Why Are We Told to Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy?

Why is the Sabbath important to God and is it important to Christians today? God commanded in Exodus 8:20 to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”. It was not just a suggestion but a command. What is the Sabbath and why is it important to God? Is this important for Christians today?

In Leviticus 25:6, God commands his people to rest the land for a whole year. According to David Guzik, “Israel was to do this as a radical demonstration that the land belonged to God, not to them. […] Israel declared their faith that God would meet their needs. It was truly a life of faith, and God wanted His people to live by trusting Him.”

John Piper singled out five notable features of Exodus 20:8-11: remembrance, holiness, order, position, and inclusiveness.

Remembering the Sabbath: “Don’t forget to take a day off,” according to Piper. To remember can mean “recall”, “boast”, “recognise” or “remember”. “Remember” or “remember” in Hebrew is mentioned seven times in Leviticus alone.

Holiness: The Sabbath is holy, distinguished from other days. Piper points out that Sabbath rest is “not aimless rest, but God-centered rest. […] Keep the day holy by focusing on the holy God.”

In other words, the day is not particularly holy, but rather the purpose of the day. Remember, the purpose of the Sabbath is to put aside all pursuits and focus on who God is.

Regularity or habit formation creates a rhythm. It’s hard to do something this different just one day a week, however important. But in busyness comes forgetfulness, especially forgetting God.

Creating a habit does not in itself indicate the condition of the heart, but establishing that rhythm is an important step in creating a space for distraction-free worship. “The command is simply, work six days, rest one day. Every seventh day must be a Sabbath.

Piper reminds believers that the day of the week is not as important as the rhythm of work and rest.

The Sabbath resets one’s position in relation to God as a humble and needy child. God wanted his people to think about him, what he had done for them, his promises and his commands with the implicit expectation that they would forget.

In this sense, the Sabbath is a habit of resetting the heart and mind in humility towards God.

All share in the Sabbath, young and old, servant and master, foreigner and Israelite. No one can rest by employing others.

In the modern world, it’s the equivalent of saying, “I don’t cook dinner,” and then going to a restaurant where someone else has done the work. It does not promote Sabbath inclusion.

Is the Sabbath a duty?

Sabbath is a day to rest from work and effort. “On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (Genesis 2:2). Rest is so important to God that He made it a commandment.

However, a commandment is an expectation, and there may be a gap between the pressure of fulfilling this duty and the joy of obeying God. What was God’s intention? Did he intend his rules to be cruel?

The key to understanding God’s intentions is found in Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees in Mark chapter 2. He and the disciples were walking through the grain fields and picking the ears because of hunger.

The Pharisees protested and said, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus reminded them that when David and his companions were hungry, they ate the bread offered.

Jesus explained to the Pharisees that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is God even on the Sabbath” (verses 27-28).

What about economic needs?

Similar to Jews, Christians are called to trust God with their physical needs by surrendering themselves to Him, expecting Him to take care of them. So, is working on Sundays (or Saturdays for certain groups of Christians) a sign of unbelief?

If we cannot rest completely on a certain day of the week, have we sinned? What if a Christian has to work on Sundays to avoid being fired, or a Christian who runs his own business can’t take time off?

The Sabbath is not about picking a day, Sunday or Saturday, and calling it a holy day. A biblical scholar commented that it is not the day of the week or even the specific rhythm of rest and work that matters, but rather that one recognizes and fulfills the need to have both.

“We need a proper rhythm of work and rest that works together for us, our families, our staff and our guests. This rhythm may or may not include 24 hours of continuous rest on Sunday (or Saturday). Proportions may change due to temporary needs (the modern equivalent of pulling an ox out of a well on the Sabbath […] or the changing needs of the seasons of life).

To achieve this goal, one can incorporate the Sabbath into each day by setting aside a quiet hour each day for prayer and meditation, drinking coffee, and enjoying God’s company. It’s a reset, an example of prioritizing time with God each day over the hustle and bustle of normal life.

Today in the article : What Does it Mean There Is Nothing That Will Not Come to Light in Bible?  We reviewed useful information about the Bible and the way of Jesus. If you wish, you can view other articles of Ali Vahidi about Christianity