[This is an exerpt from a book I'm writing on social justice in the Old Testament.]
After six days of creation, God rested from His work on the
seventh day, establishing His pattern of Sabbath rest. Speaking through Moses
on Mt. Sinai, God instructed the Israelites to follow His example by observing
a day of rest on the Sabbath. This was the fourth commandment of the famous Ten
Commandments. Expounding on the Ten Commandments forty years after first
delivering them, Moses specifically linked observance of the Sabbath with God’s
rescue of the Israelites from slavery:
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.[1]
Moses asked all members of Israelite society, from the
highest to the lowest, and even including the foreigners who lived among them, to
cease from work for one day out of seven. While an irreligious, wealthy
Israelite landowner may have chafed at the cessation of work on his property,
the Sabbath was a welcome respite for the slave of his household and for his
hired workers—not to mention his oxen, horses, and donkeys! A believing
landowner, however, would welcome the rest as a reminder of God’s pledge to
provide for those who trusted in Him, rich and poor alike. As they rested from
work on the Sabbath, Moses asked the Israelites to remember God’s care and
attention to them in their misery. The Sabbath served to regularly remind the
Israelites had time to reflect on how much God had provided for them, rescuing
them from slavery and establishing them as an independent nation in a “land of
milk and honey.” In addition, the Sabbath was a time to look forward to the
ultimate rest that the Messiah would bring.[2]
The Sabbath occurred every seven days, but every seventh year was also a Sabbath in an analogous sense. Teaching the same lessons of trust and salvation that marked the weekly Sabbath, the seventh-year Sabbath required Israelites to let their land lie fallow and allow it to replenish nutrients and regain fertility. Israelites that owned land and storehouses would not need to cultivate, sow, or reap during the Sabbath year because God promised to provide a super-abundant harvest on the sixth year. The poor inhabitants of Israel without land or storehouses were allowed to freely pick olives, grapes, and other produce that grew unaided during this time.
Observation of this seventh-year Sabbath required special trust in God. All humankind experiences and understands the need to ceaselessly work, whether out of greed for more wealth or simply to provide sustenance for ourselves and our families. This toilsome need stems from the curse that befell our ancestor Adam: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.” In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul put it in even more simple terms: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” Because of this need, it feels unnatural to cease from our efforts to provide for ourselves. But God wants His people to acknowledge the salvation that comes from Him alone and He asked the Israelites to do this by resting on the Sabbath.
King Ahaz and King Hezekiah of Judah, father and son, illustrate God’s pleasure in those who rely on Him for salvation. When the Assyrian army threatened Judah, King Ahaz sought help from the other great regional power, Egypt, instead of turning to God. Simultaneously, Ahaz offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, reasoning that those gods had helped his enemies overcome him. This complete lack of trust greatly displeased God, who spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” God wanted the Israelites to learn to rest in Him, to cease from their labor and trust God to provide what they needed. Ahaz’s faith-filled son, King Hezekiah, stood in stark counterpoint to his father. When faced with the same Assyrian threat, Hezekiah trusted in God’s salvation instead of seeking alliances or other help outside of God’s will. As a result, God sent a destroying angel into the Assyrian camp and annihilated the Assyrian army. The prophesies of Isaiah record God’s view of both King Ahaz and King Hezekiah, and instructed the Israelites and modern-day Christians to trust God and not our own efforts. Both the weekly Sabbath and the seventh year in the Sabbatical cycle taught and tested the Israelites in their trust in God. The Sabbath command presented them with a choice to be feckless and faithless like Ahaz or steady and trusting like Hezekiah.
[This post is an excerpt of my work-in-progress book on social justice in the Old Testament. Feedback is welcome! More on Learning to Do Right.]
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