Of the Ten Commandments, number four, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Ex. 20:8) is the most misunderstood of the ten. It was this commandment that often-landed Jesus in hot water with the religious elite of the day. Was Jesus in error for performing miracles (working) on the Sabbath or was it the Pharisees, Scribes, and Teachers who were out of step with God’s word? Having been blinded by copious, man-made, erroneous interpretations, the custodians of God’s Law had scrutinised and failed Jesus’ Sabbath practice through their sin-darkened ignorance. They were blind to God’s truth!
 
The position of the Old Testament is clear. For the Jews, the Sabbath was one of three things that made them different from everybody else. Eating bloodless meat was the second. And, for the men, being circumcised was the third. The Sabbath was a distinctive sign of their race that marked them out from the rest of mankind, and this sign was given to them by God, written by the finger of God on Mt. Sinai, indelibly, in stone. The rule was that one day out of every seven, the last day of each week, was to be set-aside from gainful employment and given to God for personal “rest” and for “remembering” Him.
 
The reason given for this rule is that when God made man, He made him in some sense like Himself. We need to be related to God, and if mankind works seven days a week, then they are behaving like an animal, for the animals’ “work” seven days a week. The Sabbath is something that distinguishes mankind from the whole of creation, because no part of creation has a Sabbath rest. While corn goes on growing 24/7 by itself, cows need someone every day to milk them. There is no God-ordained rest for flora, fauna, birds of the air, and fish of the sea.
 
So here we have something unique; mankind is more than an animal and if they are going to practice this Law, then they have to “get away from the business of paid work,” and they have to at regular times “get to God” or they will only live at the level of an animal. That is the reason given, and so seriously did God view it that He said “anyone who breaks this law will suffer death.” Friends, no person can “live” in ignorance of God… true life comes through knowing and respecting God, and it is the Sabbath that reminds us of this.
 
From the Ten Commandments, Jewish scribes developed an endless list about what could and could not be done. For example, they legislated that you couldn’t set a broken bone on the Sabbath… that would constitute work! You couldn’t look in a mirror on the Sabbath in case you saw a grey hair and pluck it, which is harvesting! You couldn’t eat eggs laid by a hen on the Sabbath because the hen had broken the Sabbath law! Over time, the laws of God gradually moved into the “traditions of men,” and that is where things went wrong. As human traditions contaminate God’s truth, we lose the reality and joy of what God intends as a blessing, and observance of His laws become a burden. That was precisely what happened to the Jewish Sabbath. It wasn’t a day to be joyous about, but one of religious duty and dread.
 
Friends, out of utter sincerity to God we insist on the observance of certain customs in our chosen denominations that God never intended. So, let us realise what can happen. The intended blessing becomes a burden, the day of delight became a day of duty, and the day which should have lifted mankind depressed them. God had intended the Sabbath for man’s good, and by the time Jesus came it had become something that was for man’s harm… a good thing given by God became distorted through mankind fiddling with it.
 
However, Jesus showed a remarkable freedom from the way others observed the law. He never for one moment observed any of the traditions and rules that men had made for the Sabbath. On many occasions, He flagrantly ignored them! When His disciples broke traditions, He defended them. On one occasion, He said to the religious leaders, “You make the law of God of no effect by the traditions, by the commandments of men.” 
 
Jesus not only saw the Sabbath as a day for our rest and remembrance of God, He also saw it as a day of restful activity. His practice was positive. Tradition taught, “The Sabbath is a day to stop doing things”, but Jesus’ taught through example that the Sabbath is the very day to do things—to rest from our own work in order to do the good works of God that do not tire His faithful, obedient servants!
 
What did God do on the seventh day when He “rested”? He worked harder than the previous six days—because the seventh day never finished—it is still ongoing! What is God doing right now? He is not making things. He is working for mankind’s well-being. Justifying a healing miracle on the Sabbath, Jesus said to His accusers, “My Father works until now, and so now I work” (Jn. 5:17).   

Friends, when I attained a certain level of understanding of God’s word, I gladly availed myself to Him, to use me as His instrument to minister to any person, anywhere, anytime, according to His will and pleasure. It is my conviction, that for true believers, a 9-5, Monday to Friday availability to serve God is not good enough. The Sabbath day is not a day to fall into an armchair with feet raised, but a day to stop working for yourself to do something good for God, and therefore probably for someone else… beginning with those in your family.
 
(More about “The Sabbath – Rest or Rules?” in next week’s concluding Part 2.) 
 
Best wishes,  
Bill