![]() ![]() A day of rest may help us replenish for the week ahead, but it seems unlikely that this is the reason for the Sabbath. In Genesis God does not rest to replenish his strength and prepare for the next week of work. What does it mean to claim that the Sabbath was made for man? So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) He responded to his accusers … “ The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Jesus was called to task for violating the Sabbath, not an unusual occurrence. ![]() Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. By the seventh day God had completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which he had done. Thus the heavens and earth were completed and all their hosts. To understand this it can help to turn back to Genesis 2:1-3 and to New Testament passages such as Mark 2:23-28. To remember the Sabbath means to observe the Sabbath as a day holy to the Lord. The focus on six days of creation, on rules for work, on a day off (for rest) … it seems to me that all of these miss the point. A few of the thoughts below come from the sermon, but others from other sources. The importance of Sabbath was upheld, but new insights were provided. I started thinking about this because the summer sermon series at the church I attend is working through the Ten Commandments and this one was the subject of a recent sermon. However, the commandments in the Decalogue are not generally among those considered abolished. When should we as Christians observe the Sabbath? For some the question becomes simply should we observe the Sabbath? The commandment to keep the Sabbath may or may not be one of those abolished with the coming of Christ. ![]() High on the list is the definition of work. How are we to keep the Sabbath holy? Many different rules have been put forth for keeping the Sabbath in both Jewish and Christian contexts. Churches and organizations supporting young earth creationism will often bring this up. What is the significance of the connection with the creation week of Genesis 1? There are many Christians who hold that this passage in Exodus demands that we understand the creation as six literal 24 hour days. These passages raise a number of questions. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Rather the Sabbath is tied more directly to the rescue from slavery in Egypt. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day.Deuteronomy 5 adds to our understanding of this commandment, but does not tie the sabbath to the creation week. Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. ESV / 170 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful ![]()
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