- Oct 22, 2007
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I just finished reading Desmond Ford's recent "Baby" book. I enjoyed it, but found his chapter on the sabbath disappointing. I was expecting to find a stronger set of arguments. I haven't believed in it for a while but am now looking at it again to see if there was something I have missed.
What I did get from the chapter however was a new angle on the Sabbath which I would be interested to hear other views on.
Ford quotes Isa 58:13-14 on the sabbath, so to get the context I read the whole chapter. What "clicked" for me is that in this chapter God is attacking outward forms of religion - in particular fasting "is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?" (Is 58:5). What counts for God is freeing the workers from exploitation, breaking every yoke, setting the captives free. In this context, the chapter then talks about keeping the sabbath.
So then I thought about the reference to the Exodus in the Sabbath commandment (Deut 5:12-15) and Jesus' acts of liberation on the Sabbath, and the Sabbath year of Jubilee and I started to think that perhaps we have totally misunderstood what keeping the sabbath is all about.
It isn't about worship or ceremony or services - it isn't "a day for a man to humble himself". There is nothing in the Bible about worshipping God on the Sabbath.
What did the apostles do on the sabbath? Tried to set the Jews free by preaching in the synagogues.
The Sabbath is about liberation, it isn't working for ourselves but setting people free from bondage, oppression and exploitation. It is clearing a space for God's kingdom. Of course God is working on that day, and we should too - not working for our own income and reward (whether material or spiritual) but working for the kingdom, to set the captives free.
I haven't worked through this properly yet, but it seems to me an exciting glimpse at what God is really expecting from keeping the Sabbath, and one that is much more in line with what the Bible is telling us about the Sabbath.
I would welcome any comments.
What I did get from the chapter however was a new angle on the Sabbath which I would be interested to hear other views on.
Ford quotes Isa 58:13-14 on the sabbath, so to get the context I read the whole chapter. What "clicked" for me is that in this chapter God is attacking outward forms of religion - in particular fasting "is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?" (Is 58:5). What counts for God is freeing the workers from exploitation, breaking every yoke, setting the captives free. In this context, the chapter then talks about keeping the sabbath.
So then I thought about the reference to the Exodus in the Sabbath commandment (Deut 5:12-15) and Jesus' acts of liberation on the Sabbath, and the Sabbath year of Jubilee and I started to think that perhaps we have totally misunderstood what keeping the sabbath is all about.
It isn't about worship or ceremony or services - it isn't "a day for a man to humble himself". There is nothing in the Bible about worshipping God on the Sabbath.
What did the apostles do on the sabbath? Tried to set the Jews free by preaching in the synagogues.
The Sabbath is about liberation, it isn't working for ourselves but setting people free from bondage, oppression and exploitation. It is clearing a space for God's kingdom. Of course God is working on that day, and we should too - not working for our own income and reward (whether material or spiritual) but working for the kingdom, to set the captives free.
I haven't worked through this properly yet, but it seems to me an exciting glimpse at what God is really expecting from keeping the Sabbath, and one that is much more in line with what the Bible is telling us about the Sabbath.
I would welcome any comments.