When was the Sabbath established?
Many believe that the Sabbath was first established and given to the Jewish people during the days of Moses. However, a logical and reasonable research of Scripture will prove that the Sabbath dates all the way back to Heaven in eternity’s past, well before Earth was ever created. Here are a few of the ways we come to this conclusion:
1. The Bible defines sin as transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). We know this Law to be the Ten Commandments based on multiple Scriptures, including Paul’s writings (Romans 3:20, 31; 7:7–12). Therefore, if sin is transgression of God’s eternal Law (Psalm 111:7–8) or the Ten Commandments, then we know that the Sabbath pre-dates Adam and Eve and the creation of Earth.
Sin clearly began in Heaven with Lucifer, described here in Ezekiel, sometime in eternity past:
“You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” Ezekiel 28:14–15
If iniquity is sin, and sin is transgression of the Law, then Lucifer would have violated God’s Law in Heaven well before Earth ever existed. This also means that the Sabbath would have been a part of that Law and a significant part of the heavenly worship experience. (Keep reading for further scriptural proof of this point.)
2. We know that the Ten Commandment Law of God was in Heaven prior to the creation of Earth based on the specifications of the earthly sanctuary given to Moses by God. Notice what we find in Hebrews 8:
“Who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’” Hebrews 8:5
When Moses was on Mt. Sinai, he not only received the tablets of stone with the record of the Ten Commandments, but was also instructed to build an earthly sanctuary based on a model of the heavenly sanctuary (Exodus 25:8). These building specifications also instructed him to build the ark of the covenant and place the Ten Commandment Law inside. This clearly suggests that Moses would have seen an ark in Heaven with the Law present. Also, as we read earlier, Lucifer was once one of the two covering cherubim—represented on the ark of the covenant by two cherubim with wings outstretched, covering the mercy seat. This model, of course, was built after that which is really present in the heavenly sanctuary, which John saw when he received his vision in Revelation 11:19.
Therefore, if the ark is present in Heaven, then the Law is present in Heaven. And that means that the Sabbath was observed in Heaven well before Mount Sinai.
3. And finally, we see evidence that God’s Ten Commandment Law and the Sabbath is kept in Heaven through Isaiah’s vision of the new heavens and the New Earth:
“‘For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘so shall your descendants and your name remain. And 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 66:22–23
The fact that we will keep Sabbath throughout eternity suggests that this is not a new thing. If Heaven was and is governed by God’s Ten Commandment Law, then it only makes sense that the Sabbath has been kept in Heaven prior to Earth’s creation. God does not change (Malachi 3:6), and therefore, His righteous ways do not change. Even Jesus counseled the disciples to pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Because the Sabbath is a part of God’s Law, and His Law is in Heaven, then that means the Sabbath is—and has always been—observed in Heaven.
While there may not be an explicit text that says this, there is plenty of evidence suggesting that the completeness of God’s Law has always been in Heaven, even prior to the creation of Earth. Also, what sense would it make for God to establish the holiness of the Sabbath at Creation and wait 2,500 years before He gives it to man? Obviously, this is not the case. The Bible says that Abraham kept all the commandments of the Lord, and he was not a Jew (Genesis 26:5). Therefore, the Sabbath most definitely predates Mount Sinai.