What was God’s intention in Genesis 2:3 when He instituted the Sabbath and ‘sanctified it’ and ‘set it apart’? In our present culture sabbath has been understood as addressing the work/life balance. The need to rediscover a restful rhythm to life. Certainly the rate of work is addressed in the sabbath, but does it simply stop there? Is the sabbath day a sacred 24 hours or could any day be taken as one’s sabbath? 

Martin Luther referred to the seventh day as a ‘gift from God Himself’. Respected American historian Phillip Schaff, defined the sabbath as a “previous gift of grace, a privilege, a holy rest”; and John Newton remarked, “how dull the Sabbath day without the Sabbath Lord”! 

In this sixth episode of our series ‘Take Another Look’, Pete and the Curious team take a deeper look into our understanding of the sabbath. When we are told that God specifically ‘blessed’ the sabbath day, how does that help us to define or re-define the day differently to any other? Abraham Heschel insisted that the Sabbath “is a day for the sake of life”, adding; “the Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath. It is not an interlude but the climax of living”. Tune in this week as the team will discuss how the sabbath might be better understood as the ‘climax for living’. 

Further Reading

We’ve listed some views below for you to read and ponder…

What is the Sabbath in the Bible and Should Christians Observe it? - BibleProject.com  

Should Christians Keep the Sabbath? - DesiringGod.org

What we’re reading?

Abraham Heschel ― The Sabbath

Iain H. Murray — Rest in God 

Terry L. Johnson ― The Christian Sabbath 

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