The Sabbath Day

The seventh day of the week, the day commonly known as Saturday, is the Sabbath day of Yehovah the Almighty God of Israel. It was ordained of God as a day of physical rest for all mankind, and the obligation to observe it arises from

  1. Yehovah's own example
  2. His act of blessing the seventh day
  3. And His explicit command to keep it holy.
The word Sabbath implies rest, peace, tranquillity and refreshment. And who will doubt but that in this turbulent and confused world every soul on earth is in need of spiritual rest and refreshment. Consequently, those who faithfully remember the Sabbath of the Most High and draw apart from the world each weekend to worship Him on His holy day, will receive the spiritual blessings promised in His Holy Word; blessings that will find full scope in the ages to come.
  1. The seventh day Sabbath according to the Bible, was blessed, sanctified and set apart for sacred use by the God of Israel at the creation of the world, and on that memorable occasion it was first observed by the Lord Himself.
    (Genesis 2:2-3)
  2. Furthermore, all mankind is required by divine law to keep holy the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath command is one of the Ten Commandments, a law which is not only scheduled to outlast this universe but which every soul on earth is obliged to observe. Therefore as long as heaven and earth shall last, the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath day. Disobedience of Yehovah's law, of which the Sabbath commandment is merely a part, is sin. These unequivocal facts cannot be rejected without serious consequences.
    (Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 5:17-19, 1 John 3:4)
  3. Sabbath desecration is strongly condemned by the true prophets of God and their inspired messages have been recorded in the Scriptures for the benefit of succeeding generations of readers from every nation under heaven. Dare we ignore their warnings?
    (Ezekiel 20:19-24, Ezekiel 22:8,26,31, Jeremiah 17:27)
  4. In recognition of the Sabbath commandment Yeshua the Messiah kept holy the seventh day of the week (Saturday) and the Scriptures testify to the fact that it was his custom to do so.
    (Luke 4:16)
  5. Like his Master, it was also the custom of the Apostle Paul and his companions to observe the seventh day Sabbath, the day commonly known as Saturday. The disciple were still observing the true Sabbath day some sixteen to twenty years after the resurrection.
    (Acts 17:2, Acts 18:4)
  6. In addition to the above, new converts, both Jews and Gentiles alike, regularly attended the synagogue for worship on the Saturday Sabbath, and the fact that interested Gentiles in Antioch requested further instruction of Paul "on the next Sabbath" is irrefutable evidence that no separate Sunday meetings were being held there by those early believers. In other words, the Gentiles were willing to wait a full week, till the next Saturday, for a meeting. Why? Because they knew that Paul and his companions did not normally meet for divine worship on a Sunday, but would instead be available for discussion again on the next Sabbath. On the next Sabbath (Saturday) almost the whole city arrived for the meeting.
    (Acts 13:42-44)
  7. In his prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Master advised his followers to pray that their flight from the city "be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." This passage is also strong proof that Yeshua had absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing away with the Sabbath commandment at the cross. On the contrary it shows his high regard for the Sabbath day in that he advised his followers - who were mostly Jews - to even go to the extent of praying to God about it, that He would make it possible for them to keep the Sabbath day some 40 years after the crucifixion!
    (Matthew 24:20)
  8. The Seventh day Sabbath is also the divine Sign which the God of Israel places in the minds of His people. It is Yehovah's Signature which He inscribes on the believer's mind to commemorate his work of creation, sanctification and salvation through Yeshua. The Sabbath is, in fact, the eternal memorial token of the perpetual covenant between The Almighty and His People. What's more, it will continue to be so even in the new heavens and the new earth.
    (Exodus 20:12&20, Isaiah 66:22-23)
  9. The Sabbath rest is a token or sample of the divine Rest of God which the Most High is eagerly looking forward to. Many believers are going to be excluded from that divine rest because of their deliberate and persistent disobedience of the Sabbath commandment.
    (Psalm 95:10-11, Hebrews 4:9-11)
  10. Students are therefore advised to "Remember the Seventh day to keep it holy." If they do this, they will, according to the divine declaration, feast on the heritage of Jacob and be made welcome in the Holy Mountain of God.
    (Isaiah 56:2-7, Isaiah 58:13-14)
  11. In some strange way the Most high values His Sabbath days more than any human mind can appreciate. They are to Him a unique, spiritual treasure of inestimable worth. Try to understand His pleadings in these amazing words:
Ezekiel 20:11-12 "And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
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."

Note how the Sabbath is given a special place of honour, far above the other statutes and judgements, important as they obviously are. Yehovah's Sabbath is an eternal token of sanctification; the sacred sign that sets the obedient believer apart from all the other peoples of the earth. It is His SIGN, His Signatre on the true believer's mind.

  • In addition to the weekly Sabbath day, Yehovah the Almighty God of Israel has seven annual Sabbaths.
    Author: David B Loughran
    Stewarton Bible School, Stewarton, Scotland
    August 1998
    URL: http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/sbs777/course/lesson13.html

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