Godcommands us to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. But how andto what extent is it to be done?
Exodus20:9-10 says, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, butthe seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shallnot do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your maleservant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojournerwho is within your gates.”
Everypassage in the Old Testament is considered to be the Law. It is theLaw that Jesus said he did not come to change, and he says in Matthew5:17-19, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or theProphets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Fortruly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota,not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments andteaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom ofheaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called greatin the kingdom of heaven.”
So,the responsibility lies with us to abide by this Commandment. We haveseen in the Old Testament the consequences of not keeping the Sabbathday holy when in Numbers 15:32-36 a man was caught collecting stickson that day. God told Moses that the man is to be stoned to death. Sothe importance of the Sabbath day lies in understanding what it isand how to act on that day.
Exodus20:9-10 is clear in saying that we are to do no work. But whatconstitutes work? It appears from looking at the Bible as a wholethat work is something that one does for gain. Jesus tells us thatthere are things we can do on the Sabbath, so the inference is thatthey do not constitute such work. Jesus himself healed people in theSabbath. His rationale for doing so is found in Matthew 12:11-12 inwhich he says, “[W]hich one of you who has a sheep, if it fallsinto a pit on the sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to dogood on the Sabbath.” This has some basis in Deuteronomy 22:4,which says, “You shall not see your brother's donkey or his oxfallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to liftthem up again.” There is no qualifier here. It doesn't add thatthis can't be done on the Sabbath day. So, a distinction is madebetween doing work on the Sabbath and doing good on the Sabbath.
Andwhat of your own household? If your household is lacking in somethingon the Sabbath, what are you allowed to do? Is it not doing good toprovide for your household in accordance with 1 Timothy 5:8, whichconsiders anyone not providing for their household to be anon-believer? This passage too, has its basis in Deuteronomy 22:4,which in turn is the basis for Jesus' saying it is good to save yourbrother's sheep on that day. So, as in saving the sheep, things likemaintaining your household should not be seen as doing work for itsown sake, in a sense that you are not doing something primarily formaterial gain, but rather you are doing good in helping those inneed.
Consideringall this, if we go back to the man in Numbers 15:32-36, how do weunderstand God's reason for killing him, to the extent that we canwithout resorting to Proverbs 3:5? Well, there is no indication in Numbers 15:32-36 that the man was gathering sticks to keep his familywarm, or to provide wood for his family to cook with. There isnothing that says anything to that effect. Based on what we know atthis point, we can only guess that the man was gathering sticks onthe Sabbath not to provide for his family or for some needy people,but to merely make a profit off of them. This would constitute work,which is what Exodus 20:9-10 refers to.
Butwhat of those who “go to work” on the Sabbath? Well, would youconsider members of the clergy to be “doing work” on the Sabbathwhen they help their congregations pray? In one sense they may getpaid for doing so, but that would not be their primary motivation.Their primary motivation is to ensure that people see the light ofGod, which is doing good on the Sabbath as opposed to merely working.
Andwhat of lay people who “go to work” on the Sabbath? In arighteous sense, they do so not merely to earn money, but to providefor their households which is also doing good, as opposed to workingfor mere gain. And it should be noted that places like Wall Streettake off on the Sabbath, so those who only work to profit forthemselves will have to wait until the following Monday to “go towork.”
So,how under God, through Jesus, do we keep the Sabbath day holy? We doit by doing good.
