Why did God command the Sabbath day be kept, 3rdAngel, and why do you keep it, and believe Christians should do the same?
Gods 4th commandment seventh day Sabbath is a memorial of creation and a celebration of God who is the creator of heaven and earth. It is the "seventh day" of the week.
- EXODUS 20:10 [10], But the SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH of the LORD thy God;
This is a direct reference from God's Word defining what the Sabbath is; The
SABBATH = the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK which is a direct reference back to the creation week from when it was made as shown in v11.
- EXODUS 20:11 [11], For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY: wherefore the LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH, and MADE IT HOLY.
NOTE: It is the SEVENTH DAY (SABBATH) that God RESTED so the SABBATH defined as the SEVENTH DAY of the WEEK is GOD'S REST. NOTE
EXODUS 20:11 is a direct reference back to
GENESIS 2:1-3 which is a direct reference back to
GENESIS 2:3 descibing the reason for GOD's 4th Commandment SEVENTH DAY SABBATH is that GOD BLESSED THE SABBATH (defined as the SEVENTH DAY in v10) and made it a HOLY DAY.
- GENESIS 2:1-3 [1], Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2], And ON THE SEVENTH DAY God ended his work which he had made; and HE RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; KEEP SABBATH] on the SEVENTH DAY from all his work which he had made. [3], And GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY: BECAUSE THAT IN IT HE HAD RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; Keep Sabbath] from all his work which God created and made.
NOTE: The reason for the Sabbath Commandment is to REMEMBER the God of creation.
HE RESTED IS GOD'S REST (verb) which God's WORD says is the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK WHICH IS CALLED SABBATH (noun), BLESSED the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK and made it a HOLY DAY that no work is to be done.
v11 Refers back to
Genesis 2:1-3 and the origin of the Sabbath which is the SEVENTH DAY.
v8 shows that this commandment is a MEMORIAL of creation
v11 [the reason for the 4th commandment]. It is very clear as we look through the scriptures and let the scriptures interpret themselves that GOD MADE THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH FOR MANKIND. It is also one of the 10 Commandments that give us the KNOWLEDGE of SIN when broken.
- MARK 2:27-28 [27], And he said unto them, THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN, and not man for the sabbath:[28], so that the Son of man is LORD OF THE SABBATH (creator).
The GREEK word highlighted here for MAN in
MARK 2:27 is ἄνθρωπος; anthrōpos (G444) which means HUMAN BEING or mankind.
CONCLUSION: The SABBATH as defined in God's Word as *
EXODUS 20:10 is the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK because God BLESSED the SEVENTH DAY and made it a HOLY DAY in
EXODUS 20:11 repeating
GENESIS 2:1-3. The Hebrew word for REST 7673
שָׁבַת shâbath, is the verb used for KEEPING THE SABBATH by RESTING. The person doing the RESTING was GOD the creator of heaven and earth. God's WORD also defines GOD'S REST therefore as the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH that God created for all mankind.
While the Hebrew word for SABBATH 7676
שַׁבָּת shabbâth, is the noun or the name of what is being kept which is the SEVENTH DAY that God RESTED on and BLESSED and made HOLY. The reason the SABBATH was made was for mankind to REST, CELEBRATE and REMEMBER GOD'S CREATION *
EXODUS 20:8 and the GOD as the CREATOR and LORD of the SABBATH *
MARK 2:27-28.
Take Care.