The Sabbath at Creation

According to the Bible, the Sabbath originated at creation. Genesis 2:2-3 says, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” God did not rest from weariness or fatigue, because “the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah 40:28). The Sabbath rest, therefore, like all of creation, was instituted for man’s good, and provided a weekly opportunity for the development of man’s higher nature by communion with the Creator.

The Seven-Day Week

Unlike the year, month, or day, the seven-day week has no basis in astronomical movements. The only record of its origin is found in the Genesis creation account. Throughout human history, the seven-day week has been observed by most cultures in every part of the world. In the Genesis account of the worldwide flood, the seven-day week is referred to by God when He says to Noah, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth” (Genesis 7:4).

The first known reference to the seven-day week in extra-biblical sources occurs on inscribed potsherds dating from the fifth century before Christ discovered on the island of Elephantine in 1940. One clay tablet begins with these words: “Greetings to Yislah. Now look, I shall not send the jar tomorrow. Fasten the ox tomorrow, on the Sabbath, lest he may go astray. As Jehovah liveth!” (Published by A. Dupont-Sommer in France; Review and Herald, 127:10, March 23, 1950).

A Sabbath Work Law in Ancient Egypt

As slaves in Egypt, the Israelites were not able to serve or worship God, and this was one reason that He delivered them from slavery. Psalm 105:43-45 says, “He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; that they might observe His statutes, and keep His laws.” This passage makes it clear that the Israelites were unable to observe the seventh-day Sabbath as slaves in Egypt. Before Israel’s deliverance, Moses and Aaron attempted reforms and encouraged the Israelites to worship God (Exodus 4:29-31). This worship apparently included observance of the Sabbath rest, because in Exodus 5:5 Pharaoh angrily says to Moses and Aaron that they made the people “rest from their burdens.” That same day Pharaoh increased the burdens of the Israelites and required them to collect their own straw while making the same number of bricks. This increased oppression almost certainly included a prohibition from resting on the seventh-day Sabbath.

Sabbath and the Miracle Manna

After escaping from Egypt, but before being given the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, the Israelites found themselves wandering through the wilderness of Sin. When they complained about not having food to eat, God said, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no” (Exodus 16:4). The “law” that God was referring to had to do with the seventh-day Sabbath rest, for God said in the next verse, “And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily” (Exodus 16:5). The Israelites were to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day because no manna fell on the seventh day. Moses explained, “Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none” (Exodus 16:26). This miracle of the falling manna from heaven continued six days a week for forty years, and provided nourishment for the Israelites until they entered into Canaan. This passage contains the first occurrence of the word Sabbath in the Bible.

Memorial of Creation

When God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, they were a written summary of the laws and principles that God had always expected people to live by. For example, centuries earlier God had chosen Abraham to be the father of many nations “because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Genesis 26:5). God chose Abraham specifically because he obeyed God’s law. The fourth commandment points to the Sabbath as a memorial of creation, and contains a call for all people to worship God as Creator on His holy day: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 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: 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 20:8-11).

Sign of Sanctification

This is not only a memorial of God’s work of creation—it is also a sign of His work of sanctification, or redemption from sin. In Exodus 31:13 God says, “Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Centuries later, God repeated this promise to the prophet Ezekiel: “Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them” (Ezekiel 20:12). To sanctify something literally means to set it apart for a special purpose. Like God set apart the seventh day at Creation, He also has the power to forgive and cleanse people from sin and restore His character in them.

The Sabbath and the Sanctuary

The Sabbath was central to services of the sanctuary, and later the temple in Jerusalem, where it was marked by special offerings and ritual. Two additional lambs were added to the regular burnt offering on the Sabbath, and the twelve cakes of bread in the Holy Place were replaced on the Sabbath. Leviticus 24:8 explains, “Every sabbath [the priest] shall set [the bread] in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.”

Sabbath Rest and Freedom

Moses repeated the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel at the end of their forty years of wilderness wanderings. Here the Sabbath stands as a memorial of their redemption from slavery: “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 present two powerful reasons for observing the seventh-day Sabbath—this day is both a memorial of God’s work of creation and a promise of His ability to redeem from the bondage of sin.

Visiting the Prophets on Sabbath

When the son of a Shunammite woman died, she asked her husband to send a servant and a donkey to the prophet Elisha. Her husband replied,“Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? It is neither new moon, nor sabbath” (2 Kings 4:23). His reply suggested that it was customary for Israelites in Old Testament times to visit the prophets on Sabbath, perhaps to participate in worship services or to study, hear, and learn the Word of God. In this story, the woman goes to the prophet Elisha, and after returning with her to her home, he raised the dead boy to life.

A Sabbath Coup

During the time of Israel’s divided kingdom, Athaliah, the daughter of Israel’s King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, seized power in Judah after the death of her son Ahaziah. She immediately executed all the royal seed in an effort to perpetuate her reign, and did her best to establish the exclusive worship of Baal. However, one of Ahaziah’s sons, Joash, had been secreted away by Ahaziah’s sister, and remained hidden in the temple complex for six years under the protection of Jehoida, the high priest. At this time the royal palace guard changed every Sabbath, and in the seventh year of Athalia’s reign, Jehoida staged a coup on such a Sabbath to dispose of Athaliah and install Joash as king of Judah. Jehoida divided the troops into three groups (2 Kings 11:5-7) and Joash was anointed as king of Judah. “And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. …and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason” (2 Kings 11:13-14). Jehoida ordered Athaliah to be seized and executed, as well as the high priest of Baal, and a great revival began in Jerusalem.