Sabbath Day, A Basic Command of God

The basic command of God: Keep the Sabbath Day holy

Do you love God? God Himself said that those who truly love Him keep His commands (Jn 14:15). If you answered “yes”, then your answer to the next question will tell you whether you keep God’s commands or not. Do you know and do you keep the most basic command of God – Sabbath day?

Which Day is Your Worship Day?

The most basic command of God, perhaps, is the worship day. Regarding this, many people go to church on Sunday. Most people do so because they had been born in families where this custom was passed down to them. Incidentally, another reason is that Sunday is the only day when many people are free from work and school. For this reason also, Sunday sometimes becomes a day for bonding for families who are busy on all other days. People have really gotten used to this set up. However, let’s take time to rethink about our purpose of going to church. We go to church to be blessed and we have faith to be saved. And as God’s people, we are supposed to follow at least the most basic command of God, right? Most people go to church to worship on Sunday. However, what if Sunday worship is not what God has commanded?

Worship Day is Sabbath day(Seventh Day)

Exodus 20:8-11 “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… For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

This basic command of God about worship was written in the Bible as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Do you see the word “Sunday” in these verses? There is not even a single verse in the Bible that tells us to worship on Sunday. Instead, God appointed the seventh day as the worship day and called it Sabbath, which literally means “rest”, originating from the day when God rested after creating everything in six days. (Ge 2:1-3)

In the Old Testament, the people of God kept the Sabbath Day holy by resting completely, following the Lord’s command. But in the New Testament, the apostles kept the Sabbath Day holy by going to synagogues to read the Bible, just like what we do now, following the example that Jesus had set for the people living in that age. (Lu 4:16; Ac 17:2-3)

What day of the week is the Sabbath Day?

Now, these questions stand: What day of the week is the Sabbath day which God has commanded us to keep holy? What is the seventh day of the week?

Merriam Webster Dictionary

in the Bible

Mark 16:9 “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week…” 

Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was over…” 

We all know that Jesus’ resurrection happened on a Sunday. However, the Bible described the resurrection of Jesus as the first day of the week. It means that even in the Bible, the first day of the week is Sunday, so the seventh day is definitely Saturday. This is why the Bible says that Jesus’ resurrection happened after the Sabbath. This means that the day before Sunday, is the Sabbath Day and that is without a doubt Saturday.

Obedience to the Sabbath Day Worship, Saturday

So what is it to us if the true worship day is Saturday? What difference would it make? Many people already know that the true worship day is Saturday. However, they still choose to go to church on Sunday, thinking that it would be fine as long as they hold worship. They say that it can’t be helped because they have work or school on Saturday, or because it is a tradition. However, these are mere excuses for one’s own ease. Do you go to church only because you have free time? Do you go to church because it’s a family custom? If so, are we not just the same as those people who don’t go to church at all? Don’t we go to church to worship God? Let’s remind ourselves that Sabbath Day is the most basic command of God. Basic means the simplest yet the most important. If we don’t even follow the most basic command of God, we should be alarmed.

What’s the difference? Sunday & Saturday / Hell & Heaven.

The difference between Saturday and Sunday is only six days. If you look at it in another way, they are actually only one day apart. Not much of a difference. Yet, among the seven days in a week, it was only the seventh day which God regarded as special. Only on that day did God promise the blessings of holiness, sign as God’s acknowledged people, and eternal rest. (Ex 31:12-13) Let’s say a king promised to give you a kingdom if you come to him on Saturday otherwise you will not meet him. What if you come on Sunday? Would you receive that kingdom? How could that be possible? It is the same. How could it be possible for those who disregard God’s command to inherit His kingdom? Please do not take this lightly. The real difference between Saturday Sabbath and Sunday worship is heaven and hell. God continuously gave many warnings throughout the Bible regarding this.

No one can change God’s commandment

Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

We must follow the words of the Bible absolutely because those are the words of God. Those who add to God’s words will be destroyed, and those who subtract from it will never enter heaven. We must not be these people. Sunday worship is both adding to and subtracting from the words of God. Those who keep worship on Sunday make it seem like God had commanded Sunday worship even when He did not, as well as, like God never commanded Sabbath on Saturday even when He did. We must not be the ones who keep Sunday worship. God does not want us to be the people whom He does not acknowledge as his.

Saturday is the Key to the Kingdom of Heaven

God loves us and wants us to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is not yet too late for us to change what we have become used to so we can obey God and be saved. Please keep His commands, starting from the most basic command of God. And please ask yourself always this one question that still remains, a question we can never answer right unless we do right, a question we should answer with our whole heart, mind and soul: “Do you love God?”

See Also : God’s Blessing & the Sabbath