Denis Prager explains the reasoning behind the command to observe a sabbath rest every week. The effects of such an observance change lives, cultures, and potentially the whole world. It is no small thing to observe the sabbath, and that’s exactly why it shows up in the 10 commandments. (more…)
Leadership is stewardship—the cultivation of the resources God has entrusted to us for his glory. The Sabbath gives us both theological and practical help in managing one of our primary resources —our time.
One of the fundamental principles of the Bible when it comes to time management is the Sabbath. If we are to be an “alternate city” (Matthew 5:14–16), we have to be different from our neighbors in how we spend our time outside of work; that is, how we rest. So what is the Sabbath about?
God ties the Sabbath to freedom from slavery. Anyone who overworks is really a slave. Anyone who cannot rest from work is a slave—to a need for success, to a materialistic culture, to exploitative employers, to parental expectations, or to all of the above. These slave masters will abuse you if you are not disciplined in the practice of Sabbath rest. Sabbath is a declaration of freedom.
The original instructions of the Sabbath lead us not into hunger, neglect of ourselves and others, prolonged illness or condemnation as the rabbinic law did, but just the opposite: joy, healing, building up ourselves and others, intimacy with God and abundant life. I can attest to this in my own observance of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is just one example of how God’s law brings abundant life. Instead of a day of don’ts and can’ts that the scribes and Pharisees had made it, Jesus showed us the true meaning and intent of the Sabbath — a day to sit at his feet and receive his life, not depriving ourselves or others, but planning ahead to take a day in which we put away our own pursuits and pursue only God.
In all his comments regarding the Sabbath, Jesus was dividing truth from deception, separating God’s instructions from man’s. This is what we are required to do today: Read the instructions for ourselves and follow God’s leading instead of man’s.
Resting in the finished work of our Lord is the basis of all spiritual life and work. Only those who rest in God’s promises and cease from their own efforts can receive God’s righteousness, peace, and joy.
The Sabbath day command was an ordinance that foreshadowed the coming rest in God’s kingdom that Jesus Christ would bring (Heb. 4). Christ, in essence, is our Sabbath rest.
God’s desire is that we enter into this spiritual rest now, rather than try to keep the letter of the seventh day command. His aim is that we keep the substance of the Sabbath rather than its shadow. The Sabbath is about a Person, not a day.
The true Sabbath is the kingdom of God that is among us right now, and it will one day be manifested for all to see.
Keeping the Sabbath “holy”, to me, had always meant going to church on Sunday. But there was nothing particularly sacred or restful about that. I started looking into Hebrew traditions, the roots of our Christian faith. The rules of keeping the Sabbath, the dynamics of the evening meal, and the following day of rest. I came across a verse I’d never read before, in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, where we are promised the joy and blessing of the Lord if we can delight in a day of rest. It didn’t command, simply, that we take a day of rest. It said, “if you call the Sabbath a delight…” Hmm. That sounded intriguing, hopeful, and just what we needed—a whole day to delight in.
Tim Keller explains that how the purpose of Sabbath is not simply to rejuvenate yourself in order to do more production, nor is it the pursuit of pleasure. The purpose of Sabbath is to enjoy your God, life in general, what you have accomplished in the world through his help, and the freedom you have in the gospel. The Sabbath is a sign of the hope that we have in the world to come.
Shabbat Shalom! That’s what Jews around the world will be saying to one another today. They are preparing to observe the Sabbath.
Jesus said that the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. Consider the Sabbath a gift. We were offered a time to rest, recharge and worship God. We are offered this gift of rest, but we usually refuse it.