1 And God spake all these words, saying,…
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
— Exodus 20:1,8-11 (KJV)
What is the meaning of “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
This is the longest commandment of God, and is also the only commandment that says to remember.
There are in general five main interpretations of this commandment by different Christian denominations. We can know what does the fourth commandment mean by taking God’s word at face value. Then compare it to other verses in the Bible about the Sabbath, then seeing which interpretation holds water. The different reasons behind each interpretation are as follows:
- Christians worship on Sunday the Lord’s Day, the day Christ rose from the dead and Jesus made a new covenant. That is why Roman emperor Constantine in and the Roman Catholic Church made Sunday the day of rest. Because Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, the old covenant is fulfilled, and/or because of mentions of Jesus or His apostles breaking bread on the first day. But Jews still keep the Sabbath and old covenant with God, because they do not believe in Jesus or the New Testament.
- The day doesn’t matter as long as you follow the Christian faith and worship. So, we should just leave it on Sunday because that is our tradition since Roman emperor Constantine and the Roman Catholic Church made Sunday the day of rest.
- Christians should keep holy Saturday as the sabbath day of rest, the sabbath day held throughout the whole Bible, Old and New Testament, and creation day of rest God made holy, as commanded by God. Because that is what God commanded. God does not change and Jesus talks many times about following God’s commandments if you love God. Nowhere in the Bible does God change the holy sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. Nor does any Apostle or man have the authority to change which day God made holy.
- It doesn’t matter what day of the week, because we are not required to go to church any day of the week. It only matters that Christians believe in Jesus. This is because we are under the new covenant and/or Jesus fulfilled the law making it obsolete. You can worship any day or all days. It doesn’t matter, and we are under no obligation to keep any day of the week holy.
- The Catholic church changed the sabbath to Sunday as a sign of their authority. Declaring that they are the true and original apostolic church, the mother church. Anyone and any Protestant denomination who keeps Sunday, the Lord’s Day, instead of the Saturday Sabbath, is following the Catholic church’s authority instead of the Bible, because nowhere in the Bible does it say the sabbath day was changed.
Which of these is true? That depends on what and who you believe.
What did Jesus say about the Sabbath?
Jesus speaking to the multitudes and his disciples on the mountain:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Some interpret what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 as that Jesus came to fulfill the law, and by how he lived, dying on the cross, and rising three days later, that this fulfilled the old covenant of Mosaic laws. When the word fulfill is being used to describe Jesus and his acts, it has to do with fulfilling the prophecy of his coming, not with fulfilling the covenant. In any translation of the bible passage Matthew 5:18 you would have to take what Jesus says out of context and ignore what else he says about until heaven and earth pass, and until all is fulfilled. Also then they ignore Matthew 5:19-20.
What does the New Testament say about the Sabbath?
The sabbath is talked about 55 times in the New Testament. The commandment is talked about 82 times in the New Testament. Many times Jesus discusses how to keep the commandments and the sabbath, about doing good on the sabbath, not sin or works, and how He is Lord of the sabbath day.
Nowhere, anywhere in the Bible does it say the sabbath day is changed, was replaced, substituted, or made obsolete. In all cases, verses are being taken out of context, or no reference from the Bible at all to justify changing God’s word.
Would it make sense that Jesus lived his life, died on the cross, and rose 3 days later so we can freely break the commandments specifically about what sins to not do? Would God send His only Son to die on the cross for us, if it was impossible for us to follow Jesus’ example? That would be nonsense to what the Bible says, and an abhorrent way to have faith in Jesus, follow him, and repent of sin. Jesus’s teachings were about how our thoughts, words, and actions should be for God’s kingdom, how to live in God’s kingdom, and how to be a child of God in His kingdom.
Conclusion: Rest and worship on the sabbath as God commanded. Keep it holy. The sabbath starts at sundown on the sixth day “Friday” and lasts until the seventh-day sundown on “Saturday”. Do not work on the sabbath, and do not make anyone else work on the Sabbath. Keep the sabbath holy in your thoughts, words, and actions. Do this because you love God and want to honor and worship God by obeying Him.
Other sources of information:
Where did the Fourth Commandment come from?
After God (using Moses) liberated His people from slavery in Egypt, God instructed them on how to live as a society under His rule. God appeared in a thick cloud from the top of Mount Sinai. He spoke as a loud trumpet His laws so that Israelite people would know how to not sin, how to love God, and love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:37-40). These laws are called the ten commandments or the law of liberty (liberty from sin). Learn more about the Ten Commandments.
Related Questions:
- Is the Sabbath only for Jews?
- Did Jesus keep the Sabbath?
- Did Jesus abolish or change the Sabbath to Sunday? Is Jesus our Sabbath?
- Can we keep any day as our Sabbath?
- What does it mean Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath?
- Who changed the Sabbath to Sunday?
- Why did the Catholic Church change the Sabbath to Sunday?
- Why do Christians keep Sunday instead of Saturday today?
- What is OK to do on the Sabbath?
- What work shouldn’t we do on the Sabbath?
- What Christian denominations keep the Sabbath on Saturday?
- Do we need to keep the Sabbath to be saved?
- Is Sunday worship the mark of the beast?
- Is the Saturday Sabbath the seal of God?
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