Part 1: A DAY OF THE WEEK, OR THE REST OF A LIFETIME?
- INTRODUCTION
It would seem that the Bible concept of a Sabbath day has been a source of contention ever since it was initiated.
In Old Testament times, God’s people Israel were frequently chided for their failure to effectively observe the Sabbath day of rest.
In New Testament times, controversy continues. Jesus was criticised by the religious practitioners of His day for His insistence on doing good things for others on the Sabbath. Paul is critical of some Christians for their practices relating to Sabbath day observance.
Today, there is still misunderstanding as to the meaning of the Sabbath in the church age, and the question of Saturday verses Sunday observance is still a lively issue in some quarters.
But God is not the author of confusion, so it must be possible to resolve the issue, and it should only be necessary to turn to scripture to do so.
If we are prepared to leave aside the preconceptions and biases promoted by religious theologians of whatever persuasion, and sincerely seek the guidance of God’s own Spirit, in the understanding of His own Word, we must be successful.
So, we turn to the lively Oracles…
2. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SABBATH
2.1 THE CREATION ACCOUNT
The concept of a day of rest was initiated in the story of creation. The Genesis account closes with God resting (Heb. shabath; refer Appendix 1) from all His work, and blessing and sanctifying the seventh day:
‘And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made’
Genesis 2: 2-3
The themes here are REST and SANCTIFICATION, and these themes remain the key to our understanding of the whole plan of the Sabbath.
There is no further mention of Sabbath in the book of Genesis. A seven-day period occurs in connection with the flood (Gen. 7:4 -10; 8:10-12) and Jacob’s time at Haran (Gen. 29:27, 28), but no allusion to the Sabbath is intended on these occasions.
Did Adam and Eve observe a Sabbath? They had to dress and keep the garden of Eden, but their duties were minimal, and their life appears to have been a continual rest until they were put out of Eden for disobedience. Adam then had to work ‘in the sweat of his face’ to overcome the curse, but there is no mention of a special seventh-day rest.
Did Abraham observe a Sabbath? Scripture does not indicate whether he did or not. Scripture does indicate that he observed tithing (Gen. 14:20), circumcision (17:10), sacrifice (22:13), but Abraham’s justification before God came through his faithful believing and not by his keeping of any law (Rom. 4:3-13).
2.2 THE COLLECTION OF THE MANNA
The next reference to the Sabbath is in Exodus 16, when God sends the manna to feed the Children of Israel and ordains one day’s portion to be collected each day, but a double portion to be collected on the sixth day (Exod 16:4,5). Moses explains (v.23) that this is because “Tomorrow is the rest of the Holy Sabbath unto the Lord. . . six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none”. These arrangements were to be a proving of Israel, whether they would walk in God’s law or not (v.4).
When the people gathered the double portion on the sixth day, Moses reminded them of God’s instruction that the next day was to be the rest (Heb. shabbathon = cessation) of the holy (Heb. qodesh = set apart, separated) Sabbath (Heb. shabbath = cessation, Sabbath) unto the Lord. When some of the people went out on the seventh day, God protested to Moses “How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See, for that the Lord has given you the Sabbath … so the people rested (Heb. shabbath) on the seventh day. ” (v. 28-30).
The key word and thought here is REST, as a point of strict obedience to God’s instructions.
The non-observance of the seventh-day rest by some of the Children of Isreal suggests that they were not accustomed to the idea of a Sabbath. It may have been simple disobedience, as would occur time and again through Israel’s history, but it rather appears that Israel up to this time had not instituted the Sabbath as a regular event.
2.3 THE SINAI COVENANT
The formal introduction of the Sabbath occurred at Mt. Sinai, when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The fourth commandment was an instruction to observe each seventh day as a Sabbath of the Lord.
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.. in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.”
Exodus 20: 8-11
The instruction was very specific, and, of all the commandments, was the only one applied even to ‘thy stranger that is within thy gates’. God again stressed this particular commandment during Moses forty days and nights on Mt. Sinai, and added further detail:
“. . . Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, (so) that ye may know that I am the Lord who doth sanctify you … whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off… it is a sign between Me and the Children of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.—“
Exodus 31: 13-17
So God established the Sabbath as a perpetual covenant between Himself and the Children of Israel. Other nations and peoples may be expected to observe these laws whilst they are ‘within the gates’ of Israel, but the covenant is specifically with Israel.
After the episode of the golden calf, when Moses broke the two tablets of stone on which God had written the testimony, Moses was called back up to Mt. Sinai with two new tablets, and God reiterated His instructions. When Moses passed these on to the people, the recorded account begins with a reminder of the Sabbath as a day of complete rest:-
“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.”
Exodus 35: 2-3
Throughout the Sinai accounts of the Sabbath institution, Israel is reminded of the creative work of God, and of His resting on the seventh day. Israel, in their turn, are to rest as a reminder of their creating, sanctifying Lord. The theme of Sabbath is “rest and remember.”
Thus, the institution of the Sabbath was established. From this time, and throughout the remainder of the O.T., the fact that the Sabbath was to be a day set apart was not questioned, although the actual observance of the Sabbath by the Children of Israel waxed and waned along with their spiritual prosperity, and vice – versa.
2.4 THE LEVITICAL INSTRUCTIONS
There are various exhortations to keep the Sabbaths, and to reverence the sanctuary, throughout Leviticus. Refer ch. 19:3.30; 26:2; etc. As well as the weekly Sabbaths, we find references to special feast days of Passover, Pentecost, and Day of Atonement etc. These were each to be a special “Sabbath of rest” (Heb. shabbath of shabbathon) to the Children of Israel. (ch. 16:31, 23:3-7, 16-21, 27-28). There was a particular significance attaching to each of these days, involving particular sacrifices, rituals, etc., which set them apart from the weekly Sabbaths. The very fact that they were special ‘worship’ days suggests that the weekly Sabbath was not itself a day of worship as such. More of this thought later.
2.5 THE REMINDINGS OF DEUTERONOMY
Moses, shortly before his death, rehearsed the events which had brought the Children of Israel to the border of the promised land. He repeated the substance of the statutes and judgements handed down by God, urging the people to learn them and keep them and do them.” He included specific reference to the observance of the Sabbath – ‘Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God has commanded thee… (Deuteronomy. 5:12). Again, his instructions emphasised the ‘rest’ aspect of the day, with no work to be done by the people, their servants, their stock . . . “so that thy manservant and thy maid servant may rest as well as you.” This was to serve as a reminder that Israel had themselves been servants until they were redeemed from bondage by the mighty hand of God.
2.6 SUMMARY OF OLD TESTAMENT PRACTICE
The O.T. references to the Sabbath consist of instructions and exhortations to Israel to keep the Sabbath as a day of rest and remembrance of God’s special relationship with, and care for, His people. Apart from the special feast days of Leviticus 23, which were also appointed as Sabbaths, it should be noted that the instructions regarding observance of the weekly Sabbaths do not include any requirements for religious rituals, worship, etc. The daily Sanctuary/Temple sacrifices were doubled for the Sabbath day (Numbers 28:3-10), but remember, this was a priestly function, and no other instructions for religious observances are given to Israel generally.
Various detailed instructions are given to Israel/Judah concerning observance of the Sabbath:
They were not to do any work … Exodus 31:15
They were not to kindle fire … Exodus 35:3
They were not to buy or sell any wares or victuals … Nehemiah 10:31
They were not to carry burdens (market wares) … Jeremiah 17:21
They were to keep (observe, heed) the Sabbaths, as a rest, and as a sign of God’s sanctification of Israel.
But no instruction was given regarding any particular religious observances or worship. The practice of worship on the Sabbath did not become common until the development of the synagogues during the Exile, when the Sabbath became a day of worship and study of the law (though not so appointed by God). Prior to this, of course, the only place where worship and sacrifice could be conducted was the Sanctuary/Temple – as specified by God – “Unto the place which the Lord shall choose … thither shall you bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices and tithes. . . “(Deuteronomy 12: 1-9). Israel was not to worship anywhere they chose, on very high hill and under every green tree, as the heathen did.
The story of Elkannah reveals a typical applications of this commandment. We read in 1 Samuel 1:3 that Elkannah . . . “went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh”. It certainly was not practicable, nor within a Sabbath day’s journey, for the people of Israel to travel from all corners of the nation to Jerusalem (once the temple was established there) each Sabbath day for worship. Nor was this intended by God in His plan for the rest day.
The weekly Sabbath was simply a day of rest and remembrance. Israel was not to become so engrossed in business and commerce that the God of their deliverance and salvation was forgotten. To ensure this, they must utterly cease from all their labour and works on the last day of the week, and use this time to think on their Lord, Who had covenanted to prosper His people Israel and to consecrate them.
The remaining O.T. references to the Sabbath have to do with Israel’s unfaithfulness and failure to adequately observe the Sabbath. In a statement of ‘Jewish Values,’ using material drawn from the ‘Encyclopaedia Judaica’, a Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs states: “Only scraps of evidence are available concerning the nature of the Sabbath during the Monarchy. In the Northern Kingdom during the ninth and eighth centuries, Sabbath and New Moon are mentioned together as days when business activity was halted (Amos 8:5) (emphasis added), Jeremiah 17:19-27 berates the rulers and populace of Judah for condoning the hauling of burdens (market wares) into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. In an unprecedented prophecy, the fate of the dynasty and the city is made to depend on the observance of the Sabbath. Ezekiel contains similar prophecies. Chap. 20:12ff. lays stress on the Sabbath as a sign of Israel’s consecration to God. In catalogues of sins for which Israel was doomed, desecration of the Sabbath occurs repeatedly. As part of his program for a reconstituted Israel, the prophet innovates the priestly duty of seeing that the Sabbath is kept holy (44:24)”
Judah’s failure to trust God for His blessings on their welfare, resulting in their using the Sabbath to pursue their own works and merchandising, earned God’s stern displeasure – refer Jeremiah 17:19-22, Ezekiel 20:12-16, Nehemiah 13:15-18. Indeed, God refers to their Sabbath breaking as idolatry, because they are worshipping the works of their own hands, and their own works, instead of worshipping God.
3. NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO SABBATH
Although the New Testament church can draw much of significance from the Old Testament, the terms of the New Covenant/Contract generally replace those of the old, and we must adopt the new where these replace the weak and beggarly elements/rudiments of the old.
3.1 THE SABBATH IN THE GOSPELS
A study of the references to the Sabbath in the Gospels reveals that Jesus was at odds with the orthodox religionists of His day, who had turned what was meant to be a day of rest and blessing into a matter of strict, legalistic bondage. Jesus, of course, lived in the closing days of the Old (Mosaic) Covenant, and the terms of this Covenant were still applicable even as Jesus Himself was introducing the New.
Even so, of the thirteen or so occasions where the Sabbath is mentioned in the Gospels (refer Appendix Part 4): on 6 occasions Jesus is healing the sick; on 4 occasions He is teaching in the synagogues; on 3 occasions the reference is simply an indication of the time of the week; on 2 occasions the actual observance of a Sabbath is suggested.
Where Jesus is mentioned as teaching on the Sabbath, He is using the opportunity, as a Rabbi, to reach people who were gathered to hear God’s word.
The two occasions where actual observance of the Sabbath is implied refer firstly, to the disciples resting on the Sabbath after Christ’s crucifixion (Luke 23:56), and secondly (Matthew 24:20), in the Olivet discourse, a warning to avoid the Sabbath day and its limitations on travel in their flight from the destruction of Jerusalem which would occur in A.D. 70. Although this event would take place after the death of Jesus, and the fulfilment of the O.T. law, Jesus knew the pharisaical Sabbath limitations would still be being observed by unbelieving, Christ rejecting Jews, and anyone trying to travel on a Sabbath day (or for that matter, in Winter) would be impeded.
On none of these occasions is Jesus instructing His disciples about Sabbath-day observance.
The fast that Jesus observed the Sabbath Himself does not support its observance now, in the New Testament Age, anymore than His participation in Temple worship then (sacrifice, etc.) supports our observance of such sacrificial worship now. He was simply meeting the requirements of the dispensation in which He lived. Jesus knew that the pattern of the weekly Sabbath was about to be superseded by a greater “sign” of God’s creative and sanctifying power.
3.2 THE SABBATH IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the institution of the New Covenant at Pentecost, the New Testament church was formed, and we can begin to look for relevant information as to the Sabbath observance in the Church Age.
We don’t find very much information in the Book of Acts, implicit or explicit.
When the Sabbath is first mentioned in Acts (1:12), it is only in reference to the distance from Mt. Olivet to Jerusalem being a Sabbath day’s journey, i.e., about 2000 cubits or 1 km.
When Paul went on Sabbath days into the synagogues at Pisidia (13:14,44), at Thessalonica (17:2), at Corinth (18:4), he did so to reason with the Jews who gathered there on that day, still reading Moses (instead of Jesus!). There would have been no point going there on any other day of the week – there wouldn’t have been anyone there to reason with!
More significantly, when the Council of Jerusalem met to decide how much of the law of Moses should be expected of Gentile coverts (Acts 15), “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (the disciples) to lay on you (the converts) no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which, if you keep yourselves, you shall do well”.
No mention at all of keeping of Sabbaths!
3. NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO SABBATH
3.3 THE SABBATH IN THE EPISTLES
When the Church Age began at Pentecost, its new instructions were set out in the letters to the churches. These instructions included all the moral precepts of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, but not a single word is given about keeping the Jewish weekly Sabbath. (For a list of scripture comparisons, see Appendix3, part 4). What we do find, is a rebuke to those Christians who tended to fall back into observing the Sabbaths, which are described by Paul as a ‘shadow of things to come, but the substance is Christ’ (Colossians 2:14-17).
We can best pursue this search for the substance by answering some pertinent questions about the Sabbath in the Epistles:
Was the weekly Sabbath-day observance meant to continue forever? Moses spoke of keeping the Sabbath for a ‘perpetual covenant’ (Exodus 31:16). This sounds permanent. But the term, ‘perpetual’ is from the Hebrew OLAM, meaning an age, an indefinite time, and is the term used in Exodus 29:9, when the High Priest’s office is given to Aaron and his sons for ‘a perpetual (OLAM) statute’. Under this statute, the High Priest was the one and only mediator, taking the blood of the sacrifice into the Mercy Seat on the Day of Atonement. But this office ceased with the death of Jesus, the rending of the Temple veil, and the establishment of a new and living way which He (Jesus) consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh” (Hebrews 10:20)
The ‘perpetual’ covenant of the weekly finished at the same moment, along with the remainder of the O.T. law, in God’s new plan for the salvation of mankind. The Jewish religious leaders probably tried to patch up the Temple veil, to perpetuate their own from of worship, although God had forsaken them! Attempts to perpetuate a weekly Sabbath into the Church Age are similarly misguided.
DON’T WE STILL HAVE TO OBEY ALL GOD’S LAWS, TO ATTAIN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS?
God has dealt with mankind through various covenants through various ages and dispensations. Before God ever instituted the Ten Commandments, or Law of Moses, (which was really, of course, the Law of God), He had dealt with Abraham, for instance, through a covenant of faith (Romans 4:1-3). After the Law came, mankind was “confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So the law was our custodian (schoolmaster) until Christ came. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian (the law)” (Galatians 3:23-25 R.S.V.).
The temporary nature of the Law, as a means to bring man to a place where he could be justified by faith in Christ, is dramatically set out in the whole passage of Galatians 3:15-25.
That the Law of Moses has been superseded as a means of attaining righteousness, is indisputably established by Paul in his second letter to Corinth. Paul describes the Law, which was “written and engraven in stone (tablets)” as a ministration of death and condemnation! God didn’t intend it that way, of course, (Romans 7:9-13) but man, because of his pride and vain attempts to work his own salvation, and because of his failure to submit in obedience to God’s plan, broke the Law and so reaped death and condemnation. The letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 3:7-11, repeatedly refers to the passing away of the Law. Describing it as glorious, “which glory was to be done away”. Again “For if that which is done away (the law) was glorious, much more that which remains (New Testament Gospel of faith) is glorious, ” etc.
Note that the reference in vv3,7 to a law written in tables of stone clearly identifies the Ten Commandments. There is no suggestion in Exodus, or elsewhere, that the laws of sacrifice and ritual were ever committed to tablets, as the Ten Commandments were. So what has ‘passed away’ is clearly the commandments themselves, not just sacrifice and ritual.
It is suggested by some that we must be obedient to the whole of God’s will, and that this includes the weekly Sabbath. But the New Testament scriptures relating to obedience refer to that obedience which brings the believer to the fullness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (refer John 7:37-39,14:15-17, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:14-17, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 2 Corinthians 1:20-22, Ephesians 1:12-14, etc., etc.).
To insist that this obedience should be directed to obeying the Old Testament Law, whilst at the same time disobeying Jesus’ and Paul’s clear commands to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel!
WHAT ABOUT THE “REST” PROMISED IN HEBREWS?
Hebrews 4:1 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” So there is a ‘rest’ available to the Church Age, and it is possible to miss out on it, through unbelief, as the Children of Israel did with their rest.
The logic of vv3-8 makes clear that God rested on the seventh day of creation, but then declares through the Psalmist in Psalm 95:11 that Israel will not enter into His rest, even though everything necessary for them to do so had been finished from the foundation of the world. Even the people of Joshua’s day, WHO HAD THE WEEKLY SABBATH, did not gain this rest (v8), but it is still available to someone (v6).
This ‘rest’ is in fact a ceasing from works of one’s own righteousness, and adopting the promise that “there remains, therefore, a rest (lit.’a keeping of a Sabbath) to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. “(vv9-10). W.E. Vines, in his Expository Dictionary comments on the term ‘sabbatismos’ as occurs in v9, “Here the Sabbath-keeping is the perpetual Sabbath rest to be enjoyed uninterruptedly by believers in their fellowship with the Father and the Son, in contrast to the weekly Sabbath under the Law.”
HOW DO WE FIND THIS REST?
As far back as the prophet Isaiah, God has identified how this New Testament rest would be distinguished:
“For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, ‘this is the rest by which you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing’.”
Isaiah 28: 11-12
Paul identifies the New Testament experience of receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4,38), and the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues (Mark 16:17), as the basis of the rest, when he quotes the prophecy of Isaiah to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:21) in connection with the operation of Spiritual Gifts, in particular, speaking in tongues.
To receive, or be baptised with, the Holy Spirit, we must first meet God’s requirements of faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf, forsaking all attempts to gain any standing with Him by our own works, or keeping of a law. Then the Holy Spirit’s law, which is life in Christ Jesus, sets us free from the custody of the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1).
So, being set free, we are finally able to keep a Sabbath of rest, in which, having ceased from our own works, as God did from His, we live in unity with God, remembering Him as our RE-creator and sanctifier as was the purpose of the original Sabbath.
So the New Testament Sabbath is at last seen to be: NOT A DAY OF THE WEEK, BUT THE REST OF A LIFETIME!
IS THE SABBATH A SATURDAY OR A SUNDAY?
Neither! The various arguments in favour of Saturday versus Sunday observance of a weekly Sabbath are spiritually sterile and completely misleading, since, as we have just seen, the New Testament Sabbath is an EVERYDAY rest. In trying to establish one day or the other as the rightful Sabbath, we miss the whole point of the Old Testament Sabbath being a ‘type’ or pattern of the fuller, everyday Sabbath of the New Testament age.
The special Sabbath-feast days of Leviticus 23 were ‘types, or shadows, of greater things to come; Passover speaks of Christ our Redeemer, and the Feast of the First-fruits speaks of Christ risen from the dead; Pentecost points to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the New Testament church; the Day of Atonement looks forward to the Great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, that is passed into the heavens. Just so, the Old Testament pattern of a weekly Sabbath, in which Israel was to remember their Creator and Redeemer, foreshadowed that greater and complete rest into which we enter when we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.
This is why Paul warns the Colossians: “Therefore let no one pass judgement on you … with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ”. Paul’s exhortation is “Don’t chase shadows (Sabbaths etc), seek the SUBSTANCE, which is Christ! (Colossians 2:16-17)
IS IT RIGHT TO OBSERVE SUNDAY AS A DAY OF WORSHIP?
It’s as good as any other day! And more convenient than most, because of the way society is organised!
There are many confusing arguments about the change from Saturday to Sunday for New Testament Christian worship. Perhaps the early New Testament Christians did meet for their fellowship and collection of offerings on the first day of the week. Perhaps the Roman Catholic Council of Laodicea in A.D. 336 did ‘officially’ transfer the solemnity of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.” But the Old Testament seventh day is not replaced by another day of the week, be it Saturday, Sunday, or whichever! Rather, it was replaced by a permanent, every day, ceasing from our own works. Only confusion results from attempting to show that the Old Testament seventh-day observance was replaced by a first-day worship. This debate misses the point of the New Testament rest, which is a complete, EVERY-DAY SPIRITUAL REST from our own works for righteousness, pointing to the Creator/ Redeemer of New Testament salvation.
Discussion of Saturday versus Sunday worship has NOTHING TO DO with the matter of Sabbath observance, which was an instruction to rest, not to worship. So it really doesn’t matter which day of the week we meet for worship – so long as we treat every day as holy to the Lord, and accept His offer to rest from our works, by adopting His plan for our redemption.
CONCLUSION
Israel in the Old Testament was given the Sabbath as a sign of their special relationship with their Creator Redeemer. They had been instructed to rest on the seventh day, not to work, not to carry burdens. But Israel profaned the Sabbath, and blasphemed God, in forsaking His statutes, and were found guilty before Him
Today, Jesus’ Invitation is “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and 1 will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me; for 1 am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light”. (matt. 11:28-30)
Failure to accept Jesus’ invitation, by rejecting His proffered gift of the Holy Spirit in favour of some man-made tradition or ideology, is blasphemy against the New Testament Sabbath, and the person of Jesus Himself.
For, under the New Covenant, the Sabbath is not any particular day, it is Holy Spirit rest, through JESUS CHRIST, our sin-bearer, and Sabbath of rest.
HEBREW AND GREEK DERIVATIONS.
The Bible term Sabbath’ is derived from the Hebrew “shabbath”, and the Greek “sabbaton”. Both of these terms mean ‘to desist’, ‘to cease’, ‘to rest’.
1. HEBREW – SABBATH.
In the Hebrew language, an interesting differentiation is made between the two words:
“shabbath” meaning Sabbath (day) (noun), and ‘shabath” meaning ‘cease’, ‘rest’ (verb).
Thus, in Hosea 1:4 … “I will cause to cease (Heb. shabath) the Kingdom of the House of Israel”.
Hosea 2:11 …. “I will cause her mirth to cease (Heb. shabath) …. and her Sabbaths (Heb. shabbath)”.
2. HEBREW – WEEKS AND SEVENS
The Hebrew term for “weeks” is ‘shabua’, which literally means ‘a seven’. This reference is made clearer in the Septuagint Version where the Greek term ‘hepta’ is used for the Hebrew ‘shabua’. Thus, in Deuteronomy 16:9, the term ‘seven weeks’ is given in the Septuagint as ‘hepta (seven) heptomades’ (sevenths), and in Genesis 29:27, Laban tells Jacob to fulfil Leah’s week (hebdoma = sevens), and so “Jacob fulfilled her sevens” (v.28).
There is no connection between the two terms above- Sabbath, and sevens. The theme of the shabbath was rest. Its occurrence on each seventh day was a separate aspect of its function.
3. GREEK – SABBATH
The Greek language transliterates the term ‘Sabbath’ from the Hebrew to become:-
“sabbata”, “sabbaton” meaning ‘Sabbath (day)’ or ‘the Sabbath’;
And these are the terms used throughout the New Testament for reference to the Sabbath. An interesting variation is found in Hebrews 4:9, where the term “rest” is translated from ‘sabbatismos’, meaning a Sabbath rest, or ‘the keeping of a Sabbath.
4. GREEK – REST
The general-New Testament terms for ‘rest’ are:
(i) “Anapausis”- meaning cessation, refreshment$ rest. Refer Matthew 11:29. This term is used constantly in the Septuagint for the Sabbath rest.
(ii) “Katapaus” is” meaning ‘causing to rest’, ‘putting to rest’. Refer Hebrews 4:1,3,11.
APPENDIX 2.
OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT COMPARISONS RE: TEN COMMANDMENTS
A study of the New Testament shows that there is a good measure of agreement between the Old Testament commandments and their repetition in the New Testament. However, there is one notable exception as the following shows:
First Commandment
Old – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20: 3
New – “We preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto a living God ... “
Acts 14: 15
Second Commandment
Old – “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image …. thou shalt not bow down thyself to them..”
Exodus 20: 4-5
New – “Little children keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5: 21
Third Commandment
Old – “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
Exodus 20: 7
New – “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath.”
James 5: 12
APENDIX 3.
REFERENCES TO SABBATH IN THE GOSPELS
MATT MARK LUKE JOHN
Healing man at Bethesda pool — — — 5:8-18
Teaching in Nazareth synagogue — — 4:16 —
Teaching in Capernaum synagogue — 1:21 4:31 —
Eating corn; healing withered 12:1-13 2:23-28 6:1-10 —
Hand 3:1-5
Teaching in Nazareth synagogue — 6:2 — —
Jesus defends Sabbath healing — — — 7:22
Jesus heals blind man — — — 9:1-14
Teaching in synagogue and
Healing woman of 18 years infirmity — — 3:10-17 —
Jesus heals dropsy at Pharisee’s house — 14:1-6 — —
“Pray flight not on Sabbath day” 24:20 — — —
Jesus buried on Sabbath –
Preparation — — 23:54 19:31
Disciples rest Sabbath
After crucifixion — — 23:56 —
Resurrection day “end of
Sabbath” 28:1 16:1 — —