12-14 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 English Standard Version

As early as the second chapter of the bible we read:“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he ceased from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” This day became known as 'the Sabbath' from a Hebrew word meaning 'to stop' and 'to rest from'. So it was God Himself who set the seventh day apart in a special way. That's the background to Moses telling the Israelites that they had six days of the week to do all the work that needed doing, but that they should set the seventh day apart especially for the Lord. They were to put the business of the week aside that day.

So who was this rest intended for? (vs 12-14)

We see that it was not only for the wealthy or the leaders, it was for everyone. Even the working beasts! Why were even their servants to be included in the rest? (vs 15)

One of the biggest things the sabbath-rest was meant to remind them of was the rest that God was giving them after the life of slavery they had led in Egypt. Because of God’s kindness to them they were to also show kindness to those who were servants. The love with which God has loved us is meant to be shown to others.

The Sabbath day was very important to Jews and some who became Christians believed it should still be observed in a strict way. When people who were not Jews became Christians it caused tension. However, in Colossians 2:16-17 Paul said: “Let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” It seems he believed that 'the sabbath' had a new dimension now that Christ had come. The writer of Hebrews said that the Sabbath was a symbol of a ‘rest’ which God has promised to His people. In Hebrews 4 vs 3, he says: “We who have believed enter that rest.”

There are still big debates among Christians about what 'keeping the Sabbath' involves. Early in the Church's history Christians began to place more significance on the first day of the week – the day Jesus rose from the dead – than on the seventh day. And, because they lived in gentile countries, they couldn't just demand days off from work on their religious days. But they obviously believed in the principle of a sabbath. They saw it as a good thing, as far as possible, to set aside a day in the week to rest from other activities to have more time with God and God's people. Jesus Christ should always be far more important than business and sports and entertainments.

There's a sense in which the Christian's sabbath will find its greatest fulfilment when we finally leave this world. Revelation 14:13 tells how the apostle John “heard a voice from heaven saying: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on’ - 'blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labours for their deeds follow them!'” The hard labour that life in this world has become because of sin is going to be replaced by the rest God will give us in His eternal presence. Our struggles against sin and the trials we fave faced will be finished forever.