God’s Great Week
By Dennis Schelles
Each and every day that passes, satan's plans of entrapping God's people comes closer and closer to fulfillment, just as the plans of God race through these end times to seal his people. It is a battle over ,You, Me, Us. Soon there will be a law passed that will forbid us to worship God on His Holy seventh day. I believe before that time, we are going to hear and be able to read many, many reasons why the seventh day Sabbath has been abolished, changed, is only for the Jews, not biblical, and who knows what else.
Recently I heard a statement against the Sabbath that I am putting in the category of “who knows what else” and it brings two arguments against the Sabbath. It involves the creation account in Genesis.
The statement was said, “the Sabbath day is not a Holy day for all men, because you can find No direct command for Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath. The Bible just says God rested on the seventh day because He (God) had worked six. This proves that the Sabbath is for Jews, as God did not give the command to keep the Sabbath until Mt. Sinai.
Is this correct? No, Why? Well, let's take a deep look at some facts.
God IS the Subject of Creation
.
Did you know between Gen 1:1 and Gen. 2:4 the name God is used 35 times: It says, God created, God said, God saw, God called, God made, God set them, God blessed
Genesis 1:31:
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
God did all of His work in the first six days
Genesis 2:2, 3:
The seventh day is God-centered
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Where is man here in Genesis 2:2, 3? He is no where to be found. Man does not show up till the sixth day. In these two verses, man is only one day old. In the first week of this world's existence, who is the one doing all the work and the resting? God is!
And God is at the very center of the seventh day. Now let's look at the word “rested”
He rested.
The Hebrew word for “rested” is shabbat; this is were we get our word “Sabbath” from. It does not describe the manner of God’s rest but rather that He ceased. We use the word “rest” in a similar way in our courts when we say: “The prosecution rests” or ceases.
Now we can tell what the bible means when it uses the word “cease” by looking at some other texts.
Nehemiah 6:3:
“So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"
Psalm 46:8, 9:
“Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.”
So the word shabbat does not explain the manner (the how) of God’s rest but only that on the Seventh day He ceased from creating.
In fact, in Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words It says:
“The writer of Genesis 2:3 is not stressing rest from work but rather God is ceasing from His creative work since it was complete.”
It’s God’s Week!
He worked six and He rested on the seventh. There is no reference to man working or man resting.
How did God Rest?
The question still persists: How did God rest on the seventh day? What did He do on the seventh day when he ceased?
The word shabbat does not explain how God rested. Do we have any hints elsewhere on the manner of God’s rest on the seventh day?
We can know one thing for certain: God did not rest because he was tired. His rest was not from physical exhaustion.
Isaiah 40:28:
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.”
Exodus 31:17
“It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested [shabbat] and was refreshed. [naphash]' "
Uh hu! Some would say, see, God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel. It is a sign between them and God. We are not Israelites, or are we? Is not Israel Abraham's seed, and if you are in Christ, you are Abraham's seed, this is according to His promise.
Romans 4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Back to the text we just read,
“It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested [shabbat] and was refreshed. [naphash]' "
In the original writings of Moses the word “refreshed” is “naphash.” Naphash means “to take a breath”
So, God took a breath. Like an artist who has just finished a masterpiece!
In Genesis 2:2, 3 Moses tells us that God did three things with the Sabbath at creation:
Ge 2:2
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested [Shabbat] on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Ge 2:3
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.
He rested on it and he blessed it, and He sanctified it. Moses writes again in the book of (Exodus 20:11) that God did the same three things at creation. But there is an important difference. The word for “rest” in Exodus is not the same as in Genesis. Now why would Moses change the word in Exodus? Simply because in Genesis God wanted to emphasize that He (God) ceased from creating while in Exodus God wanted to underline how He rested after He ceased creating.
Let's take a close look at that:
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them IS, and rested [nuach] the seventh day. Wherefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The word "nuach" describes the quality of rest after work. It appears some 65 times in the Old Testament and is used in conjunction with the concepts of peace, tranquility, stillness, quietness and rejoicing after much activity has taken place. It is used to describe the resting of the ark on Mt. Ararat after the turmoil of the flood (Genesis 8:4), the resting of birds after flight (II Samuel 21:10), the resting of insects after flight (Exodus 10:14), the resting of feet after walking (Joshua 3:13), the resting of Israel after being in bondage to their enemies (Joshua 23:1)
1 Chronicles 22:9: (Notice the connotation of rest, peace and quietness:)
“Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest [nuach]; and I will give him rest [nuach] from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.”
Esther 9:17, 18: (Israel rested and had a day of feasting and gladness)
“This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth day of the month they rested [nuach]and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested [nuach], and made it a day of feasting and gladness”.
Proverbs 29:17:
“Correct your son and he will give you rest [nuach]; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.”
Zephaniah 3:17
“The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet [nuach] you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Nuach denotes a delightful rest after toil or turmoil with joy, gladness and feasting! At creation we are told that the earth was without form and void and covered with darkness. But God worked to bring order out of chaos and fullness out of emptiness.
Was there any celebration in heaven over God's six day creation?
Yes! All heaven celebrated with the Creator!
Job 38:4-7
“"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars [the angels] sang together, and all the sons of God [the inhabitants of the sinless worlds] shouted for joy?”
Lets turn our attention from the bible and let's see what Ellen White says about all this:
“God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and He rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
The Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it had its origin when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7. Peace brooded over the world; for earth was in harmony with heaven. "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good;" and He rested in the joy of His completed work. . DA 281
“In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation. When "the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them" (Gen. 2:1), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7.” DA 769
So when was the Sabbath Sanctified and Blessed?
I have always thought that God had blessed and sanctified the Sabbath as the day began. But as we read the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy very carefully it has become clear to me that God did not bless and sanctify the Sabbath until it ended.
Some of you may be thinking, “really” others may be thinking, “I knew that” For those of you that are thinking “really” let's read Genesis 2:3 again.
Genesis 2:3: God rested and then sanctified!
“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Exodus 20:11: God rested and then sanctified!
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it, therefore resting the seventh day.
Is that what the text says? No! Read it again. He rested first! Then He blessed and hallowed it.
So, when did the first Sabbath become Holy according to the book of Gen. and Ex.? The Sabbath became Holy when the day ended.
What makes something holy? Notice Exodus 3:5:
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, or the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground.
God is present in the seventh day because he rested every hour, minute and second. God did not declare the seventh day holy but rather made it holy by His rest. You see, the seventh day could not be holy until God was present in it and God was present in it because He rested upon it. It was the presence of God in the time of the seventh day that made it holy. Every second that God rested made that second holy. When He had rested every second, then the entire day was holy.
Are you wondering what Ellen White might say about this?
“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
“Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God's power and His love.” The Desire of Ages, p. 281
[notice that God did not give it to Adam until after the day ended. God had just worked six days, and God had just rested the seventh! Now God gives it to man as a Holy day.]
“The Lord's day mentioned by John was the Sabbath, the day on which Jehovah rested after the great work of creation, and which He blessed and sanctified because He had rested upon it.” My Life Today, p. 259
“God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because He rested upon it from all His wondrous work of creation.” Testimonies for the Church, volume 4, p. 247
“Hallowed by the Creator's rest and blessing, the Sabbath was kept by Adam in his innocence in holy Eden” Great Controversy 453
Can I ask you this, How could God have given the Sabbath to man in God's creation week if the seventh day was not Holy yet? The fourth commandment did not apply to Adam until the second Sabbath, why? The commandment says to work six and rest the seventh, Adam and Eve had not yet worked six! Here is another thought, God needed to give them an example on how to rest on His Holy day before they would even know how to obey. So now we know why we do not find in the creation story any reference of a command to keep the seventh day holy for us because the first week is not man's week, the first week is God's week and God Himself rested the seventh day, therefore making it Holy.
Why no Evening and Morning?
Keeping in mind that the first week is God’s week. God worked six and God rested on the seventh. The seventh day had no evening or morning for God because He did not begin a new cycle of work, He is still resting from his creative works.
Put another way, when God rested on the seventh day, he continued resting because he did not work the next day. On the other hand, the next day was a day of work for man so the seventh day did have an evening and a morning for man.
Ellen G. White:
“As regards this world, God's work of creation is completed. For "the works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3. But His energy is still exerted in upholding the objects of His creation.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 115
“Although the Lord has ceased His work in creating, He is constantly employed in upholding and using as His servants the things which He has made [Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17]. Said Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (MS 4, 1882). 6BC 1062
“As regards this earth, Scripture declares the work of creation to have been completed. "The works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3. But the power of God is still exercised in upholding the objects of His creation.” Education pp. 130, 131
God has been resting from creative works since creation week. The seventh day never ended for God because He is still resting from creating. His work now is the work of upholding.
John 5:17
“But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."”
These are works of redemption and restoration.
What about us, no evening and morning for us?
Yes, the seventh day does have an evening and a morning for us
• Seventh day did have a beginning and an end because God set the day apart when it ended. This could not have happened if it had continued indefinitely
• We were told, be fruitful and multiply, Genesis 1:28. Work six days, Exodus 20:9 and celebrate the Sabbath from evening to evening, Leviticus 23:32
• The sun rises and sets on the seventh day just like every other day. The day does have an evening and morning which is determined by the rising and the setting of the sun:
“When the Lord declares that He made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, He means the day of twenty-four hours, which He has marked off by the rising and setting of the sun. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 135
• So a numeral adjective is used of the seventh day just like the first six days
• You could not obey the fourth commandment if the seventh never ended for us.
• At the end of the seventh day God worked no more but the very next day man began the cycle of work. This shows that the seventh day had no evening and morning for God but it did have for man.
God gave the Week to Adam
Mark 2:27 “And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for the Jews and not Jews for the Sabbath.”
Right? No, read it correctly:
“And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
So how does Man Relate to that First Sabbath?
Adam and Eve were alive that first Sabbath and must have seen God rest. Like a loving parent, God says to Adam and Eve, “See, I have worked six days and I have rested the seventh, the first week belongs to me, I have created for you an example, now here, I give the week to you. Work six and honor me on the seventh” How do I know that? Well, we can read in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 111
“Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God Himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest for man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 111
“Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest.” The Desire of Ages, p. 281
“God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because He rested upon it from all His wondrous work of creation. The Sabbath was made for man, and God would have him put by his labor on that day, as He Himself rested after His six days' work of creation.” 4T 247
In summery we can now say,
• It was God who kept that first Sabbath
• The fourth commandment applies to Adam and Eve beginning with the second Sabbath of human history
• They had to work six first in order to keep the fourth commandment
• They could not keep the first Sabbath holy if it was not yet holy.
• They could not follow God’s example until He had first given it.
“God made man in His own image and then gave him an example of observing the seventh day, which He sanctified and made holy.” Lift Him Up, p. 38
Gen. 1:26-31 “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
Exodus 20:8-11: (some of us can recite this by heart, but let's read it together)
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. In it though shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 11 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 halloed it.
“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God's great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God's wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
God gave Adam and Eve the Scenic Tour !
“God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven that he might more fully contemplate the works of God and meditate upon His power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath to remind him more vividly of God and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 48
Isaiah 58:13, 14
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.."
Have you noticed in your reading of the Bible, not once does the Bible say the Sabbath is of the Jews. In order for the Sabbath to belong to the Jews, the Jews would’ve had to be the ones resting on that day first. Why is the Sabbath called, “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God? Why does God say take not away your foot from my Holy day! Why? Because the Sabbath was His, before it was ours! It was His rest before it was our rest, and by resting His Holy day we are entering His rest!
Now we can understand why no other day in the week can ever be the Sabbath. It took the “resting” of God to make the day Holy, and there is nowhere in scripture that tells us God rested on Sunday. Scripture does tell us He rested on Sabbath, the seventh day and He not only did it in the creation week but He also did it in the Salvation week.
Does God force us to rest on His Holy day? No. We have a choice. God is a loving and merciful God. If you want to rest on some other day, God will not stop you, But think on this my friend, whose rest are you entering when you enter rest on say, “Sunday?”
Satan has hated the Sabbath at creation, before the captivity, after the captivity, in the early church, during the dark ages, and now here at the end. He has always hated God's Holy day. In order to steal God's worshipers and cause confusion, satan saw he needed a day of rest also, so he makes claim that the day Sunday is Holy because that’s the day Jesus emerged from the grave. But we now know what it takes for a day to be Holy.
God tells us there will be a seal on His people in the end times. There will also be a mark of the beast on satan's followers. And folks, it’s all about the day of rest. It’s no computer chip, or a chip in the back of your hand, or anything remotely close to that. It’s the day. It’s whether or not you will stand fast, no matter what, even to death, and enter your rest with God the Creator, on the seventh day Sabbath. Sunday laws will soon be here. Soon satan will try to force all to worship him. Do not be deceived.
1Th 5:21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (I gently urge you, always use the King James Version of the Bible)
It’s my humble prayer that each and everyone one will hold fast to God's love and inter into and enjoy God's rest, today and soon forever in His kingdom. Amen
By Dennis Schelles
Each and every day that passes, satan's plans of entrapping God's people comes closer and closer to fulfillment, just as the plans of God race through these end times to seal his people. It is a battle over ,You, Me, Us. Soon there will be a law passed that will forbid us to worship God on His Holy seventh day. I believe before that time, we are going to hear and be able to read many, many reasons why the seventh day Sabbath has been abolished, changed, is only for the Jews, not biblical, and who knows what else.
Recently I heard a statement against the Sabbath that I am putting in the category of “who knows what else” and it brings two arguments against the Sabbath. It involves the creation account in Genesis.
The statement was said, “the Sabbath day is not a Holy day for all men, because you can find No direct command for Adam and Eve to keep the Sabbath. The Bible just says God rested on the seventh day because He (God) had worked six. This proves that the Sabbath is for Jews, as God did not give the command to keep the Sabbath until Mt. Sinai.
Is this correct? No, Why? Well, let's take a deep look at some facts.
God IS the Subject of Creation
.
Did you know between Gen 1:1 and Gen. 2:4 the name God is used 35 times: It says, God created, God said, God saw, God called, God made, God set them, God blessed
Genesis 1:31:
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
God did all of His work in the first six days
Genesis 2:2, 3:
The seventh day is God-centered
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Where is man here in Genesis 2:2, 3? He is no where to be found. Man does not show up till the sixth day. In these two verses, man is only one day old. In the first week of this world's existence, who is the one doing all the work and the resting? God is!
And God is at the very center of the seventh day. Now let's look at the word “rested”
He rested.
The Hebrew word for “rested” is shabbat; this is were we get our word “Sabbath” from. It does not describe the manner of God’s rest but rather that He ceased. We use the word “rest” in a similar way in our courts when we say: “The prosecution rests” or ceases.
Now we can tell what the bible means when it uses the word “cease” by looking at some other texts.
Nehemiah 6:3:
“So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"
Psalm 46:8, 9:
“Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.”
So the word shabbat does not explain the manner (the how) of God’s rest but only that on the Seventh day He ceased from creating.
In fact, in Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words It says:
“The writer of Genesis 2:3 is not stressing rest from work but rather God is ceasing from His creative work since it was complete.”
It’s God’s Week!
He worked six and He rested on the seventh. There is no reference to man working or man resting.
How did God Rest?
The question still persists: How did God rest on the seventh day? What did He do on the seventh day when he ceased?
The word shabbat does not explain how God rested. Do we have any hints elsewhere on the manner of God’s rest on the seventh day?
We can know one thing for certain: God did not rest because he was tired. His rest was not from physical exhaustion.
Isaiah 40:28:
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.”
Exodus 31:17
“It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested [shabbat] and was refreshed. [naphash]' "
Uh hu! Some would say, see, God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel. It is a sign between them and God. We are not Israelites, or are we? Is not Israel Abraham's seed, and if you are in Christ, you are Abraham's seed, this is according to His promise.
Romans 4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Back to the text we just read,
“It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested [shabbat] and was refreshed. [naphash]' "
In the original writings of Moses the word “refreshed” is “naphash.” Naphash means “to take a breath”
So, God took a breath. Like an artist who has just finished a masterpiece!
In Genesis 2:2, 3 Moses tells us that God did three things with the Sabbath at creation:
Ge 2:2
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested [Shabbat] on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Ge 2:3
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.
He rested on it and he blessed it, and He sanctified it. Moses writes again in the book of (Exodus 20:11) that God did the same three things at creation. But there is an important difference. The word for “rest” in Exodus is not the same as in Genesis. Now why would Moses change the word in Exodus? Simply because in Genesis God wanted to emphasize that He (God) ceased from creating while in Exodus God wanted to underline how He rested after He ceased creating.
Let's take a close look at that:
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them IS, and rested [nuach] the seventh day. Wherefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
The word "nuach" describes the quality of rest after work. It appears some 65 times in the Old Testament and is used in conjunction with the concepts of peace, tranquility, stillness, quietness and rejoicing after much activity has taken place. It is used to describe the resting of the ark on Mt. Ararat after the turmoil of the flood (Genesis 8:4), the resting of birds after flight (II Samuel 21:10), the resting of insects after flight (Exodus 10:14), the resting of feet after walking (Joshua 3:13), the resting of Israel after being in bondage to their enemies (Joshua 23:1)
1 Chronicles 22:9: (Notice the connotation of rest, peace and quietness:)
“Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest [nuach]; and I will give him rest [nuach] from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days.”
Esther 9:17, 18: (Israel rested and had a day of feasting and gladness)
“This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. And on the fourteenth day of the month they rested [nuach]and made it a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested [nuach], and made it a day of feasting and gladness”.
Proverbs 29:17:
“Correct your son and he will give you rest [nuach]; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.”
Zephaniah 3:17
“The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet [nuach] you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Nuach denotes a delightful rest after toil or turmoil with joy, gladness and feasting! At creation we are told that the earth was without form and void and covered with darkness. But God worked to bring order out of chaos and fullness out of emptiness.
Was there any celebration in heaven over God's six day creation?
Yes! All heaven celebrated with the Creator!
Job 38:4-7
“"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars [the angels] sang together, and all the sons of God [the inhabitants of the sinless worlds] shouted for joy?”
Lets turn our attention from the bible and let's see what Ellen White says about all this:
“God looked with satisfaction upon the work of His hands. All was perfect, worthy of its divine Author, and He rested, not as one weary, but as well pleased with the fruits of His wisdom and goodness and the manifestations of His glory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
The Sabbath was hallowed at the creation. As ordained for man, it had its origin when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7. Peace brooded over the world; for earth was in harmony with heaven. "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good;" and He rested in the joy of His completed work. . DA 281
“In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation. When "the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them" (Gen. 2:1), the Creator and all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7.” DA 769
So when was the Sabbath Sanctified and Blessed?
I have always thought that God had blessed and sanctified the Sabbath as the day began. But as we read the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy very carefully it has become clear to me that God did not bless and sanctify the Sabbath until it ended.
Some of you may be thinking, “really” others may be thinking, “I knew that” For those of you that are thinking “really” let's read Genesis 2:3 again.
Genesis 2:3: God rested and then sanctified!
“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Exodus 20:11: God rested and then sanctified!
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it, therefore resting the seventh day.
Is that what the text says? No! Read it again. He rested first! Then He blessed and hallowed it.
So, when did the first Sabbath become Holy according to the book of Gen. and Ex.? The Sabbath became Holy when the day ended.
What makes something holy? Notice Exodus 3:5:
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, or the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground.
God is present in the seventh day because he rested every hour, minute and second. God did not declare the seventh day holy but rather made it holy by His rest. You see, the seventh day could not be holy until God was present in it and God was present in it because He rested upon it. It was the presence of God in the time of the seventh day that made it holy. Every second that God rested made that second holy. When He had rested every second, then the entire day was holy.
Are you wondering what Ellen White might say about this?
“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
“Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest. It was a memorial of the work of creation, and thus a sign of God's power and His love.” The Desire of Ages, p. 281
[notice that God did not give it to Adam until after the day ended. God had just worked six days, and God had just rested the seventh! Now God gives it to man as a Holy day.]
“The Lord's day mentioned by John was the Sabbath, the day on which Jehovah rested after the great work of creation, and which He blessed and sanctified because He had rested upon it.” My Life Today, p. 259
“God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because He rested upon it from all His wondrous work of creation.” Testimonies for the Church, volume 4, p. 247
“Hallowed by the Creator's rest and blessing, the Sabbath was kept by Adam in his innocence in holy Eden” Great Controversy 453
Can I ask you this, How could God have given the Sabbath to man in God's creation week if the seventh day was not Holy yet? The fourth commandment did not apply to Adam until the second Sabbath, why? The commandment says to work six and rest the seventh, Adam and Eve had not yet worked six! Here is another thought, God needed to give them an example on how to rest on His Holy day before they would even know how to obey. So now we know why we do not find in the creation story any reference of a command to keep the seventh day holy for us because the first week is not man's week, the first week is God's week and God Himself rested the seventh day, therefore making it Holy.
Why no Evening and Morning?
Keeping in mind that the first week is God’s week. God worked six and God rested on the seventh. The seventh day had no evening or morning for God because He did not begin a new cycle of work, He is still resting from his creative works.
Put another way, when God rested on the seventh day, he continued resting because he did not work the next day. On the other hand, the next day was a day of work for man so the seventh day did have an evening and a morning for man.
Ellen G. White:
“As regards this world, God's work of creation is completed. For "the works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3. But His energy is still exerted in upholding the objects of His creation.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 115
“Although the Lord has ceased His work in creating, He is constantly employed in upholding and using as His servants the things which He has made [Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17]. Said Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (MS 4, 1882). 6BC 1062
“As regards this earth, Scripture declares the work of creation to have been completed. "The works were finished from the foundation of the world." Hebrews 4:3. But the power of God is still exercised in upholding the objects of His creation.” Education pp. 130, 131
God has been resting from creative works since creation week. The seventh day never ended for God because He is still resting from creating. His work now is the work of upholding.
John 5:17
“But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."”
These are works of redemption and restoration.
What about us, no evening and morning for us?
Yes, the seventh day does have an evening and a morning for us
• Seventh day did have a beginning and an end because God set the day apart when it ended. This could not have happened if it had continued indefinitely
• We were told, be fruitful and multiply, Genesis 1:28. Work six days, Exodus 20:9 and celebrate the Sabbath from evening to evening, Leviticus 23:32
• The sun rises and sets on the seventh day just like every other day. The day does have an evening and morning which is determined by the rising and the setting of the sun:
“When the Lord declares that He made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, He means the day of twenty-four hours, which He has marked off by the rising and setting of the sun. Testimonies to Ministers, p. 135
• So a numeral adjective is used of the seventh day just like the first six days
• You could not obey the fourth commandment if the seventh never ended for us.
• At the end of the seventh day God worked no more but the very next day man began the cycle of work. This shows that the seventh day had no evening and morning for God but it did have for man.
God gave the Week to Adam
Mark 2:27 “And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for the Jews and not Jews for the Sabbath.”
Right? No, read it correctly:
“And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
So how does Man Relate to that First Sabbath?
Adam and Eve were alive that first Sabbath and must have seen God rest. Like a loving parent, God says to Adam and Eve, “See, I have worked six days and I have rested the seventh, the first week belongs to me, I have created for you an example, now here, I give the week to you. Work six and honor me on the seventh” How do I know that? Well, we can read in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 111
“Like the Sabbath, the week originated at creation, and it has been preserved and brought down to us through Bible history. God Himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest for man.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 111
“Because He had rested upon the Sabbath, "God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,"--set it apart to a holy use. He gave it to Adam as a day of rest.” The Desire of Ages, p. 281
“God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because He rested upon it from all His wondrous work of creation. The Sabbath was made for man, and God would have him put by his labor on that day, as He Himself rested after His six days' work of creation.” 4T 247
In summery we can now say,
• It was God who kept that first Sabbath
• The fourth commandment applies to Adam and Eve beginning with the second Sabbath of human history
• They had to work six first in order to keep the fourth commandment
• They could not keep the first Sabbath holy if it was not yet holy.
• They could not follow God’s example until He had first given it.
“God made man in His own image and then gave him an example of observing the seventh day, which He sanctified and made holy.” Lift Him Up, p. 38
Gen. 1:26-31 “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
Exodus 20:8-11: (some of us can recite this by heart, but let's read it together)
8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. In it though shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 11 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 halloed it.
“After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God's great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God's wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his Maker.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 47
God gave Adam and Eve the Scenic Tour !
“God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven that he might more fully contemplate the works of God and meditate upon His power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath to remind him more vividly of God and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 48
Isaiah 58:13, 14
“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.."
Have you noticed in your reading of the Bible, not once does the Bible say the Sabbath is of the Jews. In order for the Sabbath to belong to the Jews, the Jews would’ve had to be the ones resting on that day first. Why is the Sabbath called, “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God? Why does God say take not away your foot from my Holy day! Why? Because the Sabbath was His, before it was ours! It was His rest before it was our rest, and by resting His Holy day we are entering His rest!
Now we can understand why no other day in the week can ever be the Sabbath. It took the “resting” of God to make the day Holy, and there is nowhere in scripture that tells us God rested on Sunday. Scripture does tell us He rested on Sabbath, the seventh day and He not only did it in the creation week but He also did it in the Salvation week.
Does God force us to rest on His Holy day? No. We have a choice. God is a loving and merciful God. If you want to rest on some other day, God will not stop you, But think on this my friend, whose rest are you entering when you enter rest on say, “Sunday?”
Satan has hated the Sabbath at creation, before the captivity, after the captivity, in the early church, during the dark ages, and now here at the end. He has always hated God's Holy day. In order to steal God's worshipers and cause confusion, satan saw he needed a day of rest also, so he makes claim that the day Sunday is Holy because that’s the day Jesus emerged from the grave. But we now know what it takes for a day to be Holy.
God tells us there will be a seal on His people in the end times. There will also be a mark of the beast on satan's followers. And folks, it’s all about the day of rest. It’s no computer chip, or a chip in the back of your hand, or anything remotely close to that. It’s the day. It’s whether or not you will stand fast, no matter what, even to death, and enter your rest with God the Creator, on the seventh day Sabbath. Sunday laws will soon be here. Soon satan will try to force all to worship him. Do not be deceived.
1Th 5:21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (I gently urge you, always use the King James Version of the Bible)
It’s my humble prayer that each and everyone one will hold fast to God's love and inter into and enjoy God's rest, today and soon forever in His kingdom. Amen
The Discoveries of Ron Wyatt
