What Is so Special about the Sabbath?

The Sabbath is special because God created it (Gen. 2:1-3).

While God fashioned the Sabbath on the seventh day of creation week, this was Adam and Eve’s first full day on earth, and they spent it with God. The first thing for humans to do was to connect with God and enjoy all He had made. God established it to be repeated each week.

We celebrate birthdays only once a year, but we get to celebrate God and his creation weekly. Does that take away from how special it is? Or maybe we do little to prepare for the celebration. If nobody puts anything into celebrating a birthday, it might not be a very special birthday. The same could be said about the Sabbath—what are you putting into the Sabbath to make it special?

It seems that when God’s people were in Egyptian slavery, they didn’t “keep” or “practice” or “observe” Sabbath. God rescued them and gave them a practical way to experience Sabbath. It was like this: God provided manna—daily food from heaven for His people in the desert. Each day they collected what they needed for only that day, trusting that God would provide for them the next day. However, He instructed them to prepare for Sabbath by gathering double the day before since there would be no “work” of gathering manna on Sabbath. God made Sabbath different from all the other days of the week. (Exodus 16 has the whole story.)

Exodus 20:8-11 details multiple reasons Sabbath is special, such as:

1. It is the only commandment which tells us to “remember” (because people tend to forget)
2. Sabbath is holy (sacred, special)
3. Stop your work (do you like vacation?)
4. It’s for everyone (adults, kids, slaves, immigrants, even animals)
5. It equalizes all people (based on time, not talent, status or money)
6. Sabbath establishes our identity (created by God)
7. Sabbath includes blessing (favored by God)

The Sabbath isn’t a tangible thing you can purchase, own, or put your hands on; it’s a rich symbol with multiple meanings. These include:

1. Created by God (Gen. 2:1-3; Exod. 20:8-11)
2. Rest—Stop daily routines and make Sabbath special (Gen. 2:1-3)
3. Blessed—God’s abundance (Gen. 2:1-3)
4. Sanctified—identified to be sacred/special (Gen. 2:1-3)
5. Set free from any enslavement (Deut. 5:12-15; Luke 13:15-16)
6. Sign of belonging to God (Ezek. 20:12, 20)
7. Serving others marks the pinnacle of worshiping God (Isa. 58:1-14)
8. God owns Sabbath; it’s a gift to humans (Mark 2:27-28)
9. God saves/heals (Mark 3:1-6; John 9:1-41)
10. Salvation by trusting God rather than by good works (Heb. 4:9-10)

Although God initiated Sabbath before sin entered this world, the Sabbath restores us to God in our broken world of sin. Sabbath provides a reboot by centering on God, rooting our identity in Him, and participating in the celebration God intended.

Sabbath is special because God created it. But it only becomes special to us when we fully engage in it.

For a deeper understanding of the issue involved, we suggest people go to the following link: https://www.adventist.org/en/information/official-statements/documents/article/go/-/sabbath-observance/