Week 22: May 28, 2017

Topic: Keep the Sabbath Holy –Part 1

Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 5: 1-14

Introduction

Sabbath is the seventh day of the week observed by believers as a day of rest and worship. It is a day of religious observance and abstinence from work. Though, the Jews observe Saturdays as their Sabbath according to the Jewish calendar, while the Christians observe Sundays as their Sabbath according to the western calendar. Whatever day that you accepted as your seventh day of the week is your Sabbath day.

The Sabbath day is a holy day which must be honoured because it is on this day that Almighty God rested from His work of Creation of the Universe. The Bible stated that “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” Genesis 2: 2-3. Therefore, you have to keep God’s special day holy and use it for the progress of His work.

The Sabbath day is not the day to walk for cancer or any other type of disease. It is not a day of sports activities or a day of going around collecting debts that people owed you. Christians must not forget the instructions of the Lord our God, but “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates” Exodus 20: 8-10. Since six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, dedicate the seventh day to the Lord by resting and worshipping Him.

Sabbath is very precious to God, and because of its importance he made Sabbath to be an integral part of His commandments (popularly called The Ten Commandments) Deuteronomy 5: 13-14. Make sure you do not oversleep, but first go to Church on Sundays before embarking on any other activity. Therefore observe the Sabbath day, dedicate it to the Lord and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you Deuteronomy 5: 12.

Types of Sabbath

There three types of Sabbaths namely: The Sabbath day, the Day of Atonement and the Sabbath of the seventh year.

The Sabbath Day: Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day of every week is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation in the Churches to worship God. You shall do no work in it; it is the Sabbath day of the Lord and it must be observed wherever you live Leviticus 23: 3.

Day of Atonement: Christians must afflict their souls and do not work at all on the tenth day of the seventh month of the year. The priest shall make atonement for the people to cleanse them from all their sins before the Lord. It is a Sabbath of solemn rest and they must afflict their souls by fasting. It is a statute forever Leviticus 16: 29-31, 23: 26-32. Nowadays, majority of the Churches had replaced the “Day of Atonement with “Forty Days Lent Fasting” because of the death of our Lord on the cross Colossians 1: 14, Hebrews 9: 12.

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year: Six years you shall sow your field and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather its fruits; but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest of the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard Leviticus 25: 2-4; Exodus 23: 10-11.

What all the Sabbaths have in common are solemn rest and holy convocation to worship the Lord. We will focus on the Sabbath day during this discussion.

The significance of Sabbath

There are many importance of Sabbath day that were mentioned in the Bible and we will study them.

God laid the example: God in His infinite mercy always laid the example for humans to follow. The scripture stated that “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” Exodus 20: 11. If God can rest on the Sabbath day then you need to rest too. If He can bless and hallow the Sabbath day, then you must keep the Sabbath holy and worship Him.

Humans need to refresh: All work no rest can make anyone to collapse or break down. It is for this reason that made the Lord God to give us the Sabbath day whereby we can rest and refresh ourselves. It is written that “six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed” Exodus 23: 12. People on this planet now emulate God by going for holidays/vacations in order to revitalize their body. If you want to re-energize your body, you must rest, and if you want to be refreshed, keep the Sabbath.

It is a sign between God and Christians: Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between God and believers from generation to generation. Christians must keep the Sabbath because it is a sign between God and believers throughout our generations so that people will know, and we will acknowledge that He is the Lord who sanctify us and set us apart for Himself Exodus 31: 13. People who observe the Sabbath day are exhibiting signs of obedience and dedication.

Fulfillment of His Word: There is a sentence in the Lord’s Prayer which says “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Matthew 6: 9-13. For the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we have to observe the Sabbath day just like how God and the heavens are keeping the Sabbath day. The Bible stated that “It was mentioned, somewhere in the scripture concerning the seventh day that “On the seventh day, God rested from all His works” Hebrews 4: 4. For the Word of the Lord to be fulfilled in our lives, we must rest and worship Him on the seventh day which is the Sabbath day.

Sabbath is an everlasting Covenant: God gave the Sabbath day to believers as a permanent agreement between Him and the Christians. Therefore, Christians must keep the Sabbath and observe the Sabbath throughout our generations as a perpetual covenant Exodus 31: 16. Since we have an eternal covenant with God, why not embrace it and keep it forever.

Provision for the Sabbath

Before God said we must work for six days and rest on the seventh day, He had made provision for our needs for the seventh day when we must not work but rest. He knew that either we work on the seven day or not we have to eat; so He had stockpile supplies to cater for our needs.

This was demonstrated when God was feeding the children of Israel with Manna. On the sixth day, Moses told them to take double portion according to the instructions of the Lord, because the seventh day which is the Sabbath, Manna will not fall, since God Himself will be resting. However some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather Manna, but found none. They consume the leftover from the sixth day on the seventh day, and there are no worms in the leftover and it did not stink because God gave them the grace and made provision for their need for the Sabbath day Exodus 16: 22-30.

The Bible stated that “The eyes of all look to You and you give them their food in due season” Psalm 145: 15. If God is providing for all living things that depend on Him, by giving them food at the right time, will He not provide for those who keep the Sabbath, His everlasting covenant?