Exodus 20: 8-11
NIV 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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.
The Message 8 -11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.
We begin our look at Sabbath we must go back in time to Genesis 2: 2 & 3 where we see “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 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.” Although the word “Sabbath” is not used here, the Hebrew verb translated “rested” is the origin of the noun “Sabbath.” The first time we see the word Sabbath is in Exodus 16: 23 but the principle of the seventh day as a day of rest and holiness is set forth in the above passage. We also see the word holy used here, holiness involves being consecrated to the Lord’s service and thus being separated from the commonplace. In our text for this week, Exodus 20: 11 quotes the first half of v. 3 but substitutes “Sabbath” for “seventh,” clearly equating the two.
In verse 10 two reasons are given for not working…1) the Israelites were to observe the same pattern in service at God in service, “He rested on the seventh day.” The Israelites were to be thoughtful of the people who worked for them, the animals and the planet itself. All things need rest and God provided a means to obtain that rest.
We can see once again this is NOT a rule!!! It’s God helping mankind be whole and at its best. It’s God helping mankind be considerate of others in and outside of our households, considerate of the wonderful plant and animal world he has given us to care for.
I would like to quote a little bit from a book I use in my personal devotions and rule of life. The name of the book is “Spiritual Disciplines Handbook” by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun it is practical and wonderful. I highly recommend it to EVERY person who is seeking God. I hope it will help you see the Sabbath in a different light.
“Sadly, everything about us works against slowing down. Our compulsion to produce and not waste time invades the space God gave us for rest. Children’s athletics, national sporting events, round-the-clock accessibility to work, e-mail and stores also fill up the Sabbath day, so we never stop. When you get indignant over how seemingly incompatible Sabbath is with the tiring and relentless demands already facing you, CONSIDER, what your tiredness means. Humans recognize the difference between work and rest. The fact that we make distinctions between being tired and rested is an indication that we need to do both. Sabbath is God’s way of saying, “Stop! Notice your limits! Don’t burn out!” It is a day he gives us to remember who and what work is for as well as what matters most. Sunday generously hands us hours to look into the eyes of the ones we love. Rhythmically, the Sabbath reminds us that we belong to the worldwide family of God. God’s Sabbath reality calls us to trust that the Creator can manage all that concerns us in this world as we settle into his rest.”
