In the giving of the Ten Commandments, more is written about the keeping of the Sabbath than any other. This law was not a religious, ceremonial law that was discarded with the establishment of the New Covenant, but it is a moral law to be written in the hearts of mankind. God designed the Sabbath for two main reasons: first, to commemorate creation and secondly, as a sign of our salvation. Let us compare a passage in Exodus with one in Ezekiel. Exodus 20:11 says: “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.” The “therefore” tells you why it is there for. Because of creation, God sanctified this day. In Ezekiel 20:12, it reads: “Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” This day of rest was to be a constant reminder that in Christ we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
Rest is a position of trust. The seventh day of creation was man’s first. We were created to rest first and then work. God established each day to begin with rest: “And there was evening and morning of the first day”. (Genesis 1:5) This principle of rest before work reflects the principle of grace. We are saved by grace, not by works, and because we are saved we do His work. (James 2:22) The Sabbath rest was instituted to relieve man of his labors, just as Jesus came to show us that we could not attain salvation through any effort of our own. Salvation is a gift. By receiving salvation, we enter into His rest.
The breaking of the Sabbath was considered one of the major reasons why the children of Israel went into captivity. The going into captivity can be a metaphor, for today, in that many are slaves to their work, or, in other words, they are workaholics. Their overwork produces stress build up and has negative consequences in the mental and physical health of a person. Stress, which is the major cause of sicknesses, builds up and multiplies when there is sleep deprivation. Rest renews the soul; without it the mind goes crazy. As you rest, your immune system produces protective cytokines, antibodies, and cells that fight infections. This is necessary for fighting foreign substances like bacteria and viruses. Another consequence lack of rest is depression. This is because the lack of sleep interferes with the neurotransmitters, which regulates one’s moods.
When Jesus said that the Sabbath was made man and not man for the Sabbath, He was saying we were not to complicate the day of rest with a number of religious restrictions and rules, but to see the benefit of stopping from our labors and finding our rest in God. The healthiest life-decision we can make is to get a good 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night and to take a day off of your work schedule to rest. For those who are in the ministry or who are self-employed this may seem to be impossible, but it is necessary to maintain physical, mental, and spiritual health. The Sabbath may not be a Saturday or Sunday for everyone, but it needs to be one full day a week. The Lord gave us the Sabbath for our benefit. He desires us to be in health and to prosper, even as our soul prospers. (3 John 2) Our Creator knows how we function best. He commanded us to rest and called it Holy.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Genesis 2:3; Hebrews 4:9-10; Ezekiel 20:11, 19-20; Mark 2:27; Psalms 37:3-5