Further Thought:

“All through the week we are to have the Sabbath in mind and be making preparation to keep it according to the commandment. We are not merely to observe the Sabbath as a legal matter.” — Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 353.

“All heaven is keeping the Sabbath, but not in a listless, do-nothing way.

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On this day every energy of the soul should be awake, for are we not to meet with God and with Christ our Saviour? We may behold Him by faith. He is longing to refresh and bless every soul.” — Testimonies to the Church, vol. 6, p. 362.

“The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than upon other days. His people then leave their usual employment, and spend the time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Him on the Sabbath than upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicest blessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these requests. Heaven’s work never ceases, and men should never rest from doing good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds. The work of Christ in healing the sick was in perfect accord with the law. It honored the Sabbath.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 207.

Discussion Questions:

<–Thursday

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This video is produced by the South Pacific Division Discipleship team.

Week 10_ Sabbath Rest_ Study this lesson for Sept 4 from SPD Discipleship on Vimeo.

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You can view an in-depth discussion of Sabbath Rest in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

Sabbath Rest

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During World War II, England was expecting an imminent invasion by the German army. Preparations were made to defend the island home as much as possible. Extra fortifications were installed along the beaches. Roads, of course, would offer the enemy the fastest routes to their objectives, and consequently, blockades were installed at strategic points. English authorities then did something strange. In order to slow down and confuse the enemy, railway signs were removed and road signs were taken down. Engraved markers on stone or on buildings couldn’t be taken down, but they were covered with cement.

Signs are significant. They serve as markers and guides. In the pre-GPS era, we all had maps and watched for signs.

What is the Sabbath a sign of? Read Exodus 31:13,  Exodus 31.16-17. In what ways can we apply what is said here to ourselves, today, people who believe in the perpetuity of God’s law?

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Though these words were spoken specifically for ancient Israel, we who are Christ’s are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29), and the Sabbath today remains a sign between God and His people. Exodus 31 points out that the Sabbath is a sign of God’s perpetual (or eternal) covenant ( Exodus 31.16-17). This sign helps us to “know” our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier. It’s like a flag that gets raised every seven days and functions as something to help us remember, since we tend to forget.

God’s Sabbath is a constant reminder of our origins, our liberation, our destiny, and our responsibility to the outcasts and the marginalized. In fact, the Sabbath is so important that instead of our coming to it, it comes to us, every week and without exception, a perpetual reminder of who we are, who made us, what He is doing for us, and what He will ultimately do for us when He makes new heavens and a new earth.

A holy God invites His human covenant partners to consider the rhythm that governs what really counts — the saving relationship between the Creator and Redeemer and His wayward creation. Every week, and with the force and authority that comes from God, we are commanded to enter into the rest that we have been freely given in Christ Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).

How can you learn to have a deeper experience with God during the Sabbath?

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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In the New Testament world, the religious leaders had Sabbath keeping down to a fine art. There were dozens of prohibitions and rules established to help keep the Sabbath holy.

This included a prohibition against tying or untying anything, separating two threads, extinguishing a fire, transporting an object between a private domain and the public domain, or transporting something for more than a specific distance in the public domain.

What charge is brought against Jesus in John 5:7-16?

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Completely ignoring the wonderful miracle that Jesus had performed and the freedom from disease that He had given this man, the leaders were obsessed that the healed man was carrying his bed in public on Sabbath. Instead of seeing how the “Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28) utilized this special day, the leaders were intent on maintaining their own rules and regulations. We need to be careful that in our own way and in our own context we don’t make similar mistakes.

How does Isaiah 58:12-14 outline God’s agenda for Sabbath keeping?

God does not want empty worship or pious silence. He wants to see His people engaged with other people, especially the downtrodden and marginalized.

Isaiah makes this very plain in  Isaiah 58.13-14: “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken” ( Isaiah 58.13-14, NKJV).

Pursuing our “pleasure” (Isaiah 58:13, or our “own interests,” as the NRSV translates here) is equivalent to “trampling the Sabbath” (NRSV). Human agendas are not part of God’s Sabbath ideal. Rather, we are invited to look out for those who struggle, who are captives, who are hungry and naked, and walk in darkness and whose names no one seems to remember. More than any other day of the week, Sabbath should take us out of ourselves and our own selfishness and cause us to think more about others and others’ needs than only about ourselves and our needs.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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