Sunset to Sunset God’s Sabbath Rest THIS PUBLICATION IS NOT TO BE SOLD. It is a free educational service in the public interest, published by the United Church of God, an International Association. page 1 Sunset to Sunset God’s Sabbath Rest © 1996, 2000, 2003, 2009 United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. Scriptures in this publication are quoted from the New King James Version (© 1988 Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers) unless otherwise noted. 2 Sunset to Sunset: God’s Sabbath Rest Introduction 3 Contents Introduction ociety has undergone astonishing changes in recent decades. 3 Introduction Everyone, it seems, lives at a breakneck pace, constantly rushing here and there to get everything done. Technological advances Too many of us live at a frantic pace, trying desperately to stay on top of that once promised more leisure time now seem only to push us everything we need to get done. It’s no wonder we feel out of touch with further behind, making it ever more difficult to catch up. our spouses, our families and even our Creator. But did you know that S So we frantically scramble. We feel out of touch—out of touch with God offers a little-understood remedy for our hurried and harried lives? our spouse, out of touch with our families, out of touch with the world around us and, perhaps most of all, out of touch with God. This very Being who created the universe, including every one of us, 5 The Sabbath: In the Beginning did not leave us to grope in the dark to understand His intent for How and why did the Sabbath day originate? Who created it, and when? our lives. Rather, through inspi- When is the Sabbath to be observed, and does it matter? Who is expect- ration, He caused His instruction ed to keep it? Despite the misconceptions many have, the Bible is quite and truth to be written down clear on these important questions. You need to understand the answers! for us (2 Timothy 3:15-17; John 17:17). His revelation, the Holy Bible, tells us what we need to 15 Jesus Christ and the Sabbath know about life’s purpose, why we are here and where we are How did Jesus Christ view the Sabbath day? Many believe that He came headed. Most important, it tells to do away with the law and that He deliberately ignored or broke this us how to live. commandment. However, since the Gospels mention the Sabbath almost It tells us that thousands of 50 times, we have an ample record of Christ’s approach toward the day. God’s revelation, the Holy Bible, tells us what we need to know about life’s purpose, why we are here and where we are headed. 31 Was the Sabbath Changed in the New Testament? Most important, it tells us how to live. The Gospels reveal that Jesus observed the Sabbath day and showed the years ago God gave a people a set of laws, promising the recipients that true purpose and intent of the Sabbath commandment. Many people, how- they would be blessed if they obeyed them. “You shall walk in all the ever, think that Paul, the other apostles and the early Church changed the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live Sabbath day. But what does the record of the New Testament really say? and that it may be well with you,” He told them (Deuteronomy 5:33, emphasis added throughout). The law God revealed is summed up in the Ten Commandments. 55 God’s Sabbath in Today’s World They are our basic guide for living, showing us how to have a proper relationship with our Creator and fellow man. Is the Sabbath relevant in our modern world? Is it really practical to try to Among those commandments, the one most universally misunder- keep the Sabbath today? If so, how should we observe it? This is where an stood and misapplied is God’s instruction to “remember the Sabbath understanding of the purpose of the Sabbath law becomes important. Scrip- day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Many people view the Sabbath as ture shows that this command is a crucial key to our relationship with God. Scott Campbell a quaint relic of history, perhaps a nice idea at some time in the past but 4 Sunset to Sunset: God’s Sabbath Rest The Sabbath: In the Beginning 5 altogether impractical in today’s busy world. Some think the Sabbath is Sunday and that spending an hour or two at church on Sunday morning fulfills the intent of the Sabbath commandment. The Sabbath: Others think Jesus Christ did away with any specific day of rest, or the need to worship on a particular day, and that whatever time we In the Beginning choose to dedicate to God is holy. The questions and opinions about this “And on the seventh day God ended His work . and He rested commandment, it seems, are endless. Did on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God Jesus keep the Sabbath because He was Jew- blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from ish, or did He actually break the Sabbath all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:2-3). command to demonstrate our freedom from Old Testament law, leading the religious hen we think of the Sabbath, we often think of the Ten leaders of His day to want to kill Him? Did Commandments, which God revealed when the ancient the apostle Paul, in writing more books of Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The the New Testament than any other writer, events of that period of Israel’s history—the Exodus— show that the Sabbath is no longer necessary Wwere extraordinary. The plagues on Egypt, the death of all Egypt’s for Christians, or did he uphold it? firstborn, the parting of the Red Sea, Was the Sabbath condemned and manna coming from heaven for food in changed in the early New Testament the desert and God giving Moses the Ten Church, or was it confirmed? Did God Commandments on stone tablets were all sanctify the Sabbath at the time He created miraculous occurrences. These events were dramatic testimony Why is there such controversy and confusion over this one to the birth of a new nation. And in the commandment when most people, including religious leaders midst of these incredible beginnings, God and their churches, have little quarrel with the other nine? told His new nation to remember some- thing. “Remember the Sabbath day, to Adam and Eve, or did He first set it apart as holy time at the Exodus keep it holy,” He commanded His people more than 2,000 years later? Was the Sabbath changed from the seventh (Exodus 20:8). day of the week to another day, and if so, when did this happen? He pointed them back to His role as Why did God command a day of rest to begin with? Did He have a Creator, reminding them that “in six days purpose for it, and if so, what is that purpose? Is the Sabbath at all rel- the LORD made the heavens and the earth, evant for humankind today? Does it make sense in today’s world? The the sea, and all that is in them, and rested questions go on and on. Why should there be such confusion about one of the 10 basic guid- When we think of the Sabbath, we often think of the Ten Com- ing principles and laws God gave mankind? Why is there such contro- mandments, which God revealed when the ancient Israelites versy and confusion over this one commandment when most people, left Egypt under the leadership of Moses. including religious leaders and their churches, have little quarrel with the other nine? the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed You don’t have to look far to discover the answers to these questions. it” (verse 11). They can be found in the pages of the Bible and history. And we address The Sabbath commandment had an important spiritual purpose. It these basic questions in this booklet. Join us now for a journey through pointed God’s people to Him as the supreme Maker of all things. It was a the Bible to discover God’s Sabbath Rest. Photos/illustrations, from Gustave left: Doré Scott Ashley, required weekly remembrance that a higher power and authority is at work 6 Sunset to Sunset: God’s Sabbath Rest The Sabbath: In the Beginning 7 in our lives and the lives of all humanity. God intended that the Sabbath be But God imposed a condition. He would provide the manna only six observed as a reminder of that fact. days out of every seven. On the sixth day there would be twice as much as usual, but none on the seventh day (verses 5, 22). Moses explained to the God revealed the Sabbath day by miracles people what God had told him: “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sab- The significance of the Sabbath was evident before God gave the Ten bath to the LORD . Lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until Commandments to the nation of Israel. For example, a few weeks earlier, morning . Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is after the crossing of the Red Sea, when the Israelites witnessed the destruc- the Sabbath, there will be none” (verses 23, 26).