The Sabbath in Bible Timesby KeeperAtHome | More from this Blogger 26 Feb 2007 12:42 PM Why Was there a Sabbath? The Sabbath, or "day of rest", established by God at Creation is still observed by Orthodox Jews today. God's purpose for the Sabbath was not simply that His people "take a day off" to remember His act of Creation, but also that they would be set apart from all other nations by their observance of it. The pagan nations, which eventually surrounded Israel, didn't observe the Sabbath. Therefore, if the Jews continued to keep it, it would help protect them from assimilating into pagan cultures, and also make Israel stand out to its neighbors. Josephus, a famous Jewish historian, said that the Sabbath in the Hebrew language denotes a "cessation from all work". After God finished creating the world and everything in it, He rested. The Sabbath also gave the opportunity for God's people to rest, reflect on the Creation, and on the holiness of God. What if a Jew didn't keep the Sabbath? Failure to keep the Sabbath was not a minor infraction in Bible times. Rather, it was paramount to rejecting God Himself and the Covenant He had made with Israel at Mount Sinai. The person who desecrated the Sabbath was considered worthy of death (Exodus 31:14). How did the Sabbath change throughout time? As time went on, pious Jews began to add certain rules to the observance of the Sabbath. For instance, certain sects developed lists of items that were not allowed to be carried on the Sabbath Day. Others made rules about how many steps a person was allowed to take and how far from his home he could travel. Some even made rules about not helping others, harvesting food or curing ailments on the Sabbath. In fact, in Mark 3 the Pharisees (conservative religious leaders) confronted Jesus because He dared to heal a man on the Sabbath. Though the Sabbath, as described here, is much different from the Sunday Christians observe, many Jews throughout the world still observe Old Testament Sabbath. What Do You Do on Sunday Afternoons? Relevantchristian tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags bible, christian, rest, sabbath, sunday Discuss this article
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