Sign of the Sabbath

by Henry M. Morris, Ph.D.

"It |that is, the Sabbath| is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." (Exodus 31:17)

It is obvious from this passage that God's everlasting seven-day week was established to commemorate His first week as the unique week when He created all things. If language means anything--especially God's language as written with His own finger on a table of stone (Exodus 31:18)--then the days of God's creation week were literal days.

Sabbath means "rest" (not "seventh") and God, in His omniscience, knew that men and women would need a day of rest and remembrance of Him as Creator if they were to serve Him effectively in carrying out His plan for the world. "The sabbath |that is, the weekly day of rest| was made for man," said the Lord Jesus (Mark 2:27).

This is why the weekly day of rest and worship was to be a sign forever, and also probably why it was--for God's covenant people, Israel--a capital crime to break it. "Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death" (Exodus 31:15).

This severe penalty may no longer apply today, but it does indicate the importance placed by God on His week of creation. Just as the rainbow was the sign of His covenant with the world through Noah, and circumcision the sign of His covenant with the seed of Abraham, so a weekly day of worship is the sign that we still honor Him as our Creator and Savior. If it was needed to keep ancient Israel true to God in the midst of a world where evolutionary pantheism reigned in other nations, it is even more important today as a testimony against modern evolutionary humanism. HMM

This article was originally published March, 2008. "Sign of the Sabbath", Institute for Creation Research, https://www.icr.org/article/sign-sabbath (accessed April 25, 2024).