In Exodus 12:15, we see the first instance where שָׁבַת (Shabbat) appears in a verse that does not have to do with resting from our labor.
“‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove [שָׁבַת - Shabbat] leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.’”
Why would God use this word in this context?
The Strong’s Concordance actually divides the word Shabbat into different categories.
#7673 - to cease, to exterminate or destroy, to remove. Also, to observe or keep the Sabbath day
#7676 - refers exclusively to the observance of the seventh day.
So we see that the idea of Sabbath does not just refer to a day in the week, but to an entire concept of rest and removing something from our lives.
In Exodus 34, when God renews His covenant with the children of Israel, He commands them to remove all idolatry from among them, to keep the Passover and feast of weeks, and in the middle of all of that, He includes the Sabbath.
It was part of their covenant with God.
Placing all of the importance and value of the Sabbath on a day of the week causes us to miss a much greater and more beautiful picture of what God actually meant by the Sabbath.
In Exodus 12:15, God refers to the Sabbath as a removal of leaven, and we know that leaven throughout Scripture is synonymous with sin.
We can take this a step further and recognize that there are times when God wants us to Shabbat from something in our life that is stealing our rest.
Is God calling you to lay down something for a season? Perhaps for a lifetime?
That is your Shabbat.
It is part of your personal covenant with God.
And in place of that thing, He will give you something far more precious than the thing you are laying down.
He will give you rest for your soul.
He will give you His yoke, which is much lighter to bear.
You will learn from Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart.
Shabbat is far more than getting a day off in the week to go to church, come home, eat a big Sunday meal, take a nap, and then watch football.
While we include church in that (you know, because we’re Christians… and we’re supposed to do Christian things… like go to church), it is actually a very secular view of Sabbath.
It has just enough Jesus in it to soothe our conscience, but actually has more to do with us vegging and enjoying a day off than it has to do with God.
Shabbat is about laying down the heavy burden of sin and the weight of this world’s expectations, so we can take on the yoke of Christ and find His rest for our souls.
God is not a God that He shall lie.
God created the world in 6 days
God rested on the Sabbath day.
God called that day, the seventh day.
God called to Himself: a children set apart.A peculiar people
God said to them: Six days labor (Labor is paid work,
but
On the seventh day, no work.
Continue doing good deeds if called upon. ( When you are a servant of God, every one can't reach you)
As you trust God with the Sabbath, then you have opportunity to enter into His complete rest.
What is His complete rest.
God is my Source.
Father, Mother, Best Friend. On Him only do I depend.
There are many options: Doctors, Lawyers, television and entertainment, books and I can name more
But when I reach the Kingdom within.
Rest.
I am a pastor from Pakistan. I am working on various ministries here, including a ministry for widows. I pay attention to the child care of widows so that they can lead successful lives with their children.