Sabbath and the number 7

Sabbath

How can Sabbath be a person?

Sabbath rest or Shabbat Shalom in Hebrew, is freedom from slavery and oppression, living in Gods presence and provision.

Sabbath is pointing us to Jesus, we will explore how, because Sabbath is Jesus!

Sabbath means – to cease from or stop.

The Hebrew word for rest is nuach, which is also Noahs name, but often people have used it for the word meaning of Shabbat. But that is not what Sabbath means.

Life in Eden – Eden means: Delight – was also work, a work God had assigned mankind, but a work in a mode of being in rest. Not forceful nor oppressed.

God made a diffence with day 7, even He stopped and rested from his work of Creation.

Shabbat, however, means to pause or to settle, to sit, to simply stop. It is a labour free day, a day of Rest! Where we join in the Garden Eden made for us and with God.

Sabbath rest = The promised land that the bible is talking about and that we are waiting for.

From the first page of the Bible to the last page, Sabbath is beautifully woven through stories, symbols and numbers. It is full of patterns and messages of the number 7 that the authors are trying to tell us through them.

Adam and Eve was exciled from Eden and in this article we see how God is going to restore this day and make a way for us to come back into the Garden of Eden.

Prepare yourself for an exciting journey, with a little patience and time to read, the puzzle will be more clear and the Sabbath that God has created, will take on a whole new meaning. Enjoy the day and this article 🙂

Let’s go

Sabbath and exile

When Adam and Eve sinned and are exiled from the garden of Eden, we get a picture of what life is like outside Gods presence.

God’s sabbath rest is about God’s presence, a place where heaven and earth is united. His presence filling our space, here in our world – earth. Creation is seen as a temple – a house – being made, which is filled with God’s presence on the 7th day called Sabbath. Think of the Tabernacle or the Temple in the Bible, a place where we can meet with God and his holy presence.

The tabernacle and temple is a small mini version of what the garden of Eden is. It is even decorated like a garden inside.

Sabbath day is where God and men meet. On the 7th day of creation, God joins Himself and His eternal presence with His creation.

After the exile from the garden, man’s new reality outside the garden is without the rest that God had for his creation.

So now the question is how will Eden and the Sabbath be restored again.

God promises, right after Adam and Eve are found in their sin, that a Messiah, a “savior” will come and restore everything.

From Exile to freedom

From Slavery to Kingship, a new beginning.

It is perhaps no surprise that the exodus story from Egypt is compared to the exile from the Garden of Eden.

The evil powers (Egypt) have oppressed God’s people (Israel) in a state of destruction through slave labor, which is the opposite of rest. (Israel) God’s people must now pass through the waters of death and pass through waters to the new life (The Promised Land, which is a picture of the Sabbath).

Passover occurs in the biblical first month ( Also a new year ) on the 14th day (7 x 2) and is followed by a 7 day feast of unleavened bread on the 15th to the 21st which then begins with a high Sabbath (rest day).

So Passover and the exodus from Egypt points to a new beginning with God’s people, towards a new creation story. A people of slaves who are taken out of a world of exile, death and darkness and led through the Dead Sea going towards a new Garden of Eden, called the Promised Land.

God brought Israel out of Egypt to place them in the land He had promised them. God’s desire is for His people to live in His rest with Him!

The unleavened bread feast of Passover that lasts for 7 days is meant to show the people that their freedom requires them to eat only what God provides for them, instead of trying to secure their own sustenance. This new freedom required God’s people to acquire some new habits.

It is therefore also connected with the story of the manna they got in the desert, which did not behave like normal food, there was always more than plenty, no matter how much they gathered. (A pattern of a work at rest). When you are in Gods presence He will provide!

God said in Genesis 1 that what He created in the 6 days was good, but on the 7th day, He said very good, therefore a double portion on the 7th day. In this way, the Israelites experienced taking part in a picture of what the Sabbath day is, where God provides for them.

Sabbath and the cycle of 7

God gives his people 7 feasts they must remember and keep every year.

7 feasts
On the 1st and 7th party, there is a 7-day week without work.
All feasts are in months 1-7
The 7 feasts tell a big story together, they all take part in the big picture of the meaning of the original Sabbath day, our king and redeemer Jesus Christ.

Every 7th day – is the Sabbath

Every 7th month – is the month of Atonement and Sabbath day.

Every 7th year – Liberation from debt and slavery (Both the field, animals and people must have a year of rest and all debts are forgiven and slaves are set free). A year of liberation in Hebrew a Shmita = Release also called Shevi’it (שביעית), meaning “seventh

It is a year of rest for the land, when planting and harvesting are forbidden, and debts are canceled.

Every 7 x 7 year is The Year of Yovel / Jubilee. A year of liberation and restoration.

“yovel” (יובל) means “jubilee” and also “ram’s horn,”

The term is also the Hebrew word for a trumpet or a stream of water, but its primary biblical and cultural meaning is tied to the jubilee year’s rituals of freeing slaves and returning land.

Jubilee is like a super Sabbath, it is the year when all things are restored. A year were everyone is to return to their estate and family. It proclaims that everything land and people belongs to God!

Isaiah talks about this year here Is 61:1-3

The land “goes out” of slavery and returns to its original owners. The people and the country belong to God.

Slaves “go out” from slavery and return to freedom.

The year of jubilee points towards a restoration of the Garden of Eden and the conditions that God intended. The year of jubilee is a reality of freedom from slavery, debt and oppression.

Jubilee is the Sabbath of Sabbaths

Tradition says that if a tribe’s land and heritage is sold, it is returned on a jubilee year. Or if a person has gone into debt and become a slave, that person is set free in the year of jubilee.

Because of Israel who had failed to follow the Torah and had therefore fallen into debt to the Lord and become slaves to all sorts of powers that had taken the land of their forefathers, it all looked very impossible and a year of jubilee looked completely impossible when the land no longer belonged to them.

Observing the Sabbath reminds us of a divine future, as well as a divine past, and is a foretaste of an expected future when Jesus will return and all will be restored again. A new creation.

The Sabbath commandment

The Sabbath is a symbol of man's salvation and freedom, free from all captivity, the oppression of slavery.

3 times the Sabbath is mentioned as a commandment, let’s see what the connections are:

I encourage you to look up the bibleverses.

Exodus 20: 8-11

For 6 days they may work, but on the 7th day it is the Sabbath of the Lord without work.

Leviticus 23:3

Remember on the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Deuteronomy 5:12

Their slaves must rest like them, because they must remember that they themselves were slaves in Egypt and that God freed them from it. Here we see a reminder that the Sabbath day is free from slavery.

The Lord has blessed the Sabbath day.

The Sabbath day is a commandment.

Keeping the Sabbath day is a special sign between Israel and the Lord which is connected with the fact that He sanctified Israel (God’s people) by saving them from slavery in Egypt. Israel must keep the Sabbath to remember how God intervened, and is their Lord who sanctifies them. A weekly little passover day. Exodus 31:12-13

The number 7

Number 7 in the Hebrew scriptures means that something is complete, in fact 7 in Hebrew is written with the same Hebrew letters as fullness and complete, that something is perfect.

A biblical month consists of 29.5 days, so each month consists of 4 x 7,3 days, but a Sabbath day is not dependent on the cycle of the moon, as in the Jewish calendar, it has its own pattern and stands outside of time. (It is always every 7th day).

The months from 1 to 12 and the days of the week from 1 to 7 are in Hebrew numbers and not names like ours, with the exception of the 7th day which is called Sabbath.

There are 12 months in the year as we know it – from January to December, but the names you may have heard referred to in the Jewish calendar is of Babylonian and Persian descent, so for example in the Bible in the Hebrew language it says: Month 1 and Day 1. Month 2 and day 2 and so on. That is what Gods calls the months in the Bible, by what we also know as numbers.

Numbers in the Hebrew language are different from ours, because they are written with letters, they also have meanings like:

An example is; The lamb in the Book of Revelation that has 7 eyes, we would perhaps take that literally, whereas if you are used to the mindset that 7 also means the same as complete, you could understand it as, the lamb has complete and perfect insight.

When it says that there were 70 of Jacob’s family that came into the land of Goshen, it means the same thing as saying that his whole complete family came into the land.

Unlike the other days in the creation story, the 7th day is only mentioned, there is no mention of evening and day. The understanding is, that it has no end, a day that has no end. It points to what is to come, The new creation day, spoken about in revelation.

Joshua, David and Solomon

A land of rest and Gods presence

The promised land God provides, it is a land of rest in Canaan.

In the book of Joshua we see that God’s people finally enters the promised land, so let’s look at how the Sabbath theme runs through this part of the story.The week before they go into battle against Jericho, the Israelites celebrate Passover.

Joshua 5:10-12

The fact that Israel is going into the promised land is again a new exodus from Egypt. They go through the Jordan River, where the water must first be separated and land comes into view, so that they can walk on their way to the promised land.

The manna they were used to getting in the desert stops as soon as they eat the food of the promised land. So from manna to grain means an end to that period in the desert and a new time to when the land is fertile and the people multiply.

Notice Joshua 6:2-5 and 12:15-20, in that story there is:

7 priests,
Who carries 7 trumpets of ram’s horns before the ark of the covenant
They had to walk 6 times around and then on the 7th day march 7 times around.

David and Solomon

Many hundreds of years after they enter the Promised Land, the Monarchy of Israel begins. The people want a king who can help them deliver them from their enemies and give them rest. King David achieved that. 2 Samuel 7: 1-13

David’s son will be the next king, Solomon brings rest and peace and builds the temple. 1 Kings 5:1-5

It takes Solomon:

7 years to build the temple
The temple is dedicated in the 7th month (Sabbath month) in the feast of Sukkot( Feast of tabernacles)
which lasts for 7 days.
Solomon gives a speech with 7 requests in the middle in the form of a prayer. 1 Kings 8

Exile or Rest

Freedom from powers, both human and spiritual.

After many years of disobedience to the covenant, Israel’s fate is clear – exile from the land.

Israel’s prophets warns of the judgment of destruction, but leave them with a hope in the future of a restoration.

Jeremiah gives a clear message about the time Israel will go into exile.

The whole land will be in destruction and terror and the whole nation will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. ( 7 x 10 )

When the 70 years are over, the king of Babylon and his nation will be punished by the Lord for their sin. Jer 25: 11-12 and 29: 10-14

We are approaching the new testament, hang in there a little longer 🙂

Leviticus 26: 34-35 and 43 tells that because the people have not observed the sabbaths they were commanded to do, the land of Israel must now be allowed to have its sabbath rest and therefore the people came into exile. The 70 years in exile was for the 70 non-observed sabbatical years they were to make up for.

The book of Daniel 9 tells of 70 x 7 = 490 years, (which may have many interpretations), the time that will pass until the anointed king will come and restore Jerusalem and there is atonement for sin. He will come and give us justice and seal all the prophecies and visions that have been given.

Like Jeremiah and indeed Ezekiel, Isaiah is another prophet called by God to give Israel a message. Isaiah several times gives a message about hope and the restoration of Eden’s ideal rest.

For example in Isaiah 11.1-10: A new garden of Eden and the resting place of God and his people.

In Isaiah 61:1-2 and chapter 11 He gives us a hint that the hope we are waiting for is a person:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring good news to the weak and to restore the brokenhearted.

to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those in chains.

to proclaim the year of grace/jubilee from the Lord, but he will also punish the disobedient.

He will comfort those who mourn.

All this shows a restoration of all that Israel hopes for and will change their state of exile to rest. There are several things the anointed one Messiah is called to do.

Messiah is to release people from bondage.

Slavery and captivity are the main image of oppression and exile.

Israel’s exile was seen as a form of debt / slavery – like a slave they had to pay of their debt.

This is jubilee language from Leviticus 25:10; You must proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants.

Jesus and the Sabbath

Jesus is the sabbath

Then we finally come to the New Testament. With all the info we’ve looked at so far, we can really see the big picture of the puzzle soon.

The captives need freedom!

At the end of the Old Testament, we are left with a waiting period for the anointed Messiah, who will save and free Israel? As soon as Jesus comes on the scene, he makes it totally clear that he is the awaited Messiah. Just check this out!

Jesus Starts on a Sabbath!

In Luke 4,16-21 Jesus comes to Nazareth, enters a synagogue on a Sabbath, and reads to them Isaiah 61.

Luke 4:18-22

The spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because He has anointed me.

He has sent me

to bring good news to the helpless,

to proclaim the release of prisoners

and sight to the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim a year of grace/ jubilee from the Lord.

In proclaiming this scripture, Jesus says in v 21; Today this scripture is fulfilled.

He is saying to them that he is the year of jubilee and what it is all about. That he has come to fulfill Isaiah 61, and start the year of jubilee for God’s people, a time when their freedom from captivity and oppression will be permanent.

So jubilee is a picture of what a person/Jesus is for us today!

Then Jesus starts and the agenda is set, He goes about healing and teaching.

For Jesus, that was exactly what the meaning of the Sabbath was, an invasion of God’s kingdom here on earth as in heaven. Gods presence with us ( Immanuel )

Here we get a picture through Jesus of what God’s kingdom is!

Jesus saves lives and heals on a Sabbath, with the intention of showing what the Sabbath means and is!

Sabbath is about release and freedom from slavery! Now it makes sense why Jesus healed and restored on Sabbath, he came to show what Sabbath is really about, and that he is the true meaning of that day!

When you come to read the Gospels again, I hope the word Sabbath will jump out of the text and be noticed and give a much deeper insight and meaning to the stories.

A world of powers that have bound us in captivity, both physically and spiritually. Jesus sets us free from these powers. Like Pharaoh in Egypt, a picture of power that binds and oppresses God’s people in a condition of slavery, chains but God sets his people free from that power.

We are no longer slaves to anything, but as God sent his people out of Pharaoh’s Egypt, with health and wealth, so Jesus sets free us today. We are children of God, rich in his inheritance!

Try to take some time and read the stories in Luke 4-9 where Jesus heals and sets free, it will be a whole new experience when the words in the story like chains, captivity, freedom, forgiveness, etc. are used.

Let’s just take one more from Luke 13. – notice it is used, “released from your sickness”, Satan has kept her bound for 18 years and she is released from this chain on the Sabbath.

Let’s look at Luke 5-8 where Sickness, chains, captivity and oppression as evil powers keep people in bondage, become forgiveness, healing and freedom, the Sabbath has come.

Leprosy is cleansed, people forgiven and set free, lame walk – get up and walk – free from slavery, free to walk!
Jesus gives food/bread of life the real manna on a Sabbath, the Son of Man is Lord over the Sabbath!
Withered hand healed
All who are tormented by unclean spirits and diseases are healed, they try to touch Jesus, then a power emanates from him and he heals everyone!
Officer who was dying – healed
Widow’s son raised from the dead, Arise!
The answer Jesus gives to John the Baptist in Luke 7 that he is the one they are waiting for, Jesus answers them; Go and tell what you have seen and heard, that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor, and blessed is the one who is not offended
Legion, whom they tried to bind with chains and shackles, was set free!
Bleeding cured
Jairus’ daughter dead, but Jesus Says; Fear not, only believe, and she will be saved! (Rescued) – Girl, get up!
There are many more stories, but just check Luke 13:16 and the language used about a crooked woman being healed on the Sabbath.

I will give you rest, now come through a person.

Following the law now means following a person!

Matthew shows that Jesus yoke is not a new dedication to a new Torah law, but a dedication to a person who is the true completion and fulfiller of the law and the prophets.

Jesus “translates” for us what the law means, when you read the Torah (the 5 books of Moses), the law is also changed in relation to the situation the Israelites were in, and we need daily wisdom in all the situations we encounter daily.

Jesus says – come to me! – Take my yoke! – Learn from me! – I will give you rest!

Jesus challenges the scribes. Notice that Jesus did not come to throw away the Sabbath, but to fulfill it, he came to show us the true meaning of sabbath.

The scribes had a list of laws of what not to do on a Sabbath, that was made by Rabbis. They wanted to make it practical and simple for everyone to understand the dos and don’ts of a Sabbath, to be sure not to break the law. They were made to be very specific about what was not allowed on a sabbath and through that they also lost the whole point of the sabbath, because then they focused more on the laws they had made themselves than the message of the sabbath.

Jesus shows us that the purpose of the Sabbath is about Gods grace and not the law. It points to the One who was spoken of and promised through all the prophets of Israel, the One who would restore the work of creation. The Messiah and his Kingdom.

When Jesus feeds the 4,000 and 5,000, it is a Sabbath picture, everyone gets full and there is abundance.

He is the manna and the new prophet spoken of, therefore the scribes are also upset by this proclamation that it should be Jesus.

In the Story of the 4000 who ate and were filled, it is described that there are:

7 loaves and some small fish.

7 baskets left

In the Story of the 5000 who ate and were filled, it is described that there are:

5 bread and 2 fish = 7

12 baskets left

The Gospel of John has a lot of 7, where both stories and days are in 7, there are 7 signs where Jesus shows who he is.

Jesus also goes through 4 of the Jewish festivals where he shows that he is the fulfillment of the true reality they point to.

What does Paul say about sabbath?

If we had to summarize Jesus’ message in one sentence, we would say; The kingdom of God is here!

The coming of God’s kingdom through Jesus means that the ultimate 7th day rest has come in a person!

But what about the Sabbath law?

It does not seem that the apostle Paul is forcing anyone to keep the Sabbath, now that it can really be celebrated that it has come.

We must remember that Paul’s letters are responses to problems and cases in the congregations. Many early Christians had no Jewish background, so Paul was not strict about them observing the Sabbath, and when some Christians with a Jewish background tried to introduce the Sabbath, circumcision, kosher food, in order to follow Jesus. Paul rebuked them.

Col 2:16-17

Therefore, let no one judge you because of food and drink, feasts, new moons, or Sabbaths. It is only a shadow of what was to come and that is Christ himself.

Paul does not contradict the importance of the law, but emphasizes that it is summarized in Jesus.

If observing the Sabbath is a specific day of the week and allows you to honor Jesus, then Paul says to go for it. Rituals and habits shape us, but you miss the point if it doesn’t connect you to the person of Jesus.

There can be many ways that cultures, families and individuals can create rituals that shape their relationship with Jesus and each other.

The challenging question is at what point do we allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead our community and think all other communities must do the same – this line of thinking Paul warns us about.

The Sabbath in Hebrews

One of the best known scriptures about rest is in Hebrews 4:5-11

The writer here refers to Israel’s rebelliousness in the wilderness where they went to get to the promised land. The land is a picture of the restored 7th day rest. But God says they will not enter His rest because of disobedience. The stories are written in Leviticus, where there are 7 stories of rebellion.

Hebrews 4:11

Let us therefore be eager to enter into that rest, that no one may fall because of a similar disobedience.

The author emphasizes here that it is a challenge to enter that rest, as well as a future hope for the ultimate rest. He makes it clear that it is not about coming back to a country in a physical way. Rest comes to those who trust in Jesus!. It is a present – and a future reality

Hebrews 12:22-24

The author believes that in the New Testament we have come into contact with the new 7-day rest, which is called Mount Zion.

Sin forgiven and set free from financial burdens. The Acts of the Apostles also shows us a picture of them sharing everything together, and no one is in need, a church filled with His Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of material, so let’s wrap things up.

Throughout history, keeping the Sabbath has always been about one thing, getting our attention one day of the week to remind ourselves that time is not our own. God is our provider, and Lord of all!

Stopping at the Sabbath is for the purpose of reflecting at the ultimate government of God.

We can so quickly forget and get other habits and focus in life, that’s why we as a family have set aside one day of the week to Sabbath, – stop – remember and put our focus together as a family, on our savior and liberator Jesus!

Here is how we shabbat. Sabbath in our home

So no matter how you use the Sabbath in your life, Jesus must be the essential.

Jesus is the Sabbath!