Sabbath: (Heb. verb shabbath, meaning "to rest from labour"), the day of rest.
It is first mentioned as having been instituted in Paradise, when man
was in innocence
(Genesis 2:2) "The sabbath was made for man," as a day of
rest and refreshment for the body and of blessing to the soul. It is
next referred to in connection with the gift of manna to the children
of Israel in the wilderness
(Exodus 16:23) and afterwards, when the law
was given from Sinai
(Exodus 20:11) the people were solemnly charged to
"remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Thus it is spoken of as
an institution already existing. In the Mosaic law strict regulations
were laid down regarding its observance
(Exodus 35:2,3; Leviticus 23:3; 26:34)
These were peculiar to that dispensation. In the subsequent history
of the Jews frequent references are made to the sanctity of the
Sabbath
(Isaiah 56:2,4,6,7; 58:13,14; Jeremiah 17:20-22; Nehemiah 13:19) In later
times they perverted the Sabbath by their traditions. Our Lord
rescued it from their perversions, and recalled to them its true
nature and intent
(Matthew 12:10-13; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:10-17) The Sabbath,
originally instituted for man at his creation, is of permanent and
universal obligation. The physical necessities of man require a
Sabbath of rest. He is so constituted that his bodily welfare needs
at least one day in seven for rest from ordinary labour. Experience
also proves that the moral and spiritual necessities of men also
demand a Sabbath of rest. "I am more and more sure by experience that
the reason for the observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the
everlasting necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is
man the blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but as
a day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled. I certainly do feel
by experience the eternal obligation, because of the eternal
necessity, of the Sabbath. The soul withers without it. It thrives in
proportion to its observance. The Sabbath was made for man. God made
it for men in a certain spiritual state because they needed it. The
need, therefore, is deeply hidden in human nature. He who can
dispense with it must be holy and spiritual indeed. And he who, still
unholy and unspiritual, would yet dispense with it is a man that
would fain be wiser than his Maker" (F. W. Robertson). The ancient
Babylonian calendar, as seen from recently recovered inscriptions on
the bricks among the ruins of the royal palace, was based on the
division of time into weeks of seven days. The Sabbath is in these
inscriptions designated Sabattu, and defined as "a day of rest for
the heart" and "a day of completion of labour."
