Sabbath Rest
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:1-3
I recall a trip to Israel. We stayed in a hotel with an amazing view overlooking the Sea of Galilee from the western shore. On Friday evening after dinner, a crowd formed waiting for the elevator to arrive. It arrived and I joined the crowd boarding the elevator. The car stopped at every floor taking a long pause before slowly moving upward. That is how I learned about the Sabbath elevator; one unit set aside each Sabbath to run continuously from floor to floor so its passengers would not need to push a button on the Sabbath. I concluded that pushing an elevator button must constitute work forbidden on the Sabbath.
I wondered about the work, planning, effort and worry associated with maintaining Sabbath requirements rules relating to work stoppage. In certain situations, rest requires a lot of work.
Scripture prohibits work on the Sabbath and establishes the death penalty for violations. In fact, we see a man executed at Moses’ direction for gathering sticks one Saturday afternoon (see Numbers 15:32-36). Yet one Sabbath afternoon, Jesus and the disciples pick wheat as they walk through a field on their way to the temple. God’s holy word tells us that Jesus is without sin, so His actions must have been acceptable to God the Father, but how does this fit with the rest of Scripture? And when religious leaders call Him out for it, Jesus justifies their actions by referring to an incident involving King David, discusses work priests are directed to do on the Sabbath, and proclaims that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus says,
“Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it 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 how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And 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 of the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:3-8
Mark records the same event. He quotes Jesus saying,
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28
The Sabbath is made for man, and Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. What does this mean? Let’s consider the teaching in the context of the Old Testament.
The first account of creation in Genesis concludes on the seventh day with God resting. He sets aside the seventh day, blesses the day and deems it holy (see Genesis 2:1-3). In Exodus, the concept of the Sabbath is connected to the seventh day of creation, combining notions of abstinence from work, holiness and God’s blessing (see Exodus 20:8-11). When Moses introduces manna in the wilderness, God tells them to gather enough for each day, except on the sixth day when they should gather a double portion in preparation for the day of rest saying,
‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” Exodus 16:23
The concept of the seventh day, the Sabbath, combines concepts of physical rest, holiness and God’s blessing. The Sabbath is a gift from God for His people. It is a holy day marked by His unique blessing of abundance so His people can rest. He sets aside a time for His people to stop working, to enjoy His blessings, to commune with Him and each other, to enter His rest. It is a gift, but it seems He had to force some to accept it.
Later in Exodus we see a shocking punishment for violating the sanctity of the Sabbath:
Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.” Exodus 35:1-3
Given the command and its associated death penalty, it becomes very clear that God is serious about the Sabbath. It is also clear why folks became extremely concerned about the definition of work in the context of the Sabbath.
In Deuteronomy, after forty years in the wilderness as Moses gives his farewell address, when he restates the Ten Commandments, he connects the Sabbath to God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. God delivered His people from the place of bondage and led them to His holy mountain, sacred ground, the sacred place where they might commune with Him. By shifting the foundation from God’s rest associated with creation to communing with God at a sacred place, the concept of Sabbath evolves – physical rest, blessing and holiness are blended with the idea of entering God’s presence. Moses says,
“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave[c] in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:12-15
The commandment to keep the Sabbath is a gift from God. While in Egypt, His people were forced to work as slaves at the whim of their masters, but He rescued them and led them to His holy mountain so they people might commune with Him, receive physical rest, and enjoy His blessing. The Sabbath is time God sets aside for His people to enjoy His abundance.
After His people enter the Promised Land, God call prophets to reveal Israel’s rebellion against Him. As the prophets recite the many ways God’s people rebel, profaning the Sabbath is high on the list of rebellious activities. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says,
Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Ezekiel 20:12-13
God designed the Sabbath to be a gift of grace, the first fruits leading to sanctification. But His people rejected the gift. Later, on behalf of God, Ezekiel writes,
“Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit[b] and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 22:6-12
God connects violating the Sabbath with despising God’s holy things. The Sabbath is a holy gift from God, yet His people reject it. God includes profaning the Sabbath alongside a laundry list of other actions described as abomination. God takes the Sabbath seriously, but His people reject it and, at times, begrudgingly go along with it. The prophet Amos records instances of shopkeepers begrudgingly upholding the Sabbath, wishing it would end so they could get back work (see Amos 8:4-6). Some view the Sabbath as an obligation to uphold, not a gift from God. Underscoring the fact it is a holy gift of grace, communion with Him, abiding in His presence in rest, God threatens to take away the Sabbath as punishment for rebellion (see Hosea 2:11).
The Sabbath is a holy gift of grace from God to His people so that they might commune with Him and know Him and be sanctified by Him. A related concept also flows through Scripture, the concept of God’s rest. When God commands Moses to lead His people away from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land, God promises to go with them and give them His rest. In the following passage, Moses speaks and God responds:
Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” 14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:13-14
Like the Sabbath, God’s rest is a gift from God associated with His holy presence. The generation of Israelites who had lived in Egypt and who had been delivered from bondage refused to enter the Promised Land because they were afraid. They failed to trust God and His promises even though He had provided for them and revealed His glory to them throughout their journey. So, God chose to refuse their entry into the Promised Land, and He led them back out into the wilderness for forty years. The psalmist says that by refusing their entry into the Promised Land, God refused their entry into His rest. King David writes,
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.” Psalm 95:6-11
God’s chosen people rebelled against Him, they did not know His ways, they hardened their hearts, so God refused their entry into His rest. In Deuteronomy, God reiterates the connection between His holy gracious gift of rest and living in the Promised Land.
“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,9 for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, 11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord. 12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 13 Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, 14 but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I am commanding you. Deuteronomy 12:8-14
After Joshua and the army conquered the Promised Land and took possession of it, and their enemies stopped attacking, God gave them His rest. In the Book of Joshua we read,
Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. Joshua 21:43-45
Other psalms present rest as the state of being while in communion with God. When David is separated from God, he finds no rest.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest. Psalm 22:1-2
And when he is near God, the psalmist finds rest.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living. Psalm 116:5-9
God’s rest is available to those who are near Him, who go to Him, who return to Him. Rest is the state of being of those who commune with Him. Similarly, Jesus invites people to Him and promises to give them rest when they arrive. Like Mount Sinai for the former slaves from Egypt and the Promised Land for God’s people who entered it, spiritual, soulful rest is the state of being people experience when they live in communion with God through Christ Jesus. Jesus says,
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[g] 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-30
In this short paragraph, Jesus reveals that God enlightens the eyes of children to understand heavenly mysteries, and Jesus reveals knowledge of the Father to whom He chooses. Further, Jesus gives spiritual rest to those who go to Him. Heavenly knowledge and understanding and rest are holy gifts of grace.
Jesus promises to give His rest to everyone who comes to Him. He replaces heavy burdens with rest for our souls. This sounds like the Promised Land where we find abundance without toil. It sounds like a return to the Garden of Eden where humans communed with God in abundance without hardship, thorns or work. God’s rest is a gracious gift offered through Christ Jesus by faith.
The writer of Hebrews connects the data points. He connects the Sabbath to God’s rest; he connects entry to God’s rest with faith and belief and refused entry to disbelief; and he ties it all to the first account of creation in Genesis 1 and God’s deliverance of His people out of bondage in Egypt. In Hebrews 3 he starts the discussion referring to the Israelites’ rebellion in the wilderness during the Exodus, and because of their disbelief, God refused them entry into the Promised Land. Later in Psalm 95, God equates entry into the Promised Land with entry into His rest. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:7-8, and refers to Psalm 95:11 saying,
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:12-19
Faith is the key to unlocking to door to God’s rest. Faith is the key to entry, and promise of entering His rest still stands. He continues writing,
Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Hebrews 4:1-10
The writer implies that believers may fall away from God through the evil of unbelief, rebellion and disobedience. And he urges us not to harden our hearts, but to hear His voice, receive His holy word, and through faith enter His Sabbath rest, “for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:10). By entering God’s rest, we satisfy Sabbath requirements – by entering God’s rest, we rest from our works. The Sabbath is associated with deliverance from forced work, rescue from slavery, and transport to the place of communing with God. We enter His rest by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. The writer of Hebrews continues writing,
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:11-13
We enter God’s Sabbath rest through faith, and we lose His rest through disobedience. It is in this context of faith, unbelief, God’s Sabbath rest and barred entry that he writes the often-quoted passage,
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
What does the activity and razor-like sharpness of God’s holy word have to do with His Sabbath rest? God knows the intentions of our hearts. He knows everything about us. His holy word is active, living, dividing and discerning. He knows our faith, faithfulness, and unbelief.
The writer of Hebrews connects God’s rest with the Sabbath, and entry into God’s rest with faith. When Jesus says He is Lord of the Sabbath, what does He mean? By God’s holy grace through faith in Christ Jesus, we enter God’s Sabbath rest, and each person who enters God’s rest is deemed to have stopped working.
Jesus is light, love and life. Through Him, by faith we are justified, and His righteousness is imputed to us. A corollary of that truth is that we enter His rest, are deemed to have stopped working, and thereby satisfy the Sabbath requirements. By violating the Sabbath we deserve death, but through Jesus, Sabbath rest is graciously bestowed upon us.
Jesus fulfills the Law. By God’s holy grace through faith, Christ Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to us. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says,
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20
Christ Jesus fulfills the Law and only through Him are we made righteous.
After picking grain one Sabbath day, Jesus proclaimed “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).
After claiming to be Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue and went inside where He encountered a man whose hand was disabled. In the perfect demonstration of the Lordship He had just claimed, Jesus healed the man’s hand. He was inside the synagogue, on a Sabbath, in full view of everyone, including religious leaders, and He healed the man in defiance of religious leaders who believed it was illegal to heal someone on the holy day. Matthew records the event as follows:
9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Matthew 12:9-14
“So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12). “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).
The Sabbath is a gift from God. It is the seventh day set aside as a holy day of rest, worship and communion with God. He gives us a break from the world to commune with Him. But how do we view it? Are we like the shop owners in Amos’ day begrudgingly going along with the rules, reluctantly going to church and refraining from work for so long as the law requires? Or do we long for and delight in the opportunity to gather worshiping God, relishing our time of truly entering God’s holy rest, basking in His glory? What is the Sabbath to you?
May you seek God through Christ Jesus continually. May you delight in God’s holy word, may you delight in Him, may you truly commune with Him, may you allow His light, love and life to flow through you impacting the world around you. Amen.