The New Testament Sabbath (Hebrews 4:1-13)

The writer of Hebrews states that the promise of rest still remains.

The logic the author uses focuses on "God's rest", I.e., the rest of God.  I think this means the restful spirit of God.  If we take on God's rest, then we will by our nature enter a Sabbath rest where we refrain from work.



This opens other questions.  Before we address them, let's remind ourselves of Colossians 2:16-17 which states (1) that the Sabbath was a shadow of Christ, and (2) people should not judge each other about the Sabbath, I.e., it is flexible.


What does it mean to work or to abstain from working?
The focus on the text is on "rest", not a particular type of rest or work.  The nature of "rest" is actually subjective and individualized.  It depends on what you do for "work."

For example, when I worked as a lawyer, I sat in a chair reading for long hours of the day.  If that was my day job, "rest" to me actually was manual labor and exercise.  It revitalized me and became a joy I really looked forward to.

During the fall, watching Sunday afternoon football and taking a nap is extremely restful for me.

For others, perhaps shopping is restful, reading a novel, or playing board games.


Which day(s)?  How frequent?  Once a week?  Once a month?
The text is actually silent on a particular day, but does use the example of God resting once a week, it seems to endorse that pattern.

The text is silent as to whether we should follow the Jewish custom of Saturday or pick another day.  From my reading of Colossians 2:16, I do not think God cares.

Likewise, from Acts 2:46, we know the early church met "every day", which means that any and every day could be a day devoted for God or church activities.



Is this a command?
The way I read it, it sounds like a strong suggestion and a goal, rather than a command.  There are jobs where people must work all week long, or at least be on call and potentially work all week long.  Examples of this could include the military and civil services (police, medical, and fire responders).  Likewise, in times of emergency, people work all week long.

But these are the exception, not the rule.  It is not a sin to work during an emergency, for even the Pharisees would help their ox on a Sabbath if it fell into a ditch.

The important part is to take a break.


Modern application - the weekend
Putting all this together, I think we actually have two Sabbath days in the modern context.  We have a weekend, which are two consecutive days of "rest" from our normal routine.

There are people who "work" on weekends.  For example, professional football games are usually on Sundays.  Likewise, preachers work on weekends.  For them, the work weekend actually would be after the normal weekend, such as Monday.