1 – Because God Himself commanded us to keep it holy. For He said:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day He rested; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.
2 – Because it is the sign between God and His people.
“And keep my Sabbaths holy, and they shall be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20.
3 – Because it is a memorial of creation.
“And when God had finished on the seventh day the work that he had done, he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” Genesis 2:2.
4 – Because God rested on it.
“And when God had finished on the seventh day the work He had done, He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; for on it He rested from all His work that God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2 and 3.
5 – Because God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath day.
“And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work that God had created and made.” Genesis 2:3.
6 – Because it is part of God’s righteousness.
“Your commandments are righteousness.” Psalm 119:172, last part.
7 – Because it is an integral part of God’s law.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day He rested; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8–11.
8 – For whoever keeps it is blessed.
“Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds fast to it; who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Isaiah 56:2.
9 – Because it is the holy day of the Lord.
“If you turn your foot away from the Sabbath, from doing your own will on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy day of the Lord, worthy of honor, and honor it by not following your own ways, nor seeking to do your own will, nor speaking your own words, then you will delight in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the earth, and I will sustain you with the inheritance of your father Jacob; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13 and 14.
10 – Because God’s law is eternal.
“Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is truth. Psalm 119:142.
11 – Because whoever practices God’s righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous.
“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 1 John 3:7.
12 – Because, due to the transgression of the Sabbath, God commanded that a man be put to death who was caught gathering wood on that day.
“Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole congregation. And they put him in custody, for it had not yet been decided what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘That man must surely die; the whole congregation shall stone him outside the camp.’ So the whole congregation took him outside the camp and stoned him, and he died, as the Lord had commanded Moses.” Numbers 15:32–36.
13 – For through them we have life.
“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not walk in my statutes, and they rejected my judgments, which, if a man keeps them, he shall live by them; and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths; and I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.” Ezekiel 20:13.
14 – Because He is the truth of God.
“Your law is truth.” Psalm 119:142, last part.
15 – Because of the transgression of the Sabbath, God poured out His wrath upon the people of Israel.
“But the children also rebelled against me; they did not walk in my statutes, nor did they keep my ordinances to do them—by which, if a man does them, he shall live by them—but they profaned my Sabbaths; therefore I said I would pour out my fury upon them, to execute my wrath against them in the wilderness.” “Because they did not carry out my judgments, and rejected my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on the idols of their fathers.” Ezekiel 20:21 and 24.
16 – Because in the instruction given by God, it says:
“Do not carry any load out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work; but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.” Verse 22.
17 – Because Nehemiah reminded the people that, because of the transgression of the Sabbath, God was angry with their ancestors.
“In those days I saw in Judah those who were treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in sheaves, which they carried on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, and figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I rebuked them on the day they sold provisions. There were also Tyrians living in Jerusalem who brought in fish and all kinds of merchandise, which they sold on the Sabbath to the people of Judah and in Jerusalem. So I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, ‘What is this evil thing you are doing, desecrating the Sabbath? Did not your fathers do the same, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city? And you are adding to the heat of his anger against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath. So it came to pass that, as the shadow fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates be shut; and I ordered that they not be opened until after the Sabbath; and I stationed some of my servants at the gates, so that no load might enter on the Sabbath.” Nehemiah 13:15–19.
18 – For the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of him, urging us to enter into that rest, lest we fall into the same pattern of disobedience.
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise having been left of entering into his rest, it should seem that any of you come short of it. For the good news was preached to us just as it was to them; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as he has said: ‘So I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest”—though his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For in a certain place he has said of the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage: “They shall not enter my rest.” Since, therefore, it remains for some to enter it, and those to whom the good news was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, he again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David, long afterward, as it is written: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day afterward. Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. For whoever has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works, just as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:1–11.
19 – For this was Jesus’ custom.
“And when he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom, and stood up to read.” Luke 4:16.
20 – Because Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, also followed the same custom.
“And they, leaving Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia, and entering the synagogue on the Sabbath day, they sat down.” Acts of the Apostles 13:14.
“And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these things might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.” Acts of the Apostles 13:42.
21 – Because this is the day that the early church observed.
“For Moses, from ancient times, has in every city those who preach him, and every Sabbath is read in the synagogues. Acts of the Apostles 15:21.
“And Paul, as was his custom, went to them; and for three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” Acts of the Apostles 17:2.
“And every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” Acts of the Apostles 18:4.
22 – For whoever does not keep the Sabbath, even if they keep the other commandments, becomes guilty of all of them.
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of them.” James 2:10.

Oli Prestes
Missionary