— by David D. Herring
Growing up, and until recently, I saw no point in the fourth commandment. All nine of the other commandments made sense to me, but I didn’t get this business about doing no work on every seventh day. It seemed like a throw-in to me, or worse: like the Israelites were sentenced to endure a weekly “time out” period. What was the point?
“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 dwelling in your town. 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)
God rested on the seventh day and, because He did, so should we? To me, this commandment didn’t rise to the same level of seriousness as the others and so habitually breaking it seemed like no big deal. What if someone has a really good work ethic, or is an overachiever, or just enjoys working? What if someone really needs to work because they’re short on cash? All of these seemed like fine excuses to me, so I reckoned the fourth commandment was “safe to ignore” and pretty much forgot about it.
The Sabbath day is important. It is one of my appointed times.
God reminded Moses to observe the Sabbath on multiple occasions. Jesus Himself observed the Sabbath. In fact, there are 73 verses about it in The Bible. So why would I disregard this commandment? If God says it’s important then why didn’t I believe Him? God had called my attention to the fact that I didn’t completely trust Him. This revelation came as a surprise to me at first but, upon reflection, I had to admit it was true: I didn’t completely trust Him. I wanted to trust God completely, but I didn’t. If I did, I wouldn’t question His Word, I would rely upon His wisdom, and I would obey His instructions. Why didn’t I? How could I overcome my distrust?
The Sabbath seemed like a good place to start. So I looked into it… The Hebrew word for sabbath is shabbat, which means “ceasing,” “stopping,” or “a time of rest.” To the Israelites, the Sabbath day was a moedim, or “God’s appointed time.” In other words, the Creator of the Universe and Author of Life made appointments with His chosen people. How cool is that?? God wants to spend close, intimate, quality time with you and me!
When reading the stories in the Old Testament, we tend to focus on the characters and the amazing (or stupid) things they did, or the things that happened to them. We routinely ignore, or gloss over, God’s moedim (appointed times). To do so, I learned, is to miss out on much of the key context and deeper meaning of the greatest events recorded in The Bible. Because they were God’s moedim, He should have had the undivided attention of His people so that they wouldn’t miss out on the great thing He would do at that appointed time, in the fullness of time. Our lives are noisy, distracted places — way more so than the Israelites’ lives 3,000 years ago. We will miss out on the great things God is doing around us and in our lives if we always only focus on the material world.
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
The moedim were an integral part of Israel’s history and culture, ritually observed for almost 1,500 years before Jesus’ birth. They were also symbolic representations — prophecies and parables about the coming Messiah, what He would do, and what His deeds would mean in the lives of those who follow Him, spiritually speaking.1,2 In literary terms, you might say, the Author of Life used the moedim to foreshadow how His story would unfold and to instruct people on how they should live accordingly. His appointed times provided a fractal image of His purpose and His plan — a way of showing that went beyond telling. The Sabbath represents God’s ultimate plans for our rest, redemption, and relationship.2
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
The Sabbath day is a weekly reminder that God wants to be in a relationship with us. Not because He needs us but because He loves us and He knows we need Him. Specifically, the Sabbath is a recurring opportunity for us to turn our attention away from the trials and tribulations of the material world and to focus on Him. It is a time of rest and meditation; a time of reflection and prayer; a time to bask in His supernatural love and peace; a time to speak to the Lord and, most importantly, to listen to Him.
Listen and obey my voice, and I will be your God and you will be my people: walk in all the ways that I have instructed you that it may be well with you. (Jeremiah 7:23)
God speaks to us often; He speaks to all of us. For those who don’t hear His voice, the Sabbath is a time to learn to listen. The fourth commandment isn’t arbitrary nor is it a form of punishment. Quite the opposite: it’s an opportunity for us to spend quality time with our Heavenly Father; to have our spirits refreshed and revitalized; to renew and reinforce our sense of purpose, focus, and self-discipline; to glorify, and be glorified by, Him.
The Sabbath day symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise that those who believe in Jesus will live eternally with Him.1 On the sixth day His work in creation was finished. So He rested on the seventh day. When Jesus died on the cross, His mission of redemption was finished. He had become our ultimate means of rest. Consider the parallels between these two events, each on a similar scale to the other in their magnitude of importance, and each a foreshadow of what is still yet to come.1,2
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” (Genesis 2:2) “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” The wine vinegar that Jesus drank moments before He died represented the sins of mankind — foul and bitter tasting. But He drank it into Himself and took it to the grave.
Jesus’ words were deliberate. He used the word “finished” to both signify the finality of what He had accomplished and to echo the word used in Genesis in reference to God’s completion of creation. Jesus knew well the Old Testament scriptures; better than anyone.
I came not to abolish the laws or the prophets but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)
How ironic, almost comical, that the Pharisees tried to use scriptures to trap Jesus in logical dilemmas. Jesus rebuked them, saying: “...the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:37-40)
The Sabbath is a little time of rest that is symbolic of our eternal time of rest in Jesus. He came to us offering love, wisdom, and peace, but we must go to Him to receive these gifts. This is how the relationship works. He cannot force these gifts upon us; we always keep our free will (another gift He gave us). But Jesus made it clear that the moedim in the Old Testament scriptures referred to Him — especially the fourth commandment. “...[Jesus] said to [the Pharisees], ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” (Mark 2:27-28)
It’s awesome and amazing to me to think that God wove a weekly reminder into the lives of His chosen people that He loves us, He wants us to be with Him, and He provided a way for this to happen. Though the details of our lives are still playing out, those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior can rest assured in their ultimate purpose and destination. We need only repent of our sins and profess our belief in and acceptance of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Nothing else we do can earn our way into heaven. Jesus alone could do that for us, and He did it. It is finished. We need only to accept it.
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When Jesus said this, He used the Hebrew word for rest: shabbat.
Will you sabbath with me? Consider spending time with Me in the early morning hours of peace and quiet just after you wake up; or perhaps in those late night hours of stillness just before you go to sleep; or perhaps in your mid-day meditations. If you will sabbath with Me, I will show you what it means to truly rest in peace.
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1 Chumney, Edward (1998): The Seven Festivals of the Messiah. 2nd ed. Treasure House Books, Inc. (Available online at http://www.hebroots.com/sevenfestivals.htm)
2 Nadler, Sam (2011): Feasts of the Bible. Rose Publishing, Inc. (Available online at http://www.feastsofthebible.com/)
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Discussion Questions:
1. How would you feel if someone you love and care about stopped talking to you, and stopped spending time with you? How do you think Jesus feels when we ignore Him?
2. Why do you think God instructed Moses and the Israelites to observe and honor His moedim? What was the point of having “appointed times”?
3. Are you willing to make time to sabbath with Jesus, whether for just a few minutes a day or once per week (however you feel led)?
