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From Sabbath to Saturday: The Story of the

Jewish Rest Day

The journey of the Sabbath, from its lunar beginnings to the last day of
a continuous week divorced from the moon's phases, is a fascinating
one. From Adam down to the disciples of Christ, we see God's Lunar
Sabbath day being kept by those "righteous pillars" of God -- the
Sabbath observers. Then, with the introduction of the planetary week
and the rise of the Babylonian rabbis, God's true Sabbath day goes
into eclipse and a radically different Sabbath emerges into view --
one governed by man's disobedience and the drive for commercial
gain. Now God's true Sabbath day is being restored to those who, like
the Bereans, "search the Scriptures daily to find out if these things
were so."

John D. Keyser

Jesus Christ had much to say about the Sabbath and its observance. In the gospel of Mark
we read about the beginning of Christ's ministry and the message that He taught. Repeatedly He
said that this message, or gospel, came directly from God the Father and was, therefore, God's
message to mankind. In Mark 1:1 we read: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." This
gospel of Jesus Christ is not a gospel from men about the person of Christ, but is the gospel of
Christ Himself -- the gospel Christ preached, the very gospel God the Father sent by Christ for
mankind!

After John the Baptist was thrown into prison, Jesus came to the Galilee region preaching
the good news of the Kingdom (or government) of God on this earth, calling on men to repent and
to believe that very message or gospel. He called His disciples and immediately, we read in Mark
1:21, "they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the SABBATH DAY he entered into the
synagogue." It was Jesus' custom or practice to attend the synagogue services on the Sabbath day,
as the four gospels point out.

Jesus preached in the synagogues in towns throughout Galilee -- see Mark 1:38-39. Some
time later Jesus and His disciples went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day (Mark 2:23) and
were accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath by plucking ears of corn to eat. In reply, Je-
sus showed the Pharisees how to observe the Sabbath by saying: "The sabbath was MADE FOR
MAN, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath" (Mark
2:27-28).

This is a pivotal text. Jesus said, "The sabbath was made." As one of those things that were
made, it had to have a MAKER! So who, then, made the Sabbath? We all know from the book of
Genesis that God is the Creator, but it is written in Ephesians 3:9 that "...God...created all things

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