The Sabbath is a holy day that God commanded us to “remember and keep it holy.” While most churches today worship on Sundays, the true day of worship in the Bible is specified as Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath. Some may think that the Sabbath is simply an abolished law from the Old Testament. However, the New Testament reveals that Jesus and the apostles observed the Sabbath. This means that even in this modern era, we should observe the Sabbath without any changes.
If we are the people of God, we must correctly understand the day of worship and sanctify it. Let’s explore the Sabbath, which commemorates the power of the Creator and promises sacred blessings.
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The Origin of the Sabbath
On the first six days, God created the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day, He rested.
“[…] And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it […]” Genesis 2:1-3
God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, making it the Sabbath and designating it as the fourth of the Ten Commandments for us to remember and sanctify.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. […] The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; […] For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11
Is it right to disregard the Sabbath, the commemorative day of the Creator that God specifically commanded us to keep? God said that we cannot be saved when we add or subtract even a single word from His commandments. The Sabbath is an important commandment mentioned over a hundred times in the Bible.
Which Day of the Week is the Sabbath?
In the Bible, there are clues that tell us which day of the week is the seventh-day Sabbath, God’s commandment, according to the current weekly system.
“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, […] ” Mark 16:9
Jesus rose on the “first day of the week,” which is the day after the Sabbath. At the beginning of the same chapter, it is written: “When the Sabbath was past.” The day Jesus rose is recognized as Sunday according to the current weekly system. This is acknowledged by both Catholics and Protestants, and it is written in the Holy Bible, translated by both Catholics and Protestants, that Jesus rose on Sunday.
“Jesus, having risen in the morning on the Sunday, […]” Mark 16:9 (Holy Bible version)
The day after the Sabbath is Sunday, therefore the Sabbath is Saturday, the day before Sunday. The Sabbath that God commanded us to keep is Saturday. Since Christianity has prevailed in Europe for a long time, it is often found that the seventh day on which God rested is translated as Saturday in the Bible. For example, Exodus 20:8 states: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Such translations are found in many languages, such as Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Bulgarian, and Croatian.
The Sunday observed by many churches worldwide is not the Sabbath that God commanded us to keep but rather the first day after the Sabbath, the day following the Sabbath. Even churches that worship on Sundays today acknowledge this.
“To avoid excessive citations, let us ask, for example, is it not true that every Christian is bound to sanctify Sunday and to abstain from servile works on that day? Is not the observance of this law one of the most sacred duties of Christians? You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” James Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, p. 98.
Even the Catholic Church, which considers Sunday worship as “one of their most sacred duties,” admits that there is no biblical foundation for Sunday worship. It is because, as they say, “the Sabbath in the Bible is Saturday, not Sunday.” Nowhere in the Bible is it written that by worshiping on Sunday, the first day, we will be blessed. If we want to receive the promised holy blessings from God, we must worship on Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath.
The Meaning and Importance of the Sabbath
The Sabbath, which God commanded us to keep, is a very important commandment for those who believe in God. God said that the Sabbath is a sign between Him and His people. This means that those who do not observe the Sabbath are not recognized as the people of God.
“[…] you shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, […] for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.” Exodus 31:13-14
According to the strict words that anyone who profanes the Sabbath will be cut off from among their people, there are records of those who violated the Sabbath being stoned to death in the Old Testament (Numbers 15:32-36). In the time of the Old Testament, if someone did not observe the Sabbath, their physical body would die, but in this era, our invisible soul loses life, and we drift away from salvation.
Was the Sabbath Abolished in the New Testament?
Some insist that the Sabbath was a simple law of the Old Testament that was abolished in the New Testament. However, this insistence goes against the teachings of Jesus, who came as the Savior in the New Testament era. Jesus himself set an example by observing the Sabbath.
“[…] on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16
Jesus observed the Sabbath “as was His custom.” If we do something once or twice, it is not a custom. Jesus observed the Sabbath every week. When the disciples asked Jesus about His second coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3), He told them that they should observe the Sabbath until the end of the world.
“Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:20-21
Since this tribulation has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor will it, it must be the final great tribulation that will come at the end of the world. Jesus said that we should pray that the final disaster does not happen in winter or on the Sabbath. He said this so that the saints would not suffer from the cold and would not fail to observe the Sabbath due to the disaster. This clearly means that we should observe the Sabbath until the last day when the final tribulation occurs.
Following the teachings of Jesus, the apostle Paul, and other saints of the early Church, they sanctified the Sabbath even after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 17:2-3, 18:4).
The Reason Why We Should Observe the Sabbath According to the Bible
The purpose of believing in God and worshiping Him is to be saved and go to heaven. The Bible teaches us that those who do the will of God, that is, those who observe the Sabbath, can enter the kingdom of heaven.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” Matthew 7:21-23
God constantly taught us to observe the seventh-day Sabbath, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament era. It is clear that it is God’s will to observe the Sabbath and not the Sunday worship that is not found in the Bible. That is why Jesus set an example by observing the Sabbath, and the apostles and the saints of the early Church also observed the Sabbath. Anyone who believes in God and wants to be saved and go to heaven must sanctify the Sabbath according to God’s will.