Friday: Further Thought ~ The Rhythms of Rest

Further Thought:

“God gave to men the memorial of His creative power, that they might discern Him in the works of His hand. The Sabbath bids us behold in His created works the glory of the Creator. … On the holy rest day, above all other days, we should study the messages that God has written for us in nature. … As we come close to the heart of nature, Christ makes His presence real to us, and speaks to our hearts of His peace and love.” — Ellen G.

Image @ Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pages 25, 26.

“One of the important reasons why the Lord delivered Israel from slavery to Egypt was that they might keep His holy Sabbath. … Evidently Moses and Aaron renewed the teaching about the holiness of the Sabbath, because Pharaoh complained to them, ‘Ye make [the people] rest from their burdens.’ Exodus 5:5. This would indicate that Moses and Aaron began a Sabbath reform in Egypt.

The observance of the Sabbath was not to be a commemoration of their slavery in Egypt, however. Its observance in remembrance of creation was to include a joyful remembrance of deliverance from religious oppression in Egypt that made Sabbath observance difficult. In the same way, their deliverance from slavery was forever to kindle in their hearts a tender regard for the poor and oppressed, the fatherless and widows.” — Appendix note in Ellen G. White, From Eternity Past, p. 549.

Discussion Questions:

Some Christians, including even some Adventists, consider theistic evolution a viable explanation of Creation. How does the Sabbath show theistic evolution and Seventh-day Adventism to be incompatible? What purpose is there to keep the seventh-day holy in commemoration of billions of years, especially when the Word of God is explicit about its being made holy after the first six days of Creation?
What do you say to the argument that the day doesn’t matter, just as long as we have one day of rest a week? Or, on the other hand, how do we respond to the claim that Jesus is our Sabbath rest, and therefore, there is no need to keep any day as a day of rest?
How can keeping the Sabbath holy be a reminder of freedom and liberation? How can we avoid making it restrictive and legalistic?
Some claim that keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath is an attempt to work your way to heaven. What is the logic, however, in claiming that by resting on the seventh day, we are trying to work our way to heaven?

<–Thursday

Amen!