The word Sabbath is mentioned in the Old Testament exactly 111 times.
The word Sabbath in Hebrew is the word shabbâth (H7676) and it means: sabbath, day of atonement, sabbath year, or week.
It’s root word is shâbath (H7673) which means: to rest, to cease, to desist to cause to cease, put an end to, to exterminate, destroy, to cause to desist from or to remove.
The very first time this word shâbath (rest) appears in scripture is in Gen 2:2
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he *rested (H7673) on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not *cease (H7673).
Exo 12:15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall *put away (H7673) leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
The first time the word sabbath is seen in scripture is in the 16th chapter of Exodus.
Exo 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the *holy sabbath (H7676) unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Exo 20:10 But the seventh day is the *sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do ANY *work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
*This word work is melâ’kâh H4399 and it is important, because NOT doing THIS is observing the *sabbath. It means occupation, work or business
Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the *sabbath day, and *hallowed it.
*This word hallowed means:set apart, separated, prepared.
Exo 31:12-13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a *SIGN (H226) between ME and YOU throughout YOUR generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
H226 אות ‘ôth it means: sign, signal, token, ensign, standard, miracle or proof.
This word is found 79 times and in 77 different verses in the Old Testament, and each time it is used, it is very specific WHO it is a sign for or who it is directed at. For example:
There are SIGNS, like the lights in the firmament of heaven Gen 1:14 and the sign of the rainbow, that are between God and ALL flesh. Then there are those SIGNS that the scriptures specifically state are between God and the children of Israel.
Gen 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a *token/sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
Gen 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a *token/sign of the covenant betwixt Me and you. (The children of Israel)
Exo 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a *token/sign unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people (children of Israel) out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a *sign/token between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Exo 31:17 It is a *sign/token between ME and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Num 16:38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a *sign/token unto the children of Israel.
Jos 4:5-6 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a *sign/token among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Eze 20:20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a *sign/token between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. (the children of Israel)
1Cor 1:22 For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
Mat 12:7-8 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Jesus was being criticized by the Pharisee’s about doing what was unlawful to do on the sabbath. He pointed out to this hypocritical teacher that it’s written that on “the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?” Because they are performing duties/work!
Work/Sacrifice melâ’kâh H439 It means occupation, work or business (what you must DO to have a home, food etc.) This is sacrifice, something you have to give or do in order to receive a return from God and man.
Mercy: kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them, of men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful
Jesus throughout the entire New Testament is trying to point out the hypocrisy of the Jews in their understanding of the observance of the sabbath, and its very purpose. They “strain a gnat and swallow a camel” when it comes to the laws of God, and Jesus constantly was drawing attention to this.
Among the 68 times this word sabbath is used in the New Testament, only 19 times is it spoken by Jesus.
Mat 12:5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
Mat 12:7-8 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Mat 12:11-12 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mar 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Mar 2:28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Mar 3:4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Luk 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
Luk 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?
Luk 13:15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
Luk 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
Luk 14:3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?
Luk 14:5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week/sabbath, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Joh 7:22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
Joh 7:23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?
There is not ONE occurrence in the New Testament where Jesus is admonishing the people or His disciples to keep the sabbath. NOT ONE. The ONLY time Jesus talked about it, was to show them they had it all wrong.
Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the PROMISE of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Joh 3:33-34 He that hath RECEIVED HIS testimony hath set to his SEAL that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Rom 4:11 And he (Abraham) received the SIGN of circumcision, a SEAL of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
Rom 4:13-14 For the PROMISE, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of FAITH. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the PROMISE made of none effect:
2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this SEAL, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Act 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the PROMISE of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of Me.
Act 2:38-39 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the HOLY GHOST For the PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the PROMISE are counted for the seed.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of FAITH, that it might be by grace; to the end the PROMISE might be sure to ALL the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the FAITH of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
This means that faith in Jesus Christ is our SEAL, that makes us heirs of the PROMISE of the Father.
The children of Israel, meaning all the twelve tribes including Judah (the Jews) do not as a Tribe accept that Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, therefore they DO NOT have FAITH in Jesus Christ. This means they DO NOT have the SEAL or SIGN of the Holy Spirit upon their heads, like Gentile believers that are not covenanted under the law.
Rev 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the SEAL of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were SEALED: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Why are they sealed? Because up until the beginning of the Great Tribulation they did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, until He reveals Himself to them, like Joseph did for his 11 brothers after hiding his identity from them for a season. These 144,000, 12,000 from each of these 12 Tribes are sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit just like you and me, because as the previous verses in Revelation shows us, the angels cannot hurt anything upon the earth until the 144,000 are sealed with the seal of God upon their foreheads. Why? Because they have to be on earth during the time the 7 trumpets are sounding.
If you try to qualify yourself by the Law, you will be judged by the Law, every word of it. Even the Priests, Jesus said profaned the sabbath every week and did not get the message of “mercy and not sacrifice” in the observance of this set apart day. It is a sign and a covenant of God between HIM and the children of Israel. Not the Gentile believers that would come into the fold through faith in Jesus Christ and HIM alone. Jesus is our sabbath REST.
Mat 11:28-29 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.
Paul said “one man considers one day sacred, another man considers all days alike, each man should be fully convinced, for each man does so unto the LORD.” Rom 14:5-6
The man that considers one day sacred is the JEW, and the man that considers all days alike is the Gentile believer,
Lastly, Jesus said that if we fulfill both the 1st and the 2nd commandment, we fulfill them ALL.
I pray that I have provided enough scriptural information for you to re-visit your thoughts concerning the sabbath. Please pray, and search out all the scriptures provided.
God Bless! Be Free and Set Free!
Red Letter Publications 