“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.
Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Therefore, the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.
It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’
And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” [1]
Eight points from the seven Bible verses above:
1) The Lord Himself set the precedent for the Rest Day. He rested on the seventh day of creation. (Exodus 31:17)
2) Rest Day keeping is a sign of our relationship with God. (Exodus 31:13)
3) It is a day to know the Lord. (Exodus 31:13)
4) It is the Lord who sanctifies us (makes us holy), so we need time in His presence – hearing from His Word the Bible, worshipping Him and praying to Him. (Exodus 31:13)
5) It is holy to you. Holy means to be set apart. We are to set apart one day per week for special fellowship with the Lord and His people. (Exodus 31:14)
6) God emphasized the importance of Rest Day by issuing the death penalty to Rest Day breakers (Exodus 31:14-15). The truth of the matter is that if we do not rest in the Lord for our salvation, we will be lost eternally. This is why the penalty was severe. Later, when the Pharisees treated people severely over breaking their view of Sabbath Day infractions. Jesus told them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” [2] Jesus is Lord of the Rest Day. Sabbath is about Him. HE is the blessing in it FOR us.
7) It is a covenant between God and His people. A mutual relational commitment of taking time to focus on one another (Exodus 31:16).
8) The importance of the Sabbath is emphasized by the fact that it was last dialogue the Lord had with Moses before giving him the Ten Commandments written on stones (Exodus 31:18).
[1] Exodus 31:12-18
[2] Mark 2:27-28
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