STUDY TIP: Also read Sabbath, Fasting and Rest and Time: Hours, Days, Weeks and Ages.

THE BIG PICTURE OF SEVEN
Like “Promised Land” and “Land of Milk and Honey,” the Biblical concept of “Sabbath” has an enduring place in modern cultures even though it is not well understood by anyone — not even Christians or Jews. Almost everyone, including people who are not religious, knows the basics of the Fourth Commandment because it has influenced their lives.

Borrowing the religious practices  of pagan sun-worship religions and Catholic influence, Christians moved their day of worship to the first day of the week (i.e. Sunday). Most of the Christian world has adopted Sunday worship even though most non-Catholic religions do not agree with other Catholic beliefs and practices. World-wide, most countries observe a Monday – Friday work week with Saturday and Sunday off. Even though Sunday, not the seventh day is the day of rest in most cultures (the exceptions are generally Islamic) there is general, world -wide acceptance of principles of a literal interpretation of the fourth commandment.

For Christians, beginning with Catholicism, the Sabbath has been wrongly simplified to a command to take one day a week off from work and call it a day for religious worship, called the Lord’s Day, in honor of Jesus’ resurrection. Jews, on the other hand, have refined several scriptures regarding the Sabbath to create a complex pattern of religious laws that define the Jewish religious culture.

Here is the scripture that has had such an impact on the world:

Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant * or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “⁴For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

How do we as mere human mortals maintain holiness of something God has made holy? To understand what this means, we must study each verse and  look at each word in each verse. This is what we must do if we are serious about accurately handling God’s words. If we do not study each word in each verse, we handle God’s words carelessly and inaccurately.

EXODUS 20:8  “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

COMMENTARY: We begin by looking at the words “to keep it holy.” First, we must recognize that “to” and “it” do not appear in the original Hebrew text. These words were inserted by Bible editors to make the language readable in English. Then we must recognize that in the original Hebrew text, “keep” and “holy” are the same word “Qadash.” In other words, Bible editors decided to translate the first Qadash as keep, and the second Qadash as holy. This is an unfortunate and misleading editorial decision. The right way to translate the verse would have been:

Remember sabbath day holy holy.

By translating the first Qadash as “keep,” Bible translators changed the meaning of the command. By translating qadash as keep, Bible translators strongly implied that some effort was necessary by religious people. Remembering is an internal activity that does not require effort. To “keep” requires effort.

So we must ask why Bible translators decided to translate the verse as “keep it holy” instead of “holy holy”? The answer is simple: Observing Sunday as the designated day of worship was an established Christian doctrine when the Bible was written. Saying “keep it holy” affirmed and reinforced Sunday worship. Writing “remember sabbath day holy holy” would not affirm and reinforce Sunday worship. In other words, Bible editors were compelled to interpret the Hebrew text in ways that legitimized their religious doctrines and practices.

STUDY TIP: See this link for more commentary on how Bible editors make editorial choices that change the meaning of scripture.

We must also ask why God used the word Qadash two times. It is impossible to quantify or measure holiness. Holiness has no limit because God is holy and he has no limits. And yet, he accentuates his holiness by repeating qadash. Whenever God repeats himself, he does it to reinforce a truth he has already made. The truth here is that the sabbath day (i.e. season) is very holy. That should alert us to pay close attention to it, to understand it and apply it.

Looking at the Hebrew word zakar which is translated into English as “remember,” we see that it has many more meanings than remember.

• • • • • • • to cause to remember, remind
            • to cause to be remembered, keep in remembrance
            • to mention
            • to record
            • to make a memorial, make remembrance

 

We see that  zakar is also translated with the following words in the NAS Bible: boast 1 time, burns 1 time,  celebrate 1 time,  confess 1 time ,   extol 1 time, make mention 2 times , mention 4 times, mentioned 5 times, mentioning 1time ,  recorder 9 times, remind 1 time, and report 1 time.

What we learn from this investigation of zakar is that zakar is not just something done in the mind as we normally think of remembering. Zakar actually has more of an outreach, or teaching application than an internal, personal application. Thus it is not unreasonable to suggest that Exodus 20:8 could have been written as follows:

Cause others to recognize that the sabbath season is holy holy.

Celebrate the sabbath season as holy holy.

Make mention to others that the sabbath season is holy holy.

Confess to others that the sabbath season is holy holy.

Use of these translations obviously changes the meaning and application of the fourth commandment. It is no longer a command to just remember the sabbath and keep it holy by going to church or synagogue one day a week. Rather, it is a command to tell others that the sabbath season is holy, holy. It is worth repeating. The fourth commandment is not a command to remember to go to church or synagogue one day of the week. It is a command to tell others that the sabbath day (i.e. season) — not  the religious day (i.e. season) represented in the first six days — is the holy season to be observed. Saying holy holy reinforces the idea of perfection in the number seven. The season of religious work is not holy, but the season of resting from religious work is holy.

The Hebrew word yowm, which is translated as day in English, does not mean a literal, twenty-four hour day. Day can mean a single day, but it can also mean yesterday, tomorrow, a year or even a lifetime. It is wrong, therefore, to interpret the six days or the seventh day as unique days of the week. In God’s view, day is a period of time, a season of life — not a literal day. Moreover, because it is the seventh day, it is a season of perfection.

STUDY TIP: See Time: Hours, Days, Weeks and Ages for understanding of how to interpret time in the Bible.

Exodus 20:9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

COMMENTARY: To understand this verse, we must remember that days are not literal, twenty-four hour days. Days are indeterminate seasons/periods of our life.

We must also remember that the command about labor/work does not refer specifically to jobs. God’s references to work are always associated with religious works (i.e. flesh) — not to manual labor that we do to earn money. God’s focus is always on spiritual matters of the heart — not on our physical bodies.

With these facts in mind, this scripture may rightly be rewritten as follows:

For an indeterminate period/season of your life you shall engage in religious work.

This statement recognizes that all people are inclined to be religious. They are born into religious families and live in a world infested by religion. With these kinds of influences, it is impossible to avoid submitting to one kind of religion or another. It may not be a name brand religion, but it can be a personal philosophy or rules on how to conduct your life. If God’s spiritual laws are not written on your heart, you are, by default, religious.

Only people who have clean, pure hearts are devoid of religious beliefs and behaviors. These beliefs and behaviors will control every aspect of your life for the season of six days. This is true for everyone — not just religious people.

Exodus 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant * or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.

COMMENTARY: Everything changes on the seventh day. But, just as the first six days symbolically represent a season/period of being religious, the seventh day represent a season/period in which we are spiritual — not religious. This season/day begins on the day we die to our religious beliefs and behaviors. Symbolically, this happens when we are baptized with water in a baptism of repentance.

STUDY TIP: See BAPTISM AND WASHING IN WATER for understanding of baptism.

See this link for understanding of baptism of repentance.

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

STUDY TIP: See Heaven and Hell for understanding of heaven and hell. Also see this link for understanding of earth.

COMMENTARY: The six days is commonly interpreted as the first six days of creation. Six days is not a literal period of time. It is the term God uses to describe the period of time that people spend practicing Old/First Covenant religion.

See this link for understanding of creation. The seventh day is not a literal day. It is term God uses to describe the time in which people are New Covenant disciples and worship God in spirit and truth.

And here are other scriptures that reinforce the idea of sabbath rest :

Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Exodus 34:21  “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.

To correctly understand these verses, we must look at the meaning of day and rest.

The Hebrew word Nuwach which is translated as rest in English also has several nuanced meanings that can be rightly translated in words other than rest. One of those words is cease.

Since God always speaks in parables, there are serious problems  with literal interpretations of any scripture. This is also true regarding the fourth commandment. What God means by day of rest and what man means are not the same. God’s focus is on spiritual rest, and man’s focus is on physical rest. It is critical, therefore, that people who want to please God should understand the Fourth Command as a parable about spiritual rest.

Changing minds about something as entrenched in religious doctrine as Sunday worship is not easy. Sunday worship is a stronghold of wrong thinking, but God can change minds and hearts in those who can hear his voice.

So what are the problems with literal interpretation of the fourth commandment? Looking at the literal command, taking one day off from work sounds simple and doable for most people in western cultures. But, what about the people who must work all day every day to stay alive? If they don’t work seven days a week, they will probably go hungry. We must ask if God would make a commandment that would cause physical or financial hardship for people?

When we look at the entire commandment in context, we see that there is more to it than taking one day off from work in a week. We see that it mentions family, servants, animals and foreigners. If we are open-minded, we might wonder how a child who does not have a job rests one day a week. We might wonder how a housewife can strictly observe the commandment because she must work every day to care for her family. And what about servants, animals and foreigners? What does it mean that these should not work on the seventh day? We might also wonder how foreigners who are not religious, or practice another religion, should observe the commandment. These are all practical issues for anyone who wants to observe the literal commands without compromise.

For any command God makes, obedience must be possible for everyone — regardless of culture or work habits. If a command is impossible to obey, it would be an unjust, unfair command. God would not make a command that is unjust, unfair, or unworkable for anyone. This is a big clue for us that the literal interpretation of resting from work one day a week is not what God has in mind.

In this series of pages we will show where Jews and Christians have erred in their understanding of the seventh day in general and the Fourth Commandment in particular, and explain their deep, complex meanings. We will begin by stating these two, basic facts:

1. Seventh Day is not a literal day of the calendar week.

2. The number seven and the concept of the seventh day appears throughout scripture. We find it as seven, seventh, seventy,  or seven-fold four hundred and eighty-six times in the Old Testament and seventy-six times in the New Testament. It also appears as multiples of seven such as fourteen, twenty-one, seventy-seven, seventy times seven, seven hundred and seven thousand. From this quick review we clearly see that the number seven has significance far beyond the seventh day of the week. Seven is always used in the Bible to symbolically represent completion or perfection.

 

Of all Biblical symbols, the meaning of seven may be among those that are best understood. Almost everyone in Judaism and Christianity has learned that the number seven has symbolic meaning commonly described as completion and perfection. That is a fair and accurate understanding as far as it goes, but the application of the concept of completion and perfection is where people stumble. For example, how are we to understand seven lambs, seven ears of grain, seven years of famine, seven loaves, seven days, seven clean animals, days, and so on? It is good to know that the number refers to completion and perfection, but that does not mean much if the symbolism of lambs, years, days, animals and days is not understood. Lacking that understanding, we remain confused about what exactly is completed and perfected.

STUDY TIP: In the table below are several Topics featured in this website. Click on the links for understanding. Also, click on scripture examples for more insights about the number seven.

TOPICS	EXAMPLES IN SCRIPTURE WHERE TOPICS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE NUMBER SEVEN
Blood	Seven verses
Nations	Deuteronomy 7:1; Acts 13:17-19
Clean Animals	Genesis 7:1-3
Days	Ninety-two verses
Years	Forty-one verses
Churches	Revelation 1:11
Altars	Four verses
Animal sacrifices	Four verses

 

With this review of the symbolism of “seven” we begin to see hints that there is more to the Fourth Commandment than direction about when to take a day off from physical work and when to gather for religious meetings. Such simplistic instructions fail to satisfy the purpose of all scripture which is to correct us and train us in righteousness. But, just as physical or mental training does not happen without effort, training in righteousness also requires effort. This kind of effort, however, is different from other effort. It is the effort that a disciple/learner invests in study. ***

To get to the depth of the Fourth Commandment, and learn as a true disciple, we must carefully consider all the Biblical clues God has provided because all of God’s words have meaning for us. We conclude, therefore, that God’s use of seven in the above scriptures relates in some way to his use of seven in the Fourth Commandment. It all begins to come into focus when the number seven is combined with the concept of the Sabbath, which is a day. But, we must remember that day in the Bible is not a literal, single day of the week. Day in the fourth commandment is a season, or, in the case of the Seventh Day, it is a day/season of perfection. Furthermore, when the Seventh Day is called a day of rest (i.e. ceasing from work), it must be considered as a day/season of perfect rest/ceasing from work.

Therefore, if we really want to respect the fourth commandment’s reminder to keep the Sabbath holy, we should make a serious effort to understand it.

The Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew/Judaism) is  mentioned often throughout the Bible. There are sixty entries in the KJV of Old/First Covenant Scriptures and fifty-five entries in the KJV of New Covenant scriptures. We might well imagine that it deserves this special attention because of its presence in the list of Ten Commandments as the Fourth Commandment, but once we delve into the spiritual meaning of the Sabbath, we find that it goes way beyond the one commandment. And we find that it is not about physical rest that bodies need after hard work.

Most readers will be surprised to learn that the Sabbath concept is first introduced in Genesis. Here we find the Hebrew word “shabath” interpreted as “rest” eleven times and as “cease” forty-seven times. We conclude, therefore, that Exodus 20:8-11 could have rightly been translated as follows:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you, your sons and daughters, your servants, your animals and foreigner residing in your towns shall cease working. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he ceased working on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Obviously, translating the Hebrew word shabbat you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your townsas cease instead of rest changes the interpretation of the scripture immensly.

We strongly recommend reading these pages before continuing with the current discussion of the Fourth Commandment because they provide necessary context.

In the creation story we find that the seventh day is the culmination of a series of symbolic, non-literal days in which God re-creates man from an Old/First Covenant religionist (i.e. earth) to a New Covenant disciple. By working with man as a potter works with clay, God transformed Adam into his spiritual image. In that restorative process, Adam’s heart is changed from evil, impure to a clean, pure home for God.

AUTHORS’ NOTE: In the above paragraph we are reporting the short-hand summary of what we have written Land and Earth and in Cities, Kingdoms and Nations.

The next important context for understanding the Fourth Commandment is found in God’s commands regarding manna:

Exodus 16: They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your murmurings against the LORD. For what are we, that you murmur against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your murmurings which you murmur against him–what are we? Your murmurings are not against us but against the LORD.”

9 And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your murmurings.'” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 And the LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'” 13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning dew lay round about the camp. 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather of it, every man of you, as much as he can eat; you shall take an omer apiece, according to the number of the persons whom each of you has in his tent.'” 17 And the people of Israel did so; they gathered, some more, some less. 18 But when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to what he could eat.

19 And Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it till the morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers apiece; and when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 he said to them, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay by to be kept till the morning.'” 24 So they laid it by till the morning, as Moses bade them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is a sabbath, there will be none.”

27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath, therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days; remain every man of you in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony, to be kept. 35 And the people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna, till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.)

COMMENTARY: There are two kinds of Manna. Common manna is the kind of manna mentioned in the story of Israel in the wilderness.. It represents the literal words of the written Bible. Work is necessary to obtain this kind of manna, and it spoils quickly. Hidden manna symbolizes  the word of God spoken to the hearts of New Covenant disciples. It does not spoil.

While in the wilderness, Israel was busy, working to consume (i.e. eat) God’s words. The same is true for Christians. That changes, however, when theyenter the Promised Land. When they enter the Promised Land, they no longer have to work gathering God’s words. In the Promised Land, they hear God’s voice in their hearts according to the terms of the New Covenant. For six days (i.e. a symbolic period of time that is different for each individual, religious people work hard at practicing religion with the hope of hearing God speak. When they cross over into the Promised Land, however, the enter the Seventh Day/Sabbath season of their life in which they do no more religious work (i.e. they are at rest).

Entering into the Promised Land symbolizes coming into the Sabbath rest. While they were traveling in the wilderness, they worked for their manna by picking it up everyday. The omer of manna in a jar place before the Lord symbolizes the law written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples. Thus when they entered the Promised Land it was no longer necessary for them to pick up manna everyday because they had an eternal supply of  Gods’ word stored up in their hearts.

See  Bread, Food and Wine for more about manna.