Day 2 – What is the Sabbath?

“𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 2:1-3 𝘕𝘓𝘛

Sabbath is not just another day in the week cycle; it is specific. Deliberately created and selected by God for one intended reason – rest. In six days, He wove creation together and sanctified the last for a divinely appointed day of rest.

The Hebrew translation of “Sabbath” means “Saturday,” literally from “Yom Shabbat.” In Judaism, it is still observed on the seventh day of the week (Saturday), beginning at sundown on Friday and ending at sundown on Saturday. This timetable is found in Genesis 1:5, “𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑆𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦.” (𝐶𝐽𝐵) In Jewish culture, sunset announces the beginning of the day, ending at the next sunset.

In Exodus, God gives the fourth command, reminding His people of the holy and sanctified seventh day of rest. Woven into creation and edged in stone with His own finger, the importance of this rest day can not be debated. Unlike the month cycles and the earth’s annual rotation around the sun, the seven-day week has no other origin than being created by the Architect of time.

Sabbath is a day set apart from the rest of the week (as holy and sanctified), intended for pause, rest, and Sabbath with the Lord.

Prayer: Father, thank You that You wove a time for rest into the fabric of creation to have the Sabbath stand as a statue of Your grace and mercy for Creation that cannot be debated. Thank you for already knowing that we would desperately need time to rest from this world and all its time challenges. Amen.