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11th July 2025
FridayReflection
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Anthony Weber
Pastor at Church of the Living God
"Sabbath Rest"
Hebrews 4:9-10
9 As it is, however, there still remains for God's people a rest like God's resting on the seventh day. 10 For those who receive that rest which God promised will rest from their own work, just as God rested from his.
Let's begin with the passages in the Old Testament that talk about the command to the Israelites to honour the Sabbath.
12 The Lord commanded Moses 13 to tell the people of Israel, "Keep the Sabbath, my day of rest, because it is a sign between you and me for all time to come, to show that I, the Lord, have made you my own people. 14 You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15 You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death. 16 The people of Israel are to keep this day as a sign of the covenant.
.... Exodus 31: 12-16
"Sabbath" is related to the Hebrew word for "rest."
It is the only one of the 10 Commandments given as a covenant sign.
We see elsewhere in the Old Testament that covenants have signs, so that the sign of the Noahic covenant is the rainbow and the sign of the Abrahamic covenant is circumcision.
The observance of Sabbath was a constant re-honouring of the covenant between God and Israel.
It was an act of covenant renewal, a reminder and a refocusing on the God with whom they had a covenant.
Resting wasn't just personal renewal; it was relational renewal with God.
The primary duty for observant Jews was to stop working on the Sabbath.
Over time, the rabbis listed 39 categories of Sabbath work that was out of bounds.
This was an attempt to "put a fence around the Torah," a well-intentioned effort to make sure they honoured God as precisely and carefully as possible.
While it is the only commandment given as a covenant sign, it is also the only one referred to as a type pointing toward the True Sabbath.
Many of the early church fathers compared Sabbath to the other covenant sign, circumcision: both were physical ways of enacting a covenant with God; both were now enacted spiritually in Christ.
"True circumcision is not something visible in the flesh.
On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart - by the Spirit, not the letter.
Romans 2:28-29
Literal Sabbath Day rest functioned as important enactment of the spiritual rest in Christ.
The seriousness with which the Old Testament treats the observance of Sabbath rest and the assumed continuance of it by the early converts sure seems to suggest there is a spiritual weight to this rhythm of purposeful rest that ought to order our lives.
But Jesus pointed out that so many of the Pharisee's laws were missing the point of Sabbath.
It had become a burden to keep, and it should not have been a burden.
It should have been a blessing.
Rest is connected to trust.
My cat sleeps on me without a care in the world because she trusts me.
If you trust the driver, you can rest on a trip.
I can bare my soul to my wife because I trust her.
Rest is connected with trust.
If you can't seem to rest in Christ, learn more about a Saviour you can trust.
Practice acknowledgment of God throughout the day
(let's call this "improving purposeful contact with God").
Celebrate the freedom Jesus offers from all kinds of slavery: slavery to sin, slavery to achieve, slavery to impress, slavery to earn, slavery to addictions of all kinds, slavery to your past, slavery to the gnawing need to be good enough to matter
The rabbis who created the fence understood the importance of getting out of the rhythm of the 'rat race', and into the rhythm of the Kingdom.
"If we only stop when we are finished with all our work, we will never stop, because our work is never completely done... Sabbath ... liberates us from the need to be finished." - Wayne Muller
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This is an edited version.
The full article is avaiable on request
Anthony Weber
has been a pastor at Church of the Living God for more than two decades.
He is a teacher, coach, husband, and father of three boys.
He holds degrees in English education and theology, and currently lives in Traverse City, Michigan.
In his spare time, he promotes good athletic programs by prominently displaying Ohio State's logo wherever he can.
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