Exodus 31:15, commentary and pictures

Six days are given for ordinary work to be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord, on which no ordinary work is to be done, and whoever does work on that day defiles it and is cut off and surely put to death. The words were spoken by God through Moses, by Christ from within the cloud, at Mount Sinai after the directions for the tabernacle and just before the delivery of the tables of stone written with the finger of God. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign between God and His people throughout their generations forever and a perpetual covenant, by which they know that He sanctifies them, resting on His six days of creating heaven and earth and His rest and refreshing on the seventh. The commanded day is the seventh day and not the first, which remains a common working day that no human authority or custom can make holy, and putting Sunday in its place is Satan-directed work of the man of sin to change times and laws and make void the unchangeable law Christ came to fulfil and Himself kept. The Sabbath is God's test of loyalty in the last days and the condition for receiving His seal and pledge of perfect security, in direct contrast to the mark of the beast, while the law containing it is the standard at the judgment where refusal to keep it brings condemnation and the second death in the lake of fire. It must be obeyed even at great inconvenience and self-sacrifice, with unnecessary work laid aside and food prepared on the sixth day, its sacred hours given to rest, worship, and spiritual service, and its plain Thus saith the Lord proclaimed earnestly to all without smoothing the truth, joining its keepers to God and to one another and bringing blessing and eternal life.

Wording and Historical Setting

Six days are given for work to be done, but the seventh day is set apart as the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord, on which no ordinary work is to be done. The distinction is between the six working days and the seventh day made holy, with work allowed on the six preceding days and forbidden on the Sabbath. Keeping that seventh day holy is obedience to God's command, and it is not to be set aside for people's perceived needs even when obedience causes inconvenience.

Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death, being defiled and cut off from among the people. Under Israel's covenant deliberate Sabbath work was a capital offense, with death prescribed for the offender. The stated penalty shows the command is binding and not a matter of little importance.

The words were spoken by God through Moses at Mount Sinai after the directions for the tabernacle and just before the delivery of the tables of stone written with the finger of God. They were spoken by Christ from within the cloud, as the Creator of heaven and earth speaking through Moses to the children of Israel with certain and plain truth learned from the Bible alone and not from human teaching. They belong to the law proclaimed in awful grandeur, written by God on stone, placed in the ark, to be produced at the judgment where it will endure.

Israel had been compelled to work on the Sabbath in Egypt and had largely lost knowledge of the Sabbath through forced labor, so God guarded it in particular and firmly enforced its observance. That guarding applied even against the excuse that doing His own tabernacle work allowed Sabbath breaking, including workmen who might claim exemption because their work was sacred and under God's direction. Keeping the seventh day holy in this way distinguishes it as God's memorial and belongs to genuine sanctification.

The six days are six literal days of twenty-four hours marked off by the rising and setting of the sun, not six indefinite periods of time, for otherwise man could not observe the day specified in the fourth commandment. The Sabbath comes at the seventh day as so marked by the sun, as God's sign of obedience and memorial of creation.

The Sabbath-breaking death penalty was exacted in ancient Israel but is not now required. God bears long with transgressors rather than immediately putting every transgression to death, though those who make His law a dead letter will certainly bear the consequence of their own sin, as seen when fire from the Lord devoured Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire when they could not distinguish between the sacred and the common. Where believers are at liberty they are to keep His Sabbaths, but if imprisoned and placed in the chain gang they may be compelled to work on the Sabbath or else suffer punishment that may be death, a danger especially facing colored believers, so existing conditions must be considered with sanctified common sense.

Covenant Sign and Sanctification

Sabbath observance is a sign between God and His people throughout their generations forever and a perpetual covenant. The seventh day is set apart as a holy day of rest to the Lord in contrast to the six days for work, and ordinary work on that day is forbidden. Keeping the line between His people and the world unmistakably plain, the command is part of God's law and must be obeyed even when obedience causes great inconvenience and is not to be set aside for people's perceived needs. Doing any work on that day carried the death penalty for Israel under that covenant setting.

By that sign they know that the Lord sanctifies them. Keeping the Sabbath holy teaches what true sanctification is, and only those who obey are sanctified, blessed, and accepted. Keeping it is an act of obedience, and the Sabbath retains this meaning forever. The sign rests on creation, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed. Blessing and sanctifying that day, He made the seventh-day Sabbath His memorial of creation.

The command belongs to the Sabbath instruction that identifies the day as a sign of God's sanctifying power and grounds its observance in God's creation and rest, and it is binding and not a matter of little importance. Keeping the Sabbath distinguishes God's obedient, commandment-keeping people from the world and from unbelievers. Observing the seventh day shows they are God's people, and keeping it marks them as a people He sanctifies. God designed Sabbath observance to keep His people separate from the world and to preserve a right knowledge of Him, since correct views of the Creator make people holy and knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ is eternal life.

Keeping the Sabbath holy is the great test distinguishing those who keep the commandments of God from those who transgress His law. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to God and to His government, and a pledge of His power and willingness to sanctify those who obey, His covenant of peace and promise to do as He has promised. Those who knowingly transgress it after receiving its light are cut off from God's people. Parents therefore have the solemn responsibility of teaching their children to obey the Sabbath commandment so they may be numbered among God's people.

The Sabbath was instituted in Eden at creation, observed by the patriarchs, given again after deliverance from Egypt, and proclaimed at Sinai. Its meaning has not been lost, ended, or diminished, and it is to be kept through all generations forever. The Sabbath remains distinguished as holy to the Lord, and replacing it with another day cannot remove the Lord's blessing from it. The seventh day—not Sunday, the first day—is God's sanctified memorial of creation and a sign of allegiance to His law, distinguishing His commandment-keeping people from rebellion against it. The command applies throughout succeeding generations, including God's people joined to Israel through faith, because God does not change.

True Day Versus Counterfeit Day

The commanded day is the seventh day, not the first, for six days may be used for work but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord, set apart for religious meditation and worship and not as a common working day. Doing any work on that Sabbath carried the penalty of death and cutting off from among the people under Israel's covenant, which defines obedience to God and points to the seventh day, not a substitute day, as the Creator's appointed rest. Its sanctity and the Lord's blessing remain even if people put another day in its place, and replacing it with another day cannot remove the Lord's blessing from it because God does not change. Sunday is the first working day, a common working day with not one word of sanction and not one thread of sanctification placed in it, and human setting apart of it greatly dishonors God. No human authority, custom, or widespread observance can transfer the holiness God gave to the seventh day, and a false Sabbath misdirects people from the Creator's command.

God's law never changes and the Sabbath command is binding and unalterable, a clear and binding part of His law not subject to human reinterpretation and not a matter of little importance. It belongs to the Sabbath instruction that identifies the day as a sign of God's sanctifying power and grounds its observance in God's creation and rest, honored as His everlasting covenant which does not change. The Sabbath was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself, who made the world and made man and also made the Sabbath and gave it to man to keep holy. As Lord of the Sabbath He removed the mass of human tradition and rubbish piled on it to make its true meaning plain, declared He came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it, and kept it in strict obedience so that rulers had to hire false witnesses against Him. Keeping the Sabbath is plain as ABC, and breaking it is transgressing the law of God that will meet people in the judgment, while only the devil gives Sunday power to intimidate people out of keeping the day God gave.

To exalt the first day of the week and put it in place of the Lord's Sabbath is Satan-directed setting up of an image to be worshiped, as Nebuchadnezzar set up an image on the plain of Dura. It is the spurious first-day Sabbath, the child of the papacy accepted by human authorities and presented to the Protestant world as the true Sabbath, the work of the man of sin and of Roman Catholic authorities taking upon themselves to think to change times and laws as if changing God's law were their prerogative. Ministers who see its plain and decided force refuse to open their eyes to the wondrous things of God's law because obedience involves a cross, turning from a plain Thus saith the Lord to fables, a thus saith the papacy. To exalt Sunday as Sabbath in place of the seventh day defiles what is holy, sets aside God's supreme authority, greatly dishonors God, makes void the law of Jehovah, and puts people on the path of transgression and sin. The breach made by tearing down that memorial of creation and placing a false rest day in its stead must be repaired, the trampled foundation of many generations raised up and called honorable, and no plan treading the Sabbath under foot may be sanctioned.

Test Seal Judgment Persecution

The Sabbath is God's test and testing question, not a test devised by people but the Lord's test for all the world. Six days are given for work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord, with death stated for anyone who does work on that day. Keeping the Sabbath holy is the sign between God and His people throughout their generations, the great test distinguishing those who keep the commandments of God from those who transgress His law. It is the sign by which the loyalty of His people is tested in the last days, and the commandment-keeping people exalt God by keeping it. The Sabbath command is a clean, pure truth that means life to those who receive it, and rejecting its plain instruction means turning aside from God's word.

The Sabbath set forth is the mark of God, in direct contrast with the mark of the beast and His image, and understanding that distinction is for the interest of all. Knowing what the mark of the beast is and how to escape God's dread threatenings comes from knowing this mark of God, so that they may escape drinking the wine of the wrath of God proclaimed by the third angel. It is Bible-testing truth in the third angel's message, a divine everlasting covenant given as a sign and mark of God's government and of loyalty to God and relationship to Him. Keeping God's Sabbath is the condition for receiving God's seal, and if any in families refuse obedience to the Lord in keeping His Sabbath the seal cannot be placed upon them. That sealing is God's pledge of perfect security to His chosen ones, indicating they are God's chosen and appropriated to Himself as Christ's purchased possession, whom no one shall pluck out of His hands. Every soul who fastens to this covenant fastens to a golden chain of obedience where every link is a promise, regarding God's word as above the word of man and God's love as preferable to the love of man, and those who repent and return to loyalty by accepting God's mark show themselves true subjects ready to do His will. The Sabbath mark must be placed upon God's commandment-keeping people, kept in the spirit of true obedience showing that all God's commandments are to be practiced and that the Lord sanctifies His people.

God's law revealing His will and the principles of His government is the standard of righteousness at the judgment, where its principles determine a sentence of life or death. In the future judgment every case is decided, justified or condemned, according to obedience or disrespect to God's law and disregard of His requirements, and God's holy law is the only unerring standard to judge every soul and decide fitness of character for heaven. To know the law that God came from heaven to Mount Sinai to speak, and yet in defiance of that law to desecrate the Sabbath by laboring on that day, despises the Word of the Lord and constitutes an offense meriting the severest punishment, even death. Disregarding His holy Sabbath shows open contempt for His law and numbers the offender with unbelievers as a transgressor, unsanctified because he does not render God His due and refuses the sign distinguishing God's people, making Sabbathkeeping a life and death question. Those who hear these words and keep the Sabbath now will not have to read them with self-condemnation in the day when the books are opened and everyone is judged out of the things written therein. To exalt the first day of the week and put it in place of the Lord's Sabbath is Satan-directed setting up of an image to be worshiped, as Nebuchadnezzar set up an image on the plain of Dura.

In the final conflict those who remain faithful to God find their power and security in this sign and in the living word, while those who have broken their covenant with God will be without God and hope. Keeping the Sabbath of creation which God sanctified and blessed brings the church militant under the oppressive power of persecution from opposing religious powers. Keeping this creation Sabbath identifies God's commandment-keeping people and exposes them to persecution, for regard for the fourth commandment will distinguish God's worshipers who stand on God's Word from those who honor the beast's mark and seek to tear down the Creator's memorial. In the final test people who remain loyal will keep His Sabbath despite laws compelling observance of a rival day and punishing refusal, and obedience showing genuine allegiance is associated with the promise of eternal life. The Sabbath is God's sign between Him and His people, evidence of His kindness, mercy, and love, a token distinguishing them from all false religionists, with His pledge to bless the obedient, to be their God, to take them into covenant relation, and to fulfill His promise to them. Not the first day but the seventh day is the day God rested and was refreshed, satisfied with His work of creation when the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy, and human observance of the Lord's day of rest again causes joy among the angels of heaven.

Obedience Practice and Proclamation

Obedience to the command holds even when it causes great inconvenience to those who have no respect for the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is not to be set aside for people's perceived needs or supposed necessities. The requirement is positive and definite, calling for self-denial and self-sacrifice rather than embarrassment by confederacy with those who do not discern God's claims, and conscientious honor keeps covenant relation with Him and brings the blessings essential for a severely tried people. Obedience takes precedence over others' inconvenience, for by observing the seventh day people show they are God's people, separate from the world, loyal to Him, and pledged to His power and willingness to sanctify those who obey.

No unnecessary work is to be done on the Sabbath, so restaurants are to remain closed that workers may rest and worship, their closed doors testifying that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and Sabbath food is to be prepared on the sixth day. The question of opening restaurants to serve patrons even when they claim need for wholesome food is decided by the binding command that six days are allowed for work but the seventh is holy to the Lord. Even in sanitariums work is to be laid aside as far as possible and Sabbath truth made known clearly in a way that enlightens rather than offends, while the needs of suffering people are not neglected. Necessary feeding of patients and staff continues with as little labor as possible and real suffering is relieved, but ordinary treatments and operations that can be postponed must be deferred, and the way work is conducted is to honor God's memorial rather than conceal it. Proper observance by everyone connected with the sanitariums is to make God's sign visible to the world and exert a good influence, never hidden or compromised to follow worldly policies.

Keeping the day holy means devoting its sacred hours to physical rest and spiritual service, worship, holy conversation, special service, earnest heed to the Word, and acts of obedience, laying aside common business and secular and irreligious reading that would divert attention from its holiness. It is a special occasion for celebrating the memorial of creation, when Jesus is in the midst of little companies assembled to worship on the day He blessed and made holy, with angels present to enlighten and bless, bringing special blessing and a right to claim the rich blessings of Jehovah to every Sabbath kept in faith and obedience. Parents have the solemn responsibility to teach their children to obey the Sabbath commandment so they may be numbered among God's people, and the influence of observance is to be carried into daily work and home life. Workers are to plan beforehand so one day is given to rest and devotion, keeping the Sabbath sacred throughout every moment as the time for God to reveal Himself and sanctify His people, a sanctifying power and peace missed when it is neglected or treated as ordinary time. Obedience to the holy commandments given at creation and recapitulated from Sinai marks the party who love and fear God, while disobedience marks the disobedient and unholy, and no plain Thus saith the Lord is to be set aside for contrary sayings of men.

The plain Thus saith the Lord is to be read before congregations and before those determined to enact Sunday laws, with no controversy and no words of men, so that the burden falls on those who reject it, whose controversy is with God and not with those who present it. The command is plain and weighty truth to be proclaimed earnestly to all peoples without smoothing it down to gain favor, trusting Christ's all-power and His promise to be with His servants to the end of the world amid opposition, falsehood, and deception from false teachers. God's people now must give the Sabbath much more honor than they do, with voice and helping hands and zeal to place the standard of truth in every place, in order to bring the blessed experience promised in Isaiah into life as reality. Those who bear the sign, including medical missionaries and educators in institutions where God's law is magnified and Bible truth made prominent, reveal loyalty to their Leader by obeying His commandments and are not to be ashamed to bear the sign of their order openly rather than hiding it to follow worldly policy.

Keeping the fourth commandment secures keeping all the rest, for reverence for the Sabbath engraved on the first table leads to keeping the first three of duty to God and the last six of duty to fellow man. It is the golden clasp uniting man to God in supreme obedience and reverence and uniting man to fellow man, the covenant of peace and promise to do as He has promised, and eternal-life insurance for every soul striving in the right way on right principles, securing that they shall never fall. By Sabbath observance God designed that knowledge of Him as the only true and living God should be preserved, since correct views of the Creator make people holy and knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ is eternal life. The Sabbath has been displaced and torn down by placing a false rest day in its stead, leaving a breach in the law and a trampled foundation, and a people is to be raised up in the last days who keep holy the seventh day, acknowledge His sign as commandment-keepers distinct from the world, repair the breach, raise up the foundation of many generations, and call it honorable, sanctioning no plan that treads the Sabbath under foot. Keeping it in the spirit of true obedience shows all God's commandments are to be practiced, restores His moral image, fastens the soul to a golden chain where every link is a promise, and brings blessing, success, joy among angels, and the fulfillment of His word when human agents show love by keeping all His commandments.