What Does the Bible Say About the Sabbath?

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is the Sabbath day Saturday or Sunday according to the Bible?
• Is it wrong to work on Saturday or Sunday?
• Why do Christians go to church on Sunday instead of Saturday?
• Why don’t Christians obey the Ten Commandments about the Sabbath?
• When does the Sabbath begin and end?

Old Testament

One of the Ten Commandments says,
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (NAS, Exodus 20:8-11)

The Sabbath day that the bible speaks about is Saturday, the seventh day of the week (Genesis 2:2-3, Leviticus 23:2-3). The Jews have always considered a day to be the interval from sunset to sunset, and they have always observed the Sabbath from Friday evening until Saturday evening. Modern Jews continue the tradition of observing a holy day of rest on the Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew) from sunset Friday until nightfall Saturday. The Old Testament law prohibited doing any work on the Sabbath, and one could receive the death penalty for breaking this law (Numbers 15:32-36).

New Testament

Jesus observed the Sabbath (Luke 4:16) and never suggested a change to Sunday. He did, however, reject a strict legalistic interpretation of the Old Testament commandment. He said Sabbath observance was not a duty that mankind owed to God. Rather, God made the Sabbath as a day of rest for mankind’s benefit (Mark 2:27). Jesus and His disciples did not observe the strict Jewish rules against doing any work on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-14, Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6, Luke 6:1-11, 13:10-17, 14:1-6, John 5:1-18).

Why Don’t Christians Observe the Biblical Sabbath?

Early Christians
The first Christians came from among the Jews. They continued to worship as Jews and continued to observe the Sabbath (Acts 13:14, 17:1-2, 18:1-4). But because Jesus arose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, those early Christians called it the “Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10), and also regularly met for their Christian worship on Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2).

The Council of Jerusalem
When Gentiles (non-Jews) began to convert to Christianity, disputes arose about whether the Gentile Christians had to observe the Jewish laws about circumcision, dietary restrictions, Sabbath observance, etc. In about 49 A.D., Paul, Peter, James and other Church leaders met at the “Council of Jerusalem” and decided, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that it was not necessary for Christians to observe the Sabbath rules and other aspects of Jewish law (Acts 15:28-29, Romans 14:5-6, Colossians 2:16). There is more information in this article on our website: What Does the Bible Say About the Old Testament Law?

Political and Religious Factors
In the early centuries of Christianity, all the Christian communities of the world were under control of the Roman Empire. Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. In 321 A.D. he proclaimed Sunday a legal day of rest and ordered all judges, city-people and craftsmen to rest.
By this time, the Christian Church had lost contact with its Jewish roots, and there was much hostility between Christians and Jews. Jewish Christians had been expelled from the synagogues as heretics (John 9:22, 16:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16). This hostility may have influenced Christians to abandon Sabbath observances. In about 363 A.D., a regional Church council in Asia Minor, the Council of Laodicea, declared that Christians must not rest on the Sabbath (Saturday), but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day (Sunday).

Traditions
Today, most Christians follow the tradition of holding worship services on Sunday. But some believe that Saturday, the original Sabbath day, is the proper day for rest and worship.

Many Christians consider Sunday to be the new Sabbath day, and they believe the Old Testament rules against working on the Sabbath apply to Sunday. However, there is nothing in the Bible which prohibits doing work on Sunday.

The Biblical Sabbath day is Saturday, the seventh day of the week. The Ten Commandments prohibit doing any work on the Sabbath. The first Christians were Jews who continued to worship as Jews, but they also worshipped on Sunday, the day Jesus rose from the dead. When Gentiles began to convert to Christianity, disputes arose about whether the Gentile Christians had to observe the Jewish laws. The Church “Council of Jerusalem” decided, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that it was not necessary for Christians to observe rules about circumcision, dietary restrictions, Sabbath observance and other aspects of Jewish law. Today, most Christians follow the tradition of Sunday worship.

God Has Memorials

God also has set memorials for us: to remind us of His love, to let us know that He never forsakes us, to authenticate that there is a future filled with certainty and hope. He tells us through Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you, . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11, 12, NIV). Some of God’s memorials are familiar to us: the Cross, baptism, Communion service. But in this article I want us to consider an almost forgotten memorial that has cosmic significance.

Go back to the story of Exodus. God’s people were in bondage for over four hundred years. At last God raised Moses to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. This was to be a great redemptive experience. Confrontation after confrontation, plague after plague. Egypt’s Pharaoh finally yields to God’s will and lets His people go. They were now free, marching toward the Promised Land, but the march was not easy. As Israel approached the Red Sea, with hills and mountains on either side, with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit, Israel seemed heading toward disaster. There seemed no hope. But God intervened, the sea parted, and the road to freedom lay wide open. Children of Israel once again experienced God’s salvation. That “saving” was not by their works, but by God’s grace.

But what did God do after this mighty act of salvation? He led His people to Mount Sinai, and there He gave them the Ten Commandments. If law implies bondage, as some Christians seem to think, one logical question needs to be raised: Why would God save the children of Israel from one kind of bondage (that of Pharaoh) and place them in another kind of bondage (that of the law)? Makes no sense, does it?

Perhaps we should raise another question: Does law mean “bondage”? Observe the preface to the Ten Commandments that the Lord Himself gives: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exod. 20:2, NIV). God gave His law to a people whom He has saved. A people freed from the bondage of Egypt, thanks to God’s intervening grace, are given a law that will define their future relations with Him. Therefore, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3). Having another god would mean forgetting or forsaking the God who saved, and that would be equivalent to a return to bondage. Hence, the reason God gave the law to a saved people is to keep them saved as His children. Begotten of love and grace, God wanted them to stay in close relationship with Him. The “thou shalt not’s” of the Ten Commandments are in the negative because God has already saved His people. They now live in a saved relationship with Him, and to break any of the commandments would place themin a negative relationship with Him—a return to bondage!

While the law has no power to keep someone from being lost, it does help prevent the person from heading back into bondage. God knows that Satan can coax and force, if possible, God’s people into alienation from their Deliverer. The law was and is a hedge set up to help God’s people remember the miracle involved in setting them free from bondage. The “thou shalt not’s” are built on the premise that they have already been “saved”—not something that must be done in order to be saved!

Two Characteristics

Two very important characteristics of God’s law need to be borne in mind. As good as the law is, it can be abused. It can be used in such a way as to convey a teaching about God that is not true. Thus God’s law stands as a memorial. A memorial, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, can be used to promote war or to teach the high cost of war.

As a memorial, God’s law does two things. First, while it does not have power in itself to save, it reminds us of the bondage that we can slip into when we disregard the law and lead a life outside of a relationship with God. Second, the law, while reminding us of our powerlessness, also points us in the direction of the One who breaks the cycle of sin and bondage. The law stands as a memorial to the declaration that God, and God alone, saves!

Unfortunately, human nature characteristically forgets how God has led in the past. We become preoccupied with present difficulties and tend to forget how God’s grace has saved. This comes as no surprise to God, for He who created us knows us well and has given us a perpetual reminder of His love and continual care. This perpetual reminder of His grace is within the law itself—the seventh-day Sabbath. It is like a memorial within a memorial—a sign of God’s intervention and deliverance. With this in mind, note Deuteronomy 5:6, 12–15 (NIV): “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. . . . 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.”

That is the commandment to keep the Sabbath. What rationale does God give for that commandment? Look at verse 15: “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.”

Remember. Therefore. An act of remembrance and an act of obedience are linked in this commandment, with the second flowing from the first. First of all, remember the saving act of God’s deliverance from sin and bondage. Second, keep the Sabbath, which God has given as a memorial of His saving act.

The seventh-day Sabbath portrays God as the Great Deliverer, the Liberator, the Redeemer of those facing temptation and sin. The Sabbath day does not point to our accomplishments. Instead, it points to what God has done. Every week we are to be reminded of God’s willingness to be personally involved with our struggles and our salvation. Every week He wishes us to recall His promises of strength and friendship. Every week we are reminded we are not alone. Every week we are not only reminded that God is alive but that God takes personal interest and acts for us. Thus, Sabbath is not a day of bondage, but a day of joy and jubilation that we worship a God who saves, who frees, and who fellowships with mortals such as we are. That is the message of the Sabbath. He is not only alive, He is willing to set us free.

Parousia Second Coming of Jesus Christ: The Bible and the Sabbath