A DAY OF REST

A DAY OF REST

When God “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done” (Gen. 2:2), He was modeling for humanity His intention for a weekly day of rest. Clearly He did this for the sake of Adam and Eve (and for us), because God Himself does not tire or need to rest as people do. In what sense, then, did He rest from His labors, and in what sense should we rest from ours?

The term Sabbath has the root meaning of “cessation.” On the seventh day God ceased His work of creating the world (Ex. 20:8–11). However, He did not cease His work of sustaining and maintaining the world (Ps. 145:15, 16; Col. 1:17). This distinction helps to clarify the significance of the Sabbath, a day that God set aside (or sanctified) and blessed. His clear intention was that people would emulate Him by pausing from their labors—the exercise of their dominion over the creation (Gen. 1:28–31)—for one day out of seven.

Was this day of rest given merely as a day off? No, for one of the most important purposes of the Sabbath today is to provide a day for believers to worship and focus on God, as individuals and communities (Is. 58:13, 14). This, of course, does not mean that we are free to ignore God on the other six days; every day belongs to Him (compare Rom. 14:5–13). But by designating one day as a special opportunity to come before the Lord, we demonstrate our dependence on Him as Creator and our obedience to Him as Lord.

This means that the Sabbath—or in NT times, the Lord’s Day—was not intended simply as a “day off” to catch up on chores or pursue leisure activities. Not that these are wrong, but the point of the day is to “stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” (Heb. 10:24, 25).

There is an obvious tension here regarding how we should treat the Lord’s Day as a Christian Sabbath. In deciding the issue, it is worth remembering that Jesus pointed out that God established a day of rest for the sake of people, not the other way around (Mark 2:27). Sabbath observance is not to become a legalistic obligation. In fact, conditions occasionally require work on the Sabbath: an ox can get stuck in a ditch and must be gotten out (Luke 14:5). Likewise, human beings have basic needs even on Sundays (John 5:8, 9).

When God rested on the seventh day and set it aside, He did not intend to turn Sabbath-keeping into a strangling rule. The Sabbath was meant to provide true freedom, freedom from turning work into tyranny and freedom to enjoy fellowship with God, our neighbors, and our loved ones.