God’s Rest Day
A day was set apart by God on the first week of creation. Why? Does it still have significance today?
What is the first angel’s message in Revelation 14?
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
In Revelation 14 there are three angels proclaiming a message to the people of the world in the last days, and the first angel’s message is a call to worship the Creator God and give glory to Him.
What is it an echo of?
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 14:6, 7 is an echo of the verse above, which explains that God is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power because He is the Author of all life.
How did God create?
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
For by him [Jesus] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
God the Father created all things by His Son Jesus, and by Him it is all sustained!
Which commandment identifies the Creator God?
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.
The fourth commandment begins with the word “remember” because God knew His Sabbath would be forgotten. It also identifies God as the Creator of everything, and every created human being is invited to show his or her acknowledgment of this by resting on the Sabbath day, just like He rested on the seventh day as an example for us. The fourth commandment also identifies God as the author of the other nine and gives the reason for His authority—Creator of heaven and earth. In other words, the whole Decalogue gets its authority from the fourth commandment; remove it, and anyone could have given the other nine. Without the fourth commandment the entire Decalogue loses its authority over human life.
What else can I learn about the Sabbath from Genesis 2?
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.
The reason why the fourth commandment invites me to keep the Sabbath day holy is because God blessed this specific day and sanctified it. The word used in the original text is “qadash,” which means “to be set apart or consecrated.” In other words, the seventh day, is special to God and unlike any of the other six days of the week.
Who is the Sabbath really for?
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.
Why was it given to us?
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.
The Sabbath is a sign of my acknowledgment that 1) God is Lord because He created it in six literal days (Exodus 20:8, 11) and 2) He is Lord of my life because He’s the One who redeems and sanctifies me. In Eden God rested on the seventh day from His word of creation, and in the tomb Jesus rested on the same day from His work of redemption. Thus the Sabbath is a memorial of these two things, a weekly rest in Jesus where despite having a plethora of things to do, I still put them aside to connect with and honor Him. The Sabbath is also a beautiful weekly reminder that I am saved by faith in His completed work on the cross, instead of my own works.
Did Jesus keep the Sabbath?
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.
Did His followers keep it?
And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
The Bible is clear that His followers kept the Sabbath. In fact, they even stopped their work of anointing His body in order to keep it according to the commandment. They ended up coming back on Sunday, the first day of the week, after the Sabbath was over, to finish their work.
Did Jesus expect it to be kept after His resurrection?
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.
Jesus warned about the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, which occured in A.D. 70, and made it clear that the Sabbath would be kept long after His resurrection.
Did His followers keep it after His resurrection?
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
The apostles of Christ kept the Sabbath themselves and taught others to do the same, including the converted Gentiles.
On what day was John, the Revelator, in the Spirit?
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.
What is the Lord’s Day?
For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
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.
God is Lord of the Sabbath, the seventh day (Exodus 8:11). Notice that He calls these days “My Sabbaths,” meaning it’s His special day that He blessed and sanctified to be a sign between Him and me of His creative, redeeming, and sanctifying power! The Sabbath is a day of rest from works, and as such, it is a beautiful symbol of righteousness by faith as we are saved by the righteousness of Jesus, not our works.
Does God change His ways?
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
God is not a fallable man that He makes mistakes, changes His mind, or changes His commandments. And that is good news because it means His righteous and loving character will never change!
Will the Sabbath be kept in heaven?
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 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.
The Sabbath will continue to be kept in heaven as a beautiful, weekly reminder of God’s power that redeemed the saints from a world of sin and sanctified them for a new life heaven.