"Can you help us better understand what it means to “keep the Sabbath holy”? It seems like we (Christ followers) are very focused on the other nine commandments, but not much is said regarding the Sabbath commandment. Can you help us understand why we recognize Sunday instead of Friday or even Saturday (7th day) as our day of worship? (Please excuse my typos/grammar- please edit as you see fit. :)”

(Answered by Mark Ort)…

Keeping the sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20:8, and repeated in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. In addition to these, there are many other references to ‘sabbath’ in the Bible. It evidently holds some importance to God since it occurs at least 135 other times in His Word.

What Exactly is the Sabbath?

The Scriptures indicate that sabbath is a period of rest scheduled at regular intervals. It occurred on the seventh day (Exodus 16:25-26; 31:15; Leviticus 23:3), or the seventh year (Leviticus 25:4; ). The literal meaning of the word ‘sabbath’ isn’t complicated. It simply means to ‘cease from working’. After God created the heavens and the earth in six days, the Bible says that He rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). The fact that He rested does not mean He had grown weary. God doesn’t get tired. He doesn’t wear out. It simply means that God completed the creation process and thus ceased from it.

When Moses received the Ten Commandments in a dramatic Old Testament event, we see chiseled in those stone tablets: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). As we move through the Old Testament, we find that the people considered the sabbath day to be at the end of their week, the seventh day. New Testament saints however chose Sunday as their day of rest (evidence suggests about 100 years after Christ). The church began calling it the Lord’s Day because it is the day of the resurrection of Jesus. There are theories that say Christians were trying to break the ceremonial and legalistic bonds that were placed on adherence to the seventh day. And legalism did indeed abound!

Jewish rabbis took the command to keep the sabbath holy to such a detailed level that they created a list of 39 categories of forbidden labor, containing hundreds of very specific forbidden activities. In the Mishnah Shabbat, there were prohibitions against trimming your fingernails and applying makeup on the sabbath. You weren’t allowed to throw an object more than four cubits, unless a person or a dog could catch it before it hit the ground. And what if you wanted to climb a tree on the sabbath? Forget it. No tree climbing! Why? Because you may possibly break a twig or branch which is considered harvesting or reaping, a type of labor prohibited on the sabbath.

It sounds over the top, but Christians are guilty of doing the exact same thing! Only a few short decades ago, cutting the grass on a Sunday afternoon was an abomination. Sewing fabric was almost a mortal sin. You would be anathematized for wearing jeans to church and no self-respecting Christian would be caught dead at a shopping center on Sunday. These sorts of rules for Sunday are nothing more than high pressure tactics to train the mind to think mechanically about how well we can keep an organized task list of forbidden activities. They are rules without reasons, which often lead to resistance and hypocrisy.

So, what exactly does it mean to keep the sabbath holy?

When something is designated as ‘holy’, it just means it is set apart for a special purpose. It is different. It is not like anything else. And so when God told His people to remember the sabbath and to keep it holy in Exodus 20:8, He was saying, ‘it is important for you to set aside a day that is unlike the other days’. He specifies exactly what He means in the following verses (Exodus 20:9-11) when he says, (and I paraphrase), ’OK people, you have six days to work, and on the seventh day you will rest. You will not do any work; neither shall your kids, nor your servant or even your animals’.

Theological Considerations

It has been said that the command to keep the sabbath day holy is the only one of the Ten Commandments that isn’t repeated in the New Testament. So, since Christians live according to the New Covenant, are they to disregard the Fourth Commandment just because it isn’t quoted anywhere from Matthew to Revelation?

Since the intent of this Old Testament command is for God’s people to cease from labor for a season, we must remember that “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). It sounds like there is some benefit to us by utilizing the sabbath as God intended, doesn’t it? Let’s look at a passage in Matthew and one in Hebrews to gain some insight into what ‘rest’ looks like to the believer today.

Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” In this oft-misinterpreted verse, Jesus is making an appeal for people to stop in their striving for salvation. No one can obtain forgiveness for sins with even the slightest amount of work. Human achievement will NEVER purchase one’s salvation, regardless of how hard one works physically, or how much spiritual and intellectual effort is exerted. You will weary yourself scratching and clawing and grasping for every shred of righteousness. You will wear yourself out, because it cannot be obtained in that manner. Jesus is basically saying in this verse, ‘cease from your striving… stop… REST… come to Me, because I did all the heavy lifting’.

In Hebrews 4:9, we read, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God”. The writer of this part of Hebrews harkens back to the children of Israel, making several references to them entering (or not entering) into God’s rest. After a long time of being slaves in Egypt, God delivered the Israelites from their bondage, promising them a land flowing with milk and honey. During their long journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan, the Lord showed them that He was to be trusted when they took a day off every week and there would be consequences for breaking the commandment to rest (see Exodus 15:32-41). Because of Israel’s repeated disobedience, God swore that they would not enter into the rest that was offered to them in the Promised Land (Hebrews 4:3). Numbers 14:22-23 says that the people spurned God by ignoring His Word to them. As a severe consequence, most of the Israelites would not see the land… but Caleb and his descendants would take possession of the land because they followed God fully (Numbers 14:24). The children of Israel and their promise of entering into the land of milk and honey is a foreshadowing of what was to come with Jesus’s offer of eternal rest. One group of people entered into the Promised Land… and one group did not. Similarly, there are people now who are entering into their rest because of their faith in Jesus Christ. And others, sadly, who have rejected this offer. The point in Hebrews 4 is that we do not want to be like those who stubbornly hardened their hearts back in Moses’ day. If we hear His voice, we must respond in faith and obedience… today! And when we do, Christ becomes our rest!
And because Christ is our rest, maybe we should seriously re-evaluate how we view Monday through Saturday, not just Sunday.

Practical Considerations

There is a practical reason why God wanted his people to set aside a day to cease from work. The human body and mind is frail. We get tired. We suffer from exhaustion. We’re physically and mentally drained at times. It is exactly why we say TGIF, why we highlight the next holiday on the calendar and why we always long for our next vacation. We know deep inside that we must rest from our labor.

Having a day of rest each week is a GIFT from God! Far from the obligatory nod to our checklist, using God’s gift must be something to embrace with gladness! Sunday has traditionally been designated as the day of rest. But what about people who work on Sunday? Easy… pick another day! The point being: you must rest at regular intervals, or you will burn out and eventually suffer physical and mental ruin.

Do you need help in deciding how to use your day of rest?

• Give extra time to the reading of God’s Word and to earnest prayer.

• Visit some friends and just hang out to encourage one another.

• Do some family things! Talk to each other. Play games. Go for a walk together.

• Enjoy God’s creation: do some hiking; take a drive; enjoy the sunset.

• Turn off the news and social media for a while.

• Breathe. Relax. Think. Take a nap!

• Climb a tree. Trim your fingernails. Throw a ball, even if your dog can’t catch.

These aren’t hard concepts to grasp. They’re easy to understand, but maybe much harder to do. Busy schedules and vain pursuits have stolen our day of rest. Take your special day back and use it wisely for your benefit and for God’s glory!