The Forgotten Commandment

“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: 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. 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

In our last lesson, we studied how important it is that we observe all of the Ten Commandments, for if we
break one, we are guilty of breaking all of them. Jesus said that the Ten Commandments will stand as long as
heaven and earth remain. Although one of the Ten Commandments is being broken by most people, we should
follow it carefully to be sure that we are not breaking that commandment. If you find that in the past, you have
been breaking one of the Ten Commandments, then you will certainly want to make a change and begin to
obey God if it is your desire to follow Him. If we make this rule – “I will act as Jesus did and obey His
teachings” – the guiding principle of our lives, we can be sure of being saved.

THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH

1. Which day of the week did God command all men to keep holy? (See memory verse above.)

Please notice that God asks all – men, women, children, and even strangers who may be visiting – to keep the
Sabbath day holy. On that day, we are not to do any work.

God plainly tells us which day is the Sabbath – the seventh day of the week. Look at the calendar. Which is the
seventh day and last day of the week? Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish calendars all agree that the day which is
now called Saturday is the seventh day of the week.

In times past, the days of the week were usually called by numbers – all except the seventh day, which was
called the Sabbath. It is an interesting fact that in many languages of the world, the seventh day of the week is
still called Sabbath.

God has told people to work six days and rest on the seventh. That is perfectly natural, isn’t it? Work comes
before rest, so God gave the last day of the week as Sabbath.
Some people say it is alright to keep any day of the week. They say this because they are not willing to keep
the fourth commandment as God has told. The fourth commandment tells us that we should observe the
seventh day of the week as our Sabbath for when God finished His work of creation, He rested on that day.

THE SABBATH WAS INTRODUCED IN EDEN

2. Before sin entered our world, what day did God keep as the Sabbath in Eden?

“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended
His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created
and made.” – Genesis 2:1-3

What could be plainer? It was Friday evening (the sixth day of the week) when God’s work was done and then
He rested. He set aside the seventh day as the weekly birthday of the world – the Sabbath. “Sabbath” means
rest. God rested, not because He was tired, but as an example to man. Notice that, God rested, blessed, and
sanctified the seventh day. To sanctify means to make holy or to keep for a holy use. Only God can make a day
holy.

3. What day will all keep in the new earth?

“’For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,’ says the LORD... ‘And
it shall come to pass that from one New Moon (month) to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh
shall come to worship before Me,’ says the LORD.” – Isaiah 66:22-23

The Sabbath was given before sin entered the world so it was not done away at the cross. In the new earth, the
true Bible Sabbath will be kept by all who are saved. Every Sabbath, all flesh (people) will worship before the
Lord. If we are expecting to go to heaven, we should begin obeying heaven’s laws now.

THE TRUE CHRISTIAN SABBATH

4. Which is the true “Lord’s Day” of the Bible?

“Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:28
Suppose you should say to Jesus: “Lord, many people today claim that the first day of the week is the Lord’s
Day. Others say it doesn’t make any difference since all days are the same. Which do you claim as holy day?

” Jesus would answer plainly so no one would be confused, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Since Jesus was the Creator and made the very first Sabbath (See John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-16, Hebrews
1:2), we can call the seventh day of the week (Saturday) as the true Christian Sabbath indeed.

5. Which day did Jesus keep?

“So He 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

If one will visit the carpentry shop where Jesus worked, it would be found to be closed every Sabbath because
it was Jesus’ custom (habit) to attend church on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a sacred appointment between heaven and earth. If we wait for our day of worship until the first
day of the week, we are one day too late for the Sabbath of the Lord, our God.

A SIGN OR SEAL

6. What is the Sabbath called?

“Moreover, I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am
the LORD who sanctifies them.” – Ezekiel 20:12

God called the Sabbath a sign. It is a sign between Himself and His people. Soldiers sometimes have a
password which they and the guard know. This lets them into the camp. The Sabbath is the Lord’s password,
sign, or seal. By keeping the Sabbath, we prove our loyalty to God and recognize Him as Creator of heaven
and earth. If we refuse to keep the Sabbath, we are showing disloyalty to the flag of the Ruler of the universe.

Wouldn’t you think it terrible if you should see someone professing love for our wonderful country and then
take the flag and trample it underfoot? Many people claim love for Christ and yet take His holy sign of
sanctification – the Sabbath, the flag which is His emblem as Creator – and trample on it every week. They
work, play, buy, and sell on God’s holy day!
7. How is Sabbath to be kept?

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath
a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding
your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD…” – Isaiah
58:13-14

How careful we should be in observing God’s sacred day – not doing our own work or business, not speaking
our own words, and not seeking our own pleasures. God never intended that the Sabbath is a holiday – a day
for sports and game. On the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, we should not talk about worldly things. We
should not read common papers and magazines, or listen to the radio, unless it is a religious program. We
should spend the day in Bible study, prayer, and attending church. There is no greater joy than spending
Sabbath afternoons out in nature – to go for quiet walks or drives.

The Sabbath should be spent quietly and in a spirit of prayer, and we should attend church whenever possible.

Jesus taught that it is right to do good on the Sabbath day. We should care for the sick and do acts of mercy,
such as helping injured animals, visiting the poor or discouraged ones.

SABBATH BEGINS AT SUNSET

8. When does the day begin and ends?

“From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath.” – Leviticus 23:32

Christians should keep the Sabbath from sunset to sunset. The first chapter of Genesis states that the evening
comes first, followed by the day. So the Sabbath should be kept from the going down of the sun at the end of
the sixth day of the week – now called Friday evening – until the going down of the sun on the seventh day or
Saturday. How beautiful it is to think of God’s sunset marking the beginning and the closing of His sacred day
in memory of the creation of our world before sin had ever marred it. We can no more change the Sabbath, the
Earth’s birthday, even as we cannot change our own birthdays.

The Sabbath is to be a beautiful day of rest from our work and our worries – “a day of rest and gladness.”

9. How can we be sure which is the seventh day?

“Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the
commandment.” – Luke 23:56

Some people will tell you that no one knows which the seventh-day Sabbath is. Yet all of the large churches
agree that Jesus was crucified on Friday and that He arose again on Sunday morning. Luke 24 speaks of the
resurrection day as “the first day of the week.” Sabbath – the day between Friday, the preparation day, and
Sunday, the first day of the week, is called “The Sabbath according to the commandment.”

Yes, Jesus died for our sins. He died because the Ten Commandments could not be changed. He, Himself,
rested on the Sabbath in the tomb, and He tells us that we will all keep the Sabbath in the new earth. Bible
presents that the Sabbath is a valid command. Jesus has a true Sabbath and invites you to experience the joys
of obedience. He invites you to remember His Sabbath – will you?