Thursday: Keeping the Sabbath
God commands His people to keep the Sabbath day. Right along with not murdering and not stealing is the command to remember the Sabbath, even though the Bible doesn’t give us specifics on exactly how we are to keep it.
What should be the atmosphere we create and promote on Sabbath? See Psalm 92 and Isaiah 58:13.
Image © Darrel Tank at Goodsalt.com
Because Sabbath keeping means celebrating Creation and Redemption, its atmosphere should be one of joy and delight in the Lord and not one of gloom.
Remembering the Sabbath does not begin on the seventh day. As the first Sabbath was the culmination of the Creation week, so we should “remember the Sabbath day” all week and plan ahead so that we can set aside our weekly work and thus “keep it holy” when the Sabbath comes. Intentionally preparing during the week and especially on the preparation day (Mark 15:42) or Friday is key and adds to the delight as anticipation builds for this very special day.
What important aspect of Sabbath keeping does Leviticus 19:3 highlight?
Sabbath keeping also means nurturing our relationships with family and friends. God provides time for focused fellowship with the whole family, and it includes rest for even the servants and the family animals (see Exodus 20:8-11). Sabbath and family go together.
While rest and family time are important principles, Sabbath keeping also means participating in corporate, focused worship of God with our church family. Jesus attended and led out in worship services while on earth. (See Leviticus 23:3, Luke 4:16, and Hebrews 10:25.)
Even though our weekly routines and rhythms may be rushed, yet, deep in our hearts, there is a yearning for true Sabbath rest, true communion with our Maker. Remembering to stop all our business and planning to spend time with God and nurture our relationships, we can enter into the rhythm and rest of Sabbath.
| What has been your own experience with the Sabbath and the blessings that can come from keeping the Sabbath? In what ways could you do more to make it the sacred time it is supposed to be? |
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The Pharisees loved to watch Jesus. They watched everything that he did. He was popular and that went down like a lead balloon with the Pharisees. So they watched him, to see if they could trip him up. Then one Sabbath day they saw what they wanted to see. Jesus healed a blind man. But it wasn't just an ordinary healing. Jesus spat on the ground and mixed his spittle with the clay, before applying it to the blind man's eyes. That was work. And they knew that Jesus was a fake. He had broken the Sabbath.
The whole episode is worth reading. In particular, note the prelude:
Jesus changed the perspective of Sabbath-keeping from legalism to relationships.
I want to come back to the Arctic issue of Sabbath-keeping that I mentioned at the beginning of the week. After a lot of "whereas" and other terms that seem to punctuate church statements, they recommended that Sabbath begin and end during the period of diminishing light rather than an exact visible phenomenon. Then they added this:
If Sabbath-keeping has at its basis a genuine concern and love for others, we may well avoid some of the arguments we have about the topic and bring honour and glory to God in the process.
Having been heavily involved in local church responsibilities for most of my life, I have to say that I have found the quality of Sabbath has increased since COVID restrictions and lockdowns. I am involved in a bible study and prayer group late Sabbath afternoons (typically goes for 3 hours) and therefore have all of Sabbath morning for time with God - rather than being busy with church stuff.
What have others found?
Phil, I have also been heavily involved with church activities, specifically Adventurers, from the time my own (now adult) kids were participating. I have actually found our Adventurer meetings to need more intensive preparation ahead of time while we have held online meetings, and the meetings require more discipline to keep the kids focused.
However, our adult Sabbath School class gets much better involvement online. Each class member has been participating almost every week, especially since we began assigning each class member a day of the week to cover in class. We typically go much deeper into the topic and use more outside sources to add to the discussion.
Overall, in my experience, covid-19 has caused some additional Sabbath stress, but it has also brought additional blessings to balance it out. (I could also go into how the pandemic has been a blessing in my work life, but that's a whole other long story.)
Thanks for taking the time to write of your experience Karen. Being a former primary teacher, I can appreciate the extra effort involved in preparing for and facilitating online activity for children. I take my hat off to you...
If you find a place somewhere down the track to also share your story of how the pandemic has been a blessing in your work life, please do so as I would be interested to hear some 'good news' - and I am sure others would too...
I'll share a blessing that came in the wake of this COVID "situation. Before this I had no idea of ZOOM and/or face-to-face video conferencing. Just never needed it before. As a result, a classmate from academy and I began a Bible study group that extended to 5 states and between 9-12 people each week, and in about a year, we did a chapter by chapter study of Daniel and the Revelation. We took a summer break and will be meeting again real soon to continue our weekly study of God's Word, the topic(s) still being decided at the moment.
Another blessing was that our pastor's sermons have been watched by people from around the world, and this continues since many of them do not have a local church to attend, while we have been back to church, no masks!
Thanks Phil! I will watch for a relevant lesson to share my pandemic experience. I have shared in church, but we never know who else may need the encouragement of hearing someone else's experience.
A group from the Sabbath School class gathered through a virtual meeting every Sabbath, from 9-11 AM to review the week's study! For almost 1.5 year! What a blessing! It will never be forgotten!
"Remembering the Sabbath does not begin on the seventh day. As the first Sabbath was the culmination of the Creation week, so we should “remember the Sabbath day” all week and plan ahead so that we can set aside our weekly work and thus “keep it holy” when the Sabbath comes."
I particularly liked the preceding statement. Like the birth of a child is looked forward to for the entire pregnancy, and preparations made for the impending birth. So should we look forward to with anticipation and prepare for the Sabbath. Instead in many cases the Sabbath "sneaks" up on me and catches me unprepared.
The other word the resonated with me is "keep". God has already placed the blessing in the day. I just have to be ready or qualified to receive the blessing. By reverencing God's holy day.
I happen to believe the Bible is very specific concerning the keeping of the Sabbath. Nehemiah(Neh 13:15-22) seems to have believed this as well as others.
It seems clear that the Sabbath calls for preparation, putting away, and both avoiding and planing for specific activities. In what we are commanded NOT to do, can we understand what is then lawful to do on Sabbath? Yet we must be holy/sanctified ourselves or our thoughts will be without knowledge or understanding(Prov 2:1-5; 9:10), and without this, our “reasoning” will be from a blinded perspective and we will call good evil and evil good. This is the pitfall of our unsanctified fallen nature. A personal and proper knowledge of God's will(Eph 5:17) is true wisdom, and must be in our possession if we would refrain from polluting the sacred hours of the Sabbath.
In Lev 19:3 God seems to be generalizing both the 4th and 5th commandments, which seem to be easily forgotten by unsanctified sinners.
I was blessed to have been brought up in a manner that led me to delight in the Sabbath since my early youth, and it continues to be this way in my later years. I have observed many who seem uncertain about the Sabbath and some have moved in a worldly direction on this matter. God will never forget His holy day and will call each to account for their conduct in these sacred hours. This will not be seen as a threat by any who know and delight in the Lord.
As Maurice pointed out, there is the danger of adding a legalistic component to keeping the Sabbath outside of its spiritual observance from the heart. If we do not truly love God with all our heart and likewise our fellow man, can we keep the Sabbath the way it is meant to be observed; can one observe the Sabbath without loving God?
Matt.22:36-40KJV - ”Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
The 4th commandment is included in this; "it is the Sabbath of the Lord your God". Could it be that over time the true meaning of Sabbath became distorted and its observation focused on meeting ritual demands instead of focusing on worshipping the God of the Sabbath, finding delight in our relationship with God and our fellow man?
Under the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes of the later times of Israel as a nation, it certainly had become more of a legal burden instead of a delight. When Christ insisted on teaching that which really governs the relationship between God and man – faith -, they killed him; He threatened their position as judges of the law.
Those who had bound themselves to their own interpretation of the law used this law to accuse Him of breaking their law; He refused to be bound by their law.
I deliberately, intentionally decided to worship the *Creator of all that is* on Sabbath instead of Sunday and joint this fellowship of believers mainly for this reason. Everything else added to worshipping the Lord on the Sabbath day is, in my opinion, harking back to the time when worship became a religious, legalistic observance, bound and interpreted under law.
Hello Brigitte,
you wrote: "Everything else added to worshipping the Lord on the Sabbath day is, in my opinion, harking back to the time when worship became a religious, legalistic observance, bound and interpreted under law."
Is there anything specific you might share which you are referring to in regard to "everything else"? Also, "bound and interpreted under law."...which law?
I agree that a proper observance of the Sabbath can only be out of love for God. What other motive could there be for observing/keeping a day as "holy"?
Also, regarding the idea of "worshipping" on the Sabbath, is there a command to do so? What then is "worshipping"? How is this observed/demonstrated by anyone who "remembers" the Sabbath, to "keep it holy"?
Hello Robert –
“everything else”: is referred to in the paragraph relating to the extra stipulations the Sanhedrin added to the original call to keep the Sabbath holy. I do not know their Sabbath-keeping laws in detail, but it became so oppressive and such a heavy burden that Jesus pointed out to everyone to ‘take His yoke’ upon themselves instead; His yoke is lighter because His yoke is based on ‘Faith’ and not works.
The other ‘motive’ could be observation based on one’s ‘tradition’, bound to the established habits of religious observations. Christ’s Faith cannot be inherited or learned; it is a gift of God and chosen by the individual to be applied to his/her life. I consider religious observation outside of faith as engaging in a ritual.
Believers do not need a command to worship the Creator; it is the outward expression of the grateful heart and spirit through song and praise; our daily living and our vocal praising God have the same source – our love for our Creator.
Sabbath is the day were we can chose to celebrate our Salvation in a communal setting; it’s the day set aside by the Creator and available in which to praise His goodness. To remember Him by joining together to share the joy of our Salvation is edifying to all; we show that we are a family of the same faith, joined together by our love for God; this is what I consider ‘worship’ on Sabbath.
Yes Brigitte, I have heard of the many regulations established by those who felt the need to detail Sabbath "laws" for all to follow, but have never seen this mandated in my life time. I have seen some things that were demanded by some that are not in the commandment, which were nearly always insisted on by those who seemed to dread the Sabbath, who would suddenly revive at sundown Saturday night, when their boredom would suddenly vanish.
I would accept that such individuals might be motivated by "tradition", yet I don't know that I would say they kept the Sabbath "holy" while watching the clock and the western sky. Such a motive will never lead to the Sabbath observance God desires of His creatures.
I would suggest that there is a command to worship God(Rev 14:7, Ps 29:2, etc). But there is no command for a worship service in the commandment, though I find nothing wrong with it. Perhaps we need a true understanding of what worship is, as well as what it is not. Worship is a way of living, not an activity we go to participate in and then leave. While we might go to and then leave a worship service, our life must be a constant act of worshiping God. Holiness is worship according to the Psalmist.
I have to go back to that first Sabbath again. Adam & Eve did not have the “do & don’t do” list. They only knew that they had an entire day to spend with the God who had just created them and the entire world they found themselves living in. Yes, that was before they sinned, but can’t Sabbath be that way for us now?
My mind also went to camp meetings, or any special weekend type meetings, where a special speaker is brought in, someone that is popular and dynamic. When people know the date, they block off their calendars and write that in. Much preparation takes place and nothing will keep them from missing that weekend. Shouldn’t each Sabbath be that way for us? It can be. Isaiah 58:13-14 promises that.
Isaiah 58:13 has always perplexed me-"not doing our own pleasure". I love nature and all it's wonderful opportunities to explore on the Sabbath. I love visiting the sick, my friends, shut-ins,etc.. Since doing these, am I violating the Sabbath by doing my own pleasure? This is a very serious question I am finding difficult to answer.
“Not doing our own pleasure” is best interpreted as “not doing anything you want” rather than those things that bring us enjoyment. The expression is an old English construction.
I also was confused, I found this translation helpful:
New Living Translation
“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
I also found reading the whole of Isa 58:1-14 showed me what the LORD thought was good.
Best of all reading what Jesus did and said about the Sabbath like - it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath Matt 12:12
Stephen, keep in mind to whom God is speaking, which He describes in the first five verses of this chapter. Their own pleasure was not in harmony with the "good, acceptable, and perfect will of God"(Rom 12:2), and He is calling them to repent.
My husband is an atheist and I was raised in a Christian family. He was a Christian during the first few years of our marriage. My family never observed the sabbath. For the last 8 mo to a year, my brother & I get together for bible study on the sabbath. My husband is upset with my sabbath observance. He always tells me, you can’t do anything but stay home and study the bible all day. This has become a huge problem in our relationship. He refuses to even stay around me on the sabbath. This is still a learning experience for me. I don’t go out to eat or do physical work on the sabbath. I also visit my elderly neighbor on the sabbath. I know it’s about building relationships, rest, and time with our Father & creator. Where I get stuck, is my friends & some family don’t observe the sabbath. Is it ok to visit with them on the sabbath? What about friends & family who believe in God the Father & Christ our Messiah, when they have birthday gatherings, weddings & funerals on the sabbath? I don’t want to bring legalisms into my observance. I don’t know if I am feeling a burden from my husband or burden from legalizing the sabbath myself. I find joy & dread as I approach the sabbath.
Hi Denise
If I consider Jesus activities on the Sabbath, I find that He did things that were considered by the religious authorities of his time to be breaking sabbath (Matthew 12:2). To these authorities, Sabbath had become about complying with a list of dos and don'ts and had consequently become something Sabbath was not made to be.
Again, if I consider Jesus Sabbath practices, I find Him being guided by a common theme: He was involved in and did things that benefitted others as an expression of His compassion for others (Matthew 12:7). None of what He did was self-seeking (Isaiah 58:13). This aligns with the wider theme of what living within the Kingdom of God is about.
Could this match what Jesus said about the Sabbath being made for man (describing the way Jesus used Sabbath to to do good: Matthew 12:12) and not man being made for the Sabbath (describing the way the religious leaders 'observed' Sabbath): Mark 2:27?
So, if you are motivated by compassion for others to be involved with something on Sabbath that is of genuine benefit to them, then it is in harmony with what Sabbath was made for. May the Holy Spirit guide you and give you peace.