Observing the Sabbath?

[Par5]

On another thread I was interested to read that poster said that he observed the Sabbath. I assumed he meant that he observed it as instructed by the relevant commandment. I asked if he would tell me what it entailed in keeping the Sabbath but to date he has not replied. So, I would like to ask Christians and indeed those of the Jewish faith what keeping the Sabbath means for them. Do you observe it as instructed by the commandement, or do you interpret those instructions differently?

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

 

[Par5]

Seems like no one wants to say what observing the Sabbath means to them. Perhaps that's because it doesn't mean anything to them and that they don't observe it anyway!

 

[holo]

When I grew up, we were taught that the ten commandments were given to everyone and still in effect. The sabbath was sunday, but it was never made out to be a big deal if you did some work then. I grew up on a farm, so we pretty much had to do some sort of work even if it was sunday. Still, there was always these reminders about how important it was to keep the ten commandments.

As an adult I changed my understanding/mind about the law. I became convinced that the whole law, including the ten commandments, were given to Israel only and that it doesn't apply to gentiles or Christians. So if one wanted to keep the law, one would have to keep the entire law, not 9 of the 10 commandments, or the ten commandments but not the rest of the law.

My impression is that most Christians are just a little "meh" when it comes to that particular commandment. Since they don't believe they're under the rest of the law, there aren't any specifics as to exactly how to keep the sabbath holy etc.

 

[DogmaHunter]

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

I note that it makes no explicit mention of the wife.
Does that mean the wife is allowed to work anyway?

 

[Par5]

When I grew up, we were taught that the ten commandments were given to everyone and still in effect. The sabbath was sunday, but it was never made out to be a big deal if you did some work then. I grew up on a farm, so we pretty much had to do some sort of work even if it was sunday. Still, there was always these reminders about how important it was to keep the ten commandments.

As an adult I changed my understanding/mind about the law. I became convinced that the whole law, including the ten commandments, were given to Israel only and that it doesn't apply to gentiles or Christians. So if one wanted to keep the law, one would have to keep the entire law, not 9 of the 10 commandments, or the ten commandments but not the rest of the law.

My impression is that most Christians are just a little "meh" when it comes to that particular commandment. Since they don't believe they're under the rest of the law, there aren't any specifics as to exactly how to keep the sabbath holy etc.

Considering how Christians have been at pains to have the ten commandments displayed on public buildings I would have thought that all the commandments applied to their faith.
I think that for many Christians the commandment to observe the Sabbath is rather inconvenient in this day and age and so it has tended to become more or less redundant.

 

[Par5]

I note that it makes no explicit mention of the wife.
Does that mean the wife is allowed to work anyway?

I note that it makes no explicit mention of the wife.
Does that mean the wife is allowed to work anyway?

Well, it was a rather misogynistic society then, so maybe the wife was also considered a female slave.

 

[gaara4158]

Growing up Seventh Day Adventist, the Sabbath was integral to my family's religious convictions. The 4th commandment is, after all, the longest of the Ten. Sabbath started at sundown Fridays and ended at sundown Saturdays. Keeping the Sabbath holy was thought to be one of the determining factors on our admittance to Heaven, so we were very strict about it. We weren't quite as strict as the Orthodox Jews, bless them, but things were pretty austere at home on Saturdays. There was to be no secular television or radio on, not even the news. We couldn't buy or sell anything, so no shopping or going out to eat. Strangely, no one had a problem putting me to work around the house on Sabbaths. They'd just call it "cleanliness ministries" and let that serve as a loophole. Cooking was also permitted, but this varied among different members of the church. Social visits with other Adventists were permitted so long as we didn't break any of the rules, and noncompetitive physical activities (walking, hiking, etc.) were encouraged, especially out in nature so as to foster an appreciation for God's creation.
So in practice, this meant Friday nights were spent shut inside with Christian programming and Saturdays were spent at church, then back home with church friends watching more christian programming or going for long walks outdoors. On the bright side, Saturday nights were absolutely lit.

 

[Theo102]

I would like to ask Christians and indeed those of the Jewish faith what keeping the Sabbath means for them.

The Sabbath originated from the events of Genesis 2:2-3, so arguably it isn't limited to the Mosaic covenant. The sabbath starts at sunset on Friday and ends at nightfall on Saturday. The Karaites and the Rabbinists have different interpretations of what constitutes work.

 

[Theo102]

I note that it makes no explicit mention of the wife.
Does that mean the wife is allowed to work anyway?

The commandments were for the people of Israel, not simply the for men.