Today and the next couple weeks we are going to look at what the Sabbath is. If you are like me and have been to church and heard or watched a lot of sermons on the subject, you will notice a lot of similarities and differences on the subject from who is doing the speaking. We are going to take our time on this subject and try not to go through so much at one time. Today we are just going to go through the origins and what it means. And in the coming weeks will go through Old Testament Sabbath and New Testament Sabbath. I really want us to ponder all week on what we are studying. Let’s figure what it is the Bible is telling us about the Sabbath and what it means to us today.
Here is the definition of Sabbath in the modern dictionary.
"a day of religious observance and abstinence from work, kept by Jewish people from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sunday.”
Just by the definition we already see similar and different ideologies of the subject. Both Jewish and Chistian recognize a day of religion observance and abstinence from work. But both observe on a different day, pertaining to their culture.
The Greek word is Sabbaton and Hebrew is Shabbath which means "rest”
Where was the term Sabbath first viewed in the Bible.
Genesis 2: (2) By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (3) Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
In the above verses, the actual word "Sabbath” is not used, but the term rested is twice. But in Exodus the term Sabbath is used in the Ten Commanments.
Exodus 20: (8) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work (10) 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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (11) 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.
In Exodus we all know that is where the 10 commandments were given to Moses. One of the commandments was to keep the Sabbath. If we go back and look at the dictionary’s definition, we will see it pretty much spot on with what Exodus is telling us. Now pertaining to what day it is celebrated on whether Saturday or Sunday, or literally any day of the week, could we not say from the scriptures that pretty much any day could be the/our Sabbath. The Bible says to work six days and rest the seventh. It does not state which six days to work. We need to look at this in a very logical sense. God did not create Monday thru Sunday in the sense we know today. Our modern calendar is man made and is only adapted to suit our need for structure. Once again, depending on your culture the first and last day of the week will be different. Some say the first day of the week is Monday, some say it is Sunday, who is right who is wrong. We are going to stop right here. Next week we are going to a more indebt look in the Old Testament and what happens if we do not keep the Sabbath.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Cindy, 01/19/2024 12:40 PM ]
The Sabbath is like Mike said, a bit different depending on who is interpreting and using it, butalmost the same. It is believed that the book of Genesis was written about 500 BC by the Jewish people during/after their exile to Babylon, and many credit Moses with it. The 7 day week is believed to be created by the Babylonians around 321 AD. Emporer Constantine made created an "official" week. They used only numbers in the beginning to note each day. Constantine actually kinda liked and admired the Jewish customs and methods they used for their life work days, etc. and used that with Sumerian celestial history. He also allowed more than one god to be worshipped. Their 'Sunday' was now a rest for everyone. The Sumerians based their days off the moon phases. It is about 29 days for the moon to go thru its phases...somewhere someone (or them) added the extra day or two at the end. The Sumerians were big into astronomy and watching and mapping the stars, etc. They created a calendar, of sorts, using the moon, placement of constellations and planets and seasons. The Babylonians used that and incorporated it as their basis to start a 7 day work week and calendar. When the Babylonians created the 7 day calendar week, they made Sunday a "holiday" for all the people. Each day of the week has a meaning if you want to research that. I think the Romans later gave the names for each of the 7 days, using names of their gods, then Nordic and Latin cultures start tweeking the names. Sunday specifically was the first day of the week and was named for a sun god Sol Invictus and also called The Lord's Day ( perhaps for the Jewish because their culture required a day of rest for their God.) Mike refers to "rest" being used first. Yes, then in Exodus 16 we see "sabbath" used after Israel is delivered from Egypt. God first says He took a rest from His work. Then he commanded man to also take a rest from work, a Sabbath. The Old Testament is for the Jewish people. It was given to them as their guidelines for living, customs, rules for their religion and God, and and their history from creation. Pre -Jesus times. When God ordained that the 7th day should be rest, He is directing us to sit back, and look at the work we have done for the previous 6 days. And use the day of rest to thank God for what you have done and what you have. Take a day to rest and enjoy and rejoice in God in your life. (After the New Testament, add Jesus to the celebration with God.) God made the sabbath for Himself and man. Gen 2:3 "God blessed the seventh day and (sanctified) it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created." Exodus 20:11 "For in 6 days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and (hallowed) it." I have used the parenthesis around two words specifically. Sanctified and hallowed. * Sanctify means to set apart as holy, to make legitimate by religious standards, free from sin, to purify. * Hallow mean to honor as holy or sacred, a cleansing. Now that must be important for God to use those words. If it was holy to Him, He wanted man to view it the same way He does. Was God saying He will meet our needs for six days of work, and to use the Sabbath to rest and focus on Him? The New Testament starts saying this... Mark 2:27 - 28 "And he said unto them,the Sabbath was made for man, and not the man for Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Matt 11:28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The Sabbath in the Old Testament was indeed holy to them, that's why the Pharisees scolded Jesus for miracles He did on that day as we have seen in our past studies on His miracles. But Jesus would scold back about, there are things that need to be done, if they are seemed important or essential. Isn't it interesting that the New Testament now says Jesus is the Sabbath. He is "our rest" just like Matt 11:28 above. So God wanted us to remember the day, His day of rest, of all His work of creation, and keep it as a Holy remembrance for what He has done. He wants us to also rest from our work so we make the time to spend and focus on Him. He's asking those He created in His image to rest and enjoy what He has given us. I also think God wants to bless us for keeping a Sabbath day. In the Old Testament- Isaiah 58: 13-14 "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and on my holy day and call thy sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable and shall honor him, not doing thine own ways, not finding thine own pleasures, nor speaking thine own words. Then shalt thou delight themselves in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob the Father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Sounds like a blessing to me. Blessed by God who honor a Sabbath day. God wants to bless us if we keep that commandment. Rest in Him and Jesus on our day of rest.