Sabbath Thought – Rest

There are several Bible verses that speak to the rest we are to have in the Sabbath day. All but one of those verses are found in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word translated rest is “shabbathon” which means “sabbathism”. A literal translation would be: “an intermission (Sabbath) Sabbatizing (rest),” or “a Sabbatism of Sabbath.” Hebrew can be a difficult language to translate because it has a very small vocabulary compared to languages like English. This means that the context in which the word is used is very important. Translators know this and so in our English they see that “shabbathon” general means to rest.

The only New Testament section that speaks of this resting on the Sabbath is found in Hebrews 4. Interestingly, all of the Greek words translated as “rest” in this chapter are “katapausis” which means “to lie down, rest” – except in verse 9. The word rest there is the Greek word “sabbatismos” which also means “to rest”, but is obviously picked up from the Hebrew.

Along with other instruction regarding the Sabbath, it is firmly established in Scripture that we are to rest on that day – to not do “common” work done the other six days of the week. But what does that mean in practice? There are actually different types of rest – physical (action of your body), mental (or cognitive – not engaged in demanding thinking or creativity), sensory (input from external sources or interacting socially), and of course, spiritual (reconnecting with God, seeking peace and adding in the other rests mentioned).

It is easy, humanly speaking, to engage in only one type of rest on the Sabbath. For example, we are worn out physically from all of the work we did previously in the week, and so we spend the Sabbath sleeping. Or we had too many mentally demanding tasks leading up to the Sabbath, so we just disengage from any thinking on the Sabbath. Perhaps there was just too much of everything since the last Sabbath, so we just withdraw from any more sensory input. While it can be healthy to have these types of rests, the Sabbath must always include the spiritual rest God designed in that day.

In the ancient Greek world, leisure was understood to be a break from the normal routine so that a person became something more. That thought is along the lines of this – you carve out time from your daily tasks to dedicate time to learning something new, to improve on a skill or to spend time connecting with others. The word used for this type of leisure was “otium.” This is contrasted with the word “narka” which means to become numb or disconnected from life. Think getting high (we get our English word narcotics from this Greek word) to become numb or disconnected. In a less extreme form, “narka” is wasting time for the sake of breaking a cycle.

In the western world, “narka” is mostly the norm. We binge watch TV, scroll for hours through social media, or find other ways to not have to do anything. The Sabbath rest is the antithesis of wasting time. God made the Sabbath day for mankind (Mark 2:27) to indeed have a physical, mental and sensory period of rest, but He specially made the Sabbath for the spiritual component – to connect better with Him through prayer, Bible study, hearing His Word preached and expounded (in services and fellowship), and meditation. 

Meditation is another thing that is easily lost in the world around. Time thinking about who and what God is, is not wasted time. We are learning (Otium) about Him. Time pondering God’s plan of salvation for mankind (and our role in that plan even now) is preparing us to be useful in His family. Time studying His Word more deeply equips us to “answer for the hope within us” (1 Peter 3:15). Time with God in prayer is time conversing with God to let Him know what is on our mind, and for Him to “speak” to us through these other means of connecting with Him.

I wish you a very meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

7n June, 2025