So, What Is Sabbath?

In the Bible, we see over 172 mentions of the Sabbath. It’s one of the 10 commandments, and a big deal throughout the Bible—in fact, it’s even there from the very beginning.

In Genesis 2:2-3, we see God at rest, spending time with His creation and commemorating it by making it a holy day. It’s a beautiful moment, and one that He intended to continue throughout history—a day dedicated for us to spend away from work and with our Creator.

This relationship is later commemorated through the commandments.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

Exodus 20:8, NIV

The fourth Commandment is where our understanding of the Sabbath first becomes what we know it to be now—a law. Just as the other commandments are the guidelines for which we should live our lives, so is this one. In it, we’re instructed to remember…

But remember what exactly?

Our first answer comes in the following verses of Exodus 20.

“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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.”

Exodus 20:9-11, NIV

First, it seems that God tells us to remember creation itself—how God created the earth and all that is in it, including us, before resting on the seventh day—what we now know as Saturday or the Sabbath. This symbolic rest is one that God asks us to continue throughout our lives as we take time to remember and spend time with Him, just as we were meant to from the beginning. However, it also has obvious practical benefits, including needed rest and a chance to recover from the spiritual sparseness that many of us face. On this day, God prohibits us from working but encourages us to spend time with Him and with each other—a letter of love for each of us.

Although it sounds simple, like most religious commands, once you get into the nitty-gritty and personal interpretations, it, unfortunately, isn’t as straightforward as it seems.

It’s ironic that the only commandment labeled ‘remember’ has been perhaps one of the most frequently forgotten.

As time passes between the writing of the Bible and the differences in cultures or times, it’s easy for our understanding of what was intended by the Biblical verses to also become clouded, or even forgotten altogether. This also applies to our understanding of what God is truly asking of us when it comes to the Sabbath—for example, what day is the Sabbath on? What activities are allowed? Who does Sabbath apply to, and is it still even relevant? Fortunately, many of our questions can, or have been answered through the careful study and records of thousands of people throughout history.

In this blog, we're going to cover three of these questions:

• Is Sabbath still relevant today?

• What is Shabbat compared to Sabbath?

• Does Christianity still follow the traditional Sabbath?

Q: Is the Sabbath still relevant today?

Many people present the argument that the Sabbath is no longer relevant—done away with at Jesus’ resurrection with ‘the law’ being essentially ‘set aside’ (Ephesians 2:15, NIV). But let's take a look at this question again.

Throughout the New Testament, we see that the disciples and the early church continued to respect the Sabbath. In fact, throughout the Bible, it’s demonstrated that Jesus Himself, along with His disciples, continue to respect the Sabbath, as seen in Matthew 12:9, Acts 13:5, Acts 17:1-4 and more. In fact, Isaiah 66:22-23 prophesies that Sabbath will be kept forever.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before Me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares the Lord”

Isaiah 66:22-23, ESV

This means that the Sabbath continued to be respected, even after Jesus’ death—not ‘done away with’. So, what about the ‘setting aside’ of the law? Through examination of the context of this passage, we see that this isn’t regarding the 10 commandments. Rather, it is the dividing laws of ceremonial aspects between Jew and Gentile, such as the observance of the feasts that will be ‘set aside’. This is an argument Paul again addresses in Colossians 2:16, where the directly mentioned ‘sabbaths’ concern a certain type of Jewish celebration and the sacrifices that happened with them. Jesus’ death frees us from the need to provide the Jewish sacrifices to God, as Jesus died as the ultimate sacrifice for us all. In regards to the feasts, although there is no harm in remembering them, as the disciples continued to after, as mentioned in places such as Acts 20:6—they were not meant to be a divisive factor between the Jews and the Gentiles: meaning that both were now saved through Jesus alone, rather than through history or sacrifice.

This just re-affirms what Jesus states in Matthew 22:36-40: that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love others. The Ten Commandments demonstrate this, as the first four require us to respect God as our Creator. The last six encourage us to respect each other. Why would Jesus do away with laws meant to protect and sustain us? Why would God no longer wish for us to respect Him, or love others? Of course, He wouldn’t.

Q: Shabbat vs Sabbath: Is there a difference?

But isn’t there a difference between Shabbat, what the disciples kept as Jews, and the Sabbath we know today?

Actually, there isn’t really. The word Sabbath is simply the English translation of the Hebrew word Shabbat. Both begin at Friday sunset, end at Saturday sunset and require observers not to work during those hours. Further, both set apart the day as a time of rest and companionship with God, as we dedicate the day to learning and growing in Him. Both also feature relatively similar activities, such as that of church or synagogue attendance, where scripture is read and discussed. Besides official roles and titles, the biggest difference is a large topic of discussion in the Bible itself, where Jesus frequently chastised the Pharisees (the religious leaders of Jesus’ time) for their over-legalization of the Sabbath. In these verses, Jesus reminds the Pharisees what the Sabbath was made for: our enjoyment and our rest. Rather than overcomplicate it with a bunch of rules on what one can and can’t do, we’re reminded that activities such as healing and spending time with the community (Mark 3:1-6; Matthew 12:10-13), and even eating (Luke 6:1-5), are appropriate for the day meant for rest and enjoyment.

Today, both those respecting Sabbath and those following Shabbat continue to respect it as a day set aside for us to enjoy, by maintaining the 4th commandment’s dictation of no work, and by spending time on activities that bring us closer to God. For example, in Christian communities, this may include time in nature, time with community and family, or helping others in need. If you’re looking for some inspiration (particularly those who have kids!) we have a blog post suggesting a few activities to keep everyone enjoying the Sabbath, here.

Q: Does Christianity still follow the Sabbath today?

One of the biggest differences among Christian denominations is not just whether to keep a Sabbath, but when to keep it and what it truly means to rest. While many churches worship on Sunday, others—such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which we are a part of—observe the Sabbath on Saturday, following the Biblical tradition.

In Seventh-Day Christianity branches, we understand that like the other 10 commandments, this law has never been, and never will be changed—especially not by man. Although several places in the Bible mention the disciples and early church holding meetings or spending time together on Sunday, there is no evidence of the day itself being changed. The argument of disciples such as Paul discussing meetings held on other days (such as in Acts 20:7) we understand as not changing the day on which the Sabbath is held, but rather simply being a time of meeting, like any other. In fact, the early church members and disciples met on most days, as friends or teachers and students often do.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts…

Acts 2:46, NIV

Still, the Sabbath remained special, as leaders such as Paul often mention their observance of it through their attendance of the Synagogue (Acts 13:42-44).

So, where did it change?

Although the Bible never changes its stance on the day of the Sabbath, many denominations of Christianity have, beginning with prominent political and religious figures such as Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 135, who prohibited the practice of Sabbath-keeping due to its Jewish roots¹. Although this ban didn’t last forever, the shift from Saturday keeping to Sunday became more and more prominent as the leaders attempted to unite communities through the combining of pagan rituals, such as sun worship (which, of course, was on Sun-day) with Christian morals and laws—encouraging the down-grading of Sabbath by making it a day of fasting while Sunday was a day of feasting.²

Eventually, Sunday-keeping seemed to have won, as Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday the official day of rest³. This led to the widespread adoption of Sunday-keeping that we see in mainstream Christianity today.

However, rather than being an unexpected and unrecoverable point of damage to the Ten Commandments, it’s simply a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. As Paul states in 2 Timothy 4:4:

‘For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.’

2 Timothy 4:4, ESV

Although it’s easy to be swept along with the crowd, we believe that it’s important for us to stay true to what we know from the Bible—and rather than let times and people change our perspectives, be one of those who at the end of time ‘keep the commandments of God’ (Revelation 4:12, KJV).

Hopefully, this article has been helpful in explaining some of the common questions you may have about the Sabbath—but if you have any more, don’t be afraid to contact us directly about them, using the WhatsApp button below!

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For now, go and enjoy the time of rest we have when the Sabbath rolls by—clearly, God knows that we need it.