Sabbath: The Day of the Lord – Holy Day

As I was studying the Scriptures the Holy Spirit was leading me to keep the Sabbath holy. So I took some time to research more fully what God commands about this day.

The Sabbath Day is a Holy Day! “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 male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 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 20:8-11

The Sabbath Day: sign, solemn rest, no work. “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.
“‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ~ Exodus 31: 12-17

The Sabbath Day: solemn rest, no work. ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.” ~ Leviticus 23:3

The Sabbath Day: no work for anyone in the family. “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 male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” ~ Deuteronomy 5:12-15

The Sabbath Day: no buying and selling. “When the neighbouring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.” ~ Nehemiah 10:31

This is the Word of God. These are His commandments.

Sabbath: The day of the Lord, holy, set apart as a sign and covenant between God and His people. A day of solemn rest to remember that God made everything in six days, but on the seventh day He rested. No work of any kind should be done, not you, your kids, your slaves, animals or anyone in your dwelling.

Honor and remember God. Do good!

The very focus of the Sabbath is to put aside every work (distraction) and draw close to God with thanksgiving and praise for who He and what He does. When we stop working and spend time in God’s presence we will be rested both physically, spiritually and emotionally. We will be renewed in God.

So ultimately at the end of your Sabbath answer these questions:
-are you rested?
-do you feel closer to God?

If you take a day of work – at the end of the day you should be rested and refreshed physically.
If you spend the day in God’s presence by reading and meditating on His word, on who He is, and look at the past week and thank Him for all He did for you – you will be filled with praise and thanksgiving. That should rest your spirit. The time spent with God will take your eyes from you and your circumstances and turn on God and Jesus. That will reassure you and give you mental and emotional rest.

Go outside. Enjoy nature. Spend quality time with your family. Rest in God. It should be a day of joy, you should find it delightful.

So, whenever in doubt … be merciful, be compassionate and never let your law keeping stop you to be Jesus extended hand and feet.

“Then Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”” ~ Mark 2:27-28

So keep the Sabbath. Without any extra added religious additions. Keep it simple. Keep it compassionate. Do it for your love and honour for God.

So why did Jesus heal the sick on the Sabbath? The Pharisees blamed Jesus of “working”. And why did Jesus protect His disciples who picked some grains and eat them? Did Jesus did anything contrary to God’s commandment? No.

Every commandment of God came from God’s hearth and is good for us, His children. And the religious folks took out the love and turn it into a burden.

The Sabbath was created for us. A day of rest and remember God. Keeping the Sabbath is showing our trust in God. Knowing that if we obey Him and spend time with Him, we won’t loose the day by not working, but rather gain understanding and favour with God. Obedience always resulted in blessing.

The goal of the Sabbath always was remembering and honouring God. When people turned that into a heartless cold law it killed the love of God. People became so consumed by the law that they would rather not help. They would actually use the law as an excuse that “we shouldn’t suppose to work”. They would rather see others suffer and sick. Where was the love of God in those Pharisees? It wasn’t.

Sabbath became a rule. When we loose the love of God and the honour for God we become indifferent heartless humans who might not work, but be without the compassion of the Father. Jesus was really against the religious leaders of His day because of their hypocrisy. Everything they did was a show. They kept the law, they really did. But there was no love in them. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” ~ 1 John 4:20

God is a compassionate God. The priest and the Levi didn’t help the man who was attacked. More likely they didn’t want to touch anything unclean. They were on keeping themselves clean. They were following the law. (Luke 10) But if your religion doesn’t have the love of God, then it’s worthless. Ultimately, Jesus called the Samaritan (despised by the law keeping jews) the good neighbour. Why? Because he had mercy on the one who was sick. And Jesus said: Go and be like him.