Yeshua Explored
5th December 2022
Sabbath rest
How special is Sabbath?
Previous articles are still available on the Premier Christian radio website – https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Blogs2/Yeshua-Explored – (until they finally pull the plug!)
Let’s start with Jesus himself: Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28)
If Jesus was Lord even of the Sabbath, doesn’t that imply that it still had relevance, just like everything else Jesus was Lord over, otherwise he would have added such words as, and anyway it has no meaning for you now that I am here?
So, Biblically, there is nothing explicitly suggesting that God has done away with the Sabbath, so the function remains the same, even if the form may change. What do I mean by that? The function of the Sabbath is to provide a time of rest:
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2-3)
Even Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, are reminded of the function of the Sabbath:
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)
The function remains the same and that really is the major point. This is what I think God is saying to us in the “fourth commandment”:
If I left you to your own devices, you’d all get so wrapped up in your own lives you’d miss so many blessings I have for you. By obeying the Sabbath together as one people on one day you will be able to appreciate these blessings in a holy place in time and space, where you can appreciate your loved ones, the Creation that surrounds you and enjoy uninterrupted fellowship with me. It’s what Adam and Eve once had and it’s a foretaste of what I have prepared for you for that day when all will be made right and good.
It’s so good when we read it like this, no wonder we have messed it up. It’s as if mankind has decided that it doesn’t deserve it. We have made it into a controversy, a divisive thing, a religious hot-potato. Even some who celebrate it have over-complicated it with added extras and exclusivist attitudes. Let’s see what the Rabbis have done with it.
… by keeping it holy.
What was probably meant as just a verbal proclamation to usher in the Sabbath, has become a sanctification over wine, with benedictions to ring-fence it from the rest of the week. This was to be a day when one dresses, eats and drinks differently as if entertaining a bride! In terms of what one does during that period, there are numerous interpretations.
In terms of rest this is not necessarily interpreted as lounging around doing nothing, but rather a time dedicated to God, with great spiritual activity, the reading of Scripture and marvelling over the wonders of Creation, with a carefulness over thoughts, words and actions.
In terms of prohibited work it gets more interesting. It appears that the original list is based on the thirty-nine activities engaged on, when building the original Tabernacle in the wilderness. It has since been expanded on and covers such oddities as lighting a match, turning on (or off) anything electrical, moving vases (unless using an elbow) or leaving your house with gum in your mouth.
There seems to be one exception that cuts through all the red tape and exposes the beating heart of an understanding of God’s ways. It is pikuach nefesh, the saving of a life, a basic rule that trumps all others, even the Sabbath laws. The idea is that one should live by Torah rules rather than die because of them!
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. (Exodus 20:11)
Here we have the basic reason for the Sabbath spelled out and the clue is in the original Hebrew, not in the English translation, though the KJV, strangely enough, is closest. The first part of the verse, in Hebrew, reads as follows:
For six days ….
The KJV compromises with “For (in) six days …” The issue is that the prefix “in” is not present in the Hebrew and the implication is that God didn’t just create the heavens and the earth, but also the six days … time itself! And the Sabbath was to be the pinnacle of this creation. That is why He blessed it and made it holy. So, recognising Sabbath is to recognise God as Creator. This is a thought worth holding on to. We cannot help but come to the conclusion, as Bible believers, that there is something very special about the Sabbath.
This is an extract from the book, Sinner’s Charter: Are the ten commandments for today?, available for £10 at https://www.sppublishing.com/the-sinners-charter-260-p.asp
