Lesson 23

When God gave His law to the nation of Israel, He commanded that they were to set aside one day in seven as a day holy to Him.
In other words, it was to be a day that was set aside for the purpose of God.
This day was called the Sabbath day.

It was also to be a day in which the people of God shall do no normal work.
They were to work six days and then rest on the seventh day.
This day of rest in the Lord was the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:8-11).

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.
On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
(Exodus 20:8-11)

From the Scriptures we can learn the following truths about the Sabbath day.

Man is commanded by God to work six days a week.
On the seventh day, he is to set the day apart for God.
In other words, he is to keep the day holy (Exodus 20:9).

The example of the Sabbath rest day has been set by God Himself in the Creation Week (Genesis 1:1-2:3).
During the Creation Week, God made the heavens and the earth in six days, but He rested on the seventh day.
This was the pattern that God has set for man to follow (Genesis 20:11).
Thus we see that the keeping of the Sabbath is therefore a creation ordinance.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and earth were made in all their vast array.
By the seventh day, God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.
(Genesis 1:31-2:3)

The Sabbath day has been God's plan for man from the very beginning of creation.
Although it was part of the Ten Commandments given by God to the Israelites.
It was God's plan for all men.

God set the very pattern of labor and rest for man by creating the heavens and the earth in six days and resting on the seventh day.
If God had not intended to set a pattern for man's days of labor and rest, God could have created the world in one day.
Neither would God need to declare that He rested from His work of creating and that He rested on the seventh day and made it holy (Genesis 2:1-3).

God need not have rested. Being the Almighty God, He had no need for rest.
However, He rested in order to set the pattern for man to follow.
Thus the pattern of the Sabbath rest was a pattern for all men from the very beginning of creation.

By the seventh day God had finished the work. He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.
(Genesis 2:2-3)

We must therefore not foolishly say that we are no longer under the law of Moses and therefore are not bound to obey God's Sabbath regulations.
In so doing, we fail to understand the benefits and blessings that God has intended for all men through the observance of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is not a Mosaic ordinance but a creation ordinance.

God gave the Sabbath to all men, and not to the Israelites only, to bless all men.
If we do not understand God's purpose in giving man the Sabbath, we will treat it as a burden and a bondage.

Many Christians do not understand God's divine pattern for man's labor and rest.
Because of the spirit of fear of poverty or the spirit of greed, man in his rebellion has failed to follow God in this area.
Thus man has often worked days on end without taking a day off to seek God.
This would only destroy Him physically, emotionally and spiritually.

However, the Sabbath day is a gift of God to man (Exodus 16:29).
Through this gift, man is able to rest from his daily toil and labor in order to focus his whole being on God His creator, and be refreshed by his Creator.
And as we seek God in worship on the Sabbath, God will revive us.
He will renew our strength and restore our soul as we wait upon Him (Isaiah 40:31).

On a Sabbath, a man can rest from his labor with a clear conscience, knowing that it has been ordained by God Himself.
No one can accuse him of being lazy, not even the king of the land.

Thus when God gave manna to the children of Israel during their journey to the Promised Land. He taught tem that the Sabbath was His gift to them, for their rest and benefit (Exodus 16:21-30).

Each morning everyone gathered as much (manna) as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much - two omers for each person - and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, "This is what the LORD commanded: Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning."

So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. "Eat it today," Moses said, "because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. You will not find any of it on the ground today. Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any."

Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the LORD has GIVEN YOU the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out. So the people RESTED on the seventh day.
(Exodus 16:21-30)

A man observing a Sabbath rest can do with expectant faith in the supply of God for his needs even though he is not working on this day.
Because he is obeying God in taking a day of rest, God will bless them (Matthew 6:33).

We must not fear that God will shortchange us and cause us to suffer financially because we have not done extra company work on that day.
God knows all our needs and our company needs before we were born.
And God also knows that we need to rest from our regular toil and seek Him at least one day in seven.
And God has the power to bless us financially in return when we obey Him.

Therefore, do not be afraid that your business will not succeed unless you work seven days a week.
Do not be greedy for the material profits that you expect to gain by working on the Sabbath day.
If believers work on the Sabbath day, they will find that their labor will be in vain and counter-productive.
Like the Israelites who went out on the Sabbath day to gather manna, it will be recorded for that the "they found none" (Exodus 16:27).

There is therefore no law against love, not even the Sabbath law (Galatians 5:22).
Thus, with regards to the Sabbath, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that they need to understand God's priority of LOVE over SACRIFICE (Matthew 12:1-13).
Otherwise, the Pharisees will fall into error and will condemn the innocent.
We too must always put love above all physical acts of sacrifice and ministry of God.

Therefore, it is not wrong to feed the hungry on the Sabbath, even though it involves work (Matthew 12:1-4).
It is not wrong to worship God on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:5).
It is also lawful and not wrong to heal and do other good works on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-12).
It is also right to pull your dog out of a pit on the Sabbath, even though we do work.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick heads of the grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread - which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.
Or haven't you read  in the law that on Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?
I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words means, 'I DESIRE MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Going on from there, He went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"

He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man then a sheep! Therefore it is LAWFUL TO DO GOOD on the Sabbath."
Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So He stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.
(Matthew 12:1-13)

In the observance of the Sabbath, we must never forget that God loves all men and wants man to be blessed in the Sabbath rest.
We are therefore not to make the observance of the Sabbath more rigorous than what God has commanded.
We must not add human traditions to the Sabbath ordinance (detailing what we can do or not do, like the Pharisees did), and make it a burden to the people of God.
Otherwise, the Sabbath is no longer a blessing, but a bondage.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they misunderstood the heart of God for the people and used the Sabbath as a tool to stop man from being blessed (Mark 2:23-27).
Thus Jesus declared to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

When God rested after the first six days of creation. He did not cease to work.
God rested from His work of creation, but He continues to work.
God rested from the activity of the previous six days, the activity of the creation of the heaven and the earth (Genesis 2:3), but He never stopped working.

God has not stopped His work of watching over His creation.
He continues to bless man and pour down His mercy upon both the just and the unjust at all times, even on the Sabbath (Matthew 5:44-45; John 5:17).

Because of their wrong understanding of the Sabbath rest, the Jews persecuted Jesus.
Thus He had to correct them, declaring to them that God has not stopped doing good, even on the Sabbath (John 5:16-17).

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath (healing the sick, etc), the Jews persecuted them.
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
(John 5:16-17)

Likewise, for man, the Sabbath day is a day of rest from our regular labor.
However, it is not to be taken as a day of inactivity.
In fact, it is a day holy to the Lord.
In other words, it is a day set aside for man to fulfill the purposes of God.
It is to be a day whereby man may focus His energy in worshipping God.

In the Old Testament, the priests continue to offer the temple sacrifices on the Sabbath and their activity was accepted as lawful (Numbers 28:9-29:40; Matthew 12:5).
As priests before God under the New Testament, we too may spend the whole day in the worship of our God and in service to Him, doing good deeds in His name.

This was seen in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, "as was His custom" (Luke 4:16).
He also continued to heal the sick and do other good works on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:19-13; Luke 4:31-41; John 5:16-17).

The Lord Jesus rose on the first day of the week, the day after the Jewish Sabbath (Matthew 28:1-10). This day was Sunday.
The early Church began to assemble on this day for worship of the risen Lord.
It was also called the Lord's Day (Revelation 1:10).
This day thus became the Christian day of Sabbath rest.

Thus mention was made in the book of Acts to the custom at Troas of breaking bread (celebrating the Lord's Supper) on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).
Paul also instructed the believers in Corinth to set aside money for the saints in Jerusalem on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-4).
This was the day they gathered to worship the Lord.

This was the day they rested from the regular toil.
This was thus the day of Sabbath rest of the believer in Christ.
In observing this day as a Sabbath, the believer is fulfilling God's desire that we set aside one day in seven for His cure.

In the New Testament, God gives a further revelation of the Sabbath rest of God.
In the Old Testament, the revelation was that man was to cease from his normal physical toil one day in seven.
In the New Testament, God offers His people a Sabbath rest from the works of the flesh.

This spiritual Sabbath rest is available at all times to every believer (Hebrews 4:1-11).

Therefore, since the promise of entering His REST still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
Now  we who have believed enter that REST.

For if Joshua had given them REST, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, therefore, a SABBATH REST for the people of God; for anyone who enter God's REST also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that REST, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
(Hebrews 4:1,3,8-11)

Under the New Testament, God wants us to rest every day in Him, in His work.
We are no longer to depend on our own works, our own strength, our own wisdom, our own abilities, or our own plans (Hebrews 4:10).
We are to rest from our own works, the works of our flesh, our sinful nature.
The works of our flesh, no matter how good, always bring forth death.
There is no rest or peace in the works of the flesh (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:16-6:10).

However, as we enter into God's work, we enter into God's Sabbath rest.
It is a rest into God's plan and into the completed work of Christ for us.
It is a rest into the good works God has ordained for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
This Sabbath rest is available every day for every child of God.
We enter God's Sabbath rest by faith, by believing in all His promises (Hebrews 4:3).

Ultimately, our rest is in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in all that He has done and will do for us.
Only He can give us rest, as He has promised:

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you REST. 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"
(Matthew 11:28-29)

As we hear the voice of the Spirit of Jesus and obey Hs leading everyday, taking on His yoke, we will enter into God's Sabbath rest (Psalm 95:7-11; Hebrews 3:7-4:7).
Only a daily walk of faith and obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit will bring us into the daily Sabbath rest of God (Romans 8:5-8; 13-14; Galatians 5:16-25).

The commands regarding the resting from all normal toil on the Sabbath has not been abrogated or annulled.
God's creation ordinance for man was for the good of all men for all time.
However, in the New Testament, we can enter the Sabbath rest of God at any time, and not only limit ourselves to the Sabbath day.

We will be blessed as we enter into the spirit of this ordinance and enter into the Sabbath rest of God.
We who obey God will always be refreshed in spirit, soul and body.

Your thought

1. Do you set aside one day in seven, where you do none of your regular labor, for the glory of God? If not, why not?

2. How would you spend the Lord's Day in a way that would honor God?

3. How would you enter into God's Sabbath rest throughout the week?

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