The Sabbath

The Sabbath is one of the best known yet least understood of YHWH's observances.

People who do not observe the Shabbat think of it as a day filled with stifling restrictions. But to those who observe Shabbat, it is a precious gift, a day of great joy eagerly awaited throughout the week.

Shabbat is the most important observance in all the Biblical Feasts. It is the first mentioned by YHWH when listing His Feasts (Lev 23 :2-3), and it is the only ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments (Ex 20).

Shabbat is primarily a day of rest and spiritual enrichment. The word "Shabbat" comes from the semitic root שבת, meaning to cease, to end, or to rest.

SABBATH & SATURDAY

Different religions set aside varying days as holidays and times of worship. While most of the world's 2.1 billion professing Christians worship on Sunday, 1.3 billion Muslims keep Friday as their weekly day of worship, and millions of Jews observe the Sabbath.

Yet in the cycle of 7 week days, which one is the 7th? How can we be sure that what is called today "the sabbath" does correspond to Saturday? The Jews have kept that day as the day of rest. How can we confirm that their tradition has been correct as to what day, the holy day of Shabbat is?

The word used for “Sabbath” in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament is “sabbato”. The same root word is amazingly also found in 108 different languages, proving linguistically that throughout time and languages, the seventh day corresponds to “Saturday”.

→ One just needs to look at the similarities in the names used for Saturday in other languages and “Sabbath” – Arabic: Sabet; Armenian: Shabat; Bosnian: Subota; Bulgarian: Sabota; Corsican: Sàbatu; Croatian: Subota; Czech: Sobota; Greek: Sabbato; Indonesian: Sabtu; Italian: Sabato; Latin: Sabbatum; Polish: Sobota; Portuguese: Sábado; Russian: Subbota; Serbian: Subota; Slovak: Sobota; Slovene: Sobota; Somali: Sabti; Spanish: Sabado; Sudanese: Saptu; Ukrainian: Subota...

This is one of the largest pieces of evidence that the Sabbath corresponds to what we called today Saturday.

DID THE CALENDAR CONVERSIONS THROUGHOUT HISTORY CHANGE THE SABBATH DAY?

Some claim that the actual Sabbath day is impossible to retrieve because of calendrical changes through history.However their theory is inaccurate. On the contrary, history demonstrates that calendar changes have had no effect whatsoever upon the order of the days of the week. Indeed the rythm of the week is a totally independent cycle, that has remained completely detached from all forms of calendar. In this we know that the Sabbath/Saturday remained the same day.

Also see: The 7-day week and the Sabbath day

THE SABBATH IS "OWLAM"

Shockingly, among Christians, many claim that the Sabbath is done and away with. Others claim that all days are the same, and none should be set aside for worship. But did Jesus ever teach to rebel against the commands of his Father? No! While Messiah instructs to keep the Commandments ("If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" - Matthew 19:17), it is certainly the work of the devil to seduce the masses into disobeying them. The Sabbath is the only Feast that was instituted into the 10 Commandments, and is the cornerstone of YHWH's Calendrical time piece.

The Feast of Sabbath was instituted by YHWH Himself, and that it is "owlam", forever!

Exodus 31:16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting (owlam) covenant.

Whereas “forever” means "forever, that is “without ever ending; eternally, continually; incessantly; always, lasting for an endless period of time", Owlam means to continuously succession of endless cycles.

The Hebrew word עולם owlam is used in the hebrew bible 483 times, and is properly rendered as « perpetual », « forever », « everlasting ».

• Examples of use of Owlam :

Genesis 21 :33 « there he called on the name of YHWH, the Eternal (Owlam) God. » or « YHWH, the ‘lasting into the indefinite future’ God.

Psalm 37 :18 « The blameless spend their days under YHWH's care, and their inheritance will endure forever (owlam). » or « their inheritance will ‘last into the indefinite future’. »

DOES GOD NEED TO REST?

It is argued among Muslim communities that the Sabbath cannot be of Allah since God does not sleep, nor does He ever get tired. Yet in Genesis 2:2 we read, “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.” If God is omnipotent and if He has all power, how could it be that He would need to “rest”? Why did God rest on the seventh day of creation and commanded us to do so too?

If God did rest, it is clear that it is not because He was tired. God is all-powerful through Scriptures, and He never tires or ever needs to rest. As Isaiah 40:28 says, “The everlasting God, YHWH, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary". God is the sum of perfection, He is never diminished in any way, and that includes being tired, or lesser in power. In fact, one of the main definitions of the Hebrew word shabat is “to cease or stop.”

In Genesis 2:2, the understanding is that God created everything over 6 days, but “ceased” His work on the seventh day. Because God ceased from work that day, the Israelites are to do the same, and cease from their work on the Sabbath day. Man is meant to adjust, out of love and obedience, his schedules to God's divine rhythm, and refrain from creating his own, th a sign of rebellion against the Most High.

HOW IS THE SABBATH TO BE OBSERVED?

The rule is quite simple and far from being taxing. The word “sabbath” שבת comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to rest; to cease.” The concept surrounding Shabbat is that the common tasks performed during the week should cease on Shabbat, and nothing too exhausting should be done on that day in order to be a restful day. Biblical examples of exhausting tasks is to chop wood, to carry heavy overtiring loads, or travelling long consuming distances…. What can be exhausting for one person, can be a light pleasure for another. In that sense, no blanket rule should be imposed on anyone on how to observe the Sabbath. Each, in their sincere conscious before YHWH, should know when a task or an activity is too tiring for Shabbat or not. Professional work should be avoided, for it is the one day when weekly activities cease.

The Shabbat is simply a day of rest & of relaxation, as Sunday can be to most Christians.

In our modern culture that glorifies being busy all the time, many miss the radical concept a day of a true rest. Rest and leisure is therefore a God given right that is not for the wealthy and the ruling classes only, but also for the serving or laboring classes.

Furthermore, in all fairness, if one is able to rest, he cannot make others (people or animals) work for him instead, on that day. It is in that sense, that there is no buying or selling on the Shabbat, to allow others to rest also.

Thus Shabbat is a time of rest for everyone: the Shabbat is meant to be a gift from YHWH to all.

It is a blessed day, a great time to to recuperate from the busy week of work, and also to get together, to eat, to pray, to study inspired scriptures...

THE TWO INTERRELATED COMMANDMENTS OF SHABBAT:

• Zakhor: To Remember (« Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it. » - Exodus 20 :8)

Remembering the Shabbat means more than merely not forgetting to observe Shabbat.

The Sabbath is a commemoration of creation. By resting on the seventh day and sanctifying it, we remember and acknowledge that YHWH is the creator of heaven and earth and of all living things. We also emulate the divine example, by refraining from work on the seventh day. If YHWH's work can be set aside for a day of rest, how can our own work be considered too important to set aside temporarily?

The Sabbath is also a commemoration of our freedom from slavery. In a more general sense, Egypt is the wordly lifestyle that brings slavery and death. The Shabbat frees man from his weekday concerns, from his deadlines, schedules and commitments. During the week, we are slaves to our jobs, to our creditors, to our need to provide for ourselves; on Shabbat, we are freed from these concerns.

• Shamor: To Observe (« Observe the Sabbath day to sanctify » - Deuteronomy 5:12)

Observing and sanctifying the Sabbath is often automatically associated to what is allowed and forbidden to do on Shabbat. This specific aspect of the day of rest is usually grossly misunderstood by people.

To some, Torah seems unclear and not specific enough about what kind of « work » is forbidden on Shabbat. So man-made traditions grew and supplied determined guidelines to define what could be permitted or not on that special day… Rabbinical interpretations are usually the first source of reference people tend to go to. Unfortunately, most of these restrictions have become burdensome, oppressive, and even fatiguing, turning away many from YHWH and His Shabbat.

But YHWH's commandments have never been burdensome:

« To love God is to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome » 1 John 5 :3 ;

« For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. » Matt 11 :30 ;

« Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. » Deut 30 :11

" How blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” Isaiah 56:2-3

“ ... Call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of YHWH honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in YHWH , And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.” - Isaiah 58:13-14

The Sabbath is indeed a blessing and a delight, certainly not a burden.