Remember the Sabbath to Keep it Holy

Keep the Sabbath Holy

While driving recently I noticed a large billboard that said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I like to put my feet up and rest, so the idea of a Sabbath sounds pretty good to me.

Nevertheless, the statement on the billboard is a quotation from Exodus 20:8 and it is discussed throughout scripture, so it is very clear that it is an important concept. Since it is part of the Ten Commandments, it might well give us pause. Like many things in the Old Testament however, this was the shadow of a reality to come.

The Old Testament is very clear about sabbath-keeping. Sabbath is first mentioned in Exodus 16:23. The Israelites had cried out to Moses because they did not have enough food. Father is the source, and He always provides sustenance for His children. This time was no exception. God sent Quail for them. In addition, in the morning after the dew dried out, there remained a white substance on the ground. Each morning the people were to gather enough of it for one day. If they had any left over, it was rotten by the next morning. This was true every day except the sixth day. Let’s look in on the Israelites at that point.

Exodus 16:22–29 (italics mine)

22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread (manna), two omers for each one. When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

23 then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.”

24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it.

25 Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

Work of every kind was prohibited on the Sabbath. We will get back to this crucial point, but watch what happens next.

27 Yet it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?

29 See, the LORD has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.” (NASB 2020)

The Lord gave the Sabbath to provide rest for His people. Work of every kind was prohibited so that the people would rest without feeling guilty about not working on all the many things that needed to be done. This is the first inkling of a truth so important that we must not miss it. Many do miss it however, and in missing it they miss the freedom and blessing it provides.

Now let’s look at Exodus 20:8–11. This is the passage theologians call the Decalogue. That’s just a fancy way of saying, “The Ten Commandments.” We will jump into it at Commandment number four.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work,

10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.

11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (NASB 2020)

The people are not to do any work on the Sabbath. No one is to work no matter their social status or role. That means the people can’t get around this by having someone else work on their behalf. No work means no work.

Over the years, the Jews became very meticulous in defining work. Nothing that is creative in any way is allowed on the Sabbath. A few examples include, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying or untying, tearing, writing two letters, and erasing two letters.

This kind of rule incites rebellion. The first thing that occurs to me is that I could gather with all my friends, and we could write a note without violating the Sabbath if we each wrote a single letter. This is the effect rules and laws have on us, isn’t it? We look for ways around them. Whole industries exist to help us get around tax rules, for example.

Now we will look at another interesting passage about Sabbath.

Exodus 31:13–17

13 “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Notice that the Sabbath is a sign. In the book of John in particular, we read that Jesus performed many signs. (see John 12:37 and 20:30 for example) In 1 Corinthians 1:22 we find, “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom” (NASB 2020) In calling the Sabbath a sign, Father is showing us that we need to pay attention to this because it indicates something beyond what we see on the surface.

We will come back to this, but let’s look at the end of verse 13. The reason this sign was given is so that the people will know that it is God who sanctifies them. In other words, it is not things people do that sets them apart to God. It is God who does what is necessary for that to happen. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Let’s continue now with verses 14 and 15.

14 Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.

15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.

Wait a minute! Anyone who works on the Sabbath is condemned to death? What can Father be thinking!? Let’s look at this again. Everyone who profanes the Sabbath must be put to death. Whoever does any work on the sabbath day must be killed.

Notice also that in verse 15 it says that the Sabbath is for complete rest. The Hebrew here denotes a Sabbath of entire rest, or “complete desisting.” (NET Bible Notes) This is a very strict rule with a very severe set of consequences.

16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’

17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.” (NASB 2020)

Lest we think that this was something tied solely to the Covenant of the Law that God made with the Israelites, this passage makes it clear. This is a permanent covenant. It is a sign between God and the children of Israel forever.

There are many places in the Old Testament that talk about the Sabbath, but before we leave, let’s look at just one more.

Deuteronomy 5:12–15

12 ‘Keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

13 For six days you shall labor and do all your work,

14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work that day, you or your son or your daughter, or your male slave or your female slave, or your ox, your donkey, or any of your cattle, or your resident who stays with you, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you.

15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath day. (NASB 2020)

This one is particularly interesting. Here we read that another reason Father instituted the Sabbath was so that they would remember that they had been in bondage to Egypt.

In Egypt they had been slaves. Their masters drove them hard and they had to work constantly. Father graciously rescued them from slavery and brought them out to a land that had plenty of resources and would sustain them very well. He gave them a whole new life and resting was integral to it.

This is yet another part of the Sabbath shadow. By now, many of you are probably beginning to see glimpses of the substance that cast that shadow. The reality that was being foretold by it.

Let’s look at Hebrews 4:1-11 where we find the connection linking the Old Testament shadow to the New Testament reality.

Hebrews 4:1–11

1 Therefore, we must fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also did; but the word they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united with those who listened with faith.

Notice here that though Father had given the Sabbath to Israel, not all understood the idea of resting from their work. Paul spent a great deal of time in his letters, particularly Galatians, urging in the strongest terms that believers rest.

Galatians 5:1-9

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

3 And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.

4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.

6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?

8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

Here the Galatians believers were being told that there was something more they had to do in order to remain acceptable to God. Paul told them that if they decided to work for acceptance they had fallen from grace.

There is no other way it can be. Grace says that righteousness is the gift of God. A gift cannot be earned. Any work that people think justifies them or makes them acceptable to God is worthless.

It results in death because it profanes the Sabbath. For those who are not in Christ, it is the evidence of their unbelief, their rejection of Jesus and His finished work. For we who are in Christ, it results in effort spent for nothing.

Jumping back into our passage from Hebrews 4 at verse 3 now, we find a wonderful proclamation.

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “AS I SWORE IN MY ANGER, THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS”;

5 and again in this passage, “THEY CERTAINLY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.”

Everyone who is in Christ has entered Sabbath rest. When Jesus had finished His work, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Mark 16:19 says, "So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God." (NASB 2020) We are also told that Jesus sat down in Hebrews 1:3, 10:12, and 12:2. He sat down because His work was completely finished.

On to Hebrews 4, verse 6.

6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who previously had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience,

This disobedience is the way of the world. In Ephesians 2:2 we see this clarified. It reads, "in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience." (NASB 2020)

This world, and our enemy, tell us that we must work for our sustenance, our supply, our right standing with God. But God says, Jesus Christ is your Sabbath rest. You shall do no work. You shall completely desist. The reason is that Jesus has already done all the work, so when anyone tries to do any or it themselves they are saying that Jesus is not enough. They are saying that His work was incomplete or ineffective. That is unbelief and it is disobedience.

Now let’s finish the Hebrews 4 passage picking up with verse 7.

7 He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

9 Consequently, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

11 Therefore let’s make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience. (NASB 2020)

So, we can agree with the billboard that said that we should remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.

We keep the Sabbath holy by walking by faith and not by sight.

We keep the Sabbath holy by resting in the finished work of Christ.

We keep the Sabbath holy by refraining from any work designed to bring us closer to God, make us more acceptable to God, or give us any sort of extra reward from God.

The Christ-life is a life of dependence. It is, as Jesus said, rest for our souls. No longer do we toil away as slaves under the ruler of this world who says no matter what you do it is never enough. No longer do we “make bricks without straw” by keeping religious rules, rites, and rituals.

Father has graciously freed us from slavery to the Pharaoh of Egypt, that old snake the devil. He has brought us to the promised land of abundant life in Jesus Christ. Freeing us from the law of sin and death and making us willing slaves of righteousness. The yoke He places on us is easy and the burden is light. Our role is to receive from Him to yield to His prompting and leading, and let Him do all the work.

After all, it is He who works in us both to desire and to do godly things. (See Philippians 2:13)