Keeping the Sabbath

Good post @SabbathBlessings

Akita Suggagaki said:

No, but I can't afford to hire. And with rain sometimes mowing needs to be done when it can be done.

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And so sometimes it is "inconvenient" to keep God's Sabbath commandment?

Is it ever "inconvenient" to not lie or to honor parents or to not covet??

I have not found a "keep God's commandments when you find them convenient" part of 1 John 5:3 or Rev 14:12

Do you abide by the restrictions?
Melakha - Wikipedia
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

Akita Suggagaki said:

Do you abide by the restrictions?
Melakha - Wikipedia
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shabbats-work-prohibition/

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the ones here - in scripture

SabbathBlessings said:

I was asked this question and thought it would be more appropriate to answer here. . .

No, I do not work on the Sabbath. I personally don't look at the Sabbath as to what we can't do (although I used to in times past). I look at it as holy time (communion) with our Savior on His holy day. Exodus 20:10, Isaiah 58:13 This is what God wants, we work six days Exodus 20:9 and rest in His Word on the seventh day. For me personally I do this through going to Church (holy convocation Leviticus 23:3 and the example Jesus left Luke 4:16-22). I spend time in bible study, prayer, in nature and making the day about God. God's promises blessings when we keep this commandment- I find to be really true! Isaiah 58:13-14

My friend @Freth posted this a while back which has some really good information

Scriptures tells us what the purpose of the Sabbath is.

Exodus 20:8-11

• The Sabbath is called a day of rest.
• We are told to remember the Sabbath.
• We are told to keep the Sabbath holy.
• Why? (verse 11) "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (A reference to creation.)

Exodus 31:16-17

• The Sabbath is to be kept.
• The Sabbath is to be observed throughout our generations.
  
• The Sabbath is called a sign between us and God.
• The Sabbath is a perpetual covenant.
• The Sabbath is a day of rest and refreshment.
• Why? (verse 17) "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." (A reference to creation.)

Isaiah 58:13-14

• The Sabbath is called a holy day.
  
• We are given a promise of rich blessings:
  • If we turn our foot away from doing our own pleasure, or our own ways.
  • If we do not speak our own words.
  • If we keep it holy.
  • If we call the Sabbath a delight.
  • If we call the Sabbath the holy of the Lord, honorable, and honor Him.
  • If we delight ourselves in the Lord.
• Why? (Verse 14) "For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." (A reference to creation.)

Revelation 14:6-7

• The first angel's message is a call to worship:
  • The gospel goes to the world.
    
  • Fear God.
  • Give him Glory.
  • Worship Him.
• Why? (verse 7) "For the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (A reference to creation.)

Conclusions:

If the Sabbath is...

• A holy day.
• A day of rest.
• A day to remember.
• A perpetual covenant.
• To be observed throughout our generations.

...then the Sabbath is a day of worship. Case in point: Exodus 23:3 calls the Sabbath a holy convocation.

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Regarding the argument that the Sabbath is specifically for Israel:

If...

• There is neither Jew nor Greek, for all are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11)
• Gentiles are grafted in to Israel. (Romans 11:11-24)

...then we are Israel.

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If God consistently points back to creation in association with the Sabbath, then the Sabbath is a memorial of creation itself. God instituted the Sabbath at creation so that...

• We would not forget that we are created beings.
• We would have a day set aside to commune with God.
• We would have a day of rest, to recharge, and to re-center ourselves with God after a long work week.
• We would have a schedule where we could look forward to it and call it a delight.
• We would have a clear set day of worship.

God doesn't ask for seven days of worship, He asks for one.

There is a lot more that could be written on the subject, but I think this gives a clear understanding of what the purpose of the Sabbath is.

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How about you?

Work is also cooking, boiling water, tying and untying (like shoes), erhaps even walking the dog. . The use of phones, computers, email, etc. Where do you draw the line?

Akita Suggagaki said:

Work is also cooking, boiling water, tying and untying (like shoes)..

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1. No Bible text says tying shoes or getting dressed or blowing your nose or wiping your feet or combing your hair or buttoning your shirt is work. You need actual Bible verses.

2. In Is 58 the Bible forbids secular activity - no occupational work - but nobody has the job of "buttoning their own shirt" or "tying their own shoes". Try getting the easy and obvious part in view.

Ex. 35:2-3 “For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, ba sabbath of complete rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. “You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath day.”

But where do you draw the line?

I can be persuaded. I love sacred rituals.

https://www.schusterman.org/tablemakers/files/REALITY Shabbat Blessing Sheet- Shabbat 101.pdf

Akita Suggagaki said:

Other days may not present the opportunity.

But my real work schedule has its own requirements.

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Well if you lived in say Germany, you would have to follow Sunday laws.
Sunday is a day of rest at home or work in Germany and elsewhere.

"Though what is considered as "Quiet law" varies from town to town,
it is generally frowned upon to do any noisy housework on Sundays
in Germany. This includes using motor-driven lawn equipment, such
as a lawnmower, or home equipment like a loud vacuum."

Your neighbor could turn you in if it was too loud, and you could get a fine.
Heavy commercial trucks are banned from the roads, no heavy trucks
crisscrossing the country on Sundays and holidays.

But Sunday as the day of rest is nowhere in the bible.

SabbathBlessings said:

I think it might be easy to get so absorbed with rituals you could miss the purpose of the Sabbath and that is spending time with God, building your personal relationship with Him through studying His Word, prayer, and Christian fellowship.

God bless and Happy Sabbath.

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I am curious. This post was 8:38 pm on Friday. Did the sun not set yet where you live? Or does posting here not require rest?

Probably the whole of Genesis ch.1 is a loanword from an ancient Sumerian praise hymn to creation (a priestly hymn related to the fertility calendar), inserted in book of "Genesis", only after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, carried out by the scribe Ezra. It seems that the Sumerians counted the year as 6 double (solar-lunar) months of 60 days each, which seems to be the basis of the text of Gen. ch.1 When the first (solar) half of the double 60-day month (~ 30.4 Sun days) ended, "evening" came. And when the second (lunar part of ~ 29.5 days) passed - the "morning" of the new solar-lunar (60-day) double month (time period) came. It is the expression "and there was evening and there was morning" (see Genesis 1: 5,8,13,19,23,31) that reveals exactly this very specific way of counting the Sumerian year (6x60 days). The first double month began on December 22 - "Let there be light!" - in the oldest myths it is always the day of the Winter Solstice. After 60 days, the second double (solar-lunar 60-day) month came - characterized by an ebb of the waters, during which drought appeared. After another 60 days - the new crop emerged - on trees and all kinds of seed-bearing grasses. After another 60 days, summer came - associated with the largest religious cults of worship to the two (large and small) celestial luminaries. After another 60 days in Sumer came the time when fish and birds multiplied. Finally, the last 6th part was devoted to the fertility of animals and the authority given to man by the creators over all creation. Most likely, the scribe Ezra plagiarized and crafty adapted this ancient Sumerian hymn as a priestly (badly molded) justification for the requirement for the Jews (after the captivity) to observe the Sabbath - the seventh day, as a rest (allegedly since the time of creation).

pc_home said:

Probably the whole of Genesis ch.1 is a loanword from an ancient Sumerian praise hymn to creation .

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Or not...Given the legal code found in Ex 20:11 at Sinai and the Gen 2:2-3 text.