The next several instances of shabbat in Scripture are simply references to that day in a generic sense. Those passages contain no instruction regarding the Sabbath itself. Those instances include:
- 2 Kings 4:23
- 2 Kings 11:5
- 2 Kings 11:7
- 2 Kings 11:9
- 2 Kings 16:18
1 Chronicles
In 1 Chronicles we see that the descendants of Kohath have been given the responsibility for preparing the showbread every Sabbath:
1 Chronicles 9:32
Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites were over the showbread to prepare it every sabbath.
Chapter 23 tells us more about the Levite clans:
1 Chronicles 23:30-31
They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the LORD, and likewise at evening, and to offer all burnt offerings to the LORD, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the LORD.
After these verses we again encounter a series of passages that provide no instruction or details regarding the observance of the Sabbath day itself:
- 2 Chronicles 2:4
- 2 Chronicles 8:13
- 2 Chronicles 23:4
- 2 Chronicles 23:8
- 2 Chronicles 31:3
2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 36:20-21 tells us that the prophecy in Leviticus 26:43 was fulfilled:
2 Chronicles 36:20-21
Those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.
Nehemiah
Nehemiah 9:14
"So You made known to them Your holy sabbath, And laid down for them commandments, statutes and law, Through Your servant Moses.
In chapter 10 Nehemiah records a group of people who "separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of G-d…" (Neh 10:28) "… to keep and to observe all of the commandments of G-D our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes…" (Neh 10:29). As part of their plans for obedience to G-d's Law they included this:
Nehemiah 10:31
As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the seventh year and the exaction of every debt.
Their understanding of the Sabbath includes the idea that buying wares or food (grain) on the Sabbath is contrary to G-d's Law.
Nehemiah 10:33
for the showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.
The Sabbath, the burnt offerings, the new moon festival, appointed times, the holy things, and the sin offerings, and atonement are all associated together with the "work of the house of our G-d" in this passage.
Nehemiah 13:15-22
In those days I saw in Judah some who were treading wine presses on the sabbath, and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads, and they brought them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. So I admonished them on the day they sold food. Also men of Tyre were living there who imported fish and all kinds of merchandise, and sold them to the sons of Judah on the sabbath, even in Jerusalem. Then I reprimanded the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this evil thing you are doing, by profaning the sabbath day? Did not your fathers do the same, so that our God brought on us and on this city all this trouble? Yet you are adding to the wrath on Israel by profaning the sabbath." It came about that just as it grew dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and that they should not open them until after the sabbath. Then I stationed some of my servants at the gates so that no load would enter on the sabbath day. Once or twice the traders and merchants of every kind of merchandise spent the night outside Jerusalem. Then I warned them and said to them, "Why do you spend the night in front of the wall? If you do so again, I will use force against you." From that time on they did not come on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come as gatekeepers to sanctify the sabbath day. For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.
Here Nehemiah records a number of activities that are transgressions of the Sabbath:
Sabbath Fact List:
- Violations of the Sabbath include these activities that profane (Nehemiah 13:17) the day:
- Treading the wine press. (Nehemiah 13:15)
- Bringing in sacks of grain. (Nehemiah 13:15)
- Loading burdens (sacks of grain) onto animals. (Nehemiah 13:15)
- Selling food (Nehemiah 13:15)
- The Levites were to purify themselves and serve as gatekeepers to sanctify the Sabbath day (Nehemiah 13:22)
Isaiah
PLEASE NOTE:
The passages found in Isaiah regarding the "Sabbath" may be referring to a specific Sabbath: Yom Kippur. We note the following passages with the caveat that they may be specifically referring to Yom Kippur and not the weekly Sabbath.
Isaiah 1:13 mentions the Sabbath when G-d declares that He cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
Isaiah 56
Isaiah 56 reveals some blessings associated with the Sabbath:
Isaiah 56:1-7
Thus says the LORD, "Preserve justice and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil. " Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."
Sabbath Fact List:
- Justice, G-d's righteousness, G-d's salvation are associated with the Sabbath. (Isaiah 56:1-2)
- There is blessing given to those who keep from profaning the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil. (Isaiah 56:2)
- The foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord should not think he is separate from G-d's people. (Isaiah 56:3)
- To those who keep the sabbaths, choose what pleases G-d, and hold fast to G-d's covenant they will receive:
- G-d's house (Isaiah 56:5)
- Within G-d's house: a memorial (Isaiah 56:5)
- A name better than that of sons and daughters, an everlasting name which will not be cut off. (Isaiah 56:5)
- To those who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, and keeps from profaning the Sabbath while holding fast to His covenant:
- They will be brought to G-d's holy mountain (Isaiah 56:7)
- G-d will make them joyful in His house of prayer. (Isaiah 56:7)
- Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on His altar. (Isaiah 56:7)
Isaiah 58
Isaiah 58 provides exhortation and encouragement regarding the Sabbath:
Isaiah 58:13-14
"If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Sabbath Fact List:
- Blessings are to be found:
- If we:
- turn our feet from doing our own pleasure on G-d's holy Sabbath day (Isaiah 58:13)
- call it a delight (Isaiah 58:13)
- call it honorable (Isaiah 58:13)
- honor it (Isaiah 58:13)
- desisting from our own ways (Isaiah 58:13)
- desisting from seeking our own pleasure and speaking our own word (Isaiah 58:13)
- THEN:
- We will take delight in the LORD (Isaiah 58:14)
- G-d will make us ride on the heights of the earth (Isaiah 58:14)
- G-d will feed us with the heritage of Ya'akov our father (Isaiah 58:14)
- For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 58:14)
- If we:
Isaiah 66
Isaiah 66 includes prophecy of the world to come:
Isaiah 66:23-24
"And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says the LORD. "Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind."
After the world is destroyed by fire and the new heavens and the new earth are formed (verse 22) all mankind will be observing the new moon feasts and the weekly Sabbath and using those cycles to mark the time when they will come to bow down before G-d.
Sabbath Fact List:
- In the world to come the Sabbath will be observed and used to mark time (Isaiah 66:23-24)
Jeremiah 17
Jeremiah 17 provides some additional insight into actions that are prohibited on the Sabbath. Jeremiah warns the kings and inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem:
Jeremiah 17:21-27
'Thus says the LORD, "Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.
But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me," declares the LORD, "to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD.
But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched."'"
We can see from history which of the two events actually occurred: the latter. And all because the Sabbath was not honored.
Sabbath Fact List:
- Do not carry any load on the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:21)
- Do not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath (Jeremiah 17:22)
- Do not do any work on the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:22)
- Keep the Sabbath day holy (Jeremiah 17:22)
- There is blessing in keeping the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:24-26)
- There are consequences in violating the Sabbath day (Jeremiah 17:27)
What is the "load" mentioned in Jeremiah 17:21? The Hebrew word is massa (Strong's #4853). The NAS Exhaustive Concordance defines it as a load, burden, lifting, bearing, tribute. The word massa comes from a root word (nasa) that means to lift, carry, or take. There is no lower or upper limit defined in Scripture for a "load" using this word.
The first time massa is used in Scripture is in Exodus 23:5 where the Israelites are told to help an enemy with his donkey that has fallen under its load. This seems to imply some significant weight if a donkey has fallen under it. A donkey is not likely to fall under the weight of a pencil, wallet, or laptop computer as individual objects.
Lamentations 2
Lamentations 2:6
And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His appointed meeting place. The LORD has caused to be forgotten The appointed feast and sabbath in Zion, And He has despised king and priest In the indignation of His anger.
This passage in Lamentations speaks of the exile of the Israelites from the Land. During that time there was no one to observe the appointed feasts or the Sabbath in the Land.
The next major section of Scripture we will examine regarding the Sabbath is Ezekiel...