Why Rest

Labor Day today is a welcomed day not only because it recognizes workers/labors, but because it gives us an extra day of ‘rest’.

Judaism[edit]

Main article: Shabbat

See also: Hebrew calendar

Jewish Shabbat (Shabbath, Shabbes, Shobos, etc.) is a weekly day of rest, observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night. Thirty-nine activities prohibited on Shabbat are listed in Tractate Shabbat (Talmud). Customarily, Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles shortly before sunset, at halakhically calculated times that change weekly and geographically.

Shabbat is a widely noted hallmark of the Jewish people. Several weekly Shabbats per year are designated as Special Sabbaths, such as Shabbat haGadol, before Pesach (literally, “the High Sabbath”, but not to be confused with other High Sabbaths); and Shabbat Teshuvah, before Yom Kippur (“Repentance Sabbath”).

While Shabbat is universally considered by Jews to take place between Friday at sundown and Saturday at sundown, the classical Reform movement at its height produced innovations in practice, exemplified by some Reform rabbis such as Samuel Holdheim, who shifted his congregation’s Shabbat services to Sundays in imitation of Christians’ observance of their sabbath, which takes place on Sunday. [8] (Reform Judaism has since abandoned the practice of holding Shabbat services on Sundays.)

Transition/Question: But Why? Why Rest?–

• Sabbath (as the verb שָׁבַת֙ Shabbat) is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative, where the seventh day is set aside as a day of rest (in Hebrew, Shabbat) and made holy by God (Genesis 2:2–3).
• Observation and remembrance of Sabbath (Hebrew: שַׁבָּת Shabbat) is one of the Ten Commandments (the fourth in the original Jewish, the Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant traditions, the third in Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions).
  
  
• Most Jews who observe the Sabbath regard it as having been instituted as a perpetual covenant for the Israelites (Exodus 31:13–17), as a sign respecting two events: the day during which God rested after having completed Creation in six days (Exodus 20:8–11) and the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:12–15).
  
  
• However, most Sabbath-keeping Christians regard the Sabbath as having been instituted by God at the end of Creation week and that the entire world was then, and continues to be, obliged to observe the seventh day as Sabbath.

Observance in the Hebrew Bible was universally from sixth-day sundown to seventh-day sundown[3] on a seven-day week.

The Sabbath was considered a day of joy,[4] and an occasion for consultation with prophets.[5] Sabbath corporate worship was not prescribed for the community at large, and the Sabbath activities at the shrines were originally a convocation of priests to offer divine sacrifices, with family worship and rest being centered in homes.[6][7] Originally, Sabbath-breakers were officially to be cut off from the assembly or potentially killed (Exodus 31:15).

Transition / Question? So why and how should Sabath observe?

1. The Sabbath is a day to commune with God and others, and to celebrate God’s creative and redemptive acts. (It can also be a symbol of redemption in Christ, sanctification, and allegiance).
   
   
2. Jesus taught that the Sabbath is a day to direct thoughts and actions toward God and to renew covenants with the Lord. Some say that the Sabbath can help people resist the artificial urgency of their days, and to stop and say “I resist” to the theology of progress.
   
   
3. Sabbath in Connection to Rest / Cese

Christianity, First-Day (Puritans), Seventh Day, Latter Day, Islam, Samatritanism, Buddhism, Cherokee, and even Wicca!

• Some modern Christians uphold Sabbath principles but do not limit observance to either Saturday or Sunday. Instead, they advocate rest on any chosen day of the week, following the spirit of the Sabbath or advocating the Sabbath as a symbolic metaphor for rest in Christ. These look upon the Sabbath as a principle to be observed in spirit rather than in letter, regarding the rest offered in Jesus as the only New Testament admonishment containing the root word of “Sabbath” (Matthew 11:28) and sometimes as a more permanent rest than a day could fulfill (Hebrews 4:9).

Some Christian groups, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, view the Sabbath as the day of worship, the day on which Christians should attend church/worship services.

While these groups typically also teach that no work is to be done on the Sabbath, the “day of worship” concept is sometimes more emphasized than the “day of rest.”

Originally, the Sabbath was a day of rest, and that purpose was retained in the Mosaic Law (Exodus 16:23–29; 31:14–16; 35:2–3; Deuteronomy 5:12–15; Nehemiah 13:15–22; Jeremiah 17:21–27).

Under the Old Covenant, sacrifices were made daily at the Tabernacle/temple. The “worship” was continual. And there were special commands given to Israel regarding a “sacred assembly” held on the Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3; cf. Numbers 28:9). The keeping of the Sabbath was the “sign” of the covenant between Israel and the Lord (Exodus 31:13).

The New Testament records Jews and converts to Judaism meeting in synagogues on the Sabbath (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:31; Luke 13:10–16; Acts 13:14, 27, 42–44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4). Obviously, with no work being done on the Sabbath day, the Sabbath day would be the ideal day to have organized worship services. However, the New Testament does not command that the Sabbath be the day of worship. The church is not under the Mosaic Law.

The church is under the New Covenant, established by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible nowhere describes Christians setting aside the Sabbath day as the day of worship. The only Scriptures that describe Christians in any sense meeting on the Sabbath are in fact pointing to evangelistic efforts at Jewish synagogues, which met on the Sabbath day. Acts 2:46 records the early Christians meeting every day. The Bereans studied the Scriptures every day (Acts 17:11). Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2 both mention Christians meeting on the first day of the week. There is no evidence in the New Testament that the apostles or the early Christians in any sense observed the Sabbath day as the prescribed day of worship.

Traditionally, Christians have held their primary corporate worship services on Sundays, the first day of the week, in celebration of Christ’s resurrection, which occurred on a Sunday (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

It is important to understand, though, that Sunday is not the commanded day of corporate worship, either. There is no explicit biblical command that either Saturday or Sunday be the day of worship.

Scriptures such as Romans 14:5–6 and Colossians 2:16 give Christians freedom to observe a special day or to observe every day as special. God’s desire is that we worship and serve Him continually, every day, not just on Saturday or Sunday.

1. Worship / Recognition of God

• Ceasing from Labor
• Understanding / Believing God’s sufficiency

• Day / Time of Blessing

While the Bible is full of promises, let’s look at a few that are especially focused on the Sabbath.

• A gift of time — In the beginning, God gave humans the gift of sacred time to spend in fellowship with their Creator (Genesis 2:1–3).
• Freedom from work — Since sin brought exhausting toil, the Sabbath is a weekly rest from work for everyone, including animals (Exodus 20:8–11).
• A blessing of joy — Those who keep the Sabbath are promised joy and fulfillment in life (Isaiah 58:13, 14).
• A special blessing for our children — As we show our dedication to God by keeping His Sabbath holy, He promises to gather our children to Him and bless them (Isaiah 56:2–9).
• Security — God has given to us the Sabbath as a sign of our saving relationship with Him, giving us security in the midst of a world of falsehood and deception. (Ezekiel 20:20).
• Renewal in Christ — Jesus came as God in the flesh to show us how to live and how much God wants to save us from sin so that we can live eternally with Him. He claimed the Sabbath as His holy day and then showed us how to keep it. (See Mark chapter 2.)
• Hope of eternity — God’s promise of a new world, free from sin, is concurrent with an unbroken cycle of Sabbath worship (Isaiah 66:22, 23).

Conclusion: Matthew 11:28-29

Rest for our bodies, but as much and if not more importantly for our souls/spirit!