“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).
When God, through Moses, gave His law to the children of Israel, it included the instructions above regarding the Sabbath. In fact, this law was part of the Ten Commandments, which formed the foundation of a society that had just been liberated from Egyptian bondage. Each week, God expected His people to observe a day of rest and treat it as holy.
Christians are not under the Sabbath law today.* However, it was part of the Old Testament that was “written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). There are principles contained in the Sabbath law that we can learn from and apply today. We will notice five of these principles in this article.
Remember Your Creator
When we talk about the Sabbath, we usually think of rest [we will discuss this later]. Yet it was not just a day without work. This law was patterned after God’s work in creation (Exodus 20:11; Genesis 1:31-2:3) in which He worked six days and rested on the seventh. The Israelites were not just to rest; they were to remember God and His work.
The Bible begins with God creating the universe: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Without this, or if we forget this, the rest of the Bible is meaningless. Why?
- The creation proves that God is not an invention of man – The psalmist acknowledged this: “Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…” (Psalm 100:3). Therefore, He is unlike any other “god.”
- The creation reminds us what a privilege it is for God to care for us – The psalmist recognized this when he wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4). God made the universe, yet He still takes an interest in and cares for us.
- The creation shows that God’s love and favor actually matter – John stated plainly, “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and Jonah declared that He is “a gracious and compassionate God” (Jonah 4:2). These characteristics are important because of God’s power, which He demonstrated in the creation.
The Sabbath reminded them that God was their creator and that they should appreciate the blessings that are based on this truth.
Do Not Conform to the World
They were to remember the Sabbath day and “keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and they did this as God’s own special, holy people: “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:6). They were to be different, and this was one practice that set them apart. No other nation observed the Sabbath like the Israelites did.
Today, we as Christians are God’s special people (1 Peter 2:9). We are called to be “holy…in all [our] behavior” and be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). This means we are to be different from the world, as Paul told the saints in Rome, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Christians are to stand out from the world. Peter wrote, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12). The world believes “the word of the cross is foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18) and scoffs at the gospel and our obedience to God’s will. But we must be willing to be different, no matter what the world thinks of us. If we will “come out from their midst and be separate,” we can be “sons and daughters” to God (2 Corinthians 6:17-18), and receipients of all the blessings that come from that position.
Plan Ahead in Your Labors
The Sabbath law required the Israelites to plan ahead so they could rest on the seventh day. They were to gather twice as much on the sixth day (Exodus 16:5) and prepare their food ahead of time (Exodus 16:23) so they could properly observe the Sabbath. After they reached the promised land, this would apply to their regular labors and responsibilities.
This shows the importance of planning our work. The wise man said, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage…” (Proverbs 21:5). But it was not just about planning; they also had to do the extra work that would allow them to rest on the seventh day. When we work, we are to do so “with all [our] might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10), even working morning and evening (Ecclesiastes 11:6), in order to carry out our responsibilities.
Additionally, planning our work helps keep necessary labor from unnecessarily infringing on spiritual activities. We are to put spiritual things first (Matthew 6:33) and not allow work to crowd out our responsibilities before God (Luke 12:16-21). Of course, sometimes conflicts will arise that are out of our control. But many times, we convince ourselves that there is an unavoidable conflict between our work schedule and our spiritual responsibilities when it is really just poor planning on our part.
Make Time for Rest
The Israelites were to observe the Sabbath each week (Leviticus 23:2-3) – not occasionally, but every week. This was so important that the Lord commanded the man who violated this law to be put to death (Numbers 15:32-36). Interestingly, God made it clear this applied even during busier seasons: “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest” (Exodus 34:21).
God created us (Genesis 1:26-27) and knows we need rest. He rested after creating the world (Genesis 2:2), but not because He needed rest. He “does not become weary or tired” (Isaiah 40:28). He did this as an example for us because we need rest.
Work is tiring – physically (Ecclesiastes 4:6), mentally (Ecclesiastes 12:12), and sometimes emotionally (Exodus 18:13-18). Besides this, work is never done. Therefore, we must intentionally make time for rest, just as Jesus told His disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). We need occasional periods of rest as a break from our regular routine of work.
Work Precedes Rest
When God made the Sabbath law, He put the day at the end of the week (Exodus 20:9-10). This is what He did when He created the universe (Genesis 1:31-2:3) – He created all things in six days, then rested on the seventh.
In our physical labors, we must work before we take time to rest. The wise man admonished the “sluggard” to “go to the ant” and observe how she works in the summer and during the harvest (Proverbs 6:6-8) before the time of rest during the winter months. If we rest when we should be working, we will find ourselves in need (Proverbs 20:4).
Also in our spiritual labors, we must work for the Lord before we receive the promised rest. John wrote, “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them’” (Revelation 14:13). Rest was available, but it would be given after a life of faithful service to the Lord. So we must be diligent during the time we have now. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Alluding to the reward of heaven, the Hebrew writer said, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11). In our service to the Lord, work precedes rest.
Conclusion
We are not under obligation to observe the Sabbath today, but there are important lessons for us to learn from it. Let us remember our Creator, be different from the world, and labor diligently to receive the promised rest.
———
* For more explanation about the Sabbath law being for the Jews under the Law of Moses, and that it is not a requirement for Christians today living under the new covenant, see the article, Sabbath Keeping.
