The Sabbath

Study: The Sabbath (SB)

Purpose of Study: To show that God gave us the sabbath and that the antichrist has a counterfeit.

Center It: We find our rest in Jesus Christ who created the Sabbath for us to spend time with HIM.

Know It Mark It:

1. Daniel 7:25 2. Revelation 12:17 3. Exodus 20:8-11 4. John 1:1-3,14 5. Genesis 1:31-2:3 6. Mark 2:27,28 7. Luke 4:16 8. Luke 23:53-24:3 9. Matthew 24:20 10.Acts 13:14-16,37-39,42-44 11. Acts 18:1-4 12.Isaiah 66:22,23 (Appeal)

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We’re going to study the part of God’s law that has been attempted to be changed.

1. Daniel 7:25 - describes anti-christ power, what is it going to do in relationship to God’s law? Intends to change God’s law and time. Any attempt to change God’s times and laws would be doing the work of antichrist.

2. Revelation 12:17 - God’s special people will be obeying the commandments of God. (all ten) If the devil is mad at them, you want to be in that group. Daniel predicts the devil will try to change God’s times and laws then we see he is mad at those who don’t go along. There is one of God’s laws that deal specifically with time.

Let’s look at the part of the law that has experienced the change.

3. Exodus 20:8-11 - This is the Sabbath commandment which asks us to rest on the seventh day of the week, but there has been a change and now people are worshipping on the first day of the week.

Who made the Sabbath?

4. John 1:1-3,14 - Jesus is the Word that was with God, who is equal with God, He was the active agent in creation. Who was the God that said to keep the Sabbath? Jesus. Christ created the Sabbath. Let us now go back and see how it happened.

5. Genesis 1:31-2:3 - God rested on the seventh day and blessed it. Very specific about which day. Our year is based on the rotation of earth around sun. Our month comes from the rota- tion of the moon around the earth. Our day is how long it takes the earth to rotate on its axis.

Where in the sun moon or stars do we get a 7 day week? It’s not there. It only comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Bible is where we find the 7 day week. Yet it is kept all over the world.

A lot of people think that God is saying to just pick one day to worship Him on, work six days and rest one. However God blessed a specific day. Notice again “the seventh day” and “The Lord thy God”. What was the Sabbath made for?

6. Mark 2:27,28 - What day was man made on? The sixth day. What day was the Sabbath made? The seventh day. God made the Sabbath for mankind, does not say that the Sabbath was made for the Jews. The Sabbath is to be a blessing to humanity, not humanity to be a blessing for the Sabbath. (John 5:1, 6:4, 7:2 - feasts made for the Jews, but the Sabbath was for man)

How did Jesus relate to the Sabbath while He was on earth? Did He keep the Sabbath?

7. Luke 4:16 - went to the synagogue to read on the Sabbath day. Jesus kept the Sabbath in His life.

How do we know that Jesus taught and believed that the Sabbath was on Saturday?

8. Luke 23:53-24:3 - Jesus died on preparation day, good Friday = Friday, rested on Sabbath and was raised on the first day of the week, easter Sunday = Sunday. Jesus kept the Sabbath in His death.

We’ve learned Christ created the Sabbath in Eden, commanded the Sabbath on Sinai, kept the Sabbath in His life, clarified the Sabbath in his death and now we’ll find out how Jesus expect- ed his disciples to relate to the Sabbath after His death.

9. Matthew 24:20 - Jesus was talking in 31AD and he said that Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70AD, and for the 39 years in between He tells His disciples to pray that their flight would not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Jesus expected that after His death the winter would continue, so He was expecting that the Sabbath would continue after His death.

10.Acts 13:14-16,37-39,42-44 - Paul comes to church on Sabbath and the leaders ask if he has anything to say, so he preaches. Who begged to hear more preaching? The gentiles. Who hears the sermon on the next Sabbath? Almost the whole city. If the day was changed why wouldn’t they have announced that they did not need to wait until the next week, that they could have just come the next day? What was Paul doing the other six days of the week?

11. Acts 18:1-4 Paul was working six days a week and was preaching to both Jews and Greeks (gentiles) on Sabbath.

Let’s read a wonderful promise about the future.

Appeal: 12. Isaiah 66:22,23 - Sabbath has existed from the beginning and it will exist in the end.

God created the Sabbath in Eden, commanded it on Mount Sinai, kept it in His life, clarified it in His death. Everyone will be keeping the Sabbath in the new Heaven and the new earth. If all of these people in God’s history are committing to keeping the Sabbath, what would keep you from keeping it. Your choice is to follow Jesus Christ and keeping the day holy that HE blessed, or you can follow the antichrist and his deception of a counterfeit sabbath. Which will you choose? Who will you follow?