The Sabbath is not neccessarily Saturday!!?

Question

The Bible says "Six days shall thou do all thy work"...etc, it doesn't say the FIRST six days, which makes me believe that God just wants us to put a day aside after 6 continuous days of work.

Answer 1

"'And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men*--the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.' He said to them, 'All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.'" (Mark 7:7 - 8 NKJV)

It is interesting because God did command a particular day and did not allow people to keep any day they wanted. While in the wilderness after fleeing Egypt, the Hebrews were sent manna from Heaven. This manna fell six days a week but did not fall on the Sabbath. God knew what day the Sabbath was, the Hebrews knew it, and the Jewish people of today still know it. They keep the same day today that their ancestors did when God sent the manna.

"On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food -- four quarts for every person. When all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses, he said to them, "This is what the Lord commanded, because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord's holy day of rest. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil today. Save the rest of the food until tomorrow morning." So the people saved it until the next morning, as Moses had commanded, and none of it began to stink or have worms in it. Moses told the people, "Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord's day of rest; you will not find any out in the field today. You should gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day. On that day there will not be any food on the ground." On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather food, but they couldn't find any. Then the Lord said to Moses, "How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and teachings? Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on the sixth day he will give you enough food for two days, but on the seventh day each of you must stay where you are. Do not go anywhere." So the people rested on the seventh day. The people of Israel called the food manna. It was like small white seeds and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:22 - 31 NCV)

You can search the New Testament, and even the entire Bible for that matter, and you will not find one place that the Sabbath law has been revoked. What you will find is that the apostles and early church did keep the Sabbath, and Jesus expected His followers to be keeping the Sabbath some 60 years after His death.

"At that time, how terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again." (Matthew 24:19 - 21 NCV)

"They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down." (Acts 13:14 NCV)

"While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath." (Acts 13:42 NCV)

"On the next Sabbath day, almost everyone in the city came to hear the word of the Lord." (Acts 13:44 NCV)

"On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river where we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them." (Acts 16:13 NCV) (This is most interesting because Paul kept the Sabbath even when there was not a group of Jews to keep it with or a church to keep it in. He was in Philippi, and there were very few Jews there)

"Paul went into the synagogue as he always did, and on each Sabbath day for three weeks, he talked with the Jews about the Scriptures." (Acts 17:2 NCV)

"Every Sabbath day he talked with the Jews and Greeks in the synagogue, trying to persuade them to believe in Jesus." (Acts 18:4 NCV)

Check the Ten Commandments; they tell us the reason we should keep the Sabbath.

"The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything -- the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. On the seventh day he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:11)

That reason still stands today. The Sabbath has nothing to do with the nation of Israel but everything to do with creation. God did not command the Sabbath because he wanted the Israelites to be different; He commanded it because He created it in the first week. God tries to give us a gift, and we say that it is a burden and we do not want it.

As for the Lord's Day, It is interesting to see what the Bible says about the Lord's day.

"Eat the food you gathered yesterday. Today is a Sabbath, the Lord's day of rest;" (Exodus 16:23 NCV)

"This is what the Lord commanded, because tomorrow is the Sabbath, the Lord's holy day of rest." (Exodus 16:25 NCV)

"but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God." (Exodus 20:10 NCV)

"So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day" (Matthew 12:8 NCV)

"So then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." (Mark 2:28 NCV)

"Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, 'The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.'" (Luke 6:6 NCV)

Answer 2

If you are referring to the fact that the Sabbath used to be on Saturday but is widely honored now on Sunday, and that the day is irrelevant, I agree with you. The bible talks about how the strong believer looks past trivial things because they are unimportant. What if a person got lost on a desert island and didn't know what day it was? God would still appreciate that they set aside a day for Him every week.

But you may be missing the point that it is important for Christians to gather together on God's day. That is why it has to be one certain day-Saturday for some Catholics and others or Sunday for most Protestants, that everyone agrees to. Faith is strengthened in numbers. That's when miracles happen.

Answer 3

I'll answer this with an excercise in Jewish law. OK, you're an observant Jew and get in a shipwreck. You wake up all alone on a deserted island, and don't know what day it is. How do you observe the Shabbat? You simply observe the seventh day, regardless of what day is is. So you are partially right. You could observe the Shabbat any day if you are all alone. However, since it is also a communal celebration, it is better to do it on an agreed upon day if you have people around you.

Answer 4

This is a good point, especially for those who must work Saturday or Sunday. Now there is no excuse that you missed it. Just jump in and take a sabbath when you do get a day off.

Answer 5

The Sabbath is Saturday period. The Catholic Church made it Sunday. And Christians follow the Church decree despite all their hype.

Answer 6

Yes you're right and they used a whole different calender than we use. If you start your first day of work on a Wednesday, youre Sabbath is 5 days later. Good thing we arent bound by such laws anymore huh?

Answer 7

ty, and furthermore, gentiles are not Jews, so why keep one jewish custom and not the rest? 600 total good luck with that 'sabbath keepers' observing the sabbath like the jews would mean on saturday, from dusk fri. to sat. dusk. u might as well get a comfy chair, u have to rest all day. a man gathered firewood in the OT and was stoned to death.

Answer 8

The sabbath is a day to cease all work. It is a day to keep for God. It does not matter what day it is. It could be a Monday for all anyone cares.

God Bless

Answer 9

Good point! It's nice to see someone who can think with their head instead of their bible.

Answer 10

You should probably read that passage again. You missed part of it.