The Creative Sabbath (2)
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 NASB
To keep holy – Pay close attention to the verse. Notice that the act of remembering has a purpose. That purpose is leqaddesho, “to keep holy.” We remember in order to sanctify. That’s not our usual thinking about Shabbat. We often think that Shabbat is holy and therefore our remembering it is an extension of its sanctity. But the commandment suggests otherwise. It suggests that what we do by remembering actually provides the reason this day set apart. It is not set apart simply because it is designated as such. We have a vital role to play in the holiness of Shabbat. We are to remember!
Notice that the commandment is not “Keep the Shabbat holy.” The commandment is “Remember,” and by remembering the Shabbat is made holy. So what is required of us in the act of remembering? The Hebrew verb is zakor. It means, “to think about, to meditate upon, to pay attention to, to recollect, to declare, to recite, to proclaim, to invoke, to commemorate” and a few other related activities.[1] Of course, remembering requires that some event or statement or idea or emotion must have previously occurred in order to be remembered, and in this regard, all of Israel had a very good reason to remember. They were removed from slavery by the mighty hand of the Lord in miraculous acts. Shabbat was a time to remember what YHVH had done. It’s no wonder that Heschel said, “To believe is to remember.” Unless I remember that I too was removed from the slavery of Egypt as a (future) member of the tribes of Israel, I will have nothing to remember. But since I am grafted into Israel, what happened to Israel happened to me. I remember. And with grateful heart and overwhelming joy, I remember that YHVH acted in response to the cry of His people including me. And I was liberated. I remember.
This means that Shabbat is a part of the cultural training of those who belong to the commonwealth of Israel. It is not simply a ritual. It is a celebration of origin, an independence day, a victory parade. Shabbat is the result of you and I remembering all the works of the Lord, all His graciousness, His mercy, His creativity, His long-suffering, His hesed. And when we remember all of these things, we are encouraged to demonstrate them in our lives. That also is remembering. The reason Shabbat is qadosh (holy) is because the act of remembering causes me to pause, to reassess, to examine, to consider, to meditate upon the excellence and goodness of God. Remembering requires that I stop doing what otherwise crowds my day full of the immediate but trivial and deliberately recall the important and eternal. I lift my gaze from those incessant tasks in my hands and view the enormity of His design. I put myself in proper order, infinitesimally small in this vast universe but nevertheless ultimately loved by its Creator. I celebrate Life, with a capital L, and my experience of it. And I am thankful that today, Shabbat, I know Him.
Topical Index: Shabbat, remember, Exodus 20:8, holy
[1] See TWOT, entry 551.
“And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’””
(Exodus 31:12–17)
I think we should “remember” that Adonai called the Sabbath Holy. And it’s a sign, a covenant, forever, and we should never forget that. Beyond anything else it’s a day that we set aside to reflect on Him and all that He has done for us and for all of Israel. To relate one to another, read and study all 66 books of scripture, hear Moses being read, set aside the things we do the other six days, rest in the comfort that we are His and He is faithful to keep us. If we do that, it’s kind of hard to violate the few direct regulations that are given.
Many make the Shabbat complicated. I don’t think it is. I start longing for it immediately after we finish havdalah and we sing shavua tov.
Just my two cents.
Very good for me. I think “remember” is also about remembering, or deliberately choosing to put back up at the very top, my belief (‘by-life’ in old Anglo-Saxon) about Who the Shabbat Lord is, and therefore, by extension, who I am in reference to Him. This is about remembering who I am in MY identity, by remembering Who He is in His. How do I do that? By putting my relationship with Him first on that day, by-my-life. By jealously making sure NOTHING comes in between me and Him. Do I find Him in relating to others? Yes! Do I find Him in relating to His creation? Yes! Do I find Him in relating to His Word? Yes! Do I find Him in relating to myself? Yes! (I think I will go read a little Jonathan Sacks my self right now! Just got given another of his books.)
Do I find Him by concentrating on any activity or thought that relates to having to “till the ground” for my bread? NO! Anything that relates to effort toward ‘getting ahead’ in any dimension just kills the joy of relaxing for me. O-K! That’s out! Hurray! Do I find Him in anything that involves something that conforms to expectations of others for their gain? No! “Sorry, This is Sabbath for me”. Whew! What a great excuse! Anything, in fact, that looks like expectations of me my myself or others in regards to providing for me is out. What a huge burden is lifted! I am reminded of HOW to think, on a weekly basis – how to remember – that NOTHING I do is EVER ultimately responsible for my own sustenance or reality. All comes from His hand, and I partner with that, I respond to the opportunity for that, except for one special day, I don’t have to! Hurray!
When I think like this, the choices get so much easier. I have to go ask “does this honor Him?” And, if it does, we are good to go. I do all kinds of good things for others on that day. I will even go cook a meal if I see hungry, love-shorn people in front of my face. Do I need a cooked meal? No. But if they do, and they are dumped in my lap of relating, then I relate to their need for love-by-food, and I will do it, but only because I get to stand shoulder to shoulder with Him in the kitchen. We are privileged to serve others. But, it a a joy to serve. I don’t HAVE to. NO ONE can make me, even life can’t make me, do anything on that day. I am provided for on that day. That is the day I have been given, in fact, to REMEMBER that. I look forward to the taste of freedom I get then. Forget provision! Time to remember the Provider!
This is such a wonderful post and the conversation is awesome! I feel like a sponge that is soaking up some delightful liquid to savor!
For me what jumps out here is the command to remember. I think that many (myself in there too) have gone back to slavery. We live in a Babylon(Egypt) that seems to have no boundaries and is filled with many dainties to seduce a person in. Many of my fears about observing Sabbath originate from the fear of offending others. Babylon says Sunday is the day to observe and most do just that. Hardly anyone pays any attention to dietary prohibitions at all let alone on Sabbath. It is a trap that never seems to end for those who are not searching the text to see what it really says. We have been fooled by the collective yetzer hara of many thru the years. It becomes easier to go along with the majority rather than being peculiar and observing God’s ways alone.
As I learn to love God more and more, these desires to simply please men become less but it is always with remembering the past. There is much from my own past to remember why I don’t wish to be a slave to anything/one other than Y-H alone. I believe remembering is an active verb ( which means take action) that we must chose if we are to have any hope of pleasing God.
Well meaning folks (some not so much) have made so much of drawing out possible infractions against observing Sabbath that it has truly become a burden. Skip’s other post today is so helpful in thinking this thru.
Truly Sabbath was made for man. God is so wise that he knew we would never set aside a day to remember so He put it in writing! He alone is to have top honor on the day of Sabbath.
So very timely for me and many others I suspect. Thank you Skip!
Dawn, You wrote: “We have been fooled by the collective yetzer hara of many thru the years.” Hmmmm, a collective yetzer hara? Interesting concept. Food for thought, thanks. I am always blessed by your comments. I wish Skip/Patrick would add a “like” button so we could encourage one another (hint, hint).
Your words about “well-meaning” people listing infractions against observing Shabbat made me smile ruefully. The one person in our lives who was adamant that we should NOT observe Shabbat, or eat kosher, or “go back under the law” was an MDIV grad from Fuller who was practicing homosexuality. People generally are well-meaning, but we do have to consider the source.
I find the example of Yashua to be most enlightening, He dealt with the” traditions of men”,some He observed others He did not. It’s not too hard to see His reason’s and to follow His example.
This 4th commandment was the beginning of a 7 year journey for me out of the traditional “christian
church” For me the command was in the doing, the action part in “keeping it Holy” now that was the
question. What is Holiness? How do I keep the Shabbat Holy onto Him? YHVH says be Holy (Kadosh) as I Am Kadosh. I discovered for me it is to be totally set-apart from the world with it’s idols and temptations
to distract me from “my time,” set-apart with the Father alone, where He has promised me IF I remember it And Keep it Holy He will meet with me and reveal Himself to me personally, I longed for that time alone with Him. Now I cherish our time together, He has blessed me with the luxury of spending all day with Him with out guilt for the things I once thought I had to get done or what I could or could not do. Six days the cares of the world distract me and now I no longer have the “do’s and don’t” list confronting me it is the Keeping Holy unto Him that I found Shabbat Shalom… He gets 1st priority all day and I am blessed indeed.
The depth of conversation is encouraging! For me, I enjoy the intimacy and worship, the solitaire moments of listening, the joy, strength and courage from Him to remember I am in the hands of The Sovereignty of Our Great Creator. He continues to fashion me into His likeness shedding the cares, frustration, disappointments and failures and realigns me with His love, His hessed that allows me to truly rest. It is, for me, the casting process and allows my focus to be on His beauty so I fall in love all over again and again.
Another Sabbath is gone, but another one is coming up. How will I “set my sails” (thanks Laurita, for that reference)?
And thank you Skip. So glad you are addressing this subject. Recently someone in my church group said that that we kept the Sabbath as our tradition. I was offended, how can God’s command be just “our tradition”! If it is just our tradition I will abandon it immediately. The Sabbath separates us from others. I am a people person, I don’t like anything that separates us, unless God requires it. He alone separates and makes holy. We are to remember that and keep it that way. I love, the thought in today’s post, to remember that God is our provider. This one day a week, specifically the seventh day, we are to remember that He is the source of everything we have been given, He has provided in the pass, and He will provide for the future. What hope, what joy, what peace! And I pray for the poor souls who do not know to remember! They are on the treadmill of “I must provide”‘ they work frantically seven days a week. I chose to stop all my activities for myself, let God take care of my needs, then do what God does, take care of the needs of others.
Lisa — take care not to throw out what is called “tradition”, simply because of the word. I would agree that Shabbat is not “just” a tradition and perhaps that is what caused your offense (?). But tradition is something that is handed down from one generation to the next, and in that sense — if we had been doing it properly for 6000 years — the Shabbat tradition would have been passed down to us along with the understanding to set us apart and remember. Tradition is like a gun — not bad in itself, but lethal in the hands of some who use it.
This discussion has really been great.
It certainly seems this topic hit the spot for many. Me, as well! Shabbat has been a particular puzzle to me as I’ve begun to learn how to remember and keep it.
I want to give big appreciation to all that have posted on these last few Shabbat TW’s. Very helpful. Very encouraging and very motivating as I take step after step to obey this mitzvah. It is difficult at times to simply obey and then let the understanding come later when being rather uncertain of even what to obey with specific action. However, I think I am making progress and moving in the direction that please YHVH little by little.
It is difficult being in Babylon trying to incorporate such different actions in a society that is a buzz with so much oppositional ways.
It will be interesting to see, when I get to Israel and observe that social structure, how it is done and handled in a culture that is immersed in the concept of Shabbat. I realize much is rabbinical, but, nonetheless, it should be enlightening to get a real taste of a whole group of people committed to Shabbat observance.
All in all, these discussions have been on spot. Thanks to all.
Right from the very beginning (Gen 2:1) G-d declares the 7th day holy and gives it a name, “Sabbath,” unlike the other six days.
G-d is a god of sanctified time. He declares periods of time to be holy, namely, all his Sabbaths and Festivals, which include Festival Sabbaths, as opposed to the intermediate days of the Feasts.
Everything is in sevens. The 7th day Sabbath. 7 festival Sabbaths. (The first and last day of Passover, the Feast of Weeks (Pentacost ) the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the first day of Tabernacles & the Eighth Day of Assembly). Then the 7th Sabbatical year and the 7th millenium Sabbath, i.e. the Messianic era. How can we ignore any of this? G-d asks us toremember all of this for our benefit, as it reminds us to be holy and that we are part of G-d’s bigger picture rolled out across the time calendar.
All of these Sabbaths & Festival Sabbaths & Sabbaticals point directly to only one thing, the Messiah, who is Lord of them all.
P.S the 7th day is given it’s name in Exodus 16:23-25, not in Gen. 2: 1-3.