In the beautiful and carefully composed poetry of Genesis, we read that God made the world in six days.

The word Sabbath is not used in the creation account in Genesis, but the two Hebrew words that translate as “rest” both come from the same root as the word Sabbath. That root means “cease, stop, pause or rest.” And the seventh day is the first thing in all of creation that is made holy—it’s special and different.

This creation theme is repeated in the first version of the Sabbath commandment, found in Exodus: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).

Remembering Our Divine Creation

It’s important to note here that in the ancient world, there was no such thing as a five or six-day work week. When you live off the land, that land has to be cared for every day, so everyone worked seven days a week. In fact, the Babylonian calendar only had certain days where work stopped but only because the date was believed to be evil, not because anyone was actually given rest—so ancient Israel would have truly stood out in its day as different, maybe even freakish, because of its Sabbath observance. While other nations worked seven days a week, Israel was to work six and trust God for the seventh. 

This was a sign of their special relationship with God. But taking a day off from farming the land wasn’t easy. What if the crops failed the previous year? What if they ran out of food for their families? Practicing Sabbath could have significant consequences. The people had to believe that God would provide for and take care of them in order to observe it.

In giving this command, God wants them to remember that God will care for them—that they are divinely created and important. God rested and as God’s image bearers, they rest, too. And the emphasis that we see in the Exodus account is that the Sabbath was created for everyone, not just the Jewish people. All creatures, including enslaved people, foreigners, women, and even work animals are invited into a weekly day of rest. God seems very concerned with providing rest for those who can’t secure it for themselves, the people on the margins of that ancient economy. It’s part of God’s plan for establishing justice in the community.

Free to Rest

The emphasis changes in the second version of this commandment in Deuteronomy. Here the people of Israel are encouraged to remember their slavery in Egypt and their deliverance. They should recall both: slavery and deliverance:  

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

In this version, God asks them to observe or practice the Sabbath. When God delivered them into the wilderness, they immediately began their Sabbath observance. God fed them with manna that fell from heaven—but on the sixth day they were to collect enough manna for the seventh day when they were to rest even from gathering food. And why? We’ve all very likely heard the story (or seen the movie) telling of Israel’s experience of slavery in Egypt. When they were slaves, there was a time when they asked Pharaoh for a time of worship, Pharaoh responded, “They cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ But let heavier work be laid on them” (Ex. 5:8-9). He rejected the service of God, choosing instead exploitation of human life and human work.

That is what triggered the Lord’s gift of the Sabbath—remember your slavery and deliverance and observe the Sabbath. What God requires in the Sabbath command is what is needed to make and to keep human life human—and life in Egypt was inhumane.  The Sabbath is a sign of their freedom—they are free to rest. In fact, the Hebrew Scriptures in many ways see the people’s rest as the ultimate goal of God’s deliverance.

Did you know that observant Jews today still practice on the Sabbath what these verses command? They remember and they observe.  Their Sabbath is from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday night and it begins with the lighting of two candles when three stars can be counted in the darkening sky.

The first Sabbath candle announces: made in God’s image, you too shall rest. The second candle announces: made in God’s image, you too are free. And then they say a prayer over the meal. To this day, they still remember their divine creation and miraculous deliverance and freedom with the lighting of candles, the saying of prayers, and the eating of a special meal every single week.

Rest for the Land

The Sabbath is so important that God establishes three different kinds of Sabbaths to teach the people of Israel how to relate to one another. These Sabbaths are important to the study of biblical justice because they were foundational laws that affected the poor. We’ve discussed the Sabbath day but there was also a Sabbath year.

The people would work for six years and then would rest during the entire seventh year. This Sabbath is described in Leviticus 25: 2-4: “When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord….”

There were 2 important aspects to a Sabbath year: (1) no work for the entire year and during that time the people were to live off what they had previously harvested. (2) the law of the Lord was to be read to the people of Israel so they would be reminded that God was their provider and the land belonged to God alone. Now, we’ve known for quite some time that letting the earth lie fallow restores the land and it produces more, but they did not know that. They had to trust God and believe that they’d be taken care of. The only way the people of Israel could obey the Sabbath year law was if they trusted that God would provide for their needs.

Everything Belongs to God

And finally there was a year of Jubilee, also known as the year of the Lord’s favor. Every forty-nine years, the fiftieth year was consecrated as a day of freedom. It was the year that proclaimed freedom for the captives, the restoration of land to its original owners, and the forgiveness of debt—this year celebrated holistic renewal for the entire community. In ancient times, during the normal course of events, people who experienced hardships often went into great debt and some sold themselves into servitude. People often sold their land and everything they had, so while some grew rich; others grew poor. In 50 years’ time, these types of transactions led to a terrible disparity between the rich and the poor, but Jubilee rectified this problem because a state of equality was brought back to society.

All of these Sabbaths taught the people of Israel that the land and everything they possessed belonged to God. This Jubilee year reminded them that they were an Exodus people who were never to return to a system of slavery. And because they were freed by God, they were called to extend to others around them the same kind of deliverance and compassion God showed them.

The sad part is that there is no record that the Jubilee ever occurred—as far as we know the people of Israel never once observed it. It’s easy to understand why; it would have demanded complete dependence on God and a wholehearted love of their neighbors. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to wipe every debt that exists in society and to start over with a fresh economic system. Jubilee was indeed the year of the Lord’s favor.

There’s a strong connection between Sabbath and justice—freedom and rest for everyone.

The Sabbath is for everyone. God provides rest for those who can’t secure it themselves, the people on the margins. This too is part of God’s plan for establishing justice in the community. Click To Tweet