Tell me, how did God sanctify the Sabbath?
Gen 2:3 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.
To sanctify:
H6942
קדשׁ
qâdash
kaw-dash'
A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally): - appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy (-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify (-ied one, self), X wholly.
When we use this word the general usage is to "set apart for holy use".
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Why are we told to 'remember' the Sabbath? Because it has been around since creation. See below...
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 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:
First thing to notice here is that this is not the Sabbath of the Jews, it is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. It does not belong to a man, a race or a nation, it is God's Sabbath.
Exo 20:11 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.
Notice here God refers back to the creation week and the seventh day of that week. The Sabbath has been God's day since creation. God blessed the Sabbath and made it holy. Only God has the authority over time to declare a period of time holy.
Now in Leviticus 23 we read...
Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the
feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be
holy convocations, even these are my feasts.
Lev 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an
holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the
sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Let's notice some things. Notice that these are the feasts of the LORD, not of the Jews, but of God. They are holy convocations. What is a holy convocation? I think we know what holy is, but what is a convocation?
The word for convocation is...
H4744
מקרא
miqrâ'
mik-raw'
From H7121; something called out, that is,
a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the palce); also a rehearsal: -
assembly, calling, convocation, reading.
A church service today would be a holy convocation.
Again in verse 3 it is the Sabbath of the LORD.
So youhave any question about who the LORD is? You do know that the LORD is the one who became Jesus Christ, don't you?
God set the Sabbath apart for holy use and He alone has the authority and ability to do so.