In order to understand or accept this explanation you must believe that the 10 commandments apply to believers, and the commands should be followed to the very best of their ability. There is one command in particular that many believers have set aside because of false doctrine of men. The 4th commandment:
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. 14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Exodus 31 NKJV
This is a command forever, perpetually, and it was given to the entire nation of Israel. That nation is considered the 12 tribes. To further explain, the nation of Israel are not “Jews”. The Jews only came from one tribe, Judah. Many people confuse this and have a hard time accepting that they are grafted into the nation of Israel through their faith in the Messiah. I could go into greater detail on the history of the split of the Northern Kingdom (Israel/Scattered Tribes) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah/Jews), and the prophecy that says these two will combine into “one stick” in the future, but I will leave that up to you to research. Believers in Messiah are grafted in to The biblical/people Nation of Israel.
“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
Romans 11:16-18 NKJV
We can see in the sabbath verses above that this command was given as a “sign” between Him and the Children of Israel to signify that we belong to Him! This is the only command that He sets apart in this way. This is a sign/mark that His people should choose to follow in order to show they are His people. By observing the proper sabbath, you are showing your allegiance to God. This is a choice you have to make and commit to. If you do not keep the Sabbath, you are not accepting the sign/mark that God requires to signify you belong to Him. There are NO OTHER faiths or religions with a Sabbath!
Lets look at the buying selling aspect of the mark:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13 NKJV
The only restriction we see is that you must have the mark of the beast to buy or sell. Nothing else. People tend to use their imaginations to think that a massive one world government will rise and implant microchips in our hands in order to buy or sell. This is a distraction, and no true believer would be fooled into accepting this commonly spread narrative. The believers would just band together and buy and sell among each other if this occurred. Thus, buying and selling is not restricted at all, though the verse says, that no man would be able buy or sell save he had the mark of the beast.
The restriction of buying or selling is placed on the believer BY the believer. Sabbath keepers understand that buying and selling is not permitted on the Sabbath. When you are buying, you are making someone work one way or another. When you are selling, you are working.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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.
Exodus 20 NKJV
We read in Nehemiah how the gates were closed on the Sabbath to prevent buying and selling:
15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. 16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.”
19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 Then I warned them, and said to them, “Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!” From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath. 22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day.
Nehemiah 13 NKJV
The mark is a spiritual mark, this allows everyone to accept one mark or the other. If you believe in God and follow His commands, you have His mark. If you don’t, you have the ‘default mark’ of the beast which means that person is not guided by the Holy Spirit. By not accepting God’s spirit, you allow Satan’s spirit to control your actions and thoughts.
Satan is creating his own army on Earth, trying to bring as many souls as he can to Hell with him. A “good person” that doesn’t believe in God has simply been fooled by Satan and added to his army. This could also be said for commandment breakers, Satan has confused believers to break the one command God gave to signify we belong to Him! We read that the punishment is death! Repentance and obedience to the 4th Commandment is of the upmost importance!
To sum it up, it is up to the believer to signify they are following all 10 Commands, especially the 4th commandment, by not buying or selling on the Sabbath days. By doing so, you are avoiding the mark of the beast which allows you to buy or sell any day. Signify you are a child of God by guarding and sanctifying the sabbath.
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13 NKJV
Common Arguments
Doesn’t someone have to accept the mark of the beast, not forced to take it? I say sure, you decide if you want to believe in God and follow His commands, its your choice one way or the other. That doesn’t mean that Satan isn’t trying to fool believers into taking his mark by creating confusion about Gods word! God is not the author of confusion, but Satan sure does like to cause it! We see Deception is involved with this verse:
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19 KJV
Once you accept the mark, you cannot turn back from it, its too late! I do not agree with this, where does it say in scripture that this is the case? Doesn’t God and our Messiah teach repentance? He want’s us to turn away from other gods, and our sin. He says throughout Revelation that people yet repented during the wrath, meaning they had a chance to repent!
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they DID NOT REPENT of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Rev 9 NKJV
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they DID NOT REPENT and give Him glory.
Rev 16 NKJV
Isn’t the mark physical? Its say’s “on” the hand or forehead. Some translations say “in” and some say “on”. There is even a difference between, the NKJV and the KJV in this regard:
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13 KJV
We see that the Greek word for on/in is the same Strong’s concordance number G1909 and can be used interchangeably for translating: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1909/kjv/tr/0-1/
The Sabbath was never mentioned by our Messiah in the New Testament, He is our Sabbath rest! First, He most definitely observed the sabbaths, he came to show us the spirit of observing the sabbath! If we are to follow our Messiah, we should be doing what he did! Second, consider the argument people are making when one side of the debate is “do less of God’s commands” and the other side is “do all of God’s commands”. Satan has confused this subject among believers to the point where they rather err on the side of NOT doing one of the 10 commands. I would reconsider your position, it’s safer to observe the 4th commandment than not. Also consider:
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
Hebrews 4 NKJV
If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 14:15 NKJV
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
John 14 NKJV