Who kept the Sabbath in the past?
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God’s people have always kept the seventh-day Sabbath since the beginning of creation!
Gen 2 (v. 2) And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Looking at the English word “rested” one can simply read a concordance which describes what the root word in the Hebrew language translates to:
Gen 2: 2 hebrew [ 7673 ] Shabath (shaw-bath’) = to repose or desist from exertion, to keep the Sabbath, to celebrate.[1]
The root word for the English “rested” = to keep the Sabbath.…in the Hebrew translation! So when Adam was created on the sixth day, he was invited to celebrate with God, on the seventh-day Sabbath!!
What day did the “Father” of the world’s Abrahamic religions keep holy?
The Abrahamic religions refer to three sister monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) that claim the prophet Abraham as their common forefather. These religions account for more than half of the world’s total population today.[2]
Gen 26 (v. 4) .…I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; (v. 5) because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.
My commandments and My laws: Was God talking about the 10 commandments listed in Exodus 20, verses 1-17?
Exod 20 (v. 8) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (v. 9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (v. 10) but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
So in the beginning, with Abraham as the origin, all three of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) started out keeping the seventh-day Sabbath as a time to worship God.
Worship, ceremonies, and religion-related customs differ substantially between the various Abrahamic religions. Among the few similarities are a seven-day cycle in which one day is nominally reserved for worship, prayer, or other religious activities; this custom is related to the Biblical story of Genesis, where God created the universe in six days, and rested in the seventh. Islam, which has Friday as a day for special congregational prayers, does not subscribe to the "resting day" concept.[2]
Anybody looking at the calendar can soon discover that the seventh-day Sabbath is on Saturday, but the followers of Abraham have chosen to worship on different days. Who are we talking about?
Gen 25 (v. 8) Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age.…and was gathered to his people. (v. 9) And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah….in the field of Ephron….
Ishmael was Abraham's eldest son, born by his wife's handmaiden Hagar. In Islamic tradition, he was the ancestor of the prophet Muhammad and the son whom Abraham offered as a sacrifice to God.[3]
Now the religion of Islam, which has its roots from the lineage of Ishmael, worships on Friday (the Muslim Sabbath).
From the traditions of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, we learn that “The best day in the sight of God is Friday, the day of congregation.” Congregational prayers (obligatory for men) are one of the most strongly emphasized duties in Islam. It is a time when Muslims come together to worship One God, and find strength and comfort by standing shoulder to shoulder and reaffirming their faith and devotion to Him.[4]
(Quran 62:9) “O you who believe! When the call to prayer is proclaimed on Friday hasten earnestly to the remembrance of God, and leave aside business. That is best for you if you but knew.”
It is important that a Muslim not neglect Friday Prayer due to work, study, or other worldly matters. Believers should make attending this prayer a priority since ignoring it three times in a row, with no valid reason, will cause a believer to stray from the straight path.[4]
And the reason why they are to keep the "Friday" holy instead of any other day?
"The best day on which the sun rises is Friday. It is the day Adam was created. It is the day when Adam entered the Heavenly Gardens, the day when he was expelled from it and also the day he died. Friday is the day on which the Day of Resurrection will take place.”[4]
And Christianity which followed through the lineage of Isaac, now worships on Sunday. Both of Abraham’s descendants having changed God’s original day of worship!!
Isaac is the son and heir of Abraham and the father of Jacob and Esau, as described in the Hebrew Bible. His story is told in the Book of Genesis. The half-brother of Abraham's son, Ishmael, Isaac was born miraculously when his mother was 90. He is primarily famed for his role as the faithful son who did not complain when Abraham prepared to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God.[5]
Why is it important to keep Sunday as a special and holy day? While it is the first day of the week, Sunday is also called the “eighth day”—a day signifying eternity. Sunday fulfills and completes the Sabbath because it anticipates our eternal rest in God. The Sabbath remembered the first creation. Sunday recalls the new creation in Christ and the Spirit.[6]
The heart of Sunday is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The practice of celebrating the Eucharist on Sunday dates from the earliest times. For example, St. Justin Martyr (AD 100-165) wrote as follows: “We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead”[6]
This is very interesting, since we learned that the Sabbath was instituted in the beginning as a memorial of creation; and someone has been trying to change mankind’s worship time to any other day than Saturday!!
The Sabbath, as the Bible reveals it, is a weekly celebration of God's power as our Creator. If we should ever forget the Sabbath, God knew that in time we would also forget Him as the Creator.[7]
Exod 20 (v. 10)....but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.... (v. 11) For in six days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.
And in fact, that is exactly what has happened. The world has almost universally forgotten the Sabbath....The result? Most of us no longer even believe in a Creator. Against all logic and reason, we prefer to believe that human beings are descended from apes....or even from floating bits of protoplasm in a primordial sea, ignited into life by the chance strike of a passing lightning bolt.[7]
And God’s word specifically tells us that the Creator only blessed “one” of those seven days that He instituted as part of His creation.
Gen 2 (v. 3) Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Exod 20 (v. 11) For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Now, the Muslim is correct in saying that Adam was created on Friday, which is the sixth day; but there is no mention of a special blessing for that day, or it being sanctified, or hallowed, like the holy Sabbath day.
Gen 1 (v. 27) So God created man in His own image….male and female He created them. (v. 28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth….” (v. 31) Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
And to the Christian who will quote the “first” day of the week, which is Sunday, to be set aside for holy worship; because the first day is when God, separated matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead. The bible says:
Gen 1 (v. 1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (v. 3) Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. (v. 4) .…and God divided the light from the darkness. (v. 5) .…So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Read the word of God for yourself and see; there was no act of sanctifying or hallowing the first day or the sixth day of creation; only the seventh-day Sabbath was given this special blessing by the Creator God.
Adam worshiped God on the seventh-day Sabbath, Abraham worshiped God on the seventh-day Sabbath, both Isaac and Ismael were taught to keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy for worshiping a holy God. But at some point in time, mankind has been steered away from the original day of worship set-up by the Creator.
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References:
1. James Strong. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers.
2. Creative Commons, (2018). http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Abrahamic_religions
3. Creative Commons, (2018). http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ishmael
4. Aisha Stacey, (2010). https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/10170/friday-a-best-day-of-week/
5. Creative Commons, (2012). http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Isaac
6. Rediscover, (2006). http://rediscover.archspm.org/belonging/why-is-it-important-to-keep-sunday-as-a-special-and-holy-day/
7. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion's Gates, p.142, Hart Research Center.
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