And Call the Sabbath a Delight

And Call the Sabbath a Delight – Isaiah 58:13

If we are not under the Law, is the Sabbath even a question to consider?

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Reflection

Is the sabbath an imposition, or a blessing?

It seems to be an on-going endeavour for fundamentalist Christians to understand Sabbath-Keeping, which has been embedded into the Law of Moses, juxtaposed alongside the basic Christian tenet that we are saved by faith. Jesus himself said that to enter into Life, and the Kingdom of God, we are to keep the commandments and it was clear in that passage he was referring to the Ten Commandments, given at Sinai. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:8). This Holy Law determined the Israelites’ responsibility within the contract they entered with God: that is, the Old Covenant.

However, many passages in the New Testament claim the Law is nailed to that tree with Christ, so we are not under its curse, death, because Christ Himself became that curse on our behalf. We, like Christ, have died to the law of sin and death. This occurred when we were baptised. The New Covenant is established on Faith in Christ, not on our adherence to the Law. Nevertheless, the law is “written on our hearts” by the very Spirit of God, given to us as the seal of our faith (Romans 2:15).

How does one reconcile these seemingly contradictory passages? And how ought we consider the commandment with the joy, beauty and blessing purported to be inherent in the Sabbath, per Isaiah 58? Ought we to bother? Is Sabbath observance important to God today?

As noted above, the Holy Spirit is the means by which God’s way is impressed upon our hearts and minds, so despite being free of the Law of sin and death, we are alive through faith, yet we remain mindful of God’s way: His Laws, His principles and His paths, and we do not sin. In fact, we do not stop there. We do well. We go the extra mile. We are not mean minded about doing well. But we are far more invested in doing well – sometimes even to our own hurt. We do not sin. Sin however is defined in the first instance by the law, the same code of Law that demands we observe and honour the Sabbath.

So then, actually we keep the law, not grudgingly, but wholeheartedly and live our lives in complete agreement with the Law. This is how Jesus the Messiah lived. Our lives are lived in harmony with the Law and its intent.

Sabbath keeping Christians are questioned about the Sabbath. If we are not under the Law, the Law having been made redundant in the presence of Christ’s gift of life (rather than the curse of death under the Law), why then is the Sabbath even a question to consider? Paul, that amazing apostle to the Gentiles, required that we not judge each other on the observances of favouring one day over another in how we each worship God. This would indicate that God accepts our worship on any day.

So this circular question goes around and around and around. “I would not consider breaking the other commandments. Why not then keep the Sabbath? If I observe the Sabbath according to the Law, am I then denying the Faith?” Let’s look at a passage that may shed more light on this topic.

Galatians 3: A synopsis

In Galatians chapter three (please read this whole chapter), Paul provides clear demarcation between the Law, given at Sinai and Faith in Jesus. He explains that we received the Spirit by the hearing of faith (not by works of the Law). We began thus, in the Spirit so ought not think we are made perfect by the flesh (by our good behaviour).

By inference then we know that the keeping of the law does not make us perfect. Continuing in the Spirit does make us perfect. Jesus ministers to us, via the Spirit – He sent it to us and works with us through its power – He works miracles among us by the hearing of faith, not by the works of the law.

Do you know that a covenant of Faith precedes the Covenant of Sinai? Abraham believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness. We who are of the faith are, spiritually speaking, children of Abraham. The Gospel was preached to Abraham. “In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” That is to say, even heathen nations would be justified by God through faith. We, of the faith, are blessed along with faithful Abraham.

Conversely, whoever is of the works of the law are under a curse. “Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Deuteronomy 27:26; Jeremiah 11:3). This means that if you are under the Law, you must observe it in its entirety. It is actually impossible for the natural man to observe faithfully, all the requirements of the Law and in not fully conforming we are doomed to “death”.

These passages are speaking of the Law, the Covenant with God. Israel was subject to this Law because they entered that Covenant with God. Paul’s passage in Galatians is referring to the same Law that was the governing code of the Old Israelite Covenant. We know this because Paul, here in this letter to the Galatians, quotes Deuteronomy. Israel were under a curse because of this same law. However, no man is justified by the Law. “The just shall live by FAITH.” The Law is not of Faith (Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:4-5).

Israel’s zeal in Paul’s time was admirable in some ways, but misleading, because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and tried to establish their own righteousness. Thus, they were not submitted to God’s righteousness (Romans 10:4-5, 8). “For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” Salvation through Christ is not a struggle, because Christ overcame sin on our behalf. The Old Covenant was replete with innumerable animal sacrifices which in the first place allowed the people an avenue for reconciliation with God when they had broken the laws of God, but each one of these animal deaths were a testimony that Jesus would come and His sacrifice was to replace these animal sacrifices. Jesus is the perfect lamb to cover all of humanity’s sins.

To us, Paul says, “Confess Jesus with your mouth. BELIEVE in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, AND YOU will BE SAVED!” (Romans10:9) FAITH is the key to Life. We believe unto righteousness and with our mouth’s confession, springing from faith in Jesus, we enter salvation (Romans10:10). We live by faith.

The Law is not of Faith. It is written, about the law, “the man that doeth them shall live in them.” But Christians entered into Life by having faith in Christ. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming that curse. The blessing, rather, of Abraham comes to us through Jesus. Through Jesus we receive the promise of the Spirit, through FAITH. “In thy seed” refers to Jesus, i.e. the Promise.

The Law, given some 430 years after the promise, did not annul the promise. The inheritance we claim is not through the keeping of the Law, it is by PROMISE.

Interestingly, the Law was added because of transgression and was in place UNTIL the seed of Abraham came. The Old Covenant was a contract but the new Covenant is founded on a Promise of God to Abraham.

Paul continues in Galatians, “There is no Law that giveth Life. Otherwise we would have righteousness through that law, but all of the Law condemns us, as (because) all of us are under sin. Why? So the promise of the Faith of Jesus is given to us who believe. Faith was therefore, revealed.

Prior to the New Covenant, the Law acted like a schoolmaster who brought us to Christ. Why? So we could be justified by Faith. Thus we are no longer under that schoolmaster. We, who believe, are all God’s children by faith. We have put on Christ, His humble obedient nature, like a holy garment. And because we are Christ’s we are all Abraham’s seed according to the promise.

With respect to the Sabbath, we understand it is embedded into the Law that underpins the Old Covenant which existed until the promise of Faith was fulfilled.

However the Sabbath actually precedes this purpose and exceeds this purpose. One could surmise that the Sabbath exists outside of the Law. How so?

Points to Ponder regarding the Sabbath

The Sabbath is fundamental to creation. God created a space in time. One day every seven days (Genesis 2:1-3). He blessed the day on which He rested. He did not bless other days of the week. It is a blessed day. By resting, did God make Himself available to His creation, especially to the people He created in His own image? If so, this makes the Sabbath a blessing and an invitation to visit with God. Indeed Christ said “the Sabbath was made for man”, for us.

The Sabbath was made for our benefit (Mark 2:27 & Isaiah 58:13). It is not meant to be a burden (as the Jews of Jesus day had made it to be), but a delight. The Sabbath is blessed and a blessing. Perhaps that is why Jesus contended with the Jews of His day, because the Jews had made the Sabbath to be a burden and even compassionate activities were not allowed by them.

There is no specific reference to the Sabbath in the early books of the Bible until Israel was rescued from Egypt and God instilled in the people’s minds that it was a rest day. This was prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, in a period leading up to that great and momentous event.

In Exodus 16:4 we are told that God rained Manna down from Heaven. God told Moses that through the gathering of the bread, God would “prove” them regarding their inclination to Keep His Law or not (Exodus 16:5). They were to prepare for the Sabbath by collecting twice the amount of Manna on the sixth day which would keep (stay fresh) and tide them over throughout the seventh day. On other days of the week, if a person tried to keep the manna overnight, it got smelly with worms. God, at that time, was providing Israel’s food in the form of meat (from birds) in the evening and manna in the morning after the dew lifted. God established in their minds his role for them as provider and to know that He was their God. God alone is God. (Exodus 16:23) The seventh day was the “rest” of the Holy Sabbath. This was before the tablets of stone were delivered to Israel.

The Sabbath is and was always holy (Exodus 16:23,29). God gave us the Sabbath. He revealed the Sabbath to Israel before He gave them the Ten Commandments. The miracle of manna sustained Israel for forty years in the wilderness. Note that the Passover was instituted prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments and so was the Sabbath. God saved Israel, redeemed Israel, healed Israel and fed Israel and led Israel on a peaceful path. The stories around God’s saving grace became part of Israel’s lore for the Lord has triumphed gloriously (Exodus 15:26). God expected Israel to do that which is right in His sight and to listen to his commandments and statutes and He promised to protect them from the diseases of Egypt from whence they had come. God healed them. He provided water directly from a rock when they travelled to a place with no water. He protected them from marauding armies. Now in the third month after departing from Egypt, God asked Moses to enquire of Israel if they would obey Him and keep His covenant and they would be a treasure to God from among all the nations and the people said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.” This was at Mount Sinai, approximately 7 weeks after their departure from Egypt.

When one considers the time trajectory of the Israelites in their departure from Egypt, within the context of God’s Holy Day Season, we realise this period of time when they first travelled, was within the counting of the weeks from Passover to Pentecost. It is very likely that the Old Covenant between God and Israel was sealed on Pentecost those many Millennia ago.

The Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. God is God and we are to worship Him only (Exodus 20:8-10). Keep the Sabbath Holy. No one was to work on this day. In this passage the command was tied to the fact that God was Israel’s redeemer and He saved them and brought them out of Egypt and slavery. The Sabbath Day is blessed and holy.

Immediately after giving the Ten Commandments, God told Moses all the statutes that Israel was to live by and in Exodus 23 God outlines three annual seasons of worship that correlate with the prime harvest periods of the year (Exodus 23:14-17). The Sabbath was instituted in the context of creation and also with themes of redemption, providence, rest, peace, health and safety. The Sabbath is a day of rest, but the weekly Sabbath is not the only Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a marker of time in a cycle that will remain in place as long as the sun rises and sets on God’s creation. It was blessed and hallowed and that has not changed.

The Sabbath directs our eyes (minds) toward God for it is a weekly reminder that He is our Creator and our Redeemer. He rescued Israel and He rescues us. Christians are saved. The Sabbath points to our Redeemer (of eternal Redemption), Christ.

Christ is also Lord of the Sabbath. He is the one who was there at creation (John 1). He blessed the Sabbath and hallowed it. When we observe the Sabbath our eyes are on Christ! Christ saves us from sin and its penalty, death. Christ is our redeemer and thus rescues us spiritually. Spiritually we are free (as Israel was freed from Egypt, so are we freed from our bondage). We are Christ’s; hidden in Christ; embedded in Christ; clothed in Christ. Freed from sin, we belong to Christ. Being in Christ, we are free.

The Sabbath symbolises our freedom. The world is held hostage by the serpent and has been since those early days in the Garden of Eden. But we are Christ’s for He set us free. Through Christ, the truth sets us free (John 8:32). Christ says in Verse 32, “By being my disciples, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Knowing Christ, following Christ, we can and do know the truth. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 8:36). “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” “If a man keeps my saying he shall never see death.” We are free of sin and death (John 8:51). Jesus’ death overcomes the Devil who no longer has any power over Christians (Hebrews 2:14).

We see Jesus depicted in the Sabbath, from Creation to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth and even to the new Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 21 and 22. Sabbath observance is therefore not contrary to Christianity, but completely in harmony with Jesus.

Jesus Himself is our Sabbath rest (Matthew 12:6-8; Hebrews 4). There is a “rest” that is neither the weekly Sabbath nor Canaan and we enter it through faith, having ceased from our own works. We are considered Holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling. Surely it behoves all Christians to do all they can to enter into God’s rest, the Kingdom. Hebrews 4 explains that the Israelites who entered the wilderness did not enter the land of Canaan, a whole generation died without ever stepping one foot in it. The reason they were denied this was because of their “unbelief”, their stubborn hearts prevented them from having faith and they “fell in the wilderness”. The Gospel message was preached to them in the wilderness. Is a lack of faith synonymous to disobedience? We cannot hide our unbelief, nor can we hide our wickedness. The Word of God (Jesus Himself) divines the truth, cutting to the depths of heart, soul and mind. All matters are “naked” and exposed to Christ. We are to stay true and thus we are admitted to the throne of grace and into Heaven itself. We could consider the role of the Sabbath in strengthening our relationship with God.

The Sabbath was created. It was part of creation. Mankind was the penultimate act of creation but the Sabbath, open as it was, was the final act of Creation.

The Bible does not close off the first Sabbath. It does not say, “and the evening and the morning were the seventh day”. This strongly implies that it was the final act of creation, but not the end of the story. We ought not to deny it any more than we could deny an elephant standing in front of us. To understand, one may go back to Genesis Chapters 1 and 2. Each of the six days of the physical creation, the daily period ended with a marker, “and the evening and the morning were the … day”, but with the Sabbath, there is no closing marker of this day.

The significance of the Sabbath in God’s Plan cannot be ignored. Christians are blessed if they are mindful of God’s Plan and when we honour God by acknowledging His Plan. Perhaps the very plan of God is inherent in the blessing of the Sabbath to make it Holy, and to invite mankind to commune with Him on this day: and because this day was and is on-going, our communion is not bound by the 24 hour period of the Sabbath, but it is eternal.

The Sabbath within the Greater Biblical Themes

Restoration and Restitution of all Things

At the foundation of the World, after the physical creation was completed, God earmarked a period of time that He blessed and called Holy. This seventh day, we know of as the Sabbath. The Sabbath day that God blessed is embedded in God’s love and it always depicts rest and release from our everyday burdens.

Also the Sabbath acts as a marker toward Pentecost, which every year, reminds Christians of the day when God sent the Holy Spirit to those who believed in Christ. It’s like the anniversary of the beginning of the Church of Christ. All of these Holy Days and seasons are linked to a Spiritual type of rest, and ultimately to Christ’s role (Luke 4:18-24), within the themes of the Jubilee, redemption, freedom, rest and ultimately of Jesus’ return and his final quashing of Satan’s stranglehold on the earth and its inhabitants.

Satan is powerless in the presence of Christ

The Sabbath is like a seed that grows into the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. The Sabbath not only marks time annually toward Pentecost it also acts as a counter toward the Jubilee, which is a celebration scheduled to occur once every fifty years. This Jubilee is calculated via the seventh year ‘Sabbath of the Land’ (once every seven years the land was not to be cultivated, but left fallow) and following the seventh Sabbath of the Land we come to the 50^th year, which is the Jubilee Year.

In Leviticus 23 we see that in the 7^th month of the Calendar that God gave to Israel, the very first day is a Holy Assembly numbered amongst the Sabbaths to the Lord. It is the Feast of Trumpets. This is the first day of the seventh month.
The 10^th day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement.
The 15^th Day marks the first Sabbath and first day of the Feast of Tabernacles.
After the 7^th day of this Feast another Sabbath is held. It is the 8^th Day, that “last great day of the Feast. This was the day when Jesus stood up among the congregation and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Jesus is the source of the living water of life. This eighth day is a Holy Convocation and a solemn assembly – no work was to be done on that day either.
Further to this, there is a Sabbath of the Land, a Sabbath for the Lord. It would appear that the whole nation had a whole year of down time!
Then seven times seven Sabbaths of the Land brought the nation to the 49^th year. In that year on the Day of Atonement, there was a trumpet sound to declare the onset of the 50^th year. The 50^th year is hallowed. It is Holy. And it is to proclaim Liberty throughout the land – see Luke 4:18-22 – it is a Jubilee.

Jubilee means celebration, rejoicing, and a special occasion.

It is a time of …

redemption – slaves are freed
restoration – people are given back their inheritances
people and can return home
it is a year of rest – the land itself rests, the nation rests.
It is Holy time for that whole year.

Israel in this context, were commanded not to oppress one another. Freedom and safety are God’s desire for His people, not to use and abuse one another.

Jesus proclaimed that He was in fact the fulfilment of the Jubilee’s complete intention.

When one considers the Jubilee year as God instructed Israel to observe it, we see it is based on the perpetual and regular schedule of Sabbath rests. The Jubilee represents the ultimate fountain of God’s good will toward all men.

Thus, when Jesus our Saviour pronounced the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy which referred to the universal themes of Liberty, Prosperity, Equality and Abundance, He announced that its fulfilment is in Him. The Jubilee is the Acceptable Year of the Lord (Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18).

Jesus’ ministry was witness to his power to save, to heal, to release, etc. He forgave sins. He showed how the Sabbath was to be lived as a blessing, not a curse. Ultimately Jesus frees us from our worst fear, death. Jesus it truly the way, the truth and the Life.

If then, Jesus is the fulfilment of the whole notion of the Jubilee, which is intrinsically entwined with the Sabbath, then the Sabbath is even more important to Christians in its intent than simply being embedded in the Law. Reading collectively in Luke 4 and in Isaiah 61 we understand that the Jubilee and Christ’s work share the same intent.

To preach the gospel to the poor. Jesus brought us good news about a new opportunity; to enter the Kingdom of God. The “meek” are the “poor”.
To heal the broken-hearted. In Isaiah it says to ‘bind’, as a nurse would bind a broken wrist, so our hearts are healed and restored (no longer broken).
To proclaim liberty to the captives – deliverance from whatever has enslaved us.
To open the prisons speaks of both physical and spiritual freedom
To restore sight to the blind – this refers to physical blindness, but more so the blindness of the mind that prevents us seeing God as he is – a loving creator and father. Israel (and the whole world) has a veil over their eyes that prevents them from really comprehending God. Jesus removes this blindness too.
To set at liberty those who are bruised (perhaps this means people who are abused and in dire straits they cannot escape). Jesus frees us all.
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Isaiah adds “and the day of vengeance of our God”. Some people have a lot to answer for and God will address their sin.
To comfort those who mourn. This world is full of sadness. God intends to comfort us all through Jesus’ work.

There is indeed so much suffering in this world, which has been taken hostage by Satan, and God has a plan to save us. This saving grace is in Jesus our Saviour.

God takes the theme of the Jubilee in Israel (see Leviticus 25 especially from Verse 10 to 17) to the highest of heights to ensure we are healed spiritually and that the earth itself is healed physically. The heart of man is dramatically changed in the presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

Taking this loving intent to its logical conclusion, perhaps this even means the Jubilee theme is tied into the time of Revelation 21 when Satan is banished forever, because he brought death and sin into the world; and in the time when healing, living waters flow from Jerusalem throughout the earth.

If this is so, the Sabbath’s significance so far outstrips the relationship of the Law to Faith: it ascends to an eternal principle expressed in the Godhead itself! God loves His creation of which Mankind is the pinnacle.

We think “thou shalt” is a command and indeed it is and is a part of the Old Covenant and the contractual relationship between God and His beloved nation Israel but is it an imposition or a blessing? Isaiah 58 demands of us to consider the Sabbath a “delight”. Can we change our viewpoint to see the seventh day as a blessing, a delight, a gift, a joy, and a privilege? And if we adjust our thoughts will we respond and react differently because there is a different reason for observing the Sabbath? Perhaps then, it will not be considered an imposition.

Why is there even a question over remembering and respecting the Sabbath?

A Christian Perspective of the Sabbath

Christians who are earnest regarding the God of the Bible understand that Old Testament writings are core to our walk with Christ. The Old Testament writings predict and point to the work of the Saviour. The words and works of Old Testament greats have withstood the test of time and still stand in the light of Jesus because Jesus Himself is portrayed so repeatedly in its stories, its promises, its prophecies. We understand our God through all the words of the Bible, so we thus understand the principles by which God interacts with us and what is good and true in its pages.

With respect to the Sabbath, the study above teaches us that the Sabbath is Holy, blessed by God. It is a gift to us, to humankind. The Sabbath represents rest and peace via the complete Holy Annual Schedule with Jesus in mind at every Holy Day – Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Harvest Festivals, Sabbath of the Land, and the Jubilee Year.

This ancient annual Holy Day schedule explicitly represents the reality which is in Jesus, and it refers to the Kingdom of God, and ultimately looks forward toward the New Heaven and New Earth. The Sabbath states undeniably God’s intention and unwavering commitment to humankind – seen in the New Heaven and New Earth and seen in the birth and work of our Saviour. That is ‘God with us’, as He is in Jesus and as He will be when evil is finally removed from our world. God with us. This is the Sabbaths’ powerful message and intent.

The Sabbath theme of rest, peace, restitution and restoration is exemplified in ever increasing magnification throughout the Holy Days and throughout God’s Plan, so Although as Christian we are not obliged to keep them (the annual Holy Days), as in the Law, it and they are a key to understanding God’s Love and His intention to restore us to Himself.

God’s desire to be with us is eternally stamped in time within the blessing of the Sabbath. He created us to have a relationship with Himself.

Plan Of God

To disregard the Sabbath

is to disregard God’s Love

The Sabbath, the observance of it, acknowledges God as God and as our Creator – fundamental to life! Just as the Passover is fundamental to restore our intimacy with our Father through Christ, so the Sabbath is fundamental to feeding and nurturing and growing our love of God. He is there for us, waiting in time. Let’s go out to meet Him there. He is there, in the Sabbath.

Yes, He is always present for us, but are we present for Him? By attending God in the Sabbath, we are coming near to Him, honouring Him in the way He asks us to. “Come to me,” said Jesus. By stepping out of our own busyness, we clear our schedule, freeing up time to spend time with our Father and our big Brother. This is our rightful place and what we were created for – to have an intimate relationship with God. So, like the Jubilee, the Sabbath is about coming HOME.

God introduced the Sabbath schedule to Israel. He impressed on them His role as their provider through the gift of Manna. Manna was literally bread from Heaven. God provides for us. He meets our needs for food to sustain our bodies and food to sustain our souls and spirits – that is the Word of God. Jesus when rebuking the Devil reiterated that “man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”. Jesus is the Word of God (John Chapter 1). Jesus spoke God’s words. We can look to God for everything we need. The Sabbath thus pictures plenty, abundance, prosperity, enjoying the goodness of the earth, of life and of our peace with God. Jesus is the “True Bread from Heaven” by which we live eternally. This too is tied up with Sabbath observance.

Pentecost occurred after seven Sabbaths were completed from the Sabbath immediately after Passover. On this day God sealed His covenant and promises to Israel and they willingly accepted His offer. This 50th day, also, after Jesus died as our Passover Lamb, after He was risen and ascended to Heaven, was the day upon which Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, which sealed the church to Him by this intimate and eternal spiritual link. The Holy Spirit seals us as God’s people. The Sabbath is once again intrinsically linked to the Covenant with God, the New Covenant in Christ.

At Passover, Jesus died to take away our sins. We repented, on accepting this sacrifice in lieu of our own death. The penalty for sin is death. We therefore, discarded our previous life and lifestyle and embarked on a new relationship with God – a relationship based on mercy, God’s grace. We did, in effect, enter an eternal Sabbath, having put our old life away, we rest from our own works. Thus, the Sabbath speaks clearly of Salvation itself!

Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. In fact, He is our Sabbath. Our rest is in Him as our Saviour and High Priest. We have no need to ever struggle again.

Ultimately we realise the Sabbath earmarks the time when God lives with us – humankind.

Through Jesus, the whole world will be cleansed of sin and God will resume His closeness with Humans as He had intended in the Garden. God with us – that’s why we are to delight in the Sabbath.

That passage in Isaiah 58 covers what holy fasting is about and speaks clearly of the themes of the Jubilee and of every Sabbath.

Plan Of God

To… Loose the bands of wickedness

To undo the heavy burdens

To let the oppressed go free

To break every yoke

To deal bread to the hungry people

To shelter and care for poor people

To clothe people

To cling to your family

These are all themes of the Jubilee and the Sabbath rest and of God’s Kingdom. These are themes of equity and peace for everyone.

When we honour God through fasting, through honouring Jesus on the Sabbath, through respecting the intent of the Holy Days Schedule and the Sabbaths of the Land leading up to the Jubilee year, we pay tribute to God’s unwavering intention for mankind that He will live with us. We live this today when we take time from our own schedules and meet God on His Holy Day. Instead of considering the Sabbath in terms of Law, we can delight in the Sabbath for all of the above reasons. The Sabbath needs no justification to be respected in our lives with Christ for He is Lord of the Sabbath.

When Jesus described Himself as the way, the door to God, is He not showing us the way to an intimate relationship with the Father? Jesus is our Sabbath rest. He is our invitation to meet with the Father. Jesus depicts our Sabbath rest perfectly. Jesus holds our hands and takes us to meet the Father. Our rest therefore is grounded entirely in our following Christ unwaveringly. Let’s meet our Gracious Father by following Christ into eternity through the Sabbath door which He has opened for us. To God be glory forever and ever.

The Sabbath Day is an invitation. Jesus says “Follow me”. We can keep the Sabbath in mind and make Sabbath Keeping a highlight of our week to honour Christ and to accept His invitation. When we accept Christ as our Saviour, we enter through that “door” into eternal rest and peace with the Father, through Christ. One may even think of Jesus Himself as the Sabbath, because He has given our hearts and minds and souls peace and rest.

Although clearly we are not under the Law but in a covenant of Faith, we can acknowledge that the Sabbath preceded any law. We can honour its fullest intent. We can put aside our own pursuits of busyness and take this time to visit our Heavenly Father, to become more intimate with Him through heartfelt prayer, through spiritual meditation, through respectful and loving fellowship with other Christians and through studying the Holy and inspiring Words of God preserved for us through every generation and we can do this in dedicated time, which we honour each week. Let us walk through that door together and delight in the Sabbath that God has blessed. Given these glorious expressions of God’s love for us, we can and do call the Sabbath a Delight.

Amen.

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