Sabbath Rest - Exodus 33-36

Exodus 35:1-3 (ESV)

Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

This is a reminder from Moses to the people about the Sabbath rest.  They were warned also told about this Sabbath rest when instructed that mana would fall from the sky:

Exodus 16:23-26 (ESV)

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 aside to be kept till the morning.’” So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it. 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, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.”

It was also given as one of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:8-11 (ESV)

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, 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, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and 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.

God first established the Sabbath rest when He completed creation.  Which means the concept of the Sabbath rest pre-dates Jewish law. 

Genesis 2:1-3 (ESV)

The Seventh Day, God Rests

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

We are instructed in the New Testament that we don’t have to observes special days, months or festivals given in the Law.  Paul was worried the church would turn back to these things, however:

Galatians 4:9-11 (ESV)

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

But since the Sabbath rest was observed by God at creation, we would do well to take some measure of the Sabbath rest in our lives today.  We should not observe it as part of following the Law, but rather as part of following God’s heart.  If God rested on the seventh day, ought not we?