Sabbath
Sabbath is a weekly day of rest, worship, and communion with God. It's a time to set aside the stresses and distractions of daily life and focus on our relationship with our Creator.
This Bible study is an introduction to the concept of the Sabbath day, Sabbath year and the Jubilee year, the prophecy that all nations will come to worship before God on the Sabbath day during the millennial reign of Christ when he returns to earth and the fulfilment of the Sabbath rest in our Messiah.
The Hebrew word for Sabbath is ”שַׁבָּת” - “shabat”, it means to cease or stop, it also means to strike or stop working, to rest. “Lashevet” which comes from the same root means “to sit”. Another word that comes from this root is “lashuv” and it means “to return” or “repeat”.
Contents
The Sevenths Day Sabbath Established
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In six days God finished all His work
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On the seventh day God rested from all His work
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God blessed the seventh day
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God made the seventh day holy or set it apart from other days to Himself
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (set it apart), because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
The Sabbath Observed before the law was given to Moses
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Sabbath is holy to Yahweh
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Sabbath is a day of complete rest
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On Friday Israelites had to prepare enough food for two days
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On the Sabbath they had to stay in their homes
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Because Yahweh gave people the Sabbath he provided enough food for it
22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person —and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses. 23 He told them, “This is what Yahweh has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’ ” 24 So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you will not find anything in the field. 26 For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.” 27 Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything. 28 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions? 29 Understand that Yahweh has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Sabbath Commandment
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Remember to keep the Sabbath Day holy
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Do all your work in six days
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No one in your household should do any work on the Sabbath
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Because Yahweh Himself kept the Sabbath he blessed it and set it apart as holy
8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11 For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as Yahweh your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that Yahweh your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Yahweh your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Sabbath Laws
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Keeping the Sabbath is a sign between Yahweh and Israel forever
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Whoever profanes the Sabbath must be put to death
12 And Yahweh said to Moses, 13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. 14 Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. 16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a permanent covenant for the generations to come. 17 It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”
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It is forbidden to light a fire at home on the Sabbath
2 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death. 3 Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”
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It is forbidden to gather wood on the Sabbath
32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found the man gathering wood brought him to Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation, 34 and because it had not been declared what should be done to him, they placed him in custody. 35 And Yahweh said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death. The whole congregation is to stone him outside the camp.” 36 So the whole congregation took the man outside the camp and stoned him to death, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Sabbath Sacrifices and Offerings
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The Showbread
Leviticus 24:5-9 (Exodus 25:23–30; Exodus 37:10–16)
5 You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf, 6 and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before Yahweh. 7 And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 8 Every Sabbath day the bread is to be set out before Yahweh on behalf of the Israelites as a permanent covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place; for it is to him a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to Yahweh—his portion forever.”
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The Sabbath Offerings
9 On the Sabbath day, present two unblemished year-old male lambs, accompanied by a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, as well as a drink offering. 10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.
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The Prince’s Offerings
1 “This is what the Lord Yahweh says: ‘The gate of the inner court that faces east must be kept shut during the six days of work, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. 2 The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost, while the priests sacrifice his burnt offerings and peace offerings. He is to bow in worship at the threshold of the gate and then depart, but the gate must not be shut until evening. 3 On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are also to bow in worship before Yahweh at the entrance to that gateway. 4 The burnt offering that the prince presents to Yahweh on the Sabbath day shall be six unblemished male lambs and an unblemished ram. 5 The grain offering with the ram shall be one ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs shall be as much as he is able, along with a hin of oil per ephah.
Feast Day Sabbath
During God’s seven festivals Israelites were commanded to keep the Feast Sabbath, or "High Sabbath" (John 19:31), irregardless of the day of the week the Feast day fell on, and to hold a sacred assembly. Two of the feast Sabbaths occur in spring on the first and last day of the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread. One occurs in the summer, during the Feast of Weeks. And four occur in the fall during the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles.
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of Yahweh that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies. 3 For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to Yahweh.
4 These are Yahweh’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. 5 The Passover to Yahweh begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6 On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work. 8 For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’ ”
26 Again Yahweh said to Moses, 27 “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves, and present an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 28 On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before Yahweh your God. 29 If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people. 30 I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day. 31 You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live. 32 It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”
Sabbath Year
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The land of Israel must observe a Sabbath year
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After harvesting the land for six years Israelites must let the land rest during the seventh year
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They are not allowed to work their land or harvest it’s produce during the Sabbath year
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Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for all
10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, 11 but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.
1 Then Yahweh said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to Yahweh. 3 For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops. 4 But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to Yahweh. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you, 7 and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food.
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At the end of every seventh year every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor
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Israelites are allowed to collect something from a foreigner
1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because Yahweh’s time of release has been proclaimed. 3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. 4 There will be no poor among you, however, because Yahweh will surely bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, 5 if only you obey Yahweh your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. 6 When Yahweh your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.
The Year of Jubilee
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Israelites must count seven Sabbaths of years - 49 years
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Then Israelites must sound the horn on the Day of Atonement throughout the land
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They must consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants
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Each one must return to his property and to his clan
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The fiftieth year is the Sabbath year
8 And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years. 9 Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land. 10 So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan. 11 The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You may eat only the crops taken directly from the field.
Consequences of Breaking the Sabbath
33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste. 34 Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not receive during the Sabbaths when you lived in it.
20 Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of Yahweh through Jeremiah.
15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem. 17 Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day? 18 Did not your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this disaster on us and on this city? And now you are rekindling His wrath against Israel by profaning the Sabbath!” 19 When the evening shadows began to fall on the gates of Jerusalem, just before the Sabbath, I ordered that the gates be shut and not opened until after the Sabbath. I posted some of my servants at the gates so that no load could enter on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice, the merchants and those who sell all kinds of goods camped outside Jerusalem, 21 but I warned them, “Why are you camping in front of the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on, they did not return on the Sabbath. 22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.
19 This is what Yahweh said to me: “Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; and stand at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah, all people of Judah and Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21 This is what Yahweh says: Take heed for yourselves; do not carry a load or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. 22 You must not carry a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day, but you must keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers. 23 Yet they would not listen or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and would not listen or receive My discipline. 24 If, however, you listen carefully to Me, says Yahweh, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and keep the Sabbath day holy, and do no work on it, 25 then kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses with their officials, along with the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 And people will come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, and from the foothills, the hill country, and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thank offerings to the house of Yahweh. 27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in its gates to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.’ ”
13 If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and Yahweh’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words, 14 then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.
3 “In that day,” declares the Lord Yahweh, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!” 4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land, 5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales. 6 Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
In the scriptures above together with consequences of breaking the Sabbath we can notice some things that God does not want His people to do on the Sabbath day:
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Buying and selling
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Seeking your own pleasure
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Speaking idle words
Sabbath during millennium
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All mankind will come to worship before Yahweh on the Sabbath
So they will proclaim My glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to Yahweh on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says Yahweh, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of Yahweh.” 21 “And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says Yahweh. 22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares Yahweh, “so your descendants and your name will endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says Yahweh. 24 “As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind.”
Sabbath in the Gospels
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According to God’s Law His priests are allowed to carry out His work on the Sabbath
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It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath
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Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath
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The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath
Matthew 12:1-8 (1 Samuel 21:1–7)
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3 Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9 Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, 10 and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 11 He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
27 Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
16 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews began to persecute Him. 17 But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.” 18 Because of this, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Paul and the Sabbath
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Sabbath rest remains for God’s people
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Whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work
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Sabbath rest foreshadowed rest from our work which we have in Christ
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.
16 Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath, 17 which are a shadow of the things coming. But the body is of Christ.
The scripture above is often used to say that Sabbath is done away with, yet it’s not what it says if you read it carefully. By the first century, when Jesus came to Earth, rabbis have developed a multitude of additional laws and traditions, expecting people to follow them to the letter. A lot of them had to do with keeping the Sabbath (39 Melakhot), so most likely Paul was talking about being judged for not observing rabbinical laws, not God’s Law.