THE SEVENTH DAY
One of the laws written
in the Decalogue is the obligatory observation of the ‘Seventh Day of Rest’,
taking as basis the narrative of Genesis, where God rested from his creation on
the Seventh Day, on the first week of the planet.
(Genesis 2:1-3;
Exodus 20:8-11).
According to
biblical data, God blessed the seventh day from the first day of creation, and
intended humanity to observe it, not as a day of worship, but as a day of
freedom from the material worries and dedicate it to rest from activities.
It is understood
that religious activities were not included, since God demands daily worship
and praise, either in a personal as well as in a communal manner. It is also proven
by internal information, that this principle was unknown to the people of God
until the times of Moses, where the principle of the liberating rest was made a
law within the mosaic legal system (Exodus 16:23). Nowhere before Moses, the
keeping of the seventh day is mentioned or observed, religiously or otherwise.
IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
When our Lord
Jesus incarnated, he was born a Jew subjected to the mosaic law, which included
keeping the seventh day of his week of rest in the synagogue (Luke 4:16); but
also, Jesus started lifting the veil of the religious obligation from the
command, making miracles and other activities on the seventh day (Matthew
12:1-2; John 5:8-10).
Jesus explained
the real reason for the law of the sabbath (Matthew 12:3-5, 12; Mark 3:4; Luke
14:5). It was to free men from the load of work necessity or abuse had place
him under, making into a law to release a man from all labor, to dedicate himself
to recover and the betterment of his quality of life (Mark 2:27). The synagogue
assistance on the sabbath was a custom, not a divine command.
However, its
religious obedience got cancelled as all other religious laws given to Israel
(Colossians 2:16-17); even though the first Christians remained keeping it
(Acts 17:1) as well as Sundays (Acts 20:7; 1Corinthians 16:2) only for the sake
of preaching to the Jews on their own ground. But the principle of a one day
per week rest remained.
(Hebrews 4:9-10).
TODAY
God is good, and
all the laws he ever gave us, reflect his eternal goodness as well as his
perfect holiness.
Through the
grace he has given to humanity in Christ, the severity of punitive sentences
has been temporarily waved, but they will be released in the Day of Judgement.
(Revelation
22:12).
Besides the problem
of determining exactly when is the original ‘seventh day’ of creation,
considering the time in Jerusalem is not the same as in other continents, and
that even the first day of the Jewish New Year changes every year, if we want
to count seven days from that time; determining the Sabbath becomes relative,
but the principle that God intended remains the same, one day per week of rest.
A day per week
of rest, reminds humanity that our lives belong to God, and that all enterprise
and duties we may have on Earth, are ultimately subjected to the will of God,
who demands freedom from any duty, to dedicate time to the spirit and betterment
of our lives. It is also a reflection of the redemption Jesus won for us.
When we stop
working one day per week, we are free from obligations, worries and we are
called to enjoy time of resting in the company of family and friends. We may
also use this day to study the word of God and worship in community, having in
our minds only the Glory of our Heavenly Father.
This represents
not only the time God rested from creation, but also the time of our
glorification, when we finally will have arrived to God’s kingdom and rest from
all the worries we ever had in this world while we were on our way to God.
This nevertheless,
is a godly recommendation, but not a law anymore. This ‘day of rest’ can be any
day of the week, and has nothing to do with our traditional day of public
worship.
But certainly, to
keep a day of rest, will bring balance to our existence, while we are on our
journey to our Father’s Home.
Omar Flores.
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