Keeping Sabbath Holy

I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions lately about why I believe what I believe. I’ve been told a lot of things over the course of my 40 years about what is true about the Bible but haven’t really ever done the research myself. And it feels like I’m going through a season of unlearning, or relearning because I keep finding myself asking, “What would I say if someone asked me questions about such and such topic.”

Many times, what my brain delivers to me is a mix of things I’ve heard in sermons across the course of my whole life. Sometimes I realize the information I have stored in my brain about a certain topic is conflicting, which tells me I’ve only heard the information, not really understood it.

One of the topics I’ve been looking into lately, is the Sabbath. What is it? How are we supposed to celebrate or honor it? And the only thing my brain kicks back to me is that we honor the Sabbath by going to church and taking the day off to rest.

I was certain there had to be more to the Sabbath than that. I know the Bible tells us to keep the Sabbath holy, so it has to mean more than attending church and sitting on the couch the rest of the day.

So I grabbed my concordance and looked up the word Sabbath and all the verses that contain this word and found this definition:

In the Old Testament Hebrew "Sabbath" (7676 Strong’s reference number) is an intensified form of 7673; intermission, I.e. specifically the sabbath.

Not very helpful.

So I looked up 7673.  It says it’s a prime root, meaning this word doesn’t refer to another word in the Hebrew language. And it means: To repose, i.e. desist from exertion; used in many implied relations (causative, figuratively, or specifically):- (cause to, let, make to) cease, celebrate, cause (make) to fail, keep (sabbath), suffer to be lacking, leave, put away (down), (make to) rest, rid, still, take away.

Neither of these meanings really helped me understand why the Sabbath should be important to me. So I looked in the New Testament.

In the Greek, Sabbath means:

4521 – Of Hebrew origin [7676]; the Sabbath (i.e. Shabbath), or day of weekly repose from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself); by extension a se’nnight, i.e. the interval between 2 Sabbaths; likewise the plural in all the above application:- Sabbath (day), week.

I Googled se’nnight and it means “A period of seven nights”.

This helped a little as it narrowed it down to resting from secular avocations. “Secular” meaning worldly affairs rather than spiritual, and “avocations” meaning affairs which occupy one’s time. In essence the Sabbath was a day to put aside the things of the world and focus on spiritual things. Hence, why many people go to church once a week.

But this didn’t satisfy me. Ezekiel 20:12 says: “And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I am the LORD, who had set them apart to be holy.”

I came across this verse in my daily Bible reading as I happened to in the book of Ezekiel and I sat with it for awhile. The Lord gave us the Sabbath. The people were commanded to keep the law of God, but he gave us the Sabbath. Yet part of the law was keeping the Sabbath holy. The word “holy” simply means “set apart”.

Since the definition of Sabbath didn’t satisfy me, I moved on to look at the meaning of the word “Rest” in the Hebrew and Greek. This involved weeding out any definitions and verses that had meanings such as:

1.       To remain or to be left over.

2.       To be dumb or silent.

3.       To be sluggish or lazy.

4.       To sleep.

5.       To lodge.

6.       To support one’s self.

And also, surprisingly, several negative meanings which could have led me down a rabbit hole because what in the world?

1.       To dance or writhe in pain.

2.       An overhang.

3.       A decent.

4.       To toss violently and suddenly (the sea with waves)

5.       To fling down.

6.       To  puncture.

To be fair though, looking up “rest” in the English dictionary gives 30 definitions so… yeah. Ya think a know a word.

Anyway, I narrowed my search down to 5 definitions in the Hebrew and 7 in the Greek, and after looking at every single verse that used those 12 definitions, I narrowed my search down to 1.

7677 in the Hebrew comes from 7676 – A sabbatism or special holiday.

It wasn’t the definition of the word in my concordance that made things click for me. It was a verse in Exodus that uses this specific definition of the word for Sabbath.

Exodus 16:23-29 is the passage when God first tells his people to honor the Sabbath. The Hebrew people have escaped Egypt and are in the wilderness. They had started receiving manna from heaven every morning and God tells them they need to collect manna for two days on the evening before the Sabbath because there won’t be anything to collect on the day of the Sabbath.

Here is the NLT version of this passage:

23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”

24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 

25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 

26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”

27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 

28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 

29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.”

Verse 29 kind of slapped me in the face. The Sabbath isn’t just a command, it’s a gift. When God gives us a gift, it’s never a burden or something negative. A gift from God is always a good thing. And this is when I realized that somewhere along the line, I had picked up the belief that somehow the Sabbath was a burden, something with weight that had to be observed. A task that had rules and obligations to fulfill.

I have no idea where that belief came from, but I’m more than happy to set it aside and take up something much lighter and more freeing. I read verse 29 over, and over, and over. And here is what dropped into my spirit.

Every time I read the Old Testament I get hung up all the things the Israelites were supposed to do. All the sacrifices, all the festivals, all the laws and rituals they were supposed to follow. And a part of me has always wondered how exactly Jesus took those physical laws and turned them into something spiritual so offering sacrifices and doing rituals was no longer necessary. How did we go from everything is wonderful in the garden of Eden, to judgement and anger, to Jesus loves us and saved us from our sins?

Of course, I knew the difference between spiritual and physical, and that there were different types of laws, like ceremonial laws, and we are still commanded to keep the commandments. But there was a disconnect for me somewhere and even though I knew in my head that the law was there to:

1) show the people that it wasn’t possible for them to keep the law because of sin.

2) that it all pointed to the coming of the Messiah, who would be without sin and be the only cure for sin.

I knew these things and believed them, I just didn’t fully understand the how and the why behind them.

And as I read Exodus 16:29 over and over I had a revelation. A revelation that I somehow both knew and didn't know. And I very nearly cried.

God wanted His people to want to have a relationship with Him.

From the very beginning, with Adam and Eve, he wanted a relationship with us. He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, talked to them. Knew them and wanted them to know Him. But then sin created a wall between us and Him.

The law was given to His people, the Israelites, not just as a way to bring Jesus into the world to save the world, but so that His people could have a relationship with Him until Jesus came.

The Sabbath was a gift to us. The Israelites were told to cleanse themselves and their houses and prepare enough food for two days so that they could have an entire day to commune with God. To worship Him. To approach Him. The rituals provided a temporary covering of their sin so they could approach God.

He wanted to be their King, their leader, their guide, their teacher. He gave them the Sabbath as a way to combat the temptation of idol worship and sin that was all around them in the other nations.

He told them not to intermingle with the other nations, or they would be drawn away from Him. He told them not to worship other idols. He told them to keep the Sabbath day holy. Set apart. Because they were supposed to be set apart. They weren’t supposed to look or act like the other nations. They were supposed to be different because God was with them.

He didn’t want them to obey the law because the law was going to set them apart from other nations. He wanted them to obey the law because it provided a temporary covering for them so they could approach God. And if they approached God, He could speak with them, teach them, lead them. He was after their hearts. Just like He was after Adam and Eve's hearts, and just like He’s after our hearts.

And they rejected Him.

The Old Testament isn't about judgement and anger, it's about the Lord's grief over their sin.

1 Samuel 8: 5-8 says: “Look,” they told him (Samuel), “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”  Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the LORD for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the LORD replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.

And before that, in Exodus 20 when God gave them the 10 commandments it says in verses 18-20: When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”   “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

But the people gave into their fear and instead of God speaking to them directly, He spoke to them through people. Judges and prophets. And because they didn’t want to hear God’s voice for themselves, they were easily drawn into sin and away from God.

So what does all of this have to do with the Sabbath?

The Greek definition of Sabbath is to rest from secular avocations, or the work of our everyday lives. Suggesting, that the Sabbath should be a time to spend working on our relationship with God.

We are to put aside our everyday cares – our jobs, the household chores, the grocery list, the errands we need to run, our social media feeds, our worries… etc. and put our entire focus on God. Worship Him, read His Word, pray, hear His voice, learn from Him.

In Luke 10: 38-42, we get a beautiful picture of what Sabbath rest looks like.

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”  But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Keeping everyone fed, and clothed, and keeping money in the bank feels so important to us. We want people to feel welcome and cared for when they enter our homes. But if those things are more important than spending time with God, if we can’t set it aside, or if everything has to be just so before we can sit down and be with God, we are missing the point.

·       Making sure Jesus had an impressive meal was more important than hearing Jesus.

·       Fear of the thunder and lightning was more important that hearing God’s voice.

·       Money was more important to the rich young man than following Jesus (Matthew 19)

So how do we honor the Sabbath today? Is it by going to church?  Maybe. If you’re going there to wholeheartedly spend time with God. Is it by sitting on the couch all day or taking an after-church nap? No.

Here is where I’ve landed.

The Sabbath is:

1. A gift to us.

2. Rest from worldly activities and work.

3. Kept holy or set apart.

To me this means being intentional about setting aside time to be with the Lord. Time carved out, not tacked on when everything else is done. Hearing God for ourselves, not through someone else. Time to pray, read the Word, hear His voice.

It doesn’t have to be a specific day of the week, it can be an hour every morning, or evening. Whatever time you choose to carve out, to set aside the distractions of life, and spend at the feet of our creator.

It’s that simple. And yet it requires us to evaluate ourselves and our motives, to ask "Am I rushing through my Bible reading because I don't have time to give the Lord right now, or am I rushing through this Bible reading because I feel like other things are more important than this? And that is not a guilt trip or judgement. We are constrained by time, here on earth. We do have responsibilities and sometimes we do need be somewhere at a specific time and that means our usual morning time with the Lord isn't going to work. But if time with God is important to us, then we will find another time that does work to set aside all the things and be completely captivated by our Father.

It's called Sabbath rest for a reason. God says it's a gift, for a reason. It's not a burden, it's freedom.