Did The Sabbath Requirement Start In Genesis 2:2-3?

Many claim Genesis 2:2-3 teaches the Sabbath was required from creation. But nothing at creation asks men to keep the Sabbath:

· Genesis 2:1-3 is a prolepsis like Matthew 10:1,4 (“when he had called his twelve disciples … and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him”). Matthew is discussing two events (the calling of the apostles and Judas’ betrayal of Jesus), the second of which occurred much later than the first.

· Genesis 2:2 discusses the seventh day of creation when God rested. Genesis 2:3:

· is a comment by Moses when he wrote the book of Genesis about 2500 years after the creation

· “he had rested” is past tense – God blessed and sanctified the 7th day many years after He rested on the 7th day of creation

Thankfully the Bible tells us when the Sabbath become binding:

· Neh 9:13-14 “Thou camest down … upon Mt Sinai, and … madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath”

· Ezek 20:10-12 “Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, … And … I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them …”

· Deut 4:13,5:2-3 “… he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. … God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us …”

· Exodus 16:4-5,22ff is the first recorded instance of the Sabbath being commanded/kept. There is no record of it being kept in all the book of Genesis (a 2000-year period).

Last point: No matter when the Sabbath began; it still has been done away with. Col 2:14-17 says that outright.

· Animal sacrifices started in Genesis 4:4. Are animal sacrifices still binding?

· Circumcision was instituted with Abraham before Mt. Sinai. Is circumcision still binding?

· The Levirate marriage law started before Mt. Sinai (Gen 38:8). Does anybody still bind that?

Summary: The Sabbath was never required until the timeframe of the giving of the law of Moses. But even if it had been binding previous to that, that still does not mean it is binding today. There are zero new covenant passages requiring the Sabbath (Heb 7:12); that is the point.