SABBATH.
What is sabbath? sabbath is the day or time for rest.
If some one rests for a week, not going to work, then that person
is in his sabbath. Every one can have one's own sabbath, one might decide to have a sabbath on Monday and the other on
Tuesday, but what we shall concentrate on much is the sabbath according to God
and not man. What does God talk about the sabbath and how is it observed?
Most of the dictionaries I have read define sabbath as: The day of
rest, Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians. I have tried my
level best to search this out, from the scriptures but have failed to approve
it. Where do you read it that saturday is for Jews only and Sunday for Christians only?. Let's therefore see what the scriptures say about the
sabbath.
The bible clearly tells us that there are different kinds of Sabbaths that are to be observed by Christians but majorly, we can talk about
these three: Rest from;
1. SIN.
2. LABOR.
3. CURSE.
1. REST FROM SIN.
When one is fed up of sinning, sees sin as a burden, then that
person needs rest. Rest from sin is given by only Jesus and not any other person. Jesus gives complete freedom from the bondage of sin to any one who
genuinely believes in him. This is why he said: John.8:32
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Jesus
gives you the rest, in other words the sabbath from your sins. Jesus therefore
said: Matthew.11:28 Come unto me, all you that labor, and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Whoever is heavy laden with sins
and seeks rest is called upon to receive it from Jesus Christ.
People who enjoy sin can hardly realize that they are heavy laden,
till their sins produce hard to deal with situations. Many people have no
control over their lives hence find themselves sinning uncontrollably, but
Jesus has said that he is willing to take away that burden of sin as to give you rest and that is
the sabbath from sin.
Giving you sabbath or rest from sin does not mean that you will
keep sinning and not taking it as a burden but means you will gain control over
your life against sin and hence be free from sin. Every christian is obliged to
have attained this kind of rest. You must have received this sabbath because it
is the first step of rest before you go to the others. If you have not yet got
such a rest or sabbath, you get near the throne of God where there's grace, God is willing to give
you that rest, if you believe in Jesus.
I met a man who told me he was fed up of taking alcohol, as a
result of taking alcohol, he had lost his family, his job and had been
neglected by his family. He was burdened with this act, however, he could take
himself every day to the bar as to take alcohol. This was because he had no
control over his life, he had become an addict. This man felt alcoholism as a burden but could not escape it, he truly needed deliverance, he needed rest
from such addiction, he needed the sabbath from such a sin. This sabbath could
only be given by Jesus. He frees you from sin and gives you control over life.
If there's any other person of this kind, what I have for you is Jesus Christ,
he will give you complete rest from that burden of sin.
2. REST FROM LABOUR.
labor can be any task or kind of work. Here we talk about general
tasks including work from which you earn
your living.
Rest from work is resting from such kinds of tasks. In Genesis.2:1-3 1 Thus the heaven and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. 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 in it he had
rested from all his work which God created and made. God
rested from the work he did and then blessed the day from which he had rested;
which was the seventh day. God commanded the people he had chosen; of Israel,
to observe the seventh day as he had also observed it. Exodus.20:8 Remember the sabbath, to keep it holy. Now the
question comes, do we also have to observe the sabbath and yet we are in the
New Covenant of Jesus?.
First of all, we see Jesus observing the sabbath: Luke.4:16 And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been
brought up: and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath
day, and stood up to read. We see Disciples of Jesus observing the
sabbath: How about those who believe in Jesus, should we observe the sabbath?
if yes, then how?
The answer is yes, and we observe it the way Jesus did but not the
way Jews observed it, before the coming of Jesus.
In the New Covenant, we read, Hebrews.4:9 - 11 9
There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered
into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the
same example of unbelief. The bible has said that to the people of God,
there still remains a rest for them. This is what we observe from this
scripture:
- The
sabbath is observed by the people of God in the New Covenant of Jesus christ
- The
sabbath is like that which God rested, from his works.
- One
said to have received it must cease from one's tasks, work, or labor just as
God did from his.
- This
sabbath has a specific day: the seventh day; the same day God rested from his
works.
- Whoever
does not enter this kind of rest falls in unbelief. In other words, he is taken
as a non-believer, in the eyes of God though he may say that he is a believer.
The points above seem to be
clear but most people as have asked me do not feel contented with the fourth
point. Considering the calendar, which one is the seventhday? some say Sunday
as our first wrong dictionary definition said, and others say Saturday. which
is which?
If we read in Luke.23:54 And that day
was the preparation, and the sabbath was coming on. 24:1 Now upon the first day
of the week, very early in the morning, ... and also in the Good News
Bible Version, Luke.23:54 It was Friday, and the
sabbath was about to begin. 24:1 Very early on Sunday morning, the women went
to the tomb ...
We see that the preparation was on Friday, and the sabbath was a bout to begin. they
observed the sabbath and then we see that , Very early upon the first day of the week or very early
on Sunday morning as said in GNB version, the women went to the tomb.
This means that Sunday is the first day of the week. If you count
starting with Sunday as the first day of the week, you will find that Saturday
is the seventh and last day of the week.
This is the biblical calendar, which now do you believe, the biblical calendar, or other people's calendar?, Answer yourself.
Most people say that Jesus removed or stopped the sabbath of the seventh day but remember that Hebrews that has
showed us all the above was written by Paul through the inspiration of the Holy spirit and after Jesus had ascended to Heaven. This means that any scriptures
before Hebrews that seem to say that the sabbath day should
not be observed have some hidden meaning which need to be explained through the
inspiration of the holy spirit because there are neither mistakes nor
contradictions in the word of God; the bible.
Above, I said that we observe the sabbath according to the example
of Jesus not according to the example of Jews in the old Covenant because the Jews had strict rules about the sabbath,
one never even had to cook, travel long distances, on the sabbath day, but
Jesus breaks away this, one can cook on the sabbath day as one does it to save
one's life. This is why Jesus used to heal people on the sabbath day; Luke.6:6 - 11 6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath
that he entered into the synagogue and taught, ... 7 And the scribes and
pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; ... 9 Then
said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath
days to do good, or to do evil?, to save life or to destroy it? 10 ... he said
unto the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored
whole as the other. He was trying to save people's lives. If one travels a long
distance, he has no fault as long as he or she is on God's mission of saving
life, thus Jesus said, John.5:17 But Jesus answered
them, My father works still, and I work.
This is all about spiritual work, however, it does not mean that
one can open up one's shop, do plumb work, dig, and so on, on the sabbath day.
He talks about the work that he works, in John.9:3 Jesus
answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of
God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent
me, ... These were works concerning spiritual matters like healing. Rest
on the sabbath day as you have ceased from your work, do every thing according
to the inspiration of the holy spirit in you.
3. REST FROM CUSRE (OUTCOMES OF SIN).
These were brought about as a result of sin in the Garden of Eden.
When man sinned, death came into the world, pain came in, and every kind of
suffering.
We still experience all
these, we die, we feel pain, we cry just because we have not yet attained
sabbath from outcomes of sin. This sabbath, or rest has not yet been obtained
by the Christians, but we shall receive it when Jesus comes back on the earth
to take those awaiting him.
We read; Romans.8:20 For the creation was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected
the same in hope, 21 Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from
the bondage of corruption unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22
For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until
now. Every creature cries, blessed are those who
believe in Jesus because though they cry, they have hope and so will be saved,
they will be comforted.
The bible further more tells us 1Corinthians.15:42-44
42 so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is
raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is
sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is
raised a spiritual body. There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body.
These bodies we have, that die and rot, that feel pain, that smell
badly; if you doubt it, spend only one week without bathing or without brushing
your teeth, then you will know the glory of your body, but the bible has said
that we shall be given Heavenly bodies that do not know what problems are and
then we shall enjoy our rest in full. Alleluia! What an awesome environment
it will be!
Let not any one deceive you that as a christian, you do not have to
suffer, we all suffer worldly problems till Jesus comes back to our rescue. For
Paul said Acts.14:22 ...we must pass through many troubles to
enter the kingdom of God... [GNB]
After all the suffering, We shall be with God in Heaven. We shall
attain our sabbath when Jesus comes back. Why should you be comforted if you
never suffered and endured, it means that you had rest in the world, why do you
wait for Jesus' rest? We wait for it because we have and are still enduring the
suffering that we go through in this world.
The bible assures us in Matthew.24:13 But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. No matter
which kind of suffering you go through, hold on to Jesus, You will be saved from all those sufferings when he comes back
on earth.
The above are the three kinds of sabbath we have in the bible.
Lack of knowledge of one or two makes people go astray, they combine two or
three of them in one, and think that they operate at the same time. They are
all different, observed in different ways according to the scriptures.
In your good time, concentrate and meditate on these words, I
believe the Holy spirit will reveal to you what God is trying to say to you.
I want you to treasure the words of God more meaningful than the
words of people, then you will succeed.
If you get any question, do not worry, ask God through prayers and
you will be answered. My prayer is that you receive rest from your sins, from
your labor as God has commanded us, and have hope for rest God is going to give when resurrection time comes.
Thanks for reading, God bless you.
(unless indicated, scriptures
are got from the King James Bible Version)
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