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The Sabbath in the Scriptures
Most people have given little thought
to what God says about the Sabbath in His Word. Here are some highlights:
- The Sabbath is
mentioned 117 times in the Bible (King James Version)—61 in the Old Testament
and 56 in the new. None of these mentions refers to Sunday, the first day
of the week, but all to the seventh day of the week (Friday sunset to Saturday
sunset).
- The Sabbath is
mentioned 45 times in the four Gospels—far more than the number of times
it is mentioned in the five books of Moses.
- The Sabbath was
made for man, not for any particular group, race or nationality (Mark
2:27).
- Jesus Christ's
custom was to keep the Sabbath (Luke 4:16).
- Jesus expected
His followers would be keeping the Sabbath at the time of the end (Matthew
24:20).
- Several decades
after Christ's death, Luke described the Sabbath as a commandment (Luke 23:56).
- The apostle Paul
taught both Jews and gentiles on the Sabbath, never hinting that they didn't
need to observe it (Acts 13:42-44; 17:1-4).
- After Christ
establishes His Kingdom on earth, "from one Sabbath to another, all flesh
shall come to worship" before Him (Isaiah 66:23).
- Out of 117 times
the Sabbath is mentioned in the Scriptures, not a single one so much as hints
that the Sabbath has been changed to another day or abolished.
- The Bible nowhere
gives man authority to change what God has commanded and made holy (Deuteronomy
4:2; 12:32).
- Nowhere in the
Bible is there a commandment to remember or observe Sunday as the Sabbath.
- God wants the
Sabbath to be a delight to mankind (Isaiah 58:13-14). Those who condemn it
or criticize its observance obviously have a view that differs from God's.
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