GOD'S SABBATH

One of the strongest verses in the entire Bible on the subject of God’s Sabbath day is found in the New Testament!

Speaking to His disciples, Christ said, “The sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). This is a powerful statement. Immediately following this verse, we read: “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” (This is repeated in Luke 6:5.) Any who wish to superimpose the idea that Christ did not keep and endorse the Sabbath must face this enormous first obstacle. This plain passage, recorded twice for emphasis, cannot be dismissed. We will see there is a reason it follows verse 27 as it does.



But what did Christ mean when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man”? Haven’t you always been taught, “The Sabbath was made for the Jews”? If so, why did Christ say, in the New Testament, “for man”?



GOD'S WORD WAS MADE FLESH AND DWELT WITH US (HUMANS ON EARTH). FOR EVERYTHING CHRIST, DID, SAID AND GAVE CAME DIRECTLY FROM THE FATHER WHO POURED OUT HIS HOLY SPIRIT ON CHRIST WITHOUT MEASURE (FOR HE ALWAYS DID WHAT PLEASED THE FATHER- NO SIN COULD BE FOUND IN HIM, ONLY THE 'SPIRIT OF GOD').


“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things [“the universe” – Moffatt translation of same word in Hebrews 1:2] were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1-3). This is all-encompassing.



WITHOUT CHRIST'S SACRIFICE, ALL WOULD BE CONDEMNED, FOR ALL HAVE SINNED. SO SURELY ALL THINGS WERE MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH AND BY HIM-HIS LIFE, HIS SACRIFICE-DEATH AND HIS RESURRECTION; THANKS BE TO GOD'S GRACE. TO GIVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON (FOR US-REBELLIOUS CHILDREN, SINNERS). AND CHRIST THEN PRAYED AND ASKED THE FATHER TO BEGET US (THOSE BAPTIZED INTO THE BODY) WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT ALSO (SO THAT WE MAY SEE-KNOW-UNDERSTAND-AND KEEP THE WORD OF GOD-FOR ONLY GOD CAN REVEAL THAT WHICH IS "SPIRITUAL" TO OUR MINDS, FOR HE IS SPIRIT. WE CAN STUDY, WE CAN SHARE, WE CAN PLANT, BUT GOD REVEALS, GROWS, AND PROSPERS THE MIND AND SOUL. THIS IS WHY WE MUST PRAY FOR HIS 'DISCERNMENT' AT ALL TIMES FOR WE KNOW (ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES) THAT OUR 'OWN' HEARTS CAN DECEIVE US AND ONLY GOD CAN REALLY SHOW US AND TEACH US WHAT 'TRUE LOVE' IS, WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG, AND HE DOES THIS IN AND THROUGH HIS LAW-HIS WORD; THAT WE KEEP BY FAITH. (GIVEN TO HIS PEOPLE-WRITTEN ON THEIR HEARTS UNDER THE NEW COVENANT THROUGH THE MESSIAH Y'SHUA, JESUS CHRIST).


“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).



In the original Greek, the term “the Word” actually means “Spokesman.”


GOD IS ETERNAL, SO IS HIS 'FAMILY'...'KINGDOM' 'REIGN'...'GOVERNMENT'.....(BEFORE GOD CREATED ANYTHING THERE WAS NOTHING BUT GOD. OUR 'PHYSICAL' MINDS CAN'T 'FULLY' GRASP THIS; AND NOW HIS SON HAS BEEN BORN INTO THAT SAME 'ETERNAL FAMILY' "MADE GOD" "IN GOD'S IMAGE FIRST PHYSICALLY (LIKE US) AND NOW SPIRITUALLY"(A 'SPIRIT' BODY) AND GOD HAS HAD THE "PLAN" FOR MANKIND FOR A LONG TIME. MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO WHEN HE CREATED THE ANGELS AND ALMOST 6,000 YRS AGO WHEN HE CREATED MANKIND -GOD KNEW THAT MANKIND WOULD NEED SALVATION AND IT WOULD ONLY COME THROUGH MESSIAH-FOR HE WAS THE LAMB OF GOD-ONE WHO WAS BLAMELESS BEFORE THE LORD-MADE FLESH FIRST, OVERCAME SIN, DIED AND SACRIFICED FOR MANY; AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WAS RAISED AGAIN BY GOD. NOW THROUGH HIM, THROUGH HIS LIFE, HIS BODY, WE MAY LIVE (LIFE ETERNALLY, IF WE OVERCOME...THE BIGGEST BATTLES ARE WITH 'SELF', WE HAVE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING DAILY, NEVER GIVING UP AND NEVER GIVING IN-FOR WITH THE LORD WE CAN NOT FAIL. WALKING BY FAITH AND NOT SIGHT). REMEMBERING THAT WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE 'SPIRITUAL' AND THAT GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT OUR 'ETERNAL' FUTURES!!!


Ephesians 3:9, written by Paul, confirms John 1: “God ... created all things by Jesus Christ.” Having been “the Word”—the Spokesman—for all eternity, Jesus said many times throughout His ministry that He only stated what God wanted Him to say.



“For by Him [Christ] 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 the Head of the Body, the Church” (Col. 1:16, 18).


During the creation week, Genesis 1:26  we see "plural" word 'Elohim' (which means God in the Hebrew) used and we see “Us” and “Our” when referring to God.This is because 'Elohim' actually means the God Family. In the Old Testament (before the Resurrection of Christ) God-The Father, was the Only God in the God (Elohim) Family. Christ was begotten of God's Holy Spirit while flesh, and then when He was resurrected He was (actually born again-for 'flesh' and 'blood' can by no means enter the Kingdom)...born a 'spiritual' Being in the God Family. "The Firstborn" of the Kingdom-Family of God, the first Heir of ALL things. Yahweh Elohim-our Father and Creator of the Universe and Y'Shua Elohim-the Son of God, Messiah, Passover Lamb returning as the Lion of God and King of kings for God has given all authority unto His Son to judge His people through Him--by the Word of God-- (for He is the 'Faithful' and 'Righteous' Witness of the Lord, our God).


So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.... And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen. 1:26-27, 31).



The Father created man for a great purpose—to reflect physically and take on spiritually God’s “image” and “likeness.”


Here is the next passage following the creation of man and the completion of the sixth day: “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” (Gen. 2:1-3).



The very first thing that GOD created after man was the Sabbath. This occurred over 2,000 years before the first Jew (the man named Judah) was born. The Sabbath was never merely for the Jews, or ancient Israel. The Sabbath was made “for man”—first, for Adam and Eve in the Garden, and for all other men ever after.


God created man—and He created the Sabbath. We keep the Sabbath as a 'memorial' to the Creator. And God has given Christ authority to rule on the earth (Heading the Kingdom-Government of God with those the Father has called and given Him-the 144,000 for the last 1,000 yrs and we know that a day is like 1,000yrs with the Lord and this is why we have the 7-day week; the first 6,000 man's government will rule and the last 1,000 God's government shall rule [Christ 1st coming at 4,000 yrs and His 2nd at 6,000yrs] and Christ shall be Lord of lords, King of all the nations). No wonder He said He was “Lord of the Sabbath.” Christ knew who God had made it for and why! Ponder this. Nowhere does Christ ever say He was Lord of Sunday, the first day of the week. He never said that God made Sunday for man. Instead, we can now understand why He could say He was Lord of the seventh day. Christ kept the Sabbath (to show us-as He was baptized to show us, everything He did was to show us the 'way' to the Father. God (also to show us)  'personally' rested on, blessed, and sanctified THIS day from the beginning of creation. God made it 'holy' for He is holy, the Holy One of Israel; and commands His people to keep it that.


God does everything for a purpose. He wanted His creation, man, to be able to rest one day after working for six previous days. We learn that the Sabbath involves a special covenant (separate from the Ten Commandments which are in force for eternity)—a Sabbath covenant—between God and His true servants.


Pharisees Miss the Point!

Some, missing the entire point of Mark 2:27-28, referenced earlier, have used this account to show that Jesus did away with the Sabbath. This account and others we will examine are misused to say that Christ voided the Sabbath. They say no such thing!



The Mark 2 account occurs on the Sabbath and begins in verse 23, with the disciples plucking ears of corn for food as they strolled along listening to Christ’s instruction. The Pharisees challenged them, thinking they were doing things “not lawful” on the Sabbath. Christ’s response was to show that, as the Lord of the Sabbath (given such authority by God), God—not the Pharisees or anyone else, then or ever after—could speak with authority about how to observe it. In other words, God governs all matters in relation to the Sabbath. As Maker, Sustainer and Author of the Sabbath Covenant. Neither any church nor any man can take this role from the One who created the Sabbath for His own purpose!



The Pharisees had 65 separate “do’s” and “don’ts” governing almost every tiny aspect of how the Sabbath should or should not be kept. Their man-made regulations, developed over centuries, had turned the Sabbath into bondage instead of the blessing for mankind that God intended it to be. Many things were considered “not lawful.”(to 'them').


Jesus stressed that the Sabbath was made for man’s needs—to rest, be refreshed, and commune with God. The Pharisees acted as if man was made for complying with their endless rules. Their maze of regulations separated them from the Sabbath’s true meaning.


Christ showed that the Pharisees’ condemnation of gathering corn to be eaten on the Sabbath was wrong (Mark 2:23-26). It was permissible to gather food on the Sabbath to satisfy immediate hunger.


Exodus 12:16 NKJ
On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat--that only may be prepared by you.

Exodus 20:10 NKJ
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.


       Leviticus 16:29 NKJ
      "This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you.

         Leviticus 23:3 NKJ
      'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

             Leviticus 23:7 NKJ
      On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.

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      Leviticus 23:8 NKJ
      But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.' "

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      Leviticus 23:21 NKJ
      And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

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      Leviticus 23:25 NKJ
      You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.' "

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      Leviticus 23:28 NKJ
      And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God.



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      Leviticus 23:31 NKJ
      You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

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      Leviticus 23:35 NKJ
      On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it.

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      Leviticus 23:36 NKJ
      For seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a sacred assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.



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      Numbers 28:18 NKJ
      On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

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      Numbers 28:25 NKJ
      And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.

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      Numbers 28:26 NKJ
      'Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work.



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      Numbers 29:1 NKJ
      'And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets.

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      Numbers 29:12 NKJ
      'On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work, and you shall keep a feast to the Lord seven days.

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      Numbers 29:35 NKJ
      'On the eighth day you shall have a sacred assembly. You shall do no customary work.

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      Deuteronomy 5:14 NKJ
      but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male



Deuteronomy 16:8 NKJ
Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

Jeremiah 17:24 NKJ
"And it shall be, if you heed Me carefully," says the Lord, "to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it,



WE KNOW, BECAUSE OF CHRIST, THAT IT IS "LAWFUL" TO DO 'GOOD' [GOD'S WORKS] ON THE SABBATH, FOR HE TAUGHT, SHARED, PREACHED, SAVED, HEALED AND PRAYED ON THE SABBATHS OF THE LORD.


 Also, in Mark 3:1-6, the Pharisees watched Christ to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. When He perceived that they sought to accuse Him, Christ asked, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?” (Mark 3:4). The Pharisees would not answer Him. Christ immediately healed the man, after which the Pharisees sought to KILL Him. What an indictment against self-righteous human nature! Christ’s example shows that it is permissible to do good on the Sabbath and, in certain circumstances, to relieve suffering. This is in harmony with the spirit and intent of the Fourth Commandment.


WE ALSO KNOW THAT WE HAVE A HIGH PRIEST WHO IS UNDERSTANDING OF 'SPECIAL, RARE, UNIQUE' CIRCUMSTANCES AND SITUATIONS......AND HOW BLESSED ARE WE THAT GOD THE FATHER KNOWS EVERYTHING AND THOUGH HE IS NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS NOR SHOWS FAVORITISM AMONG HIS CHILDREN-WE KNOW THAT HE UNDERSTANDS WHAT'S TRUTH; IF WE GOT A FLAT TIRE WE CAN CHANGE IT ON THE HIGH WAY THOUGH IT IS THE SABBATH. GOD'S LAWS ARE NOT BURDENSOME BUT ARE FOR BREAKING THE BONDS OF EVIL (THAT WHICH MAKES MAN CAPTIVES).

1 John 5:3 NKJ
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.


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      Luke 20:21 NKJ
      Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:

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      Galatians 2:6 NKJ
      But from those who seemed to be something--whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man--for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.



 For there is no partiality with God.  For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law  (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;  Romans 2:11-13

Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes." 2 chronicles 19:7
 
Genesis 14:18 NKJ
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.


Hebrews 6:20 NKJ
where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.


Hebrews 9:11 NKJ
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Hebrews 7:1 NKJ
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem (JERUSALEM), priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

Hebrews 8:1 NKJ
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,


In the same account found in Matthew 12:11-12, Christ used the analogy of rescuing an animal in distress. To this the Pharisees agreed. Yet they did not allow for Christ to heal people on the Sabbath. He used this same analogy in Luke 13:15-17, of loosing livestock from a stall to lead them away for watering on the Sabbath, with which the Pharisees also agreed. But they protested Christ’s healing of an Israelite woman bound with an 18-year affliction ['demon possessed?'..'captive of sin'].



While these accounts are never a license to break the Sabbath, they explain that Christ allowed certain necessary physical duties to be carried out on this day. The Sabbath is made FOR mankind, as a BLESSING—not to create a list of strict man-made “do’s” and “don’ts,” thereby making it a curse.



God Did Not Need to Rest

Exodus 31:17 states, “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” Did God need to rest? The Bible states plainly that God “faints not, neither is weary” (Isa. 40:28). While God certainly was refreshed, it was not because He was tired and “needed a break.”

Note: when Christ was telling His disciples to 'stay awake' after they had kept the Passover the night of His capture it is 'symbolic' for us to stay 'spiritually' awake.

It would make no sense for God to make a day of rest on the first day of the week. Think about this. What would be the point of God making the Sabbath to begin the week so that He could rest from six days of work He had yet to perform?

He never changes (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8)

Invariably, when people are tired, they must rest. The purpose for God resting was entirely different—and far greater in meaning than first meets the eye. This is important because some assert God rested on the seventh day to satisfy His own personal fatigue. Of course, this makes no sense whatsoever if the Sabbath was made “for man.” It was never “for God.”



Exodus 20:11 reveals that God “hallowed”—made holy—the seventh day of every week. Other scriptures will make this absolutely plain. God “blessed the seventh day.” From this moment forward, the seventh day is made special—it has God’s divine blessing on it. The phrase “and sanctified it” helps clarify what this means. Dictionaries define the word sanctify as “set apart for a holy use or purpose.” This makes the Sabbath God’s time, not ours. Remember, in effect, Christ declared that He is Lord of this block of time. Four thousand years after creation, Christ said He was still Lord of this same special holy time that God gave to man 'creation week' when He hallowed it, blessed, and made it holy 'time'.



When placed together, the terms hallowed, blessed, and sanctified show that God made the Sabbath holy, special for all time—throughout all ages! This was God’s intended purpose. This is what His resting—when He did not need to rest—achieved. When this is understood, it is easy to see why no MAN—or CHURCH—has the authority to make the Sabbath, or any other period of time, holy. Just as men cannot cause some other day to be holy, their ignorance or rejection of what God has made holy cannot make it UNHOLY.

The Sabbath is a 24-hour period of time God has made holy once every seven days. It begins at sunset Friday and ends at sunset Saturday.
 
The Bible Can Be Proven

We will see that God commands men to remove their foot from this special time. He does not want men trampling on, profaning, His Sabbath.

Before we discuss how God makes things holy, and what this means, none of this would make any difference if the Bible is not God’s Word—and cannot be proven to be divinely inspired.

You must come to realize the Bible has supreme authority in all spiritual matters, involving both belief and practice. Romans 8:9 says that one is not a Christian if he does not have Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, living within him. God’s Spirit is holy. It will not enter one who refuses to follow that which is holy.

Christ kept the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). Remember, the Bible states that He is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8), and does not change (Mal. 3:6). Christ will still keep the Sabbath in you!

Do these words, and other passages cited in this book, carry the authority of a Supreme Being? Can one actually prove the Bible? This is itself a huge question! Just as most never seek to prove the existence of God, most never concern themselves with proving the authority of the Bible. They either have no interest in such proof or assume there is none—that it cannot be done!



What about you? Have you taken the time to seek actual, tangible proof of the Bible’s authority? As with the existence of God, have you been taught that you must accept the Bible entirely “on faith”? Most people are never challenged to find real proof that this Book is the inspired record of a Supreme Being. Circumstances rarely force people to undertake such a task. This is probably the single biggest reason that most never do. While I regularly attended “church” when growing up, I was never required, nor felt compelled, to prove either that God exists or that He authored the Bible. Not one of my “Sunday school” teachers ever suggested that this should be done or that there was value in it. Nor was any proof of these ever given or offered to me by anyone else prior to my calling! Not one person ever suggested to me that I should even be concerned with proving the answers to these two towering questions.



But unless you prove the Bible’s authority, you will never remove your activity from what God tells you He has made holy—the Sabbath. Again, no man has the authority to make a day holy. Only God does—and He commands us to keep His Sabbath in the condition we found it. But you must prove if the Bible command carries weight.


Let’s see further what holy means.
Explaining “Holy”

I ask again: Does it make any difference to God which day men choose to make holy? Can they arbitrarily select any day they wish and designate it “holy”?



A well-known Bible example illustrates the point. Exodus 3 gives the account of God speaking to Moses from a burning bush. While most who know anything of the Bible are familiar with this passage, there is an overlooked lesson in it pertaining to the Sabbath. The setting is Moses leading a flock of sheep to Mt. Sinai (Horeb). He came to a bush that was burning, yet was not burning up.



God commanded Moses, “Draw not near here: put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place whereon you stand is holy ground” (Exod. 3:5). Moses did not argue about whether he thought the ground was holy. He simply took his shoes off. Much was at stake here. Had Moses done otherwise, reasoning like so many today, who argue about what God has made holy, God would have been unable to use him to lead Israel from bondage in Egypt.



It was God’s presence in the bush that made it holy. Surrounding bushes or ground were not holy. God designated only a certain piece of ground as holy, as having His presence. The account does not indicate that the ground looked or felt or in any way appeared different from the surrounding landscape. God had to REVEAL to Moses that the ground was holy—that He was present in it—that Moses must remove his shoes from it. Moses was given no choice but to treat that ground as special and holy. But appearance did not tell him this. God had to reveal it to him!



There is a direct connection to the Sabbath in this point. Here is what the prophet Isaiah wrote: “If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure [business] on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it” (Isa. 58:13-14).



This plain passage explains that there are ways to profane God’s holy Sabbath. Like the ground around the burning bush, we are commanded to take our feet (our shoes) off God’s holy time—time that points to Him and has His holy presence in it. Either we believe the ideas and customs of men—and their churches—or we believe the plain commands from ALMIGHTY GOD! Either the opinions—and acceptance—of God-rejecting human beings are important to us, or the opinion of God is!

Which do you value?



God says, “The Eternal has given you the Sabbath.” We have seen that this world’s theologians have given mankind and professing “Churchianity” Sunday (the day of the sun)—and we will learn that it comes from rank paganism!
God Kept Track of the Weekly Cycle

After making the seventh day holy 4,000 years earlier, Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath—and showed that God's presence and His presence is still in it today, 2,000 years later. Obviously, as its Maker, God and as it's Lord, Christ (filled with the Spirit of God) would not be confused about which day to keep the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). But we should take a moment to briefly overview the pattern of Sabbath observance through the 4,000 years from its creation to Christ’s First Coming. This sets the stage to “clear the deck” of all questions for mankind’s first 4,000 years of existence.



Adam and Eve kept the Sabbath almost immediately after they were created on the sixth day. Obviously, their son Abel is called “righteous” (Matt. 23:35). Since Psalm 119:172 explains, “All your commandments are righteousness,” Abel kept the Sabbath. Since Enoch “walked with God” (Gen. 5:24), as a preacher of righteousness (Jude 14-15), he just as obviously kept the Sabbath. Therefore Noah, also a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet. 2:5), would certainly have kept the Sabbath. All these preachers—Abel, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Noah—were direct descendants of each other (Seth was Abel’s brother) in this order and their lives overlapped for hundreds of years. (It can be demonstrated that Adam died only about 125 years before Noah was born.) No one would have lost track of the weekly cycle—and therefore which day was the Sabbath—during this period. (We will address this topic in greater detail in the next chapter.) Certainly Shem would have been taught by his father Noah to keep the Sabbath. History also records that he was “righteous”—and he overlapped 150 years into Abraham’s lifetime.



Abraham, often called “the father of the faithful,” kept God’s Sabbath. Notice: “Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen. 26:5). This verse is most plain. Abraham kept God’s Sabbath! It is the Fourth commandment.



The Bible declares that “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). Because the Law did exist from creation, God could tell Cain, before he killed Abel, that “sin lies at the door” (Gen. 4:7), if he did not control his attitude.

Human beings must justify their rebellion against God’s Commandments. Human nature hates His law (Rom. 8:7), preferring the traditions and commandments of men in its place (Mark 7:6-9). Yet, God commands in the New Testament that to break any one of His laws is sin (James 2:10-11).



There is a reason this is especially critical to understand. Many who refuse to accept God’s Sabbath, forgetting it was made at creation, claim that God’s Commandments did not exist until Moses received them at Mt. Sinai—430 years after the promises were made to Abraham. How then did Abraham and others know of them? Because they were all given at creation. The weekly cycle has never changed since the original creation week.