The Sabbath is not Jewish, nor Mosaic.

Nothing can come into existence out of nothing.

The Sabbath did not “come into existence” out of nothing, for nothing, by nothing. The Sabbath was made. Like all things made it was made out of something, and, like all things made, it was made for a purpose, by Christ, the Creative Divinity functioning by His Father's will and command.

Christ, the creator of the Sabbath, said: “The Sabbath was MADE for man…” [Mark 2:27]. [Author's emphases throughout.]

The Sabbath was made, hence it had a maker; and the Maker placed the Sabbath within a specific context. It was not a stand-alone production at the end of a cosmically creative effort on the part of the Eternal Creator, Designer and Maker of all things, including the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not a God-afterthought attached to an otherwise well-designed, intricate, purposeful, galactically immeasurable, quadrillion-starred universe. The Sabbath was designed and “made for man” to link him and his existence eternally to the Creator of the Sabbath, Christ; and through Christ to the Eternal Father. Thus the Sabbath cannot be uncoupled from the creation week, or from Christ, or the Father. To do so does an injustice to the One who predetermined His own “rest” at the end of the previous six creation days. He need not have attached a Sabbath as a rest for Himself at the end of His creative efforts for He does not get tired and thus needed no recuperative rest.

Isa 40:28 “Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting Elohiym, Yehovah the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? ”

The Creator predetermined the whole of his creation week. The creation was not a surprising big bang of random, chaotic thoughts. The sequence of the creation days was logically, sensibly and orderly predetermined. Likewise the Godhead preprogrammed and predestined the existence of the Sabbath day as part of the creation week. Just as they prearranged the existence and position of the sun, moon and stars in the universe, so they preordained the existence and prearranged the position of the Sabbath in the daily creative sequence to fit in after the sixth creation day.

Like the creative works of the previous six days – the universe and all its marvelous wonders – are designed and intended for His glory [honor], so the Sabbath is made for man with the intention of glorifying [honoring] Him as creator and sustainer of the universe. Man should glorify [honor] the Eternal on the Sabbath as he should glorify [honor] Him in His creation.

The Sabbath is part of creation – it is not separate from it. It does not exist in a vacuum. It is not a day made out of nothingness unto nothingness. Just as everything in creation is not created out of nothingness unto nothingness but made out of unseen substance [Heb 11:3] with a teleological intent – designed with purpose. Similarly the Sabbath is given content, context and purpose. The content is TIME; the context is creation week. The purpose is, as with creation itself, the glorification of the Father and the Son.

As the creation is made out of something, so, too, the Sabbath. The sabbath was enfolded in time. The Sabbath is wrapped in time. It exists out of something called time. And, its design, purpose and intention is fitted into a cyclical time schematic intended for man, and his rest. And, Christ concluded in Mark 2:28, that since the Sabbath was made by Him for man, He as Creator of all things created, is "Lord also [in addition to everything else He made] of the Sabbath."

If the Sabbath is void of divine teleological intent, or purpose, the Godhead would have skipped it and passed from the sixth day on to the first day of the next week to create a six day weekly cycle.

When was the Sabbath made and by Whom?

The Sabbath was made – created – by the Creator on the last day of creation week and He did this by refraining from any labor involving physical matters so that He could observe that specially set-aside sacred time with the entirety of humanity– that is Adam and Eve – on that day, during that time. The Sabbath therefore was set aside [made holy] for special use or purpose. That is, fellowship with the Eternal and all people as reflected in the fellowship of the first Sabbath on earth: God, Adam and Eve. [See Gen 2:1-3; Ex 20:11.]

God specially set aside time -- a portion of eternity -- for the Sabbath. He specially made, or set aside, that time, or day. The Jews did not create time therefor the Jews could not create the Sabbath! Time belongs to the Eternal, not man. Therefor the Eternal designates specific time, or days, as Sabbath[s] as it suits His purposes and plans for humanity.

The Jews did not determine that there should be time set aside for a rest, either for God, themselves or for mankind as a whole. Since no Jew existed when the totality of humanity [Adam and Eve] and God kept the first earthly Sabbath it is clear that the Jews could not have created the Sabbath. And, by extension, since no Jew existed at creation week to create [ordain, appoint, sanctify, set apart, make holy] the Sabbath, the Sabbath cannot be Jewish.

The Jewish nation officially come into existence as a distinct national entity circa 975 BC. Or, to put it differently, the Jewish nation did not officially exist until about 3030 years after the creation and observance of the first sacred Sabbath! Therefore the Sabbath cannot be of Jewish origin, design, purpose, or intent.

Is the Sabbath “Mosaic”?

Was the Sabbath brought into being by Moses for the Jewish people? No!

The Sinai covenant was made c.1490 BC, or about 2515 years after the first Sabbath was kept in the Garden of Eden by the threesome, God, Adam and Eve. So Moses could not have instituted the Sabbath day as holy or sacred for mankind 2515 years before he received the covenant from the Eternal, that is, 2435 years before he was born! [2515 – 80 = 2435 years, counting backwards to Moses’ birth.]

Again, the Jewish people as a nation did not officially come into existence until 975 BC, or 515 years after the so-called “Mosaic covenant’ was made at Sinai, incorporating the Sabbath as part of Yehovah’s moral law, officially codified and written by the Eternal Himself.

Further, the Eternal did not make a covenant with the Jews only but with all Israel. The tribe of Judah was but one of 13 tribal entities. It was after the northern ten tribes’ secession in c. 975 BC that the tribe of Judah officially became a separate nation [1 Kings 12 and 15], becoming known as “Jews”. Hence they, as a nation, could not have instituted the Sabbath as holy, either unto themselves or unto the rest of mankind!

To emphasize: the Sabbath could not have been instituted as a sacred day by the Jews nor by Moses since the first Sabbath predated them by 3030 and 2515 years, respectively.

To summarize: The Sabbath is a God-institution, not a man-institution. It is neither Jewish nor Mosaic [Genesis 2:1-3 and Exodus 20:11]. And, the Sabbath was made for all mankind, not for the Jews. It was, Christ said, made for man, not just for Jews!

This God-creation of the Sabbath for mankind has significant consequences for humanity. We will consider that in other Blogs. In the meantime, reflect upon the nature of the Sabbath, its divine origin, its special time-element as part of time-eternal, and its position within the creation week. Consider its eternality; its indissoluble relationship with the Creator and creation and ask yourself: “Does this everlastingly unbreakable bond between the Creator, His creation, Mankind, and the Sabbath have any bearing on me, my life, and my actions, my future?"

Think about it -- it may be more significant to your life and eternity than you ever realised!