Did God tell Adam & Eve to observe the Sabbath?
Genesis 2:15-17
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
It seems to me that God says, tend the garden and don't eat from the tree.
Hi Bill,
Nice to see you. Great question. Perhaps I can share a few thoughts from God's Word that may be able to help with this question that you can pray about in your own time with the Lord?
To answer this question we need to look at the creation week and the origin of the 7th DAY of the creation week, the 4th commandment and some of the New Testament scriptures in God's Word......
God's Sabbath is a memorial of CREATION that was made in the creation week and given to our first parents (Adam and Eve). Let's look at the scriptures..........
Genesis 2
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
made it HOLY <the 7th day>: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
RESTED H7673 שָׁבַת shabath (
shaw-ɓath')
v.to repose, i.e. to cease from exertion.
{used in many implied relations (causative, figurative or specific)}[a primitive root]KJV: (cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep Sabbath, suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.
Some points to note from the scriptures...............
v1 God completed creation in 6 days and RESTED on the 7TH DAY
v2 God RESTED on the 7TH DAY
v3 God SET APART the 7TH DAY and made THE 7TH DAY a HOLY DAY
v2 The 7TH DAY is part of the FINISHED WORK of the CREATION WEEK
Let's now look at God's 4th commandment............
Exodus 20
8, Remember the SABBATH DAY, to KEEP IT HOLY. <Why?> Because God made it Holy for mankind and commands us to keep it as a Holy day)
9, Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
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:
<WHY>
11, For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested theSEVENTH DAY: wherefore the LORD BLESSED THE SABBATH, and HALLOWED IT.
SABBATH H7676 שַׁבָּת shabbath (
shab-bawth')
n-e. 1. intermission, a period of temporary rest.2. (specifically) the Sabbath, the seventh day being the day of rest.[intensive from
H7673]KJV: (+ every)
Sabbath. Root(s): H7673
Now who did God make the 7th day a Holy day for? Is he making that day a Holy day for himself? Of course NOT God is already Holy. He has made the day for MANKIND as a HOLY DAY.
Let’s see what Jesus says…………
Mark 2
27, And he said unto them,
THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN, and not man for the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was made for WHO? The Sabbath was made for
MAN. So here we have the God of creation telling us why the 7th Day was made a Holy day. It was made for MANKIND
STRONGS Greek MAN G444 ἄνθρωποςanthropos (
an'-thrō-pos)
n.
1. (literally) man†-visage (i.e. a man-faced being, a man who has visibly come of age).
2. (concretely, in Hebrew)
a clay being (a classification of beings made in the image of God, who made them male and female). 3. (generically, in English)
a human being. 4. (indefinitely) a certain man (i.e. someone).
[from
G435 and ops “the countenance” (from
G3700)] KJV: certain, man Root(s):
G435,
G3700
So the Sabbath was made for Human beings; clay beings (we are made out of the dust); male and female
So God made the 7th day of the week a HOLY day and blessed it for MAN this now ties in very nicely with the 4th commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)
God says that it is a specific day which is the 7TH DAY OF THE WEEK that he has made to be a HOLY DAY. Jesus says it was made Holy in the creation week for mankind. All scriptures connect and are in harmony. Genesis where God made the Day a HOLY DAY; God’s 4th commandment to His people that says to REMEMBER the Sabbath day to KEEP it a HOLY DAY and Jesus stating that the Sabbath was made for MANKIND (Human beings; male and female).
Now if God made the Sabbath for mankind then obviously Adam and Eve had the Sabbath the
GREEK Word for MAN G444 ἄνθρωποςanthropos (an'-thrō-pos) n. is a clay being (a classification of beings made in the image of God, who made them male and female). There is only two people made out of clay (dust) and that is Adam and Eve.
Good question Bill, timing was good as I had only recently studied this in my own time with the Lord.
Hope this helps