Importance of Keeping the Sabbath 1

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. ² And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Genesis 2:2

What is work?

To work means to exert out energy or force to produce something.

God, who is a Spirit, did work for 6 days or 6,000 years. Energy, power and force was released from Him so that He can create the universe from nothing and so that He can establish the universal system that will sustain life on earth and the order of the universe.

With His power, He ordained the seasons of earth, the law of sowing and reaping, etc. And after He has finished completing everything for 6 days or 6,000 years, He rested not because He was tired but because there was nothing to work for. Everything is completed. Everything is balanced out.

The trees will grow and will bear fruit. From the fruit are seeds, from which, when planted, gives existence to more trees. He also ordained reproductive system for humans, animals, insects and other living creatures. He ordained a system for the clouds and the water of the seas, the winds of the air and the heat of the sun. Everything was fine as it was created.

He knows the right amount of power He needed to exert out. So at the end of 6,000 years which is the beginning of the 7^th day or 7,000^th year, He stopped working. He rested and called the day Holy because the 7^th day is a rest day for Him.

What is rest?

To rest means to refrain from using physical and mental resources to accomplish (as much as possible) any task so that by doing so, they can naturally restore energy and power (commonly done through sleeping for us).

On the 7^th day, God rested or refrained from any work so the power He has released for 6 days or 6,000 years was being restored.

This is why He made that day Holy unto Him. It means the day is totally dedicated for Him alone and for His gain alone. On that day, He regains energy, not lose it. The power He has used up is restored not because He has used up all His power and He needs it to fuel up again but because it just comes natural for the Lord when He cease from working. And He patterned us to Himself.

Why is it holy?

Now let me make it clear that the word “holy” should only pertain to God because He alone is holy. Holy is His name.

But in common terms, it is the same with the word “sacred.” When something is sacred, it is totally dedicated for the owner only and for his gain alone. It shall increase him and be identified with him.

For example, when I say that my room is sacred, it means no one but me is to set foot on that room. It is only for me. It increases me because it becomes an extension of me. I and that room are one. If someone else will step on it, it will be defiled and will not be considered sacred anymore.

When God says ‘the ground is holy’, it means the ground is totally dedicated to Him and it increases Him and is identified with Him. It is a ground dedicated only for Him to stand on. Removing of shoes on a holy ground signifies removing any trace of self and authority.

God does not need rest because His very being is the source of life, power and energy. Restoration of power came natural when He was not working or exerting effort. Therefore, He made the day holy unto Him because the day increased something in Him.

Sabbath is for us

Having this foundation laid, we can now extract the very importance of keeping the Sabbath for men and for God.

²⁷ Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28

Now it makes sense why the Lord introduced the concept of Sabbath even though He really did not need it. In His mind, He already had us. He knows that our body will be limited. Our body is not a source of power or life like His. So there will come a time that we will need a time of restoration.

In the verse above, Jesus is telling them that Sabbath was not meant to be a law like a you-have-to-do-this thingy. It was meant for our restoration. The Pharisees who were rebuking Jesus are like people who claim that breathing is a law that everyone should follow. “Thou shall breathe in and breathe out every second.” Sounds funny, right?

Sabbath was made and purposed for man. Sabbath is sacred unto man because it increases him alone.

For the body and soul

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” Exodus 20:8

We know the definition of work. So why do people work? Answer: to have something to eat for survival. For it is written that we shall not eat unless we work hard for our food. In other words, we exert out energy, resources and force to be able to have food. There is a transaction. ‘My time, my energy, my resources, my skills, my labor for food from the earth or for your money for me to buy the things I need to survive.

It is written that on the Sabbath day, all work should be stopped for the purpose of body and soul restoration. For 6 days, we lose energy. On the seventh, we gain energy for our body and soul.

When we work, we do not only use our body. We also use our mind, will, and emotion. And so we lose energy from both.

That’s why the proper way to observe Sabbath is not just refraining from labor but also minimizing ,as much as possible, the use of mind, will, and emotion. That is resting the body and casting the cares of the mind.

This is why even though we rest our body, the Lord does not want us to do leisure activities because we still use our mind, will, emotion. For example, spending, shopping, watching tv, playing games, parties, etc. Most importantly, when we do leisure activities, we forget to feed the third part of our being which is the spirit.

For the spirit man

On 6 days, when the body and soul loses energy, so does the spirit. The cares of this world, problems, emotional storms, unbearable situations crushes our spirit man. The spirit man cannot sustain a full no-rest week. Rest for the spirit man can only happen by feeding it with God’s word, by feeding it with Jesus Himself through praise and worship and listening to His Word.

This is why the Sabbath is holy unto God because He increases through our worship. Remember, our will to worship is not something that God has. It is a choice that we make and if done in spirit and in truth, it increases or blesses His heart.

In the verse shown before, Jesus said that He is Lord of the Sabbath. It means that He has total right, ownership, control over what He wants to accomplish on Sabbath. Whatever He wills to do will make Him increase including us.

That’s why doing good on a Sabbath is not bad. We are doing what is right in God’s eyes and that, as well, makes Him increase.

Wisdom behind the laws of God

Realize that the laws and precepts of God are not just laws. He made it as “laws” because we still do not completely understand how important they are to us.

Imagine us not knowing the importance of breathing. If we are completely blinded from this truth, how would a loving king save His people from death? It is by declaring it as a law. “Thou shall breathe every second. You will live long in the land.”

Same with the Sabbath. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” If we still do not fully understand yet why we need to do so, let’s just trust God. He knows what He’s saying.

Even the land needs its Sabbath. I bet every creation needs it.

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. ⁶ And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, ⁷ for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food. Leviticus 25:1-7

Sabbath is a must

If not observed properly, it will find a time to be observed without your consent for it is a must. Rain or shine, the sun will rise the next day. Choose to do the Sabbath or not, your spirit, soul and body is programmed to have Sabbaths. In short, if you allow no Sabbath to be observed, you’re gonna be sick, ill, stressed, tired and bed-ridden.

Or simply this: Try working without resting for one week. See what will happen.

³³ I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;
your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

³⁵ As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—
for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

Leviticus 26:33-35

Think of the land as your body. “You are in your enemies’ land” means you are under the control of a disease.

“Your body shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate because your consciousness is out. Your body shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as your body lies desolate, it shall rest – for the time it did not rest on your Sabbaths when your consciousness dwelt in it.”

It should not take a bible scholar to understand this. It is common sense. If you abuse yourself, you will eventually get sick. But if we only rest our body, not our soul and spirit, we still get sick in the inside which will begin to manifest in the body sooner or later. And most sickness, I believe, originated from the inside.

Part 2