Commandment #4: Mandatory Break
The irony of me talking about a break after I took a break is not lost on me.
Howdy, folks of the internet.
I am back.
I had technical issues (….blah blah blah), but I’m back. I’m also about 82% done with my first book, so I have excuses a plenty.
Here are some more in case that doesn’t suffice:
…my cat ate my computer
…I caught an extremely rare case of streptococcus
…my basement could have flooded and I needed to prepare
…I was framed for a murder I didn’t commit
…my oven caught on fire
…I’ve been fighting for my life against the cicada-apocalypse
…my floor actually turned into lava
Happy?
Today we are talking about the Fourth Commandment.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on these events day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11 (ESV)
Yup. The Sabbath. The ultimate excuse to take a day off of work or not have to go to your in-laws for religious reasons.
The word “sabbath” is sabat in Hebrew (pronounced shah-bawth) meaning to cease or rest. Literally. Cease doing things. Go rest. Literally. Metaphorically. Spiritually. All of it. Sabbath means “cool down and go take a nap” in my language.
It’s important to understand that there are three major things with Sabbath that are completely and entirely unique, especially in the ancient Near East:
1) The Sabbath wasn’t a thing in other ancient cultures.
I’ve talked about it before, so I would apologize in advance, but I am going to hammer this information into your brain until you remember it FOREVER.
The religions of the ancient Near East (and I mean…ALL of them) believed that they were created to be slave-laborers. They were told through their creation stories that their gods were tired of doing work and created mankind to labor for them. It’s as simple as that.
Their gods also weren’t…kind.
I don’t know how else to say that without being offensive, though I honestly don’t care. Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll say it.
Their gods sucked.
I’m talking like Loki from the first Thor movie.
They were awful. In every story that is told, they were never portrayed as kind or empathetic or even humane, so why would their cultures claim that their gods thought they needed some PTO?
Exactly! They didn’t!
That’s why it was SO insane that Israel had a literal day off to recuperate from their lives.
2) The seven-day week was not an ooober popular thing in ancient cultures, other than Babylon (give or take).
The Hebrew Calendar was almost identical to the one used in Babylon.
“Why is that, Reverend Doc?”
Remember when the Israelites were taken captive and enslaved by Babylon? Yup. That’s why.
Here’s the deal: everything time wise was based around the moon and the sun, which happened to be the easiest way to understand it. They see the moon in the sky and thought, “ope, guess another day is done!”
(I’m dumbing it down a bit, but these people were actually pretty smart.)
Most ancient Near East cultures had a 12 or 13 month year thanks to watching the cycles of the moon, or as they called it…
MOONTHS
The idea that the Hebrew Calendar was that advanced prior to Babylon’s takeover (thanks to God’s heads up) is pretty neat.
Fun Fact You Probably Already Know with the Rev. Dr.: Emperor Constantine established the seven-day week in the Roman Calendar back in 321 AD and designated Sunday as the first day of the week. When some later became Christians, they chose Sunday to be the Sabbath (even though they saw it as the first day of the week). Romans *eye roll*.
The Hebrews technically viewed Saturday as Sabbath.
On a different note, the Reverend Doctor grew up believing that Monday was the first day of the week and she stands by that. It’s better in every possible way than starting your week (on Sunday) *dreading* tomorrow (Monday). She also celebrates TWO Sabbath’s because she’s spicy. Saturday and Sunday. Perfect two-day Sabbath to get some Kindle reading done…and watch Arrested Development (I’m kidding….kind of).
3) The Sabbath was put in place because God wanted everyone to have a well deserved break.
It was meant to be a time to honor God.
Let’s step back for a second:
The first time we even see the Sabbath is in Genesis 2:
"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” Genesis 2:1-3
Was that confusing? Here’s The Reverend Doc’s Translation™:
“God finished creating stuff and said, ‘wow! Look at all this stuff I made! I did a great job. Hey Adam - wanna spend a day hanging out with me? Cool!’ So God hung out with Adam after making everything and said, ‘wow! This day rocks! Let’s make it a holy day to commemorate my favorite day ever!’ And it was so.” Genesis 2:1-3 (TRDT™)
At the root of it, God made the seventh day of creation a holy day.
Not because He felt the need for an A+ or a gold star, but because it was holy to both Him and Adam.
Adam’s first day of being alive was spent with God.
In communion.
Hangin’ out.
Eatin’ subs.
Drinkin’ Coors Light.
Playing Call of Duty.
Sabbath was meant to be a time to honor God.
It was meant to be a time to reflect on your week, the things that God gave to you, the things that God took away; it was a time that was meant to be in communion with God and your community. It is a time to allow you to thrive.
Think of when you have a strict workout regimen: it’s important that you have rest days. Without rest days, you’ll probably break a hip and tear your ACL. I’m just a Doctor, spouting pure facts here, folks.
Time to be preachy:
When you allow yourself a day to be with God and with your tribe, you thrive. Like a little flower reaching up toward the sun, you grow and you thrive.
“Did she just call me a little flower?” Yes. I did. Shhhhh, let me finish:
With any relationship, it takes time and continual effort (on our part). Celebrating the Sabbath allows us that time and gives us the ability to put forth effort.
Now you know. Sabbath is a big deal.
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
