PAGE CONTENTS
  1. Genesis
    1. Genesis 2
  2. Exodus
    1. Exodus 16
    2. Exodus 20
    3. Exodus 31
    4. Exodus 35
  3. Leviticus
    1. Leviticus 16
    2. Leviticus 19
    3. Leviticus 23
    4. Leviticus 24
    5. Leviticus 25
    6. Leviticus 26
  4. Numbers
    1. Numbers 15
    2. Numbers 28
  5. Deuteronomy 5
  6. 2 Kings
  7. 1 Chronicles
  8. 2 Chronicles
  9. Nehemiah
  10. Isaiah
    1. Isaiah 56
    2. Isaiah 58
    3. Isaiah 66
  11. Jeremiah 17
  12. Lamentations 2
  13. Ezekiel
    1. Ezekiel 20
    2. Ezekiel 22-23
    3. Ezekiel 44-46
  14. Hosea 2
  15. Amos 8
  16. Footnotes

Please contact me if you find a Sabbath-related verse that is not included, and you think it should be.

 

Genesis

Genesis 2

The English word "sabbath" is not found in Genesis, but the Hebrew verb שָׁבַת [shabbat] is.

By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:2-3)

 

Translated literally, this verse tells us G-d "Shabbated" [ceased] on the seventh day.  He blessed the day and sanctified it because he ceased creating.

Let's start a Sabbath fact list:

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The first use of שָׁבַת [shabbat] as a verb is in Genesis 2 as part of the account of Creation.
  • G-d sanctified the seventh day because He ceased creating.

 

The next instance of shabbat as a verb is in Genesis 8:22, which states, "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”  It is a generic use of the word meaning "cease" rather than referring to the Sabbath Day.

 

Exodus

Exodus 16

Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one.  When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, then he said to them, "This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning." So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it.  Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.  "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none." It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.  Then the LORD said to Moses, "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions?  "See, the LORD has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day.  Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day." So the people rested on the seventh day.  (Exodus 16:22-30)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The first use of Sabbath as a noun is in Exodus 16.
  • The Israelites were given the Sabbath before the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.
  • The Sabbath day was on the seventh day of the week. (Exodus 16:22-23, 30)
  • The Sabbath day was a holy day.  (Exodus 16:22-23)
  • G-d provided a double portion on the sixth day in preparation for the Sabbath.  (Exodus 16:29)
  • Food preparation should be performed on the sixth day before the Sabbath.  (Exodus 16:23)
  • There was no provision of manna on the seventh day.  (Exodus 16:25)
  • Everyone should remain "in his place" on the seventh day.  (Exodus 16:29)

 

We see in Exodus 12:18 and Leviticus 23:5 that Pesach [Passover] is on the 14th day of the first month.  That marked the day the Israelites fled from Egypt in haste.  Shavuot [Pentecost] is 50 days later (Leviticus 23:15-16).  It is traditionally held that the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai occurred on Shavuot… seven weeks after the exodus from Egypt.

The Israelites celebrated the Sabbath for several weeks before G-d gave them the Law at Mt. Sinai.  It is there that we find the following reference to the Sabbath:

 

Exodus 20

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the 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."  (Exodus 20:8-11)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • G-d commanded:
    • Israel should remember the Sabbath day.  (Exodus 20:8)
    • Israel should keep the Sabbath day holy.  (Exodus 20:8)
    • Israel should labor for six days (Exodus 20:9) but not do any work on the seventh day.  (Exodus 20:10)
    • Israel's children, servants, animals, or visitors should not work on the seventh day.  (Exodus 20:10)
  • Israel is to honor a specific day because G-d made all of creation in six days, ceased from his work of creating on the seventh day, and made that day holy.
    • G-d blessed the seventh day.  (Exodus 20:11)
    • G-d made the seventh day holy.  (Exodus 20:11)

 

The commandment regarding the Sabbath has three parts:

  1. remember it
  2. keep it holy
  3. do no work on it

 

Remember

The American Heritage® Dictionary provides this definition for "remember":

  1. To recall to the mind; think of again.
  2. To recall to the mind with effort: finally remembered the address.
  3. To retain in the memory: Remember your appointment.
  4. To keep (someone) in mind as worthy of consideration or recognition. 1

 

The Hebrew word translated as "remember" in this verse is זָכַר [zakar (Strong's #2142)].  It encapsulates all of the above definitions, especially the fourth one: to keep in mind as worthy of consideration or recognition.  Here are the first five instances in Scripture of this word:

  • G-d remembers Noah (Genesis 8:1)
  • G-d remembers the covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:15-16)
  • G-d remembers Abraham during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:29)
  • G-d remembers Rachel and opens her womb (Genesis 30:22)

 

Keep it holy

The Hebrew word translated as "holy" in Exodus 20:8 is קָדַשׁ [qadash - Strong's #6942].  It is a verb that means "to set apart", "to sanctify", or "to consecrate".  If something is sacred or consecrated, it is set apart for a particular purpose.  For example, if a person has silverware that is only used for one specific day each year, then that silverware is קֹדֶשׁ [qadosh -holy] for that day.  If a person wears a particular shirt only for a special occasion, that shirt is qadosh for that occasion.  You wouldn't work in the garden with that shirt or wear it to change the oil in your car.  It is a special shirt, and you would be careful to keep it from becoming dirty or suffering any damage.

The opposite of holy is unholy.  Unfortunately, many think unholy means "evil" or "wicked".

It does not!

The opposite of holy is "common": that which is not consecrated or sanctified.  Things that we use every day are common.  They are not wicked.  They are simply not holy or sanctified for any specific purpose.  When we treat something in a particular way that is not ordinary (like our shirt above), then it is consecrated.

In an even more significant manner, we must sanctify the Sabbath to ensure we do not treat it as ordinary.  It is sanctified not for our purposes but for G-d's purposes.  When we treat the Sabbath day like every other day (by doing the things we might typically do), we profane the day and violate G-d's commandment.  The Sabbath is a day of remembering G-d's work of creation and setting it apart as treasured and unique.  Part of that special treatment is ceasing from work. 

 

Do no work

The Hebrew word in Exodus 20:10 translated into English as "work" is מְלָאכָה [melakhah - Strong's #4399, plural melakhot].  What is this "work" that we should stop doing?  Is it our professional employment?  What if a person works in an accounting office during the week, ceases his accounting work on the Sabbath, and then changes the oil in his car or mows the lawn?  Is he obeying the commandment?  Scripture does not explicitly answer these examples.

The Exodus passage gives us a reason why we should cease our labors:

For [because] in six days the LORD made the heavens and the 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.  (Exodus 20:11)

 

This is a reference back to Genesis-

and God completed by the seventh day His work [melakhah] which He had made, and ceased by the seventh day from all His work [melakhah] which He had made.  (Genesis 2:2 (YLT))

 

This passage speaks of G-d's work of creating and G-d's ceasing ("shabbat-ing", if you will) from that work.  Part of the traditional understanding of work (melakhah) is that it has to do with creating or exercising control or dominion over one's environment.  G-d provided the example for us on the seventh day of creation and ceased creating and exercising control over the universe He had just made.  I'll note, however, that He did not cease sustaining it.

 

Exodus 31

"But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.  'Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you.  Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.  'For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.  'So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.'  (Exodus 31:13-16)

 

Let's update our fact list:

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbath is a sign between G-d and Israel throughout their generations.  (Exodus 31:13)
  • The Sabbath serves to inform Israel that the LORD sanctifies them.  (Exodus 31:13)
  • The Sabbath is holy to the Israelites.  (Exodus 31:14)
  • The Sabbath is the seventh day.  (Exodus 31:15)
  • Everyone who profanes the Sabbath shall be put to death and cut off from among his people.  (Exodus 31:15)
  • The Sabbath is a perpetual [eternal] covenant for Israel.  (Exodus 31:16)

 

The Hebrew word translated as "sign" in this passage is ot [pronounced with a long "o" like boat].  Strong's Concordance lists it as #226 and provides this definition:

a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc.: - mark, miracle, (en-) sign, token.

Ot is first used in Genesis chapter 1:

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.  (Genesis 1:14-15)

 

The stars in heaven are "a sign"?  That is quite a sign!

NASA estimates that there are 1021 (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 !!!) stars in the universe2.  Most of them are much larger and more powerful than our sun.  So the sense of "sign" is not something insignificant like a street sign or a billboard.  Instead, this is a huge, flashing, blinking, neon-lit, attention-grabbing monument taking up the entire night sky and filling the universe!

Given the enormity and power of this sign, it seems that G-d does not want the message it is sending to be distorted in any way.  Thus He commands that anyone who profanes the Sabbath should be put to death, and his message-distorting activities ended.

The Sabbath is called "a perpetual covenant" in Exodus 31:16.  It is a special gift G-d bestowed upon Israel before He gave them the Torah at Mt. Sinai and thus stands on its own.

 

Exodus 35

For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.  You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day."  (Exodus 35:2-3)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbath is the seventh day.  (Exodus 35:2)
  • The Sabbath is a holy day.  (Exodus 35:2)
  • The Sabbath is a complete rest to the LORD.  (Exodus 35:2)
  • Whoever does any work [melakhah] on it shall be put to death.  (Exodus 35:2)
  • Fires should not be kindled in any Israelite dwellings on the Sabbath day.  (Exodus 35:3)

 

The book of Exodus has quite a bit to say about the Sabbath! So next, let's move on to Leviticus...

 

Leviticus

Leviticus 16

The first reference to Sabbath in Leviticus is in chapter 16, but it does not refer to the weekly Sabbath.  It is a special annual Sabbath called Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  The verse tells us this:

"It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute.  (Leviticus 16:31)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Sabbath can refer to the weekly event or the annual day of Yom Kippur.  (Lev 16:31)

 

Here, we discover there is more than one kind of Sabbath.  The first is the weekly cessation from work and a day of holiness; the second is an annual day of rest and holiness.  This ties in nicely with the following passage.

Leviticus 19

'Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.  (Leviticus 19:3)

 

Scripture tells us that for no other reason than "I am the LORD your G-d," we shall reverence our father and mother and keep His Sabbaths [plural].  Because of the Leviticus 16 verse above, we know that this refers to the weekly Sabbath and the annual Sabbath of Yom Kippur.  Later in the same chapter, we find this:

'You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD.  (Leviticus 19:30)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbaths should be kept because G-d is the LORD our G-d.  (Lev 19:30)
  • The Sabbaths are associated with G-d's sanctuary (Lev 19:30)

 

Leviticus 23

Leviticus chapter 23 contains what is known as "G-d's calendar".  It includes a list of G-d's moedim or "appointed times".  The very first of these appointed times is the weekly Sabbath:

"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD'S appointed times [moedim] which you shall proclaim as holy convocations--My appointed times [moedim] are these: For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath [shabbat] of complete rest [shabbaton], a holy convocation.  You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.  These are the appointed times [moedim] of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.  (Leviticus 23:2-4)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The seventh-day Sabbath is the first among G-d's appointed times [moedim].  (Lev 23:3)
  • You shall not do any work on the Sabbath.  (Lev 23:3)
  • The Sabbath is a day to the Lord in all your dwellings (Lev 23:3)

 

The Sabbath is used as a point of timing or reference regarding some of the other moedim:

'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.  [The Feast of First Fruits]  (Leviticus 23:11)

'You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths.  [Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, Pentecost]  (Leviticus 23:15)

'You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the LORD.  [Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, Pentecost]  (Leviticus 23:16)

"It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath." [Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement]  (Leviticus 23:32)

'These are the appointed times of the LORD which you shall proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD--burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each day's matter on its own day-- besides those of the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the LORD.  (Leviticus 23:37-38)

 

Leviticus 24

The next reference to the Sabbath is found in Leviticus 24, where an insightful picture is painted in Scripture:

"Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.  Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations.  He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.  Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.  You shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.  You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the LORD.  Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the LORD continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.  It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the LORD'S offerings by fire, his portion forever."  (Leviticus 24:2-9)

 

The elements of the Tabernacle picture the Messiah but none more so than the lampstand (since Messiah is the Light of the World – John 8:12) and the table of bread (since Messiah is the Bread of Life- John 6:35).  Here we see that every Sabbath that Aaron and his sons are supposed to light the menorah and set the bread before the Lord continually.  They must put forth these elements that picture Messiah and continue doing so on the Sabbath day.

When all other work ceases, that work continues.

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The lamp and the bread [both pictures of Messiah] are to be set before G-d on the Sabbath day.  (Lev 24:8)

 

Leviticus 25

The next chapter of Leviticus tells us about another type of Sabbath.  The Sabbath of the Land:

"Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD.  'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.  Your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year.  All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.  Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat. 

You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years.  You shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land.  You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants.  It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.  You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines.  For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you.  You shall eat its crops out of the field.  On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property.  (Leviticus 25:2-13)

 

Here again, we are given another picture of Messiah: the Sabbath of the Land and the Jubilee.  The seven-year rest of the Land shows that even the Land (cursed because of Adam's sin) is given rest.  The 50-year Jubilee is the year that the Land is returned to its original owner (good news to the poor who cannot redeem it) and the year that captives are set free (Luke 4:16-21)

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Land of Israel has a Sabbath every seven years (the Shemittah year).  (Lev 25:2)
  • The Jubilee year, every fiftieth year, is a special Sabbath year where the Land is returned to its original owners, captives are released, and crops are not harvested.  (Lev 25:8-13)

 

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26 contains additional references to the Sabbath:

'You shall keep My sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the LORD.  (Leviticus 26:2)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbaths are associated with G-d's sanctuary (Lev 26:2)
  • The Sabbaths should be kept because G-d is the LORD.  (Lev 26:2)

 

'Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.  All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it.

For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them.  They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes.  (Leviticus 26:34-35, 43)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.  (Lev 26:34-35)
  • The Land will have its Sabbaths while the Israelites are in captivity away from the land because they rejected G-d's ordinances and statutes.  (Lev 26:43)

 

Leviticus, too, has told us much about the Sabbath.  The next reference to the Sabbath is found in Numbers 15...

 

Numbers

Numbers 15

Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day.  Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him.  Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp." So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.  (Numbers 15:32-36)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Gathering wood on the Sabbath is a violation of the commandments regarding the Sabbath day and is punishable by death.  (Numbers 15:32-36)

 

Numbers 28

The last two references to Shabbat in Numbers are found in chapter 28:

Then on the sabbath day two male lambs one year old without defect, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering, and its drink offering: This is the burnt offering of every sabbath in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.  (Numbers 28:9-10)

 

These two verses refer to the twice-daily sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle/Temple and point out how two lambs are to be brought for the sacrifices on the Sabbath.  The picture of Messiah and the Lamb of G-d and His association with the Sabbath is made here again.

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbath day sacrifices in the Tabernacle are noted to be unblemished lambs.  (Numbers 28:9-10)

 

Deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5 contains the subsequent few references to the Sabbath.  We are given reminders there regarding the holiness and purpose of the Sabbath day:

'Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.  You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.  (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • G-d commanded:
    • Israel should observe the Sabbath day.  (Deut 5:12)
    • Israel should keep the Sabbath day holy.  (Deut 5:12)
    • Israel should labor for six days (Deut 5:13) but not do any work on the seventh day.  (Deut 5:14)
    • Israel's children, servants, animals, or visitors should not work on the seventh.  day (Deut 5:14)
    • The reason that Israel is to honor a specific day is that G-d brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm (Deut 5:15)

 

With much that has already been said earlier in the Torah, we continue to add more and more to our Sabbath fact list.  The next section of Scripture we shall examine is the Writings and Prophets (Neviim and Ketuvim).

 

2 Kings

The following few instances of shabbat mention that day in a generic sense.  Those passages contain no instruction regarding the Sabbath itself.  Those instances include:

  • 2 Kings 4:23
  • 2 Kings 11:5
  • 2 Kings 11:7
  • 2 Kings 11:9
  • 2 Kings 16:18

 

1 Chronicles

In 1 Chronicles, we see that the descendants of Kohath have been given the responsibility of preparing the showbread every Sabbath:

Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites were over the showbread to prepare it every sabbath.  (1 Chronicles 9:32)

 

Chapter 23 tells us more about the Levite clans:

They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD, and likewise at evening, and to offer all burnt offerings to the LORD, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the LORD.  (1 Chronicles 23:30-31)

 

2 Chronicles

After these verses, we again encounter a series of passages that provide no instruction or details regarding the observance of the Sabbath day itself:

  • 2 Chronicles 2:4
  • 2 Chronicles 8:13
  • 2 Chronicles 23:4
  • 2 Chronicles 23:8
  • 2 Chronicles 31:3

 

2 Chronicles 36:20-21 tells us that the prophecy in Leviticus 26:43 was fulfilled:

Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths.  All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.  (2 Chronicles 36:20-21)

 

Nehemiah

"So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.  (Nehemiah 9:14)

 

In chapter 10, Nehemiah records a group of people who "separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of G-d…" (Neh 10:28) "… to keep and to observe all of the commandments of G-D our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes…" (Neh 10:29). As part of their plans for obedience to G-d's Law they included this:

As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.  (Nehemiah 10:31)

 

Their understanding of the Sabbath includes the idea that buying wares or food (grain) on the Sabbath is contrary to G-d's Law.

for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.  (Nehemiah 10:33)

 

The Sabbath, burnt offerings, the new moon festival, appointed times, the holy things, the sin offerings, and atonement are all associated with the "work of the house of our G-d" in this passage.

In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day.  So I admonished them on the day they sold food.  Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem.  Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day?  Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble?  Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath." It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath.  Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day.  Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem.  Then I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall?  If you do so again, I will use force against you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath.  And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day.  For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.  (Nehemiah 13:15-22)

 

Here Nehemiah records several activities that are transgressions of the Sabbath:

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Violations of the Sabbath include these activities that profane (Nehemiah 13:17) the day:
    • Treading the wine press.  (Nehemiah 13:15)
    • Bringing in sacks of grain.  (Nehemiah 13:15)
    • Loading burdens (sacks of grain) onto animals.  (Nehemiah 13:15)
    • Selling food (Nehemiah 13:15)
  • The Levites were to purify themselves and serve as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day (Nehemiah 13:22)

 

Isaiah

PLEASE NOTE:
The passages found in Isaiah regarding "the Sabbath" may be referring to a specific Sabbath: Yom Kippur. Therefore, I'll note the following sections with the caveat that they may specifically refer to Yom Kippur and not the weekly Sabbath.

 

Isaiah 1:13 mentions the Sabbath when G-d declares that He cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

Isaiah 56

Isaiah 56 reveals some blessings associated with the Sabbath:

Thus says the LORD, "Preserve justice and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed.  How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.  " Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.  Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."  (Isaiah 56:1-7)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Justice and G-d's righteousness and salvation are associated with the Sabbath.  (Isaiah 56:1-2)
  • A blessing is given to those who keep from profaning the Sabbath and keep his hand from doing any evil.  (Isaiah 56:2)
  • The foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord should not think he is separate from G-d's people.  (Isaiah 56:3)
  • To those who keep the sabbaths, choose what pleases G-d, and hold fast to G-d's covenant, they will receive:
    • G-d's house (Isaiah 56:5)
    • Within G-d's house: a memorial (Isaiah 56:5)
    • A name better than that of sons and daughters, an everlasting name which will not be cut off.  (Isaiah 56:5)
  • To those who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, and keep from profaning the Sabbath while holding fast to His covenant:
    • They will be brought to G-d's holy mountain (Isaiah 56:7)
    • G-d will make them joyful in His house of prayer.  (Isaiah 56:7)
    • Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on His altar.  (Isaiah 56:7)

 

Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58 provides exhortation and encouragement regarding the Sabbath:

"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  (Isaiah 58:13-14)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Blessings are to be found:
    • If we:
      • turn our feet from doing our own pleasure on G-d's holy Sabbath day (Isaiah 58:13)
      • call it a delight (Isaiah 58:13)
      • call it honorable (Isaiah 58:13)
      • honor it (Isaiah 58:13)
      • desist from our own ways (Isaiah 58:13)
      • desist from seeking our own pleasure and speaking our own word (Isaiah 58:13)
    • THEN:
      • We will take delight in the LORD (Isaiah 58:14)
      • G-d will make us ride on the heights of the earth (Isaiah 58:14)
      • G-d will feed us with the heritage of Jacob our father (Isaiah 58:14)
    • For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.  (Isaiah 58:14)

 

Isaiah 66

Isaiah 66 includes a prophecy of the world to come:

"And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD.  "Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me.  For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."  (Isaiah 66:23-24)

 

After the world is destroyed by fire and the new heavens and the new earth are formed (verse 22), all humanity will observe the new moon feasts and the weekly Sabbath and use those cycles to mark the time when they will come to bow down before G-d.

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • In the world to come, the Sabbath will be observed and used to mark time (Isaiah 66:23-24)

 

Jeremiah 17

Jeremiah 17 provides additional insight into actions prohibited on the Sabbath.  Jeremiah warns the kings and inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem:

'Thus says the LORD, "Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.  You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.  Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.

But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me," declares the LORD, "to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.  They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD.

But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched."'"  (Jeremiah 17:21-27)

 

We can see from history which of the two events occurred: the latter.  And all because the Sabbath was not honored.

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Do not carry any load on the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:21)
  • Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:22)
  • Do not do any work on the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:22)
  • Keep the Sabbath day holy (Jeremiah 17:22)
  • There is a blessing in keeping the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:24-26)
  • There are consequences for violating the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:27)

 

What is the "load" mentioned in Jeremiah 17:21?  The Hebrew word is מַשָּׂא [masa - Strong's #4853].  The NAS Exhaustive Concordance defines it as a load, burden, lifting, bearing, tribute.  Masacomes from a root word (nasa), which means lift, carry, or take.  No lower or upper limit is defined in Scripture for a "load" using this word.

 

The first time Scripture uses masa is in Exodus 23:5, where the Israelites are told to help an enemy with his donkey that has fallen under its load.  This seems to imply significant weight if a donkey falls under it.  Donkeys are not likely to collapse under the weight of a pencil, wallet, or laptop computer as individual objects.

  

Lamentations 2

And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His appointed meeting place.  The LORD has caused to be forgotten The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion, And He has despised king and priest In the indignation of His anger.  (Lamentations 2:6)

 

This passage in Lamentations speaks of the exile of the Israelites from the Land.  During that time, there was no one to observe the appointed feasts or the Sabbath in the Land.

The next significant section of Scripture we'll examine is Ezekiel...

 

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 20

Ezekiel has words of judgment and condemnation for those who violate the Sabbath:

"So I took them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.  I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live.  Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.  But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness.  They did not walk in My statutes and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned.  Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.  But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, before whose sight I had brought them out.  Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their idols.  Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not cause their annihilation in the wilderness.  I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.  'I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and observe them.  'Sanctify My sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.' But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths.  So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.  But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.  Also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them among the lands, because they had not observed My ordinances, but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.  (Ezekiel 20:10-14)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbath was given by G-d (Ezekiel 20:12)
  • The Sabbath was given so that Israel would know that it was G-d who sanctified them (Ezekiel 20:12)
  • Israel greatly profaned G-d's Sabbaths as a result of rebellion (Ezekiel 20:13)
    • G-d resolved to annihilate Israel as a consequence (Ezekiel 20:13)
    • G-d acted for the sake of His name that it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations (Ezekiel 20:14)
  • Israel's violation of the Sabbath stemmed from idolatry (Ezekiel 20:16)
  • G-d commands the children of the idolatrous generation:
    • "Sanctify [His] Sabbaths" (Ezekiel 20:20)
    • The Sabbaths will be a sign between Israel and G-d (Ezekiel 20:20)
    • The Sabbaths will help Israel know that He is YHVH, their G-d (Ezekiel 20:20)
  • The children also rebelled against G-d by profaning His Sabbaths (Ezekiel 20:21)
    • G-d resolved to pour out His wrath (Ezekiel 20:21)
    • G-d withdrew His hand and acted for the sake of His name that it should not be profaned (Ezekiel 20:22)
    • Israel would be scattered among the nations because they had defiled the Sabbaths (Ezekiel 20:24)

 

Young's Literal Translation provides some fascinating insight into Ezekiel 20:16-

Because against My judgments they did kick, And in My statutes they have not walked, And My sabbaths they have polluted, For after their idols their heart is going.  (Ezekiel 20:16 YLT)

 

Imagine toddlers throwing a temper tantrum because they want their own way.  They kick the floor or stomp their feet.  They refuse to walk the way their parents command.  Their tantrum pollutes the atmosphere of peace and order desired by their parents.  As a result, there is discipline (Ezekiel 20:13) tempered with mercy (Ezekiel 20:16).

 

Notice also the repetition of specific phrases in these passages:

Ezekiel 20:13- "But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness.  They did not walk in My statutes, and they rejected My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; and My sabbaths they greatly profaned.  Then I resolved to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.

 

Ezekiel 20:16- because they rejected My ordinances, and as for My statutes, they did not walk in them; they even profaned My sabbaths, for their heart continually went after their idols.

 

Ezekiel 20:21- "But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My sabbaths.  So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness.

 

Ezekiel 20:24- because they had not observed My ordinances but had rejected My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths, and their eyes were on the idols of their fathers.

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Profaning the Sabbath is repeatedly associated with:
    • Rebellion against G-d (Ezekiel 20:13, 21)
    • Failing to walk in G-d's statutes (Ezekiel 20:13, 16, 21, 24)
    • Rejection of G-d's ordinances (Ezekiel 20:13, 16, 21, 24)

 

Ezekiel 22-23

Ezekiel 22 begins with a litany of charges against Jerusalem.  This is included among the charges:

You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths.  (Ezekiel 22:8)

 

Later in the chapter, the priests are charged as well:

Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.  (Ezekiel 22:26)

 

Violation of the Law, profaning G-d's holy things, and failing to differentiate between the unclean and the clean are associated with the violation of G-d's Sabbaths.

Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths.  (Ezekiel 23:38)

 

Samaria and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23:4) are charged with several things, including profaning G-d's sabbaths. In addition, they are described as "lewd women" (Ezekiel 23:44).

 

Ezekiel 44-46

Ezekiel 44 provides a picture of the Millennial Kingdom, which includes instructions to priests:

"In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances.  They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths.  (Ezekiel 44:24)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The Sabbath [and other appointed feasts] will be celebrated in the Kingdom.  (Ezekiel 44:24)

 

Ezekiel 45 speaks of the prince's responsibilities in the Millennial Kingdom-

"It shall be the prince's part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons and on the sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel."  (Ezekiel 45:17)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The prince will provide the burnt offerings for the Sabbath.  (Ezekiel 45:17)

 

Ezekiel 46 relates activities that are specific to the Sabbath day-

'Thus says the Lord GOD, "The gate of the inner court facing east shall be shut the six working days; but it shall be opened on the sabbath day and opened on the day of the new moon.  The prince shall enter by way of the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the post of the gate.  Then the priests shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then go out; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.  The people of the land shall also worship at the doorway of that gate before the LORD on the sabbaths and on the new moons.  The burnt offering which the prince shall offer to the LORD on the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; and the grain offering shall be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs as much as he is able to give, and a hin of oil with an ephah.  (Ezekiel 46:1-5)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The east-facing door to the Temple's inner court shall be shut except on the Sabbath day and the day of the new moon.  (Ezekiel 46:1)
  • The people of the land will worship at the doorway of the east gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and new moons.  (Ezekiel 46:3)
  • There are specific offerings to be made by the prince on the Sabbath day.  (Ezekiel 46:4-5)

 

Ezekiel 46:12 uses the activities of the offerings made on the Sabbath day as a reference for some non-Sabbath offerings-

"When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a freewill offering to the LORD, the gate facing east shall be opened for him.  And he shall provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he does on the sabbath day.  Then he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he goes out.  (Ezekiel 46:12)

 

Hosea 2

"I will also put an end to all her gaiety, Her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies."  (Hosea 2:11)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • The blessing of the Sabbath was stripped from Israel because of her idolatry.  (Hosea 2:11)

 

Amos 8

Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain, And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?"  (Amos 8:4-6)

 

Sabbath Fact List:

  • Those who seek a speedy end of the Sabbath to engage in commerce are equated with those who lie, cheat, and trample the needy.  (Amos 8:4-6)

 

That concludes what the Tanakh says about the Sabbath.  The next part of this series focuses on the Sabbath in the Apostolic Writings.

Sabbath Series Index

Footnotes

1. Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States.  All rights reserved. [back]
2. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970115.html [back]
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