Chapter Four – Law of God, Not Moses

Think for a moment. Almost everything God says to do, men do not do. Almost everything God saysnot to do, men do. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ says, “Swear not at all.” Yet people routinely swear, over Bibles in courtrooms and about nearly everything else one can think of. He says, “Love your enemies,” so men hate them and kill them in war, and many other ways. Also in the Sermon on the Mount, He says, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law,” yet preachers declare, “You can’t keep the law. Christ did away with it because He kept it for us.”

Why do human beings seemingly examine the Bible for everything God says in His Word, only to find a reason to do or believe the exact opposite?

The Sabbath Command

Just shortly after the manna test, the three-to-four million Israelites arrived en masse at Mt. Sinai. There, they were given the Ten Commandments by God through Moses. The Sabbath is the fourth command.

Let’s read the entire Sabbath commandment: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labour, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: 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” (Exod. 20:8-11).

Several points are vital to understand. First, God said, “Remember the Sabbath.” Again, Israel had forgotten it during their time in Egypt. God had just miraculously revealed the Sabbath—through the manna—as holy time and He wanted Israel to “remember” this time that they had forgotten. Why do men today want to forget a commandment that begins with the word remember? In a world that has forgotten it, God tells you—today—to remember the Sabbath. Will you?

Second, God (actually Christ) commands to abstain from work on the seventh day. God made the Sabbath as a time for man to rest from the previous six days of work. The rest command is all-encompassing. He knew that man would need this rest—physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. This is another reason the Sabbath is literally “for man.” It is a weekly opportunity to break away from the daily routine, commune more closely with God and reflect on our purpose for being.

God does command human beings to work six days. He wants man to provide for himself (and his family) and manage his life and finances in accordance with His laws. Many verses, such as John 5:17,36, show that both God the Father and Christ work—so should we.

Third, is the critically important point revealing that God regives the Sabbath by hearkening to its place and creation in the original creation week. Exodus 20:11 uses practically the same language as Genesis 2:2-3. More than 2,500 years had passed from the time of creation. God explains that the Sabbath is still holy—HALLOWED—time.

An important side note is in order here. Though Genesis 2:2-3 does not use the term “the Sabbath day,” Exodus 20 does. This is critical because Exodus 20 directly references the Genesis 2 creation account. While both use the term “the seventh day,” Exodus merely adds that this is “the Sabbath,” therefore making it one and the same as the Sabbath from creation. The Sabbath did not, technically, first appear at Mt. Sinai as some claim. Remember, the same Christ who was LORD of “the Sabbath” made it at creation. The “seventh day” and “the Sabbath” are synonymous! Do not let anyone cleverly twist terms to “prove” that the Sabbath is 2,500 years newer than God says it is!

Fourth, the seventh day is called “the Sabbath of the LORD”—not “the Sabbath of the Jews” or “the Sabbath of the Israelites.” The phrase “of the LORD” connotes possession. An equivalent way of saying this is “the Lord’s Sabbath.” Following basic reasoning, the seventh day is “the Lord’s day.”

No wonder Christ called the Sabbath “the Lord’s day.” Sunday has never been the Lord’s day—it is “the Sun’s day,” plain and simple. Yes, men have given the seventh day the pagan name of Saturday(Saturn’s day), but it has always been God’s day—the true Lord’s day. Also, since the original Sabbath command uses the term “the Sabbath of the LORD,” it should be easy to see why the same Lord (Christ) would say to the Pharisees that He was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5).

Christ’s Resurrection Was Not on Sunday, the Supposed “Lord’s Day”

Surely some will cite Revelation 1:10 and try to apply the term “Lord’s Day” there to Sunday. This is usually done by saying that Christ’s Resurrection from the tomb was on a Sunday.

We have seen that many theologians and religionists have long admitted that the true Sabbath of the Bible is the seventh day. Saturday is the seventh day of the week (any good dictionary states this), and the weekly cycle has never been broken. However, the ministers of this world have had to carefully devise “explanations” that dismiss many clear scriptures about God’s plain command to keep His Sabbath. Instead of letting God’s Word change their beliefs to conform to His truths, they change the words or their meanings to make them fit their beliefs! They justify Sunday-keeping even though God’s Word has never justified this!

God has always instructed, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8). He has never said, “Remember the first day (the pagan Sun’s day) to keep it holy,” or authorized His Church or mankind to do this. Nor did He ever command or allow His people to observe numerous other pagan festivals and days of worship, kept by this world’s churches.

We have just introduced why theologians and so many others must conclude that Christ’s Resurrection was on Sunday! Consider. This is why Sunday is commonly referred to as “the Lord’s Day.” While the true “Lord’s Day” of the Bible is actually the Day of the Lord—the Day of His WRATH (Rev. 1:10; 15:1, 7; Joel 2:1-11 and over 30 other places in the prophets)—the term, the Lord’s Day, has come to be synonymous with Sunday. But why? The reason is simple. If Sunday can be established as the day Christ was resurrected—i.e., the “Lord’s Day”—it becomes a means of validating and “authorizing” the keeping of Sunday by the churches of the world, in place of God’s true Sabbath.

It is interesting that the churches of this world will often admit to making a half-hearted effort at keeping nine of the Ten Commandments. Typically, they will acknowledge that it is wrong to steal, kill, covet, bear false witness, and commit adultery. They will also acknowledge that honouring one’s father and mother, avoiding idolatry and taking God’s name in vain—while also claiming to follow the God described in the First Commandment—are basically good things to do. However, most do a poor job of actually keeping these nine Commandments, and teach that Christ officially did away with them and “kept them for us.” But most will agree, at least tacitly, that these nine commandments are “nice principles.”

Exodus 20:8-11 reveals Sabbath-keeping is the Fourth Commandment—a fundamental LAW of God! The Sabbath was hallowed—made into holy time—by God at creation. God never hallowed the first day of the week.

Therefore, more than the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition collapses if Christ was in the grave for 72 hours instead of 36. (This is discussed in Chapter Seven.) The largest single “reason” for the unscriptural tradition (recall Mark 7:7) of Sunday-keeping collapses at the same time. Again, God has always said, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” never “Remember Sunday to keep it holy—and just call it the Lord’s day!” Actually, Christ’s Resurrection occurred late Saturday afternoon, between 3 and 6 p.m. If the day of His Resurrection is important—THEN IT POINTS TO THE SABBATH, not Sunday!

All arguments that Sunday is the Lord’s Day are easily exposed as a product of rebellious human reasoning from people who refuse to OBEY GOD! An entire later chapter will thoroughly expose this idea for the falsehood that it is.

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