by G. C. Willis
“And He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Gen. 2:2.
"Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.... And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." Deut. 5:12, 15.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." Ex. 20:8, 11.
The Sabbath is the first feast of Jehovah given to us in Lev. 23. Because it comes first, it calls us to consider it in a special way, and we may understand that it is very important.
“Sabbath" means rest, and we should understand clearly that in the Bible, whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, having a share in God's rest is what marks God's people. This is their special privilege. As God says, "Verily My Sabbaths [rest] ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you." The form of the rest may change, as we shall see, but a share in God's rest is always the sign between God and His people.
God established this rest in the beginning at creation. God rested, and He called man to share in His rest. It is true that sin came in and spoiled God's rest, so that the Lord Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”
Later in Deut. 5:12-15 we see that the Sabbath was given as a memorial of the deliverance out of Egypt. It was again included in the law at Mount Sinai, not as a moral command, but as a sign of God's rest at the beginning.
In Ezek. 20:12 we find that the Sabbath was given as a sign: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Thus we see that the Sabbath was a sign of God's covenant. It is very important for us to understand this. The Sabbath given to Israel was the sign of God's covenant with Israel.