Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 11/8/2006

Question
Hello. Why would God Himself make such a MAJOR issue of the Sabbath in the old testament books including punishment by death and enemy invasion and then it suddenly in the New Testament means NOTHING to him? Also, it doesn't take much research to learn that in VERY MANY languages around the world,including older languages, the word for the seventh day of the week is similar to Sabbath. The Spanish "Sabbado" is one example. Russian, German, and MANY others it is something like Shubtai, Shaboida (I'm just making THESE particular words up but it makes my point)The Sabbath was known virtually everywhere since the event it celebrates: The creation of man in God's image and plants and animals in their own image. And it was called what it was The Sabbath. The seventh day of the week. If it were "done away" we would have only SIX days in a week. Its like a man telling his wife that "we are not going to celebrate our wedding anniversary any more, it just doesn't mean anything to me."
Does God still remember that day when he formed the first man in his own image out of the dust of the ground, and the first woman from his rib?
 Does he still remember the first tree that budded out at His loving command? The first squirrel? The first hippopotamus? ALL of these things that took place in one of the MOST TOTALLY TOTALLY TOTALLY AWESOME "weeks" in THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE? My guess is that He does remember and that it is MORE MEANINGFUL TO HIM than most of us will ever know this side of the second coming of Christ. Thank you. Have a nice day. P.S: The evolutionists tell us that modern man has been around for something like 150,000 years  yet no recorded history beyond 5,000 or so years. I simply do not believe that that it took modern humans 145,000 years to begin recording human events.

Answer
Hi Anon,
   The following may help you to understand the "issue" of the Sabbath.   

    SABBATH (rest). God first gave the sabbath as a duty to man in the book of Exodus. It is true that the sabbath originated at the completion of the creation (Ge. 2:1-3), but that was God's rest, not man's. There is no record in Genesis that God gave the sabbath to man, and there is no record of men keeping the sabbath before Israel in the wilderness. Ne. 9:13,14 plainly states that the sabbath was first given to Israel. Seventh-day Adventists teach that men kept the sabbath from the days of Adam onward, but this is contrary to the Bible's own record.

Ex. 31:12-18 says the sabbath was a special sign between God and Israel. If mankind in general had been given the sabbath following creation, it could not have been a sign for Israel. The fact is that the sabbath belongs to the nation Israel and not to any other people. It is also important to note that the sabbath will be an eternal possession of Israel (Ex. 31:16). This sign will never be annulled or transferred to another people. This explains why the prophets foretell that Israel will keep the sabbath even after the kingdom of Christ is established on earth (Is. 66:23). It also explains why Jesus Christ mentioned the sabbath in His prophecies of the Tribulation (Mt. 24:20). Israelites in the land of Palestine still keep the sabbath today.

In their writings to the churches, the Apostles only mentioned the sabbath three times. (1) The sabbath is a symbol of salvation rest in Christ (He. 4). (2) The N.T. believer is not bound to keep the sabbath (Col. 2:9-17). (3) The N.T. believer has liberty in the matter of holy days (Ro. 14). Those who teach that the sabbath is binding upon the Christian, are going contrary to what the Apostles taught.

Why, then, did Jesus keep the Sabbath? He kept the sabbath for the same reason He kept all the other Mosaic laws. He also observed the feasts. Jesus did these things because He was born a Jew, born under the law, that He might fulfill it and redeem His people from its penalty and bondage (Ga. 4:4; Ro. 9:5).
I hope this helps,
Cooper Abrams
Bible-truth.org