Ch. 2 What the Bible teaches about Sabbath Economics
As I wrote in Chapter 1, the Bible teaches that Sabbath keeping requires trust in God’s provision:
· Trust that the world will continue to operate when humans take one day off in every seven.
· Trust that God will provide enough resources so that we don’t have to work all of the time.
· Trust that we can use our resources to help take care of others and still have enough for our own needs.
· Trust that we will still find meaning in our lives even when we are not involved in productive activity and making economic decisions seven days a week.
When we distrust God and try to control everything ourselves we succumb to fear. Fear can cause us to hoard our resources and withhold them from those with great needs. Yet believers are promised that fear and love are incompatible! I John 4:18 says “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.” When we trust in God’s unconditional love for us, we need not fear for our economic security, so we are free to act as funnels instead of sponges with resources God provides us.
In this chapter I outline the biblical basis for a vision of a Sabbath economic system that is based on trust in God’s abundant provision.
As mentioned in Chapter 1, economies are systems in which people make decisions with their resources that will impact what goods and services are produced, who will receive those goods and services, and how those goods and services are produced. We will see from looking at Bible passages that discuss Sabbath day, Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year provisions that the what, who and how questions are addressed.
As to what will be produced in a Sabbath system, the Bible teaches that producers are to provide goods and services that are beneficial, promote the common good and meet people’s needs. Further, products would be sold at fair prices, and they would be safe and healthy, not causing harm to those who buy and use them. (Tie in with Sabbath commands below somehow??)
As far as who benefits from economic activity or how money, goods and other resources are distributed in society, we learn that in a Sabbath system everyone has a right to access resources sufficient for living a dignified life in their community. So all persons who are able to work will have the opportunity to acquire resources (land, knowledge, and/or other capital) that will allow them to produce beneficial goods or services. In turn, buyers will pay fair prices for goods and services to owners and workers will receive fair compensation for their resources and time.
COMMUNITY: (more here) A common effect of poverty is exclusion from community (See Proverb 19:7 for instance). Yet humans were created for community (Genesis 2:20-24) and God commanded the ancient Israelites to help their poor countrymen so that they “…can continue to live among you” (Lev. 25:36b). We see this exemplified in the early church when the believers took care of people as needs arose (Acts 2 & 4).
Further, economic systems must constantly provide for the needs of those with insufficient access to resources. This may include widows, orphans, aliens, and disabled persons. (Leviticus 23:22, Ps. 146:9, Isaiah 1:17, Luke 10:30-37) and it also includes victims of exploitation and injustice (Lev. 25:14, Deut. 24:14-15, Deut. 27:19, Is. 58:6). (Add something here to distinguish worthy poor and “unworthy” poor, if there is such a thing??) Power and wealth are to be used to bless the world and lift up the downtrodden. Thus, economic decision makers with sufficient power and influence in society have a responsibility not only to provide for the needs of the poor but to address and resolve, where possible, conditions of injustice and oppression so that long-term impediments to economic opportunity are dismantled.
And lastly, how will goods be produced? In the Bible we see that goods will be produced in a sustainable way so that the environment is not unnecessarily harmed and so that natural resources are not unnecessarily depleted. Further, in this system all persons would have one day off from productive activities each week and be treated with dignity since each person has been created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27-28, Gen. 2:2). People would be employed in jobs that use their God-given talents and interests in ways that give them joy and fulfillment. (Gen 2:15) Children would not work until an age appropriate for their society based on norms, educational opportunities, family needs, etc., no slave labor would exist and no one would be taken advantage of or exploited. (Lev. 25:14, Deut. 24:14-15)
Further, worker-management relations would be based on trust – trust that each side can pursue their best interest to earn a living providing goods and services of real value, that as they work together both sides have a chance to flourish and earn sufficient income. They would have common goals and work as a team to help the business prosper and thus benefit workers and owners. The two sides would work as though they are interdependent and not oppositional and all parties in business transactions would honor one another.
In the Beginning
Right from the start the Bible teaches that God provides resources to meet the physical needs of God’s creatures. For instance we learn from Genesis 1 and 2 that God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, providing produce that was pleasing to the eye and good for food (Gen. 2:9)[1]. Only later did humans get involved (Gen 2:15).
In the creation account in Genesis 1 we see God acting in a rhythmic way and this serves as a pattern for us. God creates, then stops, then creates more, then stops, and so on. First, God created light and separated light from darkness, then there was evening and morning—the first day. Then God made sky, and there was evening and there was morning—the second day. Next God made land and seas, let the land produce vegetation, then there was evening and there was morning—the third day. Then God created stars and planets to govern the day and night, then there was evening and there was morning—the fourth day. After that God created creatures of the sea and of the air then there was evening and there was morning—the fifth day. Next God created land animals, then he created humans in the image of God, male and female, to rule over all other creatures. Then there was evening and there was morning—the sixth day.
When God was content with creation, when no other work needed to be done, God rested. God found creation to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31a), and on the seventh day God completed the process by celebrating joyfully and freely over creation and ascended the throne as Lord over creation. The first divine action Adam witnessed was that God rested on the seventh day and blessed it and made it holy, and Adam joined God in this rest – a joyous celebration of a very good creation (Genesis 2:2-3). Adam was then given work to do (Gen. 2:15). It is interesting to me that rest preceded work. God had created a world overflowing with abundance and Adam’s work was to manage the wild productivity by pruning, planting and harvesting. Even after the Fall (caused by lack of trust on the part of Adam and Eve, perhaps?), God continued to provide for humans. For instance God provided clothing to Adam and Eve after they felt shame at being unclothed (Gen. 3:21). Even then humans could still trust in God’s provision.
Israel
As I wrote about in Chapter 1, the Hebrews first learned to trust in God’s provision during their 40-year period of wandering in the desert after Moses, with God’s help, a la the plagues, convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt Egypt
We read in Exodus 16 that the people were grumbling about their circumstances and even longed for their life in Egypt
According to Exodus 16:18, each person gathered as much as he needed each day. Those who tried to keep some of the bread overnight during the first six days of the week, disobeying the directions God gave them, found that it was full of maggots and smelly the next day. But this did not happen on the seventh day of the week with the food they had gathered and prepared the prior day. Verse 24 says they saved it till morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots on it, so they could eat it on the seventh day of each week. And Moses said that the seventh day was a Sabbath to the LORD, and no manna appeared on the ground on the seventh day. Even so, some people tried to gather manna on the seventh day, but they found none. So the people rested on the seventh day of each week. The people called the bread manna, which means “what is it?” because they did not know what it was (v. 15).
The people were not to try to work at all on the Sabbath day. Instead, they were to gather and prepare food on the sixth day that would last them two days so they could truly rest on the seventh day. God was serious about that and provided no food on the Sabbath day. Further, the people were not to take more food than they needed or save it overnight (except on the sixth night of each week). They were to trust that God would provide enough food each day. They had to completely rely on God’s provision, and God was faithful. People’s welfare was not measured by national income or per capita (per person) income as is often the case in our modern world, but rather the well-being of society was measured person-by-person, day-by-day.
Ever since the fall (Gen. 3) humans have had a problem trusting in God even though God continues to provide for us. After the Fall, limits on material resources developed where work involves sweat and toil and relationships between humans and God are broken (Genesis 3:14-24), and ever since the world has been affected by untamed evil and disregard for God. However, God’s intent for the world did not change. God created the world to produce enough resources to sustain human life and it is still capable of doing so.
Sabbath Day Commandments
After their long desert detour, the Israelites got ready to enter the Promised Land. As they were doing so, Moses went up to God on Mount Sinai to receive instructions, and God gave him the Ten Commandments. The motivation for following the fourth commandment to observe the Sabbath day each week, according to Exodus 20, is that God rested on the seventh day (ref: Genesis 2:2) marking it with blessing and holiness. The Sabbath commandment, according to Exodus 20:8-11 is:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
By referring back to creation, this commandment is a reminder that God provides and that God is Lord over creation. As important and vital our work is, we need to remember it is God who provides for all of our needs, so we are to trust in God, not in our work. So one aspect of Sabbath keeping is to reflect on God’s work by taking time off from our day-to-day activities to enjoy a change of pace. We realize we are more than workers and can take time to play – to recreate and enjoy God’s good creation. By contrast if we cannot rest one day a week we may be taking ourselves far too seriously and we may remain in an accelerating cycle of busy-ness (Dawn 1989). So rest involves periodic self-restraint, deliberately idling productive resources, and saying “enough for now, it’s time to play!”
Craig Gay (1994) noted that the Sabbath day reinforces the sharp distinction between God’s creative activity and our own. The people of Israel
To “do no work” means to be unproductive and have no concerns about time pressures. Marva Dawn says that when we cease working it reminds us that the value of work lies in the worship of God that takes place in it. One day a week we can be unconcerned about efficiency and productivity and we can realize we are worthwhile for who we are because God made us and loves us. Our work isn’t necessary to make us feel that way. It’s not that we merely “run away” from our work, but rather we cease being a slave to work and productivity.
Author Jan Wood (1999) noted that for Israel
Further, Sabbath is a day for all creatures to be refreshed, according to Exodus 23:12: “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.” Sabbath keeping, then, is also about care for those at the margins of society – slaves and outsiders—as well as animals.
Sabbath observance was also sign of the covenant between God and His people, as we see in Exodus 31:12-13:
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, `You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
While Sabbath certainly is a gift to God’s people it primarily is about God, and it is for God, for Leviticus 19:30 says “Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.” In short, God claims the day as His own.
The Sabbath day is also to be a time for sacred assemblies, according to Leviticus 23:3: “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.” So Sabbath is a time for corporate worship. When everyone in a faith community takes the same day off, they are able to meet together for worship. This builds our relationship with God and with other people.
Moses’ second rendition of the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5 emphasizes the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery after 430 years (!) without a day off. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 says:
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt
Here, the Israelites are admonished to never return to a system of slavery of their own making by working all the time. I hear God telling the people, “You know what slavery is like. Why would you enslave yourselves??!!”
While most of us have never been released from literal slavery or oppression, this commandment can remind us of God’s gracious rescue from the oppression of sin in our lives. In our weekly assemblies, or worship services, we can take time to pray and reflect and express our gratefulness for what God has done for us – providing our daily bread and our eternal salvation.
These teachings tie in with the earlier discussion of how goods & services are produced – that everyone deserves a day off each week according to the 4th commandment, even those who may work for us. I have heard it said that only if the boss rests can all the workers rest. Further, all persons deserve to be treated with dignity since humans were created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). Also since God created the heavens and the earth and gave the responsibility for tending to creation to Adam (Gen. 2:15), we are to care for the earth as we produce goods and services. This can involve sustainable production methods that address environmental degradation. I elaborate on how individuals can live out Sabbath principles in Chapter 5.
The Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year
In addition to observing a Sabbath Day each week, the Israelites were commanded to observe a Sabbath year every seven years. These regulations taught the Israelites, whose economy was primarily based on agriculture, about their dependence upon the land as a gift from God to share equitably, not as a possession to exploit. The people were to live as stewards of God’s material gifts, distributing them to vulnerable households instead of hoarding surpluses. These biblical provisions address the question: for whom are goods and services produced? That is, who benefits from their production? The simple answer is that everyone has a right to eat from the pie, not just those who made the pie. People who cannot participate in producing the pie or who are unable to access the pie by their own strength are to receive a helping hand from those already enjoying the pie’s benefits.
During Sabbath years the ancient Israelites were to cease cultivating their land, cancel debts owed them by fellow Israelites and set debt slaves free. Then, every 50 years in addition to letting the land lie fallow and forgiving debts all Israelites were to return to their family property that had been designated when they entered the Promised Land as described in the Book of Joshua. (See Leviticus 25:8-12.) These Jubilee years emphasized the importance of strong extended families and the need for each family to have a productive base. In that day, land was the primary means of production, so it was crucial that people had access to it to survive economically. Calamity or other disadvantages could force people to sell portions of their landholdings in order to pay debts or have enough resources to survive. But God did not want such disadvantages to lead to ever-increasing income or wealth inequality, so God gave the Israelites this law so that no family would permanently lose its land and thus its ability to access resources necessary to earn a decent living.
Ronald Sider, in his book titled Just Generosity (1999) noted that, “God’s law provided for the liberation of soil, slaves and debtors every seven years.” And that “A central goal was to protect people against processes that would result in the loss of their productive resources and to restore productive resources after a time of loss” (p. 65). Sider wrote that the primary principle that emerges from these laws is that “Justice demands that every person or family has access to productive resources (land, money, knowledge) so they have the opportunity to earn a generous sufficiency of material necessities and be dignified participating members of their community” (p. 67).
We learn here that God desires that every person or family has access to productive resources (land, money, knowledge) so they have the opportunity to acquire sufficient material necessities to be dignified participants in their communities (Sider, 1999, p. 67). Clearly God did not want any type of bondage, whether it be physical, spiritual or financial, to be part of the Israelites’ society as it had been so long for them in Egypt
Deuteronomy 15:4 says, “there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.” But the message about caring for the poor does not stop there. Deut. 15:11 reads, “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.” And further, when the Israelites released slaves they were to provision them “liberally” from their flocks, threshing floors and winepresses (v. 14). Why? Because God wanted them to give to others as the LORD God had blessed them, remember that they were slaves in Egypt
The Israelites also were instructed to let poor and marginalized persons eat from their land during the Sabbath Years.
Exodus 23:10-11: For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land like unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Similarly, gleaning laws gave assurance that the poor would regularly have a claim on part of the harvest of every field, vineyard and olive orchard:
Leviticus 19:9: When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God. (See also Lev. 23:22 and Ruth 2).
Debt Forgiveness
Professor Richard Lowery (2000) has explained that households in ancient Israel Egypt Israel
Both the Sabbath year and the Jubilee year would remind Israel that the land belongs to God, that they are tenants of that land (see Leviticus 25:23) and that they are an Exodus people who must never return to a system of great economic inequality and slavery that characterized their life in Egypt. Jubilee also emphasizes the importance of strong extended families and the need for each family to have a productive base. As Ronald Sider (1997) explained, “Private property and the ability to create the wealth needed for a decent life are so good that God wants everybody to have some!” (p. 330).
The underlying notions that God owns both land and people reorients economic assumptions and lays the moral foundation of a just society where God sets the terms of the land’s use and of how vulnerable persons would be treated. Like the land, the vulnerable are not to be treated as commodities to be exploited without limits. Why? Because God owns everything (Lev. 25:23), permits us to use resources, cultivate land (Gen 2:15), eat its produce and enjoy its beauty (Gen. 2:9), but we are merely stewards of these resources, and God wants us to have compassion for the downtrodden just as God does (see e.g. Exodus 22:22, 23, and 26). (add bible passages about God lifting up the poor and securing justice for them??)
The Prophet Isaiah Sums up the relationship between religious life and economic life
Isaiah 58
1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Sabbath Principles in the New Testament
Sabbath principles have a prominent position in the Gospel narratives where disputes between Jesus and the Pharisees often revolved around sabbath observance. Richard Lowery noted that for Jesus sabbath observance was in part about justice for the vulnerable poor and a hopeful celebration of full and prosperous life for all. Indeed, Jesus taught that the blessings of God’s kingdom come to those who are hopeless from a worldly standpoint (Luke 6:20-23) and Luke’s gospel is organized around Isaiah’s proclamation of "good news for the poor" (Luke 4:18, emphasis added. Also see Luke 1:52-53, 4:14-21, and 6:20-23). Ched Myers (1998) asserted that only real debt-cancellation and land-restoration could represent good news to poor people. Jesus’ jubilee orientation is also seen in his efforts to rebuild community between socio-economically alienated groups. While Levi (Luke 5:28) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8) embrace jubilee liberation through redistribution, another rich man rejects it (Mark 10:21-23).
Loaves & Fishies Miracles
The manna story from Exodus 16 connects to Jesus’ life and ministry in a few instances. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus faces the wilderness temptation concerning bread and sustenance (Matthew 4:1-4), then at key junctures he re-enacts the wilderness feeding and all who participate have much more than enough (Matthew 4:13-21, Mark 6:30-44; 8:1-9, John 6:1-13). After the miracle recorded in John 6:1-13, Jesus makes specific reference to the manna as he explains to his hearers that God provided for the Israelites’ physical needs (v. 32) and that he himself is the true bread of life (v. 35).
Further, at the heart of the prayer Jesus teaches his disciples is the double petition: "Give us enough bread for today, and forgive us our debts as we forgive others’" (Matthew 6:11-12). This prayer alludes to the manna story—enough bread for today as for the Israelites in the dessert and the sabbath-year forgiveness of debts. So Jesus describes the Kingdom of God
Jesus: the Rebel Sabbath-Keeper
Jesus often offended the Pharisees by seeming to violate Sabbath laws when he allowed his disciples to pluck heads of grain and healed people on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28, Mark 3:1-6 and Luke 13:10-17). Yet the disciples plucked grain, Lowery (2000) explained, not as workers or owners, but as the economically vulnerable who could take what they needed to survive in the gleaning tradition (Lev. 23:22). Later, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-5) restoring his ability to work and his place in society. Similarly in Luke 13:10-17 we read that Jesus released a woman from bondage of physical weakness and in Luke 14 that Jesus healed a man with severe fluid retention (dropsy).
When Jesus healed young men, he was showing compassion for the men’s mothers and/or wives who were depending on the men to provide for their material needs. Another place where economic issues connect with Jesus’ teachings is where he addresses divorce in Matthew 5:31-32. Unmarried women and their children were especially vulnerable to economic hardship since they could not own land or work, so if men divorced their wives the women would have no access to economic resources unless their father or brothers were still living so they would become beggars or prostitutes. In short, marriage leads to economic provision and divorce leads to economic injustice.
Jesus’ teachings and healing acts align with Jewish interpretations of the Sabbath commandment that have historically recognized that the laws of the Sabbath are not subordinate to the high value God puts on his creation (Heschel 1979; See Mark 2:27). God instructed the Israelites to “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them” (Leviticus 18:4-6, emphasis added). Thus, Jewish law teaches that one may break the Sabbath if the matter involves concern for human life, and Jesus modeled this many times.
When Sabbath Principles are Ignored
The opposite of sabbath living is hoarding, as we have already seen in discussions of Exodus 16. This point is also illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21). The man plans to spend what might be called a “sixth-day bounty” on himself rather than using it for the good of the community. His doubts about tomorrow and God’s ongoing provision of enough to survive lead to fear. Fear in turn leads to his attempt to control tomorrow by hoarding, but his attempt to control proves futile, and he condemns his own soul in the process. The man did not acknowledge God’s provision. Rather, he was arrogant and idolatrous, and was deluded into believing his success was entirely the product of his own hand.
Similarly, in Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus preaches about trusting in God’s provision. He reminds God’s people about what their priorities should be. He tells us not to worry about food, clothing, and our worldly treasures since our heavenly father knows exactly what we need and wants to provide for us. When we are assured that God will provide enough for us we can become generous with our resources rather than being tight-fisted. By contrast, mistrust stems from fear, as in the case of the rich fool. Fear, of course, can be useful. It marks danger and can remind us to turn to God for provision rather than to try to excessively insulate ourselves from all the evil in the world (Wood 1999). However, fear can breed obsession with survival and craving for control, and obsessive craving leads to idolatry. As Wood put it, “Our sins are all the ways we futilely try to control rather than trust” (p. 60). Fear also can lead to hoarding as we try to feel more secure, but material things never can provide true security, and hoarding only exacerbates problems of poverty.
Sabbath-keeping in the Early Church
The early church lived out sabbath principles in their economy as we see in Acts 2 and 4 and in II Corinthians 8 and 9 where we read of social solidarity among believers who care for each other’s material needs so that there would be no poor among them (Acts 2:45 and 4:34; ref. Deut 15:4). Paul even quotes from Exodus 16:18, the manna story, in II Corinthians 8:15: “as it is written: ‘He that gathered much did not have too much, and he that gathered little did not have too little.’” Paul does not call for absolute financial equality among believers, but as Craig Blomberg (1999) explained he is concerned that no one lacks and insists on the right of all to a fair share. Nor did Paul call for renunciation of material possessions, but he wanted people to hold their possessions lightly and make them available to others as needed.
Spiritual Rest and Sabbath Keeping
For God’s people, Sabbath rest is not merely a physical cessation from work but a spiritual rest every day as depicted in Psalm 62:1-2: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Sabbath is not about adding another obligation on to our already busy schedules. Rather it is about a lifestyle of trusting in God’s physical provision for our daily needs—our daily bread—and about resting in God’s salvation. God conquered chaos at creation, liberated all persons from sin and death through Jesus Christ, and is working to establish a New World where “from sabbath to sabbath all flesh shall come to worship before God” (Isaiah 66:23). (Bacchiocchi, 1998, p. 173). And Jesus calls us to find true rest in him in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Sabbath laws serve as a symbol of the eternal rest we will experience in the New Kingdom . We see this, for instance, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians:
Colossians 2:16-17: Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (emphasis added)
Yet we also can experience this rest now since the Kingdom of God
Summary
The primary way God taught the ancient Israelites to make economic decisions was through the Sabbath Day, Sabbath Year and Jubilee Year commands. These provisions addressed conditions of scarcity, overwork and economic inequality that prevailed in ancient Israel
Table 1 provides a brief summary of key features of a Sabbath economy with some of the relevant Biblical references.
Table 1: Key Features of a Sabbath Economy
| All persons who can work will have the opportunity to be involved in some productive activity (Gen. 2:15) |
| All persons will have the opportunity to have one day off each week (Sabbath commands: Ex. 20:8-11 and Deut. 5:12-15) |
| All persons are treated with dignity since each has been created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27-28) |
| People base their economic decisions on TRUST that God will provide ENOUGH resources. (Ex. 16, John 6) |
| All persons will have the opportunity to own or acquire resources (land, knowledge, and/or other capital) that will allow them to produce goods or services (Lev. 25). |
| People and organizations will provide for the needs of the vulnerable or disadvantaged poor, those in need due to circumstances beyond their control (widows, orphans, aliens, disabled) (Leviticus 23:22, Ps. 146:9, Isaiah 1:17, Luke 10:30-37) |
| People and organizations will address cases of exploitation and injustice (Lev. 25:14, Deut. 24:14-15, Deut. 27:19, Is. 58:6) |
| People are not to take advantage of others in business or employment dealings (Lev. 25:14, Deut. 24:14-15) |
| We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, helping others in need (Matt. 22:39, Luke 10:30-37) |
In later chapters I will provide examples of how these principles may be expressed in our world today, where businesses leaders and other individuals are making economic decisions that are consistent with Sabbath principles. I call these “Sabbath sightings.”
References
Bacchiocchi, Samuele. 1998. The Sabbath under Crossfire: A Biblical Analysis of Recent Sabbath/Sunday Developments. Berrien Springs , MI
Blomberg, Craig L. 1999. Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Material Possessions. Grand Rapids
Dawn, Marva. 1989. Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. Grand Rapids
Gay, Craig. 1994. “On Learning to Live with the Market Economy,” Christian Scholar’s Review 24:180-195.
Heschel, Abraham Joshua. 1979. The Sabbath. New York
Lowery, Richard. 2000. Sabbath and Jubilee. St. Louis
Myers, Ched. 1998. “Jesus New Economy of Grace: The biblical vision of Sabbath economics. Part 2 of 2.” Sojourners Online July-August.
Palmer, Parker. J. 1994. The Company of Strangers: Christians and the Renewal of America’s Public Life. New York
Sider, Ronald. 1997. “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger – Revisited.” Christian Scholar’s Review. XXVI:3, pp. 322-335.
Sider, Ronald. 1999. Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America Grand Rapids , MI
Wood, Jan. 1999. Christians at Work: Not Business as Usual. Scottdale , PA
[1] All scripture quotations are from the New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids , MI
