Serious about the Sabbath
I believe the Lord wants His people to be serious about the need for a Sabbath. A Sabbath is a day of rest set aside by believers to remember the Lord and worship Him, so they can keep their focus and priorities on Him. God commanded for us to keep the Sabbath holy in the Ten Commandments. However, that is just the beginning. He commanded His people to keep a Sabbath year when they went into the Promised Land, in which they would not plant any crops or prune any vineyards.(Leviticus 25:4) Then, He even had them add together 7 Sabbaths of years plus one year and celebrate the Year of Jubilee. All of these were designed to keep them faithful to all that God had for them. Think about it.
If we keep the Sabbath each week today on the Lord's Day, as Christians, it is very difficult to forget about God during the week. Also, He is going to bless us for honoring His Sabbath and trusting Him to take time off and worship Him. Worship and rest are necessities for us to be healthy spiritually and physically. However, when we ignore the Sabbath, we are failing to trust God and believe that what He says is true for us.
Also, think about why the land needed to rest each seventh year. It would not get worn out by continuous planting, so it would yield more. The scientists have shown that to be true. However, even more than that the people had to trust God for a whole year to provide for them, since they did not plant any crops. They ate what sprang up on its own, which was God's provision. Then, in the Jubilee year the people actually had to depend on God to supply their needs for three years, because there was a Sabbath year, then, there was the Jubilee year with no planting, and finally they reaped what was shown the following year. This was a great faith builder for the people who followed God's commands.
People today don't keep the Sabbath very much, just like the children of Israel failed to keep the Sabbath and to keep the Sabbath year to let the land rest. What did God do back then? He allowed His people to be taken into exile in Babylon for 70 years. That was one year for each time they did not keep the Sabbath year, so the land did get to rest after all. I wonder what God will do to those who do not keep His Sabbath today?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 26-27 and Numbers 1.
If we keep the Sabbath each week today on the Lord's Day, as Christians, it is very difficult to forget about God during the week. Also, He is going to bless us for honoring His Sabbath and trusting Him to take time off and worship Him. Worship and rest are necessities for us to be healthy spiritually and physically. However, when we ignore the Sabbath, we are failing to trust God and believe that what He says is true for us.
Also, think about why the land needed to rest each seventh year. It would not get worn out by continuous planting, so it would yield more. The scientists have shown that to be true. However, even more than that the people had to trust God for a whole year to provide for them, since they did not plant any crops. They ate what sprang up on its own, which was God's provision. Then, in the Jubilee year the people actually had to depend on God to supply their needs for three years, because there was a Sabbath year, then, there was the Jubilee year with no planting, and finally they reaped what was shown the following year. This was a great faith builder for the people who followed God's commands.
People today don't keep the Sabbath very much, just like the children of Israel failed to keep the Sabbath and to keep the Sabbath year to let the land rest. What did God do back then? He allowed His people to be taken into exile in Babylon for 70 years. That was one year for each time they did not keep the Sabbath year, so the land did get to rest after all. I wonder what God will do to those who do not keep His Sabbath today?
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 26-27 and Numbers 1.