Sabbath Musings

"Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16)

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29)

The following quotes are all taken from R.J. Rushdoony's "Institutes of Biblical Law", Vol 1.

THE FORTH COMMANDMENT

"The pattern of the Sabbath is God's creation rest; the goal of the Sabbath is man's redemption rest."

See Exo 20:11 and Deu 5:15.

"The Sabbath is not an infringement of man's liberty but rather the liberation of man." There is no rest for the wicked.

"The Sabbath asserts the principle of freedom under God, of liberty under law, God's Law. It summons man to the obedience to the ordinance of rest in order to free man from himself and from this work."

"Obedience, by implication, means life."

"The principle purpose of the Sabbath is not worship but rest. Only as worship qualifies as rest and refreshing to the man, as true worship does. is it a necessary aspect of the Sabbath rest."

"Man needs REST; he requires the Sabbath truly to live; but, without faith, he cannot have true rest nor can he give rest to others, to the soil, or to the animal creation. (...) The essence of the Sabbath is the work of restoration, God's new creation; the goal of the Sabbath is the second creation rest of God. Man is required to rest and to allow earth and animals to rest, that God's restoration may work, and creation be revitalized. Every Sabbath rest points to the new creation, the regeneration and restoration of all things. God's work of restoration is from the ground up, and His Sabbath must therefore apply to the soil also."

"The Sabbath derives its essential meaning from the fact that it witnesses to an essential and life-giving covenant between God and man. The source of that life is God, NOT the law or the Sabbath in and of itself. (...) The Sabbath is life to the man who looks to the Lord for life."

"The Lord's Prayer, which looks forward tot he great Sabbath ("Thy Kingdom come"), has as a central petition the jubilee release: "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (Mat 6:12). (...)  The Sabbath means rest, forgiveness, the cancellation of debt and weariness.  It means fresh life."

"It must be remembered that an important aspect of the fourth law-word is this, "Six days though shalt labour," i.e., six days are set aside for work.  There is a positive command, therefore, to work.  The creation mandate (...) was declared before the fall. (...)  The redeemed man's work is not an attempt to create a paradise on earth, but to fulfill God's requirements within the kingdom.  The redeemed man is a citizen of the Kingdom of God, and he abides by the laws thereof: this is his work, his duty, and his path to dominion.  The fact of the Sabbath presupposes the fact of work.

The relationship between Sabbath and work is one that brings all things into relationship to God and in dedication to him.  Nothing can be, nor can be deemed to be, outside of God."

"The Sabbath presupposes work, work fulfilling God's creation mandate and performed under God's Law, and the Sabbath is the joyful rest from the exercise of this godly dominion."

On the Sabbath, a man rejoices that the earth is the Lord's, and all the fulness thereof (Psa 24:1).  In that confidence, man rests, and in that joy he surveys the labor of his hands, knowing that his "labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1Cor 15:58)."

"Because it is a covenant sign, the Sabbath is a sign of subjection to God, of an acceptance of God's authority on God's terms. (...) Both work and rest were under authority and set apart or sanctified unto the Lord. Holiness in itself implies authority: it is separation and dedication in terms of God."

"The essence of the Sabbath is our rest in Christ, and our growth in the knowledge of that salvation by His grace."

"The Sabbath reveals the design and direction of the whole law: it is a declaration of the future the law is establishing."