Bible Studies - Sabbath and God's Law

The Sabbath Of The Lord

All Bible texts are from the King James Version

1. The Sabbath was made for the Jews.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1:26, 27.

In these verses did God say - let us make a Jew in our image? No! He said let us make man, both male and female, in our image. Then it is quite obvious from this text that Adam who was not a Jew, was the father of the human race. Nowhere is the term Jew or Israel spoken of before the flood. We have to come down to Jacob before we find Israel, which is what God changed his name to; and well after this the term Jew came along.

Let us look at a few other Scriptures on the Sabbath.

"And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." Mark 2:27.

"For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." Isaiah 56:4 - 7.

"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." Acts 13:42 - 44.

The idea that the Sabbath is a Jewish falls apart when we see that God made the Sabbath for man, that is all mankind including eunuchs, gentiles and Jews.

2. The Sabbath was nailed to the cross.

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;" Colossians 2:14.

Many people claim that "the handwriting of ordinances that was against us" were the Ten Commandments. But were they the only laws connected to the sanctuary? Are there any indications of what these laws were?

There were many laws given by God to Moses - the ten commandments, the laws about the sanctuary ceremonies, laws that governed the people, laws about health, and more. However, there were copies of two laws kept within the Most Holy apartment of the sanctuary.

• One of these laws God wrote with His own finger, which is what we commonly call the Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20:3-17. These were written on tables of stone and placed inside the Ark of the Covenant - Exodus 25:16 and 1 Kings 8:9.


• Another set of laws written by Moses as directed by God which are known as the ceremonial laws or the sacrificial system were placed in a pocked on the side of the Ark of the Covenant (Deut. 31:26). These laws pointed forward to the promised Messiah Jesus Christ, and His death. The sacrificial system was originally given to Adam after he fell and was re-established at the time of Moses with the Children of Israel (Gen 3:21; 4:4).

If we read a couple verses down from our original text we read - "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Colossians 2:16 & 17.

The holyday or new moon or the sabbath days (plural) were all part of the ceremonial law or sacrificial system which pointed forward to Christ's death. However, there is no mention of a holyday or new moon or sabbath days (plural) within the Ten Commandments so it cannot be talking about them.

When Christ died on the cross, he fulfilled the ceremonial laws (or was the anti-type of the ceremonies) in that He was the one that died to take away the sins of the world. So when Christ died the sacrificial system ceased to be the means of salvation. This can be seen, in that when Christ cried "It is finished" the curtain that separated the Holy from the Most Holy place was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). The Most Holy Place, which is where God used to meet the High Priest, was laid wide open.

When Christ told the disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem he told them to pray it would not happen in the winter or on the Sabbath day (Matt. 24:15 - 20). If the Sabbath day was to be done away with at the cross why would Christ tell his disciples to pray that their flight be on on the Sabbath day.

When we follow the work of the disciples we find that they were still keeping the Ten Commandments, including the Sabbath, so they could not have been nailed to the cross. Here are a few texts -

"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." Acts 13:14, 15.

"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.

"And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures." Acts 17:2.

"And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.". Acts 18:4.

The Bible tell us that God's Law, the Ten Commandments, are unchangeable. They will still be there in the new earth -

"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Psalms 89:34.

"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17.

"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Exodus 31:16-18.

"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." Isaiah 66:22, 23.

Ponder on this for a moment:-

If the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross or done away with, no one could sin! Because sin is transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). So anyone could kill, steal, commit adultery, or break any of the Ten Commandments without sinning! If one Commandment is done away with, they all are. As most people would find the thought of killing, stealing and committing adultery abhorrent, why don't they feel the same about keeping the Sabbath, it is part of the same Law - the Moral Law.

Not only this but we read James 2:10 - 12 which is believed to be written after 44 A.D. - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." Not only does James tell us that if we break one Commandment we are breaking them all, but he call the Ten Commandments a law of liberty. We know for certain that James is talking about the Ten Commandments as he quoted a couple of them.

3. The Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday.

The only reason people give for making this claim is that Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, so in commemoration of the resurrection they keep Sunday. There are absolutely no Bible texts that show that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. But there is a Bible text giving us a commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection.

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4.

There is also another text which clearly states that Jesus didn't change the day.

"For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief."
Hebrews 4:4 - 11.

We are also told not to add or take away from what God has given us.

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2.

"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Deuteronomy 12:32.

"Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." Proverbs 30:6.

In Revelation we read that the saints in the last days will keep the Commandments of God, of which the Sabbath is the 4th -

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12.

From all these Scriptures we can see that none of the disciples, Jesus or God changed or blotted out the Ten Commandments. However, the Roman Catholic Church has laid claim to changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday in the year A.D.321. However, the Catholic Church has no authority to change something that God says is perpetual. Daniel 7:25 tells us that a false power would think to change times and laws. To read a study about a power that has done this read

For more information on Catholic Church changing the Sabbath see :- The Image of the Beast.

4. The Sabbath is the Seventh Day of the week and God's expects us to kept if we wish to go to heaven.

"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." Genesis 2:1 - 3.

Here we find that God had finished His work which was very good. Then He rested on the seventh day. However, the question can arise - is there any way of determining which is the seventh day of the week? Let us take a look at their names of the days.

Some may argue that we do not know which day really is which because time has been lost. If this is the case then why do most Christians go to church on Sunday in so called commemoration of Christ's resurrection, which was on the first day of the week?

Let us take a look at some Bible texts about the Sabbath:-

"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." Ezekiel 20:12.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:13, 14.

"For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day." Matthew 12:8.

"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day." Matthew 24:20.
This was Christ talking to His disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Jesus intended that his followers would still to be keeping the Sabbath.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15.

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14.

All of the above texts clearly show that God expects us to obey His Commandments - all ten of them - if we wish to go to heaven. The great final test that this world will see will be between keeping the Lord's Sabbath, the seven day of the week or the counterfeit sabbath, the first day of the week.

For more information on this final test see:- Worship The Final End Time Crisis

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© S. D. Goeldner, February, 2011. Last updated November, 2019.
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