The Sabbath, the Day of Rest

The Sabbath is the day of rest that God commanded Israel to keep in the Old Testament of the bible. This is the day when all the people must not do any work and depend on God completely for all their needs. God commanded Israel to set the 7^th day of the week apart as the Sabbath. This is the 4^th Commandment.

Exodus 20: 8-11 “You must remember to keep the Sabbath a special day. You may work six days a week to do your job.  But the seventh day is a day of rest in honour of the Lord your God. So on that day no one should work—not you, your sons and daughters, or your men and women slaves. Even your animals and the foreigners living in your cities must not work! That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day.

When God rained down manna in the wilderness he told Israel to collect a double portion on the 6^th day so that on the 7^th day they will rest at home.  Some of the people however disobeyed God. They went on the Sabbath to get manna but they found nothing.

Exodus 16: 4-5:   ^“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will cause food to fall from the sky. This food will be for you to eat. Every day the people should go out and gather the food they need that day. I will do this to see if they will do what I tell them. Every day the people will gather only enough food for one day. But on Friday, when the people prepare their food, they will see that they have enough food for two days.”

Exodus 16: 27-30: “On Saturday, some of the people went out to gather some of the food, but they could not find any. Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you people refuse to obey my commands and  teachings?  Look, the Lord has made the Sabbath a day of rest for you. So on Friday he will give you enough food for two days. Then, on the Sabbath, each of you should sit down and relax. Stay where you are.” So the people rested on the Sabbath.

The bible however concludes in the book of psalms that Israel did not enter into God’s rest because of disobedience to his voice. It was then difficult for them to keep the Sabbath.

Psalm 95: 7b-11: “If only you would listen to his voice today! The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.  For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. For forty years I was angry with them, and I said, they are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them. So in my anger I took an oath: They will never enter my place of rest.”

The Old Testament is the shadow of things to come while the New Testament is the substance.

Colossians 2: 16-17: “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.”

The conclusion is that anytime we are walking in obedience to God, we are keeping the Sabbath. It is not possible to keep the Sabbath without being able to identify the voice of God and obeying it.

Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law especially the Sabbath. He kept the Sabbath everyday of his life. Israel did not have spiritual understanding of the Sabbath so they spent all their time accusing Jesus of breaking the law.  Jesus declared that he would only do and say what he saw God the Father did or said.  

John 5: 18-19: So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”

Jesus performed all the miracles from a place of rest in God and so kept the Sabbath day. He relied on God completely in making decisions and he never went anywhere unless directed by God.

Sabbath keepers are those who hear the voice of God and obey. God speaks to us every day and he is pleased when we obey him.

Everyday should be a day of Sabbath for a true child of God. People attend church on Sundays to worship God and hear his voice. The Jews attend the synagogue on Saturdays to worship God and hear his voice. The bible however says that today when you hear the voice of God do not harden your heart.

Hebrews 4:7: So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.”

Everything we do must be from a place of rest in God; otherwise we will be walking in the flesh and this is not pleasing unto God. Walking in the flesh make us short sighted and does not allow us to enjoy the full benefit of all that the Lord has in stock for us. Every day of the week should be a Sabbath day.

 

Enjoy the blessings of God