Chapter Seven: The Seventh Day in Creation

The 8th Fundamental Belief of Adventism states: ”God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In six days the Lord made "the heaven and the earth" and all living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that first week. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of His completed creative work.”  And it points to the presentation of the Ten Commandments in Exodus that says “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” as proof that the Sabbath had existed before the giving of the law.

When my son was old enough to leave at home by himself I flew to Florida for a meeting.  Most of the tasks around the house were ones that he had never done. I would be gone long enough that the plants would die if they weren’t watered.  I wasn’t sure that Heath had even noticed where the plants were.  So I took him on a tour and showed him every plant that needed attention.  As I left I said to him “Remember to water the plants while I am gone.”  Did that imply that he had ever watered the plants before? No. I was asking him to do what I had just instructed him to do.  The same is true of the sign of the Old Covenant with the Jewish people.  Remember to keep the sign of your loyalty to the covenant that we have made together. It does not imply that the Sabbath had been established before that time.  At best it would be referring to the manna regulations set up fourteen days before they reached Sinai, more completely explored later in this chapter.

What was the Purpose of the Sabbath?

Let’s read the fourth commandment given to Israel in the law: "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.”  Ex 20:8-10

WHY? Cessation or completion. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested (ceased work, stopped creating—Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words) on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Ex 20:11 (NIV) He put His blessing on all future time and history of the creation that He had victoriously completed.  So, in this iteration of the Sabbath the reason for observing it has to do with ceasing or completing.5  Keep this in mind, as we will see that this is a shadow of the Sabbath rest that remains in the New Covenant, a cessation of our work toward salvation beautifully described in Hebrews 4.

But that is not the only time the Sabbath commandment is given to Israel in the Book of the Law. But in this instance the reason for Sabbath observance is not the rest symbolized when God rested from creating the Earth. Notice the difference. Creation is not mentioned. "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.”

WHY? Freedom.  It then goes on to say: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deut 5:12-15 (NIV) In the first rendering of the command the reason to keep the Sabbath is that Christ put a blessing on His completed creation and stopped creating anything else. His authority for making the covenant was His creatorship. In the second rendering the reason to keep the Sabbath is that the Lord had released them from slavery and brought them to freedom.  He was identifying Himself as the creator God and the savior or deliverer God. The Sabbath was given as a testimony to freedom and redemption because God, the creator of the world, is also the one who released Israel from Egyptian bondage.

The Creation Event

Let’s turn now to the account of creation: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.  By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from (ceased from) all his work.” Gen 2:1-2 (NIV) Creation was finished at the end of the sixth day. Most scholars agree that the word Sabbath is most closely associated with the word cessation rather than our usage of the word rest.6  There was not a seventh day of creation.  There was no morning or evening. This suggests that we are still in God’s seventh day since He has not created anything in this universe since that time. His blessing of the seventh day was His benediction on the completed creation and all of its future history. There was nothing said about Adam and Eve being commanded to keep a Sabbath any more than the creation of the moon mandated the observance of new moon celebrations. It was God’s cessation of creating and it became symbolic of His authority over all His creation and the reason He could make covenants with His creatures, because He is the one who made them.6

The SDA church points to the Ten Commandments as the mandate for keeping the Sabbath.  I have heard some say that no, it isn’t the law; it is creation.  But I would challenge you, armed with just the account of creation in Genesis, the Biblical record before Israel’s deliverance, and the New Testament to formulate a justification for Sabbath-keeping.  I would submit that it couldn’t be done. Other Christians do not make a connection between the creation account and a belief that God “created” the Sabbath.  There is no evidence that a Sabbath was ever observed before it was “given” to the Israelites. 

 

When Was the Sabbath Given?

What other evidence is there that the Ten Commandments, and therefore the Sabbath, did not exist from creation? After the creation is completed on the sixth day there is not one mention of God’s commanding, requiring or even asking Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath. They didn’t need that ordinance because they lived in The Sabbath every day. The purpose of the Sabbath became evident after sin came. It was a promise of the Savior who would be the Sabbath rest and pointed even further ahead to the time when the Earth would be made new again and they would be restored back to the state of sinlessness and perfection that Adam and Eve entered into from the beginning. There is no mention of Cain or Abel ever keeping the Sabbath, or righteous Enoch or faultless Job. And even though the covenant of promise made with Abraham is carefully spelled out there is no mention made of commanding him to keep the Sabbath.11 There is no mention at all of the Sabbath. The Bible never records a single instance or allusion to Sabbath-keeping with Isaac, Jacob, or his 12 sons.  In fact the very first mention of the Sabbath in scripture is with the Israelites after they are brought out of Egypt and are on their way to Sinai.  It had been two and a half months since they left Egypt and were in the Desert of Sin between Elim and Sinai when God began teaching them obedience to His will. And he did so by sending manna in a pattern that represented Himself as the one who had created Heaven and Earth in six days giving them evidence of His authority to command them to obey Him. 

It’s obvious from the way he announced the Sabbath to them that they had never heard of it before and didn’t have a clue what He was talking about. God had to “establish” it by telling them what it was and what He wanted them to do on it. “This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'" Ex 16:16 (NIV) “Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much--two omers for each person--and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, ‘This is what the LORD commanded: 'Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.'" Ex 16:21-23 (NIV) 5

Notice here that God commanded them to rest on the Sabbath. So, that makes the Sabbath a commandment of God. He also commanded them to gather twice the manna on the sixth day, to cook everything before the Sabbath and to not leave their tents. That makes manna-gathering, not leaving one’s dwelling and cooking everything ahead of time  commandments.  But this does not suggest that any of these “commandments” existed before this time. But it does show conclusively that one must define what commands are being spoken of when the word “commandment” is used.   More evidence that the concept of Sabbath was new to them comes in Ex 16:29 when Moses gives further instructions about the Sabbath that has just been “made” or given to them: “’Bear in mind that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out.’  So the people rested on the seventh day.” Ex 16:29-30 (NIV) This is in agreement with the previous chapters that show that the Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign between them and God and not to the other nations. Then, fourteen days later, God showed up on Mount Sinai and gave them detailed instructions not only about Sabbath-keeping (which they had not received before) but the entire constitution and regulations for the newly formed nation.  When He gave the Sabbath command here He told them to remember.  And since Moses was on the mountain for forty days they had been observing the limited instructions He had given them with the manna for about two months before He set in place much more detailed requirements of Sabbath-keeping. Therefore, when the Sabbath command was given, He said “Remember” (don’t forget to observe).

And moving on to the evidence in the New Testament Paul says: “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.  “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant (with Abraham) previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.” Gal 3:16-18 (NIV) Therefore, there was no law given by God before Moses.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.  Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command.”  Romans 5:12-14 (NIV)

There was sin without the law including the Ten Commandments. Adam sinned, therefore, without “The Law”, so there was moral obligation before the law and the termination of that law did not terminate or change moral obligation.5 So, when Jesus spoke out the foundation for the Jewish Law He said it was “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And “Love your neighbor as your self.” In identifying these laws He was speaking out the immutable law of God that was there before the Jewish Law was instituted and is still there since the Jewish Law has come to an end.

Chapter 7 Summary

1)      The SDA Church points to creation and the Ten Commandments as the basis for Sabbath-keeping.

2)      The first reason given for Sabbath-keeping was that the God who had created the Earth had the authority to make laws and covenants with the Jews.

3)      The other time the Sabbath Command is recorded, the reason for its observance is to recall the authority of the covenant-Maker because He led them out of Egypt.

4)      The Sabbath points to God’s authority as Creator and Savior or deliverer.

5)      The creation account states that creation was finished by the end of the sixth day.

6)      Nowhere is Sabbath mentioned in the account of creation and no command is given for Adam and Eve to observe or celebrate that day. The same is true for Job, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all the way to the deliverance from Egypt.

7)      The first mention of Sabbath was in conjunction with the miracle of the manna fourteen days before they reached Sinai.

8)      On the seventh day God ceased or “Sabbathed” creating.

9)      This is mirrored in the New Covenant by our ceasing our own works toward salvation. The Sabbath was a shadow pointing to the Substance.

10)  Paul clearly states that the law was not given until 430 years after Abraham.

11)  Sin existed before the law.  So moral obligation preceded the law and still exists after the law ceases to exist.

In Chapter Eight we will discuss how Jesus became the New Covenant.