The Day of Rest

Background Scripture: Mark 2:23-28; Exodus 16:22-31
Lesson Scripture: Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 34:21; Mark 2:27-28, 16:9; Colossians 2:16-17

Introduction

After God finished the creation, He did something that at first glance seems to have a human element: He rested. God is not a man and did not need to rest because of fatigue. Rather, He began the world with a principle that goes much deeper than that specific day of the week. Keeping the Sabbath later became the fourth commandment, and Scripture reemphasizes it many times. We often connect observing the day of rest with respectful and reverent activity for Sunday, but honoring this teaching also applies to how we live Christian life every day of the week.

Key Verse

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his (Heb. 4:9-10).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

The seventh day of creation week was the culmination of the greatest work in history. God created an entire universe from nothing. The Genesis creation text describes a day-by-day account with each day marked by the phrase “evening and morning.” Notably, only the seventh day ends without that phrase. Could this mean, in one sense, that the seventh day has no end? What did God do on day eight? Did He go back to work and continue creating? No, He occupied and maintained the created order.

Compare this to a carpenter who builds a house. What happens if he finishes it and nobody moves in to occupy it? The decay process begins immediately. If the carpenter comes back in fifty years, he will find the house in ruin. If instead, a family moves in, the fifty year-old house will still be a fine habitation. God created the universe, and earth especially, to be a fit dwelling place for Him and his human family. In simple terms, the seventh day could mark moving in and occupying the new dwelling.

This is the essence of God’s presence within the universe after creation. He occupies and maintains it so it continues to work as He designed it. Colossians 1:17, speaking of Christ, says, “By him all things consist” (are held together). Peter tells us that creation is being kept for the day of judgment (2 Pet. 3:7). Job’s companion, Elihu, said that the breath of God gives us life and understanding (Job 32:8). Without the ongoing work of God, nature’s operation would cease and mankind’s existence would come to a close.

God gave the law at Sinai, making the Sabbath a part of the covenant between Him and his chosen people. God’s law refers back to creation week, emphasizing the fact that the Sabbath rest was part of God’s design. The practical advantages to resting one day in seven are well known, even in secular thinking. However, God hallowed this day for reasons beyond the merely practical. The fact that God enshrined it in the covenant with Israel emphasizes its importance.

When the Lord’s disciples plucked some grain to eat on the Sabbath, the Pharisees accused them of unlawful activity. Jesus used an account, found in 1 Samuel 21, of David eating the consecrated bread when he was in need, teaching us that overriding someone’s need in order to serve the command about the day of rest is not in keeping with the spirit of the Sabbath. Jesus thereby established his divine authority over the Sabbath. He taught us that we do not serve the Sabbath; rather, it was made for us.

The text from Colossians continues what Jesus revealed to the Pharisees in Mark 2. The details spelled out in the law about how to treat the Sabbath were a “shadow of things to come.” Like much of the ceremony leading up to the time of Jesus, it finds fulfillment in Him. “The body is of Christ” could mean, in other words, that the real substance of the Sabbath commandment is found in Christ.

Practical Truths for Today

The seven-day week has been the normal cycle of life across most known cultures for thousands of years. Despite some attempts to institute a different cycle, it is nearly universal. In our culture we tend to our material needs Monday through Saturday. However, the principle of Sabbath rest is not set aside during the week for the Christian. On Sunday we worship God and direct our attention to our spiritual life. While this is helpful and desirable, its practice is different than a strict adherence to fulfilling the fourth commandment.

The early church began meeting on Sunday to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. The resurrection was a life-changing event for the followers of Jesus. They were overwhelmed with awe and joy at the realization of what the kingdom of heaven was all about. We follow that example every week on the first day of the week. Sunday is special because of our risen Lord, and we should not forsake assembling together (Heb. 10:25).

Numbers 15:32-36 records the account of a man stoned for gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. This illustrates how serious God looks at Sabbath-breaking. The gathering of sticks could be compared to “going about to establish [our] own righteousness” (Rom. 10:3). When Christian life becomes drudgery or is filled with pressure to perform or conform, it is time to take a step back and consider what the Christian’s rest really is. We all desire to do the right thing, but when does doing and trying become “gathering sticks”?

Hebrews 4 promises that, like the Israelites entering the promised land, we too can enter into a place of rest. God invites us to stop working on our own merits (v. 10). As suggested above, God has not gone to sleep or stopped sustaining his creation. He is continually involved in the work of saving us from our deserved fate of eternal damnation and our own destruction. Entering into God’s promised rest begins by acknowledging our own sin and accepting the good news of the gospel by faith. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, came down from heaven and gave Himself up as the supreme sacrifice. He offers forgiveness, acceptance, and rest from guilt, offense, condemnation, and rejection. We can have the joyful life of liberty from sin and claim the promise of a home in heaven.

One of the most beautiful invitations to rest is found in Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” There is no reason for anyone to labor in drudgery under the heavy yoke of perfectionism, performance-based living, or any other faulty human obsession. Rather, He invites us to the more abundant life of peace and rest.

Christian service springs from a heart that is at rest. If we harbor doubt, fear, or a nagging sense of insufficiency or not belonging, how can our lives be an invitation to rest? Our countenance and speech will reveal a restful spirit, or lack thereof, to those we meet. If rather, we accept the promises by faith, the burden of sin and guilt falls away. Without that heavy load, we are free to serve others and spread the good news.

John Holdeman writes about Romans 14:5-10: “We should not set at nought any one who regardeth one day above another, nor judge the one who esteemeth every day alike. Every day includes the seventh day, and consequently Paul here again taught that the Seventh-day Sabbath had ended in Christ.” 1

Questions

1. Colossians 2:16-17 speaks of judgment regarding the Sabbath day. How do we uphold this teaching? In what ways might we violate it?
2. What kinds of youth gatherings align well with God’s will regarding the Sabbath commandment?
3. When we find ourselves going down the road of endless doubts and guilt, how do we find our way back to the rest God would have us enter into? (Heb. 4:9-10).
4. How does failure to enter into God’s rest lead to decay in our Christian life?
5. 1 John Holdeman, Messenger of Truth, Volume 3, September, 1905, No. 9

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).