The Sabbath is Saturday in the Jewish week — it’s the seventh day.
Why is it important?
It’s one of the Ten Commandments, for starters.
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:11, ESV
“Sabbath” literally means a rest. Ex. 31:12-18 details what is prohibited for a Jew to do on the Sabbath.
But more than the “Sabbath day,” there was also a Sabbath year, where farmers were not supposed to plant or harvest (Lev 25:1-7). And there is the year of jubilee (Lev 25:8-22), which we will cover in a few weeks.
New Testament thoughts
The Sabbath is not binding on Christians. The apostle Paul aggressively fought against those who tried to force Christians to obey Old Testament laws. (Col 2:16-17; Acts 15; all of Galatians)
I think a person is justified if he chooses to observe a Jewish tradition today (Rom 14:6; Acts 21:20-26). But it would definitely be wrong to force a person to do that.
The book of Hebrews takes the “Sabbath rest” idea to another level. Heb 4:9-11 speaks of a future “rest for the people of God.” (The thesis is developed in great detail in most of chapters 3-4.)
It seems to imply an after-judgment-day, heavenly rest, since we are expected to stay busy on Earth doing the will of God. But I’d be interested to hear any insight others might have on this passage.
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