What is the significance of the Sabbath?
The first mention of the Sabbath can be found in Genesis 2. God had just created the world in six literal days, and now He would rest on the seventh day. Of course, God didn’t rest because He was tired, but to set an example and communicate to Adam and Eve the importance of resting and keeping holy the seventh-day Sabbath.
Scripture records it this way:
“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 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, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1–3
God did three things on the seventh day that He didn’t do on any other day of the week. He rested, blessed, and sanctified the seventh day (Genesis 2:2–3). When it says He “rested,” this is the Hebrew word Shabath, which means “to cease work, to rest, or to finish.” Then He declared the seventh day to be holy. It is good to be reminded that when God makes something holy or sets His plans in place, no created being can reverse it, cancel it, or transfer it to something or someone else (Isaiah 14:27). And finally, He sanctified the seventh day, setting it aside for a holy use.
By the time we get to Moses in Scripture, God formally gives the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel, including very detailed specifications in regards to the Sabbath:
“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. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 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
Notice that Exodus 20:8 is the command, itself. Then verses 9 and 10 tell us how to keep the Sabbath holy. And finally, verse 11 tells us why we keep it holy—as a reminder of the majesty of God’s creative work. When we keep it holy, we are bringing glory to God and acknowledging Him as Creator of the Universe. This is why the first angel’s message in Revelation 14 uses almost the exact words found in the fourth commandment to express the importance of worshiping God in the Last Days (emphasis supplied throughout):
“…’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
This verse points us back to one way we can properly worship God—by observing His Sabbath. The Bible teaches us that God is worthy of worship because He created all things (Revelation 4:11), and the Sabbath was created and given to man as a gift to honor God as the Creator (Mark 2:27–28). God gave the Sabbath as a special sign to signify the special relationship He has with His people:
“’Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them…. Hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’” Ezekiel 20:12, 20
God knows who His special, sanctified people are by whether or not they keep His Sabbath holy. It really is all about relationship. When we make the conscious decision to protect the sanctity of the Sabbath, then God sanctifies us and knows that we are fully devoted to Him and love Him enough to cease from our labors and spend time with Him on the Sabbath. In other words, He knows that we know Him personally and love Him if we keep all of His commandments, including the Sabbath (1 John 2:3–6; John 14:15).
Finally, the Sabbath is so important to God that He has declared that we will also keep the Sabbath in Heaven and on 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
If we will be keeping the Sabbath in Heaven and on the New Earth, then we should also be keeping it now—especially when Christ taught us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). We keep the Sabbath holy because we love our God and want to honor Him as Creator of the Universe.