Should Christians Keep the Sabbath
As Messianic Christian believers, we find joy and renewal in our faith in celebrating and honoring the commanded and appointed times of the Lord. We have Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles. These cycles incorporate the movements and reminders of God and corporate Israel. These all tie together with the first appointed time given to all humanity, the Sabbath. Christianity at large has forgotten that the Sabbath was made for man and is a weekly reminder of the annual things God has done, is doing, and will do in the future. So, what is the Sabbath day? Is the Sabbath day Important?
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Genesis 2: 1-3
The first Sabbath mentioned in the Bible is God Himself ceasing from the work of creation and resting. It says that God blessed the Sabbath and set it apart as a holy day, because He himself rested. The Sabbath day is a day to remove oneself from the labors of the previous six days and reset.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20: 8-11
As God establishes Israel as a nation He reminds them to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. He instructs them to do the following:
Remember
Cease from your weekly labor
Keep those who are in your gates from laboring as well
Keep the day Holy
We are to remember the day, remember all that God has done for us. We are to cease from the work that is required of us the other six days, let our minds, bodies, families, and homes rest and heal. We are to keep this day sacred and set apart from other days. We are not to treat the day as common, or to regard the day similar to the previous six days, just like our Heavenly Father didn’t mark this day by His remembrance the same as the six previous days of creation.
The prophet Isaiah gives more clarity on the Sabbath day as well:
“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly 14then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58: 13-14
The prophet Isaiah seemed to be addressing the nation of Israel to awaken them from their fasts and Sabbaths of flesh, ones that brought oppression and wickedness to set apart actions we were called to.
He outlines that we are to:
Keep from doing our own pleasures
Call the Sabbath a delight
Speak honorably about the day not disparagingly
Not wasting our speech
Find pleasure in the Sabbath
The Sabbath is not a day for us to focus on our own pleasures. We are not to treat it as a common day. It isn’t a day to find some random event for us to take pleasure in. We are to speak positively of the Sabbath day. We are not to waste the conversations we have on mindless things. We are to find pleasure in honoring and resting. If we find ourselves upset, bored, or counting down the moments until the Sabbath ends, we are not honoring the Sabbath through the instructions Isaiah gave us. It might seem that the instructions contradict one another by telling us to keep from doing our own pleasures and then telling us we will call the day and delight and find it pleasurable. It isn’t a contradiction but one that should take our focus off of what we find pleasurable and train our minds to find pleasurable the things of the Lord. To remember how blessed we are that God would invite and instruct us to rest and not focus on the pressures of this world.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Exodus 20: 9
While God provides and commands a day of rest, He also gives an instruction for believers to not be lazy. He instructs us that we are to work the other six days. Due to the decisions of man in the garden of Eden we must work hard for our ability to eat.
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;” Genesis 3:17
If you work six days as instructed, you will be able to rest on the Sabbath and still have what is necessary for you and your families to be able to eat and survive.
Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. 24 “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26 And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’” Jeremiah 17: 19-27
The prophet Jeremiah echoes the instructions of God in Exodus and in Isaiah. We are not to do work on the Sabbath day. The only work that was permitted was by the priesthood in the Tabernacle and the Temple. All of the individuals who made up corporate Israel were to come together and go to the tent of meeting. The Levitical priesthood then worked on behalf of the nation offering sacrifices to God. We aren’t to bear a burden on the Sabbath day. We are to do everything in our power to rectify any issues we might have with others before we were to enter the Sabbath day so that no one would be afflicted by the burdens of the regular week during this time. If we dishonor God by working, and inflicting burdens upon others, He promises to devour the places in a way that there is no relief. The Sabbath is not only for us as individuals but us corporately. We must settle our individual issues with one another prior to the Sabbath so that we can all come together in harmony with the focus on God and His blessings weekly. Can you imagine how beautiful it would be if we practiced this corporately today! Looking out for one another, settling disagreements quickly, and coming together weekly released of those burdens?
And if the peoples of the land bring in goods or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. And we will forego the crops of the seventh year and the exaction of every debt. Nehemiah 10:31
We live in exile from Jerusalem. We are not one nation currently with the Temple and sacrifices in place. The prophet Nehemiah gives us further instructions on how to deal with business on the Sabbath day. We are not to buy and sell. We are not to go about normal business on this day. Even in exile this day is to be set apart. We are commanded to keep the covenant of the Sabbath day even while not in the land. This covenant is everlasting and if we want to be called believers and reap the protection and benefits of the covenant, we must honor our part!
Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.” Exodus 35: 1-2
Building a fire was a lot of work for the ancient Israelites. They used fire to keep warm and to bake. There are two points to this commandment of the Sabbath. One, be prepared. Gather your food, be prepared to eat without all of the work that goes into cooking a meal. Two, don’t stir up strife. Don’t ignite a fire within relationships. Like Jeremiah told us, we are not to cause the Sabbath to be a burden for anyone—not for ourselves, and not for another.
3 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places. Leviticus 23: 3
One of the most important elements in returning to the instructions of God is meeting together. The Torah was given to the united Israel. The instructions of the Torah are far more joyful when you are able to walk them out with other like-minded believers. This was a lot easier to do when you were together. Today we live in a time where Sabbath keeping can feel disjointed because Messianic believers are scattered all over the world. Some cities are blessed to have multiple Sabbath churches, and yet some cities have none. Leviticus tells us that we are to have a public meeting, a rehearsal, or gathering on the Sabbath in preparation for the coming kingdom of God. We are to gather together. For those who have like-minded believers near them this is a lot easier to do. Many though live isolated in areas where there aren’t other Sabbath-keeping believers near them. Utilizing tools like online Sabbath gatherings are the only way they can connect with other believers during this time. While online isn’t ideal, it is far better than having no fellowship at all. God wanted us to gather on the Sabbath. He wanted us to remember and rejoice in His blessings. For those who are isolated, we pray that God will bring people in your area to the understanding of the Sabbath, and you will be able to rejoice together.
As we seek to better understand God’s instructions for the Sabbath day, we pray that you will find joy in a weekly renewal of your mind, body, and spirit, that you will remember the importance of ceasing from your labors and focusing on all that God has done for you, all that He is currently doing for you, and all that He will do in the future. God made the Sabbath for man. He knew from creation that we needed rest, that we need reminders, and that we need renewal. By honoring this weekly blessing, we shine a light to a world that has forgotten their Creator, a world that is tired, weary, and in desperate need of salvation. Let us be known in history as a generation that returned to the weekly blessings of God by honoring the first set apart time He created in the Scriptures.
