Keeping the Sabbath: secret to good health, long life

THE seven-day week, contrary to the day, the month and the year, is tied to no astronomical cycle. There is no historical or astronomical explanation for the existence of the seven-day week and no explanation how we got the week or why nearly every culture on earth also has the same time unit.

Then where did it come from, I hear you ask? We have no choice but to accept that it comes only from the Hebrew Bible’s Genesis account of creation.

In his book, Empires of Time, evolutionist historian Anothony Aveni, who is the Russell B. Colgate Professor of Astronomy and Anthropology at Colgate University in New York, said:

“The word genesis means ‘origination’ … Our modern scientific genesis began more than ten billion years ago in a colossal explosion from which all events and things have spun.”

How did we get the week?

“Any page of the wall calendar will reveal another subdivision to the time units Westerners have created: seven vertical divisions to the sequence of numbered blocks, each column with its own name. The four or five horizontal bands, called weeks, into which we group the moon’s days constitute a peculiar time division.

“There is no single celestial body such as sun or moon, no obvious natural cycle to which we can directly attribute this little packet of time. Moreover, many other cultures and traditions also tally an interval of about the same general duration in their calendars.”

Aveni goes on:

“After the day, the week … is among the most recognisable and commonly used parcels of time and also one of the most convenient … Some biologists believe the week is self-determined. The seven-day biorhythm in the human body is one of the recent discoveries of modern chronology. It manifests itself in the form of small variations in blood pressure and heartbeat as well as response to infection and even organ transplant: for example, the probability of rejection of certain organs is now known to peak at weekly intervals following an implant.”

Some scientists have drawn attention to the fact that some fevers, for example, typhoid, run for seven, 14, 21, 28 days, changing every seventh day, as do other diseases that result from physical exhaustion. Many believe that man is built on this seven-day plan and, therefore, needs a weekly rest day. It seems there is a law of sevens ‘inbuilt’ in our nature.

Aveni says:

“We are not unique in broadcasting this beat: even simple organisms, down to bacteria and one-celled animals, seem to share it with us. There is, for example, a seven-day rhythm in the mermaid’s wineglass, a species of algae whose configuration resembles a champagne glass with a long stem and a large flowery globe at the end. This organism can be entrained to reduce its rate of growth only when exposed to an alternating light-dark period of 7 days – no more, no less.”

The Soviet Union experimented with the week in this century. In 1929, they went to a five-day week, in 1932 to a six-day week but by 1940 they had returned to the global seven-day week.

The Greeks experimented with a 10-day week. The Romans tried an eight-day week. During the French revolution, an attempt was made to get entirely away from Christianity. In order to do so, the week of seven days was officially abolished and a period of ten days instituted in its place. This 10-day cycle, however, did not fit in with man, beast or material world itself, and was soon given up. Even the horses in the streets broke down under this sort of regime. People could not stand it either.

We have an inert biological clock that was installed in all creation by the Intelligent Designer, God Himself, and no-one can do anything about it, even the infidel. We disregard it at our own peril.

Some folks work round the week in pursuit of the elusive pound or dollar and wonder why they have poor health. Often, their system would be under so much abuse and sending distress messages. Unfortunately, half the time, no-one would be listening until diseases set in.

When Christ healed disease, He warned many of the afflicted ones, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14). Thus He taught that they had brought disease upon themselves by transgressing the laws of God, and that health could be preserved only by obedience. Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health. If only we could stop and listen!

What’s so special about the week? Well, in-built into the week, God in His infinite wisdom has made provision for our rest. To provide this rest, He gave us the Sabbath (the word Sabbath means “rest”). It is a time not only for physical rest but also for devotion and spiritual refreshment. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

It must have been needful for man and certainly beast too, and the God who created all things knows how much rest is needed. After the Sabbath, the body is rejuvenated and can withstand more challenges in the coming week without breaking down. Indeed, experiments on animals (animal rights people, don’t camp on my door-step; it wasn’t me) have shown that they can endure harassment for long periods of time as long as they are given a sabbath rest after every six days, that’s: one, two, three, four, five, six, rest etc.

When did it all begin?

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made” (Genesis 2:1-3). This is the story of the making of the Sabbath.

The world and all things in it were finished in six literal days. On the seventh day, God ended His work; that is, He rested. After He had rested on the seventh day, He blessed it, then sanctified it, or set it apart for a holy use.

Watch the benefits a faithful weekly Sabbath keeper: one who has lived seven years has lived a full year of Sabbaths! At 21, he has had three years of Sabbaths. At 70, he has had 10 whole years of Sabbaths. Small wonder why most Sabbath keeping Christians look younger and less worn out than those who don’t keep the Sabbath?

When you buy a new machine, it comes with a user guide or an owner’s manual. This is so that you could have maximum benefit from the equipment. Similarly, God has given us an instruction manual for our bodies in the form of the Bible and one of the instructions is that we need the Sabbath week after week. Follow His advice and you will live a worthwhile life. It always pays to serve God!