#20 - The Sabbath, Part 1

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made" (Genesis 2:1-3).

This morning in church, our pastor based his sermon on Daniel 9, which records the prayer that the prophet made on behalf of his people and Jerusalem. Having this blog post in mind, I immediately traced Daniel's words to the purpose of the Sabbath. Why do I "squander" an entire 24-hour period to engage in religious activity? Why do I do it on a day that no one else does it? Why do I need the whole 24 hours anyway -- is not three enough (you know, church service, Sabbath School, and fellowship lunch)? What is so much more special about my day versus yours?

Let's begin with the origin of the Sabbath. Contrary to popular belief, the Sabbath is not a Jewish holy day in the way that Boxing Day is Canadian and Memorial Day is American. Jesus declared to the haughty Pharisees when they questioned the lawfulness of His disciples on Sabbath, "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath."_[1] Three beautiful points come from that one point:

• The Sabbath was not made for Jews only, but for man. All the sons and daughters of Adam have the privilege of weekly rest._[2]
• God did not make Sabbath and say, "Ha, Ha, Ha -- now keep it!!" The Sabbath is not about law-keeping, but rather about communion with and communication about God; about restoration both physically and spiritually. (We're coming to that...)
• The Sabbath is the Lord's day: the day is made for man, but it belongs to God. Therefore, since eternity past through eternity future, the Sabbath has been God's institution._[3]

So the day is the Lord's; He made it for humanity; and He made it for man's enjoyment, not their drudgery. Why is it so important to God that we keep the Sabbath? For that, let us soak in Daniel 9:19 --

"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O My God: for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name" (Daniel 9:19).

We bear the name of God and therefore represent His character to the world. Others are watching our actions, and what we do will influence their choice for or against God. One of the special things about being a Christian is that we are called by God's name in three ways: By creation,_[4] by redemption,_[5] and by victory in Jesus._[6] So keeping Sabbath is our small part of showing the world the loveliness of God as played out personally in our lives. Imagine people asking you, "Who is your God that you would give up Saturday for Him? How much do you love your God that you give up that for Him?"

But when we fail to exemplify the life of our Master, we are like women who feel "we don't need a man" to get along in life._[7] But Christ said that without Him, we can do nothing._[8] Using this analogy, we can see that Sabbath-keeping is also about redemption. We cannot save ourselves or overcome by ourselves, just as surely as we did not create ourselves. Paul told the church at Philippi, "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."_[9] Again, in Hebrews 4, he paints this imagery that exercising faith is a spiritual rest.

And I would argue that taking off from work, losing homework / study time (and in some countries, class or even exam time), and missing good sales (stewardship, right?) all require immense amounts of faith in God. But when we take of the rest which God so freely offers,_[10] the joy and blessing is unexplainable and unmatched. My life and the lives of many others are testimonies that the Malachi promise for tithing applies to Sabbath-keeping also._[11]

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Click for Part 2 of this post: "What is the Sabbath a Day of?"

1.  Mark 2:27-28; Isaiah 56:6-7
2. Genesis 5:1-2; Zechariah 8:23
3. Isaiah 66:23; Isaiah 58:13; Isaiah 46:1
4. Genesis 1:27
5. Acts 11:26
6. Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:3; Revelation 21:7
7. Isaiah 4:1; Jeremiah 31:22
8. John 15:4-5
9. Philippians 1:6
10. Matthew 11:28-30
11. Malachi 3:8-12

#20: The Sabbath, Part 2

Click here to read part 1, "Why is Sabbath Important to God?"

Now, we come again to Daniel 9:19 to answer this question: What do you do on Sabbath? There are four things that Daniel requests of God, and I believe, based on the Biblical account of the earthly life of Jesus, that these four fully encompass God's plan for mankind regarding Sabbath.

"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O My God: for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name" (Daniel 9:19).

O Lord, Hear: Communion

One obvious Sabbath activity is holy convocations. Meeting together with like-minded people and discussing the word of God and sharing testimonies with one another and singing praises together are all considered proper in God's eyes and are encouraged by Scripture. Paul says in Hebrews,

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).

Heart to heart communion alone with God is also encouraged and necessary. Sabbath is to be doubly blessed;_[1] so spending time with God before worshiping with others enables us to be a blessing to those we meet later that day.

What did Jesus do?

"And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John" (Mark 1:29).

Following the church service, Jesus and His disciples gathered together to eat and perhaps to discuss the doctrinal material that they absorbed. It sounds dry; but if you are engaged and excited about what you are learning, the talk can actually be pretty interesting!

O Lord, Forgive: Reconciliation

The Apostle Paul, a profuse writer, told the Corinthian church, 

And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
(2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

Sabbath is not only a day of physical and spiritual rest, but also of mental rest. The brain only has an opportunity for rest when we are at peace both with God and man. The woman was caught in adultery early Sabbath morning, thereby breaking two commandments -- the fourth_[2] and the seventh._[3] But Jesus' words to her spoke peace and hope and promise to her sin-laden soul.

 "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:9-11).

She was reconciled! The Son of God has snatched her from the pit of sin and of her accusers and placed her on the solid Rock,_[4] granting her a second chance. Imagine the peace she could enjoy that Sabbath day knowing that her sins were forgiven that she was accepted in the sight of God!

O Lord, Hearken and Do: Listening and Action

When we learn at the feet of Jesus,_[5] we are then to do. We should actually assume that all we learn is applicable to us in some way. Just coming to church and then going home and doing nothing is meaningless.

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:22-25).

Jesus did this constantly during His life. He understood His life purpose through the teachings and stories of Scripture. One case in point is found in Luke 4:16-19 --

"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:16-21).

 Notice the many verbs used in this passage from Isaiah 61. Notice also how Jesus attributed all these actions to Himself. He saw Himself as the recipient of God's Spirit and the executor of His virtues. See how he exercises this capacity in Mark 1:23-27, as well as in the many other Sabbath miracles performed during His earthly life.

We in fact have a very similar calling, also related to the Sabbath. Isaiah 58 enjoins on God's professed people the duty of healing and relief, followed by an injunction to turn away our foot from trampling on the Lord's holy day. In doing these jointly, we are called "the repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to dwell in."_[6]

O Lord, Defer Not

Finally, Sabbath is a day of rest. The word defer, however, denotes procrastination. What Sabbath is not about is sleeping in -- because that would be "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." Sometimes, sleep is necessary; and the Sabbath is the day God gives us to not worry about our temporal labor and to just rest. Those who work the night shift appreciate Sabbath rest as a time to recooperate without worry. But those who have the privilege of regular sleep should take advantage of the spiritual rest.

We are not to delay to enjoy the blessing which God bestows on this day. Take it as a day of rest: wrap up your six days of labor and welcome in the Sabbath at sunset Friday evening._[7] Get good sleep at night to have a refreshed and early start for Sabbath services. Strive to make it to church early and on time; do not miss out on what God might have for you.

And most of all, do not delay keeping His Sabbath -- He wants you to start today.

You see, the Sabbath commandment also includes the injunction to labor six days and do all of our work. Yet how often do we procrastinate and have Sabbath sneak up on us while undone tasks occupy our minds? Can a blessing be obtained when our brains are thus engaged. Sabbath-keeping starts before Sabbath: it starts with an attitude that says, I want to get this done before Sabbath; I want to get this done so I can spend full time with God; I want to do this for God. And we must employ faith in this endeavor -- faith that God will indeed strength us to finish seven days' work in six; strength to stay focused; strength to do everything with our might to His name's honor and glory. Because when we trust in Him, He will honor our efforts and bless them.

Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
(1 Samuel 2:30, Revised Version)

1. Number 28:10
2. Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Hebrews 13:4
3. Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18
4. Psalm 40:2
5. Luke 10:39
6. Isaiah 58:12
7. Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:32