Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy (1)
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June 11, 2023 |
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 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).
‘Sabbath’ is a day set aside for rest and worship, and in the New Testament time it is called the ‘Lord’s Day’.
Keeping the Sabbath is the basic action that shows one is God’s child and proves his/her citizenship of Heaven with another basic sign, giving a whole tithe. This is because it is one of the Ten Commandments that God’s children should keep.
1. The origin and meaning of the Sabbath
Genesis 2:3 reads, “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
God created the heavens and the earth for six days and rested on the seventh day. He blessed this seventh day and sanctified it. And God gave this commandment about keeping the Sabbath after He delivered the sons of Israel from Egypt as written in Exodus 20.
When God gave the Ten Commandments, He said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
By keeping the Sabbath, we show our belief in God as the Creator. Furthermore, it means we acknowledge that God is the Owner and Master of the vast spiritual realm as well as the physical world. Namely, to keep the Sabbath holy is the act of acknowledging the spiritual authority of God.
2. The reason we have to keep the Sabbath
In Exodus 31:13, God said to Moses, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.’” The people of Israel were set apart as holy people of God, and when they kept the Sabbath God protected them from tests and trials and various kinds of disasters.
This spiritual principle is applied in the same way today. When we keep the Sabbath, it proves that we belong to God and we are His children and thus we can be protected and blessed. Our protection and blessing is important, but the most important is our salvation.
Exodus 31:14-15 states, “Therefore you are to observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people…whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.” It was to tell them that even Israelites, God’s elect, had to fall into death from the moment they did not keep the Sabbath. It’s because it means they had nothing to do with God.
If we understand the true intention of God in commanding us to keep the Sabbath, we won’t feel coerced to keep it out of fear. The reason God commanded us to keep the Sabbath is to give us true rest with His love. If we feel the heart and love of God, we may work hard for six days and during these week days we wait for the Sabbath with our heart. Then on the Sabbath we will worship in spirit and truth, have fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, and offer up our thanks and joy to God.
3. The reason we keep the Sabbath on Sunday in New Testament times
Saturday is the seventh day of the Creation and in Old Testament times, they kept the Sabbath on Saturday. But since Jesus fulfilled the duty of the Savior by resurrecting on Sunday, believers in Christ have kept the Sabbath on Sunday in New Testament times.
Mark 16:9 says, “Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.” Sunday is the first day of the Creation, and the first day of the week refers to Sunday. Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday, and He resurrected in the early morning of Sunday, on the third day of His crucifixion.
Genesis 1:3 says, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This light symbolizes the power and authority of God. God proclaimed His sovereignty all over the universe. And John 1:9 says, “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” This is the proclamation of Jesus Christ’s sovereignty as the ‘true Light’ because He existed in the form of God and was the Word but became flesh and came to the earth.
That is why Matthew 12:8 reads, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” It means that our Lord is the true Light and He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Just as there was ‘light’ on the first day of Creation, Sunday by God’s Word, the Lord Jesus who is the true Light and the Word shone His light to the whole world by resurrecting on Sunday, the first day of the week. That’s why Sunday is called the ‘Lord’s Day.’
On the Lord’s Day Jesus overcame death and resurrected to open the way of salvation for all mankind. He became the true light for those souls who were living in darkness and death. From this time, believers in Christ keep the Sabbath on Sunday, namely on the Lord’s Day. Only after the resurrection of the Lord did we come to keep the true Sabbath.
God has already mentioned in the Old Testament that His people would keep the Sabbath on Sunday. Leviticus 23:10-12 says, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD.’”
The male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering given on the day after the Sabbath refers to the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. The first fruits of harvest refers to Jesus Christ as the first fruits of resurrection and the sheaf of the first fruits, the believers in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:20).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, after the transgression of the first man Adam, the spirits of men died and their communication with God was severed. As a result, all people lost true rest that only God can give. They even came to have to toil all the days of their lives to eat, and finally they were to fall into Hell, the eternal punishment.
When God’s appointed time came, however, His Son Jesus came to the earth in the flesh and was crucified, and resurrected, which opened the way to salvation for all people. Anybody who believes Jesus Christ will receive the Holy Spirit as the gift and they will enjoy salvation, eternal life with the hope for Heaven. However, only when we keep the Lord’s Day holy and keep God’s commandments can we enter heaven and enjoy eternal life and perfect rest.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will keep the Sabbath holy and understand the will of God who wants all people to be saved.
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