Monday: Two Reasons for Sabbath
Read Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. How do these two versions of the fourth commandment complement each other?
Remembering is an important part of the relationship that God seeks to re-establish with His people, a relationship centered on the fact that God is our Creator and Redeemer. Both roles appear in the two versions of the fourth commandment and are thus linked closely with Sabbath and its practice.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Coming out of a land dominated by so many false gods, the Israelites needed to be reminded of the true God’s role as the Creator. The Sabbath was a crucial way to do that, made all the more significant in the context of the weekly cycle of providing extra manna on Friday, a powerful example of His creative power. In the Exodus 20 version of the fourth commandment, God as our Creator is revealed most clearly.
By contrast, their rescue, redemption, and salvation is the focus of the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5. This was a story that the Israelites were to retell regularly; they could reconnect with it especially every Sabbath. Their first story was one of actual, physical rescue from slavery in Egypt, but as their understanding of God and His salvation grew, Sabbath would also become a weekly symbol and celebration of their spiritual salvation.
Both of these motivations for Sabbath were about restoring the relationship between God and His people: “I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy” (Ezek. 20:12, NIV). And, as we have seen, this was never about this group of people only. On the foundation of this relationship, they were to establish a new kind of society, one that was kind to outsiders and a blessing to the wider world.
“Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15, NIV). By keeping the Sabbath as a way of remembering and celebrating both our creation and Redemption, we can continue to grow in our relationship, not only with the Lord but with those around us. God is gracious to us; therefore, we need to be gracious to others.
| In what ways should Sabbath keeping make us better, kinder, more caring, and compassionate people? |
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Among Seventh-day Adventists, I don't think there is any argument about why we keep Sabbath. God's creative and redemptive power is central to our whole belief system. The question remains about what is the best way to honor God during the time that he has given us.
There are a couple of ideas that we need to explore more:
1. What is Sabbath Rest?
Mostly our "rules" of Sabbath-keeping center on the idea of doing no work. But is that really the idea of Sabbath rest? I grew up on a dairy farm and for most of the year we got up at 5.00am to milk the cows, and again at 4.30pm the cows were rounded up and milked again. Seven days a week, which of course included Sabbath. The work had to be done - otherwise, the cows stopped giving milk. What was the difference on the Sabbath? It is perhaps difficult to describe to those who have never had to get up on a cold frosty morning and milk cows, but it was a state of mind. We knew it was Sabbath and as we went about doing those necessary tasks our minds and conversations had a spiritual note in them.
Rest is more than refraining from work. It is about where your mind is. For the rest of my life after growing up as a dairy farmer, I have been an academic. When not teaching I have been involved in computer science research that has occupied my mind for 14 hours a day. Sabbath meant that I could put aside the thought processes that had occupied my mind for the whole week and think about something else. It was the change in what occupied my mind that made the Sabbath so special.
2. Creative Renewal
I think that an essential part of honoring God by our Sabbath activities is taking part in some shareable creative activity. For most of us, the peak of our Sabbath activity is sitting in a church building for a couple of hours, facing the front and mostly listening to someone talk. This is essentially a practice developed in medieval times to ensure that people were indoctrinated and brought in to line with Church teaching. I do not deny the importance of a good sermon (or, I have to say, Sabbath School lesson) but if that is the extent of our Sabbath experience it seems well short of the creative intent of Sabbath. We honor God by being creative in the way that we honor him in the 24 hours of Sabbath.
I hear a lot of Sabbath theology, and a fair bit of argument about what we cannot do on the Sabbath. The notion of creatively using that time to worship God in practice is often left as a silent space. And sometimes that space gets filled with peripheral arguments about who should be allowed to speak at the front of the congregation, and other busy (non-restful) concerns.
The creativity standpoint is a beautiful way to look at that.
From a psychological and emotional posture meaning. Because it seems to get at the core of THE CREATORS' CREATIVE INTENTS And Expectations.
Oh with the first sentence, meaning as You explained it!
Very creatively thought out!
Exodus 20:11
10 but the nseventh 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, on or your stranger who is within your gates.
Why? Because God's blue print included the strangers within Israel's gate.
God in His infinite wisdom also included the animals to be partakers of the Sabbath rest.
Just imagine a nation which kept the Sabbath in God's way.
Every nation in the world would have wanted to embrace the Sabbath rest.
Legalistic representation of the Sabbath is one of the reason which lead to the rejection of the Sabbath rest.
when we preach Christ in the law the world will be given a chance to embrace or reject the Sabbath truth.
Sabbath is one day regardless of social, economic status everyone can take part in it.
Hi
There
Newbegin Devaraj.
Your five points of discussions above truly drives at the point of the answer(s) for today's final question.
Because it shows the main idea of the example setting that is sooooo very much important to minister to the world.-This as part of the perceived scope that Our LORD'S SEVENTH DAY SABBATH SEEKS TO EMPLOY. And this is not only in light of the Sabbath either.
But setting the example of the creative quality demand that is implied in observing and upholding the doctrine.
Very well said.
Thanks for sharing.
The sabbath provided freedom even to the less privileged such as slaves and workers among the Israelites! Even today, Failure to keep the sabbath today puts enormous pressure to people in our charge like house helps and even their families! Our rest is their rest and a starting point towards establishment of a better relationship with everyone.