Sabbath: Importance, Meaning, and Divine Significance

The Sabbath is profoundly important as a sign from God, demonstrating His creative power and holiness, and serving as a perpetual covenant between Him and His commandment-keeping people.6BC 1075.2+8 It is the Creator's memorial, intended to keep alive the truth that there is a God of almighty power who created the heavens and the earth and rested on the seventh day.19LtMs, Lt 17, 1904, par. 2+5 The observance of the seventh day, which God blessed and sanctified, is an essential element of Sabbath observance.CIHS 166.1+8 Here are some key reasons why the Sabbath is important:

• A Divine Command: God commanded the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath in the Ten Commandments, speaking it with His own voice and writing it with His own finger.ARSH January 19, 1860, page 69.9+3 This is the only Sabbath law, and it is based on the fact that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.HF 351.3+7

• "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work... 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 hallowed it." Exodus 20:8-11

• "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work... And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day." Deuteronomy 5:12, 14-15

• A Sign of God's Authority: The Sabbath commandment points out the true God as the Creator. By observing the Sabbath, we acknowledge Him as the true God, distinct from anything made by human hands.ARSH April 3, 1855, page 203.10+1 It bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark showing His authority.3TT 19.1

• "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you." Ezekiel 20:12

• "And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God." Ezekiel 20:20

• A Memorial of Creation: The Sabbath was instituted at creation, when God rested on the seventh day and blessed and sanctified it.19LtMs, Lt 17, 1904, par. 2+6 It serves as a perpetual reminder of God's creative work.FEE 219.1+4

• "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." Genesis 2:3

• "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Exodus 31:17

• Made for Man: Christ declared that "the Sabbath was made for man," indicating its universal application and benefit for all humanity, not just the Jews.SBBS 465.1+3 It was made for Adam, the parent of the human race, and includes his posterity throughout all time.ARSH November 1850, page 6.1+1

• "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:" Mark 2:27

• A Crucial Test of Obedience: The Sabbath was the specific point upon which God tested the Israelites' obedience to His law, and it remains a crucial test today.EP 287.1+1 A Sabbath-keeping people will be an obedient people, and how they treat the Sabbath reveals their character.ARSH December 31, 1857, page 57.9

• "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;" Jeremiah 17:24

• "But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Jeremiah 17:27

• Perpetuity and Unchangeable Nature: The fourth commandment is part of the moral law, which is holy, just, good, and perfect in all its parts and will endure as long as heaven and earth.ARSH January 19, 1860, page 69.9+6 The attempted change of the Sabbath by the papal power is considered a blasphemous act.ST June 11, 1894, par. 5+5

• "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matthew 5:18

• "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17

• A Day for Rest and Worship: The Sabbath is a day of rest from labor, but it is also intended as a day of worship and meditation, a time to draw near to God.21MR 295.1+5 It should be observed by resting from our own work and doing the Lord's work, which includes receiving and imparting life from God.PTUK March 15, 1894, page 166.2+2

• "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;" Isaiah 58:13

• Essential for Eternal Life: Obedience to all of God's law, including the Sabbath commandment, is absolutely essential to eternal life.ARSH March 7, 1865, page 107.1+1

• "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14

• "And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it." 2 John 1:6
  In summary, the Sabbath is a vital and unchanging part of God's law, a sign of His authority as Creator, a memorial of His creative act, and a crucial test of our obedience and loyalty to Him. Its observance is essential for those who seek to honor God and prepare for eternal life.6BC 1075.2+10