1. “God blessed the seventh day” (Genesis 2:3).
The Sabbath is a day blessed by God, and it is intended to be a blessing for all humanity. God promises great blessings now and in the future to those observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as Isaiah 58:13-14 tells us, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight…and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father….”
2. “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Genesis 2:3).
God is the only One who can make something holy, and the second purpose for the Sabbath is its sanctification, meaning it is a day set apart by God for holy use. This principle is enshrined in the Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work … .For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
3. “And on the seventh day…He rested from all His work which God had created and made” (Genesis 2:2-3).
In Genesis the Sabbath is described as a day of rest. It is the first time the Hebrew word shabath, meaning “rest,” is found. “It is from this root [of shabath] that the noun for Sabbath originates, a word designating the time to be set aside for rest” (Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, 2003, p. 1098). God wants us to recuperate from our labors on the Sabbath day: “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12).
4. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever” (Exodus 31:17).
The Sabbath is a covenant sign between God and His people. It is the only commandment singled out as a sign or relationship between God and the person who keeps the Sabbath. God said Sabbath observance would be a sign to identify His people.
5. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy … .For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them….” (Exodus 20:8-11).
The Sabbath reminds us of God as our Creator and Maker. The word translated “made” here means “fashioned” or “set in order.” The Sabbath is a monument to God’s awe-inspiring power to have brought into existence all we see around us—including ourselves.
6. The Sabbath is also about redemption, the paying of a ransom for a slave.
God is not only our Creator, but also mankind’s Redeemer. Our salvation was made possible through His Son’s sacrifice to release us from spiritual slavery: “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15).
God began His plan of salvation with one nation, Israel, but has now extended redemption to all who respond. They can be part of Abraham’s inheritance through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice: “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
7. The Sabbath is as an appointed time to gather together for worship.
God calls the Sabbath one of His Feasts “which you shall proclaim at their appointed times” (Leviticus 23:4). The term “appointed times” in Hebrew means setting a date to meet: “Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation” (Leviticus 23:3).
8. The Sabbath is a time to fellowship with God’s people.
The term “convocation” means a commanded assembly (Leviticus 23:3). When possible, we are to meet together on the Sabbath. Hebrews 10:24-25 mentions the importance of fellowship: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
9. The Sabbath is not only for fellowship but for spiritual learning, when we receive instruction from God’s Word.
Jesus taught on the Sabbath Day as Luke 4:16 tells us: “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” The Apostle Paul also explained the Word of God on the Sabbath day: “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks….And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them” (Acts 18:4 and 11).
10. “So that there is still a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9, Bible in Basic English).
The Sabbath is a reminder of the glorious future rest and restoration of the earth. One of the arguments encouraging the Hebrew Christians to remain faithful was that they should look to the coming Kingdom of God, which the Sabbath portrays: “There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest….” (Hebrews 4:9-11 English Standard Version).
Sabbath-keeping points us to the future as well as the present and past. It is a reminder of the past as we honor God for His Creation. It also reminds us in the present of God as our great Redeemer, as well as looking to the future anticipating the coming millennial reign of the Kingdom of God on earth—with Jesus Christ as King of Kings.
