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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.”
Are we still supposed to keep a sabbath? In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus said this during His Sermon on the Mount and Heaven and earth have not disappeared and been remade, so we are still in this time that He is taking about. He did not abolish the commandments. Jesus talked specifically about many of the other 10 Commandments and said it is not enough to technically keep the commandments, it is a matter of the heart, as well. For example, when He said we should not kill, He said we also must not hate our brother. We must be careful not to break the commandments within our heart. Then He talked about adultery, divorce, making oaths, loving our enemies, amongst other things. I was looking through His sermon to see if He addressed the commandment to keep the Sabbath. He doesn’t mention it specifically, but He also doesn’t say that this is a commandment that we don’t have to keep anymore. He had just finished saying that we must keep all the commands. He said if we set any commands aside, we, “will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” That makes me think that we should not dismiss the commandment to remember the Sabbath day.
In this Sermon on the Mount, I wonder, was He thinking about the Sabbath when He said that we are not to worry? Let’s look at what Jesus said:
Mathew 5:25-34 says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
If we are worried about having enough food and clothing, then we might think that we need to work 7 days a week and can’t afford to take a whole day off. That might sound odd in our current society because I don’t think our society has an issue of overworking. But at different times in history, and in the culture that Jesus was addressing at the moment, they would have had a different perspective. They didn’t have government assistance, for one thing. If they didn’t work, they didn’t eat. I think Jesus was saying that instead of working 7 days a week worrying about having enough food and clothing, we should trust Him enough to take a day off and honor the Sabbath.
It makes me remember something my dad said before. He told me that people will tell him they can’t afford to tithe and when they say that to him, he replies, “I can’t afford not to!” When we tithe, we are giving back to the Lord a portion of what He has given us. It is an act of obedience and faith. He blesses us because we obey Him. I think it is the same concept as keeping the Sabbath. When we take a day to rest and cease work, if we do that out of obedience and faith, He will provide what we need. That is why He tells us not to worry about food and clothing. He assures us He will give us all we need. We have to consider this promise in the context in which He spoke it, though. He is talking about people who practice and teach these commands. If we take all 7 days a week off and don’t work, then I don’t think we can expect to have enough to eat or wear. The Bible talks about that, too, in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-15, which says, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you […]we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’
We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat […]
Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.”
Paul is making it pretty clear that we should work hard. We should not be lazy and burdensome to other people. The only way we can take a sabbath is if we are working. We can’t take a weekly sabbath if we aren’t doing any work on any of the other days.
Let’s continue this comparison to tithing and keeping a sabbath. Surprisingly to me, a lot of Christians rarely tithe. They do not see it as a mandate from God. Yet, every believer whom I know who tithes does not regret it. The specific amount of tithing 10% is only found in the Old Testament, and like Jesus explained about commandments in His Sermon on the Mount, our keeping the tithe directive is also a matter of the heart.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 tells us, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.’ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
It seems like the 10% is a minimum suggestion. We should give beyond the 10%, because if we are generous, God will be generous with us.
So if we are to give generously, and Jesus has not abolished the tithe but expanded the tithe to be even more, then what makes us think Jesus abolished the Sabbath observance? Like the other commandments and directives of the law, shouldn’t we still keep a sabbath?
Some people say that we do not need to keep the Sabbath because the New Testament doesn’t say that we are supposed to keep it, but we see the early church observing the Sabbath. Acts 18:4 says, “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” Why would Peter, who wrote Acts, call it the Sabbath if they had abolished it? Regardless, though, the argument to do something because people in the Bible did something or didn’t do something doesn’t always hold up. The Bible records plenty of people doing all sorts of things that the Bible doesn’t agree with. It is merely recording what people did and it’s not necessarily instructional for us to follow. The Bible is, of course, full of instructions on how to live, but to disregard a commandment of God because people didn’t follow the commandment is not a valid reason to disregard it. We would need God to say that now we don’t have to follow this particular command.
For example, there are a lot of ceremonial and civic laws the Old Testament spells out for the Israelites to follow. We see in the New Testament that those are the laws that are no longer necessary to obey. The biggest example being the system of sacrifice, but nowhere does the Bible say we no longer need to follow the 10 Commandments. In fact, as I pointed out earlier, Jesus says the opposite and seems to expand the meaning of the 10 commandments to include more requirements, not less.
After studying what the Bible says about the Sabbath, I think believers are to keep a sabbath day of rest. What we shouldn’t do is make it a legalistic burden. Thankfully, we also do not have to worry about being killed if we break the Sabbath like the Israelites were. Jesus’ death on the cross has abolished the judgement we would face. He offers us forgiveness and grace when we fail to keep His Law perfectly. That does not mean that we should not strive to keep His law. Again, Jesus did not abolish the Law. He fulfilled the law. Meaning He has fulfilled for us where we have fallen short.
Another reason I think we are to still keep the Sabbath is based on something else Jesus said in Matthew 24:19-21, “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” Why would Jesus have said that if we were not to keep observing the Sabbath? Wouldn’t that be a moot point?
Finally, some people say that the Sabbath was only established for the Israelites so they could be set apart as a Holy Nation to the Lord. It was a sign to other people they were God’s chosen people. Wouldn’t that argument actually belong on the reasons to-keep-the-sabbath list? We are to be set apart for the Lord and stand out in our society today, aren’t we?
I don’t think any of the 10 Commandments are to be dismissed. It seems illogical to me that we should still obey the other 9 Commandments, yet not obey the command to remember the Sabbath. Why would this be included in the 10 Commandments if it was only temporary?
It seems like a lot of Christians have taken the command to remember the Sabbath to mean that we are to go to church one day a week. They say that after Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, the day of worship changed from Saturday to Sunday, and so the Sabbath is now Sunday and we “keep it holy” by worshiping God on Sunday. The Puritans took the Sabbath to mean this and so they spent their entire Sunday in worship services that lasted almost the entire day. They strictly followed rules they set up as to what was acceptable behavior or not on the Sabbath, and they would punish those who broke those laws. While I respect their commitment to follow God, the command was not to worship God on the Sabbath, the command is to do no work on the Sabbath. To “keep it holy” means that we set that day apart. It doesn’t say that the day is to be spent in 8 hours of church.
So what would following the commandment to remember the Sabbath day look like in practice in our society? One simple way to answer this question is to put it in the context of loving our neighbor. Galatians 5:13-14 says, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Certainly, the commandment to do no work on the sabbath is an expression of love. We are to give our workers, employees, children, ourselves and any working animals a day of rest from work each week. That is loving. When Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of breaking the Sabbath, He showed us how to apply this commandment under His fulfillment of the law. Matthew 12:1-12 says:
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of 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 the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘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 that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against 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 person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Jesus isn’t abolishing it, He is showing how to rightly apply it. We are not to treat the Sabbath in a legalistic way, like the Pharisees did, to the peril and expense of those under our care, but neither are we to dismiss it. Like all the commandments, we are to follow not only the obvious directive or prohibition, but also follow the intent of the law. We should consider the heart of the law. By taking a day of rest from work, we are practicing good self-care. If we give those under our care a day of rest, we extend that same blessing of self-care to them as well. We also show that we take God’s Word seriously. It differentiates us from a world that tends to two extremes. They either do as little work as possible on all the days of the week, or they overwork themselves and others in an attempt to provide for themselves. When we take, and give to others, a day of rest, we are asking the Lord to meet our needs, rather than trying to accomplish things in our own power.
Whether we keep the Sabbath on Saturday or Sunday or even any other day seems irrelevant to me. The importance is setting one day apart to do no work. The New Testament seems to make it clear that one day is not more important than another day. Paul says in Colossians 2:16, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.”
It does not need to be a ritualized thing that becomes a stumbling block and burden to us or our family. But I also think there is something to be said about routines. People seem to thrive in routines. I know children benefit from a set schedule. I think adults do, too. The Lord seems to like routines. He has set our universe to operate on a very set schedule of sunrise and sunset and 24-hour days which do not vary in length. Jesus seemed to operate in a set pattern. Luke 22:39 tells us, “Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him.”
The older I get, and the longer I follow the Lord, the more I see that I have to be intentional in my walk with Him. If I want to see growth in my relationship with God, I have to actively work at growth. It’s just the same as it is with other people in my life. If I want to be close with my family, I have to intentionally spend time with them. If I want to see growth in my music ability, I have to intentionally practice. If I want to stay healthy, I have to regularly exercise. I have found that I only succeed at these things when I have a routine. When I deviate from my general routine, these things quickly get overlooked. The people I know who succeed at things do much the same thing. I’ve read testimony of many a successful writer who has said that they have to have a set time each day that they spend writing. It is the same for talented musicians and athletes; they don’t come by their success easily. They routinely spend focused time on the thing they want to improve and excel at. Maybe the Lord knows that about us? He knows we are easily distracted. The cares and worries of the world want our attention.
Have you heard the phrase, “the tyranny of the urgent?” It’s the idea that small, urgent demands can steal all our time if we let them overwhelm us. The urgent things overwhelm the important things. Unless we set up a guard against that happening, we might fail to do the actual important things. What if we did as God says to do, and we set apart a day to rest from all work? What if we find it is a blessing and not a burden?
Keeping the Sabbath seems to involve two days. There is the Sabbath, and there is the day of preparation, which is exactly what it sounds like; a day to get ready to take a rest. I don’t know about you, but one thing I love about holidays is the preparation leading up to them. I love to get ready for special days. Whether it is Christmas, a birthday or friends are coming over for dinner, I really enjoy the preparation involved. I remember as a child that I really loved it when my folks had company coming over. Our house got so cozy. Yes, my mom put me to work cleaning, but once it was all done, everything was so nice. She would light candles around the house. The food smelled so good. It was simple, but it was special.
What if we did the same thing, preparing for the Sabbath? I know it would take planning, but I think if we put into our schedules a period of 24 hours where we “do no work” it would definitely keep us focused on remembering God. Maybe it is the same day that we go to church. Maybe it is a different day that fits our family’s work schedule better. I don’t think the day is important, but I think the setting aside one day of no work is important. And because we are busy people, my guess is if we don’t make it a set schedule, the tyranny of the urgent will overwhelm us and it will be forgotten. To remember the Sabbath day seems like a mandate for all generations, and in our busy, preoccupied lives, anything to help us recenter our week upon God seems like a very good thing indeed.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we want to obey all of Your commands. We know from Your word that when we follow You it is a blessing to us and not a burden. Your ways are better than our ways. Your instructions are always to help us and never to harm us. Help us to follow Your commands. Please speak to our hearts through the Holy Spirit and help us to want to obey You. We love You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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