Rest Was God's Idea, Too

“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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:9-11) 

Sabbath is a gift from God. He set the example by resting on the first Sabbath. Even the land is to enjoy rest as every seventh year the land was to lay untended. Every seventh year, slaves were set free. This brought the gift of hope to an otherwise desperate situation. After seven cycles of seven year Sabbaths, a Jubilee would be declared and all land was to be returned to its ancestral owners. These acts countered the tendency of a small number of people to accumulate wealth at the expense of others.

 “Time is money,” is the popular rally call today but, in primitive cultures, three hours a day was all that is needed to grow and gather enough food for three days. During the Stone Age, the average work week was 15 hours. Men would hunt and the women gather and, then, paint on cave walls and tell stories around the fire. 

The Industrial revolution increased the hours required to work. Factories started at a certain time and the workers had to be at their posts. Factory owners wanted more wealth and, often, exploited workers with low wages, long hours and dangerous conditions. They exploited resources by taking as much out of the ground, as fast as they could; dumping their poisons in the ground and water. Labor laws and unions have created a more equitable work environment but have not changed the human heart. 

The booming economy following WWII, created an atmosphere of consumerism that was needed if growth was to continue. We worked harder to buy more toys, while advertisers cheered us on. We buy on credit and wind up working to pay off our debt. It's almost as if we have sold ourselves to slavery. “I owe, owe. It's off yo work I go.” 

Consumerism damages our planet and our physical, spiritual and emotional health. It has been said, “There is enough for human need but never enough for human greed.” 

Sabbath is the antidote to consumerism and the key to sustainability. It controls greed driven growth and gives the land a chance to recover. It enhances physical, mental, and spiritual health by allowing us to be unproductive and enjoy the moment that we are in.

The Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

The religious establishment believed that they could please God by developing and following a strict set of rules. This caused them to, not only, miss the true intent of God's law but, also, led to conflict with Jesus and his disciples. One clash occurred when the hungry disciples picked and ate some grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-24). Old Testament law prohibited working on the Sabbath but that did not extend to picking a handful of grain to satisfy immediate hunger.

The Pharisees were very religious people whose strong desire to keep the law led them to build a hedge around the law. Deciding that it was best to err on the side caution to prevent Sabbath breaking, They banned 1500 acts on the Sabbath.

Rules seem to make life easier but they short-circuit thinking and, sometimes, lead to bad decisions. A deacon told me that he had once approached a young man in church and told him to remove his ball cap or leave. The young man felt humiliated and left. The deacon later learned that the young man was undergoing treatment for cancer and had lost most of his hair. He regretted enforcing that rule.

Jesus taught that God's law must be applied with compassion and reminded the Pharisees that King David once took sacred bread that was to be eaten only by the priests and gave it to his men (I Samuel 21:1-6). David was justified because his need for food was greater than keeping the ceremonial law.

Meeting human need and compassion takes precedence over custom, ritual, ceremony and tradition. God says, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

The Sabbath is God’s idea. God created everything in six days, and he rested on the seventh, and made it holy. (Genesis 2:2) God didn’t need to rest because he was tired. He rested because he was done.

“Sabbath” means rest. God created us to need rest for our bodies and refreshment for our spirits every seven days. The Law prohibited menial work but the Pharisees prohibited all work; even good work. The Sabbath was not meant to restrict necessities. The Sabbath was made to serve man not for man to serve the day. (Mark 2:27) The day had become a burden instead of the blessing it was meant to be.

The wrong question to ask is “What is allowed or not allowed on the Sabbath? – Can you eat out? go to the movies? watch or play sports?”

That question makes Sabbath rules more important than the Sabbath itself. Don’t worship the day or “rules;” worship the Lord of the Sabbath.

The Lord of the Sabbath offers true rest to whosoever comes to Him.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30