God’s Standard for the Sabbath

Exoduz 20
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
8 Alalahanin mo ang araw ng sabbath upang ipangilin.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
9 Anim na araw na gagawa ka at iyong gagawin ang lahat ng iyong gawain.
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates:
10 Nguni't ang ikapitong araw ay sabbath sa Panginoon mong Dios: sa araw na iyan ay huwag
kang gagawa ng anomang gawa, ikaw, ni ang iyong anak na lalake ni babae, ni ang iyong
aliping lalake ni babae, ni ang iyong baka, ni ang iyong tagaibang lupa na nasa loob ng iyong
mga pintuang daan:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
11 Sapagka't sa anim na araw ay ginawa ng Panginoon ang langit at lupa, ang dagat, at lahat
ng nangaroon, at nagpahinga sa ikapitong araw; na ano pa't pinagpala ng Panginoon ang araw
ng sabbath, at pinakabanal.

The fourth of the ten commandments is “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus
20:8,). Following the command are statements defining the Sabbath as “the seventh day” (verse
10), dedicating it to “the Lord your God” (verse 10), forbidding all work in it, applying it to
everyone in Israel, and citing the basis for it: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (verse 11).

The Israelites under the Mosaic Law were to keep in mind that no work could be done on the
seventh day of the week. If we parse the command, we can get a better picture of what it says:

Remember. This is the only command of the ten that starts with the word remember. This could
mean that the Sabbath command had been given earlier—in fact, God had decreed a Sabbath
rest in Exodus 16:22–30. Or the word remember could simply mean “keep this command in
mind” with no reference to an earlier directive. Regardless, the word is emphatic; the children of
Israel were not to grow lax in their observation of this command.

I. Sabbath in the Wilderness

(Exodo) Exodus 16:22-30
22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for
one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
22 At nangyari, na nang ikaanim na araw, ay pumulot sila ng pagkain na ibayo ang dami,
dalawang omer sa bawa't isa: at lahat ng puno sa kapisanan ay naparoon at nagsaysay kay
Moises.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the
holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe;
and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
23 At kaniyang sinabi sa kanila, Ito ang sinalita ng Panginoon, Bukas ay takdang kapahingahan,
banal na sabbath sa Panginoon: ihawin ninyo ang inyong iihawin, at lutuin ninyo ang inyong
lulutuin; at lahat na lalabis ay itago ninyo sa ganang inyo, na inyong itira hanggang sa
kinabukasan.
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any
worm therein.
24 At kanilang itinago hanggang sa kinaumagahan, gaya ng iniutos ni Moises: at hindi bumaho,
ni nagkaroon ng anomang uod.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not
find it in the field.
25 At sinabi ni Moises, Kanin ninyo yaon ngayon; sapagka't ngayo'y sabbath na ipinangingilin
sa Panginoon: ngayo'y hindi kayo makakasumpong sa parang.
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be
none.
26 Anim na araw na inyong pupulutin; datapuwa't sa ikapitong araw ay sabbath, hindi
magkakaroon.
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather,
and they found none.
27 At nangyari sa ikapitong araw, na lumabas ang iba sa bayan upang mamulot, at walang
nasumpungan.
28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my
laws?
28 At sinabi ng Panginoon kay Moises, Hanggang kailan tatanggihan ninyo ganapin ang aking
mga utos at ang aking mga kautusan?
29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day
the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the
seventh day.
29 Tingnan ninyo, na sapagka't ibinigay ng Panginoon sa inyo ang sabbath, kung kaya't
kaniyang ibinibigay sa inyo sa ikaanim na araw ang pagkain ng sa dalawang araw; matira ang
bawa't tao sa kaniyang kinaroroonan, huwag umalis ang sinoman sa kaniyang kinaroroonan, sa
ikapitong araw.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
30 Kaya ang bayan ay nagpahinga sa ikapitong araw.

The Sabbath day. The word Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning “day of rest.” The
Bible specifies that this day of rest is the seventh day of the week, what we would call
“Saturday,” or in the Israelite mindset, sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. God set
the pattern for the Sabbath rest in Genesis 2:2, ceasing from His work of creation on the
seventh day. God’s action (or, rather, His inaction) in Genesis 2 foreshadowed the Law’s
command in Exodus 20:8.
 II. Sabbath in Creation

(Genesis) Genesis 2:2

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made.
2 At nang ikapitong araw ay nayari ng Dios ang kaniyang gawang ginawa; at nagpahinga ng
ikapitong araw sa madlang gawa niyang ginawa.

To keep it holy. This four-word phrase in English is only one word in Hebrew. It means
“consecrate,” “set apart,” or “sanctify.” The Israelites were to make a distinction between the
seventh day and the rest of the week. The Sabbath was different. It was to be dedicated to the
Lord. The priests were to double the daily sacrifices on the Sabbath (Numbers 28:9–10),
marking the day with increased sacred activity. The rest of the Israelites were to mark the day
with decreased activity—no work at all—in honor of the Lord. The penalty for desecrating the
Sabbath with work was death (Exodus 31:14; Numbers 15:32–36).

III. Sabbath as a Covenant

(Exodo) Exodus 31:13

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is
a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD
that doth sanctify you.
13 Salitain mo rin sa mga anak ni Israel, na iyong sabihin, Katotohanang ipangingilin ninyo ang
aking mga sabbath; sapagka't isang tanda sa akin at sa inyo sa buong panahon ng inyong mga
lahi, upang inyong makilala na ako ang Panginoon na nagpapabanal sa inyo.

Keeping of the Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between Israel and the Lord: “You must
observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come”
(Exodus 31:13). As Israel kept the Sabbath set apart, they were reminded that they were also
being set apart: “So you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy” (verse 13).
Believers today, being under the New Covenant, are not bound to keep the sign of the Old
Covenant.

IV. Sabbath in the Commandment

(8-11) The fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day.

“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: you, nor your
son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your
stranger who is within your gates. 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.”
a. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: The command is to respect the seventh day
(Saturday) as a day of rest (you shall do no work). This rest was for all of Israel – for the son
and the servant and the stranger – even including cattle.

i. This is an important principle that might be too easily passed over. Here God declared the
essential humanity and dignity of women, slaves, and strangers, and said they had the same
right to a day of rest as the free Israeli man. This was certainly a radical concept in the ancient
world.

ii. “The baser sort of people in Sweden do always break the Sabbath, saying that it is for
gentlemen to keep that day.” (Trapp)

b. To keep it holy: God commanded Israel – and all humanity – to make sure that there was
sacred time in their life, separated time of rest.

i. In their traditions, the Jewish people came to carefully quantify what they thought could and
could not be done on the Sabbath day, in order to keep it holy. For example, in Luke 6:1-2, in
the mind of the Jewish leaders, the disciples were guilty of four violations of the Sabbath every
time they took a bite of grain out in the field, because they reaped, threshed, winnowed, and
prepared food.

ii. Ancient Rabbis taught that on the Sabbath, a man could not carry something in his right hand
or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder. But he could carry something with the
back of his hand, his foot, his elbow, or in his ear, his hair, or in the hem of his shirt, or in his
shoe or sandal. Or on the Sabbath Israelites were forbidden to tie a knot – except, a woman
could tie a knot in her girdle. So, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, an Israelite
could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket and pull it up
from the well.

iii. In observant Jewish homes today, one cannot turn on a light, a stove, or a switch on the
Sabbath. It is forbidden to drive a certain distance or to make a telephone call – all carefully
regulated by traditions seeking to spell out the law exactly.

c. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth: God established the pattern for
the Sabbath at the time of creation. When He rested from His works on the seventh day, God
made the seventh day a day of rest from all our works (Genesis 2:3). It’s as if God said, having
too much to do isn’t an excuse from taking the rest you need – I created the universe and found
time to rest from My work.

V. Sabbath in the New Covenant

i. When God told them to remember the Sabbath, He told them to remember the rest. “The term
‘Sabbath’ is derived from the Hebrew verb ‘to rest or cease from work.’” (Kaiser) The most
important purpose of the Sabbath was to serve as a preview picture of the rest we have in
Jesus.
ii. Like everything in the Bible, we understand this with the perspective of the whole Bible, not
this single passage. With this understanding, we see that there is a real sense in which Jesus
fulfilled the purpose and plan of the Sabbath for us and in us (Hebrews 4:9-11) – He is our rest,
when we remember His finished work we remember the Sabbath, we remember the rest.

iii. Therefore, the whole of Scripture makes it clear that under the New Covenant, no one is
under obligation to observe a Sabbath day (Colossians 2:16-17 and Galatians 4:9-11). Galatians
4:10 tells us that Christians are not bound to observe days and months and seasons and years.
The rest we enter into as Christians is something to experience every day, not just one day a
week – the rest of knowing we don’t have to work to save ourselves, but our salvation is
accomplished in Jesus (Hebrews 4:9-10).

(Colosas) Colossians 2:16-17

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new
moon, or of the sabbath days: 16 Sinoman nga ay huwag humatol sa inyo tungkol sa
pagkain, o sa paginom, o tungkol sa kapistahan, o bagong buwan o araw ng sabbath:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. 17 Na isang anino ng
mga bagay na magsisidating: nguni't ang katawan ay kay Cristo.

(Galacia) Galatians 4:9-11

9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the
weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 9 Datapuwa't
ngayon yamang nakikilala na ninyo ang Dios, o ang lalong mabuting sabihin, kayo'y
nangakikilala ng Dios, bakit muling nangagbabalik kayo doon sa mahihina at walang bisang
mga pasimulang aral, na sa mga yao'y ninanasa ninyong magbalik sa pagkaalipin?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 10 Ipinangingilin ninyo ang mga
araw, at mga buwan, at mga panahon, at mga taon.
11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. 11 Ako'y natatakot
tungkol sa inyo, baka sa anomang paraan ay nagpagal ako sa inyo ng walang kabuluhan.

(Hebreo) Hebrews 4:9-10

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 9 May natitira pa ngang isang
pamamahingang sabbath, ukol sa bayan ng Dios.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. 10 Sapagka't ang pumasok sa kaniyang kapahingahan ay nagpahinga naman sa
kaniyang mga gawa, gaya ng Dios sa kaniyang mga gawa.

VI. Lord of the Sabbath

(Mateo) Matthew 12:1-10

1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an
hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 1 Nang panahong yaon ay
naglalakad si Jesus nang araw ng sabbath sa mga bukiran ng trigo; at nangagutom ang
kaniyang mga alagad at nangagpasimulang magsikitil ng mga uhay at magsikain.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not
lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 2 Datapuwa't pagkakita nito ng mga Fariseo, ay sinabi nila
sa kaniya, Tingnan mo, ginagawa ng mga alagad mo ang hindi matuwid na gawin sa sabbath.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they
that were with him; 3 Datapuwa't sinabi niya sa kanila, Hindi baga ninyo nabasa ang ginawa
ni David nang siya'y nagutom, at ang mga kasamahan niya;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for
him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 4 Kung paanong
siya'y pumasok sa bahay ng Dios, at kumain siya ng mga tinapay na handog, na hindi matuwid
na kanin niya, ni ng mga kasamahan niya, kundi ng mga saserdote lamang?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane
the sabbath, and are blameless? 5 O hindi baga ninyo nabasa sa kautusan, kung
papaanong sa mga araw ng sabbath ay niwawalang galang ng mga saserdote sa templo ang
sabbath, at hindi nangagkakasala?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 6 Datapuwa't sinasabi
ko sa inyo, na dito ay may isang lalong dakila kay sa templo.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have
condemned the guiltless. 7 Datapuwa't kung nalalaman ninyo kung ano ang kahulugan nito,
Habag ang ibig ko, at hindi hain, ay hindi sana ninyo hinatulan ang mga walang kasalanan.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. 8 Sapagka't ang Anak ng tao ay
panginoon ng sabbath.
9 And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 9 At siya'y umalis
doon at pumasok sa sinagoga nila:
10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it
lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 10 At narito, may isang tao
na tuyo ang isang kamay. At sa kaniya'y itinanong nila, na sinasabi, Matuwid bagang
magpagaling sa araw ng sabbath? upang siya'y kanilang maisumbong.

iv. The Sabbath commanded here and observed by Israel was a shadow of things to come, but
the substance is of Christ (Colossians 2:16-17). In the New Covenant the idea isn’t that there is
no Sabbath, but that every day is a day of Sabbath rest in the finished work of God. Since
the shadow of the Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus, we are free to keep any particular day – or
no day – as a Sabbath after the custom of ancient Israel.

v. Yet we dare not ignore the importance of a day of rest – God has built us so that we need
one. Like a car that needs regular maintenance, we need regular rest – or we will not wear well.
Some people are like high mileage cars that haven’t been maintained well, and it shows.

vi. Some Christians are also dogmatic about observing Saturday as the Sabbath as opposed to
Sunday. But because we are free to regard all days as given by God, it makes no
difference. But in some ways, Sunday is more appropriate; being the day Jesus rose
from the dead (Mark 16:9), and first met with His disciples (John 20:19), and a day when
Christians gathered for fellowship (Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2). Under Law, men
worked towards God’s rest; but after Jesus’ finished work on the cross, the believer enters into
rest and goes from that rest out to work.

vii. But we are also commanded to work six days. “He who idles his time away in the six days
is equally culpable in the sight of God as he who works on the seventh.” (Clarke) Many
Christians should give more “leisure time” to the work of the LORD. Every Christian should have
a deliberate way to serve God and advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

It is not only a matter of the need for Rest but with the presuppositions of an Active Work for the
Lord.

In the Old testament during Sabath they rest from worldly work and rest literally, but in the
command of the Lord in the NEW testament we are to Work for the Lord and Rest in Christ’s
Finished work!