Remembering The Sabbath Day

Exodus 20:8–11 Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it. ₉ For six days you shall labour and do all your work, ₁₀ but the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, and your son and your daughter, and servant and your female servant, and your animal, and your sojourner who is in your gates. ₁₁ Because for six days Jehovah made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore Jehovah blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.

I want to take this session to give us a brief overview of the Sabbath day and what the Bible says about it. There are several kinds of sabbath days in the Bible, but for today, we will only be looking at the weekly Sabbath day.

Our text today is the fourth of the Ten Commandments, where the Lord commands us to keep the Sabbath day on the seventh day of every week. The Hebrew word commonly rendered “sabbath” is šabbāṯ, which means “cessation”. It comes from the verb šāḇaṯ, which means “to cease”. As we shall see later on, the Sabbath day is a day of cessation from work. Let us consider five points about the Sabbath day.

The Importance of the Sabbath Day

Firstly, let us consider the importance of the Sabbath day. The commandment begins: “Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.”

The Sabbath day existed before the Ten Commandments

The word “remember” means to recall to mind. Many people think that the Sabbath day only came into existence when God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. However, the word “remember” implies pre-existent knowledge. After all, one cannot remember something which he has never known. As we shall see later, the Sabbath day was instituted all the way back when God created the world. In fact, God referenced the Sabbath day long before he gave the Ten Commandments. Turn a few pages back to Exodus 16:23–30:

Exodus 16:23–30 ESV he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’” ₂₄ So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. ₂₅ Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. ₂₆ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

₂₇ On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. ₂₈ And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ₂₉ See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ₃₀ So the people rested on the seventh day.

Even before God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, the Israelites already knew about the Sabbath day, and God was already expecting them to keep it.

Why we need to remember the Sabbath day

The Book of Deuteronomy contains an alternate version of the Ten Commandments. The commandments are the same, but some commandments are worded differently. According to Deuteronomy, the fourth commandment begins:

Deuteronomy 5:12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, just as Jehovah your God commanded you.

While the Exodus text says “Remember the Sabbath day,” the Deuteronomy text says “Keep the Sabbath day.” The Hebrew word for “keep” in the Deuteronomy text is the verb šāmar, which means “to guard; to keep watch; to be careful”. The sense is that we should be careful to make sure that we keep the Sabbath day.

I think the Lord used the words “remember” and “keep” because the Sabbath day is important, and he knows that we are prone to forget and neglect it. If God did not think that the Sabbath day were important, he would not have cared if we forgot and neglected it, and he would not have given the commandment to remember and keep it. We remember that the Israelites who were hearing these words of the Ten Commandments came from a background of slavery in Egypt, where they worked every day of the week. It would not have been natural for them to not work on one day of the week; it might have taken some getting used to.

This a problem which we also face today. We live in a world where it is not uncommon for people to work every day of the week, even on weekends. In many cultures, working overtime and on the weekends is praised as dedication to the job, and people who do so are highly esteemed. For many of us, it would be difficult to adjust to a weekly day of cessation from work. It might cause a disruption to our lifestyles and our schedules. We need to consciously “remember” and “keep” the Sabbath day.

How we are to view the Sabbath day

The Hebrew words for “to remember” and “to keep” denote more than just mental exercises. Rather, they also imply a purpose of consequent action. In other words, one cannot be said to “remember” or “keep” the Sabbath day if he does not have a purpose to take some consequent action. Both the Exodus text and the Deuteronomy text provide the same purpose for remembering or keeping the Sabbath day: “to sanctify it.” Other translations render it: “to keep it holy” (ESV).

The word “to sanctify” means to make something holy, and “holy” simply means set apart; special. The opposite of “holy” is common; just like other things. Some Christians insist: “Every day of the week is holy!” However, that defeats the meaning of the word “holy”. The use of the word “holy” implies that there are other things which are not holy, but common; just like other things. The Lord does not want us to the think of the Sabbath day as common; just like the other days of the week. Rather, he wants us to sanctify the Sabbath day; to set it apart as special among the other days of the week.

This word “sanctify” is used again in verse 11: “Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” Therefore, we sanctify the Sabbath day because the Lord first sanctified the Sabbath day. He declared the Sabbath day holy; set apart as special, and so we agree with his assessment that the Sabbath day is holy; set apart as special, and we treat it accordingly. That is the attitude we should have toward the Sabbath day. Our sabbath-keeping should flow from a consideration that the Sabbath day is a special day to the Lord.

The Keeping of the Sabbath Day

Secondly, let us consider the keeping of the Sabbath day. What does the Lord want us to do on the Sabbath day? How does he want us to sanctify the Sabbath day?

Ceasing from work

The most obvious thing we should do on the Sabbath day is to cease from work. The commandment tells us: “For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work.” (vv. 9–10)

Now, it may seem as if the Sabbath day can be kept on any day of the week. After all, the commandment only says that we should work for six days and rest on the seventh day, and the concept of a week is not mentioned. However, notice that the Lord does not say, “Keep a sabbath day,” as if it can be any day of the week. Rather a definite construction is used, “the Sabbath day”, referring to a specific day. Moreover, throughout the Bible, the expression “the Sabbath” or “the Sabbath day” is used as the designation for the seventh day of the week, which is Saturday.

But what is this “work” which we are not supposed to do on the Sabbath day? I think the preceding words in verse 9 make it clear that, at the very least, this “work” which we should not do on the Sabbath day is our regular jobs; what we do on the other six days of the week. Most of us work five out of seven days in the week, and in that case, that is the “work” which is in view here. However, questions arise as to the specific definition of “work”. If you are a homemaker, and your work is to do household chores, then obviously, that is the work which you should cease from on the Sabbath day.

However, if I am not a homemaker, and my work is not normally to do household chores, then would it be permissible for me to do household chores on the Sabbath day? Where is the line between what counts as work and not work? Well, as with any “Where is the line?” question, my answer is: “The line is drawn in your heart.” If you really think that doing any household chore is a work, then you should not do it on the Sabbath day. Otherwise, you would be disobeying God in your heart.

Holding a holy assembly

However, keeping the Sabbath day does not just involve a cessation from work. It is not just kicking back, relaxing at home, and not doing anything. The Bible also tells us that we should hold a holy assembly on the Sabbath day. Regarding the weekly Sabbath day, it is written in Leviticus 23:3:

Leviticus 23:3 For six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a complete sabbath of sabbath-cessation, a holy assembly. You shall not do any work. It is a sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwelling places.

The weekly Sabbath day is a day for a “holy assembly”. Other translations say “holy convocation” (ESV), which means the same thing. This “holy assembly” is essentially the same thing as what we call a “church service”. In other words, on the Sabbath day, we should “go to church”! Most churches hold their services on Sunday because they believe that the Sabbath day is on Sunday. We will address that later.

By the way, the Sabbath day holy assembly is a strong indication that the Sabbath day cannot be on just any day of the week. Rather, it assumes that the Sabbath day is on a specific universally identifiable seventh day of the week. After all, we cannot hold a holy assembly on the Sabbath day if everyone’s Sabbath day could be on different days of the week!

Doing good

Nevertheless, as we cease from work and hold a holy assembly, God does not want us to cease from doing good on the Sabbath day. I get this from the words of Jesus: “So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:12 ESV) The context for these words begins all the way back in verse 1:

Matthew 12:1–8 ESV At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ₂ But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ₃ He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ₄ how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ₅ Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ₆ I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ₇ And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ₈ For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath commandment because according to them, plucking heads of grain fell under the category of work which should not be done on the Sabbath day. Of course, this is not found anywhere in the Bible; it was just another one of the Pharisees’ man-made rules. Jesus makes it clear that the disciples were “guiltless”. They were not breaking the Sabbath day according to God.

However, instead of pointing this out directly, Jesus decided to expose the Pharisees’ hearts by pointing out their inconsistency. He gives two biblical examples in which their application of the biblical law would not make sense. The first example he gives is that David eat the bread of the presence even though it was “not lawful” for him to eat it, since he was not a priest. The second example he gives is that the priests “profane the Sabbath” by working in the Temple on the Sabbath day, and yet they were “guiltless”. You see, if the Pharisees wanted to accuse Jesus’ disciples of breaking the Sabbath, then they would have to be consistent and also say that David sinned by eating the bread of the presence, and that the priests were sinning when they worked on the Sabbath day, but they would not do that.

The Pharisees wrongly accused the disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they did not understand the words of God in Hosea 6:6, which Jesus quotes in verse 7: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” As demonstrated in the cases of David and the priests, God did not intend the biblical law to be applied mechanically without consideration for other biblical factors, not the least of which is mercy. Now, if the disciples had brought out harvesting tools and started harvesting the grain, then that would have been different story, but that was clearly not the intention of their hearts. The disciples plucked the heads of grain to eat because they were hungry, and not because they wanted to disobey God by breaking the Sabbath day.

That same Sabbath day, Jesus went into a synagogue:

Matthew 12:9–12 ESV He went on from there and entered their synagogue. ₁₀ And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. ₁₁ He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? ₁₂ Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

The Pharisees thought that healing was a work which should not be done on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7; 13:14; John 7:23; 9:16). Again, this is not found anywhere in the Bible; it was yet another one of the Pharisees’ man-made rules. Again, Jesus exposes their hearts by pointing out their hypocrisy: They would not hesitate to rescue a sheep from a pit even on the Sabbath day, and they would not have considered it work which should not be done on the Sabbath day. So, if it is not a sin to lift a sheep out from the pit on the Sabbath day, then it should not be a sin to heal a man on the Sabbath day, since a man is so much more valuable than a sheep! “So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath,” Jesus concludes.

This helps us to answer a lot of questions regarding people who have to work on the Sabbath day. If I were a doctor, and I were scheduled for emergency standby on the Sabbath day, then what should I do? Well, I should first try my best to make arrangements for a replacement. If that is not possible, then I would go ahead with that shift. Perhaps I would save some lives by working on the Sabbath day. “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

The Reason for the Sabbath Day

Thirdly, let us consider the reason for the Sabbath day. Why does the Lord want us to keep the Sabbath day?

Creation

The Exodus text of the commandment explains: “Because for six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day.” (v. 11) This is a reference to the passage in the Book of Genesis regarding the completion of Creation:

Genesis 2:1–3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host. ₂ And on the seventh day God finished his work which he did, and he ceased on the seventh day from all his work which he did. ₃ And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it he ceased from all his work which God made when he created.

The Hebrew word for “ceased” here is the verb šāḇaṯ, which is where we get šabbāṯ, the Hebrew word for “Sabbath”. Many of your translations render it as “to rest”, but it really means “to cease”. God ceased from his work of creation because it was finished; there was nothing more to do!

We get the idea that God “rested on the seventh day” from the Exodus text of the commandment. But let us think about it: Did God really need to rest? Did he become exhausted after his work of creation? Of course not. Rather, I think he rested on the seventh day to give us an example to follow. That is actually what the text tells us: “For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah, you shall not do any work.” Why? “Because in six days Jehovah made… and he rested on the seventh day.” And now, he wants us to rest on the Sabbath day in imitation of him.

In this way, keeping the Sabbath day is an acknowledgement that God is Creator and Lord. He created and sustains everything, including me. Everything I have comes from him, and I depend on him for even the ability and means to live and act. “In him we live, and move, and are.” (Acts 17:28) Therefore, he is lord of everything, including me, and it is only right that I live for him. “From him, through him, and to him are all things.” (Romans 11:36)

Salvation

There is another reason for why the Lord wants us to keep the Sabbath day. The Deuteronomy text of the Sabbath commandment reads:

Deuteronomy 5:15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Jehovah your God commanded you to do the Sabbath day.

So, we see that the Sabbath day is not only a sign of creation, but also a sign of salvation. For the Israelites, keeping the Sabbath day was an acknowledgement that God had saved them from slavery in Egypt. We who are in Christ have experienced a much greater salvation: God has saved us from slavery to our sins! Romans 6:17–18 says: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (ESV)

In a way, our cessation from work on the Sabbath day is a reminder that we did not do anything to deserve our salvation or influence God to save us. Rather, we ceased from our work of trying to earn our salvation and rested on the grace of God to save us. That is essentially what saving faith is: ceasing and resting. Thus, when we keep the Sabbath day, we celebrate salvation by grace through faith!

The Blessedness of the Sabbath Day

Fourthly, let us consider the blessedness of the Sabbath day. The Exodus text of the commandment concludes: “Therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” (v. 11) This is an echo of Genesis 2:3, which we have already looked at previously: “And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it he ceased from all his work which God made when he created.”

Delighting in the Sabbath day

God blessed the Sabbath day, but what does that mean? What does it mean for God to bless a day? I think it means that he declared the Sabbath day a time of blessing.

Unfortunately, many people do not think of the Sabbath day as a blessing, but as a burden. The underlying problem is that they think of Sabbath-keeping only in terms of what we should and should not do on the Sabbath day: “We should not do any work on the Sabbath day. We should hold a holy assembly on the Sabbath day.” That is not at all wrong, but if that is all you think the Sabbath day is about, then you have missed the point.

All of God’s commandments are for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13), including the Sabbath commandment. Jesus himself said: “The Sabbath was made because of man.” (Mark 2:27) In other words, God made the Sabbath day with our good in mind, and consequently, all the commandments which God gave regarding the Sabbath day were meant to bring us blessing and delight. Take a look at what the Lord says in Isaiah 58:13–14:

Isaiah 58:13–14 If you turn your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of Jehovah honoured;
and honour it, not doing your ways,
or seeking your pleasure, or speaking a word;
₁₄ then you will delight yourself in Jehovah,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
and I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of Jehovah has spoken.

“If you turn your foot from the Sabbath” implies that the Israelites were disrespectfully trampling on the Sabbath. How were they doing that? They were seeking and doing their pleasure on the Sabbath day instead of doing what the Lord wanted them to do on the Sabbath day. They were making business deals, which is what “speaking a word” means in this context.

The problem? A heart issue: They did not think of the Sabbath day as a “delight”. They felt that keeping the Sabbath day was a burden because it would bring inconvenience or disruption to other parts of their lives. Perhaps this hints at a deeper problem. The Apostle John writes: “He who says, I love him, and does not keep his commandments, he is a liar. … For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 2:3; 5:3) If we really love God, then we would want to keep his commandments, and we would not feel that his commandments are burdensome. Contrarily, we will feel delight in keeping his law (Psalm 1:2)!

Delighting in God

But what makes the Sabbath day so blessed that we should consider it a delight? I think that it is because God’s purpose for us in keeping the Sabbath day is that we would grow in our relationship with him. Take a look again at Isaiah 58:14: If we would stop disrespecting the Sabbath day and instead consider it a delight, “then you will delight yourself in Jehovah.” That is the effect which God designed Sabbath-keeping to have on us.

Many Christians wonder: “How can I grow closer to God in relationship?” Well, here is one way: Keep the Sabbath day! Many Christians say that they want to grow closer to God, but when you tell them about keeping the Sabbath day, they start giving excuses. That shows where their hearts really are. Any Christian who is sincere about growing closer to God would not find Sabbath-keeping to be a burden. How can the Sabbath day not be a delight for us, if the result of keeping the Sabbath day is that we will delight in the Lord?

We give priority to what brings us delight. For many of us, our priorities expose our hearts and reveal that the things of the world bring us more delight than the things of God. That is a heart issue which only the Lord can solve for us. May the Lord give us a delight for the Sabbath day, even if for no other motivation than his promise that we will find delight in him!

The Continuation of the Sabbath Day

Finally, let us consider the continuation of the Sabbath day. We have seen that the Sabbath day was instituted by God at Creation, and he expressed the commandment to keep the Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments. Throughout the New Testament, we find Jesus and the first Christians keeping the Sabbath day, and we do not find anywhere that they ever changed this status quo. Nevertheless, Christians today hold different views regarding the Sabbath day.

Have the Ten Commandments been abolished?

One view is that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Ten Commandments have been abolished, and since the commandment to keep the Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments, then we do not have to keep the Sabbath day today. Thankfully, this is not a very popular view among Christians because it is so easy to refute.

The Ten Commandments include other commandments such as, “Honour your father and your mother,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not commit adultery,” and “You shall not steal.” Now that Jesus has died and rose again, is it permissible to dishonour our fathers and mothers, murder, commit adultery, and steal? Of course not. Throughout the New Testament, the Ten Commandments are assumed to be valid. Notably, the Apostle Paul writes:

Ephesians 6:1–2 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. ₂ Honour your father and mother, which is the first commandment in promise, so that it may be well with you, and you may be long-lived in the land.

Notice how Paul grounds his instruction for children to obey their parents on the fifth of the Ten Commandments: “Honour your father and your mother.” (Exodus 20:12) Clearly, Paul did not think that the Ten Commandments had been abolished after Jesus’ death and resurrection such that we no longer have to keep them today.

I think one of the biggest reasons for why Christians want to insist that the Tan Commandments have been abolished is because of the fourth commandment, the commandment to keep the Sabbath day. If not for that one problematic Sabbath commandment, they would not have a problem with the Ten Commandments. That is my personal guess, anyway.

Has the Sabbath commandment been abolished?

Many other Christians believe that the Ten Commandments are still valid and should be kept—except for the Sabbath commandment. They say that the Sabbath commandment was abolished after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Ironically, Christians who say such things usually belong to churches or denominations which affirm Sabbath-keeping. This is either reflected in their statement of faith, or as a church or denomination, they hold to a confession of faith which affirms Sabbath-keeping. For example, the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is generally held by Presbyterian churches, reads:

As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in his word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath, to be kept holy unto him. … (Westminster Confession of Faith 21.7)

Likewise, the London Baptist Confession of Faith, which is held by many Baptist churches, reads:

As it is the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so by his Word, in a positive moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto him. … (London Baptist Confession of Faith 22.7)

So actually, Christians from such churches or denominations should not have a problem with Christians keeping the Sabbath day. If anything, they should take it up with their pastors and leaders of their church or denomination.

Some other Christians argue that the Sabbath commandment is not found anywhere in the New Testament, and so Christians do not have to keep it. However, there is no reason to think that a commandment is not valid for Christians simply because it is not also found in the New Testament. The third of the Ten Commandments, “You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7), is also not found anywhere in the New Testament. Does that mean that this commandment is no longer valid, and we may now take the name of God in vain? Of course not! Rather, the validity of the commandment is assumed even though it is not repeated in the New Testament.

Has the Sabbath Day always been on Sunday?

Still, there are other Christians who insist that the seventh day of the week has always been Sunday, and so they argue that we should keep the Sabbath day on Sunday rather than Saturday.

This is certainly understandable if one comes from a culture in which the seventh day of the week is indeed Sunday. For example, in the Chinese language, Monday is called 星期一, meaning “day one of the week”. This means that according to Chinese thought, Sunday is the seventh day of the week. However, in most other cultures, Sunday is the first day of the week rather than the seventh, and it would be dishonest to make this argument.

Moreover, even in the Bible, it is clear that Sunday is the first day if the week rather than the seventh. According to all four gospel accounts, the women went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty on the first day of the week—which all Christians identify as Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Therefore, according to the Bible, the seventh day of the week is the day which we call Saturday.

Has the Sabbath Day been changed to Sunday?

The last popular view among Christians is that the Sabbath day was changed from Saturday to Sunday following the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The related section of the Westminster Confession of Faith states about the Sabbath day:

… which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week: and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week, which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s Day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath. (Westminster Confession of Faith 21.7)

The London Baptist Confession of Faith says the same thing, but adds a clause at the end:

… which from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord’s day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished. (London Baptist Confession of Faith 22.7)

However, there is no evidence in the New Testament that the first Christians ever thought that the first day of the week was the Sabbath day rather than the seventh day of the week. Indeed, nowhere in the New Testament is the first day of the week ever called “Sabbath”. The most reasonable conclusion of this is that the biblical commandment to keep the Sabbath day on the seventh day of the week remains unchanged.

Conclusion

I hope that today’s session has brought some clarity regarding the Sabbath day. Each of us are at different stages of integrating Sabbath-keeping in our lives, but most importantly, as we keep the Sabbath day according to God’s word in the Bible, ceasing from our work and holding a holy assembly, let us do it with the right heart, knowing the Lord’s heart for us in giving us the Sabbath day.