Do Not Neglect The Sabbath

Jeremiah 17:19–21 (ESV) Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Sabbath rest is of supreme importance in the economy of God. Here Jeremiah calls on the leaders to practice the Sabbath "for the sake of (their) lives." It's very clear, Sabbath rest is a life and death issue. When leaders do not practice rest, the people are overburdened and the nation suffers. 

But what else is this calling for in our lives? 

The Sabbath is modeled by God in creation. 

Genesis 2:2 (ESV) And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

The Sabbath is a law in the middle of the Commandments toward God (1-3) and those toward our fellow man (5-10). When we ignore the Sabbath we harm both our vertical and horizontal relationships. 

Thus the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was death (see Numbers 15:32-36).

The Sabbath is a picture of God's purpose in Christ to bring rest to our souls. 
Matthew 11:28 (ESV) Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The Sabbath is a picture of salvation. We rest in the finished work of Christ. 
Hebrews 4:1 (ESV) Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

The people of Israel were to stop what they were doing every seven days and rest, glorifying God in worship and enjoying Him as a people. The Sabbath is a picture of our heavenly dwelling. 

You can see why this law was so important to Jeremiah. Everything the Bible speaks to is undermined by ignoring the Sabbath. 

If the nation would honor the Sabbath, God would elevate them above the nations. 
Jeremiah 17:24–25 (ESV) “ ‘But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.

The Sabbath would strengthen the nation and elevate her leaders. The Sabbath would bless the people and bind them together in community. What we see today is a neglect of the Sabbath. People may not work on Sunday but they also do not attend worship and sense community. Consequently, people are lonely, lost, and looking for purpose and friends. God knew the key was to stop every 7th day and say yes to all He offers in Himself. 

In order for any nation to really live, they must REST in the life of God. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

The Stain of Slavery

One of the greatest pains in my heart over the history of the church is the fact that many "Bible-believing" Christians used the Bible to promote, continue, and enable slavery in America's past. It may have happened elsewhere, but I'm an American, and I know it happened here. Then, some repeatedly make the claim because of a tiny amount of verses where God informs Israel on how to take slaves, it means the Bible is a pro-slavery document. How absurd. The overarching narrative of the Bible is that God sets the slaves free. The second book testifies to this part of God's character.  Getting to Jeremiah's day, one of the reasons Israel's nation was handed over to exile was because they enslaved each other. This attitude was so engrained into the culture of Israel that they had a hard time giving up slavery even in the face of national catastrophe.  In Jeremiah 34, the king is promised that he will die in Babylon, but he will die in peace. Jeremiah 34:3–5 (ESV...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more