Sabbath is about Eden (2)

DQ: How was your Christmas / NYE? What did you do?

DQ: What is it about holidays that you enjoy?

Holy Day

Holiday - holy day

Exodus 20:11 NIV

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

One of my favorite days of the year is Christmas Day. Did you know in America, according to Gallup data, that is the most enjoyable day of the year? It is the day when the most amount of happiness is reported in America. I’m convinced this is because, for most people, they aren’t working, rushing, striving, buying, selling, accomplishing on this day. Most of the country is shut down. And, most people are around loved ones, friends and family. It is a great holiday.

In fact, the etymology of the word holiday is helpful. It comes from the old English phrase Holy Day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Think of Sabbath as a mini-Christmas day each week. It is like a mini-holiday each week.

This brings so many more questions. I know you have questions, because I have had a lot of questions. How does this impact our work? How can we honestly embrace something like this in our lives? What about all of the activities my kids are involved in? Which day is the Sabbath? Is it Friday night to Saturday night? Is it Sunday? What if I have to work on Sundays? When do pastors Sabbath? Does this even still apply if we are followers of Jesus?

DQ: What is it about vacations that are attractive?

They are EDENIC.

Because they are marketed as a MICRO EDEN!

Sabbath is edenic. Rest is edenic.

The Sabbath is an intentional moment in our week to stop with the busyness of our life, our labor, our striving, our effort, our frustrations, and to have a micro-Eden in our week.

Sabbath is a micro-Eden.

The Sabbath is a day when we Shabbat, we stop all of the madness, and we settle into our relationship with God and with those we love. It is a day to be in Eden. To linger with God, to laugh with friends, to be loved, to love, to not compete, not perform, not impress, not accomplish, not stress, but a day simply to be.

Sabbath is a reminder of Eden

Exodus 20:8–10 NIV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Shabbatשָׁבַת

šāḇaṯ - to cease, desist, rest

Sabbath / Shabat still today in Israel.

Why did God say His people were to follow the Sabbath? In the command, He explains.

Exodus 20:11 (NIV)

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

So do we do it simply because God did? Yes, but that is too simple.

Nuakh

Hebre word here for “rested” is is nuakh, it is best defined as “to settle in.”

God created the world in six days and then on the seventh day, He settled in. He moved in. It is a word that speaks of someone who has been preparing a home and then unpacked and made it a home. If you have ever moved, once we finally unpack all the boxes, hang the pictures, arrange the furniture, you begin to enjoy the home. This is the image God gives to us in the creation account.

Made to work & to rest

Genesis 1:26–28 NIV

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Created to Work

Work isn’t the problem.

Sin affected the way we work and our enjoyment of work.

Gen 3:17-18

Genesis 3:17–18 NIV

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

The problem is that we don’t rest

DQ: What makes Shabat & Nuak challenging?

What does this message teach us about God?

What does this message teach us about ourselves?

DQ: what ation step will you take to implement the sabbath this week?

Action Step:

1. Pick an intentional time for Sabbath. It won’t just “happen” as we never have a day which is suddenly free. It doesn’t have to be a full 24 hours, although that is wise and best. It does need to be intentional. By setting aside a specific day and time you are honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy, meaning it is set apart.

2. Stop work. Whatever work is to you, give it a pause. Turn off phone, don’t check email. It is best to avoid having obligations or activities you are rushing off to. While many of the things we do are fun, they do keep us from pausing our life and just being with God and others. The goal here is to limit anything that distracts you from God and other people. It could be your phone, shopping, chores, whatever. Which means you’ll need to plan ahead to be prepared for a time to stop.

3. Enjoy God and others. Spend time lingering with God. Time reading His Word, time listening to worship music. Time in prayer. Walk with God. Sit and have coffee with God…drink your cup and His too. Spend time doing things you love with people you love. Hike. Make an incredible meal. Go out to dinner…and if you are at a restaurant tip really well, it is the Sabbath day for you. Take a nap.

Interesting Verses with Nuak

Exodus 33:14 NIV

14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

God promises Moses His Presence &&& Rest —> No rest apart from His presence. Gen 33:15.

Numbers 11:25 NIV

25 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.

Spirit Rested on them

Deuteronomy 12:10 NIV

10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.

Rest was a part of the promise/promised land

Isaiah 14:3,7.

Isaiah 14:3 NIV

3 On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you,

Isaiah 14:7 NIV

7 All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.

God promises rest in correlation to deliverance not only from Egypt but also from Babylon.

Exodus 10:14 NIV

14 they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again.

I don’t know the significance of this yet, but interesting that the locus (i think 8th plauge), came 1) in the morning (parralleling Gen 1), but then instead of coming on day 7 w/rest as crown of creation it comes to bring destruction.