With the calendar being changed so many times, by so many nations, over so many decades, how do we know when Monday, Tuesday, etc. actually is? Is what we call the first day perhaps the fourth day? How do we know that the second day is on the second day of the week? Perhaps a more complicated question is … “What day is the first day of the week?” If we know when the first day of the week was we would know when the seventh day and the first day of the week is … that is, we would know when Saturday and Sunday falls in any given week.
The truth is … we just don’t know! We would love to know because it will clear up many questions as to which day the seventh day … called the Sabbath is. From the Jewish calendar we have the Jewish Sabbath, “shavat” (to rest) observed throughout the year on the seventh day of the week. They say God rested on the seventh day. Correct … but is the seventh day as we know it the seventh day immediately after God’s six days of creation? No one knows. We are looking at:
Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Over the last day or two we have come a long way but we do not know when the first seventh day was.
1) Our very best response is that of one day in seven. For our purposes in our lifetime, the calendar as it is, is extremely helpful. For centuries the Romans used a period of eight days in civil practice, but in 321 AD, Emperor Constantine established the seven day week and designated Sunday as the first day of the week. Today the majority of the world uses what we call the Gregorian calendar, named after pope Gregory XIII. This he introduced in 1582 to replace the Julian calendar which was previously used. The difference between the two is that the Gregorian calendar omits a leap year in three centurial years every 400 years and left the leap day unchanged. The most suitable day for a rest day in our world is Sunday, which is the first day of the week.
2) To Israel God said “remember”.
Ex 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
This Commandment which is part of the Ten Words (Ten Commandments) was given after God removed Israel from their slave drivers, who functioned at the command of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
(1) The starting premise of a Sabbath Day for Israel related directly to God creating over a six day period and resting on the seventh day. In commemoration and in honor of God’s words in Genesis chapter 2, the Israelites were required to cease formal work and rest on the seventh day, now called the Sabbath Day. Up until now, apart from when in Egypt, they celebrated the Sabbath Day. We still do not know exactly when the seventh day was, especially as there were at least one “floating” Sabbath Day. Take as an example:
Lev 23:33 The LORD said to Moses, 34 “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the LORD’S Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. 35 The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. 36 For seven days present offerings made to the LORD by fire, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work.”
This day would not be on the same day every year. My point is that we really do not know when the actual Sabbath Day was in the beginning. If this Sabbath Day was on the same day every year, and every day does not fall on the same day the following year, which day was it one?
2) What we do know is that we are to work for six days.
Ex 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
This is a command from God to His people. Note that it was not only for the house owner or the head of the home. It included the entire household … children to servants to animals … even foreigners within one’s precinct.
3) The purpose of the seventh day is to be a Sabbath Day. It is explained like this:
Ex 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
Remember that “holy” means separated as a distinct day as … a Sabbath to the LORD your God. Couple this with … Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. This helps us to understand that the day is sacred and to be used to focus upon God, His goodness, grace and His salvation. God set apart Abraham to be a people and through his grandson Jacob formed the nation of the Hebrews in Egypt. They grew numerically to the point where Pharaoh saw them as a threat to his rule and enslaved them. God, under the leadership of Moses brought them out of the bondage of slavery and took them through the desert towards the Land of Promise, Canaan. This was a type of new creation and a salvation. God, after the six days of creation set apart (made holy) a day for rest and reflection upon the Creator in worship, so in giving the Table of Commandments, God included a Sabbath Day to cease from all work to focus on God and worship Him with thankful hearts.
4) When Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses repeated the Ten Commandments to them, reminding them of what God instituted and what they had been doing since Exodus chapter 20:
Dt 5:12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”
Verse 15 is reminiscent of:
Ex 20:1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
Before we get to a Christian view and a Gospel understanding of the seventh day, we need to understand that creation lead to a rest day to focus on God in all His majesty and glory. Salvation from the slavery of Egypt and being taken into a New Land … a Land of Promise was a New Creation. Creation was God’s people in His provided place under His rule. The Promised Land was God’s people in His provided place under His rule. Ceasing from all worldly work to give special attention, glory and honor to Him who is seated upon His Throne, ruling His people, for both the place provided and the free salvation given, coming from grateful hearts is pleasurable to God and spiritually nourishing to His people.
Wonderful God, Glorious Father, today we already see where the teaching on the seventh day is leading us to. How right, proper and fitting that You in grace set apart one day in seven to be holy unto You, so that we Your people might devote time and energy to our Lord, the One, True, Living God. Amen.