Did Abraham observe the Sabbath day?

[tonychanyt]

"Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Genesis 26:5).

Where did God command Abraham to keep the Sabbath?

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Where did God command Abraham to keep the Sabbath?

It shows Abraham kept God's commandments Gen 26:5 through faith, as we all should. The Sabbath is a commandment of God, made for man Mark 2:27 and the Sabbath commandment is both personally spoken and written by God and the one commandment God said to Remember, which means we are not supposed to forget.

 

[oikonomia]

I don't think Abraham knew about God forbidding child sacrifice either.

You don't think Abraham thought it unusual that God should command him to sacrifice his son Isaac?
You don't think that both Abraham and Isaac were perplexed that a child sacrifice was what they were about to perform?
(Genesis 22:1-24)

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Sure, but it did not command anyone to observe it.

Then what was the purpose? HaShem needs no rest.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Sure, but it did not command anyone to observe it.

The Sabbath was made for Adam, Adam was not made for the Sabbath. Why would Yeshua say that? Adam was made on the 6th day and the Sabbath on the 7th. So it was made for Adam...
Shabbat Shalom!

 

[oikonomia]

Then what was the purpose? HaShem needs no rest.

I think the deeper significance of the Sabbath is that God is satisfied, not resting from fatigue.
The Sabbath means that He had something on His great eternal heart to accomplish.
When He obtains that, He has "rest" in that sense. This is different I think from resting because of weariness.

 

[BobRyan]

Where did God command Abraham to keep the Sabbath?

The same place He commanded Him not to take God's name in vain --- only in much more explicit reference because in that same book (Genesis) Mankind is given the Sabbath as a set apart holy day to the Lord.

The Sabbath "made for mankind" is the "context' (Exegesis) for the statement in Gen 26:5

Gen 2:2-3
2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

and sanctified it = "and made it holy"

Ex 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

IT is a SEVEN day creation week - not a six day week.


As for how Moses documents God giving those commandments to Abraham and establishing the context for Sabbath in Gen 2... God gave the entire moral law to mankind in Eden and held humans accountable for what comes from Eden.

This is also true of the place where God tells Noah what the difference is between a clean and unclean animal in Lev 11
And the same place where God tells Cain that it is a sin to kill someone in Ex 20.

 

[tonychanyt]

It shows Abraham kept God's commandments Gen 26:5 through faith, as we all should. The Sabbath is a commandment of God, made for man Mark 2:27 and the Sabbath commandment is both personally spoken and written by God and the one commandment God said to Remember, which means we are not supposed to forget.

Thanks for the verses.

Can you display the texts and bold the relevant words to prove your point? Thanks.

 

[tonychanyt]

You don't think Abraham thought it unusual that God should command him to sacrifice his son Isaac?

Abraham thought it was unusual. He thought that God would even raise Isaac up from the dead.

You don't think that both Abraham and Isaac were perplexed that a child sacrifice was what they were about to perform?
(Genesis 22:1-24)

Isaac was perplexed.

 

[tonychanyt]

The Sabbath was made for Adam, Adam was not made for the Sabbath. Why would Yeshua say that?

Because it was true.

Adam was made on the 6th day and the Sabbath on the 7th. So it was made for Adam...
Shabbat Shalom!

Sure.

So where was the actual COMMAND?

 

[oikonomia]

The same place He commanded Him not to take God's name in only in much more explicit reference because in that same book (Genesis) Mankind is given the Sabbath as a set apart holy day to the Lord.

The Sabbath "made for mankind" is the "context' (Exegesis) for the statement in Gen 26:5

Gen 2:2-3
2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

and sanctified it = "and made it holy"

Ex 20:11
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

IT is a SEVEN day creation week - not a six day week.

I read this a couple of times and enjoyed it.

I think the Sabbath signifies two things really:

1.) God has a purpose that when attained gives Him satisfaction, rest, fulfillment.
2.) Man also should be (and indeed only CAN be) satisfied with that which satisfies God.

God rests on the seventh day because everything is in order according to His plan. All is "very good."
When God is not satisfied there is NO WAY that man can be satisfied.

Man's rest (in every sense) is in entering into God's eternal purpose.
I think of the meaning of the Sabbath throughout the whole bible in this light.

 

[oikonomia]

Abraham thought it was unusual. He thought that God would even raise Isaac up from the dead.

Isaac was perplexed.

Yes, I agree. And I think Abraham may have remembered the things done in Ur of the Chaldees. And he wondered why on earth
was this God now wanting him to repeat those customs that he had left.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Thanks for the verses.

Can you display the texts and bold the relevant words to prove your point? Thanks.

Gen 26:6 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

God identifies "His commandments" right in the Ten, which includes the Sabbath commandment Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Abraham loved God and obeyed Him through faith and love, which is what we are called to do. 1 John 5:3, Romans 3:31

 

[tonychanyt]

Gen 26:6 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

God identifies "His commandments" right in the Ten, which includes the Sabbath commandment Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Abraham loved God and obeyed Him through faith and love, which is what we are called to do. 1 John 5:3, Romans 3:31

The word "Sabbath" is not there. Do you have a verse that contains "Abraham" and "Sabbath"?

 

[oikonomia]

On no other day was God at rest.
After day #1 there is still something He needs to do.
After day #2 and so forth it is the same.

On the sixth day He pronounces that He has now everything done.
And on the sixth day He pronounces creation work all "very good".

And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Gen 1:31).

Then comes the seventh day in chapter 2 verses 1-3.
Thus the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished.
And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

There are two testaments - the old and the new.
There are two testaments because of God having to in to rectify and repair the damage to His creation, man, and His plan because of
Satan's opposition and man's rebellion.

In the former sense God wanted His elect to labor six days and show rest and trust on the seventh day.
The resurrection of the Son of God is the eighth day now. That is the beginning of a new week.

The most important day for His elect is the first day of the week - the Lord's day. The day of the resurrection of Christ.
We start with trust in the resurrection.
We start the cycle with resting in trust in the resurrection of the Redeemer.

It appears to me like this:
First the attitude of God's people is to labor and then rest on God's sanctified seventh day.
(And you still may. It is silly imo to be afraid one has to give up that seventh day Sabbath).
But since the resurrection of the Savior on the first day of the new week, this "the Lord's day" becomes so significant.

We BEGIN each week honoring the finished work of Christ in His death and resurrection.
The work of God in creation is very important.
The work of God in incarnation, human living, death, resurrection is even more significant (especially since the fall of man).
This day of resurrection is the new beginning. It is also the day that God imparts His devine life into His people.

He gives then their natural life in the previous time.
He gives them their divine life in resurrection as a new beginning - the Lord's day, the first day of the new week.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

The word "Sabbath" is not there. Do you have a verse that contains "Abraham" and "Sabbath"?

Here let me help you....

God identifies His commandments to include the Sabbath commandment. Every time we see My Commandments, the commandments of God, His commandments, that includes the Sabbath commandment that God said.... Remember so we should not be teaching the least of these commandments as Jesus tells us to quoting from the Ten Matthew 5:19-30 or teach the opposite of what God said, to forget the Sabbath commandment when God said Remember.

The Ten Commandments​

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

 

[tonychanyt]

Here let me help you....

God identifies His commandments to include the Sabbath commandment. Every time we see My Commandments, the commandments of God, His commandments, that includes the Sabbath commandment that God said.... Remember so we should not be teaching the least of these commandments as Jesus tells us to quoting from the Ten Matthew 5:19-30 or teach the opposite of what God said, to forget the Sabbath commandment when God said Remember.

The Ten Commandments​

Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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. 11 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.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Let proposition P1 = Abraham observed the weekly Sabbath.
P2 = Abraham did not observe the weekly Sabbath.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions?

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Let proposition P1 = Abraham observed the weekly Sabbath.
P2 = Abraham did not observe the weekly Sabbath.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions?

I prefer scripture and Abraham kept Gods commandments and God defined what are His commandments.

 

[SuperCow]

I don't think so. Moses gave the Sabbath to the Israelites. Nehemiah 9:

14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses.​

Deuteronomy 5:

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.​

Moses then proceeded to quote the 10 commandments,

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.​

The LORD did not command the Egyptians to keep the Sabbath Day. The Lord commanded the Israelites to keep the Sabbath because he brought them out of Egypt.

I don't think Abraham knew about God forbidding child sacrifice either.

Or incest, but then neither did Lot.

 

[tonychanyt]

I prefer scripture and Abraham kept Gods commandments and God defined what are His commandments.

Right. So how sure are you about that?

Let proposition P1 = Abraham observed the weekly Sabbath.
P2 = Abraham did not observe the weekly Sabbath.

Between 0 and 10, how much weight do you put on each of the above propositions?