Sabbath Thought – Sabbath (& Holy Day) Rest

God is the designer of all life.  He knows what works best and has given mankind that overview in the Bible. Additionally, God established certain patterns to benefit the life He has created – like the yearly cycle of seasons, the monthly cycle driven by the moon, the daily cycles (the circadian cycles), and even the weekly cycle.

If we connect Biblical truth with these rhythms of life, we see one very clear area where mankind removes a promised blessing from God. That area is “rest”. Rest is one of the primary things in a circadian cycle, and lack of proper rest creates all kinds of problems physically, emotionally, and mentally.

In Hebrews 3:7-11 we read that Israel had opportunity to have a “rest” from the pagan nations around them. God promised that if they obeyed Him, He would provide for them in abundance. There would be a physical rest (certainly compared to being slaves in Egypt, but also from the forty years of hardship in the wilderness). Israel failed to see all of this. Because of their unbelief they could not have the rest God intended for them (Hebrews 3:18-19).

While the weekly Sabbath is a reminder of the spiritual rest we can have now, it also reflects the same promise to us that God offered to Israel (Hebrews 4:1). Do we rightfully use the Sabbath to rest in God? Do we use the Sabbath to check ourselves – to consider if we are listening to God, if we are rebelling against Him, if we truly believe Him?

This weekly Sabbath is special in that it is also a Holy Day Sabbath – the Feast of Trumpets. Through the Holy Days God reveals His plan of salvation for mankind – which is His desire to bring mankind into His family. But it is a messy, noisy business of coming out of our carnal human nature and replacing that with God’s character and becoming like Him and His Son. The Sabbath and God’s Holy Days gives us a taste even now of what that reality of being His family will be like – what it will be like to rest in Him (Hebrews 4:9).

In that verse the word “rest” is Sabbatismos which literally means “a Sabbath keeping” or a “Sabbath rest”. Sabbitismos is a noun, not a verb. Sabbitismos is a place, not an action. The weekly Sabbath is the beginning point in understanding God’s plan of salvation – salvation is made possible through Jesus Christ becoming sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is, He paid the penalty of sin (Romans 6:23) in our place. Each of us can grow in our calling, by allowing the power of Christ to rest on us (2 Corinthians 12:9). So then, we rest in Jesus Christ living up to the meaning of Sabbitismos.

Right now, those whom God has called are begotten (1 John 3:9). We are still in the womb spiritually speaking. But, once we are given eternal life and made spirit, we will be fully born of God! This is the rest pictured in the Sabbath and the rest that we can see coming to fruition pictured in His Holy Days!

The rest God is offering is more than 24 hours of physical and mental rest. The rest God is offering is to become like Him. May we all enter into His rest.

I wish you a very meaningful Sabbath and Holy Day,

Dan Dowd

12 September, 2026