Tanakh portion for 25 June 1005

The fourth commandment:
Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. You have six days to labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work, not you, you son or your daughter, not you male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. For in six days Adonai made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why Adonai blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself. (The Jewish Bible)

This is the longest of the Ten Commandments and one referred to quite often in the Tanakh (Old Testament). We are told in fact that Israel was to remain in captivity until the land had celebrated its Sabbaths, which the Jewish people had not celebrated. The commandment is quite straightforward. It applies to both to the Jews and the foreigner. It applies to animals and slaves and all the family. It is a commandment to be remembered.

In this commandment, we learn first that the Sabbath Day is a day of rest, when no work is to be done. It is a day in which we are to remember the creation, and in the Siddur (basically the Jewish Prayer Book), we are told it is also the first of the Holidays which are to remember the Exodus from Egypt. In other words, the Sabbath is a special day of remembrance to remember the mighty acts of God. For those of us who are Christian and who have come to celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, it is a day to remember another great act of God, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which is the true completion of the Passover or Exodus event.

Should Christians then celebrate Sunday as a day of rest? Without going into too much history, Christians at first (being mostly Jewish as well) celebrated the Sabbath, followed by celebrating the resurrection. We can see this clearly in the book of acts where the disciples return to their homes to celebrate the Eucharist, early on Sunday with their disciples (remember, for the Jews, Sunday starts the minute the Sun sets on Saturday evening). Officially the Orthodox church recognises Saturday as the day of rest and Sunday as a day of worship. Here in the United States and in Protestant Europe, Sunday developed into the day of rest.

Is it necessary? Jesus tells us, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath which suggests that the Sabbath is more that a religious holiday meant to remember God, but something that will benefit us. Just as eating Kosher lowers our fat and cholesterol intake, keeping the Sabbath allows us much needed rest. In many non Christian societies, the day of rest or day off still does not exist, and the people are worse off for it. The day of rest was a wonderful present given to us by a loving God, who knows we need the rest for our own physical and mental well being..

Is it not interesting that the Protestant countries which keep (or kept) the Sabbath are among the most prosperous? Is that a blessing from God, or are people who get a day off more productive because they have had more rest? Many years ago, I was here in the USA on Sabbatical from missionary work in Honduras. Matters being what they were, I did not have money for a real Sabbatical and had to work. It was very hard to find a job for a young man who only wanted to work for one year, and so I found myself in a car wash. I told the man up front that I would not work on Sunday, and did not. Strangely enough, I who cut myself off for one day of the week, consistently worked more hours than those who were willing to work seven days a week. Coincidence? I doubt it.

Today we rob ourselves. Various businesses now open seven days a week, and spend more money to make the same amount of salves. Is being open seven days going to allow a store to sell more groceries? Probably not. As blue laws have been rolled a way, we now spend more money for the same amount of things. To pay people seven days per week costs more money. The consumers have become lazy and do not plan any more, because they can always depend on the store being open. Our young people are robbed of the opportunity of a day of rest (because of school) and many people are robbed of the ability to go to church.
Do yourself a favour. Take a rest this Sunday. Remember the mighty acts of God. Go to church and praise him and rest in him.

Shalom and blessings in the Name of Yeshua

+Mar Michael Abportus
mjthan@quik.com