If a person were to keep a sabbath as God intended it to be kept, what would that look like?
BFA
BFA
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What is "sabbath"?
- Thread starter Byfaithalone1
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BFA,
It would look like Gethsemane to Calvary, then to rest in the tomb and then resurrection and an endless ministry without day and night.
Under Moses Gethsemane to Calvary is the Friday preparation. Sabbath is resting in the tomb. This is the schoolmaster that prepares for the power of the resurrection. Moses is the sword that turns every which way, crucifying us with Christ preparing us for the power of the resurrection.
The Abrahamic and Davidic sabbath is the sabbath through the order of Melchizedec in the power and wisdom of the resurrection; in the power of an endless life without evenings and mornings and without geneaology, wherein we ever live to minister the reconciliation of God in Christ to those Jesus gives us to serve. This ministry is without sin, but is ministered to sinners who are heavy laden and are laboring. Those who are whole do not need a physician as Melchisedec from the tribe of Judah. Neither legalistic Jew or philosophical Greek feel a need for the man from the tribe of Judah.
Joe
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I am asking a "how to" question. You seem to be answering a "why" question. What does God-ordained sabbath keeping look like?
BFA
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As you say "keep a sabbath" are you linking your question to "Remember the sabbath to keep it holy"?
Or is there some other context in mind?
For me the sense is in the "holy" -- and not so much in the "keeping."
Keeping is simply about preservation, and, unless you're an archivist, preservation is not that interesting.
Holy is interesting, at least to me. It can imply separation and distinction (and this is the emphasis Protestants have taken things since Wesley or so). But it more deeply implies wholeness.
Had God intended a closed path on wholeness, there would be one.
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Matt 7:13-15
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. KJV
Joe
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. KJV
Joe
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In reading Moses and the law in the Old Testament...the COI did not understand God's intentions re: sabbath.
That said...Jesus is the ONLY human that was/is capable of understanding the intentions of God, in relationship to 'sabbath'! He alone, is the only one that is able to say...
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S
solja247
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The Sabbath isnt rest. It doesnt say:
Matt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you Sabbath. KJV
El Sabbado and rest are two different things. Our rest is in Christ, but Jesus is not the Sabbath, He is Lord of the Sabbath.
The Bible tells us how to keep the Sabbath:
Isa 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
But the part I dont understand is 'doing thy pleasure' What does that mean? I find it pleasureable to shoot some hoops on the Sabbath day, does that mean, I am breaking the Sabbath?
People go to restaurants on the Sabbath does that mean they are breaking it?
I dont know.
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actually I don't think the text you shared gives any practical directives on how to "keep" the sabbath.....
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I'm not sure that we've seen any practical directives in this thread regarding how to "keep," "observe," "set aside" or "honor as holy" the sabbath day. Perhaps Souljah's post came the closest with the citation of Isaiah 58.
If I decided that I was not going to follow my own pleasure on the sabbath day, would I:
BFA
P.S. In my Bible, Matthew 11:28 includes no reference to the word "sabbath." Is Souljah rewriting the Bible? What gives?
If I decided that I was not going to follow my own pleasure on the sabbath day, would I:
1. Ride a bike?
2. Shoot hoops?
3. Wade but not swim?
4. Watch TV (if so, what type?)?
5. Eat at a restaurant?
6. Be intimate with my Spouse?
7. Travel?
8. Go to the mall or a museum?
9. Listen to music (if so, what type)?
10. Read a book (if so, what type?)?
For some folks, it is very important that everyone set aside a sabbath. If I wanted to set aside a sabbath, what would my sabbath behavior look like?2. Shoot hoops?
3. Wade but not swim?
4. Watch TV (if so, what type?)?
5. Eat at a restaurant?
6. Be intimate with my Spouse?
7. Travel?
8. Go to the mall or a museum?
9. Listen to music (if so, what type)?
10. Read a book (if so, what type?)?
BFA
P.S. In my Bible, Matthew 11:28 includes no reference to the word "sabbath." Is Souljah rewriting the Bible? What gives?
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Avonia
Just look through the telescope . . .
With any principle, people are best served by widely varying degrees of structure stemming from it. For the Children of Israel, a lot of structure was needed to help them experience pause to help them look up. To heal through the power of ceremony. Because of this, the structure included the assignment of a day and specifics about tasks or the absence thereof.
The Sabbath principle puts us into relationship with creative cycles periodic death and rebirth. Its a ceremony that includes setting intention for what we wish to do in the world and remembering who we are and where we came from.
Sabbath is a stepping-in-to, not a stepping-out-of. A time to listen to be receptive. Sabbath is about regeneration and rebirth.
So, we could have a Sabbath of the day. Or a Sabbath of the week. Or a Sabbath of the year. Sabbath is not intrinsically about Saturday unless because of the meanings we assign we make it so.
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That's probably because we're not all agreed on what level to read the Sabbath at. I don't find prescriptions or proscriptions very helpful at defining wholeness. Such may emerge in the process of whole-being. But they cannot produce whole-being.
You might do many things. But to understand what Isaiah meant with that language it would be helpful to read the entire chapter, which does not address issues that bring a smile to one's face. It rather addresses economic and social oppression -- deep disrespect at our level of creation. Isaiah called it unacceptable. I understand why, when one of the rationales for sabbath was a remembering of national oppression and how the Lord released the nation from that. Yet there they were oppressing one another in His face.
I might be a bit ticked too.
You might enjoy reading Abraham Heschel's The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man if you have not already.
Since you recognize the seventh-day sabbath as of Jewish origin it might be helpful to explore what the Jews have understood about it over time. It is a little arrogant of Christians to declare that "the Jews got it all wrong from sanctuary to sabbath" without first listening to the Jews teach in their own words. It's like Apple interpreting Microsoft.
My suggestion is that you go to the source. People are not your source. Your Creator is your source.
I cannot tell you the intricacies of your design and what will bring you into full bloom -- that is for your Creator to unfold to you -- though I can tell you that if you assert continuously without ever receiving you will break down. I can also tell you that if you never pause to explore life because you are preoccupied with the doing of life, you will not fully experience life. These are things I say out of my own experience. I would imagine all prescriptions come out of at least one person's experience if they are not completely arbitrary. But these two things only address two things about you. God knows more than I.
Solja was responding to Restin, who conflated "rest", "Sabbath," and "Christ."
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The following Scriptures from Revelation 5:1-5 is the living reality of the Sabbath rest that is prophesied in Genesis 2:2,3.
Rev 5:1-5
5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. KJV
This leads to the power of the resurrection and the sabbath rest prophesied in Psalms 95.
A list of works to do or not do would only lead to strife and contention.
Joe
Rev 5:1-5
5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. KJV
This leads to the power of the resurrection and the sabbath rest prophesied in Psalms 95.
A list of works to do or not do would only lead to strife and contention.
Joe
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This is confusing to me. If, as SDAism asserts, the sabbath is the dividing line between those who receive the seal of God and the mark of the beast, wouldn't I need to know what works to do or not do on the sabbath?
I find it fascinating that a discussion of sabbath behavior would lead to strife and contention. Why should a God-given blessing lead to strife and contention?
It seems to me that there is no real baseline for modern-day "sabbath keeping." I suspect that, when it comes to putting it into practice, there is only the illusion of sabbath keeping.
If sabbath keeping were something of value to me, I should be able to discuss it specifically and openly. If it were possible, I'd like to move us out of the theoretical and into the practical.
BFA
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BFA,
Here is the issue with "Sabbath."
Rom 9:31-32
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; KJV
You cannot list works to do for the fulfilling of a command that says not to work. You would only have "traditions."
Only the priests were given work to do, thus profaning the sabbath, according to our Lord.
Joe
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Avonia
Just look through the telescope . . .
We create contention. The blessing has nothing to do with it.
I understand why you say this - and from the perspective I've seen you often hold, I would agree. But I sense that looking for a baseline misses the point. It's sort of like looking for the baseline of love.
My experience of Sabbath has given me a knowledge about Sabbath. I suppose everything is partial illusion - but if we go there, then we are on to another conversation.
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solja247
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I think we should keep the Sabbath how we think it is right, and not judge anyone else about it! (That would be revolutionary in the Adventist church!)
For example When I was travelling in Asia, I took a taxi to go to church. But others wouldnt. So who is better the one pays for a taxi on the Sabbath day or the one doesnt? (thats basically what it sums up as.
The Sabbath day is Saturday. Its not the 18th of June or monday or what ever. God assigned a day for us to rest on.
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As you may recall, the COI did have additional periodic sabbaths. I think we once started to talk about this in the context of the jubilee system. Jubilees were also a structure that taught pause and renewal. And reconciliation and restoration and so forth
That was one of the most common reasoning patterns among early Adventists in the 19th Century: if the stakes are high enough, set up an accounting system.
I understand this impulse. But it comes from an imbalanced place.
God is.
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