The Sabbath in the Garden of Eden?
There is no doubt what Moses told the Jews about the Sabbath. He said that God “. . . declared unto you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments” and then affirmed, “The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not his covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day” (Deut. 4:13; 5:2-3). How much clearer could God be in saying that the ten commandment covenant which included the Sabbath was not made with the fathers like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?
What about the sabbath in the garden of Eden?
When confronted with these clear statements, some who have a predetermined agenda to bind the Sabbath go to Genesis 2:2-3. To go to this passage and interpret it as affirming that God gave the Sabbath to Adam and all his descendants does not settle the issue. This interpretation simply makes God contradict Himself. God cannot lie, and to say God teaches in Genesis that He gave the Sabbath to Adam makes God a liar, when He clearly says in Deuteronomy that He did not make the Sabbath covenant with anyone before He gave it at Mt. Sinai.
Then, what does Genesis 2:3 teach about the Sabbath? “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Read the passage again. The verse does not affirm that He sanctified the seventh day before He rested. It does not affirm that He sanctified it as He was resting. He had completed His seventh day rest and then sanctified the day because He had rested. The sanctification of that day was after He rested. Deuteronomy clearly shows when He revealed for the first time about man keeping a rest day!
Recognize that Moses who wrote Genesis lived after two events. First, he lived after God rested, and he lived after God gave the Ten Commandments! His words in Genesis were written after God had done both of these events.
One other thing. Moses told the Jews at Mt. Sinai, “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” (Ex. 20:9-10). What did God tell Adam? “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:17). Look at the difference. Adam was to toil every day of his life. He was not given a rest day! The Jews at Mt. Sinai were given a rest day, but Adam never was promised one.
God cannot lie about the Sabbath!