SHOULD WE KEEP THE SABBATH?

SHOULD WE KEEP THE SABBATH?

Gen 2:2-3

2 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.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Ex 23:12

12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Mark 2:27

27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:

          The Sabbath is an intermission and the word means a cessation. God rested from His creative labor not because he was exhausted from the task but because He was finished. He gave the Sabbath to man as a gift because He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust. Man’s body, mind and spirit function more efficiently when there is a pause in labor.

          The very soil was given a Sabbath year of rest (Exodus 23:11). Farmers know that it is possible to ruin a piece of ground simply by farming it. The crop drains important nutrients from the soil. Today we either rotate our crops or we add fertilizers and chemicals artificially but originally God prescribed one year of rest out of every seven. This requires wise conservation of the yield of the other six years.

          As time went on the Sabbath observation degenerated into ridiculous prohibitions that sapped the day of its original intent and produced weariness instead of rest. Jesus did many of His miracles on the Sabbath day for two reasons. First, a miracle of healing was a refreshment of the body. Refreshment is the essence of the Sabbath. Second, Jesus wanted to point out that the observance of the Sabbath had drifted into error. "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark 2:27). It was not to be seen as an end in itself but as a means to an end. The Sabbath was, therefore, instituted to bless man and bring honor to God.

          After Christ’s resurrection the day of worship began to be observed on the first day of the week. John said that he was “in the spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10). For the first 300 years, Christians carefully distinguished the Lord’s Day from the Sabbath. Gradually these became confused and now they are generally ignored.

                Scholar, F. W. Robertson said: "I am more and more sure by experience that the reason for the observance of the Sabbath lies deep in the everlasting necessities of human nature, and that as long as man is man the blessedness of keeping it, not as a day of rest only, but as a day of spiritual rest, will never be annulled.

(from Easton's Bible Dictionary, All rights reserved.)

Dear Lord, help your people to know that observing your Sabbaths and worshipping on the Lord’s Day honors you. AMEN