Moses Tells Israel About The Expectation of Sabbath Rest

Exodus 35:1-3:

¹ Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:

² “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

³ You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.”

Thoughts on the Passage

Moses was about to get the people organized to build and furnish the tabernacle. He had to share all the instructions about that project that God had given him on the mount. But first there was something of greater importance that he had to share with them – and that was a top priority for God, although as it turns out – it was God’s gift to man. I’m talking about Sabbath rest.

The first thing we note here is that “all the congregation” had been assembled to meet with Moses. So, any instruction here is not just for leaders, or one of the genders, or for children.  It is for everyone.

Secondly, what Moses was passing on was not embellished by his own thoughts, ideas, preferences, etc. He must on the Word of God as it was given to him by God. [That’s a good model for any servant of the Lord – don’t add your own opinions in a way which may deflate or inflate the intention that God had in mind for His communication, to the best of your ability. In today’s environment, we can think of it as being the difference between two types of journalists -- a ‘news reporter’ and a ‘columnist or editorial writer’.]

The first item on the agenda is the matter of ‘Sabbath rest’. They were to do tabernacle-building work (and other chores of daily living) for six days a week, but on the Sabbath, the seventh day, no work was to be done at all. That concept has had a great impact on our societies through the ages. I remember first coming to Canada as a child and the limited stores or services that were available on Sundays. Then slowly some retailers started getting permission to open on Sundays but after one o’clock or so, allowing all of us to attend church without competition. And then slowly that gave way to the full-out availability of all retail all day on Sunday.

The concept of Sunday being special also plays a role in Labor Relations where many organizations pay a higher premium or allowance for hours worked on Sunday versus the rest of the week, recognizing that requiring people to work on that day is taking them away from their normal Sabbath rest.

Some Jews still value it greatly and even start to observe it one hour before sunset on the day before and continue for one hour after sunset on the Sabbath.  Those extra hours were a type of ‘insurance’ or an indication that they really wanted to obey this most important request of the Lord’s, showing, as Matthew Henry suggests, how glad they are to approach Sabbath and how loth they are to part with it.

The key here is that while it is a Sabbath of rest (for our body’s, mind’s, and spirit’s sake), it is rest unto the Lord and devoted to His honor.

There is, as we read, a penalty of death attached to not adhering to the requirement, as given to the Israelites. Many would wonder if God really intended that. But as I read the passage again, and recognizing it was a specific instruction (at this time) for the Israelites in the desert, it makes sense. God wanted them to build a tabernacle. They had to adhere to strict rules in order to accomplish the work on time, and Moses needed the backing of penalties if he was to keep order in the camp. To Guzak, this was a way of God calling us to simple obedience first and foremost prior to allowing us to do His work.

Of particular interest is the special mention of no starting of fires for the purpose of doing trades job (e.g. blacksmith) on the Sabbath. To me, this indicates God’s real intent for the Sabbath was that man would have “rest”.  And thus, we come to the statement of Jesus in Mark 2:27 that “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath”.  Guzak supports this when he points out that there are two words for the Hebrew word for ‘work’ – avodah and melachah. The former is a general word for work, the latter refers to work related to business. So it seems here that God is not prohibiting all work (e.g. helping your neighbor get their car out of a ditch), but only that related to your business. Thus, Jews today won’t use fire or heat for business but are permitted to use it to give them light or allow healing. Interesting.

David Guzak says this passage teaches us that “anything we do for the Lord must grow out of our rest in Him, and rest in His finished work on our behalf.”

Chuck Smith takes a most modern perspective on the Sabbath rest. He says this is just God’s gift to you. It’s “a day in which you do nothing. A day in which you just kick back and rest. A day in which you just lie around all day long doing absolutely nothing, not even kindling a fire, just a day of total relaxation. You would be so much healthier mentally and every way else if you would just take a day off and just cruise, just nothing; just totally relax. . .. You can take it and enjoy it if you want. If you don’t take it, it is not going to damn you or condemn you. . .you would be much better off if you observed it. Not spiritually, it won’t make you any more righteous than anybody else, but just physically you would be a lot better off, mentally better off.”

On the one hand, I totally agree with Smith but I am afraid that too many would misuse his position as an excuse to stay in bed all day on the Sabbath. On the other hand, while we may not be condemned for working on this day, we certainly need to be aware that for one reason or another God wants us to rest our bodies and minds regularly and not taking that rest is contrary to the Manufacturer’s Manual.

[Please share with me if you disagree with my thoughts and/or are finding this study helpful. I appreciate the dozens of readers who take time to follow along with me in this study.]

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