Part Nine—The Sabbath

Institution of the Sabbath

How the Sabbath Was Made

When and by whom was the Sabbath made? BR-ASI9 283.1

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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.” Genesis 2:1, 2. BR-ASI9 283.2

What is the reason for keeping the Sabbath day holy? BR-ASI9 283.3

“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 20:11. BR-ASI9 283.4

Note.—The Sabbath is the memorial of creation, the sign of God’s creative power. God designed that through keeping it man should forever remember Him as the true and living God, the Creator of all things. BR-ASI9 283.5

“ ‘Six days shalt thou do all manner of work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ It is not thine, but God’s day. He claims it for His own. He always did claim it for His own, even from the beginning of the world. ‘In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it.’ He hallowed it; that is, He made it holy; He reserved it for His own service. He appointed, that as long as the sun or the moon, the heavens and the earth, should endure, the children of men should spend this day in the worship of Him who ‘gave them life and breath and all things.’ ”—John Wesley, “A Word to a Sabbath-Breaker,” in Works, vol. 11 (1830 ed.), pp. 164-166. BR-ASI9 283.6

Did Christ have anything to do with creation and the making of the Sabbath? BR-ASI9 284.1

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3. (See also Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2.) BR-ASI9 284.2

Note.—Christ was the active agent in creation. The Creator rested on the seventh day from the work of His creation; therefore, Christ must have rested on the seventh day with the Father. Consequently, it is His rest day as well as the Father’s. BR-ASI9 284.3

After resting on the seventh day, what did God do? BR-ASI9 284.4

“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.” Genesis 2:3. BR-ASI9 284.5

Note.—By three distinct acts, then, was the Sabbath made: God rested on it; He blessed it; He sanctified it. “Sanctify” means “to make sacred or holy,” “to consecrate,” “to set apart as sacred.” BR-ASI9 284.6