GOD DESIGNED THE SABBATH TO BE A DELIGHT FOR MANKIND
God's Word says that the Sabbath is to be called a delight. Clearly, God wants mankind to enjoy the rest and spiritual rejuvenation. The French Revolutionaries tried to alter the seven day week. They tried giving people a rest one day in ten. It just did not work. People need rest every seventh day. We also need the spiritual encouragement one day in seven. God knows what is best for His creation.
Isaiah 58:12-14 NKJV 12 ... And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. 13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, 14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,...the LORD has spoken."
God would bless and protect those who called the Sabbath a delight and who simultaneously delighted in Jehovah the God of Israel. The Sabbath Day should not become drudgery or a burden. The day should be a delight. Using it correctly will help us learn to love God. God's people were told from the beginning to remember the Sabbath Day.
Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NKJV 12 'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work:... 15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
The Hebrew idiom remember the Sabbath carries the sense of deep reflection on the past. Think of the Creator resting and, His mighty acts of grace and mercy. God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and the Sabbath Day is about freedom. It is a spiritual rescue. The Sabbath represents freedom from cruel labor and freedom from the world's evil and the ways of man and Satan. The day is about freedom from labor and resting with God. Jesus clarified the true reason God made the seventh day holy in talking with the religious leaders who should have known this information.
Mark 2:23-26 NKJV 23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 25 But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 "how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?"
Jesus is telling them that their Sabbath rules are an example of over regulation. The priests helped David in an emergency and were fine including the flexibility in the following of certain Tabernacle laws. Christ is telling the leaders that they both lack understanding of the grace and flexibility of administering God's laws and even of the basic purposes and intent of the law. What is the basic intent and purpose of the Sabbath Law?
Mark 2:27 NKJV 27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Numerous religious people have kept the Sabbath in an atmosphere of over regulation. Many leaders of churches even now do not understand that we do not serve the Sabbath but it is to serve us. It helps us to rest and develop a better relationship with God. The Day should build us up not become a point of stress. Jesus is the one who both administers and created the Sabbath.
Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
Jesus made the entire world including the Sabbath and mankind that this day serves, helping us spiritually and physically when kept properly.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE SABBATH IS TO STRENGTHEN OUR CLOSENESS TO GOD
The Sabbath is a weekly festival to bring us closer to God in a very positive manner. Since men are both physical and spiritual beings the Sabbath helps us in both arenas. The feasting on good food and rest from our toilsome labor nourishes the physical side of mankind. This is done obviously in a positive, festive atmosphere. Our being taught the words of God at the house of God nourishes our spiritual nature.
Leviticus 23:1-3 NKJV 1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. 3 'Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
The first of all the holy days listed in the Bible is the weekly Sabbath. The others are subsequently listed but the Sabbath is the first one showing its importance to God and for man. After Jesus had explained to Pharisees that He had the power to make decisions regarding the Sabbath and that their rules contained no mercy or real understanding He openly defied their heartless regulations.
Mark 3:2-5 NKJV 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." 4 Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
The only “work” Jesus had to do was simply speak a few words yet that violated one of their myriad petty Sabbath regulations. Jesus went out of his way to challenge their rules and to embarrass them regarding the stupidity of the rules. They could not answer Him with logic but resorted to naked, pure hatred and plots of murder.
Mark 3:6-7 NKJV 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea.
This reminds us of a disaster that happened in New York recently where some misguided Jewish people died in a preventable fire. Why? They had to follow rules that the small burners had to be left on all day and could not be turned off until after sunset. They had to turn them on before the Sabbath and had to burn all day until the Sabbath ended if they wanted warm food. It was so very tragic. Even a number of children died in the fire. This sect within Judaism following Pharisaical patterns, even in our age, cannot turn on or off any electric devise or light switch. Christ understands that the Sabbath should be a delight not a burden of harsh restrictive rules.
God wants believers to be lifted up with joy and thankfulness on the Sabbath not a time of fear of breaking a multitude of extra rules. I do understand that the Jewish nation went into captivity for idolatry and Sabbath breaking and following the immorality of the pagans. Therefore they wanted to be certain that no Sabbath breaking could exist. It is an understandable mistake. Yet they went too far in their zeal to be righteous.
Romans 10:1-3 NKJV 1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Paul warns us about misguided zeal which can lead to self righteousness if not grounded in correct knowledge of the purposes of God. We must be cautious that we do not fall into a similar trap. Believers today should teach the truth about the Sabbath and its purpose and let the individual use his growing judgment. Naturally, one cannot work his normal job but how a person delights in the Sabbath should be up to the individual believer.
CONCLUSIONS
- DEVELOPING INFLEXIBLE OVER REGULATIONS OF THE SABBATH ARE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO DELIGHTING IN GOD'S WEEKLY FEAST.
- WE SHOULD EMPHASIZE THE POSITIVE BENEFITS OF THIS WEEKLY FEAST.
- KEEPING THE SABBATH CELEBRATION IS NECESSARY TO LEARN TO LOVE GOD.
