What is the actual meaning of the Sabbath? Today we look at how God wants rest with us and how we find rest in Him.
Resting in God
There always seems to be room for Christians to debate the Sabbath and how closely we should be adhering to this command. Our goal in this study is not argue for or against Sabbatarianism, but to instead bring clarity to understanding what the command is all about and why it is important to God.
We will begin with the creation to examine how Sabbath was established and follow through with the ten commandments. The reason for the command at this point echoes the seventh day of creation. But what was the point of a seventh day in creation? We discuss the number seven and its meaning. We also speculate on how God actually rested and what He rested from.
This will introduce the concept of rest and what finding rest is all about and how we long for rest but fight against it. Later in the Law the command of the Sabbath is reiterated but a new reason for it used. In Deuteronomy 5, the reason for Sabbath is explained to be a remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt. This gives us more insight into the purpose and how deliverance is actually a form of rest.
When the Children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness they were seeking rest and deliverance in the promise of the entering Canaan. God however forbade them to enter into that rest because of their unbelief. We will examine how unbelief prevents rest and see how King David ties this to the Israelites in the desert. Then we see another reason for the Sabbath was to be a sign of Israel’s sanctification… which leads us to how we get sanctified… in Jesus.
Finally, we discuss how Jesus provides rest unto our souls and how he fulfills Gods desire for our rest with Him. The writer of Hebrews then ties these threads together by quoting the words of King David in reference to both rest from the wilderness, Sabbath, and Jesus.