God rested on the seventh day and called it holy long before Israel existed, long before Abraham or Moses. God rested after creating the stars, the sun, and man. Therefore is rest for all humanity? God established the Sabbath as holy, but then he seemed to give it specifically to Israel as a gift once taking them out of Egypt. but why?
Rest on the Sabbath was a covenantal act, a sign of obedience and trust in God, even in the midst of grief and chaos.
The Sabbath as a Sign
After Israel became a nation, God commanded them to honor the Sabbath, right after freeing them from Egypt. The Sabbath was a sign of their covenant with Him, setting them apart from surrounding nations. Exodus 31 makes it clear: keeping the Sabbath was a sign of holiness and identity. Violating it was akin to breaking a sacred bond, like taking off a wedding ring and going to a singles bar. God did not tolerate that.
Mary and the other women prepared spices for the body of Jesus and then set them aside and rested. Their rest was more than obedience—it was trust in God amid devastation. They stopped trying to control what they could not, showing reliance on God in the midst of pain, disappointment, and death.
My Struggle with the Sabbath
I grew up in a christian home, but my mother converted to Judaism when I was a teenager, the Sabbath became the centerpiece of life. Everything revolved around it.
As I got older, keeping Shabbat was not simple. Cleaning my house and making the bread Friday night, having two little children to get ready Saturday morning, driving to synagogue, attending long services, talking for hours on end —it often felt more like work than rest. I followed the ritual for seven years before I gave it up, realizing that form alone does not equal true rest.
True Rest in God
Even today, attending church sometimes feels like work—preparing, serving, organizing. Our modern lives aren’t naturally conducive to Sabbath rest, whether Saturday or Sunday.
But perhaps that’s the point: the Sabbath is meant to teach us to rest in God even amidst chaos and fear and uncertainty like Jesus is the boat, Like the women at the cross, we are called to stop, trust, and release control, even if only for one day.
Sabbath rest is a mark of God’s people. By setting aside a day to rest, we show the world we are different, holy, and set apart, trusting God above our worries, fears, and anxieties. In doing so, we allow God to rest in us.
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.” — Revelation 21:3
Sabbath rest is a foretaste of God dwelling with His people.
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