster? Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011, chapter 4.
