Why did God institute the Sabbath? Creation took six days, but the Bible says, "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Gen. 2:2-3)." This rest is not rest as in, "I must rest because I am tired," it is a rest that can be defined as ceasing. In music, when you 'rest' you don't take a nap in the middle of the song, you merely cease to play your instrument for a specified amount of time. So why did God include an extra day for rest? God rested on the seventh day as an example of how he wants his creation, including man, to function. Christ said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Exodus says, "Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed (Ex 23:12)." God set up the way we function to accommodate this. He made the universe function so that we could make a livelihood requiring only six days of labor. God could have made life so hard that we needed seven days to support ourselves and family. He organized life where we could rest and not be slaves to labor.
The Sabbath is a great gift. On this day we are to give thanks and praise to God, for who he is and all that he has done for us. The Bible states than on the Sabbath Christ taught. In the same way, we rest from our labor and hear the teaching of Christ through our church. God places a high importance on the Sabbath, we should do the same. God respects the Sabbath, so should we.
Why did God create the Sabbath? God created it so that we could rest from our labor so that we could enjoy his creation, life, and praise his glory, which of course is God's Mission.
Interact with Scripture/QuestionsRead Isaiah 58:13-14. How much importance does God places on the Sabbath?
Read Luke 6:1-10.
What two things is Christ teaching about the Sabbath?
How do you treat the holy Sabbath day?
What is God teaching about himself in Isaiah 58:13-14?
Prayer: Pray that you will treat the Sabbath with the respect God wants it to have.
Scripture ReferencesIsaiah:58[13] "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
[14] then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Luke 6:[1] One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. [2] Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" [3] Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? [4] He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." [5] Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." [6] On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. [7] The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. [8] But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there. [9] Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" [10] He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored.
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