Rest Is Coming: A Biblical Theology of the Sabbath (Part 2)

I love my job, but I can honestly say I haven’t always loved the jobs I’ve worked. I have had a myriad of frustrating, boring, and exhausting jobs over the course of my life. I started out as a high school kid working at Wal-Mart. The worst time of the year was supposedly the most jolly. Christmas time in retail sucks! I also worked in a factory that made cabinets. I worked in the finishing room which meant it was brutally hot, unbearably loud, and my job was to stand at the end of a conveyor belt and stack wooden doors for 7 1/2 hours a day. The guy next to me had been doing it for forty years…I didn’t envy him. I installed propane tanks, shelved books in a library, and loaded packages into an aircraft container. These were not my dream jobs and I loved my weekends. Those days off, those days of rest, were crucial for building up the will to continue working. Most Americans are still working for the weekend, like I was, but what most of us don’t realize is that God has designed those weekends, those days of rest from work, for a very spiritual purpose. The Sabbath has its origin in God’s resting from work, and from that He draws out a principle for us: rest from your work in order to remember who really provides for you.

The first official mention of The Sabbath that we get is in Exodus 16. Here God commands Israel that they are not to collect or bake or boil any food on the seventh day of the week, because they are to rest. Whatever they would need to feed themselves and their families on that seventh day they were to prepare on the sixth. The point is that one day of the week was specially made for Israel to rest. The language harkens us back to Genesis and the creation accounts where God creates in six days and on the seventh He rests. The point is for Israel to remind themselves of their indebtedness to the Lord. This connection is made abundantly clear in Exodus 20, where the commandment itself is rooted in Creation. We get it again in Exodus 31 where God stresses the importance of the commandment.

 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. (Exodus 31:15 )

It was a serious issue to God and therefore He expected it to be a serious issue among His people. God states that remembering this Sabbath is a sign of Israel’s belief and commitment to the God who provides for them.

The most clear indication of this connection probably comes from Leviticus 25, where Israel is instructed to keep a Sabbath Year. That is a whole year where they do not work (I know, you’re already loving this idea aren’t you?). Hear what God says to Israel:

 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits,  4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. (Leviticus 25:3-4 )

God promises he will provide for them and they have only to trust Him. They are to rest from their working as a way of testifying to their faith in the God of sufficient provision.

 20 And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’  21 I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. (Leviticus 25:20-21 )

God promised he would provide and Israel had only to trust him. This small rest was a way of acknowledging that God could give whatever they needed.

It’s important for us to remember that God calls us to take these small rests too. Maybe it would be unwise for you to take whole year off of work, but we do have weekends, or days-off. What do you do on those days? If you’re anything like me you spend them “working.” I work on my house, my yard etc. I am grading papers, writing papers, reviewing books, etc. Instead I should simply be resting. I should pause from all my business to remember that no matter how hard I work I don’t have anything that wasn’t actually provided me by God (1 Cor. 4:7), and even if my work should fail or suffer, God is my ultimate provider.

The truth is that all our working tends to lead us more and more to worry. “Have  I worked enough?” “Am I earning enough?” “Will my income allow us to save?” “Does my work look impressive?” We often end up not simply getting anxiety from our work, but we also end up rooting our identity in our work. “I am my job.” Which is why when some people lose their jobs they lose their purpose for living. But God calls us to rest from our work, to take a break and remember He is our provider and He is our hope. You see resting Biblically has a theological purpose: to remind us of the Creator. Does your rest remind you of God? Do you even rest?