Allah and Elohim - Are they the Same Go? - Part 19

Keep Sabbath Day Holy

Exodus 20:8-11, "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. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

This is the fourth commandment of God that He gave to Moses and we can see how much importance God gave to Sabbath. Bible also tells us in Exodus 31:17, 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"

When we observe Sunday as Sabbath and when we go to His sanctuary and glorify God, this day stands as a sign between God and us. This is a memorial day of creation that how wonderfully God created heaven and earth and to glorify the creator.

This is the day of sanctification when priests used to sacrifice animal in the altar of the temple and God forgave the sins of people. God says to Moses in Exodus 31:13, "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you."

Yes, the Sabbath day is a day of sanctification so that we may know that The LORD-God all mighty sanctifies our souls. He is the God who wants us to live a holy and pure life. He wants to wipes away all our sins. That is the reason He sent His only begotten Son to die for us. Why? To sanctify us, to make us clean and pure! Jesus broke all the bondage of death, sin, curse, pain, sorrows, tears and came out of the grave victoriously. On the third day He rose again and gave us new hope. He is still alive and gives us new life. His blood cleanses us from all our sin.

God wants us to observe this day as holy and separated for Him alone. Doing some work and not keeping Sabbath is considered as sin and breaking His eternal covenant as we read in the Bible in Exodus 31:14-16 'You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 'Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 'Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant."

Bible tells us that God sent bread from heaven for the Israelites when they were in the desert and people of Israel called its name 'manna'. God told them to pick up two quarts for each person."(Exodus 16:16) But God sent manna double portion for Sabbath day because God told that no one should work on Sabbath day. When a few people went out to gather manna on the 7th day they could not find it on the ground. as we read in Exodus 16:27-29, "Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none. And the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? "See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

But when we come to the Quran we can see that there is no verse which gives importance of Sabbath though Quran also says that God created universe in six days but there is no mention of 7th day or holy Sabbath. And interestingly enough I read in one Muslim web site like this:

"The idea that God rests like humans and gets refreshed like humans had to be corrected by Jesus, on whom be peace, when, according to John, he declared that God never stops working, even on the Sabbath day (see John 5:16). God clarified the matter in His own words when he declared: "And verily we created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and naught of weariness touched us" (Quran 50:38 see also v. 15). "

Let me quote the verse John 5:16-17 that says, "For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

Well, there is no contradiction or correction by Jesus in these verses but it is a simple misconception of Muslims. Psalmist also says in Psalms 121:4, "Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep." If God neither slumbers nor sleeps then why He said that, He rested on Sabbath?

Let us look what the meaning of "rested" is:

Hebrew lexicon says like this:

Shabath

Definition

1. to cease, desist, rest
1. (Qal)
1. to cease
2. to rest, desist (from labor)
2. (Niphal) to cease
3. (Hiphil)
1. to cause to cease, put an end to
2. to exterminate, destroy
3. to cause to desist from
4. to remove
5. to cause to fail
2. (Qal) to keep or observe the sabbath

So "Rested" simply means that God finished His work on the seventh day. It does not mean God slumbered or slept or felt weary! If Allah is the same God of the Bible then he could have known what is the meaning of Sabbath and what is the importance of Sabbath. And what is the meaning of "RESTED". But we can see that Allah do not know all these things and it makes clear that Allah is not the God of the Bible.

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3 God or 1 God?