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Interesting Facts Concerning the Sabbath

1. God the Creator (Christ - see John 1:1, 2, 14) blessed (Genesis 2:3) and sanctified (Exodus 20:11) the seventh day as the Sabbath.
2. It was given to Adam, the head of the human race (Mark 2:27; Genesis 2:1-2). Therefore, through him as our representative, to all nations (Acts 17:26).
3. Jesus says it was made for man (Mark 2:27); that is, for the human race, as the word man is here unlimited. Therefore, it was made for the Gentile as well as for the Jew.
4. It was made before the fall; hence it is not a type, for types were not introduced till after sin.
5. It was a part of God''s law before Sinai (Exodus 16:4, 27-29). It is not a Jewish institution, for it was made 2,300 years before there was ever a Jew.
6. It is a memorial of creation (Exodus 20:11; 31:17). Every time we rest upon the seventh day, as God did at creation, we commemorate the grand event.
7. As the Sabbath was kept in Eden before the fall, so it will be observed eternally in the new earth after the restitution (Isaiah 66:22, 23).
8. The very first activity recorded in the Bible is work done on Sunday, the first day of the week (Genesis 1:1-5). This was done by the Creator Himself.
9. The Bible never calls it the Jewish Sabbath but always "the Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
10. God placed the 4th commandment into the heart of His moral law (Exodus 20:1-17). It has always been a part of the Ten Commandments.
11. After the Ten Commandments were given again to Moses on Mt. Sinai, it was sacredly preserved in the ark in the holy of holies. (Deuteronomy 10:1-5).
12. It is a sign of the true God, by which we are to know Him from false gods (Ezekiel 20:20).
13. God has pronounced a special blessing on all the Gentiles who keep it (Isaiah 56:6, 7).
14. After the holy Sabbath has been trodden down for "many generations," it is to be restored in the last days (Isaiah 58:12, 13).
15. When the Son of God came, He kept the seventh day all His life (Luke 4:16; John 15:10). Thus He followed His Father''s example at creation.
16. It is interesting to note that Jesus was (1) crucified on Friday, (2) rested on Saturday (the seventh day Sabbath) as in the creation week, and (3) resurrected on Sunday (the first day of the week).
17. The seventh day is the Lord''s day (Revelation 1:10; Mark 2:28; Isaiah 58:13; Exodus 20:10).
18. Christ vindicated the Sabbath as an institution designed for man''s good (Mark 2:23-28).
19. Instead of abolishing the Sabbath (Matthew 5:17), He taught how it should be observed (Matthew 12:1-13).
20. Christ instructed His apostles that the Sabbath should be prayerfully regarded 40 years after His resurrection (Matthew 24:20).
21. The women who had been with Jesus kept the seventh day Sabbath after His death (Luke 23:56).
22. Luke, the inspired Christian historian, writing as late as A.D. 62, calls it "the Sabbath day" (Acts 13:44).
23. The Gentile converts called it the Sabbath (Acts 13:42).
24. Paul read the Scriptures in public meetings on the Sabbath day (Acts 17:2, 3).
25. There was never any dispute between the Christians and the Jews about the Sabbath day. They both kept the same day.
26. In all the accusations against Paul, they never charges him with disregarding the Sabbath day. Paul expressly declared that he had kept the law "Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caeser, have I offended any thing at all" (Acts 25:8).
27. The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament 59 times, and always with respect, bearing the same title it had in the Old Testament, "the Sabbath day."
28. There is no record that God has ever removed His blessing or sanctification from the seventh day Sabbath.
29. Neither God or inspired men have ever said one word in favor of Sunday as a holy day.
30. The first day of the week is mentioned only eight times in entire the New Testament:
Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19
Acts 20:7. The only record or intimation in Scripture of any religious meeting held on the first day of the week (and this meeting was at night).
1 Corinthians 16:2. Paul directed the saints to look over secular affairs.
31. The Bible nowhere says that the first day of the week commemorates the resurrection of Christ. This is a tradition of men, which attempts to make void the law of God (Matthew 15:1-9) Baptism Commemorates the burial and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:3-5).
32. And finally, not a word is written anywhere in the entire Bible (Old and New Testaments) about the Sabbath being done away with or changed in any way.