Ten Commandments (1972)_b.pdf - Herbert W. Armstrong

The Fourth Commandment 59
"remember." This very statement proves that the Sabbath
command was already understood by God's chosen people
and that, in incorporating it as part of His basic spiritual
Law, God was reminding them of a command of which
they already had knowledge.
"Remember the Sabbath day to KEEP it holy." You
cannot "keep" cold water hot! And mortal men cannot
make anything holy. Therefore, to fully grasp the significance
of this Divine command, we need to learn who made
the Sabbath day holy and when!
Jesus said: "The Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the Sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord
also of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). Notice that Jesus
said the Sabbath day was "made." Whatever was made
has a Maker.
Note also that Jesus did NOT say that the Sabbath
was made for the Jew, but for MAN - for all mankind in
other words. Then He stated that He - Christ - is
"Lord" of the Sabbath. In this statement, He claims to be
- not the destroyer - but the Lord of the Sabbath.
In His human life, Jesus kept the Sabbath, and many
verses in the four gospels are devoted to His instruction of
the disciples in how it should be kept, and in freeing it
from the traditions which the Jews had added.
But, before continuing, let us answer the question:
"Who made the Sabbath day?"
Who Made the Sabbath?
In understanding the command to "remember" the
Sabbath day and "keep" it holy, and who "made" the
Sabbath in the first place - we need to turn to an account
of the very beginning of God's creation. The New Testament
gives such an account in the first chapter of the
gospel according to John.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by him; and
without him was not anything made that was made"
(John 1:1~3). Here we find Jesus Christ described as the
"Word" or "Spokesman," as the original Greek may more