Today in the Bible

Tishrei 2, 5784; from sunset September 16, 2023, to sunset September 17, 2023

The First Sabbath

Even though yesterday was a BIG day in the Bible, it was still not the end of the creation story. Today marks the anniversary of the very first Sabbath day. Ever since creation, the seventh day has been christened as holy.

In homes which welcome the weekly Sabbath, the following verses are recited each Friday evening – the beginning of the seventh day – as a remembrance of our Creator God and His Sabbath rest.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done. – Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)

The Sabbath is also counted among the LORD’s Appointed Times in Leviticus 23 as a sacred time of assembly.

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.  There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly.  You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the LORD. – Leviticus 23:1-3 (NIV)

And God included the Sabbath in His top ten commandments.

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 (NIV)

The LORD spoke, through the prophet Isaiah, a blessing for all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it.

This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this– the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant–to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant–these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” – Isaiah 56:1-7 (NIV)

This blessing is not only for the native-born Israelite, but also for the foreigner who binds themselves to the LORD. God wants all of us to keep His Sabbath holy.