The Torah Network

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SHABBAT --- Part 1

The word -- Shabbat -- comes from the Hebrew word that means cease or stop. The Shabbat was a day, when all ordinary work stopped. The Scriptures tell us that Elohim gave His people the Shabbat as an opportunity to serve Him and as a reminder of two great truths in the Bible: Creation and Redemption. The Shabbat was to be a day of rest and worship -- a day set aside for spiritual, mental and physical refreshment.

THE SHABBAT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The relationship between Creation and the Shabbat is first expressed in Genesis 2:2-3. YHVH ceased His work in Creation after six days and then blessed the seventh day and declared it Holy. In the fourth Commandment -- Exodus 20:8-11 --, YHVH’s blessing and setting aside of the seventh day after Creation form the basis of His Demand that the believer should remember the seventh day as a day of Shabbat rest.

YHVH’S REST
The idea of Elohim resting from His work is a startling one. It comes across even more vividly in Exodus 31:17, where He tells Moses how He was refreshed by His day of rest. This picture of Elohim as a Worker is one the Scripture often describes. There is no doubt that YHVH talks about the Shabbat in this way to show people that they must follow the pattern our Creator has set for them. A day of rest is necessary for individuals, families, households and even animals -- 20:10 --. The Shabbat’s setting in the biblical account of Creation implies that it is one of the rules in the Old Testament that is MEANT FOR ALL PEOPLE AND NOT JUST FOR YISRAEL. When YHVH included the Shabbat Law in the Ten Commandments, it emphasized its importance. The Ten Commandments had a special position in Old Testament Law. It was the only Law spoken by YHVH’s voice -- Exodus 20:1 --, written by His Finger -- 31:18 -- and placed in the Ark of the Covenant which was a very important part of Yisrael’s worship services -- 25:16. The New Testament also emphasizes the fact that the Ten Commandments describe principles that are important for all people in all places at all times. Whether or not Sunday is recognized by many as Christians Sabbath, Christians should accept the importance of the Shabbat described in the Bible. Elohim’s instructions require all people to observe a regular weekly break from work.

YHVH’S LAW
Significantly, the second idea behind the teaching in the Bible about the Shabbat -- the idea of redemption -- is also featured in the Ten Commandments. YHVH’s Law about the Shabbat, which was already described in Exodus 20:8-11, reappears in Deuteronomy 5:12-15. However, in this passage Elohim gives the people a different reason for observing the Shabbat day: -- Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and that Elohim your YHVH brought you out with amazing Power and Mighty deeds. That is why Elohim your YHVH has Commanded you to observe the Shabbat day --5:15. The differences between these two accounts of the Shabbat are important. The first -- Exodus 20 -- is addressed, through Yisrael, to all people as created beings. The second -- Deuteronomy 5 -- is directed to Yisrael as a nation of Elohim’s redeemed people. Because of this, the Shabbat is YHVH’s signpost. It points not only to His goodness toward all people as their Creator but also to His mercy toward His chosen people as their Redeemer.

YHVH’S JUSTICE
There is one other significant point in Deuteronomy’s version of the Shabbat Commandment that must not be missed. After Elohim prohibits all work on the Shabbat day, He adds an explanatory note: -- On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do -- Deuteronomy 5:14. Practical concern for others is an idea found in all of YHVH’s Laws in the Old Testament. Because Elohim was merciful to the people of Yisrael while they were slaves in Egypt, He expected the Yisraelites to show loving concern for the people who served them. The Shabbat Day offered the Yisraelites a perfect opportunity to show this loving concern. During Yeshua's time, many of the Yisraelites had forgotten this very important idea behind the Shabbat Day. Because of this, Yeshua was especially sure to emphasize the humanitarian side of the Shabbat observance -- Mark 3:1-5. When the Old Testament describes a Shmita - Shabbat Year - it develops this humanitarian theme even further -- Exodus 23:10-12, Leviticus 25:1-7 and Deuteronomy 15:1-11. This Law stated that every seventh year the land was to lie fallow and be uncultivated -- Leviticus 25:4. It needed a regular rest just as much as the people it sustained. The primary purpose of this Law was to show loving concern for the people who worked the land: -- But you, your male and female slaves, your hired servants and any foreigners who live with you may eat the produce that grows naturally during the Shabbat year. And your livestock and the wild animals will also be allowed to eat of the land’s bounty -- 25:6-7. Deuteronomy 15:1-11 extends the same humanitarian principle into the world of business. The Law of the Shmita Commanded that the people of Yisrael must cancel all of their debts. For people who refused to loan money out because the Shabbat year was approaching, the Law added a warning and a promise: -- Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year of release is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to Elohim, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give freely without begrudging it, and Elohim your YHVH will bless you in everything you do -- Deuteronomy 15:9-10. The Shabbat year was obviously a great test of the Hebrew’s obedience to Elohim. It also required them to depend on YHVH for their livelihood and food during that year. In some cases, the temptation to turn a blind eye was too strong. However, history shows us that Yisrael was usually courageous by observing the Law on many occasions, despite threats of invasion and famine. Both Alexander the Great and the Romans excused Jews from paying taxes every seventh year because the Jews were so faithful to their religious beliefs.

SHABBAT RULES
Returning from the seventh year to the seventh day, the Old Testament Law goes into considerable detail about the types of work that may and may not be done by Elohim’s people on the Shabbat day. The rules about the Shabbat were not meant to rule out activity of any kind. Instead, the Laws were meant to stop regular, everyday work, because if Elohim had set aside the Shabbat, the most obvious way of being disrespectful was to treat it just like any other day. Rules were spelled out in specific terms that the farmer -- 34:21 --, the salesman -- Jeremiah 17:27 -- and even the housewife -- Exodus 35:2-3 -- would understand. The details may seem trivial to people today, but obedience to the Shabbat Law was seen as the main test of the people’s loyalty to YHVH. It was made quite clear that willful disobedience of the Shabbat Law required the harsh punishment of death -- Exodus 35:2 -- and the fate of the person who was caught gathering wood in defiance of Shabbat regulations showed that this was not an idle threat -- Numbers 15:32-36. Because it involved so many rules and regulations -- and with the death penalty overhanging all, the Shabbat Day easily could have become a day when the Jews were more afraid of committing an offense than worshiping Elohim and enjoying a weekly rest. However, YHVH intended the Shabbat to be a blessing, not a burden. Above everything else, it was a weekly sign that Elohim loved His people and wanted to draw them into a closer relationship with Him. People who valued that relationship with YHVH enjoyed the Shabbat and they called it a delight -- Isaiah 58:13-14. In Psalm 92, which is titled, -- A Song for the Shabbat, -- a person’s joy about the Shabbat Day is very clear. Later on in the Old Testament, the later prophets saw that a great deal of Shabbat observance was a sham. Many people treated the Shabbat day more as holiday than Holy day and they used it as an opportunity for self-indulgence rather than a day for worshipping Elohim -- Isaiah 58:13. Some greedy tradesmen found the restrictions an annoyance to their business -- Amos 8:5. As Elohim’s spokespeople, the prophets did not shrink from exposing this disobedience and abuse of the Shabbat Laws -- Ezekiel 22:26. Isaiah said that those who go through the motions of Shabbat worship with hearts that were not truly repentant nauseated Elohim -- Isaiah 1:10-15. Jeremiah told the people that their breaking of the Shabbat Laws would eventually bring destruction to the city of Yerushalayim -- Jeremiah 17:27. And Ezekiel warned the people that YHVH had been very patient with His people, but if they continued to disobey His Rules about the Shabbat, He would severely judge them -- Ezekiel 20:12-24. When the axe of judgment fell and the Hebrews were exiled to Babylon in 586 BC, the people who remained in Yisrael took the prophets’ words to heart. Shabbat keeping was one of the few distinctive practices faithful Jews could continue to follow in a foreign land. Because of this, it became especially significant. At the prompting of prophets like Ezekiel, who set out rules for Shabbat worship in the rebuilt temple at Yerushalayim -- Ezekiel 44:24, 45:17 and 46:3 -- and under the leadership of men like Nehemiah, the Yisraelites were more careful than the people before them in observing the Shabbat day -- Nehemiah 10:31 and 13:15-22.

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