I have engaged with various SDA Pastors, Apologists and Baptized Members on the topic of the Sabbath. One of the most common issues when communicating with SDA’s is the presupposition that is read into Mark 2:27. That since “the Sabbath was made for Man, and not Man for the Sabbath”. The Seventh Day Sabbath as expressed in Exodus 20:8-11 is binding on all creation. In order to prove this, the SDA will refer to Genesis 2:2-3 to prove that the Sabbath was instituted at Creation—made binding on all mankind.
However we will investigate the problem of this presupposition that the Sabbath was made binding on mankind.
#1
The first problem with this presupposition is that the Sabbath in Genesis is not a command. It simply displays how God works six days in creation and ceased on the seventh day. Even the idea that it is “implied” is far fetched considering the differences of “God’s Sabbath” vs “Israel’s Sabbath”.
#2
The second problem is made evident by the fact that God does not exit the seventh day, in contrast to how Israel rested (worked six days, rested on the seventh and repeat). Every day in the creation narrative ends with the phrase “and it was evening and morning”.
“God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:6 NKJV)
“And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.” (Genesis 1:9 NKJV)
“And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Genesis 1:12-13)
“Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.” (Genesis 1:16-19)
“So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it wasgood.And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” (Genesis 1:21-23)
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:27-31)
However, the seventh day does not end with the phrase “evening and morning”.
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens” (Genesis 2:2-6)
Why doesn’t the seventh day end with the phrase “and it was evening and morning” in the same manner that the other six days? Some theologians have interpreted this to mean that God entered His Sabbath and did not exit out of it. This Sabbath that God has been in since Creation is the Sabbath rest promised to believers in Hebrews 4.
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11 NKJV)
When we understand that “God’s Sabbath” did not end, such as how the Israelites Sabbath would repeat on a weekly cycle. There is no way that Gods Sabbath at Creation is the same Sabbath as commanded in Exodus 20.
Even if one would argue that the ceasing of the Seventh day is implied. This creates more problems since if God did exit His Sabbath. He would have to repeat the work of Creation. Which would be impossible (since only Adam and Eve are the only humans—i.e. we would not exist to read this article). Even if one wants to argue that God is continuing some other work in order to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. Whatever separate work that God is doing does not follow a Sabbath rest from Creation (God’s first Sabbath would be a rest from Creation, His second Sabbath would be a rest from X. non sequitur).
Thus, the presupposition that Genesis 2 proves Sabbath Observance is found impossible and incoherent.
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