Sabbath Day

The Sabbath day is a memorial of God’s great work of creating the heavens and earth in six days and resting on the seventh day. Jesus declared that He is LORD of the Sabbath (Mt 12:8) so we are to commemorate the power of God the Creator who blesses us and makes us holy.

No matter how precious a jewel one may have, without knowing the value of it, it will be left here and there and eventually be lost. Similarly, God has given a precious promise through the Sabbath but those who do not know the value may regard it as an ordinary day or mistakenly think it’s any day based on one’s own choice or preference. Only the one who knows the value will keep the Sabbath regarding it as a precious treasure for the soul.

The Fourth Commandment

Jesus taught that whoever wants to enter eternal life, must keep the commandments (Mt 19:17). God appointed the seventh day as the Sabbath and made it the fourth commandment among the Ten Commandments so that we can remember it and keep it holy.

Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

God blessed the seventh day (the last day of the week) and made it holy. Thus, God made a clear distinction between the seventh day and the other days of the week. There is a specific day God blessed which we are to keep holy and not just any day we choose. God specifically asked us to remember the seventh day by keeping it holy.

Which day of the week is the seventh-day Sabbath on which God rested from all His creation work?

Sabbath Day is Saturday

We can confirm which day is the seventh day through the record of Jesus’ resurrection in the Bible.

Matthew 16:9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week….

Jesus resurrected on the first day of the week which the New Living Translation (NLT) describes as Sunday.

Matthew 16:9 TEV After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning

The first day of the week and Sunday are the same day. Since the first day of the week is Sunday, the seventh day must be Saturday. That is why the Bible states that Jesus resurrected on the day after the Sabbath.

Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

Jesus resurrected on Sunday (the first day of the week) which is the day after the Sabbath. Therefore, the Biblical Sabbath is Saturday.

Sunday worship which most Christians keep is not the seventh day. There is historical evidence that the Sabbath was observed on Saturday throughout the Apostolic Age until the Roman Emperor Constantine officially changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday through the Sunday Law issued in A.D. 321. As a result, many churches today worship on Sunday. However, Christians ought to follow the examples of Jesus and the Apostles.

Jesus and the Apostles Kept the Sabbath

Jesus Himself set an example of keeping the Sabbath holy.

Luke 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom…

Jesus kept the Sabbath day holy as His custom. It is important to note that the Sabbath day which Jesus observed on Saturday was of the new covenant (not observed with the sacrifice of lambs under the law of Moses).

Following the example of Christ, the apostles and the members of the early Church gathered together to worship God every Sabbath.

Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

The Apostle Paul and those accompanying him were looking for a place of prayer because they had to worship God on that day. The Sabbath day of the new covenant was to be observed with the sacrifices of prayer, praise, and ruminating on the word of God. The Bible shows many more examples of the Sabbath day being kept after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Acts 18:4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Acts 17:2-3 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

The Church built on the foundation of the Apostles and Jesus must keep the Sabbath (Eph 2:20). The reason is due to the fact that it contains the blessing of entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessing of the Sabbath

Generally, Christians interpret the six day creation prophetically. Likewise, the seventh day, too, is a prophecy of the eternal rest God has prepared for those who are to be saved.

Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…

Entering the kingdom of heaven is described as rest. However, the Sabbath is not just a day of rest but a day to offer worship to God. Whoever keeps it holy as a symbol of the everlasting rest will be blessed to enter the eternal rest with God forever in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The World Mission Society Church of God which is built on the foundation of the Apostles and Jesus invites you to keep the seventh-day Sabbath together. Please contact us to participate in a worship service and receive the blessing of eternal rest in the Kingdom of Heaven.