Sabbath Rest
“Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” Exodus 20:8
“Sabbath”—the word means rest. The Sabbath day is a day to be kept holy, and primarily this means not doing any work on that day. Rest is the whole thing.
Resting the body, the mind, and the heart is healthy. Getting good sleep is very important as it exercise. Eating right is equally as crucial to good health. And there is the mental/emotional dimension as well. A sound body and mind go together.
There is something more: there is the spiritual dimension. We may be resting the body, sleeping and eating well, and getting enough exercise, yet we can be unhealthy if we do not have spiritual health as well. And spiritual health is what the Bible is all about.
There are two Sabbaths
First, there is the actual ceasing from work or labor. This is the intent of the fourth of the ten commandments given to Moses by God on Mt. Sinai around 3500 to 3800 years ago. Over time many dozens of subsidiary laws were developed designed to keep anyone from even coming close to breaking the primary law. By the time of Jesus, the “hedge about the law,” the hundreds of extra ordinances that needed to be observed so that the primary law might be kept. These had become quite burdensome over time.
The first job I ever had was delivering kosher foods to Jewish households on Friday afternoons. This gave me a firsthand opportunity to learn about all that went into the preparation for the evening Shabbat meal. Preparing the meal was labor intensive, too. It took an experienced woman to make it work. best they could, but few there were who could boast they keep perfectly kosher.
The Jewish sabbath begins sunset Friday evening and extends to sunset Saturday evening.[1] When the sun slips below the horizon, the Sabbath is on and no work is to be done, not even turning on a light switch after dark Friday evening. This is all to obey the commandment from God as delivered to Moses, and thus to all of Israel.
Is there more to it than this?
Second, there is a fuller meaning for the fourth commandment.
Last Sunday someone asked me, “Pastor, why don’t you rest on Sunday instead of working like you do preaching and everything.” My reply, “I am resting, yes it wears me out, but I am resting. I am resting in Jesus and doing what He called me to do.”
My work is such that I rarely have a complete day off especially not with cell phones and computers. It is frankly impossible for me to take a day off. Yet, I realize the necessity of getting away from screens of all kinds and thus manage to work in an evening here, an afternoon there. But I am “resting” 24/7. I’ll tell you how soon.
The Sabbath laws are nearly impossible to keep, especially in an era such as ours. We recall that one of the purposes of the Law of God is to show us we are law breakers and thus in need of a Savior. If we depended on our keeping of all the laws to be accepted by the Creator God, we are indeed in way over our heads.
Since God is holy, sin (unholy acts and thoughts and intentions) cannot be in His presence. If we would be with Him in heaven our sin must be put away. And this is exactly what happened when Jesus died on the cross. Here now are a few passages from the Hebrew Bible that make this clear:
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him, he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)
“And he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11)
“Yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)
Isaiah was looking ahead to what the Messiah would accomplish. The Christ, and this title is derived from the Greek language and is synonymous with Messiah, took our sin upon Himself, died in our place, thus making it possible to us to be forgiven.
Just how then, does this work, we might ask, and this is the whole thing.
Jesus is our Sabbath rest
We rest in the Person and Work of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus, our Passover Lamb, shed His blood to cleanse us of all our sin. He died in our place, which is the final and ultimate outcome of our sinning.
Yes, this runs counter to the general view of all of the religions developed in human history. These focus of self-improvement, doing good to others, being kind, helping the poor, and caring for the environment. All of which are good and right, and are activities and deeds all of us should attempt to do. However, and this is a big however, these have nothing to do with the forgiveness of our law breaking.
The greatest health
However fit and physically healthy we may be, how emotionally and mentally stable and secure we may be, unless we are spiritually healthy, we are in the poorest of health.
Sin is what separates us from God. It does so both now and forever. With Jesus as Savior and Lord, we have peace with God right now. And when we leave the planet, we have peace with God forever and ever. To neglect this is most tragic.
There is a tragic since of life, and we all know what that is after we have lived a few decades. There is a greater loss, being forever driven from the presence of God.
A summary
Biblical Christianity is healthy.
By means of regularly confessing our sin we are free from guilt and shame. What a burden it is to carry around the weight of unforgiven sin. Oh, I remember my sin, and others may remind me from time to time how awful I was, or I am, but the One who counts has utterly and completely forgiven me.
And I accepted by my Creator God and can accept myself and the fact that I am a son of God.
Plus I continue to grow up. Where I am right now I will not be tomorrow; the Holy Spirit is working on me.
Now I have a reason to live; having purpose and meaning is huge and nearly every day I have an opportunity to share the Gospel message with others.
I am not alone either; I am part of the world’s largest family. Some don’t care for me much, but I have tons of real brothers and sisters in Christ.
Opposition is something I expect, living in the fallen world. How could it be otherwise, but I know it is present and it does not intimidate me in the least, in fact, it spurs me on.
The end of the world does not threaten me. Jesus said His followers would face great difficulty at that point, but that it would not be long, and He would be with us through it all. So, bring it on.
Suffering, life happens to us all, and I will suffer. No one gets by, and as I get older family and friends become disabled and die. We just get old. But again, we are not alone.
I have real hope not a wish for the best. Jesus type hope is assurance of salvation. There is not hoping here; Jesus is Savior and Lord now.
Peace, yes, I am not longer at war with God. It is done, the peace agreement has been signed, sealed, and delivered.
Yes, I am tempted to worry and anxiety; who is not? When I get rattled and distracted, fearing what is going on with me and my world, I can look to Jesus and He will make me strong.
Biblical Christianity is healthy. How incredible, we have the best of it all both here and now and forever. We have every reason to give thanks to our God.
[1] The actual onset of the Sabbath and its ending are variously stated. The movement of the moon also comes into play. My description is generalized.