Creation of the Sabbath at the Beginning.

The origin of the Sabbath has been debated by scholars with some that argue that the Sabbath originated at the time of Moses. A major reason why the question of the origin of the Sabbath has attracted much attention is because with it is bound the larger question of whether or not the principle and practice of seventh-day Sabbathkeeping is binding upon Christians. So we will look at this question at Creation and see what it has.

Genesis 2:1-4
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 on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

Verse 1 and 4 makes clear when the origin happened, as it was after man was made and all the work of creation finished, which helps in understanding that the Sabbath was established by God at creation for the benefit of mankind, which would make its observance as a creation ordinance binding upon all, Jews and Christians.

if we look at verse 2 and 3 we find in the verses that the Biblical view of the origin of the Sabbath is unequivocal: the Sabbath, as seventh day, originated at the completion of the creation week as a result of three divine acts: God "rested," "blessed," and "hallowed" the seventh day.

Twice we see that it states that God "rested" on the seventh day from all His work. The Hebrew verb shabat, translated "rested," denotes cessation and not relaxation. Now in Exodus 20:11 the idea of rest is expressed by the Hebrew verb nuah, which is used, is as where the divine rest fulfills an anthropological function: it serves as a model for human rest. In Genesis 2:2-3 however, the divine rest has a lager function as it serves to explain that God was content to be the Creator of this world and did not need to proceed to further creations here on the earth, it ended at that point. To acknowledge this fact, God stopped or ceased.

Genesis 2:2 affirms that the Creator "blessed" (brk) the seventh day just as He had blessed animals and man on the previous day. Divine blessings in the Scripture are not merely "good wishes," but assurance of fruitfulness, prosperity, and a happiness in life. In terms of the seventh day, it means that God has promised to make the Sabbath a beneficial and vitalizing power through which human life is enriched and renewed. In Exodus 20:11 the blessing of the creation seventh day is clearly linked with the weekly Sabbath, and the same rest.

Exodus 20:10-11
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: 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:
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 day, and hallowed it.

The theological reasons given for the command to observe the seventh day Sabbath in verse 10 "to the Lord your God" is "for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" in verse 11. Notice it clearly repeats the same as Creation, God "rested," "blessed," and "hallowed" the seventh day.

I've gotten to the point where I don't use the term theology much any more. It's theologians who have been helping the devil lead the world astray for millenia. I just use the word beliefs now.

Well you can interchange it with biblical and it still is to the point.

The Sabbath is first mentioned with the creation story. (Gen 2:1-3)
It is after the six "morning and evening" days of Creation that God blessed and hallowed (made holy) the seventh day, and rested.

Jesus said, "The Sabbath was created for man" (Mark 2:27)


The commandment asks people to REMEMBER the day to KEEP (not make) it holy.
It's already holy.

When was it made holy?
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 day, and made it holy! Ex 20:11

The Seventh-day Sabbath is from creation. Both Genesis 2 and Exodus 20 tells us it was made holy back then. And Jesus says, it was made for mankind. It is obvious!

The seven day week originated at Creation.
There is no cosmic reason for the week to have seven days, yet the seven day week (made up of seven literal days) has, in spite of numerous attacks against it, prevailed through history.

God employed six days in the work of creation, then capped this with a special seventh day, the weekly Sabbath.
The ten Commandments recognize Creation as the basis for the seven day week. The fourth commandment makes it clear that each day in the creation week was a literal 24 hour day.

The seven day week has been around since history has been recorded.
The seven-day week can be found in the first civilizations of the Middle East. Mesopotamian astrologers designated one day for each of the seven most prominent objects in the sky?the Sun, the Moon, and the five major planets visible to the naked eye.
The Persians and the Greeks had a seven day week. We even find it in China.

Of course the Jews have held to the seven day week all through their history.

Now there were cultures that tried a shorter or longer week. That is also seen in history.
But none of them lasted. The seven day week keeps coming up as the most accepted week.
The question is -- why have weeks at all? Where did the idea come from?

The most reasonable answer truly that accounts for such "remarkable phenomenon as the week is that it was established at creation and has been deeply etched in the common human consciousness ever since".

Another interesting thing is the number seven itself. Why is that number given a meaning of "completeness" and regarded as somehow a "holy" number, not just by Sabbath observers, but by populations in general?

Conclusion:
God created the seven day week. The week is made up of seven LITERAL days. The seventh day completes each week and has been made holy by God Himself.

The Ten Commandments are a reflection of the immutable character of God. He has never changed. Therefore, throughout eternity, the moral law never changes. Does this indicate the existence of the Sabbath before the creation of Earth? Or, was the Fourth Commandment added for man?s sake? Would this then constitute a change to the Law?

The Ten Commandments are a reflection of the immutable character of God.

The immutable character of God shows that God is the CREATOR of all things, thus He is the source of all things, the owner of all things, the Lord of all things.
He deserves our worship in honor of the fact that everything we are and have comes from God.

Those are indisputable facts that never change.

Angels were created BEFORE the six day creation.
Were they (as created beings) to worship the Creator?
Yes, of course!

The law was in effect.
However, they didn't worship because the earth was created in six days, the earth with it's inhabitants was not yet created. Time, as we know it, had not yet been created.

Yet the angels worshipped because they were created.
They would come before the throne of God during the time period (however it was measured) God made holy for that purpose.

We like to apply the things of the earth upon God and the universe. But that is not the way things work. God applies His everlasting law on the universe as He created it.
Our creation does not govern God. God governs His creation.

What is required of us?
Our world was created in six days and God bless and made holy the Seventh-day. That is for us and our children and children's children. That is the special time God blessed for US to remember that HE is our Creator and everything we are and have comes from Him!

Just how God applies that law to other worlds in different spheres and dimensions is the responsibility of the Creator, not of us earthlings.
The law never changes, but it will always fit the reason it is the law. The Created come to worship their Creator in memory of their creation and God Who created.