Exodus 20:8-11, 31:12-16
Is Sunday the Sabbath?
The simplest answer I can think of is “No.” Various Scripture passages clearly identify the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week. A quick check of the calendar should verify that Sunday is the first day. So just in that sense, Sunday is not the Sabbath. However, we need to probe beyond the placement of days in the week.
A law. Some 2500 years after God gave man the gift of one-day-a-week rest, He codified the gift into law. He demanded that His people not do any work one day each week. He stipulated a severe penalty for violation of that law: death. The history of the children of Israel includes the sad account of a man who dared ignore the Sabbath law. Can you imagine facing your executioners knowing that if you’d just let those sticks lie till tomorrow you wouldn’t be here (Numbers 15:32-36)!
A day. God didn’t let His people decide on their own, neither as a group nor as individuals, which day of the week they would observe His laws regarding the rest day. He specified one specific day to be kept, generation after generation for centuries. God declared the last day of the week to be His day. So God sanctified the Sabbath. This would be their day of rest and a special day to delight in God. They were to keep it with total rest.
A sign. God chose the Israelites from all of Earth’s tribes and nations, calling them out, sanctifying them, making them holy. And they knew it. Each time the Sabbath cycled around, they remembered the covenant between them and God. No doubt they remembered the words Jehovah had spoken to Moses, “It is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Exodus 31:13). They knew that they were what they were because of God’s work in them and among them. At least that was the Lord’s plan!
So why then is Sunday our special day?!
Read the rest: The Lord’s Day
