By Martin Morrison
The seven day week, with its cycle of work and rest, is an entrenched part of our civilization. But why do we organise our lives like this? In the early days of communism in Russia, they decided on a ten day week. Nine days work and one day rest. It was abandoned when overall productivity plummeted! The seven day biblical rhythm was resumed!
For some, the pattern is work seven and rest none. Work is the sum total of their lives. They live to work and their self-image is inseparable from their job. For others, work is a necessary evil which separates one weekend from the next. Monday to Wednesday you talk about last weekend; Thursday to Friday you plan next weekend.
Although few realise it, and fewer acknowledge it, our society has based its pattern of work and rest on Genesis 2:2 – 3. The fabric of western society was woven on Christian looms. But as we shall see, Genesis 2:2 – 3 is much more than establishing some arbitrary code of work and rest. It is about the meaning of life.
When we reach verse 26 of Genesis 1 we have good reason to believe that the story has reached its climax. At the pinnacle of creation stands mankind, male and female, created in the image of God to rule the creation. However, though man is the pinnacle, man is not the end point.
“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all his work that he had done in creation”, Genesis 2:2-3.
What happens on the last day of creation? God rests. Far from being an anti-climax, this tells us the end point, the goal to which creation is heading, namely rest. God’s aim for man and all of creation is Rest.
In the history of Israel, “rest” and the “seventh day” are recurring themes. “Sabbath” is simply the Hebrew word for rest. Let us unpack this word “rest” or “Sabbath” in both the Old and New Testament, and as we will discover the word is used for much more than merely a day’s rest.
As has been said, though the creation of man, both male and female is the pinnacle of God’s creative activity, it is not the end point. No, the end point is rest. God is at rest. God is at perfect peace with himself. God is at perfect peace with creation. God is in perfect relationship with his world, with all creatures including man. Genesis 1:31 – 2:3 is really a picture of heaven. Where all God’s creatures, God’s created order, God’s image bearers are all at rest in God. All at peace, and in total harmony with God and each other. Here is perfect shalom.
So the purpose of creation is in fact rest. The purpose of creation is in fact Sabbath. Where the Creator is in perfect harmony and peace with his creatures and his created order. The purpose of creation in Genesis 1 is the seventh day, which is Sabbath.
Now, having understood the broader meaning of the word Sabbath, it does not surprise us when it used in various ways in both Testaments.
“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done”, Genesis 2:2. Here the word is used for a day.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God”, Exodus 20:6 – 8. Here again the word Sabbath is used for a day.
“The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field…but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard”, Leviticus 25:1 – 4. Here the word Sabbath is not used for a day, but for a year. The land, the soil, the people are to have a year long rest, a sabbatical.
“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess…But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest (Sabbath) from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety…”, Deuteronomy 12: 1, 10. Here the word Sabbath is not used for a day or a period of time, but refers to a place, to the promised land. The promised land is referred to as God’s rest, God’s Sabbath. So here the word Sabbath has to do with a place, a place where you will get rest from your enemies, rest from oppression.
“Therefore I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest”, Psalm 95:11. David warns the Israelites who have already entered the promised land, not to be disobedient, lest they fail to enter God’s rest. In other words, he was looking for some other rest, one more profound than the physical land of Canaan.
“So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath”, Mark 2: 28. Here Jesus proclaims himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord of rest. That is, Jesus saw himself as being in charge of God’s rest. He was the one who would usher in the rest that God’s people had been long awaiting.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”, Matthew 11:28. Jesus offers himself as the ultimate source of rest, the ultimate source of peace, the ultimate source of Sabbath. So here, Sabbath is not a day, it is not a year, it is not a period of time, it is not a piece of real estate, but Sabbath is a person, the Lord Christ Himself. It is the Lord Christ himself who gives us rest from our sin and guilt, from our labour and striving, from our struggle and temptation. Sabbath is another way of speaking about the Gospel, for it is in the Gospel that we find rest from sin, struggle and striving.
“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest”, Hebrews 4:11. Here, the word Sabbath refers to heaven, the ultimate and final place of peace and rest and Sabbath for God’s children. In heaven we have finally and completely found our Sabbath in the presence of Christ.
Some concluding principles:
- a) The principle of taking one day off per week, is a creation principal. It reminds us that life is more than work. It reminds us that we are finite and not infinite. It reminds us we are dependent on God to provide, even when we are not working. We neglect this God- given rhythm at our peril, be it physically, mentally or emotionally.
- b) When we take a day off, it teaches us that life is more than work and labour; that work is not the point of life; that work is not the basis of my self-esteem or self-image. A day of rest protects us from total self-absorption in our work or career. It protects us from the distortion of making work the purpose of our lives.
- c) Our day of rest, ought to be a little taste of heaven. Taking a day off is a sign of my commitment to heaven, rather than work and this world. No more labouring and striving; no more working by the sweat of my brow. It ought to be a small taste of no longer living under the curse.
- d) No particular day is specified as the Christian Sabbath in the New Testament. In the early church, the Christians no longer gathered on the Sabbath, but on the Sunday, in remembrance of the resurrection, Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16: 2. In fact Paul tells us that we are free to consider every day alike, Romans 14:5.
- Therefore, we should aim to take one day off per week, for the refreshment of our bodies and to acknowledge that there is more to life than work. But there are no laws as to which day it should be and what we should or shouldn’t do on it. No doubt it is appropriate to meet with God’s people on that day and celebrate together what God has done for us. But there is no law about this, and there is nothing in the Bible to say that we should meet primarily on Sunday.
Further reading: Beyond Eden, Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne; Genesis in Space and Time, Francis Schaeffer; Crazy Busy, Kevin DeYoung. Thank God it’s Monday, Mark Greene.
In the interests of transparency, the author has sadly not been consistent in keeping a weekly one-day off rhythm.