Sermon # 32 - The Blessings Of Keeping The Sabbath Series

God’s commandment on observing the Sabbath

We read in Exodus 20:8–10,"Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work..”(GNB)

One of the Ten Commandments from the Lord as mentioned in Exodus 20:8, was that we should observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. The Sabbath is a day of rest, dedicated to the Lord alone. One can engage in all sorts of work for six days in a week, but on the seventh day everyone is commanded to rest, and consecrate that day to the Lord.

There is much misunderstanding about this particular commandment on observing the Sabbath, but we will study this in the light of God’s word, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to understand, and get clarity as to what this means to us today.

The blessings of observing the Sabbath

We read in Isaiah 58:13-14, The LORD says, "If you treat the Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interests on that day; if you value my holy day and honor it by not traveling, working, or talking idly on that day, then you will find the joy that comes from serving me.... (GNB)

The above mentioned verse is specific that on six days we can pursue anything we desire to, but the seventh day is God’s day, and it belongs to Him. Isaiah, prophesying on the Lord’s behalf, goes on to explain that there were certain things that should not be done on the Sabbath day. On the Sabbath day, we do not chase after our own interest, our personal work or engage in idle talk, but rather remember, and treat the day as holy, thereby honoring God on that day.

There are three things that Lord says this day should be observed as; a day of rejoicing, a day of glory and one that is holy to the Lord. Therefore, we are expected to give the honor and glory to God, and when we do so the Lord will be pleased with us.

Many people are confused as to which day of the week should be observed as the Sabbath, should it be the first day of the week or the seventh day. In order to understand this it is always good to go back to the very beginning and delve a little deeper into the creation account. The first day of creation God created light and on the sixth day, the culmination of God’s creation was Adam, who was made in the image and likeness of God.

For Adam, his first day was pronounced by God as a day of rest. From God’s perspective it was the seventh day that God declared to be His Sabbath, when God rested from all that He made.

We don’t need to get caught up in the debate as to which day of the week it is, but simply understand that God’s command was that we work for six days, but observe the Sabbath day on the seventh. This principle is at work in any secular firm or organization too, where the employees are expected to work for six days, and are given off on the seventh day. If an employee is not given the one day off during the week, then he ceases to be an employee and becomes a slave or a bonded laborer instead. This principle applies even for those who run their own business. It is in their hands to take one day off during the week, and if they fail to do so for whatever reason, they are enslaving themselves to their business.

The Jewish misunderstanding about the Sabbath

While God gave us the Sabbath as a day to worship Him, honor Him and meditate on His word, over the years, many have made this into a ritual or tradition. The Jews for instance, were so bogged down by the rules and regulations of observing the Sabbath that one of the main accusations that they made against Jesus over and over again, was that He performed miraculous works on the Sabbath. When the laws of God become a ritual, we will certainly lose out on the purpose as to why it was given in the first place.

We read in John 5:16, “and because of this were the Jews persecuting Jesus, and seeking to kill him, because these things he was doing on a Sabbath” (YLT)

Jesus healed people on the Sabbath day, which upset the Jews so much, that they persecuted Jesus, and were looking for ways to kill Him. The Jews were so caught up in the rituals of the law, that they forgot the meaning and purpose of these laws, and were unable to accept Jesus as the messiah. By misunderstanding the commandments of God, they thought that they were zealous for God, and did not realize that they were in reality displeasing Him.