Key Thought : Within the Ten Commandments the Sabbath stands as its seal in that it identifies who God is, confirms the territory He rules, and reveals His right to rule.
May 20, 2023

1. Have a volunteer read Revelation 14:7, Revelation 14:10, James 2:8-13.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does it mean when it says the hour of His judgment is (or has) come? Could this message be applied at any time in church history?
3. Personal Application: What does judgment having come imply about our accountability and responsibility? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “What do our heredity and environment have to do with our daily choices? How can we be held accountable for character defects we didn’t choose to have? Is it possible to overcome them?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:9-11, Deuteronomy 5:12-15.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why would you connect Sabbath worship with this call in Revelation 14:6,7 to worship Him who made the heavens, earth, and everything in them?
3. Personal Application: How does the Sabbath answer life’s important questions like where did I come from, why am I here, and where am I going? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why do you Adventists emphasize the seventh-day Sabbath so much? Why do you think the day we worship is more important than the way we worship?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Psalm 33:6-9, Hebrews 11:3.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these passages tell us about how God created the world?
3. Personal Application: What significance would the Sabbath have if God did not create the world in six twenty-four hour periods of time? Can one be an evolutionary Creationist and a Seventh-day Adventist? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “How can you believe that the world was created in six literal days when the scientific evidence points to a world that is millions or billions of years old?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, 2 Peter 3:13.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts tell us about God’s creative and recreative power?
3. Personal Application: How can you personally make the Sabbath a foretaste of heaven in your own life and in your family? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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The great controversy, which began in heaven millennia ago, was over the question of God’s authority. The challenge remains the same today, as well.

Read Revelation 14:7, Revelation 14:9, and Revelation 14:12. Summarize these verses by completing the sentences on the lines below.

Revelation 14:7 is a call to _________________

Revelation 14:9 is a solemn appeal not to _________________

Revelation 14:12 describes a people who _________________

These passages make it clear that the central issue in the conflict in the last days between good and evil, Christ and Satan, is worship. Do we worship the Creator or the beast? And because Creation forms the ground of all our beliefs (after all, what do we believe that makes any sense apart from God as our Creator?), the seventh-day Sabbath — embedded in the Genesis Creation account itself (Genesis 2:1-3) — stands as the eternal and immutable sign of that Creation. It’s the most basic symbol of the most basic teaching. The only thing more fundamental to it is God Himself.

Hence, to usurp the seventh-day Sabbath is to usurp the Lord’s authority at the most prime level possible, that of Him as Creator. It’s to get behind everything and uproot it at the core. It is, indeed, to seek to take the place of God Himself (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

Of course, the real issue in the last days is our love and loyalty to Jesus. But according to the Bible, this love is expressed in obedience to the commandments (1 John 5:3, Revelation 14:12) — and the Sabbath alone among the commandments gets behind everything because it alone points to God as Creator (Exodus 20:8-11). No wonder it will be the outward symbol of the final divide between those who worship the Lord and those who worship the beast (Revelation 14:11-12). Considering how basic and fundamental the Sabbath is to everything else, it’s hard to see how the final issue of worshiping the Creator could be about anything else.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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A while back, I had a conversation with a former Sabbath-keeping friend who had first turned away from the Sabbath, and then gradually  started turning away from other Bible teachings as well. Sadly, this confirmed for me that the same logic some Christians use to do away with the Spirit of Prophecy and  the Sabbath is the same logic atheists use to do away with the entire Bible. 

He told me that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday in the Bible, without giving me any Scripture to back up his claim. In another breath, he told me the Sabbath was done away with altogether. I asked him why Constantine changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday in the third century, if it had already been done away with or changed, centuries earlier? He gave me no reply.

Incidentally, we were texting, as that was his only agreeable mode of communication. He wanted to text, but refused to talk in person or on the phone. You may already be way ahead of me on this, but since then I have learned to refuse to have these types of discussions or debates by texting, because I have come to the conclusion, and even confirmed on one occasion, that I am not even texting the person who owns the phone. Their friends, family members, or even apostate pastors are actually the ones texting me, pretending to be the person who owns the phone. So, I am not even sure it was actually my friend I was talking to, but he had turned away from the Sabbath, and then the entire Bible. 

Whoever I was texting told me the Sabbath was only given to the Jews, yet here is what I found in my Bible.

So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. Genesis 2:1-3 NLT 

My friend, or whoever I was really texting, told me that God kept the Sabbath at creation. Adam and Eve didn’t. He told me the Sabbath was never kept by man until Exodus 20:8-11. I replied with the question:  “Did God Tell Adam and Eve to Keep the Sabbath?” I pointed out that the Sabbath was made for all mankind at creation, according to Jesus in Mark 2:27.  The Sabbath was already an institution in Exodus 16, before the law was given.

As a matter of fact, while some argue that the law was done away with, which it was not, the Sabbath existed since creation, before there was ever a Jew or the law was given to Moses. So, even if  the Ten Commandments were done away with, the Sabbath would still stand as a memorial of creation.

Some claim that the Sabbath was only given to the Jews, because it was a sign to them that they were God’s people. But I say, “I want to be God’s person too!” That’s why I also want  to keep the Sabbath! Or are only the Jews God’s people?

“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant.” Isaiah 56:6 NLT

Clearly, the Sabbath was not  given  only to the Jews but to everyone who wants to be included in the everlasting covenant. The Sabbath was not given as a sign that anyone was a Jew. It was a sign given to anyone who is God’s person. 

Some claim that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday as a memorial to the resurrection. Such a claim is found nowhere in Scripture, but the book of Romans gives us baptism as the memorial to the resurrection.

Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. Romans 6:3-7 NLT

Some say that Jesus is our rest.  If Jesus is our Rest, do we Still Need a Weekly Sabbath? The fact is that Jesus has always been our rest. We have never been saved by works or by the law. Just like we do not throw our country’s flag away because we have the country it represents, likewise we do not do away with the weekly Sabbath, which is a weekly reminder that Jesus is our rest. 

Exodus 20:8-11 tells us the Sabbath is a weekly reminder of our Creator.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11 NLT

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 tells us the Sabbath is a weekly reminder of our deliverance from bondage. 

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NLT

God has given us the weekly Sabbath as a constant reminder that we are twice His. At creation He made us, and at the cross He bought us back from slavery.

While atheism is gaining ground in much of the world, we need the weekly Sabbath now more than ever as a constant reminder of our Creator. As we battle legalism in the world, and even in the church, we need the weekly Sabbath  as a constant reminder that only God’s grace can save us from the bondage of sin. We need that weekly reminder that Jesus is our Sabbath rest. 

We also need the Sabbath for physical as well as spiritual rest. People talk about how much longer health-conscious Seventh-day Adventists live because of our diet, but I believe our longevity is also due to the fact that we have a weekly Sabbath rest. We need a break from worldly cares and stress, as we rest on the Sabbath and devote time to God and His family. It is interesting to me that many people who want to say that we are not  “bound” to keeping the Sabbath, say so as if that is good news. I am wondering why it would be good news to someone who loves Jesus to say that we don’t “have” to spend an entire day with Him? If we can’t be happy dedicating an entire day to God, how could we possibly be happy spending all eternity with Him? Why would someone who loves God consider the Sabbath a burden? Do people tell their spouse that going on a date with them is a burden? 

The Sabbath is not a burden. It is a gift!

They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you… Exodus 16:29 NLT

God has given the Sabbath as a sign that we are His people. The Sabbath was never a sign given to the Jews that they were Jews. It was a sign given to the Jews and everyone else choosing to be in on the everlasting covenant that we are all His people. Satan would love to have us forget the Sabbath, so that we will forget God. If Satan can make us forget the Sabbath, then he can make us forget God too.

We need the weekly Sabbath as a  reminder that we have a Creator who loves us. We need the weekly Sabbath to remind us that we are not saved by our works or by legalism. The Sabbath is a constant reminder of salvation by grace and the rest we have in Jesus. We need the weekly Sabbath now more than ever to give us a weekly rest from all the stress and cares of this life.

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In an attempt to destroy the uniqueness of our creation, the devil has introduced a not-so-subtle counterfeit. The counterfeit, accepted by even some among us, goes like this. God is the prime cause of creation, but He took long ages to bring life into existence. Evolution was the process He used. This approach attempts to harmonize “scientific data” with the Genesis account. It asserts that the days of creation are long, indefinite periods of time and that life on earth is billions of years old.

Read Psalm 33:6, Psalm 33:9 and Hebrews 11:3. What do these clear Bible passages tell us about how God created the world?

Image © Krieg Barrie at Goodsalt.com

The biblical account is clear. God “spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:9, NKJV). “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3, NKJV). The first chapter of Genesis affirms that God created the world in six literal days of 24 hours and rested on the seventh. The linguistic structure of Genesis 1:1-31 and 2 does not permit anything else. Even scholars who don’t believe in the literal six-day Creation acknowledge that the author’s intent was to teach the six-day Creation.

The Hebrew word for “day” in Genesis 1:1-31 is “yom.” Throughout the Bible, every time a number modifies the word “yom” as an adjective (third day, first day, whatever), it limits the time period to 24 hours. Without exception, it is always a 24-hour period.

Also, and to the immediate point, if God did not create the world in six literal days, what significance does the seventh-day Sabbath have? Why would God command it? It would make absolutely no sense at all to leave the Sabbath as an eternal legacy of a six-day Creation week if a six-day Creation week never existed to begin with. To accept long ages of creation is to challenge the very need for the seventh-day Sabbath. It also raises serious questions regarding the integrity of Scripture.

By attacking the Sabbath, Satan is challenging the very heart of God’s authority, and what could be more effective in destroying the memorial of the six-day Creation than by denying the reality of the six-day Creation? No wonder so many people, including Christians, ignore the seventh-day Sabbath. What a setup for the final deception.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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It is because our world so desperately needs the reassuring message of Creation that God gave us the Sabbath. In the mid-1800s when the evolutionary hypothesis was taking the intellectual world by storm, God sent a message of incredible hope. We have been studying this message, found in Revelation 14:6-7.

Satan has made every attempt to distort the idea of Creation because he hates Jesus and does not want Him to receive the worship due Him as our Creator and Redeemer.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The Sabbath is at the center of the great controversy over Christ’s worthiness to receive worship as our Creator. God’s last-day message is one that calls all humanity back to worshiping Christ as the Creator of heaven and earth. The basis of all worship is the fact that He created us.

Read Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 20:8-11, and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 in the context of Revelation 14:6-7. How do we see in the Sabbath commandment the link between Creation and Redemption, as well?

Sabbath is an eternal symbol of our rest in Him. It is a special sign of loyalty to the Creator (Ezekiel 20:12, Ezekiel 20:20). Rather than an arbitrary legalistic requirement, it reveals that true rest from righteousness by works is found in Him. The Sabbath speaks of a God who has achieved for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Scripture calls us to rest in His love and care each Sabbath. Sabbath is a symbol of rest, not works; of grace, not legalism; of assurance, not condemnation; of depending upon Him, not upon ourselves. Each Sabbath we rejoice in His goodness, and praise Him for the salvation that can be found only in Christ.

The Sabbath is also the eternal link between the perfection of Eden in the past and the glory of the new heavens and the new earth in the future (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1).

The Sabbath calls us back to our roots. It’s a link to our family of origin. The Sabbath has been observed continuously since time began. It is an unbroken connection back through time to our creation. It keeps us focused on the glorious truth that we are children of God. It calls us to an intimate, close relationship with Him.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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