What exactly does this verse mean?

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.
 

.Mikha'el.

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To me, it is about honoring the principle of rest and not working. I think there are a few different categories of prohibited activities.

  • Paid employment/household chores
  • other activities that can be described as work, such as "working out" or homework
  • buying and selling of goods, including food
There's no requirement to refrain from leisure activities as long as they don't cost anything. Scripture also says that Sabbath was made for man, and not the other way around. :)
 
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Aussie Pete

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.
As others have said, the sabbath was made for man. We need a break from work. If you are a tradesman, you may prefer to go surfing. If you are an office worker, you might like to do woodworking. It's a principle to follow, not a rule to obey. And sometimes you just can't take a day off. I was in the military. Enemies don't take the day off. I had a choice, be shot by the military or stoned by the religious zealots. I found the military to be much more gracious than the religious types.

I am exaggerating for effect. I did not spend much time in the combat zone (Vietnam) and I was a technician. The principle remains.
 
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pdudgeon

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This verse is a slightly different way of looking at the Sabbath than is the verse that tells us to keep the sabbath Holy.

In this verse, we are to approach the sabbath as a day to do the things that God prefers, to take time to honor Him, and to make His preferences our own. So this is not just about ceasing from our labor, but turning the focus of our attention from our own want and desires in order to find out what God's desires are for us, and concentrate on those things.
 
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.Mikha'el.

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This verse is a slightly different way of looking at the Sabbath than is the verse that tells us to keep the sabbath Holy.

In this verse, we are to approach the sabbath as a day to do the things that God prefers, to take time to honor Him, and to make His preferences our own. So this is not just about ceasing from our labor, but turning the focus of our attention from our own want and desires in order to find out what God's desires are for us, and concentrate on those things.

Please be careful with that. I think your approach runs the risk of turning devotional time from a want on Sabbath to an obligation, and anything we do purely out of a sense of duty is work.
 
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pescador

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There is no prohibition under the New Covenant about what can or cannot be done on the Sabbath. We are under grace, not under law.

That said, the sabbath is a time to relax from your normal activities and think about your spiritual state and also others' spiritual state. Today I participated in the worldwide "Great Backyard Bird Count", read the Bible, thought about the suffering of others due to COVID-19, and did some work on income taxes.
 
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pdudgeon

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Please be careful with that. I think your approach runs the risk of turning devotional time from a want on Sabbath to an obligation, and anything we do purely out of a sense of duty is work.

Sorry, but there is a connection that is missing in your analysis above.
That connection that is missing is called a willing and obedient heart.
And that "willing and obedient heart" is a heart that God loves.

If we begin our worship with a willing and obedient heart, then we are wholly attuned and compliant with what God desires both of and from us.

That in turn puts us in a right relationship with God, which is one of submission, devotion, awe and wonder. We become the tender-hearted, compliant, and devoted souls that God is looking for.

Please look at the acclimation for today's mass: 1 Peter 2:9
"O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light, Alleluia"

Did you notice that the emphasis is on what God has done, and NOT on what we have done?
 
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Mr. M

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.

Isaiah 58:13. 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.

In a nutshell, not doing your own thing, but doing God's thing.
Hebrews 4:10. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works
as God did from His.
Luke 6:9. Then Jesus said to them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath
to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?

Consider a scenario:
You attend a Christian church that holds morning and evening services on Sunday. "The Lord's Day",
and are aware that our Messianic Jewish brethren prefer to keep a Sabbath observance=Saturday.
Your church conducts outreaches in the community on certain Saturdays. When they are scheduled,
you always try to be off from your job in order to participate. It may involve hard work, helping the elderly by mowing their lawn. It also may be the most rewarding day of the week, to serve, as the Lord would have you do. You might even take great pleasure in the participation.
The Lord asks us a rhetorical question:

Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good?
 
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Joyous Song

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The Sabbath, or Shabbos, is upon Israel, and Judah. If the grafted-in are included, that something for Moshiach ben Dovid to explain. That said, grace covers what we fail to do or stumble over due to our human failings. Too many people use grace as a crutch and assume this gives them a free pass to sin.

That said, Shabbos is for us, foregoing work, even pleasurable work, so as opens up time to pray, worship and communicate with family. It gives us time to walk in G-d's Creation and see the wonders He created. It a time when we can celebrate His love without worrying what to eat (its made ahead) or what to do, (it right before your eyes). It a time to cultivate Shalom from Above and not creation from below.

For in six days HaShem created the heavens and the earth, and He sanctified it. On this day we separate the clean from the unclean, and the Holy from the unholy. This does not mean we need a Goy, Gentile to turn on our lights, back at the time those texts were written getting light was work, not just flicking a switch. That where grace comes in, by the way. Where technology, changes work, "building a fire", to turning up the thermostat, we can sometimes do some things that our ancestors could not.

Yet its a slippery slope, between flicking that switch and starting up the oven. Exactly when we cross over to unclean is likely something those returning to Hahalacha (Hebrew Laws) will need to work out under grace.
 
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antwaniiz

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.
This will work for you.
Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
 
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pdudgeon

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Please be careful with that. I think your approach runs the risk of turning devotional time from a want on Sabbath to an obligation, and anything we do purely out of a sense of duty is work.

No, if you believe what you said about my motivation, then you don't understand the verse.

Devotional time should always be our gift to God because we love Him. Just as service is done to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ because we love them.
Devotional time is not an obligation, it's a joy.

It's calming, it takes you away from the World and all it's mess, and brings you into the peaceful presence of God, where everything is set right and in order.

There is where burdens are eased, hearts are healed, confusion is clarified, and what is impossible seems to be manageable with God's help.
 
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.Mikha'el.

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No, if you believe what you said about my motivation, then you don't understand the verse.

Devotional time should always be our gift to God because we love Him. Just as service is done to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ because we love them.
Devotional time is not an obligation, it's a joy.

It's calming, it takes you away from the World and all it's mess, and brings you into the peaceful presence of God, where everything is set right and in order.

There is where burdens are eased, hearts are healed, confusion is clarified, and what is impossible seems to be manageable with God's help.

If you don't see it as obligation, I'd say you're in the clear. :)
 
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Marilyn C

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.

The Old Testament was written to the Jews however we can read it and learn of God and His ways.

As to the Sabbath the Lord says by His Holy Spirit to His Body, that `resting` from our own works is the `Sabbath` rest. (Heb. 4 & Col. 2: 16 & 17))
 
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OzSpen

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Okay, so the Sabbath is approaching where I live, and I just want the nitty gritty of Isaiah 58:13. What does that mean exactly? I can't do the things I like? Or I can't do my work? Did people of Israel view work as pleasurable? (Work can be fun, but it's not really considered a "fun activity"). I just want to be in the clear here.

This is a verse for the Israelities under the Old Covenant. We know this from the context - 'the house of Jacob' (58:1), 'the heritage of Jacob your father' (58:14).
 
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