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[apologies, but we have not yet included the footnotes]  

Answer: We will divide our response to this question into two parts. The first will address the initial query, "Why cannot we just rest on any day?" The second will address the last part of the question, "Is it not the act of resting that causes it to be the Sabbath?"

1. Why cannot we just rest on any day?

It is true that the words "Sabbath" and "seventh" do not come from the same original word. It is also true that the Hebrew for "Sabbath" is shabbath and means intermission or cessation from work. However, the question that concerns us is, "What has God commanded us to do?" He has not commanded us to have a Sabbath rest from work at random times as we see fit. He has not commanded us to rest every seventh day in whatever cycle seems best to us. He has specifically commanded us to keep holy and avoid secular work on the seventh day of the week:

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

(Exodus 20:8-11).

Why has God asked us to observe the seventh day of the week, rather than to rest, as we think best, on any day of the week? There are several reasons:

a). One very practical reason is that God requires a sacred meeting ("holy convocation") to be held on the Sabbath: "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). How can believers effectively gather together if they each choose whichever day of the week is convenient for them? If believers were to individually decide when they want to rest and worship then there would be chaos, with one person deciding on Monday, another Thursday, another Sunday and so on. Many people, in the hustle and bustle of life, would be so careless, in view of no definite time being specified, that they would neglect to keep any day. No regular effective meetings would be held. We doubt that God’s church could operate effectively at all. Maybe it would not even exist as a corporate body. God is against the confusion that would inevitably result from this policy. He says, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

b). God has specifically told us why He has chosen the seventh day. He says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day" (Exodus 20:8-11). The God of the Bible is the Creator. This truth is the fundamental fact that separates Him from all false gods:

10 But the LORD is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king: at His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.

11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

12 He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion.

(Jeremiah 10:10-12).

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens (Psalm 96:5).

So we are to remember the seventh day and keep it holy in order to worship the one true God the Creator, our Creator.

But there is more. God has given a second reason why He wants the seventh-day to be the Sabbath. In commenting on the Ten Commandments Moses said, "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee…and remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day" (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). When God rescued the Israelites from Egypt He was redeeming them, or "buying them back". When Jesus died for us on "Good Friday" He was redeeming us from the bondage of sin. On the day after Good Friday Jesus rested from His work of redemption in the tomb on the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus, just as Christ the Creator rested on the seventh day of the week after His work of creation, so likewise He rested on the seventh day of the week after His work of redemption [11].

Therefore, we are to remember the seventh day and keep it holy in order to worship the one true God, the Creator and Redeemer, our Creator and Redeemer. It is very interesting that the miracle of the manna in the wilderness powerfully reinforced to the Israelites the truth that God was both the Creator and the Redeemer. He miraculously provided (created) the manna for six days, then He miraculously preserved it (redeemed it from corruption) on the Sabbath (Exodus chapter 16).

c). Another reason why God has asked us to keep holy and rest on the seventh day of the week, and not just any day of the week that we choose, is because He highly values faith. Indeed, "without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6). How is faith demonstrated? By believing what God has said and then acting in harmony with this belief, by hearing the word of God and obeying it:

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God [God speaks] of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark [Noah believes and acts] to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out [God speaks] into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out [Abraham believes and obeys], not knowing whither he went.

(Hebrew 11:7, 8).

Faith is demonstrated by believing God and doing what He says, even if it may not seem logical or necessary. This is why the Sabbath commandment is an ideal test of loyalty to God. Each of the other Ten Commandments can be considered worth obeying simply on the basis of logic or self-interest. But the keeping of the seventh rather than the first, third or any other day of the week is based purely on what God has said (c.f. Luke 6:46; Genesis 3:3). So, let us remember that God is particular about the way we worship Him and let us take seriously our response to His Sabbath commandment.

Believing God and doing what He says, even if it may not seem logical or necessary to us, is the foundation of justification by faith. This is illustrated by the experience of Abraham, as recorded in Romans chapter 4, and of the many great Bible characters of Hebrews chapter 11. Add to this the fact that true Sabbath-keeping is a cessation of all efforts to be saved by our own works, and a resting in God’s saving power, and it can be seen that the seventh-day Sabbath is powerfully connected with the great truth of justification by faith [7].

The Bible is full of examples of faith being demonstrated by people doing as God has commanded. Likewise, an absence of faith is often demonstrated by some divine request being neglected or rejected. Let us consider some examples:

i). In Genesis 2:16-3:19 God speaks to Adam and Eve saying, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." But faith was lacking. Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and, as a result, sin, death and misery entered our world.

ii). In Genesis 12:1-7 God speaks to Abram saying, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee." Faith was revealed because "Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him" (c.f. Hebrews 11:8-11). As a result of Abram’s faith he received God’s promise to inherit the land of Canaan (and the heavenly Canaan) and to be the ancestor of the Messiah.

iii). In Exodus 12:1-28 God commands His people to observe the Passover, telling them to "take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses." Faith was present because "the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron" (c.f. Hebrews 11:28). As a result their firstborn children were not killed when the plague struck Egypt.

iv). Leviticus 10:1-11 records the sad story of Nadab and Abihu who worshipped God in a manner contrary to what He had commanded. Their actions demonstrated that faith was absent. They offered common fire before God, which He had commanded not (10:1). They may also have been drunk (10:9) and entered the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16:1, 2). Because of their sin "there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD."

v). Numbers 21:4-9 gives the account of the attack from snakes in the wilderness. People who had been bitten were told to look at a model of a serpent on a pole: "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live" (c.f. John 3:14, 15). Faith was present (at least in some): "Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."

vi). In 2 Kings 5:1-14 Naaman the Syrian leper is commanded by God, through His prophet, to "Go and wash in Jordan seven times". Faith was present because "He went down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God." As a result "His flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."

vii). In John 9:1-11 Jesus commands a man blind from birth saying, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." Again faith was present because "He went his way therefore, and washed." As a result he was healed and testified: "I went and washed, and I received sight."

viii). Acts 2:14-41 records Peter’s famous sermon where, as God’s spokesman, he commanded the "Men of Judaea, and all… that dwell at Jerusalem" to "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Faith was demonstrated by those who obeyed: "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized." As a result "the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Thus, there are very important reasons why we should choose to observe the seventh day of the week rather than just any day.

2. Now we will consider the second part of Question 13: "Is it not the act of resting that causes it to be the Sabbath, rather than the day or time we cease from work?"

The act of resting does not cause it to be the Sabbath. First, it is vital to follow God’s instruction specifying when He wants the Sabbath rest to take place. Second, the Sabbath is much more than just resting from secular work. We do not keep the Sabbath by just stopping our weekly chores or employment! The Sabbath includes:

a). Worshipping God as our Creator (please see the preceding discussion in this answer for more detail on points "a" to "d").

b). Worshipping God as our Redeemer [11].

c). Exercising faith in God [7].

d). Meeting together with fellow believers.

e). Learning not to please ourselves, but to delight in the things of God, draw near to Him and receive special blessings (Isaiah 58:13, 14).

f). Acknowledging that God alone can sanctify us (Ezekiel 20:12; Exodus 31:13) [9].
g). Celebrating God’s original design for humanity and the blessed hope of Eden restored [5, 6, 15, 31].

The seventh-day Sabbath is defined by God. Humans do not define it. God tells us both when and how it is to be kept.