What is the Sabbath?

Reminder: What is the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is set apart as a day of rest and worship, sanctified by God Himself. It is to be observed every seventh day, refraining from work and dedicating the day to the Lord.

• Rest
• 7th Day
• Perpetual
• A Sign
• A Covenant
• Holy
• Remember God
• Who Sanctifies Us
• Set Apart

Creation & Sanctification (Genesis 2:2–3)

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it (set apart): because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

God Himself rests, blesses, and sets apart the seventh day at Creation—before Sinai and before Israel as a nation.

Perpetual Sign & Covenant (Exodus 31:16)

“Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”

Language of “perpetual,” “forever,” “sign,” and “covenant” underscores ongoing relevance tied to Creation.

The Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8–11)

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy 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 (made it Holy).”

Sabbath, Sanctification & Warnings (Ezekiel 20:12–13)

“Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.”

Sabbath functions as a covenant sign; profaning it was treated seriously by the prophets.

When is the Sabbath?

Biblically, the weekly Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Exod 20:10). In the New Testament, the “first day of the week” occurs after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1–2), which places the Sabbath the day before Sunday—i.e., Saturday.

When does it start and end?

In Scripture, days are measured from evening to evening: “And there was evening and there was morning…” (Gen 1). For sacred rest days, the command is explicit: “from evening to evening you shall celebrate your sabbath” (Lev 23:32). Practically, this means the weekly Sabbath runs from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown.

• Start: Friday at sunset (“evening”).
• End: Saturday at sunset (close of the seventh day).
• Witness in the Gospels: The Sabbath is the day before the “first day of the week” (Mark 16:1–2; Luke 23:54–56).

This aligns the creation pattern (six days of labor, one day of holy rest) with the weekly rhythm God established.

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