Exodus 31:12 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. 14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. 18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Before I
comment on sabbaths I wanted to say
something about the use of the word verily.
It means, “truly,” or, “certainly,” or, “truthfully.” The apostle, John,
reports that Jesus used it twice for emphasis quite often. Examples of the 25
verses in John’s gospel that state this use of verily are;
John
3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.
John
10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
For the
Hebrew the seventh day was set apart as holy to God. This symbolizes the
seventh day of creation when God rested.
Genesis
2:1 ¶ Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them. 2
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. 3 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.
It was a day of rest made for
man.
Mark
2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath
was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
People are
always remembering their rights under the U.S. Constitution. What Christians
forget is that having one day off a week to rest is the right of God’s people
afforded to them by God.
The
observance of the Sabbath under pain of death was a sign of Hebrew identity.
Circumcision was a personal sign for men that they had a covenant with God.
But, the observance of the Sabbath was something the entire community; man and
woman, child and beast, could participate in. Our hunger for material
possessions and our false post-World War 2 middle class values created by
business advertising and propaganda prevent us from taking advantage of our
God-given right to a day of rest.
Now, what
about exceptions? Apply common-sense and God’s character of mercy to the rule.
Luke
14:1 ¶ And it came to pass, as he went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. 2 And, behold,
there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers
and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and
healed
him, and let him go; 5 And answered
them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and
will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer him again to these
things.
Notice here
that the Pharisees and Jesus were having a meal on the Sabbath which someone
had to prepare and serve, to serve at least if they prepared it the day before.
There was no refrigerator or microwave. Notice also that Jesus healed on the
Sabbath, which upset the religious elite, all the while pointing out that they
would have no hesitation in rescuing a valuable farm animal from a pit on the
Sabbath day.
So, keeping
that in mind what do you make of the command to do no work? Clearly, there was
room for common-sense and mercy in God’s command. But, it was not to be a day
of commerce, a day just like any other day of the week. Labor ceased on that
day which was clearly a mercy to the hireling or the servant and the beast.
Nehemiah
13:15 ¶ In those days saw I in Judah some treading wine presses on the
sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and lading asses; as also wine, grapes, and
figs, and all manner of
burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the sabbath day: and I testified against them in the day wherein they
sold victuals. 16 There dwelt men of
Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the
sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. 17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah,
and said unto them, What evil thing is
this that ye do, and profane the sabbath day? 18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our
God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath
upon Israel by profaning the sabbath. 19
And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark
before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that
they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and some of my servants set I at the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.
20 So the merchants and sellers of all
kind of ware lodged without
Jerusalem
once or twice. 21 Then I testified
against them, and said unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you.
From that time forth came they no more
on the sabbath. 22 And I commanded the
Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and
keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day.
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