What day is the Sabbath? Exodus 20:10 says, "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God."
 

Who made the Sabbath? It's in the Bible, Genesis 2:1-2, NIV. "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done."

What is the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy? It is the memorial of creation. It's in the Bible, Exodus 20:11, NIV. "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

For whom did Christ say the Sabbath was made? It's in the Bible, Mark 2:27, NIV. "Then He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'"

What does the fourth commandment require? It's in the Bible, Exodus 20:8-10, NIV. "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates."

What has God designated as a sign between Himself and His people? It's in the Bible, Ezekiel 20:20, NIV. "Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."

The Sabbath is also a sign of sanctification. It's in the Bible, Ezekiel 20:12, RSV. "Moreover I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I the Lord sanctify them."

In the new heaven and earth, how often will the redeemed worship the Lord? It's in the Bible, Isaiah 66:22-23, NIV. "'As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before Me,' declares the Lord, 'so will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before Me,' says the Lord."

While Christ was on earth, did He keep the Sabbath? It's in the Bible, Luke 4:16, TLB. "When He came to the village of Nazareth, His boyhood home, He went as usual to the synagogue on Saturday, and stood up to read the Scriptures."

What day immediately precedes the first day of the week? It's in the Bible, Matthew 28:1, NIV. "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb."

After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus? It's in the Bible, Luke 23:56, NIV. "Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment."

What was Paul's custom concerning the Sabbath? It's in the Bible, Acts 17:2, NIV. "As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures."

At His death, didn't Jesus nail the Sabbath to the cross? Let’s look at what was nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:14-17.

“Having wiped out [blotted out] the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”
Read More: Is the Sabbath for the Jews only?
Read More: Is Sunday a memorial of Jesus’ resurrection?

Symbols and shadows

The law of ceremonies that pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God, sacrificed on the cross for our sins, was nailed to the cross. There, at the cross, type (the Passover lamb) met antitype (Jesus, the lamb of God). The symbol faced reality and shadow found its substance. Paul sums up the meaning of all Jewish ceremonials as follows: "Which are a shadow of things to come.” So the sabbaths mentioned in Colossians 2:16 are those sabbaths that were types or symbols of something better to come.

Old Testament ceremonial sabbaths

If you study the ceremonials of ancient Israel, you will find seven yearly ceremonial sabbaths that had to do with the annual Jewish feasts. These sabbaths came on different days of the week, through the years, just as your birthday does. They were shadows of things to come.

What was nailed to the cross?

The seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment was not a shadow waiting for its fulfillment. It was not symbolic of anything connected with the cross. The seventh-day Sabbath is the memorial of a completed fact, the creation of our world in six days. The seventh-day Sabbath of the 10 Commandments had no connection with the ceremonial sab­baths. Those ceremonial sabbaths of Colossians 2:16 were nailed to the cross or ended at the cross. While on the other hand, the seventh-day Sabbath, as a part of God's eternal law, is never-ending and will continue to be kept in the new earth when sin is forever gone. (see Isaiah 66:23.)

Is there any pronouncement from God that changes the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week? Most Christians accept the Ten Commandments, given by God at Sinai, as a valid guide to live by. Moses reminded Israel:

“These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me” (Deuteronomy 5:22).

The Ten Commandments are the only message God has ever personally written out for the human race. They are so important that He wrote them on stone with His own finger (Exodus 31:18). In the fourth commandment, God instructs us:

“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. . . . 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).

When God created our world, He set apart the seventh day as the “Sabbath of the Lord” by three divine acts (Genesis 2:1-3). God:

• Rested on the seventh day from all His work.
• Blessed the seventh day.
• Sanctified it.

Again at Sinai, when He gave the Ten Commandments, God reiterated these same truths. He also made it clear that no human being should revise or edit the instruction from His holy lips. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).

God Himself pledges not to alter His commands: “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips” (Psalm 89:34). The Bible is clear that God did not change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week.

According to Jesus, the Ten Commandments and all the moral principles in the Old Testament Scriptures are not subject to change; they are to continue to guide His followers:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19).

Jesus faithfully honored and observed the Sabbath. He is our example in Sabbath-keeping. “He [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day” (Luke 4:16).

Looking to the future, Jesus wanted His disciples to continue experiencing the joys of true Sabbath-keeping. He instructed them to pray that, during the siege, they would not have to flee from Jerusalem on the Sabbath. “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath” (Matthew 24:20).

Jesus was speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem—an event that took place in A.D. 70, nearly 40 years after His resurrection. Jesus did not change the Sabbath commandment, nor any of the other commandments. In fact, He instructed the rich young ruler to obey the Ten Commandments (Matthew 19:16-22). It is clear from Jesus’ teaching and example that we still need the Sabbath for rest, relaxation, and spending time with God.

James, the first leader of the early Christian church, wrote concerning the Ten Commandments:

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10, 11).

Luke, a physician and evangelist in the early church, reports:

“On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there” (Acts 16:13).

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who wrote much of the New Testament, affirms:

“For He [God] has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’ [see Genesis 2:2]. . . . There remains therefore a [Sabbath] rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:4, 9).

 What did Paul say about the Sabbath in Romans 14:5?

The New Testament book of Acts mentions 84 different Sabbaths observed by the apostles, all of them more than 14 years after the resurrection of Jesus.

• 2 Sabbaths at Antioch - (Acts 13:14, 42, 44)
• 1 Sabbath at Philippi - (Acts 16:12, 13)
• 3 Sabbaths at Thessalonica - (Acts 17:1, 2)
• 78 Sabbaths at Corinth - (Acts 18:1, 4, 11)

Let’s look at what the Bible says in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath was made by Jesus at the creation of this world. Jews did not exist at that time. God made the Sab­bath, with its threefold blessing, for all mankind, the entire human race. When the Ten Commandments were spoken by God on Sinai to the nation of Israel, they were told to "remember" what God had given to the whole human family hundreds of years before.
Read More: Was the Sabbath nailed to the cross?
Read More: Which day is the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is for all humanity

This commandment applied not only to the Jews but also to the "stranger within thy gates." Even the Gentile (to the Jew, a "stranger") was commanded to keep the Sabbath of creation. If we admit that we belong to the human family, then God's seventh-day Sabbath is for us.

Is God’s law for Jews only?

If the Sabbath were made just for the Jews, then the whole law of the ten moral commandments was made for the Jews alone. If that were the case, then Gentile Christians may take God’s name in vain and worship before idols of wood and stone. The majority are wrong when they deny the binding claims of the entire law of God, including the seventh-day Sabbath. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he [Jesus] walked” (1 John 2:6).

We should walk as Jesus walked...

Are you walking as Jesus walked? Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath as a Christian, not as a Jew. Won't you keep the Sabbath because you love God so much that you want to please Him with all your heart?

Some people are convinced that Sunday, the first day of the week, is the Biblical Sabbath. Others believe that Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is the Sabbath.

Let’s take an in-depth look at this topic and examine the facts about what day is the Sabbath of the Bible. According to the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath is located on the seventh day of the week. Exodus 20:8-10 says the following, “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.” At creation God also rested and declared the seventh day holy (Genesis 2:1-3).

Is the seventh day the Sabbath?

The New Testament is in agreement as to which day is the seventh day of the week. One of the most straight-forward references is found in Luke 23:53-56 & Luke 24:1, and describes Joseph of Arimathaea taking the body of Jesus down off the cross. “Then he took it [the body of Jesus] down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.”

This Bible passage shows the chronology of the week including how the Sabbath day and the first day of the week relate to each other. According to Luke 23:54, Jesus died on the preparation day which we now call Good Friday. The next day, Sabbath, the women rested according to the commandment. Finally, after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, Jesus was resurrected.

Therefore, according to the Bible, the Sabbath day can be pinpointed as the day before the first day of the week. Today, we call this day Saturday or the seventh day of the week. In addition, ask any Christian which day comes between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday—their answer, Saturday.

Preparation day or sixth day = Friday
Sabbath day or seventh day = Saturday
Resurrection day or first day = Sunday

Which day is the first day of the week?

Many have asked the question, my calendar begins on Monday, doesn’t that make Sunday the seventh day of the week? It is true that many calendars begin on Monday, but some calendars around the world begin on Friday, Saturday or Sunday as well. The answer to this can be found by studying the linguistics or meaning of each day’s name, rather than only looking at the order of the days printed on paper. Any human can change the order of a printed calendar, but it is a lot harder to change every language in the world.
Read More: Was the real Sabbath day lost because of a calendar change?

Consider the Greek language in which the New Testament was written. According to the Bible, the day before the Sabbath was called the preparation day or “paraskeue" in the Greek language. Even today, thousands of years later, the sixth day of the week, called "Friday" in the English calendar, is still called “Paraskeue" in the modern Greek calendar. Therefore the day that comes after Friday is the Sabbath day.

Sabbath around the world

Looking at over 100 languages around the world, the seventh day of the week is translated as “Sabbath”. Here is a short list of languages and their translations: (Arabic: Sabet, Czech: Sobota, Indonesian: Sabtu, Italian: Sabato, Latin: Sabbatum, Portuguese: Sábado, Russian: Subbota, Spanish: Sabado).

What does the English language say about the Sabbath? Webster’s dictionary defines the Sabbath as the following: “Seventh day, Saturday, the seventh day of the week.” (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary, unabridged 2nd ed.)

Consider this—no language contains a correlating link between the word “Sabbath" and the first day of the week. In fact, not even one language designates another rest day besides the seventh day. This confirms the fact that those who used the original languages understood the meaning of the Sabbath and which day it fell upon.

John, the last of the 12 apostles to die, wrote five books of the Bible—one gospel, three epistles (letters), and the prophetic book of Revelation. He died about A.D. 100, approximately 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus.

Nowhere in all of his writings does he speak of a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. In fact, John himself kept the Sabbath. He wrote: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). According to Jesus, the Lord’s Day is the Sabbath: “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8).

A search of the scriptural evidence reveals that the apostles made no attempt to change God’s day of rest from the seventh day (Sabbath) to the first day of the week (Sunday). The New Testament mentions the first day of the week only eight times. In none of these instances is the first day of the week spoken of as a holy day, nor is it even hinted that we should observe it as a day of worship.

Who changed the Sabbath?

• Did God change the Sabbath?
• Did Jesus ever change the Sabbath?
• Did the disciples make a change to the Sabbath?

No Biblical evidence for Sunday worship

None of these verses suggest that the apostles intended to stop observing the seventh-day Sabbath and begin worshipping on Sunday. There is clearly no New Testament evidence for a change of the Sabbath from Saturday, the seventh day of the week, to Sunday, the first day of the week. The change came after the days of Jesus and the apostles, so we must turn to history to see when and how this change came about.

Evidence in history

The change from Sabbath observance to Sunday observance took place after the New Testament was completed and all the apostles had died. History records that Christians eventually shifted from worshipping and resting on the seventh day to the first day of the week.

“A history of the problem shows that in some places, it was really only after some centuries that the Sabbath rest really was entirely abolished, and by that time the practice of observing a bodily rest on the Sunday had taken its place” (Vincent J. Kelly, Forbidden Sunday and Feast-Day Occupations, p. 15).

Of course, believers didn’t stop observing the seventh-day Sabbath on a given weekend and then suddenly begin keeping Sunday as the Lord’s Day. The earliest authentic instance of Sunday observance by Christians occurred in Italy, in the middle of the 2nd century after Christ. For a long time after that, many Christians observed both days, while still others kept the seventh-day Sabbath only.

Constantine the Great changed the Sabbath to Sunday

On March 7, A.D. 321, Constantine the Great issued the first civil Sunday law, compelling all the people in the Roman Empire, except farmers, to rest on Sunday. This, with five other civil laws decreed by Constantine concerning Sunday, set the legal precedent for all civil Sunday legislation from that time to the present.

In the 4th century, the Council of Laodicea urged Christians to honor Sunday by abstaining from work on that day if at all possible, and prohibited them from abstaining from work on the Sabbath.