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“It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.”
– Dr. Suess, The Cat in the Hat
This quote highlights a deeper truth about our topic today: rest. We might rephrase it to say, “It is restful to rest, but you have to know how.” If you’re like me, you might find rest elusive. The endless demands of work make it difficult to stop, and even when we do, what does it mean to truly rest?
In Genesis, we read that God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it, to bring order out of chaos. This work was a blessing, a participation in God’s creative order.
However, sin distorted this blessing, turning work into toil and introducing the harsh reality of oppressive labour, which turns humans into commodities.
We live in a world in which our relationship with work is broken.
Abraham Heschel, who was a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians of the 20th century, published a book in 1951 that I have read more than a few times called The Sabbath.
I came to this book through Eugene Peterson, who said that Heschel’s perspective of the Sabbath was formative for him as a pastor who struggled with Sabbath-keeping. In this book, Heschel writes the following:
He who wants to enter the holiness of the day must first lay down the profanity of clattering commerce, of being yoked to toil. He must go away from the screech of dissonant days, from the nervousness and fury of acquisitiveness and the betrayal in embezzling his own life. He must say farewell to manual work and learn to understand that the world has already been created and will survive without the help of man. Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul. The world has our hands, but our soul belongs to Someone Else. Six days a week we seek to dominate the world, on the seventh day we try to dominate the self.1
In our current series on the Pentateuch, we are with the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Moses is up on the mountain with God, receiving instructions for how Israel is meant to live as God’s people. We have seen through the Ten Commandments how we are to love God and love others. Today, we’ll look at the command to remember the sabbath and keep it holy, we’ll explore the theological foundations of Sabbath rest, its blessing, and its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. We will see that, to truly rest, we must remember that our value comes not from our work, but from our relationship with God. Observing the Sabbath helps us tap into this divine rest.
The most common question about the Sabbath is which day, if any, we should observe as the Sabbath. For myself and other pastors, the question is often, what does Sabbath look like? If, for the majority of people, Sabbath includes attending a Sunday church service and dedicating the day to prayer and “holy things”, what does that mean for those of us for whom this is our daily work? On the Sabbath, am I to take a break from prayer, worship, and contemplating God’s word? Surely not. So, what exactly does it mean to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy?
I would love to answer this question directly. But, as with most true things in life, clarity will come by going on a journey. We will start at Genesis 1:24, where we read about the creation of living things, humanity, and the creation of the Sabbath. It is important to start here because the Sabbath is not a new command for the Israelites, but a reality that has existed from the beginning. As we look at this passage, consider how creation does not end with the sixth day, but with the creation of the Sabbath on the seventh day.
The Creation of Sabbath
Genesis 1:24-2:1-3 (the sixth and seventh days of creation):
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
The creation of sabbath happened immediately following the creation of humans. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” The next day, God rested and thus made the very first full day of human existence a day of rest. As humans made in God’s image, each and every one of us is created for rest. But this is not rest due to exhaustion. As we read all throughout Scripture, God cannot become tired. He never grows weary. The Sabbath rest is not about replenishing a lack, but expressing a fulness. God saw all that he had made and declared that it was very good. He did everything he set out to do, and then he rested.
We see from the creation story that the Sabbath is built into creation. It has existed from the very beginning. We observe the Sabbath because that is the created order. In the Ten Commandments, God instructs the Israelites to remember the sabbath and keep it holy. The Sabbath is holy whether or not we observe it. But, by observing it, we acknowledge its holiness. Holiness essentially means to be set apart. Keeping the Sabbath holy by identifying it as a day like no other is part of how we imitate God and it is also how we encounter God.
The Blessing of Sabbath
Let’s read some passages which contain the commands about the Sabbath. Keep in mind, the Sabbath was a revolutionary concept for the Israelites, providing rest to everyone, including servants and animals.
Exodus 20:8-11 – “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 31:12-17 – Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. “ ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. … The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ”
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 – “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you… On it you shall not do any work…, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
The Sabbath is described in these passages as something to be practiced by everyone as a way to remember God’s intention for creation since the beginning. His intention is for us to not be defined by productivity. We are to care for creation, not abuse it. Our identity is that of image-bearers of God, who is a kind and gracious God. He created the Sabbath as a way to keep us from relentless production. The Sabbath is holy and blessed no matter how well or poorly people observe it. But, if we do observe it, we enter into the holiness and blessing of God’s divine rest. The blessing of the seventh day is that it is an oasis of rest so that our work does not become monotonous or oppressive. By setting aside a day for rest, God created an ongoing rhythm to our weekly activity.
The idea of blessing has been a theme in this sermon series. Do you remember how we have been defining blessing? It means to receive and share the benefits of God’s favour. If the Sabbath is blessed, it means that God’s favour is on that day. If we want to experience the fulness of God’s blessing, we will need to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
How this worked for Israel is that all people were given equal access to a day of rest, including slaves. This was new for them because as slaves, they never had any rest. It must have been quite a difficult thing to practice. Like us, they had a broken relationship with work and productivity. Even their Sabbath became an oppressive religious duty, defeating the purpose of having a day of rest.
This is why Jesus had to redefine the Sabbath for the religious leaders. As we will see in Matthew 12, Jesus shifted the focus from rigid rules to the deeper purpose of the Sabbath.
The Lord of Sabbath
Matthew 12:1-8 – At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Among the many unique identifying practices of the Jewish people was keeping the Sabbath. If they lost the Sabbath, they would lose an essential cultural practice in a world that was being overtaken by the Romans. Now, Jesus was not suggesting the elimination of the Sabbath, but he was saying that the Pharisees misunderstood what the Sabbath is for and how it is meant to be observed. They were caught up in trying to maintain their religious elitism. They had their eyes fixed on doing things perfectly and missed the true meaning of the Sabbath.
There was a term used by rabbis, “putting a fence around the law,” which essentially means to establish rules and regulations that would prevent people from going down a slippery slop toward breaking a law. Picking heads of grain was one of these fences. Jesus challenged the Pharisees by questioning the authority of those who established the fences. If they knew who Jesus was, they would know that it is he who has the authority.
He illustrates his authority with two examples from the Old Testament. David, who as king had the authority to eat the consecrated bread, and the fact that the Temple Priests could perform their duties on the Sabbath because of the authority of the Temple. Jesus said that something greater is here. He is speaking of himself and the reconciliation between God and humans that he represents.
He then makes a statement that speaks to the place of Jesus in relationship with the Sabbath. Remember, the Sabbath is built into creation. God made the Sabbath. And here, Jesus says the Son of Man, referring to himself, is Lord, or ruler, of the Sabbath. This means that he came before the Sabbath. He was the one who created it. If we want to know how to practice Sabbath-keeping well, we must know Jesus.
Consider how we, like the Pharisees, get caught up and blinded by trying to figure out what is allowed and not allowed for us as Christians. We miss the point of the Bible when we make all kinds of rules, when we put fences around laws. The point of the Bible is to show us who God is and how he is rescuing us. Any instruction or rules that we see in the Bible are meant to help us experience this salvation today, not as a way for us to guarantee salvation in the future. Sabbath-keeping is not going to get us into heaven. It’s going to help us experience heaven now.
With that in mind, let’s go to Hebrews 4, which shows how we can do this.
How to Rest in God
Hebrews 4:1-11 – Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” … There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Just prior to this passage, at the end of Hebrews 3, we read about how the Israelites rebelled which prevented them from experiencing the fullness of rest promised to them. Yet, as we see in chapter 4, the promise of entering the rest of God still stands. This promise can be experienced through faith in Christ. The Sabbath command that God gave the Israelites was meant to give them a taste of the eternal and complete rest that comes with an unhindered relationship with God. Our rest is not found by simply stopping our work and doing something else. Nor is it found in perfectly obeying religious rules. Our rest is found in the presence of God.
What does this mean for the practice of Sabbath? It means that when we take time to rest from our work in order to acknowledge that our value and purpose does not come from our work but from our relationship with God, we get a taste of the eternal rest promised to us through Christ.
The Israelites were told to practice the Sabbath and they did so religiously. Yet, as we read in Hebrews, they did not experience the fullness of rest promised to them. They may have stopped working on the Sabbath, but they did not enter God’s rest. This is because they missed what was truly being promised to them. They were trying to appease God through rule-keeping. The trouble with the legislation of commands like Sabbath-keeping is that it does not guarantee what is meant to be experienced as a result of keeping the law. The purpose of Sabbath is to get a taste of eternity. As Abraham Heschel writes, to “care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.”
Going back to the quote from Dr. Suess, “It is fun to have fun, but you have to know how,” we can see how important it is to know how to rest. It is one thing to stop working. But, what do we do when we stop working? Do you actually know how to rest? If you are looking for practical steps toward good Sabbath-keeping, here are 3 quick suggestions: First, assuming Sunday is your Sabbath, put your phone away before you go to sleep on Saturday night so that you don’t wake up and immediately go to your phone. Second, begin and end the Sabbath with Scripture and prayer. Third, spend time doing something non-essential like puzzling, playing board games, walking, sitting by a fire, or sipping your favourite beverage while staring off into the distance.
In an excellent book called Keeping the Sabbath Wholly, Marva Dawn writes about the practice of Sabbath-keeping. I’ll close with this quote from her book:
The creation account in Genesis establishes the pattern for time by naming a day as evening followed by morning rather than morning followed by evening. This Hebrew evening/morning sequence conditions us to the rhythms of grace. We go to sleep, and God begins his work. As we sleep he develops his covenant. We wake and are called out to participate in God’s creative action. We respond in faith, in work. But always grace is previous and primary. We wake into a world we didn’t make, into a salvation we didn’t earn. Evening: God begins, without our help, his creative day. Morning: God calls us to enjoy and share and develop the work he initiated. The first creation account then concludes by setting apart the seventh day as a special day for rest. Thus, the rhythm of evening/morning grace and work is enfolded in the larger rhythm of a Sabbath set apart to focus on grace and six days of work within that grace.2
1 Heschel, Abraham Joshua. The Sabbath (FSG Classics) (p. 23). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
2 Dawn, Marva J.. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting (pp. 57-58). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Pentateuch Series Bibliography
Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Fourth Edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022.
Alter, Robert. The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
Averbeck, Richard E. The Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2022.
Brueggemann, Walter. Preaching from the Old Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2019.
Glanville, Mark. Freed to Be God’s Family: The Book of Exodus. Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2021.
Longman III, Tremper. Genesis. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016.
Lynch, Matthew J. Flood and Fury: Old Testament Violence and the Shalom of God. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2023.
Provan, Iain, V. Philips Long, and Tremper Longman III. A Biblical History of Israel. Second Edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.
Smith, James E. The Torah. 2nd ed. Old Testament Survey Series. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1993.
Walton, John H and J. Harvey Walton. The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2019.