Bible Studies

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The Sabbath was Made for Man
Part I Of the Eight Feasts of YHWH
By David Wiseman
“And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” Gen. 2:2, (LITV)
YHWH our Father has given us eight feasts to enjoy and rejoice in. The first and most special and most sacred is the weekly Sabbath. In Genesis 2:2, YHWH Himself is the first one to celebrate the Sabbath. “And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.” (LITV)
And this is connected with His command to us to keep the Sabbath in Exodus 20:11, “For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all which is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; on account of this Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” (LITV)
It is often taught that the Sabbath has been moved to the first day of the week, Sunday. This is taught for two reasons. In Matthew 28:1 it says, “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the Sepulcher.” (KJV) and Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
They teach that these two show why Believers should worship on Sunday. Where does it say that He rose again on the first day of the week? If it were so early on the first day when they went to the tomb, wouldn’t He have actually risen late on the Sabbath? Even if He did rise early on the first day, why does that mean that we should worship then? As to Acts 20:7, doesn’t it say in Acts 2:46, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” If they were meeting daily, that means on Sunday, too.
It isn’t that it is a bad thing to meet on Sunday, but it is a bad thing to insist on it as a law. Revelation 22:18 does say, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” (KJV)
But, Leviticus 23:3 says, “Work is to be done six days, and in the seventh day shall be a Sabbath of rest, a holy gathering; you shall do no work; it is a Sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwellings.” (LITV) So He tells us to have a gathering, or a reading, on the Sabbath, the seventh day.
The most important thing about the Sabbath, though, is there in Leviticus 23:3, “…it is a Sabbath to Jehovah.” That is it a day dedicated to YHWH.
The what’s and how’s of the Sabbath are not at all as important as this phrase. It is a day set aside especially for YHWH. Exodus 20:8 also makes an important statement, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”
Remember it. Keep it holy. It is not only a thing to do, or things not to do, it is a day to remember. Remember that on the seventh day YHWH rested from all His work. Remember that He provides for the Sabbath, as it says in Exodus16:29, “See, because Jehovah has given the Sabbath to you, therefore He is giving to you two days of bread on the sixth…” (LITV)
These are the things that must be remembered before the what’s and how’s. That this is a day dedicated to His will especially, above the rest of the days.
Exodus 20:10 sums up the Sabbath commands. “And the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah your God; you shall not do any work, you, and your son, and your daughter, your male slave, and your slave-girl, and your livestock, and your stranger who is in your gates.” (LITV)
The Hebrew word for “work” is melachah. Melachah really translates best as “customary work” or “occupational work.” It really means not just “work” in general, but what a person does for a living or does for work normally. For an engineer, don’t design a parking lot on the Sabbath. For a child, don’t do schoolwork on the Sabbath. Jewish tradition has stretched this into not even being allowed to pick up a napkin on the Sabbath. But that isn’t what the word is teaching. It also doesn’t mean that an engineer can wait tables on the Sabbath, even though that wouldn’t be “customary.”
There are some things that it specifically teaches against. “And he said to them, ‘That is what Jehovah said, “Tomorrow is a rest, a holy Sabbath to Jehovah. What you will bake, bake. And boil what you will boil. And lay up for yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning.” Exodus 16:23 (LITV)
This is not a command against cooking altogether. In Exodus 12:16 it says, “And on the first day shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation shall be to you. Not any work may be done on them. Only what must be eaten by your soul, that alone may be done by you.” (LITV)
Though this particular verse is referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it affects all Sabbaths. Exodus 16:23 is not teaching against cooking, period, but against making a big deal of it. Especially in the age of pre-packaged food and refrigerators there is no excuse for making cooking an event on the Sabbath. In Jewish culture extra food is prepared for the Friday night, or Erev Shabbat, meal so that there will be leftovers throughout the Sabbath. This is a beautiful tradition, though definitely not a command.
Exodus 35:3, “You shall not kindle a fire in all your dwellings on the day of the Sabbath.” (LITV)
The word for “kindle” is Ba’ar. It doesn’t really just mean to light a fire. It means, “seek out,” “collect,” or “glean.” It also means “to destroy” or “to be stupid.” But to seek out or collect is referring to wood. It is the same teaching as with the Manna in Exodus 16:25, “And Moses said, Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to Jehovah. Today you will not find it in the field.”
It is about being ready for the Sabbath. Be ready with the wood so that a fire can be lit and the house can stay warm. Just don’t go out and gather wood on the Sabbath.
In Mark 2:27 Y’shua reminds us of how to treat the Sabbath. “And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was created for the sake of man, and not man for the sake of the Sabbath.’” (Lamsa)
He is teaching against legalism, not against keeping the Sabbath. He Himself kept the Sabbath. In Mark 1:21 it says, “When they entered into Capernaum straightaway He taught on the Sabbaths in their synagogues.” (Lamsa)
He could not have taught Israelites not to keep the Sabbath because it says in Exodus 31:16, “And the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to do the Sabbath for their generations; it is a never-ending covenant.” (LITV)
But the nature of the commands is for life. It is better to eat on the Sabbath than to go hungry. Y’shua is teaching against being legalistic in pursuit of keeping the Sabbath, and to keep the focus on YHWH, and on remembering the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy.
During the French Revolution, in order to destroy all influence of religion they got rid of the seven-day workweek and replaced it with a ten-day workweek. Even the horses dropped dead in the fields from over-work. “The Sabbath was created for the sake of man.”
The final command about the Sabbath is in Deuteronomy 5:15, “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by a stretched-out arm. On account of this Jehovah your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
Amein!

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