Could you be WRONG and not know it? It’s a possibility worth considering. You grew up in a “ready-made” world. Had the western world of professing Christianity never become completely oriented toward Sunday observance, its attitude toward God’s Holy Sabbath day would be quite different.
This is why I chose the title, Why Would Anyone Keep Saturday For Sunday? for my booklet on the subject. It seems strange — even cultic — to most.
The Sunday-observing world looks askance at the Sabbath, desiring to connect it with the “Jews, who rejected Christ.” Most, without ever really thinking it through, look at Sunday as “liberty,” and the Sabbath as “bondage.” The exact opposite is true.
The Sabbath day was set aside by your Creator — the member of the divine family called Elohim who became Christ — as a day of REST from your labors. In the commandment itself God gives an explanation as to WHY we are to rest: “…for in six days the Eternal [Christ in His pre-human state] made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11)
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:10). So the Sabbath rest pictures how God “rested on the seventh day” and blessed it; hallowed it; set it apart as holy!
Those who obey God and rejoice in the joys of the Sabbath are picturing God’s own rest; which was a CREATIVE act. Creation was not finished in six days; God was not through creating until after the SEVENTH day. He CREATED the Sabbath day by RESTING upon it.
Christ said, “And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, 28).
Notice that the Sabbath was made FOR MAN, not “for the Jews.” The subtle attempt to make it appear that it was “delivered to the Jewish nation” when no such “Jewish nation” existed; the attempt to make it appear “Jewish,” and therefore repugnant is at best ignorant, and at worst, dishonest!
The Sabbath was something which was MADE –– created! It was made FOR man; for his delight; his enjoyment; his blessed rest!
The Sabbath is to be a day of JOY; a day of thanksgiving; of day of rest, relaxation, recreation, contemplation, prayer, happy fellowship and assembling with brethren — a DELIGHT!
God says through Isaiah, “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure [doing your own will; going about your own business], nor speaking thine own words:
“Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:13, 14).
The Sabbath is a day for sleeping in; for a leisurely breakfast; for reading, relaxing, and for extra time for prayer. It is a day to “smell the roses,” to walk in the yard, or go to a park, or take the children to the zoo if convenient, to show them the marvelous creation of God. It is a day to sunbathe, or to watch a documentary about fish, animals and insects. It is a day for sending a card of love and appreciation to a friend; making a phone call to a lonely person; visiting a sick person in the hospital or nursing home — a day of service, consideration, sharing and giving.
The Sabbath should be FAMILY day — a day for rejoicing, thanksgiving, happiness, and family worship of God and His creation. The time is coming when this entire world will call the Sabbath day a DELIGHT! God says, “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 66:23).
This is a prophecy for the distant future — the “New Heavens and the New Earth.” Then, far into the future, all those who today hold anti-law, anti-Sabbath feelings in their hearts will joyfully observe God’s Holy Sabbath day and will find great joy in knowing, in their innermost being, “God is happy with me today!”
