Sabbath Texts

Last week, I told our church that during September, I'm going to try to talk about all the major Sabbath texts.  Today, I made a list.  These might not all qualify as "major," but they are all the places in the Bible that say something unique about the Sabbath.  To make it easier, I've added a brief summary for each text.

• Genesis 1-2 - God created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day, God rested.  That’s why we rest one day a week.
• Exodus 16:21-31 - God sends enough manna on the 6th day so that the Israelites can stay home and rest on the seventh for a Sabbath.
• Exodus 20:8-11 - Rest on the seventh day because God rested after 6 days of creation.
• Exodus 31:12-18 - Sabbath is a sign of God’s covenant.
• Exodus 35:1-3 - Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.
• Leviticus 25 - Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year allow people and land to rest as a means of helping the poor.
• Leviticus 26 - God will bless Israel and the land for observing the Sabbath and Sabbath year, but curse both for breaking the Sabbath.
• Numbers 15:32-36 - A man is put to death for breaking the Sabbath.
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15 - Observe the Sabbath because you are not slaves.
• Nehemiah 13:15-22 - Nehemiah forces Jerusalem not to do business on the Sabbath.
• Psalm 92 - A song celebrating the Sabbath
• Isaiah 56 - God blesses those who keep the Sabbath.
• Jeremiah 17:19-27 - God will bless Jerusalem if they keep the Sabbath and punish them if they don’t.
• Ezekiel 20:10-26 - God punished Israel for breaking his commands and not observing the Sabbath.
• Matthew 12:1-8 - Sabbath commands are relative to people’s needs, and Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath.
• Matthew 12:9-13 - It’s good to do good on the Sabbath.
• Mark 2:23-28 - The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.
• Luke 4 - Jesus regularly went to the Synagog to teach on the Sabbath.
• Luke 13:10-17 - In an emergency it’s OK to do work on the Sabbath. (and Luke 14:1-6)
• John 5:1-18 - Sabbath rules are more important to the Pharisees than God’s miraculous activity, and Jesus responds: “My father is always working, and so am I.”
• John 7:21-24 - The Jewish leaders work on the Sabbath by circumcising boys on the Sabbath.  You have to look beneath the surface of the rules.
• John 9 - The Jewish leaders can’t believe God is working through Jesus’ healing power because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  [They are actually the “blind” ones.]
• Colossians 2:6-23 - Christ gives us freedom from the legalism of the old rules system.
• Hebrews 10:23-25 - Don’t neglect meeting together, but encourage one another.