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What is the Sabbath?
Sabbath: From Hebrew “Shabbat” meaning, “to rest, or to cease.”
Given first as a principle in Genesis 2:1-3, where it is simply referred to as the seventh day; then as a command under the Law of Moses in Exodus 16:23.
When the text says God “rested” from His labors, this doesn’t mean he was tired; rather, it has more the idea of “ceasing” from His labors.
The Sabbath is the seventh day, while the phrase the “Lord’s Day” occurs only in the NT and always occurs on the first day of the week, our Sunday.
When considering the Sabbath, we must be careful not to engage in anachronistic thinking, reading the present back into the past.
There is no record of Sabbath keeping at all in the entire book of Genesis, nor does the Hebrew word for “Sabbath” actually appear in the Bible until Exodus.
Eventually, with the development of Pharisaical tradition after the Babylonian captivity, Rabbis developed some 1500 specific rules and regulations regarding the Sabbath.
The Sabbath under the Old Testament economy
The Sabbath is first mentioned in Exodus 16 regarding the gathering of manna, then again in chapter 20 as God gives the Israel the Law.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 clearly spells out the purpose of the Sabbath: A remembrance of God’s deliverance from bondage (Egypt).
Positively, it set aside time for Israel to rejoice in the works of their God within their individual households.
Negatively, it prohibited the following:
No gathering of Manna, Exodus 16:23-30 No traveling, Exodus 16:29 No plowing or reaping of grain, Exodus 34:21 No kindling of fires, Exodus 35:3 No wood gathering, Numbers 15:32 No work has the connotation of economic endeavors: Exodus 20:10 The Levitical priesthood: They actually had to work harder on the Sabbath than any other day, for many sacrifices were offered on this day.
There is no command anywhere in the Old Testament for or against corporate worship on the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was not primarily a day of worship, but a day of remembrance and rest. Leviticus 23:3 states that the Sabbath is a day of Holy convocation in all your dwellings. That means, “at home.”
The Sabbath under the New Testament economy
The Old Covenant, or the Law of Moses was always meant to be temporary.
This was already prophesied in the Old Testament.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.Jeremiah 31:31-34
Under the Old Covenant, a Gentile believer had to become a proselyte, or a convert, to the Law of Moses. They had to give up all their old manners and customs and adopt the Law of Moses as a rule of life, including circumcision for all males. So Sabbath keeping and circumcision were the evidence that you had converted to the Law of Moses.
Its temporal nature is also confirmed in the New Testament.
The Sabbath was part of the Law of Moses, only introduced in Exodus, it is not a creation ordinance. That the Sabbath requirement has been removed with Christ’s death is made perfectly clear in Colossians 2:13-17.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.Colossians 2:13-17
Sabbath Applications Today
Physical rest is still and always has been an important principle for mankind.
Spiritual rest and refreshment is still and always has been an important principle for mankind.
Jesus gives us the true rest which the Sabbath observance only hinted at.
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