The Objectives, Standards, Conditions, Customs, and Traditions of Sabbath
It can be argued that the first step of a church-going Christian to the Messianic movement is the transition from Sunday to Sabbath. That first step is simple, but the steps that follow are confusing and difficult for most. How do we keep the Sabbath? How do we “remember to keep the Sabbath holy?” What can I do and not do on the Sabbath day?
Every commandment of God has an Objective. God wants us to do something or not to do something. Frequently, He will set a Standard for keeping the commandment. In other words, to what level the commandment is to be kept. Sometimes there are Conditions to the Commandment. This could include a specific location or a specific time. Then there are Customs in keeping the commandment. Customs are not required by God, but Customs will often come with others who keep the commandment. Finally, there may be Traditions with the commandment, based on how it has been obeyed in the past. Traditions are not required by God. They are the path last traveled by those keeping the commandment.
The Commandment of Sabbath has a clear objective, and there are a couple of standards and conditions that apply. The customs and traditions are numerous. But all of these do require some instruction. Trying to keep the Sabbath without instruction is like wearing shoes for the first time—there is a right and left shoe, and the laces are tied in a specific way.
Religious men sometimes get confused as to what is required by God and will replace the objective, standards, and conditions for their customs and traditions. The Torah teaches us how to make good judgments, and it is in keeping the commandments that we develop those judgment skills.
Yeshua addressed these issues when He taught the commandments. He stated that some men prefer the precepts and traditions of men to the actual commandments. Moses warned us not to add to, nor take away from, the commandments. He was talking about the objectives, standards, and conditions of the commandments.
Sabbath is one of the first commandments given to mankind. It came with the creation. It was kept by the patriarchs and restated at Mount Sinai. It serves as a building block for God’s Appointed Times and carries a prophetic message for the Kingdom.
In this article, I will review the objective, standards, and conditions of the Commandment of Sabbath. I will also touch on the customs and traditions associated with the Commandment.
Let us begin by capturing Scriptures that speak to the Sabbath and then seek to understand the objective, standards, conditions, customs, and traditions so that we can obey with knowledge and understanding.
And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Genesis 2:1–3
I do not believe God needed to rest, but He defined the Sabbath as separate (holy) from the other days to prove He is the Creator. Sabbath is God’s easement on the world and all of mankind.
What is an easement? An easement is a person’s right to grant a limited use of their property. God has granted mankind a limited right to live and use His world, while He maintains the ownership of that world. A common easement for a man’s property would be a road through his property for the neighbor to access their property.
By keeping the Sabbath, you are acknowledging and proclaiming …
The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who live in it.
Psalms 24:1
God’s example of resting from His labors of Creation is the basic commandment for us—ceasing (resting) from our labors. Whatever labor we have been doing for six days, we are to cease from those labors on the Sabbath.
Sabbath was given before the Law of Moses; it was given for all of mankind at the Creation. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and others kept the Sabbath. The Law, which came by Moses, simply reminds us to “Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.” The idea that Sabbath was only for Israel or the Jews is blatantly false; it was given to all mankind.
Anyone saying that Sabbath is only for Israel or the Jews is adding a standard and condition that God did not give. The standard for keeping the Sabbath is that all people are to do it.
When does the Sabbath begin and end? This was explained at the Creation as well. It is on the seventh day of the week. It is not on any day of our choosing. That is adding to the Commandment.
Each day of Creation was from “evening to evening.” The day begins at evening. Therefore, as the sixth day of the week concludes and evening begins, Sabbath begins that evening and concludes at the evening of the seventh day. The customs and traditions of the start and conclusion of Sabbath are “Kiddush” and “Havdalah.” Lighting candles and offering blessings is not a commandment of Sabbath; it is the custom and tradition.
Many observe the beginning of Sabbath at the setting of the Sun on Friday evenings. While that seems natural, with the rotation of the earth and the cycle of the Sun, it presents an issue for the latitudes at the North and South poles if they are using sunset to determine the start and end of Sabbath. Generally, daylight is longer than nighttime in the summer and the opposite in winter for the Northern Hemisphere.
Rather than beginning Sabbath each week at a different time based on the setting of the Sun, which is a custom, it is much simpler to begin every Sabbath, regardless of what latitude and season, by recognizing the evening hour. Most people would agree that the evening hours are between 5 pm and 9 pm. In the winter, darkness comes prior to 6 pm, and in the summer, darkness comes well after 6 pm. The Scripture said from “evening to evening,” not from sundown to sundown. This is the standard the Scripture sets. It did not say that the Sun must set.
Sabbath begins at evening on the sixth day (Friday) and continues until evening of the seventh day (Saturday). Otherwise, you will need to set up an observatory of sorts to track sunrises and sunsets throughout the year, with every Sabbath beginning and concluding at different times of each occurrence. Sabbath is simple to keep; it is not to be complicated. It is for our benefit, and we should always remember that.
The next reference to the Sabbath comes from the gathering of manna in the wilderness for the children of Israel. Does that mean that Noah, Abraham, or the Fathers did not keep Sabbath? No. It is assumed that they did, but the Scripture does not specifically mention it. It is not necessary. God did not introduce the Sabbath to the children of Israel; they already knew about it. But the gift of manna interfaced with the Sabbath, and additional instructions were needed.
Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD meant: Tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not stink nor was there a maggot in it. Then Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.” See, the LORD has given you the Sabbath; for that reason He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain, everyone, in his place; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.”
Exodus 16:23–29
Again, the first instruction is that we are to observe the Sabbath, make it holy, and separate from the rest of the week. Observing the Sabbath is done both in the home and in the community. In the home, as the Sabbath begins, many homes observe the custom of Kiddush (meaning holy) by lighting Sabbath candles, blessing God with a cup of wine, and thanking God for daily bread. The Sabbath evening meal is a joyous affair, including the father offering his blessings upon his wife and children. There are also songs and singing.
In the community, Sabbath is observed by a holy convocation (assembly) of Sabbath keepers. The standard for this holy convocation is both in the home and in the community. This step is the basic building block for all of God’s Appointed Times (Moedim), from Passover through Tabernacles. This is one of the standards for the Sabbath. The idea of keeping a personal Sabbath alone is not according to the standards for Sabbath.
Additionally, to keep the Sabbath in the home and community requires preparation. The children of Israel were told to gather the manna for the Sabbath on the day before. The manna came up for them to gather like the dew in the morning. They needed to gather as much or as little as was needed for their family. On the sixth day, they gathered for two days. They then prepared the manna. Apparently, it did not spoil and was still good for consuming on the Sabbath. This is an example of a condition for Sabbath. They gathered manna in the wilderness; we do not gather manna for Sabbath because God discontinued the manna.
If God ever decides to give us manna again, it will become part of how we keep the Sabbath.
Does this mean that we are not to do food preparation on Sabbath? No, it just doesn’t say that you can’t.
Let us examine the Sabbath further. We have a statement about “remaining in your place” on the Sabbath day. Many believe this is a prohibition of traveling on the Sabbath day. Before I explain how this is observed throughout history, let me say that the “remain in your place” comes on the heels of “do not go looking for manna on the Sabbath day.”
As a customary way of remaining in your place, many Jews limited travel on the Sabbath. In the days of Yeshua, three-fifths of a mile was considered a Sabbath day’s journey. Jerusalem is an up-and-down journey to go anywhere, and a man would begin to labor (break a sweat) after that distance. The intent was not to labor or work on the Sabbath. This prohibition also extended to your animals that you would use for travel, such as a horse or donkey.
But here is the real question to answer about travel for the Sabbath. What is defined as “your place”?
When the children of Israel were given this instruction, they were in a camping and mobile environment. They camped by tribes and used to remain in their tribal place. When they were camped, did they stay in their campsite only, or did they move about in their tribal area? Still further, did they also walk to the Tabernacle that was in the middle of the camp for all of the tribes?
For most people who keep the Sabbath, they either remain at their homes, travel to congregations, and/or travel to friends or other family.
Here is another custom used by some. There are three meals in a day. If you eat two meals in a fixed place, have you remained in your place? This might be a way of having some travel mixed with keeping the Sabbath. For example, I get up and eat breakfast and lunch at home, then get in my car and travel to Grandma’s house in the next town. Did I remain in my place for Sabbath? Or consider this: I eat breakfast at home, have lunch at congregation, and then go to Grandma’s for dinner. Have I “remained in my place” for the Sabbath? What if the congregation I attend is in another town, not the town I live in?
Rather than stipulate a standard for all, it strikes me that I can understand the need not to travel on Sabbath. Travel can be fatiguing.
In the days of Yeshua, a journey in and around the city was about as much traveling as one could do without it being laborious.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Acts 1:12
The question of travel then is connected to your definition of “your place.” Let us remember that Paul instructed us to not let any man be our judge of what we can and cannot do on Sabbath or how we observe it.
Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day— things which are a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Messiah.
Colossians 2:16–17
Remember, Sabbath is Holy and a shadow of the kingdom to come.
Let us examine the additional references about the Sabbath in the Torah.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus 20:8–11
This reference addresses the condition of others who work for you. The standard of not working is to be applied equally to those who work for you. You are not to compel your subordinates to work on the Sabbath for you. This includes your wife, children, nannies, butler, maid, and extended family members. It also includes your employees if you have a business. Remember, you shut your business down for Sabbath so you could cease from your labors.
There is a Jewish custom that permits you to use a “Sabbath Goyim,” a Gentile, to do something for you on the Sabbath. It is a way to circumvent the objective and is not a permissible condition. Remember, the Commandment is for all persons in the world.
Consider this: Most businesses are open on the Sabbath day in our communities. Should we patronize them? My gardener wants to cut my grass on Saturday. Should I permit him? What if I pay him later or prepay him?
Here is the standard. We are not to compel, expect, or permit others to labor on the Sabbath for our benefit. This is not complicated. The objective is restated again.
For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as the stranger residing with you, may refresh themselves.
Exodus 23:12
Patronizing a business (expending money) requires others to work. I have no say over the business, but I can clearly choose not to force anyone to work by patronizing the business.
Carrying out any kind of business, signing deals, seeking a bargain, and window shopping are all efforts to circumvent the standard of Sabbath. Do your business on the other six days. Wait until the evening of Saturday on the seventh day of the week.
For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant. It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.
Exodus 31:15–17
This passage seems like a restatement of the Commandment, but adds the punishment of death. This punishment is for a person who willfully and deliberately disobeys any commandment. It is not for the person stumbling to keep the Sabbath. Furthermore, Sabbath is explained as a part of our relationship with God. It is a sign between any people who keep the Sabbath and God.
Yeshua the Messiah is the King of Israel and the Lord of the Sabbath. When we keep the Sabbath, we are acknowledging our relationship to our Messiah. Those who claim to have a relationship with God and the Messiah, yet do not keep the Sabbath, are only fooling themselves. The Apostle John spoke directly to that mistake.
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, to walk just as He walked.
1 John 2:3–6
This is a very difficult dilemma for the average Christian. They have placed their hope and faith in the Messiah, but their teachers have directed them to break the Commandment of Sabbath. How do they reconcile this dilemma? For most, they hold to their teachers and to the crowd of other believers. When it comes to choices, they choose the precepts of men over the Commandments of God. This next passage deals with additional conditions.
You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.
Exodus 34:21
Any farmer will tell you that you cannot waste time in working your fields. It is serious work and you contend with the weather, if the weather permits you to work. But God has set a condition for Sabbath for the farmer. He is to keep the Sabbath, and it is to be a higher priority than the weather and his field.
What about other professions? Let us say you work in a job that requires you to work on Sabbath. I have been asked this question many times. First, ask God to give you another job so you can keep the Sabbath. This is a tremendous trust question for us. God has pledged to help us with our needs. An income to provide for your family is a need. Let God prove Himself to you.
For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.
Exodus 35:2–3
This passage adds another condition. “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings” has been expanded by the Jews to almost unbelievable levels. Let us start with the basics. When this commandment was given, Israel was in a camping environment. Having fire in the camp was essential for cooking and maintaining the camp at night. To start a fire was a laborious endeavor. First, you had to gather fuel, prepare the kindling, and then get the fire started. Those who go recreational camping know about this very well. So what is the standard?
Do not build a campfire on Sabbath. You can start on the day before and keep it going (adding fuel), but do not KINDLE a fire on Sabbath.
At my house (dwelling), I enjoy my grill for cooking outside. I do not kindle my grill on Sabbath; I light it before the Sabbath begins. I do the same when camping. With regard to my stove and oven inside my house, I do not kindle them. I simply turn them on and off. There is nothing laborious about that.
There are many more restrictions associated with “kindling” held by the Orthodox Jewish community. They define “kindling” as “changing a state of matter and/or energy.” For example, they will not get on an elevator and push a button for a different floor. They will not tear off a portion of toilet paper from the roll. Once religious men start telling others what to do and what not to do, the list never ends. This condition for Sabbath is not complicated. Do not give authority to men to add to it.
For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:3
No work is to be done at your dwelling as well. Many will take a day off from their job to do things around the house. Sabbath is not to be used for you to do odd jobs around the house. Sabbath is not when you cut the grass, or paint, or repair things at your house.
Sabbath is also extended to the land that you live on besides your dwelling. This is of particular importance to a herdsman or a farmer.
Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am going to give you, then the land shall have a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its produce, but during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. You shall not reap your harvest’s aftergrowth, and you shall not gather your grapes of untrimmed vines; the land shall have a sabbatical year. All of you shall have the Sabbath produce of the land as food; for yourself, your male and female slaves, and your hired worker and your foreign resident, those who live as strangers among you. Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its produce to eat.
Leviticus 25:2–7
Sabbath is not just a weekly thing. The Commandment of Sabbath extends to years as well.
Then the land will restore its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and restore its Sabbaths.
Leviticus 26:34
The book of Deuteronomy is called the “repetition of the Law” and it repeats the Commandments of Sabbath as given in the earlier books of Moses. Let us move on to what the Prophets have to say and teach about Sabbath. There are many references made by them calling on Israel to walk again before the Lord correctly. Many times, it begins with them renewing their observance of Sabbath.
Blessed is a man who does this, And a son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Isaish 56:2
Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To attend to His service and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, And holds firmly to My covenant;
Isaiah 56:6
It is noteworthy that Sabbath was to be observed by Gentiles, not just the native-born of Israel. Sabbath was an observance for all who believed in the God of Israel, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
If, because of the Sabbath, you restrain your foot From doing as you wish on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a pleasure, and the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 58:13–14
Isaiah strongly connects the Sabbath commandment with future blessings. Obedience produces blessings; Sabbath is at the forefront of that spiritual equation.
This is what the LORD says: “Take care for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your forefathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks so as not to listen or accept discipline. But it will come about, if you give your attention to Me,” declares the LORD, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,
Jeremiah 17:21–24
Jeremiah warned Israel that failing to keep the Sabbath would result in captivity and being removed from the Promised Land. When judgment came upon Israel, they went into Babylonian Captivity for seventy years, the same number of seventy Sabbatical years they failed to keep upon entering the land. God judged them based on their observance of the Sabbatical years.
When Yeshua went about His ministry of healing and teaching, Sabbath, and how the religious Jews of His day observed it, became a controversy. The Scribes and Pharisees had set their standards for the Sabbath. Their customs and traditions began to interfere with the basic objective of resting on the Sabbath. Yeshua used this controversy to “free” the people so they could keep the Sabbath as God gave it. He did not violate the Sabbath; He showed how to keep it better. One of those better ways was to help others and “love your neighbor.”
At that time Yeshua went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. Now when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath!”
Matthew 12:1–2
The Pharisees attempted to show that Yeshua was violating the Sabbath, claiming that Moses taught not to gather manna on the Sabbath. But Yeshua knew that God had also said that the corners of the field were not to be harvested; they were for the traveler, the widow, and the orphan. He also reminded them that the Priests labor in the Temple on the Sabbath day.
Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, and yet are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.
Matthew 12:5–8
This final statement, declaring Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath, goes even further than all of the dos and don’ts of religious men. Did He then negate the keeping of Sabbath and its standards? Not at all. It was Yeshua’s custom to obey the commandment and keep the Sabbath.
And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.
Luke 4:16
When Yeshua was in Jerusalem, there was an occasion to heal a man on the Sabbath day.
Immediately, the man became well, picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was a Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Yeshua because He was doing these things on a Sabbath.
John 5:9–11,16
Healing a man could be ignored by the religious men, but healing on the Sabbath could not be ignored by them.
Now it was a Sabbath on the day that Yeshua made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied mud to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore. some of the Pharisees were saying, “This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was dissension among them.
John 9:14–16
This is another healing that brought out even more controversy. Yeshua used dirt (earth) to make the mud. Yeshua is the Creator; He is the one who made the dirt to begin with. This man was born blind. For him to see, Yeshua had to create his eyes. He did so, showing that He was the Creator! But we should take further note. God rested on Sabbath after He created the Heavens and the Earth.
Why did Yeshua do this on the Sabbath day? Because the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. That Sabbath was the appointed time for this man to be given sight by God to show forth the glory of God.
After the resurrection of Yeshua, the disciples proceeded to share the testimony of Him being our Savior. Many came to faith, and the question arose again. Should the Gentile believers keep the Sabbath and the other commandments? They convened a meeting in Jerusalem involving Peter, Paul and James. The conclusion was a definite “Yes.”
James concluded that the Gentiles should congregate on the Sabbath and learn the other commandments on that day.
For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.
Acts 15:21
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Acts 1:12
Let us, therefore, conclude what the objective of the Commandment of Sabbath is: rest and cease from your weekly labors.
What are the standards for the Commandment?
Not only should you cease from working your normal work, you should not compel others to work either. You should also rest your animals that work with you. You should not make business decisions, including the purchasing or selling of items. You should not travel, causing fatigue, but instead relax in your own place. You should not do a laborious domestic task at your place, such as collecting and processing firewood. You should join with your like-minded brethren to learn the other commandments of God and remember Him as Creator, Redeemer, and Savior.
It is not that difficult. If, suddenly, you are confronted with an emergency, you should do what is necessary to maintain life.
Above all, you should be ready to do good on a Sabbath day!
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.
Deuteronomy 30:19–20
Keeping the Sabbath is learning how to delight in the Lord and live for a long time here on His good Earth. Shabbat Shalom!
Article written by Monte Judah
Scripture references from NASB95
