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1. The Meaning of the Term Sabbath
Sabbath is a Hebrew or Jewish word which means the cessation of labor, or to
rest and be idle. Therefore, the Sabbath or holy day derives its name and comes
from rest and idleness and simply means a day of rest during which all creatures
are to rest. Note that God created and worked for six days, but rested on the
seventh. In like manner, we are to work for six days and rest and be idle on the
seventh [Gen 1-2:2]. It follows from this that we are not to celebrate created
spirits such as angels and saints. For the feast day is a day of rest of God our
glory. The Lord alone, and no angel or saint, is our Lord and God.
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2. Why God Commanded the Sabbath
God laid out before us all commandments and prohibitions to make us aware of
our inner image and likeness, and to understand how God created us in his image
to become as God is, i.e., holy, tranquil, good, just, wise, strong, truthful,
kind, merciful, etc. All commandments of God demand of us to be godlike; in
fact, they have been given us so that we might be conformed to God. As it is
written, "You are to become and be holy, for I, your God and Lord, am holy,"
says God, "keep my commandments and do them," [Lev 20:26]. From this we are to
learn that God has given us his commandments and counsels that we might become
holy and conformed to God, which is to be like God and as he is. Thus the
Sabbath has been instituted by God that we might desire to become holy as God is
holy and rest like him, letting go of our works as [23] he did and yet perform
God's work in a passive manner for eternity, so that God may do our work
[wircklichkeyt]
without ceasing.
This is a spiritual reason for the Sabbath which was commanded to honor God
and to benefit us. For God is honored when his children become like him who is
our Father. We should regard this foundation alone and not our own benefit. Just
as God is concerned about our benefit and holiness, so we, too, are to be
concerned about and seek God's glory, honor, and the benefit of the neighbor,
not of ourselves.
When we have eyes only for our benefit, we defile ourselves and make
ourselves unholy, neglecting the reason for the Sabbath. Isaiah understood and
declared all this when he said [Isa l:13f.], "I cannot suffer or tolerate your
Sabbaths and holy days. Your deeds are impure and wicked. Remove from before
your eyes your evil thoughts and cease to do evil." According to this, the
finding of our soul must cease and our eyes must directly behold and focus on
God and not on what is ours.
When the soul does not become aware of its clarity and inwardness and does
not surrender darkness, impurity, wickedness, and unholiness, it is far from and
alienated from the reason for the instituted Sabbath. God then hates its
Sabbaths and rejects its holy days [Amos 6:4f.]. For in all commandments, the
reason and spirit must be sought and nothing else; that means God alone, who
commands and whose will is to be sought and known in the commandment, is to be
taken seriously. Whoever loves something else fails the commandment and deceives
the self.
Above-mentioned reason is eternal and unchanging. No person must change it, and
no creature can alter the honor of God and slander God without harm. This reason
is spiritual, invisible, and eternal. Thus understood, no person is lord of the
Sabbath, but a servant of God or a servant of this Sabbath. Therefore, we may
not, without notable diminishment, stray even by a hair's breadth from the
reason for the Sabbath.
Faith and the love of God focus on this reason. And just as little as we are
able to shorten faith or ignore God's love without bringing about our perdition,
so little can we ignore God's Sabbath without condemnation. [24]
A Second Reason for the Institution of the Sabbath
There is yet another reason why God has commanded the Sabbath, namely, love
of the neighbor which the masters of the house are to have for their servants
and laborers. It flows from the love of God which is to be understood as
follows: God loves his people and is gracious and benevolent toward them. He
knows full well what benefits and helps his own and serves to strengthen them
and make them whole. He also knows what robs their strength and weakens them and
that no work can last very long and endure without rest. Therefore, God ordered
the seventh day to be celebrated for the well-being of humankind. Employers of
laborers and owners of beasts of burden are to leave the seventh day free for
their rest and leisure, that they may renew their strength and be refreshed.
This is a physical reason for the Sabbath over which human beings are
masters, as much as in them lies, as I shall note subsequently. And this reason
must conform to the spirit, i.e., it is to be turned into spiritual rest and
must be subject to and serve the first reason, [mar: Note this, for I know it to
be true] We must also remember that too much work, done too fast, tires the mind
and causes it to be slow and slothful and rather reluctant to stretch and to
desire the work of God, so as to suffer and taste it while at rest. I know, of
course, that rest and leisure are just as useless as having to put up with
unrest and work, when we fail to comprehend what purpose putting up with unrest
and work may have.
In this reason for the Sabbath, changes occur in that a person may effect
some change in line with God's counsel, as we shall show. But that which
external things signify must remain unchanged. External forms are merely signs
between God and humankind. They indicate that God alone, not our works,
sanctifies humankind. And whatever is thus indicated through externals is true
for angels and human beings alike.
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3. For Whom the Sabbath Has Been Commanded
The Sabbath has been imposed upon the whole people of God, which means all
the citizens of the divine city, both human and angelic [25] spirits alike.
Since it is true, as Paul says, that we are able to judge the angels through
divine words, proclaimed through Moses, the prophets, Christ, and the apostles,
therefore the angels must bend their knees before God's word and confess that
they, like we, are subject to the divine word. They have to concede further that
it has been said to them no less than to us human beings, "You shall celebrate
Sabbath, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not desire another's goods.
You shall not kill"1—all of which the fall of Satan points to. I
stress therefore that the intended meaning and spirit of the Sabbath must be
observed by angels and human beings alike, as I shall show, despite the fact
that angels are above the law and the commandments.
Therefore, the commandment "You shall celebrate Sabbath" applies to angels and
human beings. You may see this from the fact that angels are freer from external
work and unrest than we are and that God sanctifies and blesses the Sabbath when
he ceases his work of the first Creation. In short, just as God will judge all
creatures through one word and one law, so all commandments of the short law2
apply to all members of the people of God. All who desire to be saved have been
given and commanded the Sabbath. To them the word of Paul also applies, when he
says [Gal 2:16f.], "You are no longer under the law, but under grace," for the
law soon turns into an external testimony and does not remain a commandment.
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4. How the Sabbath Is to Be Celebrated
What we must do or leave undone on the Sabbath and how we must act toward God
and our brothers can be said firmly, for Scripture is clear. But it is more
difficult to experience and test than it is to understand, because it exceeds
any natural powers. In our relationship with God we must have rest and peace and
pray and wait for all holiness from God. That the Sabbath is a day of rest is
given by his word and voice, as was stated above. Moses likewise calls it "a
Sabbath of rest to the Lord" [Ex 35:2; Deut 5:12; 16:8; 23]. This rest consists
of knowing that one cannot attain to any holiness save through Christ and that
one ought to be holy as God is holy—[26] which we are incapable of. Therefore,
we are without peace, restless and full of labor and toil and cannot have peace,
rest, or leisure until we yield to God irrevocably. When we know truly that God
sanctifies through Christ alone, without any work or merit, and when we know and
understand that God sanctifies without cost, we are at peace with God and enter
into the rest of God.
Accordingly, the form of the Sabbath and everything about how we ought to
"sabbatize" God and be at leisure is contained in the reason for the Sabbath. It
indicates that creaturely spirits rest in God aright and laudably when they
understand and know, through a highly valued, intense, and strong grace and
knowledge, that God sanctified them through Christ. Those who know this with a
creative wisdom know the manner, customs, and traditions of the Sabbath which
has been commanded. They do what ought to be done, are still, and wait for how
and when God deigns to sanctify them in conformity to himself, for all that is
external is merely a figure and sign of the internal holiness, as Ezekiel
prophesies [Ezek 20].
It should also be noted that the Sabbath prepares us for the first
commandment as spiritual circumcision prepares us for all works.
Leisure has or is rest and removes the rough skin and the blockage from the
heart when we understand that. Hence, leisure is the knife of circumcision.
The most direct way of celebrating the Sabbath is to understand in a loving
manner the abundant glory of Christ, the firstborn of all creatures, [Col 1:15].
Anyone who enters through another door, or even more directly, in observing the
Sabbath, is a thief and murderer. Christ is the perfection of the Sabbath.
Angels and souls must learn from him how to celebrate and they must sabbatize
through and after him.
[mar: Gelassenheyt] To celebrate the Sabbath of God blamelessly we must not
have our own will, but must let go of our will, and accept and do God's will.
That's the right and proper way to celebrate and to sabbatize, as has often been
stated. If we desire to celebrate a delightful and God-pleasing Sabbath day
[27], we must abandon our delight, will, desires, ways, and our own soul and
mind and everything that delights us. Instead, we must take on the delight,
will, desire, ways, and thoughts of God. Only then do we celebrate well. In
other words, we must unite ourselves with Christ who is the perfection of the
Sabbath, as God says through Isaiah [Isa 58:13], "If you turn your foot from the
Sabbath on which you pursue your own desires or will on the holy day, and if you
call or accept a happy Sabbath on which to praise a gracious God by not doing
your will or desire and by not finding your way or speaking your word, you will
then delight in God and be carried or led through to every height on earth."
Similarly, if you keep my Sabbaths and choose what I will, you celebrate aright;
as if God were to say that if you choose what pleases me and not you, you keep
my Sabbaths. Thus, the Sabbath must break self-will.
The holy day means an illumined and bright spirit which is enlightened by the
light that illumines all people Jn 1:9; Isa 58:8]. Such a spirit is lifted above
all the highest hills of the earth and does not delight in created things. Its
delight is solely in God and goes where the reflection of the lofty sun leads
it, for conversion enters in God through light, as Christ says, "Where I am,
there my disciple is also" Jn 12:45ff]. The delight and light are not at all
absorbed by what delights the self. Rather, it is a firm and earnest desire in
God who abhors anything that is not God or that leads away from God.
This is what had to be said about how and why the Sabbath day was commanded,
and of the appropriate and most diverse [uberbuntigen] meaning of the
Sabbath which celebrates God.
...For it is [28] written, "This is the day which the Lord has made, let us
rejoice in it" [Ps 118:24]. God must always be praised in spirit only Jn 3:6] .
I must now consider briefly how the Sabbath is to be celebrated in relation
to the neighbor and our brothers, whom we must grant their leisure. Hence, on
every Sabbath day we must allow our menservants and maidservants, horses, oxen,
donkeys, and all other beasts of labor who worked through the week to be idle
and to celebrate. This is the other reason for the Sabbath, namely, for your
laborers and beasts of labor to refresh themselves and to cool the heat of their
labor and to refresh their bones and restore their strength. This has been
clearly stated by Moses. Six days you shall work and on the seventh day you
shall cease to work, so that your ox and donkey might rest and the son of your
maidservant and the foreigner might relax [Ex 23:12].
What God says for the benefit of oxen and donkeys, Moses applies to all other
animals who help us complete our work, be they buffaloes, elephants, etc. Moses
says that God demanded that all working animals are not to work on the Sabbath.
Why? The reason is that they might rest. When Moses speaks of the son of a
maidservant, he means all workers. Your children, too, should be idle and
refrain from all work on the Sabbath, says God. Why? To be refreshed and to
relax by resting [Deut 5:12].
Male and female cooks must have this freedom, too. On the seventh day, they
are not obligated to kindle your fire. The same is true for stokers and others.
For God says, "You shall not kindle a fire on the Sabbath," which has been said
for the benefit of laborers [Ex 35:3].
In short, God bound all householders to let their workers go idle and free on
the Sabbath. Even more are poor people to be freed from all bonded labor. And
their masters must not prod them to do anything or serve on the Sabbath day, be
it with horse and Buggy, on foot, or whatever. To force their subjects to work
or serve is to act against the will of God and to violate and tyrannize their
neighbor, thus giving sufficient cause to their subjects to oppose their
authority. [29]
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5. The Desecration of the Sabbath
This leads us to note the desecration of the Sabbath which is rather common
among today's Christians, seeing that they carry out on the feast day all the
things they would avoid at other times. Neither cattle nor manservants nor maids
are safe from them—in that I am as guilty as they.
On feast days they use their horses which all week long pulled plows or
vehicles. Then on the seventh day, the Sabbath, they ride cross-country to visit
their friends, seek out merry company, or they collect their debts and do things
which are openly against God who gave us work horses to let them work for six
days for our food. On the seventh day, however, we must let them rest because
the One who gave them to us, granted them leisure, that they might regain their
strength and be able to do the work that is to come. Disregard of this leads to
contempt, not only for the will of God who desires that we give the working
animals a chance to celebrate, but also for the gift of God, which we ought to
accept and use with thanksgiving.
Yet, we are neglectful and stubborn to do what God demands. From this comes
the horrible vice of disrespect for God when people neither seek nor respect
God. God often punishes this vice on the cattle through whom we sin, when our
animals are stricken and allowed to die or perish. Yet, we refuse to acknowledge
responsibility or sin and we blame warlocks and witches instead. But our
resentment toward God we do not take to heart, deeming our inattention a small
sin. Therefore, God, too, considers us as nothing, which is why things happen,
as we can see.
Similarly, it is an abuse when we force our servants or children to work on a
feast day by tearing them away from their rest. I speak here of the rest of God
and not of play, drinking, high living, and swearing. Those who rest in this
manner celebrate with backgammon, dice, cards, chessboards, drinking bouts, high
living, and bad company; they work against God and [30] the neighbor. Such
rabble should be prevented from having their devilish rest, and be enticed or
forced to do something better. It is better for them to till the field than to
throw dice, curse, blaspheme, get drunk, fornicate, gossip, ridicule, fight,
steal, and murder. Such devilish feast days I do not commend—they provide no
rest. This is readily apparent in drunken servants who cannot lift head or limb
the day after, because of the heavy work they did on the feast day, tapping beer
kegs or in wine cellars.
But when servants or maids wish to relax or refresh their weary limbs or rest
in God, the head of the house owes it to God to let them rest. How Christians
observe this, however, I need not tell you. It is obvious that the masters of
the house, because of their gluttony, force their male and female cooks to
greater work and less rest on a feast day than on a work day.
And they aggravate their children and servants ten times more than on work
days, forgetting their obligation to God which they accepted in their baptism.
They contravene God's commandment and voice and show themselves at odds with
their faith, for the leisure which a householder must grant his employees on the
Sabbath is a work of faith for all who understand God's mercy and hold vividly
in mind what goodness God has shown. We should ever be mindful of God's gracious
deeds and that God has freed our forebears from the laborious and unbearable
service which oppressed them in Egypt and led them to rest and leisure [Ex
13:6]. Therefore, we in turn should respond with works of mercy and willingly
allow our employees to rest and be idle on the seventh day. For this reason God
says, "You shall not work on the seventh day, etc., so that your servants and
laborers might rest" [Ex 20:10f.]. You must recall how you served in Egypt and
how God brought you out of the furnace of servitude and that therefore God
commanded you to keep the Sabbath [Deut 5:12-15].
[mar: What faith can do] Faith is a strong wisdom which truly tastes God's
goodness and knows how God has liberated from servitude in Egypt; it empties
itself toward the neighbor [31] who serves us, and makes us want to afford him
rest and freedom also, because we know that this pleases God.
Therefore, those who force their servants and employees to work on the Sabbath
are not believers at all. For this reason the spirit of God says, "I desire
mercy and not sacrifice" [Hos 6:6]. Speaking of external works and practices, it
is better for you to allow your employees to rest than for you alone to refrain
firmly from works of necessity. This must be stressed and means that you must be
merciful just as God was merciful toward you. Therefore, it is against God,
their own faith and Christian obligation, and a terrible abuse, indeed, when the
masters of the household coerce their servants.
It is especially abusive and contrary to the nature of the Sabbath when
debtors are made to pay their debts on feast days, [mar: Note this, you rich
usurers] For a debtor becomes even more agitated (when he is reprimanded on the
Sabbath because of his debt and is unable to repay) than if he is warned on a
weekday when he works.
Those who would gladly pay up but cannot, are most aware of how this saddens
and wearies them. How can I rest in God when I cause my brother unrest and upset
him with my restless work? If we would rest in God we must forgive our debtors,
not only their transgressions, but also their monetary debts, which they are
unable to repay, as the gospel story indicates which tells of the servant who
oppressed a fellow servant because of a debt [Mt 18:24-34]. The reason is that
we must be of one mind with God who wants us to forgive. Thus we should wish to
be sanctified by God on the Sabbath also and to forgive sins, just as we want
our sin to be forgiven by God and to be sanctified [Mt 5:20]. That is what we
call keeping the Sabbath holy externally, when we are united with God inwardly
and desire to receive forgiveness of sin and holiness from God…
It is a terrible abuse among Christians to demand repayment of monetary debts
on the Sabbath [Isa 1:13; 56:2], but it is just as offensive to hold hearings on
legal matters which involve penalties or payments. The exception might be
hearings that lead to peace or avert unrest and involve no greed. For the
commandment of brotherly love and unity is greater and higher than the external
Sabbath. Therefore, we need not heed the Sabbath when peace can be achieved and
nothing but peace is sought.
To sum up, I would like to see ungracious householders and raging or
unbelieving Christians to be persuaded as they are told, "Look, you want to rob
me of my rest and harass me today on the Sabbath. But for God's sake I am not
obligated to serve you today." In a similar way a debtor might speak out against
the lender, "Look today I should rest in God, but you are out to torment me,
contrary to the rest and freedom granted by God. Therefore, I refuse to answer
you today."
But servants should not turn this freedom into carnal disobedience, as they
are wont to do. When it is said, "You are free on the seventh day and not
obligated to work," they forget that they ought to work six days. They then seek
to have a good Monday as well and in addition work unfaithfully on the other
days, too, while still wanting to enjoy the freedom of the Sabbath. This is just
as much against God as when they are forced by their masters to work on the
seventh day.
For six days servants are to work faithfully—not for the sake of appearance,
but wholeheartedly [Col 3:22]. None of the six days is free or given to leisure.
Lazy servants should accept this as much as that on the seventh day the servant
must rest or be idle. Both householders and servants must heed God's
commandments and honor them to the best of their ability. Then everything will
be well and no one will harm the other. [33]
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