MAN AND SATURDAY

 

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For whom was the Sabbath (Saturday) created?

“The Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath“ (Mark 2.27).

Note.

The word "man" in this text refers to the entire human race. God instituted the Sabbath to be a source of joy and blessings for all people.

“Jesus says : "The Sabbath is for man". From this it must be concluded that man, even from the creation of the world, was aware of why God created the Sabbath, and all those who observe it received the blessings that the observance of the Sabbath brought with it... Even before God gave His moral law at Sinai, people recognized the necessity of keeping the seventh day holy” (J.J. Taylor, The Sabbatic Question [1914], pp.20-24).

This is what Dr. Moody wrote about the inviolability of God's Sabbath commandment: “I sincerely believe that this commandment has the same meaning for people today as before. I had to talk with people who claimed that it had already been abolished, but not one of them could point me to a single place in the Holy Scriptures where it was said that God had abolished this commandment. When Christ was on earth, He did nothing to abolish it. He only freed her from the bonds with which the scribes and Pharisees entangled the Sabbath rest, and revealed to people its true meaning and inner spiritual meaning. "The Sabbath is for man, not man for the Sabbath". Right now, more than ever, this commandment is of great importance for a person. Its sincere observance now, in our tense and impetuous age, is more important than ever. The Sabbath was established in Eden, and since then this commandment has never lost its power. It begins with the word "remember", which speaks of its existence long before God wrote His law on stone tablets and gave it to the people of Israel at Sinai. How can people claim that this commandment has lost its meaning, while the other nine have remained unchanged?“ (D.L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting [1898 ed.], pp.46,47).

 

 

When did God bless and sanctify the seventh day?

“And God finished on the seventh day His works which He did, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He did. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, for on it he rested from all his works, which God created and created“ (Gen 2.2-3).

Note. “If the entire Holy Scripture consisted of only two texts of Genesis - Genesis 2.2-3, then it would not be difficult for people to understand the commandment about the Sabbath as a special holy time, which everyone for whom He created the earth must dedicate to God. The first people must have known about it. In other words, the expression "(He) sanctified it" cannot have any other meaning. If these words did not refer to someone who needs to keep and keep the seventh day holy, then they would not be in Holy Scripture at all” (John Peter Lange, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol.1, p.197).