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So many of us are chronically tired from hurrying about in an endless round of work. Is there a remedy for all this weariness? Yes! Take a fresh look at the benefits of the weekly Sabbath, a day designed to provide rest of mind and body through sweet communion with Jesus and pleasant social fellowship. The Sabbath helps us to better understand the many unique and amazing accomplishments of Jesus. It even has powerful prophetic implications. Accept the challenge! Experience the delight! The book Sabbath Challenge, Sabbath Delight! is a supplement to this web site Click here to find out more and to read selections.

Let's look at the context of this command to worship the Creator:

Revelation 14:6,7 says (emphasis supplied): "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

The first thing to say here is that to properly worship God we need to have experienced Christ's healing, transforming presence in our lives (see Revelation 14-6 - The everlasting gospel).

The words "worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" are an allusion ¹ to the fourth commandment. That is, they point us to the Sabbath commandment (Ex. 20: 8-11). This can be seen from the number of words in common (verbal parallels) with Ex. 20: 11. Also Revelation chapters 13 and 14 represent a "structural" parallel with the first four of the Ten Commandments. A structural parallel in Revelation is one where there is a whole series of related ideas between Revelation and another Bible passage. Notice in chapter 13 that the unholy powers described there counterfeit or rebel against the first four of the Ten Commandments:

(1). The first commandment tells us to have no other gods before the LORD our God; but the sea-beast of Revelation 13 is worshipped as a god.

(2). The second commandment tells us to not make for ourselves any image to worship; but in Revelation 13 an image to the sea-beast is worshipped.

(3). The third commandment tells us to not take the name of the LORD our God in vain; but the sea-beast of Revelation 13 is full of names of blasphemy and opens its mouth to blaspheme God.

(4). The fourth commandment tells us to remember the Sabbath day, and describes this commandment in terms of a seal. Ancient covenants were sealed in the middle and, of course, the fourth commandment is in the middle of the Ten Commandments. A seal contains a name, a title, and a dominion (in the fourth commandment it is: "the LORD --Yahweh", "God the Creator", "the heavens the earth and the sea"). The sea-beast has a counterfeit seal -- the mark of the beast (which will be studied in more detail later). 

The final battle before Christ's second coming involves the matter of worship. Try counting how many times in Revelation 13 and 14 worshiping the beast or its image is described. Although false worship is described many times in these two chapters, the word "worship" in reference to God is referred to only here in Re.14:7. This indicates that the fourth commandment and true Sabbath-keeping will be a critical issue in the final battle.

(1). Ge. 1: 31 -- 2: 3. The Hebrew word translated "rested" in Ge. 2:2 is shabath. Hence, this verse could be translated,  "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He had a Sabbath rest on the seventh day from all His work which He had made."

The seventh-day Sabbath was instituted before sin came into the world ² and has universal application. God obviously rested on the first Sabbath for a purpose, namely, to give us an example and to set the day apart as a special weekly appointment with Himself. It commemorates creation and points us to the one true God -- our Maker. If people had always properly remembered the Sabbath there would never have been a worshipper of stone idols or a true atheist or evolutionist. This is why Satan has made the Sabbath a point of special attack. 

(2). Ex. 20: 8-11. Perhaps the most neglected of all the Ten Commandments is the true seventh-day Sabbath. Every reasoning human being would do well to ponder God's instruction to remember and keep holy this day.

(3). Ex. 31: 13-17. Here God's great sign is outlined clearly. How can we doubt the importance that God gives to this commandment when we read this passage?

(4). Is. 58: 13, 14. This passage describes some important elements of true Sabbath-keeping. Also these verses contain three wonderful promises.

(5). Lk. 23: 55-24: 1. When we read this passage we can tell which day is God's Sabbath. Jesus died on Friday ("Good Friday"), He rested in the grave on the seventh-day Sabbath and on Sunday (the first day of the week, "Easter Sunday") He arose from the dead. The seventh-day Sabbath actually began at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Saturday.³ The Sabbath commemorates the saving work of Christ. He rested after His sacrifice on the cross like He did after creation. The Sabbath points us to re-creation in Christ. It points us to the everlasting gospel. We are to keep it as a sign that we are depending on God to save us -- and not our own works (Cf Heb. 4:9,10 ⁴). Far from being legalistic, keeping the Sabbath properly will demonstrate our trust that God alone can sanctify us (set us apart as His).⁵ It is essential to emphasise that to properly worship God through the Sabbath (or any other means) we need to have experienced Christ's healing, transforming presence in our lives (see 2.  Revelation 14:6 - The everlasting gospel).

(6). The seventh-day Sabbath ( in modern terms sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) was the day Jesus kept (Lk. 4: 16).

We need to remember that God is particular ⁶ about the way we worship Him and our response to His commandments. Faith is demonstrated by believing God and doing what He says even if it may not seem logical or necessary to us. This is why the Sabbath commandment is an ideal test of loyalty to God. All of the other nine of the Ten Commandments can be viewed from the point of view 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 (cf. Lk.6: 46: Ge. 3:3).

Footnotes