Lesson 4 Sabbath: A Sign of Loyalty

“Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.” Aaron’s voice echoed throughout Pharaoh’s throne room as he spoke on behalf of Moses and the Lord. But the Egyptian king was not about to release a million Hebrew slaves so they could go worship. Pharaoh replied, “Why do you take the people from their work? … Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor!” (Exodus 5:1, 4, 5). Moses and Aaron had already met with the Hebrew leaders and told the nation of slaves about God’s plan to free them all from bondage. When the children of Israel heard that the Lord “had looked on their affliction … they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4:31). Of all the Lord’s commands, none stood so clear as a sign of loyalty to God than worship on the Sabbath. “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” Pharaoh sneered. If the Hebrew slaves stopped working in order to worship, it would take away from the Egyptian king’s workforce. But more than that, it would indicate their allegiance to God and not to him.

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The Sabbath is more than a call to attend church, sing hymns, give offerings, and listen to a sermon. Keeping holy the fourth commandment marks our faithfulness to the Creator who made us and redeemed us from sin. It is a sign that God has first place in our lives, just as it was for the Israelites who refused to keep serving Pharaoh. The Sabbath stands above human laws, whether created by church councils or civil governments. What does the Bible say about the Sabbath? And how will Sabbath worship be a central issue of conflict at the end of time?

The Sabbath was established at Creation for all humanity.

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, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Genesis 2:2, 3).

At the end of Creation week, when there were just two people on the earth, God made the Sabbath. He rested on the seventh day, blessed the day, and sanctified it (made it holy) by stopping His own work. The Hebrew word for Sabbath is shabbat and means “rest.” When we keep the Sabbath, we cease from our labors to worship and appreciate God’s work for us. The Sabbath was not for God, but was a gift from God to all of humanity—so they might know Him as their Creator and Redeemer.

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Before the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai, God reminded the Israelites of the sacredness of the Sabbath.

Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. … And it shall be on

the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much

as they gather daily (Exodus 16:4, 5).

The Sabbath has existed since Creation. Through the miracle of the manna given to the children of Israel while in the wilderness, God reminded them of the weekly Sabbath. Moses explained on the sixth day, “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord” (verse 23). God not only provided twice as much manna on Friday to last through the Sabbath, but He did not rain down bread from heaven on the seventh day. When some went out to gather manna on the Sabbath, God said, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?” (verse 28).

God placed the Sabbath in the center of the Decalogue to highlight its sacred importance.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath

of the Lord your God (Exodus 20:8–10).

Unlike the other nine laws, the Sabbath commandment begins with the word “Remember” to remind us that the Sabbath was established before Sinai. God knew humans would be inclined to forget that He is the Creator. Pointing back to when Sabbath was instituted, the fourth commandment says, “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” (verse 11). The Sabbath is not a law created for Jews only; rather, it was a blessing given to all humanity.

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The Sabbath is not only a sign of Creation; it’s also a sign of God’s power to save us.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by

an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day (Deuteronomy 5:15).

When Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments with the Israelites, the last part of the fourth commandment reminded the Israelites of God’s salvation. The Bible teaches, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Our works can never save us. When we cease our labors on the Sabbath, we acknowledge that it is “a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them” (Ezekiel 20:12).

Christ was a faithful Sabbath keeper.

He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,

and stood up to read (Luke 4:16).

Jesus was in the habit of attending worship services in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He endorsed the seventh day as a time of regular worship. The Bible even says, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). Just as Christ finished the work of Creation on the sixth day, so also, while hanging on the cross on the sixth day, Jesus completed the work of redemption by stating, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Christ rested in the tomb on the Sabbath.

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Just like Jesus, the apostles worshipped on the seventh day.

When they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down (Acts 13:14).

When preparing for the burial of their Teacher, the disciples stopped their work and “rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” with plans to continue preparations on Sunday, “the first day of the week” (Luke 23:56; 24:1). During their missionary journeys, Paul and his associates worshipped on the Sabbath, even if there was no synagogue to attend. (See Acts 16:13.) Paul distinguished the weekly Sabbath of the fourth commandment from the ceremonial sabbaths “which are a shadow” (Colossians 2:17).

Nowhere does the Bible command us to keep any weekly day holy other than the seventh day.

“It shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship

before Me,” says the Lord (Isaiah 66:23).

God has planned that His people will observe the Sabbath forever. Some believe John’s reference to being “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10) is a reference to Sunday. But the text does not state that “the Lord’s day” is the first day of the week. The fourth commandment clearly says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:10). The Lord called the seventh day “My holy day” (Isaiah 58:13). No other day is called the Sabbath, so John had to be speaking of the seventh-day Sabbath.

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The change from Sabbath to Sunday worship came over time and was prophesied in the Bible.

He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to

change times and law (Daniel 7:25).

The only part of the Ten Commandments relating to time is the Sabbath. Many Protestant scholars, such as Martin Luther, have identified the power spoken of in Daniel 7:25 as the Papacy. It was not until the fourth century that Sunday laws were first enacted. By the fifth century, Roman church councils issued Sunday observance laws. One Catholic scholar states that Sunday sacredness “rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible” (John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, 401).

God is calling for the restoration of the Sabbath in the last days.

Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth,

the sea and springs of water (Revelation 14:7).

The first of three angelic messages to be proclaimed at the end of time call people to worship God as their Creator. The terminology

in this verse is a direct reference to the Sabbath commandment in the Decalogue. This message will create a conflict engaging the entire world.

Just as the Hebrews in Egypt had to choose whether to obey God or Pharaoh, so all people will have to

decide whether to follow the commandments of God or the traditions of humans.

Will you choose to live in obedience to God’s law, including the fourth

commandment, and observe the seventh day as the Sabbath?

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Reformer HighlightJohn Wesley (1703–1791) was an English Anglican pastor and theologian who founded Methodism with his brother Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. While attending college, he began a “Holy Club” to encourage others to study and pursue a devout Christian life. After doing ministry in the United States, he returned to London and had a conversion experience when he felt his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley traveled extensively and often preached outdoors.

“This ‘handwriting of ordinances’ our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to His cross. But the moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away. … The moral law stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law. … Every part of this law must remain in force, upon all mankind, and in all ages.”

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