“Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.”-Leviticus 23:3
There were other Shabbats besides the 7th day Shabbat.
For example, the first and last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are to be ordained days of rest.
The other various feasts also have Sabbath days associated with them.
There are also sabbath years (every 7th year)!
When reading Scripture, it’s important to make a distinction between THE Sabbath and A Sabbath.
The Sabbath is the original 7th day Sabbath that we first encountered in the opening chapters of Genesis.
However, A Sabbath is any other God-ordained day of rest.
In Hebrew, SHABBAT literally means “rest” or “cessation”.
In English, we say “sabbath” for the Hebrew word SHABBAT, but if we were to literally translate it, we would instead call the 7th day simply “rest”.
Like this:
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
REST!!!
Anytime the Lord orders a sacred time when one’s regular duties are to be set aside, the Bible calls it A Sabbath.
However, THE 7th day Sabbath stands above all these other days!
This is proven by the fact that the NAME for the 7th day of the week is SHABBAT whereas the names of all the other days of the week are just called out numerically: the “1st day”, the “2nd day” and so on.
Now one of the primary reasons the first day of a Biblical Feast was made a Sabbath was so there could be time put aside to prepare for all that had to be done before a given feast officially began.
That’s right.
On A Sabbath, ALL forms of work were not necessarily prohibited.
Women were allowed to cook and men were allowed to gather sticks for fire, etcetera.
Regular work was to stop but work connected to the Biblical Feast preparations was fine.
Right here, we see a big difference between the 7th day Sabbath and a Sabbath.
The former was for man’s physical and spiritual rejuvenation and to mimic God’s cessation from the work of His creation.
The latter was to give the Israelites a block of time for the feast preparations.
There’s another point I want to make.
Notice the end of verse 3.
“…it is the Sabbath of the Lord…”.
I’ve heard that the Hebrew grammar being used here is the POSSESSIVE FORM OF THE WORD.
Hence, this would make the Sabbath the Lord’s possession!
The Sabbath belongs to HASHEM!
That means the Sabbath is the Lord’s HOLY property.
And we’ve learned what happens when one trespasses on God’s HOLY property.
Usually it results in death!
So depending on the context, the Sabbath can mean the weekly 7th day of the week or it can refer to a special day where regular work is put on hold to prepare for a Biblical feast.
“Sabbath” can even refer to the 7th year when a farmer was prohibited from tilling or planting in his fields.
A simple way to think about this is that the word SABBATH can in general be referring to any ordained cycle of 7, whether it is 7 days, 7 weeks, or 7 years.
Hebrew readers would have an advantage in identifying the difference between “THE” and “A” Sabbath.
The word SHABBATON is usually (not all the time but most of the time) used to refer to those special days of rest set aside to prepare for the feasts.
And the word SHABBAT refers to that one and only unique once per week 7th day of rest that God gave to ALL MANKIND!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
Then Yeshua said to them,
“The Sabbath was made for man,
not man for the Sabbath.”
-Mark 2:27
So does this mean we can camp , fish ,spend time family every 7 days including a basketball game or does it mean stay home and do nothing
Hi Diana, I would say SHABBAT is all about complete cessation from one’s REGULAR work. So going out camping, fishing etcetera are I would feel completely fun-filled and “relaxing” activities. So I would say it’s fine. However, I must let you know that there are some strict groups out there that would advocate staying home and doing nothing. They would say going out to purchase something for example is breaking the Sabbath because you are causing another person to work when you do that. Be blessed. Shalom!
Rich this is a hard one for me…Adonai knows my heart and that I really want to honor the Sabbath….I’m home daily while hubby is working – we share one car. My husband works extremely long hours 12- 16 days at times. On a positive note, this gives me time to study Torah and other Biblical materials throughout the week. However, when Saturday rolls around and I need to do the weekly shopping at Farmers Market –
Normally, I try to wait until after 6pm but most times everything is picked over and some things are out of stock…Sunday is church day and my time with him….btw he doesn’t practice Sabbath but stays home on Sunday’s to rest….Any suggestions or input would be appreciated.
Hi Angela, I’m not quite sure how to respond. The Biblical command is clear. Rest on the Sabbath (Friday sundown until Saturday sundown). However, if certain uncontrollable circumstances are such that you have to do “work” on the Sabbath, then pray to ADONAI that He will eventually change your life circumstances so that you can properly rest on the Shabbat. Is it impossible to do the weekly shopping during the week or how about Saturday evening after the sun sets? Again, no judgement from me. I, myself, in the past have had to work on the Sabbath as well, but I’ve also been blessed in that for most of my life including now, God has blessed me so that I don’t have to work on the Sabbath. Please take this to our Father in Heaven in prayer. He shall surely direct your steps.
Thanks for your honesty…and yes praying to Abba is best because He has to have a better way. Thank you again!
Praise the Lord beloved Saints? I bless the Lord for keeping you all. This is mighty, the discussion is so powerful. Now, let’s reason together precious Saints, Isaiah 58:13 tells the church which is me and you what is supposed to be done in Sabbath. It is total surrender, doing righteous acts of holiness not a day of humbling then after it we get back to sin. No. So long as a day is called today, we must always be ready with our clean garments which are our righteous deeds. So Sabbath is a day of rest in the Lord. When the Church is taken into the rapture. That’s when you and I will rest. Hebrews 3:7-19,Hebrews 4:1-13. If you look at the conversation in Hebrews, you will understand deeper Revelation of Sabbath. Walk in righteousness, seek the Lord daily until you enter the Kingdom of God Jehovah, Jehovah YHVH. Shalom. TODDA RABBA.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Rich! This is a little off the subject but two areas where I need some discussion.
1) I keep the Shabbat because God told me I should some years ago. I was not raised this way but have had a long walk with God for many years with trying to be closer to Him and obedient. I have learned a much fuller understanding of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and seen much fruits as a result. I came out of a main line church and began attending a Messianic congregation which I love. Many people are there because of similar experiences having heard God say to leave their other denominational churches and begin keeping the Sabbath. Through studying and praying it is the only way that makes sense. A few years ago I married a man who is well versed in the Hebrew roots of the so-called Christian faith. He had been a Sabbath keeper but began to believe the “theory” that when Jesus died on the cross we now come under grace with the New Testament and no longer need to view the Ten Commandments as commandments. “IT IS FINISHED” he says meant that we are no longer under judgment but grace. Therefore Sabbath keeping is done. He attends Sunday church because he believes that is the right day for worship but also attends voluntarily with me, though he is spiritually unengaged there because of his beliefs. He used to attempt to convince me that I am wrong, which caused several arguments. We are spiritually disconnected which is quite uncomfortable.
2) I also follow a solar-lunar calendar which indicates 7 days after the New Moon to locate the true Sabbath as God did not use the Greek calendar. If He placed both the sun and the moon in the skies as signs then it makes sense to me. I enjoy honoring both anyway because it gives me both a gathering experience and a day at home during the week when it is just God and me, a much more restful experience.
Just wanted some opinions as I don’t have anyone much to discuss these kinds of things with.
Thanks for sharing Karol.
My experience is similar to yours. I was attending a Christian church (Presbyterian) when the Lord called me out to a Messianic Congregation in San Francisco.
Sorry to hear about the friction with your husband about the importance of obeying God’s Law.
Maybe you can point him to some articles in this blog.
Agree with your perspective on the solar/lunar calendar.
Be blessed!
Hi – I’m new to learning about the Sabbath and wondering if you can let me know what is the difference between bringing a burden on the Sabbath and doing work. From Jeremiah 17:19-27. Not to bear a burden is mentioned a couple times, is that associated with our thoughts? What does that mean?
Hi Bevin,
I think it just means “Don’t carry something heavy?” because that would be considered work.