We noted last month that the Sabbath is intended to be “a Sabbath of rest” (Ex 31:15), a day of rest from ordinary activity, as far as is possible. We may notice also that, in the same verse, God described the Sabbath to the Children of Israel as “a sign between Me and you throughout your generations”. Israel constituted the visible Church in Old Testament times, and the Church today is to consider the Sabbath a sign between God and it till the end of the world. As we saw last month, the fact that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh day of the week to the first, following Christ’s resurrection, does not in any way change the obligation to keep the Sabbath, and it does not weaken its significance as a sign.
After the flood, God told Noah: “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth” (Gen 9:13). God made the rainbow a sign of the covenant, especially of the covenant promise that He had just made: “Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth”. So whenever we see a rainbow, it should remind us of God’s promise that He will never again send a flood to sweep away an entire generation from the earth. Yet this should not leave us complacent, for we must all, one by one, leave the world to meet our Maker, when we will be dealt with according to how we lived in this world and, in particular, whether or not we have trusted in the Saviour whom God has appointed.
“The institution of the Sabbath”, Matthew Henry comments (on Ex 31:17), “was a great instance of God’s favour to” Israel. The Sabbath, when properly understood, is not a burdensome imposition but a blessing, an opportunity to engage in spiritual activity to a much greater extent than is normally possible on other days. But let us consider particularly Henry’s further point: the Sabbath is “a sign that [God] had distinguished them from all other people; and their religious observance of the Sabbath was a great instance of their duty and obedience to Him”. The Sabbath makes a distinction in society: those who observe it are putting themselves on the side of God, outwardly at least, while those who make no pretence of submitting to it are ranging
themselves in opposition to Him. But real Sabbath observance is not merely a matter of abstaining from activities that are legitimate on other days and carrying out some outward religious duties; it involves the heart. There must be a spiritual appreciation of the Sabbath as a God-given opportunity to focus on spiritual activity.
Matthew Henry further notes that “God, by sanctifying this day among [Israel], let them know that He sanctified them, and set them apart for Himself and His service; otherwise He would not have revealed to them His holy Sabbaths, to be the support of religion among them”. On the outward, visible level, God sanctified Israel in the sense of setting them apart as a people to serve Him and to keep His commandments. But among these commandments, the Sabbath was particularly distinctive, however imperfect Israel’s obedience was. For instance, when they learned not to go out to gather manna on the Sabbath as on other days, this was a sign to passing tribes who came in contact with them that every seventh day was in some way distinctive. And the keeping of the Sabbath showed that Israel’s religion was distinctive, that the true God had set them apart to be His people.
So it is today when, on a Sabbath, people go to church regularly and do not engage unnecessarily in their secular work, and their children do not go out to play, they are maintaining the distinction that there ought to be between those who profess to take God seriously and those who reject His authority. Those who keep the Sabbath are illustrating the fact that God has set apart the visible Church from the world – although today much of the professing Church fails to maintain the real distinctiveness of the Sabbath. Churches preserve a time for some form of public worship, but they willingly accept that the rest of the day will be given over to worldly activities.
But the Church has another aspect besides what is described as visible. The Westminster Confession of Faith thus defines the invisible Church: it “consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof” (25.1). And at any point in time, a portion of that “whole number” are in this life; they are trusting in Christ for salvation and seeking to follow Him in their daily lives.
The Sabbath is a further sign of belonging to the invisible Church. James G Murphy notes that believers “know themselves and are known by others to be His by the Sabbath, which they receive, understand and sacredly observe”.1 They heartily receive the Sabbath as an institution which has divine authority; they understand something of what this observance implies – not only is their outward activity on that day to be different but their thinking also is to be focused on the things that are above. Yet this is a sphere of
1Murphy, Commentary on the Book of Exodus, Tentmaker reprint, 2002, p 324.
activity which is largely known only to themselves and to the Most High – though other people may be able to infer that there is a spiritual sincerity in their Sabbath observance. On the other hand they, from a sense of the imperfection of that observance, may not be able to recognise it as the sure sign it in fact is that they have passed from a state of spiritual death to one of spiritual life. However imperfect this new life is, it has the same nature as the life which will be theirs in perfection in another world.
The fact is that believers are sanctified; they are set apart to holiness of heart and life. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, who has created within them a new heart – one in which there is at least the beginning of holiness – they have begun to love the Sabbath as God’s provision for them. They see it as a day when they may obtain real benefit for their souls, because they are normally able to lay aside the things of this life, to a large extent, and focus their attention on the things of the soul – on what is, with God’s blessing, spiritually profitable. And the sense they have of the value of that day should be a sign to them that they are among the people of God.
It was particularly in looking forward to the more spiritual dispensation of the New Testament age that the Lord declared, “Blessed is the man that . . . keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it” (Is 56:2). But how will that blessing be demonstrated? Not necessarily in an abundance of the good things of this world, but “thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep My Sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and take hold of My covenant; even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” (Is 56:5).
The language used here is partly typical: God’s “house” was a type of the New Testament Church. To have children ought to be considered a great blessing, but eunuchs could not have that blessing. Yet eunuchs who kept God’s Sabbaths, taking hold of His covenant, were promised an even greater blessing. And not only for a limited period of time. They, and all others, even in the New Testament age, who from the heart love the Sabbath and lay hold of the covenant of grace, will be blessed for ever. They will experience an eternal Sabbath, when they will be able to worship God without distraction, for “there remaineth . . . a rest to the people of God” (Heb 4:9).
Let us conclude with God’s further promise: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord” (Is 58: 13f). Our attitude to the Sabbath is a sign of our attitude to God Himself.