Shabbat
Alette Bester
Pastor at Created To Worship Ministries SA Registration Number 241-304 NPO
Over the next seven days, we will learn what the Bible teaches about the Jewish Shabbat, and the early Christian church meeting for worship.
Part 1 of 7
“Shabbat” is Hebrew for “Sabbath” which comes from the Hebrew word for “rest”.
There is no mention of Sabbath-keeping until Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.
The Word of God makes it clear that Sabbath observance was a special covenant between God and Israel.
Exodus 31:16-17 “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
In Deuteronomy 5 Moses repeats the Ten Commandments to the next generation of Israelites, before they received the promised land.
Deuteronomy 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.”
After commanding Sabbath observance in verses 12–14, Moses gives the reason the Sabbath was given to the nation of Israel - Deuteronomy 5:15 “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”