The six days of work are part of the Sabbath command itself — God joins six days of labor with the seventh-day rest as a single instruction.
In Exodus 20:9, the command explicitly says, 'Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work,' and the following verse identifies the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord. Les Feldick notes that God set up this six-plus-one pattern for man's own good before the Law was given, showing that the command is not complete without both parts.
Exodus 20:8-11 — This is the Sabbath commandment itself, showing that the command to work six days is part of the same instruction as the seventh-day rest.
The Bible presents the Sabbath command as one instruction with two parts. Exodus 20:8-11 says: 'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.' Earlier, in Exodus 16, before the Ten Commandments were given, the LORD told Israel through Moses to gather a double portion on the sixth day and to keep the next day as a holy Sabbath unto the Lord (Exodus 16:23, 26). So from the beginning of the manna account, the six-day work pattern is tied to the seventh-day Sabbath.
Les Feldick explains that God set up the six days of labor and the one day of rest for man's own good — not because God was tired after six days of creation. He points out that this pattern was already being established before the Law was given: in the manna account, Israel was commanded to gather a double portion on the sixth day because the seventh day was the holy Sabbath. Les also connects the six days to the creation account, where God spent six days preparing creation for man and then rested on the seventh. He emphasizes that this Sabbath arrangement was incorporated into the Law but was given to Israel and has nothing to do with the believer today. He also stresses that Sunday should not be called the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is the seventh day, not the first.
According to Les Feldick, yes. In Exodus 16, before the Law was given at Sinai, God instructed Israel to gather a double portion of manna on the sixth day, because the next day was to be a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Les observes that God instituted the Sabbath even before He gave the Ten Commandments, so the six-days-of-work-plus-rest pattern predates the Law.
Les Feldick teaches that the Sabbath was 'strictly the seventh day as a day of rest for the nation of Israel' and that it has 'absolutely nothing to do with the believer today.' He says Sunday is not the Sabbath, and he notes that Paul never mentions the Sabbath regulation in his letters, even though he refers to the other commandments. So for Les, the six-days-of-work part of the command is part of the Sabbath arrangement that belonged to Israel under the Law, not to believers today.
Les Feldick points out that six has always been the number of man. God used six days to prepare all of creation for the appearance of man, and then the seventh day was God's rest. So the six days of work fit the same pattern: man is connected with the six days, and the seventh day is seen as the Sabbath of the Lord.
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the pecking order. And you know when that first was coined years ago by ag college researchers when they were watching particularly chickens, and all of a sudden they realized that in every flock of chickens, whether it was small or large, they noticed that immediately they set up a pecking order.
Pre-Law Sabbath Institution
Les shows that the six-day gathering instruction and the holy Sabbath were instituted in the manna account before the Ten Commandments were given, and that Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Six Days of Labor, Seventh Day of Rest
Les explains that God set up six days of labor and one day of rest for man's own good, quoting the instruction to bake and prepare on the sixth day and rest on the holy Sabbath.
Sabbath Under the Law
Les says the Sabbath was also incorporated into the Law, and that Paul makes no mention of the Sabbath among the Ten Commandments, supporting the idea that it belonged to Israel under the Law.
Sabbath for Israel, Not the Believer
Les explicitly teaches that the seventh-day Sabbath was for the nation of Israel and has nothing to do with the believer today; Sunday is not the Sabbath.
Sabbath Instituted Before the Law
Les emphasizes that before the Law was given, God already commanded a double portion on the sixth day and instituted the Sabbath, tying the pattern back to Genesis where God rested on the seventh day.
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And so we have it as we come then into the Gospel account. All right, come back to Matthew 26 once again. Verse 5 again, "...so they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." Now, we'll be pointing it out, if not in this half hour, in one of the next ones. I hope you all realize that the Sabbath day, the Saturday, was not a day of sacrifice.
Six as Man's Number
Les connects the six days of work to the fact that six is the number of man; God prepared creation in six days and rested on the seventh.
Exodus 20:9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
This is the direct command to work six days as part of the Sabbath law.
Exodus 20:10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
This verse completes the command by identifying the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord.
Exodus 16:23: And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that which ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Shows the pre-Law origin of the Sabbath instruction in the manna account.
Exodus 16:26: Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
Confirms the six days of gathering and the absence of manna on the seventh-day Sabbath.
Because the command is one unit: Exodus 20:9-10 says 'Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work' and then 'But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God.' Les Feldick explains that this six-plus-one pattern was set up by God for man's own good, showing that rest is not the whole command — the six days of work belong with it.
Yes. In Exodus 16, before the Ten Commandments, God instructed Israel to gather a double portion on the sixth day and to rest on the seventh-day holy Sabbath. Les Feldick points this out as evidence that the Sabbath arrangement predates the Law.
No. He says the Sabbath was strictly the seventh-day rest for the nation of Israel and has nothing to do with the believer today. He also says Sunday is not the Sabbath and notes that Paul does not mention the Sabbath in his letters.
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