The Sabbath is not man’s idea, it is God’s. Long before there was a law, before there was a nation of Israel, before Moses received commandments on Mount Sinai, there was the seventh day. And it was sanctified by God Himself.
The Sabbath in Creation
The origin of the Sabbath begins in Genesis, not in Exodus.
“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)
Notice:God did not need to rest. He was not weary. He chose to rest as a divine example.
The word “rested” here is שָׁבַת (shāḇaṯ), the very root of “Sabbath.” It means to cease, to desist from labor. The seventh day was blessed and sanctified and set apart.
This is the foundation for the Sabbath. It existed before Israel, before the Law, and even before sin entered the world.
The Sabbath Before Sinai?
Some claim the Sabbath only began with the Ten Commandments, but Scripture shows recognition of it prior to Sinai. When God provided manna in the wilderness, He instructed them to rest on the seventh day:
“Then he said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.”’” (Exodus 16:23)
This occurred before the law was given in Exodus 20. God was already establishing a pattern of weekly rest and worship.
The Sabbath in the Ten Commandments
At Mount Sinai, the Sabbath was enshrined as part of God’s moral law.
“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)
The command to “remember” shows this wasn’t a new concept. It tied directly back to creation. The Sabbath was a memorial of God as Creator, not just a day of rest. It was a declaration that time belongs to Him.
The Sabbath Command in Israel’s National Life
After the Ten Commandments were given, the Sabbath became a central part of Israel’s covenant identity. It was more than a rest day, it was a sign between God and His people:
“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.’” (Exodus 31:13)
It was holy, distinct, and non-negotiable for the nation of Israel. Violating the Sabbath was seen as breaking covenant with God.
“Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever…” (Exodus 31:16–17)
The penalty for breaking the Sabbath was death:
“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.” (Exodus 31:15)
The seriousness of this command reveals the weight of God’s holiness and the sacredness of His design. The Sabbath pointed to rest, trust, and obedience. It was an acknowledgment that life and provision come from God, and not endless labor.
How the Jews Added to the Sabbath
Over time, rather than guarding the Sabbath according to God’s Word, the Jews began to fence it with endless traditions. They expanded the command of not working into dozens of categories of types of work. This was not rooted in Scripture, but in rabbinical additions known as the Mishnah and later, the Talmud.
By the time of Jesus, the Sabbath was no longer a joy or a picture of rest, it had become a legalistic burden. The Pharisees turned it into a test of religious superiority rather than a day of worship.
Jesus confronted this distortion directly:
“And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27–28)
They accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath for healing the sick (Mark 3:1–6), plucking grain (Luke 6:1–5), and even telling a man to carry his bed after being healed (John 5:8–10). None of these violated God’s command, but they violated man’s additions to the law.
Jesus restored the true intent of the Sabbath. Which was to point toward mercy, rest, and holiness, and not a man-made religion.
“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.” (Mark 3:4)
Their silence exposed their error, they valued their rules more than God’s mercy. The Lord of the Sabbath stood in their midst, and they rejected Him.
Christ Fulfills the Sabbath
The Sabbath was a shadow, a type pointing to a greater reality. The weekly rest pointed to a final, eternal rest found not in a day, but in a Person, who is Jesus Christ. He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). That fulfillment includes the Sabbath.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29)
This is the rest the Sabbath foreshadowed… rest from striving, rest from works-based righteousness, rest from sin and self. Jesus offers a deeper rest than any weekly observance could ever provide.
Rest in the Finished Work of Christ
Under the Law, man worked six days and rested on the seventh. In Christ, the order is reversed: we rest first (spiritually) in what He has done, and then we walk in that rest. It is not about physical labor, but rather about ceasing from self-effort and entering into His finished work.
“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Hebrews 4:3)
The author of Hebrews teaches us that there remains a rest for the people of God… not a return to the old Sabbath law, but a fulfillment of it in Christ.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” (Hebrews 4:9–10)
Believers today are not under the Sabbath law of Moses (Colossians 2:16), but we are invited into something far greater. A rest in the righteousness and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
The Sabbath Was a Shadow
Paul clearly teaches that the Sabbath, like other elements of the Mosaic law, was a shadow of the substance that is found in Christ.
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” (Colossians 2:16–17)
The law pointed forward. The types and shadows served until the reality came. Jesus is that reality. Just as the temple, the sacrifices, and the priesthood found their fulfillment in Him, so did the Sabbath.
Therefore, we no longer keep the Sabbath as a legal ordinance, but rather we rejoice in the rest that we have in Him. We do not dismiss the moral principle of resting and worshiping God, but we are not bound to the letter of the old covenant law. In Jesus, we have a better rest, one that never ends.
The Sabbath Is the Seventh Day
According to Scripture, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, which is Saturday and not Sunday. This has never changed. The original commandment is clear:
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:9–10)
Nowhere in the New Testament is the Sabbath moved to Sunday. Sunday worship is not a “Christian Sabbath”, it is something altogether different. The Sabbath was part of the Old Covenant, but the Lord’s Day is tied to the New Covenant.
The Lord’s Day
Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week… Sunday. This monumental event marked the beginning of something new: the New Covenant sealed by His blood and validated by His resurrection.
“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene…” (Mark 16:9)
All four Gospels testify that the resurrection occurred on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). This is why the early Church began to gather, not on the seventh day, but on the first day of the week.
The Early Church Gathered on Sunday
The book of Acts and the epistles give us clear evidence that the apostles and early believers gathered for worship, teaching, and communion/”>communion on Sunday, not Saturday.
“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.” (Acts 20:7)
Paul met with the believers in Troas on the first day of the week for fellowship and teaching. This was a practice, not a coincidence.
Likewise, Paul instructed the churches to take up offerings on the first day:
“On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper…” (1 Corinthians 16:2)
This regular practice of Sunday gathering we practice today, reflects the pattern established by the apostles. They were not keeping the Sabbath, they were rejoicing in the risen Christ.
John Calls It the Lord’s Day
The apostle John refers to Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” a term that links the day not to rest, but to resurrection.
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet…” (Revelation 1:10)
This was the day belonging to the Lord, the day that changed history. It is not a replacement for the Sabbath; it is the celebration of the New Covenant and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We Are Not Under Sabbath Law
Nowhere in the New Testament are believers commanded to keep the Sabbath. In fact, the New Testament clearly declares freedom from such requirements:
“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5)
Paul taught liberty in Christ, not legalism. Observance of the Sabbath was not required for the Church. Our identity is in Christ, not in a calendar day.
The Lord’s Day is not the Sabbath rebranded, it is the day the Church gathers in joy to remember Christ’s victory over death, to worship, to teach the Word, and to break bread together.
My Final Thoughts
The Sabbath is a holy and beautiful shadow, but it is not our destination. From the first pages of Genesis, God established a pattern of rest. That rest was not just physical, it pointed forward to something far greater. In Christ, we find the fulfillment of that promise. He is our rest. He is our peace. He is our righteousness.
We are no longer bound by the shadow, for we walk in the substance. Jesus has fulfilled the law, and in Him, we are no longer slaves to calendars and ordinances, but partakers of a better covenant.
So, don’t let anyone judge you for not keeping the Sabbath (Colossians 2:16), for your rest is not in a day, it is in the Lord of the Sabbath Himself. Don’t let anyone shame you for gathering on Sunday, for it is the Lord’s Day, the day of resurrection, the day the Church of Christ has gathered from the beginning.
The principle of resting in God remains vital: physically, spiritually, and emotionally. But our identity is not shaped by the law of Moses. We are not under the Old Covenant. We gather because He rose. We worship because He lives. We rest because it is finished.
Honor God with your time. Set aside a day to worship, to be with the saints, to be refreshed, but know this: if you are in Christ, you are already living in the eternal rest of God. Every day is holy when your life is hidden in Him.
So we do not keep the Sabbath, we proclaim the One who fulfilled it.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9)
And we have entered it… by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. Amen.
