Lesson 18: The Day of Rest — God's Rest

Introduction

We live in a world that never stops. Always busy, always reachable, always occupied. Rest is often seen as laziness, silence as a waste of time. But God thinks very differently about this. Already at creation God showed that rest is a fundamental part of His design for humanity. He worked six days and rested on the seventh. Not because He was tired, but because He wanted to establish a pattern — a rhythm of working and resting that would permeate our whole life.

In this lesson we will discover what God's Word teaches about the day of rest, the Sabbath. We begin at creation, go via the law of Moses to Jesus, and end with the spiritual rest we find in Christ. We will see that the Sabbath was not merely a rule, but a beautiful gift from God — a foreshadowing of the rest that Christ gives us.

Psalm 46:10a “Be still, and know that I am God.”

God invites us to be still — to stop our busyness and acknowledge that He is God. That is the heart of the day of rest: not only to rest physically, but to come into God's presence and acknowledge Him as Lord of our life.

God rested on the seventh day

The principle of the day of rest goes back to the very beginning — to the creation of the world:

Genesis 2:2-3 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.

Notice three things that God did with the seventh day:

1. He rested. God completed His work of creation and rested. Not because He was exhausted — the Creator of heaven and earth does not become weary (Isaiah 40:28). He rested to show us that rest is an essential part of life. After the work comes the rest.

2. He blessed the seventh day. God placed His blessing upon this day. The day of rest is not an empty day, not a lost day — it is a blessed day. A special blessing rests upon pausing, stopping, resting in God's presence.

3. He made the seventh day holy. God set apart the seventh day. The word ‘to make holy’ means ‘to set apart for a special purpose’. The day of rest is different from the other days — it is a day that is set apart for God.

This happened before the Fall, before the law of Moses, before the people of Israel. The principle of the day of rest is built into creation itself. It is not only a Jewish law — it is a creation ordinance.

Isaiah 40:28 Haven't you known? Haven't you heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth, doesn't faint. He isn't weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

God does not become weary. His rest after creation was not an expression of fatigue, but a deliberate choice to set a pattern. If the almighty God deems it necessary to rest, how much more do we!

The Sabbath in the Ten Commandments

The Sabbath commandment is the fourth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai:

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.”

The Sabbath commandment is the longest of the Ten Commandments. God takes extensive time to explain this commandment. A few striking things:

‘Remember’ — It begins with remembering. God does not ask us to do something new, but to remember something that was already there since creation. The Sabbath was not invented at Sinai — it existed from the beginning.

‘No work at all’ — Everyone must rest: father, mother, children, servants, even the cattle and the stranger. The Sabbath is inclusive — no one is excluded from the rest.

The reason — God refers back to creation. He rested on the seventh day, and therefore the people must also rest. We follow the pattern of our Creator.

In Deuteronomy God gives yet another reason for the Sabbath:

Deuteronomy 5:15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

In Egypt the Israelites knew no rest — they were slaves who had to work every day. The Sabbath reminds them of their liberation. They no longer have to work as slaves — they are free! The Sabbath is a sign of freedom.

Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath

In Jesus' time the Pharisees had buried the Sabbath under hundreds of rules and regulations. They had turned God's gift of rest into a heavy yoke. Jesus came to restore the true meaning of the Sabbath.

Mark 2:27-28 He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

These are two revolutionary statements:

1. The Sabbath was made for man. The Sabbath is a gift, not a punishment. God gave the Sabbath because He loves us and knows we need rest. Man is not made to serve the Sabbath — the Sabbath is made to serve man. This changes everything in how we approach the day of rest.

2. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the authority to determine its meaning and application. The Pharisees claimed that authority, but it belongs to Jesus alone. He determines how the Sabbath is to be lived, not human traditions.

Jesus showed by His deeds what the Sabbath truly means. He healed on the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is a day of restoration and liberation:

Luke 13:10-13 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. She was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and glorified God.

Luke 13:14-16 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water? Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”

Jesus makes a powerful point: if you may help an animal on the Sabbath, how much more a human being! The Sabbath is a day of liberation, not of slavery. It is a day on which people are freed from their bonds, not a day on which new bonds are imposed.

John 5:16-17 For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.”

God the Father works continually — also on the Sabbath. God's work of grace, preservation and healing never stops. Jesus did the work of His Father on the Sabbath: healing, liberating, restoring. That is the true spirit of the Sabbath.

Matthew 12:11-12 He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.”

It is always lawful to do good on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is not a day to do nothing — it is a day to do good, to help, to heal, to show God's love.

The first day: the day of the resurrection

After the resurrection of Jesus we see that the first Christians made an important shift: they came together on the first day of the week — the day of the resurrection.

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day; and continued his speech until midnight.

The disciples came together on the first day of the week. This was the day on which Jesus had risen from the dead. The day of the resurrection became the day on which Christians gathered to break bread and hear the Word.

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, let each one of you save as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.

Paul instructs the church in Corinth to set aside their gifts on the first day of the week. This confirms that the first day of the week was a special day for the early church.

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet.

John was ‘in the Spirit on the Lord's day’. Many Bible interpreters see in this a reference to Sunday, the day dedicated to the Lord. The early church called Sunday ‘the Lord's day’ — the day of the resurrection.

Rest in Christ

The deepest meaning of the Sabbath is revealed in Christ. The physical day of rest was always already a foreshadowing of a deeper, spiritual rest:

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

What an invitation! Jesus invites everyone who labors and is heavily burdened. And what does He promise? Rest. Not just physical rest, but rest for your soul. The deep, inner rest that your soul needs — rest from guilt, rest from fear, rest from the burden of having to prove yourself, rest from the yoke of the law.

Notice that Jesus says: ‘Take my yoke upon you.’ Rest in Christ is not passivity — it is a different yoke. The yoke of the law was heavy; the yoke of Christ is easy. The yoke of self-performance was unbearable; the yoke of grace is light. Rest in Christ does not mean that you do nothing, but that you do good from His strength and not from your own.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews develops this theme at length:

Hebrews 4:1-3a Let's fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, even as they also did, but the word they heard didn't profit them, because it wasn't mixed with faith by those who heard. For we who have believed do enter into that rest.

Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.

There is a Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God. It is not only a weekly day of rest — it is a permanent condition of rest in Christ. Whoever enters this rest, rests from his own works, as God did from His.

What does it mean to rest from your own works?

Hebrews 4:11 Let's therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

It sounds paradoxical: we must give diligence to enter the rest. Rest requires effort! Not the effort of our own works, but the effort of faith — continually trusting God, continually releasing our own control, continually choosing grace over performance.

No condemnation over Sabbath and feast days

In the early church there was discussion about whether Christians were obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath. Paul is clear about this:

Colossians 2:16-17 Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's.

The Sabbath was a shadow of the things to come. A shadow points to something greater — to the body that casts the shadow. Christ is that body. The Sabbath pointed forward to the rest we would find in Christ. Now that Christ has come, we hold fast to Him, not to the shadow.

This does not mean that the day of rest is unimportant — it means that no one may condemn you about which day you keep or how you spend that day.

Romans 14:5-6 One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn't eat, to the Lord he doesn't eat, and gives God thanks.

Paul teaches us here an important principle of Christian freedom: in matters that do not belong to the heart of the gospel, we must give one another space. Whether you keep the Sabbath on Saturday, the day of rest on Sunday, or regard every day as equal — the most important thing is that you do it for the Lord.

Romans 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

We must not condemn one another about these matters. Each of us will give account to Christ, not to each other. Instead of judging which day someone keeps, let us focus on the core: love for God and love for our neighbor.

Practical: setting apart a day for God

Although we are no longer under the law of the Sabbath, the principle of a weekly day of rest is a wisdom we should not ignore. God has made our body and mind in such a way that we need regular rest. Setting apart a day for God, rest and worship is a blessing, not a burden.

What could such a day look like?

It is not about a strict list of rules of what is and is not allowed. It is about a day that is consciously different from the other days — a day on which you direct your heart, your attention and your time to God and to the things that truly matter.

The joy of the Sabbath

The prophet Isaiah speaks beautiful words about the joy that the Sabbath brings:

Isaiah 58:13-14 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable, and shall honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.

The Sabbath is a delight — a source of joy! When you keep the day of rest, not out of compulsion but out of love, you will find joy in the Lord. God promises blessing to those who honor His day of rest: delight in the Lord and feeding with the heritage of Jacob.

The Sabbath is not a day of gloom and abstinence. It is a day of joy, of celebration, of enjoying God's goodness. In Jewish tradition the Sabbath begins with the lighting of candles, the blessing of bread and wine, and a festive meal with the family. It is a celebration of God's faithfulness.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day that Yahweh has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!

Every day is a gift from God, but the day of rest in particular is a day to rejoice in Him. A day to pause and consider all that God has done for you, a day to thank and worship Him.

The eternal rest

The weekly day of rest is ultimately a foretaste of the eternal rest that awaits us. The Sabbath points forward to the day when all work will be completed and we will rest forever in God's presence.

Revelation 21:3-4 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God's dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”

This is the ultimate Sabbath rest: God with the people, no more tears, no more death, no more mourning, no more pain. All the first things will have passed away. It is the eternal rest of which the weekly Sabbath was only a shadow.

Revelation 14:13 I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”

Blessed are those who rest from their labors. This is the promise that lies before us: an eternal rest, an eternal home, an eternal peace in the presence of our God. The weekly day of rest is a foretaste of that eternity — a reminder of where we are headed.

The manna and the Sabbath

Even before the law on Sinai was given, God taught His people about the Sabbath through the manna — the heavenly bread that lay on the ground every morning:

Exodus 16:22-23 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh.’”

Exodus 16:26-27 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none. On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.

Exodus 16:29-30 Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

God provided on the sixth day twice as much, so that the people did not have to work on the seventh day. This shows something important: God provides also when we rest. We do not have to work seven days a week to get by. God is able to provide in six days what we need for seven. Resting is an act of faith — it is trusting that God provides.

The Sabbath is therefore closely connected with trust in God. When you rest, you are saying: ‘I trust that God provides. I do not have to do everything myself. I may let go and trust.’ That is a profound confession of faith in a world that tells us we must always be busy.

The promise of rest throughout God's Word

The theme of rest runs as a red thread through the whole Bible. From Genesis to Revelation we see God's desire to give His people rest.

Exodus 33:14 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

God's presence is the source of rest. Where God is, there is rest. Not the rest of passivity, but the rest of safety, of security, of trust.

Psalm 23:1-3 Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

The Shepherd makes His sheep lie down — He brings them to rest. Not by driving them, but by leading them to still waters. Rest is not a luxury — it is the natural result of the presence of a good Shepherd.

Psalm 62:1-2 My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress — I will never be greatly shaken.

Stillness before God — that is the heart of the day of rest. Not the stillness of emptiness, but the stillness of fullness. The stillness of a child that rests safely in the arms of his father.

Psalm 37:7 Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don't fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots.

Jeremiah 6:16 Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

God shows the way to rest: the old paths, the good way. It is the way of obedience, of trust, of surrender. And on that way you find rest for your soul. But the people refused: ‘We will not walk in it.’ What a tragedy — the rest was offered, but rejected. Let us not make that mistake.

Rest in a culture of busyness

We live in a culture that glorifies busyness. ‘Busy, busy, busy’ has almost become a status symbol. But God's Word teaches us that constant busyness is not God's intention. It is even a sign of distrust — the conviction that everything depends on us, that we have to arrange it ourselves, that God will not manage without our constant effort.

Psalm 127:1-2 Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.

What a liberating verse! It is in vain to work yourself to exhaustion. God gives to His beloved in their sleep. That does not mean we may be lazy — but it does mean that our outcome does not depend on our busyness. It depends on God's blessing. And God's blessing does not come by working harder, but by trusting Him.

The day of rest is an act of protest against the tyranny of busyness. It is a declaration that your life is not determined by your productivity, but by your relationship with God. It is daring to say: ‘Today I lay down my work. Today is enough. Today I trust that God takes over.’

It is also an act of mercy — toward yourself and toward others. In the Sabbath commandment it is explicitly said that your employees, your animals and the strangers must also rest. The Sabbath protects the vulnerable from exploitation. In a world that always runs on, the day of rest is a dam against the stream of endless productivity.

Mark 6:31 He said to them, “You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile.” For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

Even Jesus — the Son of God, with the greatest mission in world history — took time to rest. He withdrew to lonely places. He slept in the boat while the storm raged. If Jesus needed rest, how much more do we?

Memorization verses

Memorize the following three texts. Take the time and repeat them daily until you know them.