What Do You Mean By “Work”?

 Our great Creator, Almighty God, tells us, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates” (Ex. 20:10).

The question I want to pose today is, “What is work?” What, exactly, does God tell us not to do on the Sabbath?

Do we get to decide for ourselves what we shouldn’t do on the Sabbath? Or has God already told us?

Mind you, this post is IN NO WAY intended to serve as an exhaustive list of dos and don’ts for the Sabbath. Such an exercise would miss the whole purpose of God’s instructions. As the apostle Paul wrote, “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless” (Tit. 3:9).

Rather, the purpose of this study is to establish some basic guidelines and principles. It’s to help us better understand what God expects of us.

There’s a type of work which is forbidden on the Sabbath and a type of work which is permitted. Surprisingly, there’s also a type of work that God commanded to be done on the Sabbath! So let’s find out which is which.

Work Forbidden

In the Sabbath commandment, “work” is translated from the Hebrew melakhah (Strong’s # H4399), which the Brown-Driver-Briggs and Gesenius Hebrew lexicons define as “work, business, occupation, service, property.” These definitions stem from Scriptural usage.

Melakhah naturally includes manual labor: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work [melakhah], but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers’” (Jer. 17:21-22).

It’s to be expected, then, that plowing, planting, harvesting, and other agricultural work is also forbidden on the Sabbath: “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest” (Ex. 34:21).

Melakhah also refers to one’s business or occupation. When Jonah attempted to run away from God on board a ship, the sailors asked him, “What is your occupation [melakhah]?” (Jon. 1:8). A man skillful in his melakhah, his occupation, will be rewarded: “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men” (Prov. 22:29).

Thus, melakhah applies to all trades and work. Agriculture, the work of the field (1 Chron. 27:26); work with leather or fabric (Lev. 13:48, 51); building (Prov. 24:27; Neh. 4:5); craftsmanship (Ex. 36:1; 1 Chron. 22:15); and pottery (Jer. 18:3) all cluster under the umbrella of melakhah.

Merchandising and trading, too, is melakhah, that is, work, business, or commerce. Here’s Psa. 107:23-24: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business [melakhah] on great waters, they see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.”

In Scripture, ships served two primary purposes: war and trade, but especially trade. Ezek. 27:25 speaks of Tyre, “The ships of Tarshish were carriers of your merchandise. You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas.” So the primary business of sailors was trading.

But melakhah doesn’t just apply to all manner of work, business, or commerce. It also applies to the wages earned from such work, for Jesus Christ told us that “a laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 10:7). Multiple times, God commanded that workers and laborers must be paid for their services (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15). If you go out to eat, for example, you pay a tip to the waiter or waitress for serving you.

As such, Jacob described his livestock, his livelihood, as melakhah. He said to his brother Esau, “Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock [melakhah] that go before me, and the children, are able to endure” (Gen. 33:14).

Land and property, too, is melakhah. In 2 Chron. 17:13, we learn that King Jehoshaphat “had much property [melakhah] in the cities of Judah.”

And finally, melakhah explicitly includes money. Ex. 22:7-8 tells us, “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods [melakhah].”

Thus melakhah applies not only to business and commerce, but also to the money and the goods exchanged in such commerce. It applies not only to all occupations and trades, but also to the wages earned from such work. Trading money for goods and services, or goods and services for money, is the very essence of melakhah.

But there’s more. In the Septuagint, the word used here in Ex. 20:9 for “work” is a form of the Greek ergazomai (Strong’s # G2038). We also find this word in Mat. 25:16: “Then he who had received the five talents went and traded [ergazomai] with them, and made another five talents.”

So when our Almighty Creator told us not to work on the Sabbath, He expressly prohibited physical labor, working at one’s occupation, doing business, and engaging in commerce. All of these activities fall under the umbrella of melakhah, that is, working or doing business.

No wonder Nehemiah got so angry at the people of Judah for buying and selling food and other goods on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:15-22). They were trampling on the Sabbath and disobeying their Creator’s commandments! Filled with Godly zeal, Nehemiah demanded, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath” (Neh. 13:17-18).

Yes, that means going shopping on the Sabbath is breaking the Sabbath. It’s also breaking the Sabbath to go out to dinner in a restaurant, to go to a movie theater, to embark on a long trip, or to do anything else that requires paying for someone else’s goods or services on the Sabbath. That’s doing business, and that’s exactly what God told us not to do!

It makes little difference whether we put in a few hours at the office, buy a few things at the grocery store, or pay restaurant staff to serve us on the Sabbath. Each is engaging in business that God told us to handle on the other six days of the week. Each is breaking the fourth commandment just as much as the others.

God’s command not to work or do business on the Sabbath is a very simple one. And so, if we seek to obey our Creator, then we cease from our everyday labors and business on the Sabbath. Simple as that.

Work Permitted

Nevertheless, God permits some work to be done on the Sabbath. Several times, the Jewish leaders lashed out in anger when Yeshua/Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. Now, God never forbade healing on the Sabbath, neither in the Old nor in the New Testament, and it’s obvious that no miraculous healing could even happen without God’s intervention and approval!

But in refuting His enemies, Yeshua made several observations about the Sabbath. In Luke 13:15, we find, “The Lord then answered him and said, ‘Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?’”

The Savior found no fault with caring for one’s animals on the Sabbath. Afterall, He stated elsewhere, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Mat. 12:7; quoting Hos. 6:6).

Again, in Mat. 12:1-8, Jesus’ disciples walked through the grainfields on the Sabbath and, with His approval, plucked some grain to eat. This, too, had never been forbidden by God’s law. The disciples did not harvest, they did not work, and they did not do business. They simply picked some food to eat while they walked.

In another account, Jesus came across a lame man on the Sabbath, healed him, and told him to pick up his bedroll and walk (John 5:8-9). The Jewish leaders apparently viewed this as bearing a burden and chastised both the healed man and Christ Himself (John 5:10, 15-16).

But carrying a quilt bed can hardly be considered bearing a heavy burden! And besides, this was an extraordinary circumstance. The man couldn’t very well go home and share the good news with his family or go anywhere else without carrying his bedroll with him.

Thus, tending to the basic needs of one’s animals, one’s family, or oneself is permitted on the Sabbath. Your pets or livestock, your children, and you yourself need food, drink, and other basics on the Sabbath just as much as on any other day.

Any labor intensive or time consuming food preparation should be done before the Sabbath, though, and any food to be purchased should be purchased before the Sabbath. On the preparation day, God commanded the Israelites, “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning” (Ex. 16:23).

The basic principle here is that God doesn’t want us to be preoccupied with normal, everyday activities on the Sabbath. He wants us to spend as much time with Him as possible. The Sabbath is a holy day, not an ordinary or profane day. It’s a day set apart for us and our God.

In addition to these circumstances where “work,” if one wants to call it that, is permitted on the Sabbath, emergencies can also arise on the Sabbath. Sometimes, children are born on the Sabbath. For a mother, that’s exhausting work! It isn’t called “labor” for nothing.

Sometimes, a water pipe might burst and flood your house. Perhaps someone in your family, or even one of your animals, might need emergency medical care. Perhaps your neighbor’s house catches on fire and you need to help him.

In history, as recorded by Josephus and others, the Jews’ enemies would sometimes attack them on the Sabbath, and they’d have to take up arms and defend themselves. On another occasion, one of God’s faithful priests, Jehoiada, commanded the temple guards to arrest the wicked Queen Athaliah and put her to death on the Sabbath (2 Kings 11:4-16; 2 Chron. 23:1-15).

Each of these emergencies outweighs the command to rest on the Sabbath. They are covered by another of the Messiah’s teachings: “Then He answered them, saying, ‘Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?’” (Luke 14:5).

This doesn’t mean we look for emergencies. It doesn’t mean we look for excuses to break the Sabbath. It doesn’t mean that, in this ungodly world, we have any business holding jobs that require us to break the Sabbath. God knows each person’s heart, and whether that person is truly dedicated to serving and obeying Him or not!

Work Required

But there’s still another type of work that’s not only permitted but required on the Sabbath. We discover this in Mat. 12:5, where Jesus said, “Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?”

Under the Old Covenant, God commanded the priests to offer animal sacrifices on the Sabbath and Holy Days, sacrifices above and beyond those of other days (Num. 28-29). I don’t know how many of you have butchered a lamb, goat, or bull, but it’s physically demanding work! As a result, professional butchers are often strong, beefy men.

Interestingly, the work of God’s sanctuary was also melakhah — the same word used to describe work that’s forbidden on the Sabbath. Here’s an example in 1 Chron. 23:24: “These were the sons of Levi by their fathers’ houses — the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted individually by the number of their names, who did the work [melakhah] for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and above.”

So God forbade the Israelites to work on the Sabbath, but He also commanded the priests to do specific kinds of work on the Sabbath. We are to cease from our own works on the Sabbath, but we are to do the works of God. The Sabbath is dedicated to the worship of God, not to the pursuit of our own interests.

As the Eternal tells us in the Book of Isaiah, “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isa. 58:13-14).

As a further illustration, when confronted by the Jewish leaders for healing a man on the Sabbath, Yeshua said this: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5:17). Healing a man was not physical labor, of course, but Jesus was doing the work of ministry, the work of God. This verse reminds us that God’s work is permitted, even required, on the Sabbath.

Today, we no longer do animal sacrifices, but other types of work may be necessary on the Sabbath. If a congregation rents a building for Sabbath services, for example, it may be necessary to set up chairs and tables, and take them down again after services.

Further, modern transportation has made it much easier for God’s people to gather together on the Sabbath, but it does have its limits. Some brethren may have to drive on toll roads or pay ferries. Many of our brethren in third-world countries do not have their own transportation. If they live some distance from their Sabbath meeting place, then they may need to pay bus or taxi fare. It’s not ideal, of course, but it’s sometimes unavoidable.

Remember, the Sabbath is a holy convocation, a commanded assembly (Lev. 23:3). God expects us to assemble together before Him, to worship Him, to learn His Word, and to praise Him. Work or business that’s required for the worship of our Creator is permitted, even on the Sabbath and Holy Days.

Excuses, Excuses…

Now, some folks always try to find loopholes in the Sabbath, especially upon hearing that God allows certain things to be done on the Sabbath. They’ll look for any excuse to work or do business on the Sabbath. This is a terrible attitude, of course. It’s not heartfelt obedience and dedication to God; it’s making a mere pretense of obeying Him, much like the Pharisees did.

We shouldn’t be trying to find loopholes or figure out what we can get away with on the Sabbath. Instead, if we truly love and want to obey our Creator, then we should focus instead on how we can properly spend the Sabbath with Him.

Human nature being what it is, though, we still sometimes look for those loopholes. Some try to claim that serving in a soup kitchen on the Sabbath is doing the work of God. Some might pretend that helping their elderly neighbors do yard work on the Sabbath is doing the work of God — nevermind the fact that they’re only helping their neighbors break the Sabbath!

Remember, God’s Word commands us not to “share in other people’s sins” (1 Tim. 5:22). Again, we read, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11). The fact that other people break the Sabbath in ignorance doesn’t permit us to do so deliberately!

As for serving in soup kitchens or doing other charitable works on the Sabbath, remember the example of our Savior. Even though God never prohibited healing on the Sabbath, Jesus Christ didn’t go into the hospitals and sick wards on the Sabbath. He didn’t seek out people to heal; He healed those who came to Him.

If you know someone, particularly a brother or sister in Christ, who’s hungry, then by all means invite that person into your house for a meal. But God’s people have no business working for the world’s poor on the Sabbath. There are other people to do such work, just as there are other unconverted people to work in the hospitals, law enforcement, fire departments, military, and such on the Sabbath.

Remember, too, that serving God comes before serving others. As Jesus said in Mark 14:7, “For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.”

The Sabbath is God’s day, not ours. It’s the one day each week that God made holy, that He set apart from all other days. It’s the one day each week that God commanded us to assemble before Him and spend time with Him and our fellow brethren. It’s NOT a day for us to spend doing everything we can think of EXCEPT spending time with Him!

Conclusion

God’s Word gives us broad principles for what we should do on the Sabbath and what we shouldn’t. It doesn’t give us a detailed list of dos and don’ts. Yet, if our hearts are truly dedicated to serving and pleasing our Creator, then these broad principles are enough.

We don’t do manual labor on the Sabbath. We don’t work at our jobs. We don’t do business or buy and sell on the Sabbath.

There are a few exceptions to these rules. We must tend to the basic needs of our families or property. We need to deal with real (mostly life-threatening) emergencies if they arise. We should do what work is necessary for us to assemble together and worship our Creator.

We don’t seek our own pleasure or recreation, but we spend our time focusing on God, His way of life, and our fellow brethren. And this should fill us with joy! We should “call the Sabbath a delight” (Isa. 58:13), not because we’re doing whatever we want to do, but because we rejoice in serving our heavenly Father and our Redeemer.