We often declare “God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow” without really thinking about the implications of such a statement. Often times, when that statement is made, it is as a way to encourage the hearer that what God did in the past, He is still capable of doing today. Most of us believers love to focus on the New covenant because that is the covenant we are part of since Jesus Christ, the better Adam, made a way for us to be accepted into the family of God. So naturally, we tend to love the New Testament over the Old. However, the Bible must be read as a whole. It is the whole counsel of God for a reason. Nothing is to be left out. The God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament. What God required in the Old Testament is also what He requires in the New. If you look closely, the form may have changed but the core is the same. Having such a holistic mindset when approaching the Bible helps us to keep our view of God right otherwise, we run the risk of believing that the God of the Bible is not One. I have been camping in the book of Isaiah for a while now and this week, I could not help but notice a commandment of the Lord that we, New Testament believers often do not pay attention to and that is: honouring the Sabbath. My goal with this post is to dive into what it is and why this command is practiced differently for us today.
The Sabbath is a day of rest that God commanded His people, the Israelites to observe. Why was this instituted? In the creation story narrated in Genesis 2, we are told that “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:1-3). This passage gives us the origin of the Sabbath which God later commanded to the Jews as they were entering the Promised Land, saying “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 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 has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-9) Among the Ten Commandments, this is the commandment that is the most elaborate, that is the lengthiest. The logical conclusion here is that it is very important to God and should be taken seriously. I wonder, why is it not the same for us? It is quite peculiar that the ceasing of work was commanded for all, even the animals. Rest was to be observed by everyone. This is such an inclusive command and a command that is for the good of the people. Today, the idea of having a “day of rest” where there is no work is not very popular, even in churches. One could argue that it is because while our society was built on the idea of having a “day of rest”, it moved from such mindset as people started yearning for more freedom or should I say, as people became greedy? I recently stumbled upon an article which mentioned a piece of legislature, an act called “The Lord’s Day Act” which prohibited commercial activity and labour on Sundays. This was a federal Canadian law enforced in 1907 until 1985 when it was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada (courtesy of Wikipedia). This tells me that Canada as a nation used to observe a “day of rest”, it might not have been the “Sabbath” as we know but it remained very similar and was a law. This is quite powerful. I wonder what it was like to have Sundays be days where all activities ceased. Obviously, this is no longer what we have today but this piece of information, coupled with passages in Isaiah 56 (verses 2, 4 and 6) and 58 (verse 13) reminded me that this might not be an issue for our society, but it is an issue to God, one He still cares much about and so should we.
While on earth, Jesus brought a different perspective on the Sabbath. Indeed, the Scribes and Pharisees at the time had made observing the Sabbath such a pain that it became a religious duty which was done out of fear of punishment rather than love. Jesus was regarded as a lawbreaker because he often performed miracles on the Sabbath. However, Jesus taught through these acts that it is always lawful to do good on the Sabbath, that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” and that “he is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:27-28). God did not institute the Sabbath to punish His people, He made it for His people. It was for their good and His glory. This means, if our observance of the Sabbath is out of a desire to perform, we have missed the point of it. What is more, those of us in Christ have a freedom when it comes to such observance because we are not Jews. The Sabbath was initially for Jews but gentile believers like many of us worship the Lord of the Sabbath. Knowing that Christ has fulfilled all commands, we can rest assure in the fact that our obedience to Him is obedience to God. The book of Hebrews tells us that believing in Jesus Christ and remaining in him is the equivalent to entering God’s rest (see Hebrews 4). Indeed, the Sabbath pointed to something greater, the rest that God promised His people which is available to anyone who will believe in Jesus. In his letter to the church of Colosse, a gentile church, Paul tells them to beware of those who judge them based on religious duties: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). Paul’s point is that Christ must be our focus as Christians. Whatever act of we do, if we do not keep Christ at the centre of it, we are fooling ourselves. Moreover, our observance of a religious feast, or day must not be an instrument of judgement for our brothers or sisters. So, whether one keeps the Sabbath or not is not an obligation for us Christians however, whatever a person chooses to do he must be convinced in his or her heart and act accordingly (James 4:17). The goal in all that we do is to glorify God.
In conclusion, honouring the Lord with our work is a good thing that is worth pursuing. We may not be obligated to observe the Sabbath in its pure sense, but we should receive the blessings that the Lord has for us as we rest in Him. The Sabbath was God’s idea which is for our own good. I pray the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who does not change like shifting shadows teach us how to honour Him with our work as we learn to rest in Him for rest is our portion. Amen!
A Word Aptly Spoken 