Johnson University

The Sabbath

Tracing Its Missiological Significance

Matthew J. Morhart

ICST 4109 Mission Theology

Dr. Steven M. Whitmer

April 29, 2020

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Laura, a Pig, and Sabbath

“I hate Sunday!” This was Laura’s volatile expression of her discontent after being told to sit in a

chair due to her frivolity of playing with Jack (the family dog) on a Sunday. Her verbal

complaint was met with a “sorrowful” look from her Pa, after which he related a story from his

father’s childhood regarding a similar frivolous act—daring to go sledding on a Sunday. Pa told

Mary and Laura that when their Grandpa was little, “Sunday began on Saturday night. Then

everyone stopped every kind of work or play. Supper was solemn.” After reading a chapter and

praying a long prayer, everyone had to “go straight to bed, with no playing, laughing, or even

talking.” Then, the next morning, “they ate a cold breakfast, because nothing could be cooked on

Sunday” and had to walk to church because they weren’t allowed to do the “work” of hitching

the horses on Sunday. During the walk, they were not allowed to joke, laugh, or smile, and upon

arrival at church, had to sit as still as statues for two hours.

After an equally joyless walk back home, they had a cold supper and then Grandpa and his

brothers were required to spend the long afternoon sitting on a bench studying their catechism

until the sun went down. However, on this fateful day, since they had finished making a brand-

new sled the day before and hadn’t had a chance to try it out yet, they snuck outside for the

maiden voyage after their father fell asleep in his chair with his Bible in his lap. Unfortunately, a

pig joined them on their maiden voyage halfway down the hill and his loud squealing awoke

their father who promptly “tanned their jackets”—after the sun had set and the “Sabbath” had

ended (Wilder, “Chapter 5”).

Although a bit removed from modern-day evangelical Christianity, this understanding of

Sunday/Sabbath observance still persists today in the more conservative circles that I was raised

in and still a part of (CMC Statement of Faith, 3). Anabaptists pride themselves in their
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maintaining of “the old paths” (based on Jeremiah 6:16), and although some of these practices,

like Sunday/Sabbath observance, may seem a bit strange to modern evangelicals, the Anabaptists

will be quick to point out that it wasn’t that long ago that working on Sunday, or eating out on

Sunday, were viewed as scandalous in American society at large. In fact, there are still many

“blue laws” in effect in the United States (Blue Law, 18 March 2020)!

What is the Sabbath?

The easy and quick definition is that “the Sabbath” is the seventh day of the week. Where does

this idea come from, how/why is it associated with not working, and what does it have to do with

Sunday? Before we dig into this, it’s important to do a quick review of basic syntax and

grammar. We all know that languages have different parts of speech. In English, we are told that

there are eight basic parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, interjections,

prepositions, and conjunctions. While some words have different related forms that are used as

different parts of speech (e.g. flier, fly, flying), these words aren’t interchangeable, and each

have their own specific domain.

Why is this important? Hebrew is built around roots that typically contain 3 consonants. These

consonants can then have specific vowels or other consonants attached for conjugation purposes,

or even to change the part of speech. The Hebrew word for “Sabbath” (the proper noun) is “‫”ׁשַ ּבַת‬

while the Hebrew word for “he rested” (third person masculine singular past tense/completed

aspect verb) is “‫ׁשבַת‬

ָ ”. Although almost identical, these are two different words and mean two

very different things.

It is true that God “rested” on the seventh day of Creation Week after He was finished creating

(Gen. 2:2), and it’s true that the word used here in Hebrew has the same 3 consonantal root “
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‫”שבת‬, but the meaning is not the same—even though some people use it to try and support the

need for Sabbath observance (McCasland, 65, 72). However, the fact that God “rested” (‫ׁשבַת‬
ָ ) is

linked to the significance of the Sabbath in both the Ten Commandments and in the New

Testament. Later, as we deal with the missiological significance of the Sabbath, will see and

understand why this is important and how it fits into God’s mission.

The Institution of the Sabbath

In Exodus chapter 16 Moses is explaining to the children of Israel how God’s miraculous

provision of manna was going to work. In relaying God’s instructions to the people, he told them

that the manna would appear on the ground 6 days a week, early in the morning, and that the 6th

day there would be twice as much as the other days. This extra provision was for the purpose of

providing them food for “the holy sabbath” and that they were to gather and prepare enough food

for two days since there would not be any on the Sabbath as they were supposed to rest on that

day (Ex. 16:4-29).

Later, on Mount Sinai, God reiterated and elaborated on the guidelines for keeping “the

Sabbath.” The fourth commandment states, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and it

continues for several verses by expounding on the specifics, stating that no one, and not even any

animal, should work on the Sabbath (Ex. 20:8-11). In Exodus 35:2-3, as Moses is delivering

God’s Law to the people, we see that more specifics have been added to the Sabbath

requirements. Namely, no one was allowed to light a fire on the Sabbath, and anyone who did

any work on the Sabbath would be put to death. (Interestingly enough, Deuteronomy 5:15 also

ties the need to observe this commandment with God’s miraculous deliverance of the children of

Israel from their slavery in Egypt.)

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Shortly after the giving of this Law, a man was spied picking up sticks on the Sabbath (Num.

15:32). After asking YHWH what they were to do with this man, sentence was given, and the

“congregation” stoned him to death (Num. 15:33-36). Sabbath observance was taken seriously,

not just at time of its inception, but through the millennia of Judaism as can be seen in Jewish

rabbinic lore regarding the “work/not work” of chickens laying eggs on the Sabbath (Ladd, 80),

and in the Haredim restrictions of today (“The Shabbat Laws,” 2020). The biblical laws also

serve as the basis for the resurgence of “Sabbatarian practice” during periods like the Second

Great Awakening (Lord’s Day, 8 April 2020).

Other Sabbaths

Although the word “‫ ”שבת‬is not used to denote the seventh day rest that was commanded to be

observed during the Passover in Egypt (Ex. 12:14-16), we see that the children of Israel were

told to eat unleavened bread for seven days (there’s an interesting “‫ ”שבת‬usage here that we will

come back to later), and that the first and the seventh days were to be special days—days set

aside for worship—and they were not to do any work on these days (reflecting the initial pattern

in Genesis 2:3). This “Sabbath” rest was important in that it is connected to the children of

Israel’s deliverance from Egypt—and they were to cease from their labors, worship, and rest as

their deliverance was worked out for them.

The children of Israel were also commanded to keep the observance of a “Sabbath Year” in

which they would not work their fields or harvest crops, and the crops that the land produced on

its own were to be left for the poor and for the animals to enjoy (Ex. 23:10-11).

In addition to the hebdomadal Sabbath and the “Sabbath Year,” the children of Israel were also

commanded to keep special feast days as “Sabbaths” (e.g. Day of Atonement—Lev. 23:27-32,

Feast of Tabernacles—Lev. 23:34-36, Feast of Firstfruits—Lev. 23:39-43). Although there were

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differences in the specific observance of each of these days, the commonality between them was

a cessation of work—whether of one day or a whole week!

Sabbath and the New Covenant

We have seen that “Sabbath observance” is clearly tied to the observance of the Mosaic Law.

Understanding our relationship to the Sabbath requires that we understand our relationship to the

Law as Gentile believers. Paul was dealing with this very thing in the book of Galatians when he

wrote: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is

every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them”

(Gal. 3:10). A parallel passage to this is found in James 2:10-11: “For whosoever shall keep the

whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11For he that said, Do not commit

adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become

a transgressor of the law.” Clearly, as believers, seeking to keep certain aspects of the Law (like

Sabbath observance) is not a wise idea as it obligates one to keep the whole Law—which will

result in failure and condemnation! Jesus freed us from the letter of the law, and He calls us to

walk “in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom. 7:6).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus began to demonstrate that the Jews needed to perceive

something much greater than just a strict Sabbath observance. The Pharisees questioned Jesus

about different things He and His disciples did that they perceived as violating the Sabbath:

harvesting grain (Matthew 12:1-2) and healing on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-14, Luke 13:10-

14, John 5:2-13, etc.). In spite of their objections, Jesus tried to show them that He was Lord,

even of the Sabbath, as he violated the Pharisees’ interpretation of the Scriptures (Matthew 12:8)

(Glasser et al., 193). He tried to point out their inconsistencies and how that their fear of

“working” on the Sabbath made them miss opportunities to do good (Luke 6:9), and that the
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Sabbath was intended to be a blessing to man, not a burden. By stating that “the Sabbath was

made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), Jesus was attempting to call the

Pharisees’ attention to the fact that they had actually missed the whole purpose of the Sabbath

(which we will talk about later)!

After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, we see that the apostles still took advantage of

the Sabbath gatherings to preach in the synagogues (Acts 13, 17:2, 18:4). But we also see a shift

that was made by their gathering together to break bread on the first day of the week as well

(Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). No doubt it was at least partly due to these changes that there

began to be disputes about the need to/not to observe the Sabbath (Romans 14:5-6, Colossians

2.16).

Sunday and Sabbath—What’s the connection?

Going back to Grandpa and Pa Ingalls’ stories, we see that somewhere in history the terms “the

Lord’s Day/Sunday” and “the Sabbath” became synonymous in many people’s minds. Whole

books have been written on this advent (see Carson, 1982) and much could be said. However, in

an attempt to summarize, we already mentioned that the first century church met on both “the

Sabbath” and “the first day of the week”—a.k.a. Sunday. However, as Glasser observes, “In the

early church Jewish believers kept the Sabbath and also gathered to worship the Christ on the

first day of each week in joyous commemoration of his resurrection. The apostle Paul kept the

Sabbath yet warned against becoming legalistic about Sabbath observance (Col. 2:16, 23)”

(Glasser et al., 83).

In the New Testament, this observance of both “the Sabbath” and “the Lord’s day” (see Rev.

1:10) was an attempt to celebrate and worship Jesus as Savior and Lord, as well as to “keep the
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peace” with the many Jewish believers and their Judaic worldview (e.g. Acts 21:20-25).

However, this “Sabbath observance” was never enforced on the Gentiles under the New

Covenant (Carson, 254) (Acts 15:20-21).

The transition of applying “Sabbath observation laws” to the Christian worship of Sunday goes

back to the edict of Constantine I who decreed:

On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and

let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may

freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not

suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such

operations the bounty of heaven should be lost (Lord’s Day, 8 April 2020).

During the Reformation, due to the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther, who both

believed in the moral applicability of the Ten Commandments for the church, “Sunday

Sabbatarianism” gained strength and become prevalent among English Protestants (Carson and

Bauckham, 311-316). Although “Sunday Sabbatarianism” dwindled over the next several

hundred years, the practice was again restored during the Great Awakenings of the 19th century

and Christians even proposed making national laws in order to ensure its observance (Carson and

Bauckham, 327). Thus, whole generations of children were raised to “hate Sunday” like little

Laura.

A “Verbal” Rest

Before moving into the missiological significance of “the Sabbath,” let’s quickly go back to

Genesis 2:2 where God “rested” (‫ׁש ַב ֙ת‬

ָ ) on the seventh (Sabbath) day. As we stated before, the

noun form, “‫ׁשּבַת‬

ַ ” is not used here, but rather the verb form. Also, going back to the Egyptian
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Passover, let’s talk about that interesting “‫ ”שבת‬usage that I mentioned we’d come back to. In

ְ ַ‫( ”ּת‬the 2nd person masculine plural

Exodus 12:15, God told the children of Israel to “‫ׁש ִּב֥יתּו‬

future/imperfect of the same “Qal” verb—“‫ׁשּבַת‬

ַ ”) all of the leaven from their houses.

The Creation account of God “resting,” and the Passover account of where the children of Israel

were called to “rest” the leaven from their houses, are two very significant usages prior to the

actual instigation of “the Sabbath.” The first “sets the tone” and “casts a shadow” that is seen all

through the tapestry of the Old Testament, and the second sets a precedent for man’s role in

deliverance. They both also lead us into God’s missional purpose for the Sabbath.

The Mission

While God’s “rest” set the stage for Sabbath observance (Ex. 20:11), it also laid the foundation

for salvation in Christ (Heb. 4:10). From its inception we see that “the Sabbath” was connected

to deliverance (Ex. 12:14-16, Deut. 5:15), and these Old Testament “shadows” point us to Christ

(Col. 2:16-17, Heb. 10:1). This is evidenced in Hebrews chapter 4 where it deals with the need to

stop seeking to be justified by our works and instead, rest in the finished work of Christ (vs. 9-

10). “Resting” and believing in Jesus as our Lord and Savior are the “essentials” for salvation

(Brown, 8). Notice in verse 10 that this is where it comes full circle to show us that the Sabbath

rest that God instituted at the very beginning of Creation, is an example to us concerning our

spiritual need to stop working and rest!

God’s overarching mission is universal in scope and entails all of creation (Wright “Chapter 1,”

para. 21). We see this reflected in the “mission” of the Sabbath. God not only ordained the

Sabbath for man’s benefit, but we see that he also had the benefit of the animal world in mind as

well (Ex. 23:10-11). However, His mission, as it regards humanity specifically, is to embody the
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mission of God in everyday life and action in order to be His instruments in making His

Kingdom an actual, present-day reality (Wright “Chapter 1,” para. 39). In the Old Testament

period, we see that God chose Abraham and his descendants to be a blessing to the whole earth

(Gen. 12:1-3). Here we find the missional purpose of the Sabbath. God gave Israel the Sabbath

as a “holy day unto the Lord” (Ex. 16:23) and as “a commemoration and a sign of his redemptive

acts on their behalf” (Glasser et al., 82). It was through Israel’s keeping of the Sabbath that they

would proclaim God’s mighty acts to all of the nations around them (Glasser et al., 83).

The keeping of the Sabbath was a special marker signifying God’s choosing the nation of Israel

as His personal representatives (Ex. 31:13). However, as in most all of their duties to keep

YHWH’s covenantal commandments (notice they never observed the Feast of the Tabernacles

from the time of Joshua until the time of Nehemiah [Neh. 8:17]), Israel failed to keep the

“Sabbath’s” as well (Ezek. 20:21). As a result, the preestablished consequence of banishment

and captivity fell upon the nation (Lev. 26:34). In short, Israel failed to fulfill God’s mission.

They failed to bless the surrounding nations, the animals, and the land (the “holistic” mission

referred to by Wright [“Chapter 8,” para. 5]) by keeping the Sabbath.

Under the New Covenant, Jesus is our rest! Just as God set the example of “resting from His

work (Gen. 2:2, Heb. 4:10), and like the children of Israel were supposed to “rest” the leaven

from their houses prior to being delivered, today we have been called to “rest” in Jesus (Mt.

11:28). As we rest in Him and stop seeking to earn our salvation through the works of the Law,

we are fulfilling the missional mandate of God for His people—being a light and a testimony to

the nations for their salvation and for the establishment of His Kingdom (Ladd, 15, 33).
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What Does It Mean For Missions?

Although we’ve seen that “Sabbath observance” has been fulfilled in the New Covenant (Mt.

5:17), Glasser warns that we need to be careful not to underestimate “the potential for Christian

witness contained in observance of the Sabbath. Not only by this celebration is confession made

of the God of Creation, it also expresses confidence in Christ’s redemptive activity. Christians

also bear witness to Christ’s triumphant resurrection by setting aside everyday concerns and

gathering for worship with God’s people” (83). So, does this mean that as we go out into

unclaimed territory for the sake of the Gospel that we need to make sure to establish “Sabbath

observance” practices? I would argue not.

While “Sabbath observance” (whether on Saturday or Sunday) contains elements of respect and

worship within our Western culture, and while we should be very slow to move towards

changing those customs and practices within our own cultural context, we also need to be very

aware of the cultural setting that we will be seeking to reach. We also need to be very aware that

setting up constructs like “Sabbath observance” can tend towards a “bounded set” approach to

Christianity. Since there are a lot of “readily apparent” Scriptures (Old Testament at least) for

Sabbath observance, it’s only a short step to where we quickly assume that anyone that doesn’t

“keep the Sabbath” is not a true believer—even though there are plenty of New Testament

passages that make it clear that “one day is not more important than another” (Rom. 14:4-5).

At the same time, if there are existing pagan holidays that are especially meaningful, and new

believers in that context are searching for a viable cultural equivalent (that is Christian), the

observance of “the Sabbath” may very well meet a felt need (Kraft, 125). Although we shudder

at the possibility of creating a culture like Grandpa Ingalls’, making use of viable Christian
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alternatives to reach a culture is a noble endeavor to be approached with much prayer and Spirit-

given wisdom.

Conclusion

Although I’ve studied this subject long and hard over the years, have prayed much about it, and

believe that my understanding is correct, I still concur with Charles H. Kraft where he said, “In

our interpretations of Scripture and Christian things, we have to say that our understandings are

not absolute, although they can be adequate” (19). In summary, God “rested” so that we can

understand the “resting” He has called us to do in order to experience deliverance from “Egypt.”

As we seek to live as salt and light, let us avail ourselves of the blessedness of this rest, and

together, pursue the mission of God—that His Kingdom would come, and His will be done, on

earth, as it is in Heaven (Mt. 6:10)!

 Bibliography

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