Deuteronomy 5:12-15….Jewish Tanakh…Jesus said: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." — Mark 2:27...Notice He did not say the Sabbath was made only for Israel. The foundation of the Sabbath is creation, the command is remembrance, and its purpose predates Sinai. In the book of Revelations 1:10 “I was in the spirit in the Lord’s day” Jesus said he is Lord over the sabbath day and John is busy addressing Jesus himself when he is talking about his experience on the Lord’s day, the Lord’s day is the day Jesus is Lord over which as he said is the sabbath day thus the Lord’s day is Sabbath.
| 12Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord your God commanded you. | |
| 13Six days may you work, and perform all your labor, | |
| 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your cities, in order that your manservant and your maidservant may rest like you. | |
| 15And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God took you out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord, your God, commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. |
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יבשָׁמ֛וֹר אֶת־י֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת לְקַדְּשׁ֑וֹ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:
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יגשֵׁ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ תַּֽעֲבֹ֔ד וְעָשִׂ֖יתָ כָּל־מְלַאכְתֶּֽךָ:
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ידוְיוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י שַׁבָּ֖ת לַֽיהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ לֹא־תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה כָל־מְלָאכָ֜ה אַתָּ֣ה | וּבִנְךָֽ־וּבִתֶּ֣ךָ וְעַבְדְּךָֽ־וַֽאֲמָתֶ֗ךָ וְשֽׁוֹרְךָ֤ וַֽחֲמֹֽרְךָ֙ וְכָל־בְּהֶמְתֶּ֔ךָ וְגֵֽרְךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בִּשְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ לְמַ֗עַן יָנ֛וּחַ עַבְדְּךָ֥ וַֽאֲמָֽתְךָ֖ כָּמֽוֹךָ:
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טווְזָֽכַרְתָּ֗ כִּ֣י עֶ֤בֶד הָיִ֨יתָ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיֹּצִ֨אֲךָ֜ יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙ מִשָּׁ֔ם בְּיָ֥ד חֲזָקָ֖ה וּבִזְרֹ֣עַ נְטוּיָ֑ה עַל־כֵּ֗ן צִוְּךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לַֽעֲשׂ֖וֹת אֶת־י֥וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת:
[/td]There is no record of any servant of God observing a Sabbath before it became part of the Law given after their liberation from Egypt….and there is no Scripture enforcing a Sabbath observance on Gentile Christians.
So even though it was the seventh “day” that was blessed and observed as a day of rest because God himself rested on the seventh day of creation….do we imagine that God created the world in six literal days and only rested on the seventh literal day?
Could there be a much broader meaning to the word “day” that many have overlooked?
The word in Hebrew is “yôm” which means more than just a 24 hour period…..
- day, time, year
- day (as opposed to night)
- day (24 hour period)
- as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1
- as a division of time
- a working day, a day's journey
- days, lifetime (pl.)
- time, period (general)
- year
- temporal references
- today
- yesterday
- tomorrow” (Strongs)
So, not a narrow definition. If the creative “days” were actually epochs of great length, remembering that God’s counting of a “day” is not the same as ours, (2 Peter 3:8) then the earth is not young, and the Sabbath has a deeper meaning than simply a rest period of 24 hours for God.
Paul indicated that God’s rest day was ongoing in the first century….(Heb 4:1-5)
How is Jesus “Lord of the Sabbath”? (Matt 12:8) It’s deeper than you think.
Verse 15 above says…”And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God took you out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord, your God, commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”
Why was there no command before that to observe the Sabbath? And then none after Christ’s death commanding Gentiles to observe it?