When is the Sabbath Day According to the Bible?
Do you really understand the Sabbath? What is it? What does it mean? Are there different types of Sabbath?
Before I explore the Sabbath, let me introduce myself. I am Leroy Daley of Blogging About the Word. I can be found at www.atotheword.com.
On that website and on this channel, I teach Christians how to better understand their Bibles.
I utilize Bible studies to accomplish this. I teach scriptures, here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept.
Precepts must be on equally identical precepts or else we will have confusion and misinformation in the church.
If you stick with me to the end, I will reveal something about the Sabbath that you may not have known before.
If you would rather watch the video of this Bible Study, click this link!
What Is The Sabbath?
Should we go to church on the seventh day, the Sabbath of our Lord? In its simplest form, the Sabbath is a time of rest.
However, there are different Sabbaths. First, there is the seventh-day. This is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord God.
Then there is the Sabbath of rest onto you.
And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, [tomorrow] is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which he will bake [today] and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning” (Exodus 16:23).
And that was Moses speaking to the Children of Israel.
Who Changed the Sabbath Day?
So we learned from that quotation, that the rest of the Holy Sabbath “unto the Lord” is fixed.
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” (Genesis 2:2).
It’s always the seventh day of the week. So, in whichever country you find yourself, determine which day is the first day of the week then navigate to the seventh-day and that would be the Sabbath of rest.
If you go by the Georgian Calendar, you know that is Sunday. It’s not really important what day it is, as long as it is the seventh day.
The number is the key; the seventh day is the Sabbath. Therefore, the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord is fixed.
It’s always the seventh day of the week because after six days, the Lord ceased from his works, he rested on the seventh day.
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 2:3).
This is also a high day that John speaks about.
“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was a high day), [meaning it was the holy Sabbath unto the Lord, a rest day] besought Pilate, that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31).
See how “that Sabbath was a high day” implies that there are other Sabbaths that are not “high days?
Don’t The Jews Still Keep The Seventh-Day Sabbath?
What God has made no man can change. Additionally, let’s return to the fundamentals of who instituted the seventh-day rest and for whom?
The Lord God created the seventh-day rest and commanded the Children of Israel to make it holy. This commandment is not for the entire world.
Therefore, if a Gentile leader wants to institute a day of “rest” for the Gentiles, then his actions do not change the work of God.
They do not affect what God has done. The seventh-day remains “the rest of the holy sabbath unto the Lord.” (Exodus 16:23).
No man can change it!
Don’t the Children of Israel, even today, keep the seventh-day holy?
Nothing that any leader does can change what God has done!
Can the Sabbath be any Day of the Week – the Holy Sabbath – “Unto the Lord”?
So the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord is the seventh day. It is a rest day. If it is a rest day, why is it that some people go to church on that day?
This day is fixed. It’s always the seventh-day; therefore, it cannot be changed by anyone. This is the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord.
However, remember that there are other sabbaths.
It is significant, because of what the Lord did concerning the seventh day. So Genesis two verse two tells us, “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” (Genesis 2:2).
This day cannot change for it occurs every seventh-day, which is every Saturday.
Now, the Lord did three things there. He rested, he blessed this day, and he made it Holy. Many people, including many Christians, misinterpret the Scripture I just quoted.
In this quotation, “rested” is synonymous with “ended”. The Bible is not saying that after six days of creation, the Lord was so exhausted that he took a break.
Instead, it is informing us that after six days of creation, the Lord finished, completed, ended, or rested from all his works. This is a totally different thing.
Understand the Diction of the Bible
So it’s just the language of the time. God is not a man. God is not a man that should get exhausted, so he’s taking a break or he’s taking rest. This is not what that rest in Genesis two here is implying.
The diction of this rest is totally different from the rest from being exhausted. It means stopped, completed, finished, ended.
The first section of that text tells us. It says, “and on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made“. He ended.
Remember, that in the first clause of Genesis two, It says, “And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had made“. “Ended” there means finished.
Appropriate Synonyms for “Rested”
On the seventh day, God finished his work which he had made. He stopped the work, which he had made.
He completed his work which he had made. So, it’s not “rest” in terms of taking a break or catching one’s breath.
Brethren, we’re not dealing with a man. For God is not a man that he should tire. He’s a Spirit! Instead, it’s informing us that after six days of creation the Lord finished, completed, ended, or rested from all his works.
In other words, he stopped.
The Three Roles of the Lord
Now, we know that there are three ways we can know the Lord, three different roles. He is Father in Creation, He is Son in redemption, that’s the Son of God, which is Jesus Christ, and He is the Holy Ghost or the power of God in the church.
Those are the only three roles in which humanity can know God. We cannot go to God directly. We can never approach God directly, only in prayer.
The only time we can approach God directly is in prayer. It’s through these three different roles that we can go to him.
What is the Function of the Seventh-Day?
Well, His role as Father or Creator ended on the sixth day. That is the function of the seventh day, to remind us that the Lord ended all his works on the sixth day.
He will never be the “Father” again. As the Father, He has created the universe and everything in it and He has already fathered His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
We just need to endure “time” to see this manifest. God has ceased from all His works.
So the seventh day was a time when he used to indicate or to remind us that this is when I ended my work.
So his role as the Father or Creator finished on the sixth day, it’s done.
However, the Lord did another significant thing concerning the seventh day, for he blessed it.
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them and rested the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11).
Now, this is the only day that the Lord blesses, there is no other day in the Bible that he blesses, just the seventh day.
Why Did the Lord Bless the Seventh-Day?
So there was none before this day and there will not be any after this day. This is the only one, unlike any. So the Lord wants us to know how he feels about the seventh day, so he blessed it.
And to further impress upon us the importance of this day, the Lord hallowed the day. Another name for hallowed is sanctified, he sanctified it. What does this mean? It means that he makes the seventh day Holy. “
“And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it, he had rested from all his work, which God had made” (Genesis 2:3).
So, hallowed means sanctified. Sanctified means to make Holy in this context, because there’s another context of sanctification which means separation to purity and holiness.
Who Kept the Sabbath Before Moses?
However, we should observe that even though the seventh day is such a high day, the Lord never instructed Adam to keep it and he never kept the Sabbath, the high day.
Note too, that none of the forefathers, not Adam, not Adam’s sons, not Noah nor his sons, nor Abraham, nor his sons kept the Sabbath.
It is such an important day. It’s a high day. A day the Lord blesses. It’s a day he hallowed and one He uses to mark the end of all his works before the foundation of the earth.
Yet, none of the forefathers before Moses kept the Sabbath day. Why? Because the Lord never instructed them to keep the Sabbath, not until Moses.
So what about those people, thousands of years before Moses? They never kept the Sabbath. Adam never kept the Sabbath. Now, nobody kept the Sabbath until Moses came on the scene and it was only after he left Egypt that he started keeping the Sabbath.
Because after he left Egypt, the Lord gave him instructions in the form of the Ten Commandments. Then the Jews started keeping the Sabbath.
Is The Sabbath a Rest-Day or a Church-Day?
Do you know that many thousands of years passed after the Lord instituted the Sabbath and before anyone kept it?
Thousands of years passed before the first person kept the Sabbath? The children of Israel were in slavery or bondage in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years.
Yes, four hundred and thirty years they were enslaved in Egypt. Now, during that time, even if they wanted to, although the Lord had not instructed them to keep the Sabbath, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t have kept the Sabbath because they had to work every day.
They didn’t have a choice. But up until that point, the Lord never gave them any instructions to keep the Sabbath or to keep the Sabbath holy. He did not.
So, what did the Lord do? He gave Moses instructions for the children of Israel to follow concerning this. And I’m going to read,
See for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29).
Who Needs a Day of Rest After 430 Years of Working?
I told you that the Sabbath is a time of rest. So, Moses, he’s here saying to the children of Israel the Lord has given you food for two days so that on the Sabbath, you don’t leave your tents, you don’t go outside, you stay in.
The Sabbath is a time of rest. So if it started out as a time of rest, how did it evolve into a day of going to church? We’ll get to that.
Another thing here we should note from this quotation, to whom did the Lord give the Sabbath?
It tells you here.
“See for the Lord had given you the Sabbath” and “you” in this quote means Israel, the Jews.
Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day and anybody who broke this would be stoned to death. It was that serious at that point. And this was after the children of Israel had left Egypt after bondage or slavery of 430 years.
So it’s at that point now that the Lord gave Moses instructions to give to the Children of Israel. Let’s look at Exodus 16, say from verse 23 to 30.
Keep the Sabbath is Not a Religion
Keeping the Sabbath is not a religion. But, it’s a command the Lord gives to a nation. And these are the Jews.
“And he said unto them, this is that which the Lord had said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord” (Exodus 16:23).
Do you hear what it is? It’s the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. Unto the Lord and this is very important.
It’s not to men. It’s not to us, for, it’s a rest unto the Lord because on the sixth day he finished all His works and rested on the seventh.
The holy Sabbath is “unto God.”
“Bake that which he will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning” (Exodus 16:23).
So Moses is here talking to the Children of Israel.
Now, this is the instruction that the Lord gave to Moses to give to Israel.
“And they laid it up until the morning as Moses bade and it did not stink, neither was there any worms therein. (Exodus 16:24).
They’re talking about manna, it’s the first time they were going to get manna from heaven, so they’re following the instructions of Moses.
Today Is a Sabbath Unto the Lord!
Let’s continue.
“And Moses said eat that today, for today is a Sabbath unto the Lord: today ye shall not find it in the field” (Exodus 16:25).
He was talking about manna.
Note, above in the quotation, that the Bible never says “today is the Sabbath” but, it says “today is a Sabbath” implying that there are other sabbaths.
So it was a Sabbath day because it was the seventh day. They wouldn’t have found any on that day.
Who was it that ate the manna in the wilderness? Israel.
Moses continues, “Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Exodus 16:26).
Which day is the Sabbath? The seventh-day!
“And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none” (Exodus 16:27).
The Holy Bible Is the History of Which Nation?
So some of the Israelites despised Moses’ instruction not to go in the field to search for manna on the Sabbath day, some went out and they didn’t find any.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?” (Exodus 16:28).
Remember, this book, the Bible, is a Jewish book.
All the people in here or most of them, especially in the Old Testament, are Jews. It’s about them, their heritage, and their experiences.
Outside of that, the world has nothing until Christ came and I don’t even want to touch that.
But we must first remember that this book, the Bible, is a Jewish book. It’s not a Gentile book, except for the New Testament where the Lord in-graphed us in.
Does the Lord Care If the World Keeps the Sabbath?
So all we’re reading here, this Sabbath was given to the Jews, not to everybody. I could make a blunt statement to this end that the Lord does not care what the rest of the world does in terms of the Sabbath.
But he cares very much that the Jews keep it because his agreement is with the Jews, not the rest of the world.
And I can explain that statement I just made because the scriptures support it. He wants the Jews to keep the Sabbath because he gave it to them.
I’m jumping a bit ahead of myself, so I’ll leave that part.
“See, for that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:29).
“And the house of Israel, called the name thereof manna and it was like coriander seed white and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31).
My point here is that the Lord gave Moses instructions to give to them, to give to the Jews, explaining that they should keep the Sabbath and when.
These Instructions are for Whom?
That was the first time.
And God spake all these words saying” (Exodus 20:1).
“I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”, out of slavery (Exodus 20:2).
“Thou shall have no other Gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
The Lord is talking to the children of Israel through Moses.
“Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4).
Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for I am the Lord thy God, I’m a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:5).
I did a Bible study previously, on iniquity. There’ll be a link in the description below.
The First Instruction to Keep the Sabbath
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. That’s the Lord continue to speak.
Now, these are the instructions that the Lord gave to Moses to give to the children of Israel.
Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Now, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy” (Exodus 20:8).
Why would he say remember, if he had never told them about the Sabbath before?
Because this is Exodus we are reading. The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses.
Moses wrote the Pentateuch. He wrote when the Lord rested and why (Genesis 2:2-3).
He wrote of the institution of the Sabbath. So he’s making reference to that here.
We Can’t “Remember” Something We are Ignorant About!
He says, remember or recall. So, that’s why he said that.
“Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy”. This wasn’t an instruction that the Lord gave to the whole world.
The Hebrews were slaves for four hundred thirty years in Egypt. They didn’t have a day to worship and to keep. They didn’t have any time at all to observe the Sabbath because they had to work every day.
But now, they are to start keeping the Sabbath. Remember to keep the Sabbath holy, six days shall thou labour and do all thy work.
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shall not do any work, thou nor thy son nor daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maiden servant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gate. Why?
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is and rested or completed or stopped the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.
The Seventh-Day Is a Time of What?
So there the Lord instructed the Israelites now, to keep the Sabbath. That’s their first instructions. Before that, the Lord gave them no such instructions.
And since that time, the Lord has given us no instructions at all to keep the Sabbath. So the seventh day is a time of rest.
Alright, I won’t make this video too long. Earlier on, I told you about a bonus that I’ll give you concerning Sabbath, that you might not have known.
The Bonus
So let me tell you what this bonus is.
Eden is a type of Sabbath, a type of rest.
Now, while Adam was in the Garden of Eden he never worked a day in his life.
He didn’t need to work. He had everything including daily discussions with the Lord. Moreover, these conversations were silent. They didn’t use words. Adam never spoke a word.
Oh, I know you might find that funny. That’s why Adam didn’t pray. When he was in the garden, he was so perfect. His living soul was intact and connect to the Lord; as a result, he didn’t need to speak a word to communicate with the Lord.
Even when he named the animals. And I want to tell you that he didn’t even actually name the animals. He accessed the mind of the Lord and saw the name the Lord had in His mind for each animal and he spoke what was in the Lord’s mind.
Here is a link to Living Soul. Read Living Soul and you will get a clear understanding of what I’m saying concerning this communication between Adam and the Lord when he named all the animals.
Separation From the Lord is What?
I clearly expound it in my first book “Living Soul“. Read that book if you’re interested in learning what I just said, that when Adam was communicating with God, there were no words because he was perfect, he was sinless. He could access the mind of Christ. But when he died, when his living soul died, he was separated from God.
He could no longer access the mind of God. Okay? So he never prayed. Because he is the father of all humanity we don’t enjoy that rest that he had with the Lord because he sinned.
However, when we accept Jesus Christ as the son of God, we enter into the rest that Adam enjoyed with the Lord.
Our spirit is constantly searching, but when we find Christ or we go to him, he says come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
So rest is in Christ. He gives it to us. He says I will keep you in perfect peace. When you are at rest you know, you have peace. And it’s not just peace, but perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me.
Jesus Christ Has that Rest
So Jesus has that rest. And we find this so much in Hebrews. So I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. That’s the Lord talking about the children of Israel you know? Because of what? Unbelief. So let us, therefore, fear lest a promise being left of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Fear, for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them.
And this is Paul talking about the Jews before, but the word preached did not profit them because they did not mix that word with faith, for we, which have believed, do enter into rest. So when you believe on Jesus Christ, you enter into the rest of the Lord. Seeing, therefore, it remaineded that some must enter therein and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.
Again, he limit a certain day, saying to David, today after so long a time as it has saith today if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. For if Jesus, listen, for if Jesus had given them rest, who? Jesus, Jesus has that rest. Then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day? So they didn’t get rest because of unbelief. Moses spoke to them, they didn’t believe Moses, they didn’t do what Moses said. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Jesus Says Come Unto Me All
For he that is entered into his rest, he also had ceased from his own works as God did from his. So anytime you enter the rest of Christ, you cease from your own works as God ceased from his, now, you start doing the works of the father.
It’s hard to get rest you know, through the Sabbath. It didn’t work for them, but we now, we get spiritual rest from Christ because it’s our soul. However, when we go to Jesus, he gives us a spiritual rest for he gives rest to the soul, not just a weekly rest every Sabbath.
When we accept Jesus as the son of God, our souls cease to search for God because the son has given them rest. Then we have entered into his rest and we will live just like Adam did. When our souls experience rest, physical rest come easily and naturally.
Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And he shall find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
So it’s the souls that need rest. It’s the soul that’s always seeking God. But when you find Christ, that’s why Christianity is so different from all other religions.
Because when you find Christ, you stop looking for God. You’ve found God. “For my yoke is easy but my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
Conclusion
So let me conclude. The seventh day is a day of rest. A Sabbath unto Lord. It’s the only day that the Lord blesses and sanctifies.
The Sabbath is a reminder to the Jews that The Lord ceased from all his works.
It indicates the end of the Lord’s role as the Father, but it signals the start of his other role as the Son of God, who is Jesus Christ.
If we never believe this, we can never enter into his rest.
For thousands of years, nobody kept the Sabbath because the Lord had not instructed anyone to keep it. Then, after more than four hundred years of slavery, the Lord changed that.
So today who keeps the Sabbath? The Jews!
The Lord gave the Sabbath to the Children of Israel. For more than four hundred years, they didn’t have a day of rest from work to honor the day that the Lord uses to mark the end of all his works.
After he freed them from slavery, through the hand of Moses, then he instructed them to keep the Sabbath.
These are some of his instructions, “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exodus 28). “Six days shall thou labor and do all thy work” (Exodus 29).
The Lord says, to remember. But he never to us. He told the Jews. He was reminding them!
A Sabbath of Rest
But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it, thou shall 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 gate, for in six days, the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them and rested the seventh. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11).
The Sabbath day is a day of rest, not a day to go to church.
Now, as I continue on this series of the Sabbath, you will see how it evolved into people going to church on the Sabbath, but it’s a day of rest, no work, not even to light the fire, turn on the gas stove, nothing.
On the Sabbath, the Jews used to stay in their tents and just rest. Rest! That is how they make the Sabbath holy, they obey the commandments of the Lord.
The Lord said, “Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy” and they make it holy by being obedient.
Now, later on, I’m going to look in detail at why the Lord gave the Sabbath to the Jews and much more. Thanks for sticking with me today.
