Hi all friendly discussion please.
Some try to claim that the Sabbath given at creation is a claim that is not true but is that the truth according to the scriptures? I would like to examine this in detail to show why the Sabbath was indeed given to mankind at creation and this was the reason God made the Sabbath.
So the question we are considering here is...
1. WAS THE SABBATH GIVEN TO MANKIND AT CREATION?
2. WHY DID GOD MAKE THE SABBATH?
..................
Let's start with the scriptures showing when God made the seventh day Sabbath and see why it was made and who it was made for and connect all the scriptures starting in GENESIS...
WHERE IS THE SABBATH IN GENESIS 2:1-3?
GOD's 4th Commandment is refering to
GENESIS 2:1-3 in
EXODUS 20:8-11.
GENESIS 2:1-3 [1], Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2], And ON THE SEVENTH DAY God ended his work which he had made; and he
RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; Keep Sabbath] on the
SEVENTH DAY from all his work which he had made. [3], And
GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY: because that in it he had
RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; Keep Sabbath] from all his work which God created and made.
Links to God’s 4th Commandment
EXODUS 20:8-11 [8],
REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO KEEP IT HOLY [Made Holy at creation
GENESIS 2:3]. [9], Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: [10], But THE
SEVENTH DAY [
Genesis 2:1-3]
IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD YOUR GOD : in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: [WHY?] [11], FOR IN SIX DAYS THE LORD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM IS, AND
RESTED THE SEVENTH DAY;
WHEREFORE THE LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY. [Refering
to
GENESIS 2:1-3]
Look at the HEBREW WORD meanings again...
GENESIS 2:1-3 [1], Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2], And ON THE SEVENTH DAY God ended his work which he had made; and he
RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; Keep Sabbath] on the
SEVENTH DAY from all his work which he had made. [3], And
GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND MADE IT HOLY: because that in it he had
RESTED [שׁבת; shâbath H7673; Keep Sabbath] from all his work which God created and made.
The Hebrew word for
RESTED used here is
שׁבת; shâbath (H7673). It's meaning is; to repose, that is, desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causatively, figuratively or specifically): - (cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail,
KEEP SABBATH, suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.
שׁבת; shâbath or REST (H7673) is the ORIGIN or ROOT word for
שׁבּת; shabbâth (H7676) which is used in God's 4th commandments translated into english as SABBATH. The HEBREW Word for
shabbâth meaing is the intermission between SABBATHS or
shâbath (H7673)
REST or the continuation meaing from one SABBATH
REST to the Next SABBATH
REST continuation or EVERY SABBATH. It's application is in God's 4th commandment
EXODUS 20:8 is to REMEMBER [EVERY] Sabbath [
shabbâth H7676].
In the 4th commandment *
EXODUS 20:8-11; v11 tells us the ORIGINS of God's 4th commandments Sabbath is in reference to
GENESIS 2:1-3 and the reason why it is given as a memorial of Greation to whorship God as the creator of Heaven and Earth.
...............
Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries w/TVM, Strong - H7673
REST from GENESIS 2:1-3 שׁבת shâbath A primitive root; to
REPOSE, that is, desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causatively, figuratively or specifically): - (cause to, let, make to) cease,
CELEBRATE, cause (make) to fail,
KEEP SABBATH, suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to)
REST, rid, still, take away.
REST is the root word verb for SABBATH KEEPING. SABBATH is the noun of what is being kept.
Note here in GENESIS 2:1-3 that it was in the creation week when God had finished his creation in six days that He rested on the SEVENTH DAY of the week from all His Work that he had made and He "SET APART" the seventh day of the week and "BLESSED" the seventh day" and made the seventh day a "HOLY DAY" of rest. The seventh day SABBATH therefore according to the scriptures is "
GOD'S REST"
In the Hebrew the word for "REST" used in GENESIS 2:1-3 is the root word of "SABBATH which is a noun or discription of what is being RESTED. The Hebrew word used here for "REST" is the verb for Sabbath keeping while the Hebrew word for Sabbath is simply the noun of what is being kept by "RESTING". The verb REST or RESTING is how the SABBATH is kept (שׁבת; shâbath (H7673).
Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries w/TVM, Strong -
RESTED 7673. שָׁבַת shâbath, shaw-bath´; a prim. root; to repose, i.e. desist from exertion; used in many impl. relations (caus., fig. or spec.):—(cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail,
keep or observe the sabbath, suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.
The HEBREW word for
REST (שָׁבַת shâbath) is the
verb of how the SABBATH (שַׁבָּת shabbâth)
noun is to be kept which is by RESTING from our works while what is being rested is the noun which is the SABBATH.
The word RESTED used above in Genesis 2 is the root word used in the 4th Commandment. This word means to "
KEEP SABBATH" to desist from exertion [context is work or ending work and blessing and making the SEVENTH DAY a HOLY DAY].
The reason why the SABBATH was made was not because God needed rest but for mankind to remember and celebrate God as the God of creation. JESUS in His own Words as the God of creation says this in His own words here...
MARK 2:27 [27], And he said to them,
THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN and not man for the Sabbath.
The Greek word used here for
MAN is G444 ἄνθρωπος; anthrōpos From G435 and ὤψ ōps (the countenance ; from G3700); manfaced, that is, a
human being: - certain, man.
JESUS tells has that the Sabbath was made for mankind on the "SEVENTH DAY" of the creation week. JESUS is the LORD of the SABBATH *MARK 2:28 and commands His people to "REMEMBER" the Sabbath which is the "SEVENTH DAY" of the week and to keep the "SEVENTH DAY" of the week as a "HOLY DAY OF REST" as a memorial of creation and a celebration of JESUS as the God of creation in EXODUS 20:8-11. Lets look at the links in God's 4th commandment of the 10 commandments to GENESIS 2:1-3 of when the seventh day Sabbath was created and link this back to the new testament scriptures...
EXODUS 20:8-11 [8],
REMEMBER the SABBATH DAY, to KEEP IT HOLY. <Why?> [Because JESUS made it a Holy day of rest for mankind and commands us to keep it as a Holy day] [9],
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: [10], But the
SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH of the LORD thy God [This is a direct reference from God's Word defining what the Sabbath is; The SABBATH = the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK]: in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: <WHY> [11], For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
SEVENTH DAY:
wherefore the LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH, and HALLOWED IT.
The reason for the Sabbath Commandment is to REMEMBER the God of creation. He rested on the SEVENTH DAY of the WEEK, BLESSED the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK and made it a HOLY DAY that no work is to be done.
v11 Refers back to Genesis 2:1-3 and the origin of the Sabbath.
v8 shows that this commandment is a MEMORIAL of creation
v11 [the reason for the 4th commandment].
Summary of the above is simply that GENESIS 2:1-3 is the origin of when God made the Sabbath for all mankind according to the words of JESUS. RESTING on the Sabbath from our work is SABBATH KEEPING or how the Sabbath is kept. As we from the heart obey Gods' 4th commandment we enter into Gods' REST of the "seventh day Sabbath"
GENESIS 2:1-3 is INDEED the ORIGIN of the SABBATH (First Sabbath). It is the SEVENTH DAY of creation that God blessed, set apart and made a HOLY DAY for all mankind. Nearly every section of
GENESIS 2:1-3 is repeated in
EXODUS 20:8-11 of God's 4th commandment as the reason why we are to REMEMBER God's Sabbath.
This links directly into the new testament scriptures of believing the gospel of our Lord JESUS Christ here...
HEBREWS 4:1-11
[1], Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into
HIS REST, any of you should seem to come short of it.
[2], For to us was the gospel preached, as well as to them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
[3], For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into
MY REST: ALTHOUGH THE WORKS WERE FINISHED FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.
[4],
FOR HE SPOKE IN A CERTAIN PLACE (GENSIS 2:1-3) OF THE SEVENTH DAY ON THIS WISE, AND GOD DID REST THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS.
[5], And in this place again, If they shall enter into
MY REST.
NOTE: CONTEXT is
God's REST from the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH REST OF CREATION (
v4-5) and those who BELIEVE and FOLLOW GOD's WORD enter into God's SABBATH REST as GOD did on the SEVENTH DAY of the week. CONTEXT is GOD's SEVENTH DAY SABBATH REST and those who BELIEVE AND FOLLOW GOD'S WORD enter into that rest which God's WORD defines as the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH which is GOD'S REST!
The scriptures show that God's SEVENTH DAY SABBATH according to the very words of JESUS was made for mankind at the seventh day of the creation week. While mankind was made on the sixth day of the creation week. ADAM and EVE where the first to keep God's SABBATH.
God bless.
