Sabbath Rest

INTRODUCTION

1. After God created the world in six days...

a. He rested on the seventh day - Gen 2:1-2

b. Then (at some point, see below) He blessed and sanctified the

seventh day - Gen 2:3

2. The seventh day later became known as "The Sabbath Day"...

a. From the Hebrew word shabbath, meaning "to rest from labor"

b. The Greek word is sabbaton, and like English, a transliteration of

the Hebrew

c. Thus it came to mean "the day of rest"

3. Questions often arise concerning "The Sabbath Day"...

a. What day of the week was the Sabbath day (Saturday or Sunday)?

b. Are Christians to keep the Sabbath?

c. Is Sunday now the "Christian" Sabbath?

4. The first question is the simplest one to answer...

a. The Sabbath was a day of rest after six days of work - Gen 2:1-2;

Exo 20:8-11

b. According to Jewish reckoning, the seventh day began at sunset on

Friday and ended at sunset on Saturday - Judaism 101

c. Thus in the Bible the Sabbath generally refers to Saturday

I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

A. NOT COMMANDED OF THE PATRIARCHS...

1. From Adam to Moses (Gen 3-Exo 15), there is no mention of the

Sabbath

a. "Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned [after

mentioning Adam. Abel, Enoch, Lot, Noah, Melchizedek, and

Abraham], though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to

God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until

Moses..." - Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho the Jew,

150-165 AD, Ante-Nicene Fathers , vol. 1, page 204

b. "...God originated Adam uncircumcised, and inobservant of

the Sabbath, consequently his offspring also, Abel, offering

Him sacrifices, uncircumcised and inobservant of the

Sabbath, was by Him commended...Noah also, uncircumcised -

yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath - God freed from the

deluge. For Enoch, too, most righteous man, uncircumcised

and inobservant of the Sabbath, He translated from this

world...Melchizedek also, the priest of most high God,

uncircumcised and inobservant of the Sabbath, was chosen to

the priesthood of God." - Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews

2:10; 4:1, Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 3, page 153

2. This suggests that Gen 2:3 may be a prolepsis

a. "a preface intended to anticipate and answer an objection to

an argument" - Encarta

b. "the representation or assumption of a future act or

development as if presently existing or accomplished"

- Merriam-Webster

c. "anticipating and answering objections in advance" - OneLook

d. "these words may be read in a parenthesis, as containing an

account of a fact that was done, not at the beginning of the

world, and on the first seventh day of it; but of what had

been done in the times of Moses, who wrote this, after the

giving of the law of the sabbath; and this being given

through his hands to the people of Israel, he takes this

opportunity here to insert it, and very pertinently, seeing

the reason why God then, in the times of Moses, blessed the

sabbath day, and hallowed it, was, because he had rested on

that day from all his works, Exo_20:11 and the same reason

is given here, taken plainly out of that law which he had

delivered to them" - Gill

3. "Although God did not command man to keep the Sabbath at this

time, He taught the principle of one day of rest in seven."

- Believer's Bible Commentary

-- While God rested on the seventh day of Creation, He did not

command anyone to rest on that day until thousands of years

later

B. COMMANDED OF THE ISRAELITES...

1. The Sabbath is first mentioned in regards to Israel collecting

Manna - Exo 16:23-30

2. Shortly after the exodus of Israel from Egypt - Exo 16:1

3. When God actually blessed and sanctified the seventh day as a

day of rest - Exo 16:23,29

4. For previously it had been unknown to them - cf. Neh 9:14

-- The Sabbath was made known, blessed, and sanctified in the time

of Moses, with God's rest on the seventh day of Creation as its

basis

C. CODIFIED IN THE LAW OF MOSES...

1. With the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath became part of the Law

- Exo 20:8-10

2. The basis for the Sabbath is explained - Exo 20:11 (and

inserted in Gen 2:3)

3. The Sabbath became a sign between God and Israel as His special

people - Exo 31:13-17

4. Commanded of Israel because they had been delivered from

slavery - Deut 5:15

-- Thus the Sabbath became a weekly reminder of Israel's

deliverance from Egypt

D. NEVER COMMANDED OF THE GENTILES...

1. All the commands regarding the Sabbath are directed toward

Israel, no other nation

2. The exception was "the stranger who is within your gates" - Exo

20:10

3. The exception was to prevent being influenced to disobey - cf.