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In [[Leviticus]], God reaffirmed to Moses the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath:<blockquote>''Six days shall work be done: '''but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation'''; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.'' ([[Leviticus]] 23:3)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2023:3;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
In [[Leviticus]], God reaffirmed to Moses the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath:<blockquote>''Six days shall work be done: '''but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation'''; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.'' ([[Leviticus]] 23:3)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2023:3;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
The [[prophet]] [[Isaiah]] said of the importance of the Sabbath as God's Word and Law:<blockquote>''If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.'' ([[Isaiah]] 58:13-14)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2058:13-14;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
The [[prophet]] [[Isaiah]] said of the importance of the Sabbath as God's Word and Law:<blockquote>''If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.'' ([[Isaiah]] 58:13-14)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2058:13-14;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
Through the prophet [[Jeremiah]] God warned men to "''bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.''" (Jeremiah 17:21-22)<ref>[[King Janmes Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2017:21-22;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
"''But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.''" (Jeremiah 17:27)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2017:27;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
Through the prophet [[Ezekiel]], God said:<blockquote>''Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.''(Ezekiel 20:12, 13, 16)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2020:12,%2013,%2016;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref></blockquote>
[[Matthew]], in his [[Olivet Prophecy]], reaffirms that [[Christian]]s at the [[Second Coming]] should still observe God's commanded seventh-day Sabbath<ref>''"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day"'' Matthew 24:14-20 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:14-20;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> and Isaiah prophesied that it will be observed afterwards.<ref>''"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD."'' Isaiah 66:23 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2066:23;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
[[Matthew]], in his [[Olivet Prophecy]], reaffirms that [[Christian]]s at the [[Second Coming]] should still observe God's commanded seventh-day Sabbath<ref>''"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day"'' Matthew 24:14-20 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:14-20;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> and Isaiah prophesied that it will be observed afterwards.<ref>''"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD."'' Isaiah 66:23 [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2066:23;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
Jesus Christ, the [[apostle]]s and Jewish and gentile members of the early Church alike observed the seventh-day Sabbath. This is the only day authorized in the [[Bible]] and specifically commanded by God Himself since the [[Genesis|creation of Man]].
Jesus Christ, the [[apostle]]s and Jewish and gentile members of the early Church alike observed the seventh-day Sabbath. This is the only day authorized in the [[Bible]] and specifically commanded by God Himself since the [[Genesis|creation of Man]].
==The Sabbath and Jesus Christ==
As shown above, neither the Sabbath nor the annual [[Holy Days]] are Jewish in origin, as the commands to keep them come directly from the mouth of God, and He never gives any indication of changing them. It could only be classified as Jewish if it had originated with the Jews. That the Jews of Christ's time and today observe the biblically-commanded seventh-day Sabbath makes it no more a "Jewish tradition" than their observing the commandment against adultery makes marital fidelity a "Jewish tradition".<ref>''Jesus Christ's Example'' [http://sabbath.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Basics.Tour/ID/3/Jesus-Christs-Example.htm Sabbath.org]. Accessed 16 February 2008</ref>
Jesus observed the seventh-day Sabbath not because it was Judaic tradition or the culture of the time, and in fact He speaks out quite forcefully against following the "traditions of men" when they are at variance with the "commandments of God" ([[Matthew]] 15:3, 6;<ref>''But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?...And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015:3,%206;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref> Mark 7:7, 9, 13<ref>''Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men... And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207:7,%209,%2013;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>) In the gospels, Jesus Christ has many disputes with the Jews, a number of which involve the Sabbath day. But they never disagree about which day is to be kept, only over what is acceptable for that day.<ref>''Jesus Christ's Example'' op cit</ref>
Some passages of the gospels are misconstrued to imply that Jesus broke the Sabbath: "''And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn And the [[Pharisee]]s said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?''" ([[Mark]] 2:23-24)<ref>[[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:23-24;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>
The Pharisees were an excessively strict branch of Judaism holding considerable religious authority during Christ's time, and they were extreme in their interpretation of what was allowed on the Sabbath.<ref>Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'' (Zondervan; 1961) ISBN 0-3102-5720-4</ref> Jesus pointed out that their acts were perfectly acceptable according to the laws God had given the nation of Israel <ref>''When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand; but thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn''([[Deuteronomy]] 23:25) [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2023:25;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. God even commanded His people to leave portions of their fields unharvested so the poor and travellers would be able to eat what was left.<ref>''And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest... And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God... And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.'' ([[Leviticus]] 19:9, 10; 23:22) [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2019:9,%2010;%2023:22;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. Jesus pointed out that King David and his hungry followers, when they were fleeing King Saul's armies, were given bread that was normally to be eaten only by priests, yet they were guiltless in God's sight (Mark 2:25-26)<ref>''And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%202:25-26;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>. He also pointed out that even the priests serving in the temple worked on the Sabbath by conducting worship services and performing sacrifices, but God held them blameless (Matthew 12:5)<ref>''Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?'' [[King James Version]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2012:5;&version=9; BibleGateway]</ref>.
Jesus' teaching in these verses is summarized by Freedman: "At times Jesus is interpreted to have abrogated or suspended the Sabbath commandment on the basis of controversies brought about by Sabbath healings and other acts. Careful analysis of the respective passages does not seem to give credence to this interpretation. The action of plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath by the disciples is particularly important in this matter. Jesus makes a foundational pronouncement: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The disciples' act of plucking grain infringed against the rabbinic halakhah of minute casuistry in which it was forbidden to reap, thresh, winnow, and grind on the Sabbath. Jesus reforms the Sabbath and restores it to its rightful place as designed in creation, where the Sabbath is made for all mankind and not specifically for Israel, as claimed by normative Judaism. It was God's will at creation that the Sabbath have the purpose of serving mankind for rest and [to] bring blessing."<ref>Freedman, David Noel ''Sabbath'' "The Anchor Bible Dictionary" vol. v; pp 855-856 (Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group; 1992) ISBN 0-3854-2583-X</ref>
==References==
==References==