In the Beginning pt 9

Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

What is the Sabbath?

We find in Isaiah a strange passage about the Sabbath:

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
 Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

We start with keeping justice and doing righteousness because salvation is about to come. This is obviously a passage for the first and second coming of Christ. This might also be one of the passages that the Pharisees had employed. They thought that if we could just get holy enough, then the Messiah would come and deliver Israel from the Romans.

But if we just read this passage, we find that it connects keeping justice and doing righteousness with the Sabbath...

Why?

In the beginning, God rested, and that was considered as the Sabbath. I've always been taught that sabbath means rest, and so to keep the Sabbath is to rest all day. What is this parallel with justice and righteousness and the Sabbath?

Lets look at the life of Jesus. Time and time again Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. It is mentioned that at least one time, Jesus asks the question, "Is it better to do good or evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?" There wasn't a response. Why? Well we can see that it is obviously better to save life and do good. The point isn't about resting... or is it?

What about all those times where Jesus gets yelled at because He is "doing that which is unlawful on the Sabbath?" He is working, right? That is what healing is, anyway... Or is it?

Jesus continually seems to give these explanations and return questions that when you look into it, it seems like Jesus is saying, "I'm not working. My Father is the one who is working. I just lay hands on people and speak a word. That doesn't take any effort. God is the one who does the healing."

Wait a second...

So Jesus claims that His teachings, healings, miracles, and everything else that He does on the Sabbath isn't done by His own strength?

Remember when we learned that the word "hovered" in Genesis 1:2 was the Piel participle of the verb "to relax?" When you use the Piel, you change the verb (it intensifies). What does it mean if you intensely run? You sprint. It is the same verb, but intensified. The participle means that you use this verb as an adjective: "the sprinting man..."

So when we read the Spirit of God hovered, it could also be written as "The resting Spirit of God..."

If God created everything from this state of rest, then what does it mean that He rested on the Sabbath?

How is it that God can be at rest while creating, and yet it says that He rested from His work on the seventh day?

The difference is the verbs.

The verb for "rest" in Hebrew is ShBTh (shaw-Bawt). The Sabbath is different in one major particular: this rest brings about regeneration.

This isn't about renewing strength or sleep or not doing. This is about edifying your spirit. This word is about doing that which renews your soul and spirit. The Sabbath is about doing that which brings you pleasure. It is about doing that which brings your soul peace and joy.

If gardening is refreshing to your soul, then garden. If you really enjoy studying this or that topic, then study. What is it that you can say, "If I'm able to do this forever, that would be Heaven?" It's different for everybody.

What it is not is sitting in front of the television and relaxing.

It is not filling your mind and soul with things that are damaging to the Spirit of God.

It is not spending the day on the internet watching videos that use language, violence, or any other form of corruption (like sexual imagery).

It is not reading blog posts about who is wrong and for what reason.

Things that rile up emotions like anger, bitterness, wrath, hatred, strife, lewdness, selfishness, outbursts, jealousy, envy, contentions, and division are unacceptable for the Sabbath.

The reason is because the Sabbath isn't about relaxing. We have misinterpreted this entirely. We think that relaxing is resting. But there is a difference between Genesis 1:2 and Genesis 2:2. The verbs are very different. Genesis 2:2 speaks of a rest that revitalizes your spirit. You don't dwell on the controversies of the world. You don't worry. You don't spend time searching out things that are going to cause you to get upset and retaliate (in any form).

The Sabbath is about refreshing your spirit, therefore it isn't something that is wrapped in time. It isn't about a point in time. It is an eternal moment. It stretches beyond time and is something that should transform us deeply.

I would suggest reading Abraham Joshua Heschel's book on the Sabbath (its actually titled The Sabbath). He probes the depth of what it means for the Sabbath to be timeless and eternal.

As for me, I struggle enough with just trying to remember that the Sabbath isn't about relaxing, but about rest. Is my soul at rest? What do I need to do to create life in myself? What do I need to do to help create life in those around me? I might actually have to work. But that isn't the point of the Sabbath (working or not working). The point is that whatever you do, it generates rest and life and peace and causes those around you to be able to say, "This is very good."