What is the Sabbath and why does it matter? To understand what the Sabbath is, we need to go all the way back to the very beginning.
From Creation to Exodus:
The Sabbath Day is found in the story of Creation. God tells us that He created everything in 6 days. The following 7th day He rested.
“Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3
God didn’t rest because He was tired. What He was doing was setting a pattern for us to follow. Adam would have been taught the history of creation and the pattern of resting on the seventh day, and would have imitated his Father who raised him.
But as generations came and went, mankind became more and more rebellious and didn’t want to do what the Father had taught them. Very quickly they began doing their own will and satisfying their own desires. This completely corrupted the whole earth. There was only one man named Noah who was willing to put away his own desires and follow God instead. Because of this, Noah and his family were saved, and us along with them.
Noah certainly knew the Sabbath because YHWH states that Noah was righteous in God’s eyes (Genesis 7:1).The Scriptures demonstrate that he was aware of God’s Laws. He differentiated between clean and unclean animals. Only one pair of each of the unclean animals was put aboard the ark, but seven pairs of clean animals (Genesis 7:2). So as Noah and his family repopulated the earth, the knowledge of the Sabbath went out again.
But once again, mankind became rebellious. In the midst of the seas of rebellious people, God found Abraham. This man would also be willing to follow God’s instructions, so much so that he was even willing to sacrifice his son at the command of God. There is no doubt that Abraham also knew the Sabbath, as God attests that Abraham was obedient.
“Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5
Abraham’s descendants moved to Egypt where they were forced into slavery. For more on that see my post Pharaoh's Crushing Domination of God's people. Perhaps some of God’s Laws were still followed, but the Sabbath was surely outlawed during slavery and then at some point completely forgotten. We know this because after the Israelites left Egypt, God had to reintroduce the Sabbath to them.
God tells Moses to establish the Sabbath again and tests their obedience.
“Then YHWH said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily." Exodus 16:4-5
God further explains that this is a rest day.
“Then he said to them ‘This is what YHWH has said: Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to YHWH…” Exodus 16:23
They were not to gather any bread on the 7th day, but of course some rebelled and failed the test.
“And YHWH said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My Laws? See! For YHWH has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day.” Exodus 16:28-30
The Sabbath is so important that it was the first obedience test after the nation was free from Egypt. God could have chosen any law to start them with, but the Sabbath was chosen as their first lesson. That should emphasize just how important the Sabbath rest is.
In fact, the Sabbath was of such utmost importance to YHWH that later it was given Place #4 in the 10 commandments. The only laws before it were the ones directly connected to God, Himself:
No other gods before YHWH
No making and worshipping idols
No treating YHWH's Name in an unworthy manner
Above all the remaining commandments was the Law of keeping the Sabbath. In the Old Testament, the word ‘Sabbath’ is written 111 times. Compare that to the word ‘faith’ which occurs only 49 times. Obedience comes from faith, but I just want to demonstrate how much emphasis God puts on this Sabbath rest. It’s important that you take note of this so you begin to see that there is an important reason that God insists on you observing it.
God continued to highlight the importance of this Day even after making it their first test and command #4. While Moses was up on the mountain receiving instructions from YHWH for 40 days and 40 nights, the very last thing God said to him before He gave him the tablets with the 10 commandments, was instructions for the Sabbath! Talk about emphasis! He spent 40 days telling Moses all the rules and regulations of all manner of things, and then He stops and ends it by changing the subject to the Sabbath, giving clear indications that this is the exclamation mark He wants Moses to focus on as he heads back down.
Now, the golden calf incident happens and Moses has to go up a second time to get the 10 commandments written again on tablets. When he comes back down, he again speaks to the congregation about the Sabbath regulations. (Exodus 35:1-2)
So let’s see what the 4th commandment was, and then compare it to what was said to Moses at the end of the 40 days.
Commandment #4 given to the people directly by the voice of God while they trembled at the foot of the mountain,
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of YHWH your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11
God establishes that this is a rest day that is directly connected to the pattern He made during creation. Also, the rest day is not only for working people but also for working animals.
Now compare that to the final Sabbath instructions given to Moses on that 40 the day on the mountain.
“And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHWH who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to YHWH. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed’ And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” Exodus 31:12-18
So now we see a much further explanation of why this day is so important. It is a SIGN between God and you, and it is COVENANT that is FOREVER. This is a huge revelation. This particular instruction is a sign of who you belong to. It is a testimony that your God, YHWH, is the only God, and is the One who made everything, and this observance testifies to how He did it.
The Sabbath is like a seal that is inscribed on every child of God, it says ‘I belong to YHWH who made heaven and earth and everything in it, He made the days to be a seven day cycle, six days we can work but on the 7th we rest just as our Father did.’
The definition of a ‘seal’ is a substance that is used to join two things together so as to prevent them from coming apart or to prevent anything from passing between them. This describes the Sabbath well. A seal with YHWH's signature pressed into it would be exactly what the Sabbath is.
This is forever and ever and ever, and it was to be observed before and after Christ. And it is not ‘only’ for people of blood descent from Abraham. Among the Israelites were many foreigners who left Egypt with them. It is for whomever decides to follow YHWH and be called the nation of Israel. It is a spiritual Israel, not by blood. Paul testifies to that,
“It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring." Romans 9:6-8
Paul says that the physical descendants of Abraham are not necessarily God’s children. This is why Gentiles can be saved, it’s not about a blood line. It’s about faith and proving that faith with obedience during testing, just as the nation under Moses had to pass the testing in the wilderness.
So this Sabbath is something that every child of God will observe. It is a sign that they belong to YHWH. If someone refuses to follow the Sabbath as written, then they are not YHWH’s. You must observe it exactly as He instructed. Here are some examples of observing a day that is NOT what YHWH instructed:
Observing the Sabbath on Sunday, the 1st day of the week instead of the 7th.
Observing the Sabbath at a different hour. It should be Friday evening to Saturday evening, sunset to sunset. Some observe just during the daytime on Saturday. This is a fundamental error in understanding time because of the heavy influence of today’s world-wide pagan culture.
Treating it as a free day where you can do anything you want, so you do all your grocery shopping for example. This supports people to work on the Sabbath which is contrary to His instructions.
Claiming that working is something you enjoy so working on the rest day is allowed. This doesn’t align with His instructions and God certainly enjoys creating but even He rested from that on the 7th day.
Treating it as a chore day, like doing all your laundry or continuing renovations, etc. This is treating His special day as an ordinary day. This is not what God asks us to do.
Changing anything of the Sabbath instructions means you are making your own version of the Sabbath, which means you are making your own version of God. Your god now becomes one who is ok with you altering his words and one who will not punish you for doing so. This is a very foolish path. Idolatry will keep you from escaping the final punishment which is awaiting the world.
I understand that observing the Sabbath is a big change that most will find very difficult to do. Not only will the Sabbath be contrary to our own desires of doing whatever we want, the world will also encourage this desire for disobedience. If we start to turn back to God and push for a proper Sabbath observance, the world will push back. They will threaten to take something from you and in most cases will follow through.
You may lose your job, your diploma, your family, your friends, your house, your car… you name it. But YHWH’s children will accept the worldly consequences rather than break God’s commandments. This world is run by the disobedient, and they will do everything they can to make you join them in criminality.
Don’t give up. Don’t hold onto the things of this world. Hold onto YHWH and His Son. Nothing else matters.
I will be doing additional posts on the Sabbath to explain in more detail how to observe it properly, what is allowed, and what is not. There are many examples in the Old and New Testament which demonstrate how to do it. I will share much insight given to me by God, to explain what the Sabbath should be. If you are willing to let go of the world and your own selfish desires then it won’t be that hard to observe. The Sabbath itself is actually quite easy to do, and it soon becomes the delight it was meant to be.
Keeping the Sabbath the right way DOES MATTER so I hope you join me in learning more.
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