Sabbath Rest (Exodus): Many people struggle to find a healthy balance of work and rest. Is there a way to work hard for the glory of God without dying on the altar of productivity? In the story of creation, God modeled productive work and meaningful rest. The lesson of the Sabbath is that God clearly expected his people to adopt this same pattern as a sign of their relationship with him — a sign ultimately fulfilled by Christ. Recorded on Feb 9, 2025, on Exodus 31:12-18 and other selected verses by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

So, we’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. And, we’ve said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. Exodus is a wonderful picture of the gospel and the Christian life — that God saved a people by his grace, freed them from captivity, and led them by his word and holy Presence in relationship to him as they made their way to the Promised Land. The Exodus is our story in Christ. As we said last week, the first half of Exodus is mostly narrative/story, while the second half includes mostly commands and instructions from God given through the prophet Moses while the people remained camped at Mount Sinai. So we’ve paused our typical expository preaching style for several topical sermons here in the second half of Exodus — sermons on the Law, Tabernacle, Priesthood, (today) Sabbath, and more. A topical sermon widens the scope from “What does this one passage say?” to “What does the whole Bible say about this topic?” Today, we’ll consider God’s desire for his people to rest in the practice of the Sabbath. The Hebrew word ‘Sabbath’ means to stop or cease working. Now, the Bible does not present work as part of the curse of sin. But one area that sin has certainly affected is our work. For example, in Ge 3, God said that childbearing would continue but would be painful. The ground would bear fruit but would also produce thorns and thistles. Christians today must learn God’s intention for our work and rest, how sin distorts these things, and how we might learn to honor God in our work and our rest. Now, I’ve always liked to work hard. I was the kid who pushed myself in school/sports/whatever. I spent countless hours practicing basketball after the team practice was done. Then, I’d shoot free throws until I made ten in a row. (To this day, I can hit a free throw more often than not.) Before I was a pastor, I worked in the business world, and I loved the meritocracy of sales. The harder I worked, the more money I could make. That seemed like a great deal to me. When God called me from the business world into vocational ministry, I threw myself into this with everything I had, and for years, my motto was this: “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” But, you know, as I got older (and a little wiser), I learned that if that’s your attitude toward your work — no matter what you do, whether your work is in your home or somewhere else, whether your work is paid or unpaid — if you’ll sleep when you’re dead, you’ll be dead sooner than later. This was just not a good way to live. But is there a better way? Is there a way to work hard and be productive in life and to the glory of God without dying on the altar of productivity? Is there a way to balance fruitful/productive work and enjoy meaningful rest? This is the lesson of the Sabbath, and it’s no less important for us to learn today than it was for the Israelites some 3,300 years ago. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 31:12.

Exodus 31:12–18 (NIV), “12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. 15 For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’ ” 18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.” As we’ve seen, Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, the creator of the heavens and the earth, had a particular way he wanted life to work for his people in the world he had made. His instructions and commands touched on their judicial system (Law), their worship (priesthood, Tabernacle, and sacrificial system), and now, here, in their work and rest. Basically, God’s will covers all of life. But, in this passage, we discover that the Sabbath was a gift of God and was designed to be a sign of their covenant relationship. As my wedding ring is a visible sign of my relationship with Holly, so the practice of the Sabbath was to be a visible sign of the relationship between Israel and God. But this sign did just point toward their relationship but also back to the work of God in creation itself. Verse 17 points back to the first pages of the Bible and how “in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” This is a very curious idea that a God who is uncreated and infinite in power might rest and be refreshed from his work. Why would he do this? Well, it can’t be because he was worn out and needed a break. God did this to model for the creatures made in his image how to work and the need for healthy rest. This was especially true for the Israelites. They needed this lesson because, as a former slave people, slaves for hundreds of years, they were used to being only valuable as they could be productive for their Egyptian masters. The first practice of a six-day work week and a Sabbath rest was found in Ex 16 in the gathering of the manna (bread from heaven). God told them not to collect the manna on the Sabbath. He would provide twice as much manna for them the day before so no one would be without food. But some people still went out looking for manna on the Sabbath. This is also why, in Dt, some 40 years later, before Israel entered Canaan, Moses reminded the people of the command to keep the Sabbath saying, Deuteronomy 5:15 (NIV), “15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” As former slaves in Egypt, Israel had a lot to learn (and unlearn) about how to live according to God’s word. But also, the Sabbath was a sign that they were free people in a relationship with Yahweh God. But this command and desire of God went beyond his people to every living creature in their society. We see this in the Ten Commandments where it says, Exodus 20:10 (NIV), “10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.” God wanted his kingdom to be a kingdom of work and rest. His people might’ve been exploited and taken advantage of as slaves in Egypt. And that might be normal for the kingdoms of this broken world. But that was not how life in his kingdom was to be. Even the lowliest of servants in Israel was to have regular rest. Now, in their culture, Sunday was the first day of the week, so Friday evening to Saturday evening was when the Sabbath was practiced. But there were more aspects to the Sabbath than just the weekly day off.

For example, the high holy day of ancient Israel, the Day of Atonement, was to be a Sabbath Rest as well (Lev 16). No one was to do any work as the high priest made atonement for their sins. But every Sabbath was to be a sacred assembly no different from the annual Festivals of Unleavened Bread, Weeks, or Tabernacles (Lev 23). These annual festivals were opportunities for the nation to gather, hear the word of God proclaimed, offer sacrifices, sing, and joyfully worship the Lord together in the presence of God. The weekly Sabbath was supposed to be like a smaller, weekly opportunity to do the same thing. To stop working and praise and enjoy the Lord together. We see this in Leviticus 25.

Leviticus 25:1–7 (NIV), “1 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you,