There is as much of God in these 3 verses before us in this study as there was in the Old Testament survey we carried out at the start of the year. These verses bring us face to face with serious questions about what we are slaves to, and what we find our rest in. Before you read through the study, consider spending a few moments with these two questions:
1) What has been taking up most of your time?
2) What is your understanding of the word ‘Sabbath’?
(A) What: Sabbath rest is mandated and modelled by God
What is the Sabbath? It was previously mentioned and defined in Exo 20:8, 11 that the Sabbath is holy to God. This is the fourth commandment (Ex 20:8). We are also told that the Sabbath is modelled after the day that God rested from His work of creation (Ex 20:11 c.f. Gen 2:2-3). Therefore the Sabbath was blessed by God (Gen 2:3).
The fourth commandment also defines the requirements of the Sabbath for us. In observance of the Sabbath, Moses instructs the Israelites to stop all work. This commandment applies to even their servants and livestock (Ex 20:10). What we see here is that rest is for everyone, and it is to be total and absolute.
The principle behind it is rest. Sabbath rest means to cease regularly from work.
When we come to this passage in Exo 23, we notice that the laws in Ex 23:10-12 relate to the Sabbath commandment (Exo 20:8). The first part of Exo 23:12 basically follows from the fourth commandment – six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. We see this cycle above in Exo 23:11 as well – six days you shall work the land, but in the seventh year you shall let it rest. It’s interesting that this Sabbath cycle, which comprises 6 parts work and 1 part rest, is applied to what is basically a cycle of production.
This is primarily agricultural in nature but the various components are all there: you have the units of capital (land/vineyard/orchard), both the workers/servants are units of labour, and the ox/donkey serve as the means of production. In agrarian societies, this was everyday life from sunup to sundown. The Sabbath principle is applied here as rest from labour, and rest from sowing and harvesting the land.
Here, we see a small glimpse of how God’s Law instructs civic and socioeconomic life. God’s Law is the basis for how God’s people are supposed to live as a society. If you recall the lesson ten commandments a few weeks ago, the first four of the ten commandments tell us how we are to relate to God. That vertical relationship that we are to have with God is the foundation for the lateral relationships that we are to have with others. This is extremely important, as we often think of our lateral relationships in isolation. But we are reminded here that Sabbath rest, which affects all of society, is first and foremost mandated and modelled by God.
So what did it mean for the people of Israel to rest and stop working? Let’s try to unpack this a bit more.
(B) Why: Sabbath rest is worship and welfare
Consider Ex 20:9-10 and note the language used. We might think that the Sabbath is primarily for us, but these verses remind us that while God’s people are the recipients of rest, the object of their resting is God Himself! Sabbath rest is to be dedicated to God because it is holy. When we dedicate something to God out of the obedience of our hearts, that is worship. In other words, Sabbath rest is an act of worship.
A parallel can be found in Gen 1:31-2:3. After God finished creating the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them (i.e. all created beings in heaven and on earth), God stopped and looked at everything that He had made, and saw that it was very good. God proceeded to rest on the seventh day, from all the work that He had done. And because God had rested on the seventh day, he blessed it and made it holy.
That little bit in Gen 1:31 gives us some insight into what God did when He was done creating the world. God rested and enjoyed what He had made. We know that because He proclaimed it to be “very good”. That too models for us what the Sabbath is about - Sabbath rest is designed to allow us to worship and enjoy God! The Sabbath is more than just taking time off from work. After creating the world, God did not just cease from His labour, he stopped and enjoyed what He had made. We too need to enjoy God’s creation and the fruits of our labour. Sabbath rest gives us joy in what God has done.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us that the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. My pastor likes to remind us that as image-bearers of God, we were made to worship God. Worshipping God means to enjoy Him for who He is and what He has done. Worship can therefore also take the form of enjoying God’s creation. When was the last time you paused to enjoy God and His goodness as revealed in creation?
But that’s not all. Remember that God’s Law is not merely to be understood in the abstract – it instructs God’s people how to live.
What can we see here? We see that basically, the Sabbath was enforced rest for everyone in the community. Labourers got to rest, the animals (i.e. beasts of burden) got to rest, even the servants got a day off, perhaps allowing them to spend time with their children. The significance of this enforced rest is huge. Remember who the Israelites were before God saved them out of Egypt – they were slaves, and for a couple of generations too.
If you are unfamiliar with slavery, know this - slaves don’t get to rest very much, and welfare is certainly not an entitlement. But God brings the entire nation of Israelite slaves out of Egypt, calls them His own people, and commands them to rest from their labour once a week.
And the law does not only mandate rest. It teaches God’s people how to organise itself justly. These law precede Capitalism and Socialism. They neither form a political ideology that insists on equality of opportunity, not do they strive for equality of outcome. Rather, God’s Law teaches us equality of value:
Every life is precious in God’s eyes, and every person is of equal value before God. All of God’s Law – including the laws about the Sabbath – remains true to this. The practical outworking of God’s laws about Sabbath rest is therefore benefit to civic life. Sabbath rest is therefore worship, welfare, and redistribution.
(C) How: Sabbath rest offers freedom for God’s people
Thus far, we’ve looked at the “What” and the “Why” of this text about Sabbath rest. What about the “How”? We can understand the “How” by asking two questions: firstly, what is the significance of Sabbath rest for God’s people, and secondly, how can we find that rest?
The Sabbath’s significance is in its reminder to God’s people that they have been delivered from the bondage of slavery. In other words, it is a declaration of freedom! No longer are God’s people subject to slavery and overwork. Their old slave masters are no more, because now they have been redeemed at a price. And the price that was paid for the redemption of God’s people was the blood of the firstborn (c.f. Exo 4:22-23, Col 1:15).
Deut 5:15 explicitly ties the Sabbath to freedom from slavery. Anyone who overworks or who cannot rest from work is really a slave to something else apart from God. It could be success, a materialistic culture, to employers, parental expectations, or some combination of these. If we are not disciplined about Sabbath rest, these slave masters will abuse us. At the same time, we live in a society that pegs status to overachievement and overwork. Singapore is a chronically overworked society. We can’t help admiring workaholics. When we do try to rest, it is not that easy to downshift and decompress on the spur of the moment. Pause for a moment and consider the significance of this claim - if you are not experiencing Sabbath rest, you are functionally a slave.
So where and how can we find this rest? Friends, the answer is on the Cross. Because on that Cross, Jesus died to set us free from the bondage of slavery. The blood of the firstborn (of all Creation) was the price of our redemption. At the Cross, just like Pharaoh, Satan thinks he is about to win, but Jesus punches him in the face, opens up His arms, and draws all peoples to Himself. He paid the price to set us free.
Jesus tells us in Mk 2:28 and Matt 12:8 that He is in fact, the Lord of the Sabbath. If you close your eyes you can almost see the Pharisees recoiling in horror at that statement. Jesus also tells us in Matt 5 that He is the fulfilment of the Law. What this means is that Jesus is the Lord of rest! And indeed, the Lord of the Sabbath tells us that all who come to Him will find rest for their souls (Matt 11:28-30), because His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Are you weary and heavy laden today? Hear the words of Matt 11:28: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.
Friends, the glorious truth in the Ex 23:10-12 stipulations concerning Sabbath rest is that the God who demands rest is also the God who freely gives it to us in Christ.
If you are a Christian, you can rest secure in Christ’s finished work on the Cross. Because of what Christ did, you and I are no longer captive to sin, to guilt, to our work, to our relationships. Instead we are given new identities like the Israelites, and we are to live and work to glorify God through what He has given us. Resting in God’s finished work in Christ is part of stewarding the talents and resources that God has entrusted us with. The elements of worship, welfare, and redistribution are all represented. Resting in Christ allows us to honour God by being better equipped to serve others for the flourishing of the church and the society that we live in. Resting in Christ also allows us to have the energy and emotional bandwidth to share each other’s burdens, so that they too can rest.
If you are not a Christian, surely you are thoroughly acquainted with the restlessness of life in a fallen world. Insofar as you have read of God’s commandments for the Israelites to abide in Sabbath rest, see more clearly the ultimate rest He provides for all who will repent from sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ. He promises to be your rest. Will you hide yourself in Him?