The Sabbath

Genesis 2:1–3 says that “And he rested on the seventh day”. The Hebrew word for “rested” is shabath from which is derived the word “sabbath”. Its meaning is “to cease, or desist”. God did not need to rest from labour because He was weary (Psalm 121:4; Isaiah 40:28–31).

“God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” God gave this day a particular significance and by sanctifying it He “set it apart”, as the word means. The reason for this was that:

• He would include it in His law to Israel hundreds of years later (Exodus 20:8–11)

• He would use it as a parable of His great purpose to fill the earth with His glory, when all creation would be in harmony with Him (Revelation 4:11; Numbers 14:21).

We should note the following points regarding the Sabbath.

• There is no record of the sabbath being kept as a special day until Israel was brought out of Egypt. It is first mentioned in Exodus 16:23–30

• The sabbath law was one of the ten commandments (Exodus 20:8–11)

• It only applied to Israel and not to the nations around Israel (Exodus 31:12–17; Deuteronomy 5:12–15)

• The spirit of the sabbath was that a person would cease from his own works and do the works of God (Isaiah 58:13)

• Keeping the sabbath, together with the rituals and other special days which were part of the Law given to Moses, was no longer a requirement for believers after the death of Jesus (John 1:17; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:16–17; Galatians 4:9–10; 2 Corinthians 3:6–11)

• Christians are told to regard no day as more important than another (Romans 14:5–6)

• The sabbath, like other so-called “holy days”, is not binding on believers in Christ today (Colossians 2:16–17)

• Jesus Christ says that the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27).

• The sabbath points forward to “the rest” that God has in store for all His faithful children (Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 4:4–11).

Adapted from “The Exploring the Bible Course” by David Evans