09/05/2025
✍🏻 Why is Sabbath so important ?
Mark 2:27 —And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day God had completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from all His work of creation” (Genesis 2:1-3)
Not a bad idea to create set-aside time to enjoy the wonders of His creation. The last day of each week is a time to rest from the work of the week, finding refreshment in God and His creation.
It wasn’t named “Sabbath” yet, however, until the book of Exodus, when the Israelites had just escaped captivity and slavery in Egypt. They were making their way through the desert to the Promised Land of Canaan, and God had just established a way to provide daily food for them to gather each morning. Except on the seventh day.
“’This is what the Lord has said: Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. … set aside everything left over to be kept until morning. … Eat it today,’ Moses said, ‘because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none’” (Exodus 16:23-26,)
This was even before the Ten Commandments were written in stone. God was teaching His followers to observe a six-day work week with a seventh-day Sabbath. Then, in Exodus 20, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment reads:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11)
God gave the Israelites specific instructions on how to keep this weekly Sabbath. They were to rest from their work and trust Him to provide for them on that day. The Sabbath was posed to them as an eternal reminder that it was God who created the world, and He wanted them to enjoy it with Him.
Fast forward to the New Testament, when Jesus came to earth. He kept the Sabbath throughout His life and ministry…even though some of the corrupt religious leaders of the time tried to get Him in trouble for healing during the Sabbath. That was considered “work” to them.
But Jesus corrected them—it was “lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12, NASB). He also declared to them the whole purpose of the Sabbath was that it was “made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27)
The Sabbath was created to be a gift. Yes, it’s a “commandment,” as sometimes we need to be told, “Hey, you need a break. Put your work aside and take it easy for a bit. Stop and smell the roses” …and acknowledge the Creator who made them.
It’s not hard to understand why some might struggle with the concept of something wonderful, like a day off, being a “commandment.” Why would it need to be part of the law?
As mentioned before, however, the fourth commandment is a call to rest on God’s terms, rather than our own, because He knows our needs more than we do. So when Adventists discovered how this truth can have a profound effect on everyone’s lives, no wonder they took it to heart and couldn’t wait to proclaim it to other believers!
But change isn’t easy. Deep-seated traditions are difficult to adjust, even in the face of evidence. Humans tend to cling to the familiar. For that reason, not all who heard the message of the persevering biblical Sabbath saw it as a blessing.
Sadly, many perceived this new focus on the Sabbath as something they “had” to do…or they would be breaking God’s law and wouldn’t, or couldn’t, receive salvation. This is what’s called “legalism,” and it refers to the belief that believers must keep “the law” (Ten Commandments, and other biblical principles suggested as a means of living a better life for God) in order to be saved.
This kind of misconception can sometimes happen when God’s law is the topic of discussion. But Adventists continued to teach about this commandment because its importance had been overlooked for so long.
They usually accompanied that message by emphasizing how following all God’s commandments can make a positive difference in the world, when regarded as an ideal to strive toward. As students of the Bible, Adventists upheld the belief that we are saved by grace, not by works.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NASB).
Turning the Sabbath into a burden, into an obligation, is a lie of the devil.
That might seem like a bold statement, but it exactly matches Satan’s nature. His very drive is to turn us against God and to make it seem like God isn’t fair. He wants humanity to view God as harsh and oppressive. Satan is still mad from His fall from heaven. He knows he’s ultimately going down, and he wants to drag us all with him.
The thought of obligation or anything legalistic was far from their minds.
It comes from recognition for its profound meaning when it comes to our relationship with Him.
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