God's Rest

I have been confused by the true meaning of God's rest. I understand He rested after completion of His work.

"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done and He rested ... 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)

He blessed the seventh day because His work of creation was finished. He sanctified it - doesn't that mean set apart?

God's Rest came to be known as the Sabbath in Hebrew/Jewish circles. The name implies cessation from normal activities.

What I find hard to grasp is our rest, our Sabbath. Is it a day of our personal whims and desires or a day of worshiping the True God, our creator?

The Jewish Sabbath is a holy day, a day of rest for man and beast, commemorating God's rest after the work of creation. It is one of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses for His people.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11)

The Hebrew Sabbath is on a Saturday, their seventh day. The Christian Sabbath is on a Sunday.
It seems to me God's rest is any day and every day.

"Six days you shall labor ... but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." (verses 9-10)

Who determined God's first day of creation was a Sunday or that the seventh day, the day of rest, the Sabbath, was a Saturday? Which six days do you labor? Is it Sunday through Friday ... Monday through Saturday?

"God saw ... God divided ... God called ... so the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:4-5)

There are no strict dates.

God blessed the seventh day. He sanctified it. When He gave Moses the Ten Commandments, regarding the Sabbath, He said, "Remember to keep it holy."

Remember to keep it holy.

Do we remember God's command? Do we obey or are we following a "must do" set of rules that we think will get us to a higher plain? We are all equal in the sight of God. Not one of us is better or greater than another.

A day of rest, not relaxation, a day of rejuvenation, refreshment, a regrouping of our souls within, a day of remembering, commemorating the Lord and all He has done, is doing and will do for now and forever.

God's rest is a result of being one with Him, a personal relationship, one-on-one with He who was and is and is to come. God's rest comes to those who believe and accept, who profess faith in His Son whom He sent - Jesus.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)

God's rest comes to those who give, surrender their whole life to Him, who rely completely on His promises, who do not turn from Him and do their own thing. God's rest comes solely by faith.

"Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest." (Hebrews 3:8-11)

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

IF "you have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Galatians 5:4)

If you do not believe in Him
If you are disobedient to Him
If you walk a path away from Him

The covenant promise of God's rest will not come to you.

Without faith there is no rest, no peace.

With it, we are blessed beyond more than we deserve.

More thoughts on the Sabbath

In Biblical Israel, the Jewish Sabbath began at sunset on Friday and ended at sunset on Saturday.

However, today, the hour is not the same, the day is not the same the world over. There are time zones. What is Friday in one place may be Saturday in another.

The Sabbath was made for mankind. A day of rest, reflection in the Lord. Not a day of fun and games or partying. God rested after all His work was done. Six days He labored, and on the seventh day He rested. He made us to all rest ... in Him. Labor however many days, then rest.

I don't believe there is an established rule that the Sabbath is on one specific day of the week.

If you work on Sunday, you can't be reflecting too. If you work seven days a week, you must take your Sabbath when you can.

Exodus 35:2 says "Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord."

Exodus 31: 12-17 tells us that keeping the Sabbath was a sign, a reminder, of the perpetual covenant between Himself and His people, the Jews. But it is not for the Jews only. For in Isaiah 56, we are told Gentiles, all who are not Jews, are also not to defile the Sabbath, to hold fast to His covenant, to do no work, to not carry a burden.

I do not believe there is one pat answer. Determine for yourself as you study the Scriptures. Meditate and listen closely to what the Lord may say to you. Abide with Him and He will never steer you wrong.

For previous posts on the Sabbath: click here.

The 4th Commandment of the Lord

Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy

So, what is the Sabbath? when is the Sabbath? When do we observe the Sabbath? When and how do we keep the Sabbath holy? How does the 4th commandment relate to the other commandments?

These are my my own thoughts based on what I have gleaned from the Scriptures.

God's law is principally about faith. Listening, waiting for God's answer, earnest prayer, then following through. The Ten Commandments are instructions God gives us. We are to learn and pass it on. Learn what God says, teach others what God says. Not learning and teaching what we think, what others think. We will know when we wait on God, seek him earnestly in prayer. Our faith makes us whole.

"Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law." (Romans 3:31)

Without faith we can not understand all that God's law entails. We can not know the whys and wherefores, we can not fully comprehend, not even partially. Obeying the commandments, the law, without faith is of no use. Works alone gets you nowhere. Works do not make you righteous. If you're not righteous, you are not in right standing with God. You are unrighteous, unholy.

"Observe the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. ... And Jesus said to his disciples - The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. ... Therefore the Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath." (taken from Exodus 20, 23, 31, Mark 2)

The Sabbath is a sign between God and believers throughout generations, that you - we may know that "I am the Lord who sanctifies you - consecrates, makes holy, cleanses? purifies? sets you apart? We are to keep the Sabbath therefore because it is holy to you. A day of rest and refreshment.

"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day (such as the Sabbath), observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it." (Romans 14:5-6)

What day is the Sabbath? - the 7th day. But worship is not just one day a week - it's an everyday happening.

What does it mean, 'remember the Sabbath - keep it holy? "And God blessed the 7th day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation." (Genesis 2:3) It does not say He doesn't bless days 1 through 6 or that those days are not holy. Remember the Sabbath - a day of rest from work - keep it holy - reflect on the Lord, on all He is, all He has done.

The first day - the evening and the morning, sundown to sunrise - what day was the first day? When God created, days of the week were not established. There was no calendar. Where does it say day 1 is Sunday or day 7 is Saturday?

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made." (Genesis 2:2)

Again, as Jesus himself said, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

A corporate day of worship - be it Saturday or Sunday or some other day - we have no individual right to judge the reasonings thereof. In this day and age, how do we remember, observe? How do we keep it holy?