Biblical Sabbath
Exodus 20:8-10
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.
There are two
things we must take into consideration about the Sabbath:
The Rest
Built into every
one of us is the need for rest. The Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath. It is the day that the LORD has
made for us to worship Him, to rest in Him and be
refreshed.
Sabbath means to
rest and cease from labor. The seventh day of the week is called the
Sabbath rest or a Sabbath of complete rest. This rest of man
includes his servants and animals. They too need to rest and
be refreshed.
Mark 2:27
And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for
the Sabbath."
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done,
but the seventh day is a Sabbath of
solemn rest, a holy convocation.
You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all
your dwellings.
Exodus 23:12
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall
rest,
that your ox and your donkey may rest,
and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be
refreshed.
Even God Himself rested
on the seventh day and was refreshed.
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.
Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were
finished.
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done,
and He 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.
God rested on the seventh day after He completed His work of
creation. He sat back, relaxed and took a look at the works of His
hands. Everything was complete and perfectly in order. He smiled.
Blessed by what He saw, He took a Sabbatical rest. God rested and
was refreshed! God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. The
Sabbath then became holy! This was clearly shown in the fourth
commandment!
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.
However we have
replaced this blessed rest with programs and activities. If the
people of earth would take heed to this commandment of the
LORD, we would have a better and more wonderful world. People will
not be burnouts or misfits. There will be lesser wars, strife,
hatred, jealousy and envy. There will be more peace, patience, love,
grace and mercy.
Imagine a world
that rests on the Sabbath. People resting in the LORD, enjoying Him
and His creation, which includes the peoples of the world. People
begin to consider the interests of others and esteem others better
than themselves. Showing grace to others, being gracious and
merciful even to their enemies.
Imagine a day
wherein there is no rush to buy or to do this and that. The shopping
malls, cinemas, TV and Internet are closed for the day. The churches
will be alive with the sound of praise and worship. People will
enjoy sweet fellowship and communion with one another without any
distractions or other attractions. The simple meals are taken in the
homes, prepared ahead of time. The waiters and waitresses in the
restaurants and eating houses can have their day of rest so that
they too can be refreshed to face a new week. People will exercise
forethoughts and foresights, planning ahead for themselves and
others. There will not be any last minute twists and turns,
upsetting anyone. Every Sabbath is like a New Year Day when all
businesses are closed for the day. People will share and testify of
the Lord. The Word becomes alive. Praying for one another, for the
sick and for the nations. Enjoying and worshipping the Lord.
Enjoying people and loving one another.
The creation of
God will also suffer lesser pollution and contamination. Lesser
trees, plants, animals and nature are being destroyed as man begins
to appreciate and admire the creation of God the way God does.
However, there
are some exceptions to consider - the works of necessity and mercy.
Matthew 12:1-13
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath.
And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and
to eat.
2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your
disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was
hungry, he and those who were with him:
4 how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was
not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only
for the priests?
5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in
the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?
6 Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the
temple.
7 But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not
sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue.
10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they
asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they
might accuse Him.
11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one
sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold
of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it
is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he
stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
Utilities such as gas, electricity and water are
essential needs. Imagine a home without electricity or a kitchen
without gas to cook and water to wash. Imagine a hospital closing on
the Sabbath. Works of mercy in hospitals
and elderly homes are permissible to operate on Sabbaths. Some
surgeries can be rescheduled to other days. Some life-saving
emergencies are allowed on Sabbaths. Again, the rule is: The Sabbath
was made for man, and not man for Sabbath. On such cases, there
should be rotations of duties for Sabbaths.
The Sabbath is
God's model of work and rest. He cares that we do not fall into
slavery becoming workaholics or machines. Sabbath is the celebration
of God's deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt.
Deut
5:15
And
remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and that the LORD your God brought you out from there
by a
mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;
therefore the
LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
The Sabbath is
not a yoke or bondage. It is a day of delight, joy and rest -
feasting, fellowshipping, reading and enjoying the Scriptures etc.
Keeping the Sabbath honors God our Creator. It unifies our families
and sets the right priorities for us. Our souls are refreshed as our
minds are renewed. A day away from work, stress, pressure, monetary
and worldly pursuits. A day we can come and worship God in the
beauty of His Holiness. A day we can rest in Him!
By resting in
the Lord, man is actually declaring his trust in God. God rested on
the seventh day after He ended His work which He had done. He also shared
with man the fruit of His labor. He allowed man to have the
authority to rule over the earth, which He had created. Man should
follow this divine example. Giving thanks to the Lord as we enjoy
and share the fruit of our labor. The rich will be blessed and the
poor will have no lack!
But the sad
truth is that we have done otherwise and forgone this blessing of
the Sabbath. In our rushing through life, we lose life itself. We
fill our timetables, leaving no time or room for God and others. We
please ourselves, indulging in our own interests and doing our own
things without any considerations for God and others. We do not seek
Him and His righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:2-5
For men will
be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,
without
self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors,
headstrong,
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away!
What is the
blessing in keeping the Sabbath? Just take a look at the Jews. They
kept their Sabbaths. In the midst of many wars, they experience the
Shalom peace of God. Despite the various attempts of man to
eradicate them from the face of the earth throughout the ages, they
remain blessed and prospering while their enemies had long been
consumed and forgotten.
We must enter
into the perfect rest of the Lord that He so desires us to. Unless
we come into His rest, we will always be struggling and striving.
And Jesus said:
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light.
The Day
Just as we have
turned the rest into unrest, we have also changed the day into
another day. The Sabbath will always be the seventh day of the week.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews
13:8). His Word is eternal and forevermore the same through all
generations.
The Sabbath was
instituted at creation, two thousand years before there were any
Jews. It was meant for all men and not just the Jews. God blessed
the seventh day, sanctified it and called it a day of rest (Genesis
2:3). The Sabbath is the celebration of God's complete and perfect
creation. The observance of the day is in itself an acknowledgment
of His omnipotence.
The Ten
Commandments in Exodus 20:3-17 (KJV) contain 297 words. 94 of these
words are about the Sabbath. This fourth commandment takes up more
than thirty percent of all the contents of the Ten Commandments.
This shows its significance and importance.
The Sabbath was
held in high esteem by both the Jews and the early Christians. All
the twelve disciples of Jesus were Messianic Jews. They observed the
Sabbath on the seventh day. To ask any Jew to disobey this law of
Sabbath or to change the day is like asking them to tear out their
hearts.
The Lord's Day
is not to be confused with the Sabbath. The Lord's Day is the first
day of the week that begins on Saturday evening and ends on Sunday
evening. This was the day on which Jesus was raised from the dead.
The Sabbath begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening,
the seventh or last day of the week. This commemorates the day on
which God rested after the creation of the world. We have illegally
replaced the Sabbath with the Day of the Lord.
Jesus Himself
observed and kept the Sabbath. In Luke 4:14-21, He announced and
began His ministry on a Sabbath. In the same chapter, verses 31 to
35, Jesus taught and cast out demons on the Sabbath. The Apostle
Paul observed the Sabbath. In Acts 13:14-15, Paul taught on Sabbath
Day in the synagogue in Antioch. The Jews and Gentiles begged Paul
and Barnabas to come back the next Sabbath and teach them more about
the gospel (Acts 13:42-43).
After the first
Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire in AD 70, it was dangerous
to be identified with the Jews. The Jews were hated. And the Gentile
believers began to disassociate themselves from anything Jewish or
Hebraic.
Beginning with
the Second Jewish Revolt in about AD 135, the Gentile church leaders
began to openly break away from their Hebraic Roots. The Church
began to gather on Sundays instead of Saturdays to escape intense
persecutions. The Catholic Encyclopedia stated that it was the
Catholics who changed the day of worship from Sabbath to Sunday in
the third century AD. This was unauthorized, transferring the
solemnity of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
Jesus did not resurrect on Sunday morning. He rose on Saturday
evening after the Sabbath was over! Jesus was resurrected at the
dawning of the first day of the week. That was the beginning
of the first day of the week, not the morning dawn.
Matthew 28:1
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of
the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
came to see the tomb.
Mary Magdalene waited till the Sabbath was over, and she went to
the tomb immediately after Saturday 6 pm. She was the first to see
the Risen LORD.
Mark 16:9-11
Now when He rose early on the first day of
the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He
had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with
Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive
and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
The body of Jesus was reported to be stolen or missing in the
night and not in the morning.
Matthew 28:11-15
Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came
into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that
had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted
together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying,
“Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night
and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the
governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they
took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is
commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
There are three
passages often misinterpreted by Christians that the Sabbath was
divinely changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week:
It was not a
church service that Paul was having on the first day of the
week. It was on a Saturday evening when they gathered together
to break bread for the fellowship meal (Good News Bible) - a
meal taken at the end of the Sabbath and known as Havdalah.
After this meal, Paul preached until midnight. A young man was
overcome by sleep and fell down from the third storey. He was
found dead but later resurrected to life.
Paul
exhorted the Christians to put aside part of their first day's
pay (a type of first fruits) as a love offering to help their
fellow believers in Judea. They were to save it up until Paul
sent men whom they had approved to take their monetary gift to
Jerusalem. No collection was taken on the first day of the week
as there was no church service on that day.
John was in
the Spirit on the Lord's Day. The Lord's Day refers to the first
day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead in the evening
after the
Sabbath was over.
God is restoring
the Biblical Sabbath back to the Church, both the rest and the day.
He is re-establishing the ancient foundations, building the old
waste places, repairing the Breach and restoring the streets to
dwell in. Sabbath is from Genesis, the foundations of the earth.
Isaiah
58:11-14
The LORD
will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought,
and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Those from
among you shall build the old waste places;
you shall raise up
the foundations of many generations;
and you shall be called the
Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets
to Dwell In.
If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from
doing your pleasure on My holy day,
and call the Sabbath
a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable,
and
shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own
pleasure,
nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight
yourself in the LORD;
and I will cause you to ride on the high
hills of the earth,
and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your
father.
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Exodus 31:16-17
Therefore
the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath,
to
observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual
covenant.
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.
Isaiah 56:1-7
Thus says
the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for My salvation
is about to come,
and My righteousness to be revealed.
Blessed
is the man who does this,
and the son of man who lays hold on
it;
who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
and keeps his hand from
doing any evil."
Do not let the son of the foreigner who has
joined himself to the LORD speak, saying,
"The LORD has utterly
separated me from His people"; nor let the eunuch say,
"Here I
am, a dry tree."
For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who
keep My Sabbaths,
and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My
covenant,
even to them I will give in My house and within My
walls
a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to
the LORD,
to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be
His servants--
everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and
holds fast My covenant--
even them I will bring to My holy
mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on
My altar;
for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
nations."
One final
consideration of the Sabbath is the prophetic calendar of the Lord
in the endtimes. By foregoing the Biblical Sabbath, we will be
foregoing its significant meaning. The Sabbath of Sabbaths will be
at the end of the age. Just as rest comes after six days of work,
Messiah will reign over the earth for a thousand years after 6000
years of history. One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one day (2 Pet. 3:8). We are approximately six
thousand years from creation. The thousand-year Sabbath reign of
Jesus is therefore at hand. If the Sabbath is changed to the first
day, we will have to wait another 1000 years before Jesus returns!
I believe that
God is leading us back to the ancient paths where the good way is.
When we walk in it, we will find rest for our souls
(Jeremiah 6:16).